Lucas had been cranky for the last week. He did have a good reason for it though. He had several bad experiments, plus the vocorder had decided to be difficult. It kept reversing the words yes and no. It had taken him 2 days to fix it. He hadn't stopped working on the experiments or the vocorder to eat or sleep. Ben and Commander Ford had taken to leaving some form of food for him to eat. He made a mental note to thank them for it. He'd finally gotten the vocorder fixed 3 hrs ago.

Now it was time for a shower and sleep. He turned on his mp3's, choosing playlist 2. It was a mix of Jimi Hendrix, Our Lady Peace, and Pink Floyd. It was an odd mix, but he liked it. He turned the volume up to 75 so he could hear it over the shower. He got out of the shower 10 minutes later, feeling clean and somewhat relaxed. He dried off to the sounds of the Star Spangled Banner, live at Woodstock. The melody was relaxing, pushing any thoughts of doing anything constructive away. Lucas found his favorite boxers and evil genius' shirt, turned the sterio down to 50. Just enough to block out noise, soft enough for him to sleep. As he turned towards his bed, something caught his eye. On his bed were a Hershey bar, a note, and a book with a worm on it. He looked at the book for a minute, then opened the note.

Lucas~

I know your week has been less than fun. I thought you could use something to make you smile. The chocolate is from me, the book is from Katie. She said you might like it. Hope your week gets a little easier.

Nathan

If you want to talk, my door is always open.

Lucas was momentarily confused, but then he just smiled. He was starting to like his SeaQuest family. He loved having people who cared about each other instead of always fighting with each other. They were the greatest, always there for each other. It was the closest thing he had to a real family.

Lucas got ready to read the book and eat his chocolate. He pushed his pillows up against one end of the bed, pulled down his covers, and crawled in. He gently unwrapped the Hershey's and picked up the book. He looked at it for a second, trying to figure out why Katie would give him a children's book. Lucas then looked at the title- "There's a hair in my dirt! A worms story.", by Gary Larson. This might be interesting, he thought. He loved the Far Side, so this could be interesting. He started eating his candy, savoring sweet taste. As he opened the book, he saw a note inside.

Look at the pictures, as well as the words- Katie

Lucas ate more of the chocolate and began to read. By the middle of the book, he was openly smiling. He laughed as he finished the book. He was glad that Larson had an outlet, otherwise the man would be scary. He sat the book down, finally noticing that Darwin was in the aqua tube beside him. Darwin gave Lucas a chirp, rolled over and swam away upside down. Lucas just laughed and scooted down in bed, feeling more relaxed and sleepy. It took less than 2 minutes for him to fall asleep. He fell asleep thinking about the story and his friends. Nathan came in 30 minutes later to check on Lucas. He open the door quietly and looked at the sleeping boy. Nathan smiled at how contented Lucas looked. Nathan pulled the covers up farther and brushed the soft blond hair back from Lucas's forehead, as he said "Night kiddo." He walked out quietly, making sure not to wake Lucas. Lucas turned his sleep, sighing as his dream turned to Harriet's adventure and the smiling worms.