[He was trying his best to be hopefuly and encouraging, but some of what Dave was saying was getting to him now. He too had lost everyone in his life that had even been important to him, in one way or another. He was trying to put all that behind him and form new bonds, but there was still a worry inside him that these might end up the same way and leave him with nothing but regret]

You had to watch some people you were close to die? [Thash didn't really know what he meant by 'stars' but the way Dave had said the word had suggested he cared about whoever these people were he was calling stars. At least he'd never had to go through that... he'd seen someone he cared about dead, but she died of old age so it wasn't the same]

That had to be terrible. I watched a friend of mine get impaled once and I thought he died... even though I found out shortly later that he was alive, it was still pretty shocking.

...There've been time when I wondered if it was worth it at all to get close to people and care about them. But you know what? I think it is. I've lived through long years of my life without caring about anyone. And during those times, it felt like I might as well be dead.