Beverly paced walking from one side of her bedroom to the other. She couldn't sleep and she couldn't leave her room without the risk of waking Wesley (who was an extremely light sleeper) so she was left in her room with nothing to do, or rather, nothing she really felt like doing other than walking back and forth,back and forth. She desperately wanted to be able to sleep and simply skip those hours of her life, but she just didn't feel tired. So she paced across her room left to her thoughts, a small lamp on her desk dimly lighting the room and occasionally producing shadows that would startle her for a second until she realized they came from one of the various objects that were lying out. Her thoughts drifted, she planned out tomorrow (assuming that everything would go normally which was rare) she thought about how Wesley was doing, she mentally rearranged her room several times, picked up and subsequently discarded many books as they weren't offering her the distraction she wanted and when she couldn't fall asleep after yet another attempt at lying down quietly hoping to drift off she returned to pacing, fiddling with the edges of her nightgown and walking back and forth across the plush carpet, enjoying its softness against her bare feet. She finally decided that she wasn't going to be able to sleep and she needed to do something. Beverly decided a cup of herbal tea might help to soothe her racing mind and send her drifting to sleep so she tiptoed her way out of her room as quietly as possible over to the replicator.
"Tea, chamomile, hot" she whispered to the computer, not noticing how her order for tea mimicked Jean-luc's "tea earl grey, hot"
She sat at the table and sipped her tea, enjoying the taste but not finding it at all helpful. She groaned and set the mug back on the replicator where it vanished. Not knowing what else to do she went back to her room, changed into simple civilian clothes before putting on a sweater and some shoes and left her quarters. She didn't have any particular destination in mind when she stepped into the hallway. She could go to Ten Forward, Guinan would be good company and it was always open, or perhaps the arboretum, there weren't many people there at night and it would be very peaceful or she could just roam the halls of the Enterprise for a while. She picked a direction, letting her feet walk wherever they pleased while her mind wandered. There was no one else in the hallway to run into. Somehow she ended up outside Jean-luc's quarters, perhaps it was a default route she ended up taking like she did every morning for their breakfasts. She hesitated, assuming he would be asleep when she heard soft footsteps and suddenly found the door open with Jean-luc standing in the doorway.
"Hello Beverly, what brings you here in the middle of the night?" he asked.
"I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd take a walk, I didn't think you would be awake." she answered smiling at him. "I couldn't sleep either." He answered rather stiffly. "Would you like to come in?" he asked, stepping aside awkwardly so he wasn't blocking the doorway to his quarters.
"Of course, thank you." Beverly answered stepping in. The door closed behind her and she looked around taking it in. She had been in his quarters before, of course, and almost nothing had changed. There was a variety of artifacts on display around the room but other than that it was largely undecorated. There was the couch, the table and chairs where they had breakfast, a small kitchen, bathroom and off to the side was the doorway that led to his bedroom. She noticed the new addition of a Bonsai in a pot on an end table next to the couch. Jean-luc noticed her rather questioning gaze.
"It was a gift from Chief O'brien and Keiko." he explained.
"It's quite beautiful. Keiko has quite a way with plants." Beverly said in reply. "Yes, quite true." He said as she sat on the couch, then sitting next to her. "I've heard that you also like plants."
"Yes, I sometimes help Keiko in the arboretum when I have time." she answered, taking a sip of tea, moving a little closer to him. "Although It seems like we encounter a new life form or disaster every other day here." she smiled.
"One of the drawbacks of being on the flagship for the Federation." He answered.
"Still, it never gets boring. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." she said smiling at him. Jean-luc smiled back. Beverly yawned and set her tea aside.
"Are you tired?" Jean-luc asked,
"A little, not really though."
"Alright."
"I hope I'm not intruding."
"Of course not, I love having your company."
"I should get back to my quarters soon."
"You can stay as long as you like."
"Ok." She rested her head on his shoulder, she felt his arm move slightly and saw him pick up an old book.
"I've been rereading some Shakespeare." he explained. "Would you like me to read it aloud?"
"Sure." she smiled again as he started to read. She quickly realized that it was becoming hard to keep her eyes open, his voice faded into the background and quickly lulled her to sleep.
"Beverly?" he asked, looking away from the book. He turned to see her fast asleep lying against him. Smiling he gently brushed a strand of hair out of her face before setting aside the book. He gently moved her off of him onto the couch as best he could without waking her before taking their teacups back to the replicator. Jean-luc walked back to the couch and sat down next to her, letting the sound of her breathing send him to sleep.