Chapter Text
Ulaz was confused to say the least and it all started with their newest recruit Keith. Ulaz thought this would be a good opportunity to learn about another type of hybrid and decided when Keith came to the infirmary he could start on his questions. However, Keith avoided the infirmary as best he could, and when he was finally inside, he would only stay long enough to get his injury treated. Unsuccessful so far but he was still determined to get some answers.
Those prior sessions could become important in emergency situations, like right now. Keith came in after a bad fall where he landed on his blade. Somehow not noticing until he stepped into a puddle of his own blood. Ulaz feared he might have gone in shock or lost too much blood and became delirious. He didn’t know how much blood a human could hold but he didn’t think losing a big amount could resolve in the human laughing at its own pain.
Keith was very deliberately looking away from his injury and taking up deep breaths between giggles. Ulaz was growing increasingly worried at this reaction. Most galra would be quietly whining or gritting through the pain of having their blade sticking out of their leg. Ulaz finished wrapping up the wound and leaned over to get a better look at Keith’s face.
“Keith, are you doing alright? As far as I know, laughing isn’t a normal reaction to this situation.”
Keith stopped giggling and turned to look at Ulaz. “I’m trying to forget about the pain rather than face it right now. Apparently laughing is supposed to release endorphins, which acts as self-made painkillers. It doesn’t work that well.”
“You do know I can just give you painkillers?”
“I don’t like taking medicine, I’ll just wait it out.”
“Keith, that’s a little self-destructive.”
“No, it isn’t.” Keith matched Ulaz’s unimpressed stare, daring him to argue back. Ulaz sighed and admitted defeat, for now.
“Okay. Instead of medicine come and see me for the injury, so at least it doesn’t become infected. And-” Ulaz held up a finger when Keith tried to speak. “If you don’t, I’ll have Regris drag you down the hall with his tail in front of every blade.”
“Ulaz I already have a weird reputation, don’t do this to me.”
“Then you know what to do.” Ulaz leveled him with a smug grin. “Now with your injury treated, I would like you to fill out this paperwork, so we have a profile to put in our systems. Just fill in what you know, and we’ll figure out the rest later.”
Keith took a quick look and typed a bit out. “Done.”
“Keith, I just gave that to you.”
"And I don’t know the rest of my answers. ‘Height?’ Who knows I haven’t measured in years. ‘Weight?’ I don’t own a scale. ‘Previous medical history?’ I only had one doctor’s appointment and that was when I was seven. Want me to continue?”
Ulaz looked so fed up with Keith. “Okay.” Ulaz took in a deep breath before getting the data pad back. “How about I ask you some questions about human biology and you tell me the answers. This will help in answering other questions in your official medical profile.”
“Got it.” Keith got comfy on the cot.
“First question, what is the average age for human lifespans?”
“Okay. Well women usually live longer than men. I think on average, women go for seventy-five to eighty and men for seventy to seventy-five.” Keith watched as Ulaz slowly put down the data pad, halfway through writing down what he said. “Ulaz?”
“How old are you, Keith? You didn’t put anything down.”
“Because I’m not sure? I mean, I think I’m either nineteen or twenty, I haven’t been keeping track.” Ulaz wasn’t reacting, at all. “How about we move on for now and you can have your break down later?” Keith suggested.
“We’re going to need a new leader.” Ulaz tried to mumble but they both heard it. “Number of teeth?”
“On average I’m pretty sure thirty-two. But some people have less or in rare cases people have more.”
“And how long does it take for replacements to grow in?”
Replacements? “Um, well you get your baby teeth when you're young. Then you lose those roots, and the teeth fall out over the course of a couple years, that’s different for everyone. Then your permanent teeth come in and that’s it. If you lose those teeth, then you get fake teeth put in.”
“Your body doesn’t make new ones?”
“No. We can’t just grow a new tooth; it’s called permanent for a reason.”
Ulaz stayed silent for a moment. “Sorry I’m… I would like to ask more on a later date. But you definitely said nineteen, right?” Ulaz just nodded to himself and made his way out of the med bay.
“Well, that was a useless talk.”
Later that day he heard one of the training decks was closed due to a very aggressive fight. Everyone kinda avoided Ulaz for a while after that and sent pitying looks towards Kolivan and Antok.