She'll Be Apples

She enjoyed his company, it was as simple as that. Age and rank differences aside, they had a lot in common, and conversation flowed easily. Both were the youngest children from large, close-knit families, and he was one of the few who could challenge her knowledge of sporting trivia.

And, perhaps the most important thing, he didn't treat her any differently after ET's death. Everyone gave her space, comfort, time, whatever they thought she needed. All except Spider. He would chatter away, about everything and nothing, and she found herself listening, for the pure enjoyment of feeling 'normal' once again.

Inevitably something – or someone – would cause him to remember the tragedy, and he'd blush and stammer while she tried to assure him it wasn't a problem. For some reason, the words never came out right. But then again, how could she convince him she wanted to go back to normal when she couldn't convince herself?

Banished from the bridge after three consecutive watches, tonight Nav didn't even bother returning to her cabin. Sleep had never come easily to her, and now she couldn't be bothered trying, not wanting to dream the happily ever after that wouldn't come true. So instead she took a seat in what was quickly becoming her late-night refuge – the ward room, aka officer's mess. Cracking open her book, she noted the number of pages left and chuckled. Though she may not have been getting much sleep, she was sure moving through a whole lot of novels.

She was quickly immersed in the latest murder mystery from Kathy Reichs; no longer able to enjoy the trashy romance novels she had favoured prior to ET's death. A knock at the door went unnoticed, and it wasn't until Spider spoke that she realised she wasn't alone.

"Can't sleep, Nav?" He stood tentatively in the doorway, his stance asking another question.

Tilting her head to indicate that he should come in, she couldn't help but smile. As with all the junior sailors, it had taken a long time and a lot of corrections for him to call her 'Nav' instead of 'ma'am', and she was glad he'd finally come around.

"Don't want to try," she replied, repositioning her bookmark and setting the novel on the table. The reason she didn't feel the need to hide the truth from Spider was because he didn't try to psychoanalyse her actions; he just accepted it and moved on. Not that she'd ever tell him.

He shuffled forward and stopped in front of the table, looking rather sheepish. One hand was hidden behind his back, the other took hold of the chair in front of him in a rather lame attempt at being casual.

She regarded him suspiciously. "What is it, Spi?"

An apple was suddenly thrust into her view. Two apples, actually, both fitting easily into Spider's large hand. "I brought you a midnight snack."

Plucking one of the apples from his grip, she cocked her head and appraised him. "How did you get these? Bomber was guarding them pretty fiercely."

He just grinned mischievously and took a seat, then a bite. "Wow, vees are goot," he said through a mouthful of fruit, narrowly avoiding spraying her with bits of apple.

"Mmhmm," she agreed, unwilling to open her mouth and make the same mistake he had.

For a few moments, the only sound was that of their teeth biting into the crisp apples, then she set down the snack and raised her head.

"How is Bomber? Those were some pretty strong laxatives in that curry."

Spider shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?" He finished the last bite of his apple and shot it into the bin. Well, he attempted to shoot it. The apple core hit the edge of the bin but didn't quite make it inside.

Nav couldn't help but smirk at his crestfallen expression, and tapped him on the arm with her own core. "Have another go," she said, only to dissolve into giggles when he missed the second shot also.

He took one look at the mirth on her face and joined the laughing, pleased that he was able to make her smile.

When he'd calmed down enough to speak, he continued his thought process as if the little 'basketball' fiasco hadn't occurred. "I do know that Bomber was more pissed about 2Dads messing up her galley then nicking off."

Shaking her head, she marvelled at the newest recruit's ability to annoy literally everyone on the ship. "I can't believe he's still breathing. Since when does Bomber show restraint with her territory?"

"Since his punishment from the X and Buff was a whole lot worse than merely cleaning up." Spider was now realising how easily he'd had it when he was merely made to clean toilets with a toothbrush. "The X really can dish out the punishments."

"He deserved it. Spreading rumours like that could have caused serious harm to their careers."

"If it was believed," he commented unconvincingly.

Nav threw him a Look. "You telling me the initials on Buff's tattoo were a co-incidence?"

He had the decency to look somewhat sheepish. "That was different! I was drunk, for one. And it wasn't like I said anything was actually going on."

Nodding her acquiesce, she drummed her fingers on the table. "But really, just because they work well as a team doesn't mean they're together. It's about as ridiculous as the CO and I together."

Spider shot her a sideways glance. "I've never seen you look at the boss the way Buff looks at X sometimes."

Cocking her head to the side, she considered the statement. "True. But even if there was attraction there, they're both too professional to let anything happen while they're on the same ship."

"You did." The words were out of his mouth before his brain had processed them, and he clapped a hand over his mouth, apology written all over his face. "I'm so-"

"Don't," she cut him off with a wave of the hand. "It's okay to talk about him, even with me. I'm not going to cry every time someone mentions his name, or our relationship."

"I kn…I wasn't…" He sighed and squirmed in his seat, wondering how to get out of the awkward situation.

Patting his hand, she shook her head slightly. Maybe Spider wasn't as different as she'd thought. It had been almost 5 months since that fateful day. Did they really expect that she'd stay broken forever? Yes, she would always love ET, but she was beginning to heal. It was frustrating that no-one was able to see that. Pasting a smile on her face, she changed the subject. "So who told you that Buff and X were a couple?"

Relief apparent on his face, he gestured to the apple cores in front of the bin. "Bomber."

Nav couldn't have been more shocked if Spider had said it was Buffer himself. Okay, so maybe she could have. But… "Since when does Bomber spread rumours?"

"Uh, well, I wouldn't call it spreading the rumour. She didn't believe it anyway, was saying it more as a 'can you believe 2Dads said this?' kinda thing."

"So nothing like how you told me." She snicked and imitated his voice, "Nav, did you know the X and Buff are an item?"

He pushed her shoulder. "I do not sound like that!"

Giggling, she pushed back. "You so do."

"My voice is not that high-pitched." The amusement in his voice belied his words, and it wasn't long until he was laughing too. They were soon in hysterics, leaning against one another to prevent either of them from falling off the bench.

The sound carried up the corridor and through the open door of Mike's cabin. He smiled when he recognised the sailors. It was great to hear Nav laughing again.