Lunch

AUthor's note: Another kinda uninteresting chapter, but after this there's only one more set-up chapter, and then we'll have a slightly more interesting story. Though this one was easier to write. Perhaps because this was in the original draft the fourth chapter (and the last one I'd had written before I lost the whole thing.

This one introduces some plot elements and shows off the social order at the school…sort of. And it features my first real use of profanity ever on FFN. I typically don't swear, but this just worked. Don't get used to it.

One last thing to note: I have the next chapter as a pretty big time skip compared to the past chapters. Unless people want more of their school days now I'll be putting that up next. Don't worry, the school days show up again later on. I think.

So the theme for the reviews this time around is 'whether or not I should move the fic to TOS/TNG or TOS/VOY crossover space or not.' And now I'll respond to the lovely reviewers. It's always the same people; I'm touched at how you guys are sticking with the story in spite of its flaws.

Susan Hilton: Which is why writing Pavel's temper is so much fun to write, and so very endearing. You'll notice I stuck a small, subtle reference to "The Trouble With Tribbles" in the chapter-can you find it? And yes, I meant Harry Kim. Harry Mudd probably won't ever play a big part-I really don't know.

Trekkie2: Yep, you were right about what episode I was hinting at. It's one of my favorite episodes of TOS. And what did you mean about Antonia? She's not Uhura, just an OC with a currently negligible role in this fic.

Hermione-of-Vulcan: Yes, poor Pavel. I torture him too much, don't I? You know, that's a common pattern for me-looking through my fics, I notice I always give my favorite characters the hardest times. Which is why Pavel has so much angst, why Data has such a rough backstory, and why Jean-Luc's really going to have trouble later. And yes, "The Trouble with Tribbles" was the best episode ever. Oh, and you'll notice your suggestion a few chapters back about Neelix and Sugary cereal made in here.

Janeway-or-the-highway: Glad you're reviewing again! And you do much better than I do on consistent reviewing. And for now, Kathryn's Katie, though you'll see her be called Kathryn by a few sources. I occasionally slip up myself.

Now, let's go.

"And once again, James asked Leonard for sugar cereal," Spock explained.

"How very…illogical," T'Pol [1], the stoic child seated to the right of Spock, exclaimed. Well, a normal person would exclaim. Her tone just rose slightly, then fell once more.

"Indeed," Stonn, another teenager eating at the table, agreed.

Listening to their conversation, it was hardly believable that these serious, logical people were teenagers. Or even humans. Yet every member of the Club of Stoic Children [2] was guilty of both offenses, though they did a pretty good job of hiding it.

Each day during lunch, the Stoic Children would all sit together at one of the many tables in the lunch room, eat their vegetarian lunches, and discuss logic, rationality, and their siblings.

"My sister gave my siblings sugar cereal," Tuvok spoke up.

"Illogical," Stonn immediately dismissed the argument.

"Irrational," T'Pring chimed in.

"No," Tuvok replied. "The alternative was to cook. To cook would be to invite Neelix to the stove, and as he always ends up taking over at that point, not offering us sugar cereal is the least logical option."

All the Stoic Children shook their heads. Sampling Neelix's terrible cooking could even get a rise out of them in the form of violent retching.

"But what of offering you non-sugar cereal?" T'Pol suggested. "Would that not be the more logical choice?"

"Having sugary cereal is the only option to keep Neelix away from the stove."

"Ah," Spock nodded in understanding. Now that was logical. For all his terrible cooking, Neelix was still a child. Meeting his demands halfway, similar to how Katie had dealt with Harry's request for a clarinet, was bound to cause disagreement and disappointment, but it was an acceptable solution.

Behind them, a shout of laughter rang out from one of the tables. Spock turned to see that it was James and his friends, loudly enjoying themselves as they always did. It seemed as though they were playing one of the most illogical games Spock knew: telephone [3]. Perhaps that was why Will and James were laughing, Kathryn [4] looked slightly put out (but amused), Deanna and Katherine were seemingly trying hard not to laugh, and Worf wore an expression of pure mortification on his face. Obviously, an innocent communication had been severely distorted, judging from their reactions, anyway. That was exactly why Spock found the game to be illogical: there was no real objective, in his eyes anyway.

"Illogical," T'Pau, one of the more highly-respected of the Stoic Children, declared.

"Indeed," agreed Tuvok.

And they proceeded to talk about logical fallacies in their siblings' arguments against them. Privately, Spock wished James would sit at this table, even if he only did once. It would greatly improve his capacity for logic, and perhaps it would gain Spock an ally against Leonard.

Which was only a logical thought. Not part of a nonexistent and very illogical fantasy of seeing how well Leonard would take the loss of his most supportive sibling in the endless conflict against his logical younger brother.

"I wish Spock would sit at our table sometime," James was declaring at exactly the same moment. "It would be a good thing for him. Perhaps he'd learn to loosen up a bit."

"Tuvok too," Katie agreed. "I might even be able to repay him for all he's taught me over the years." Her expression became thoughtful. Although Tuvok was a year younger than she was, he had a remarkable amount of knowledge and wisdom which he never hesitated to share with her.

"Don't worry about them," Deanna, a very emphatic sophomore who sat with them, suggested gently. "They wouldn't be content here as they are with more like-minded individuals."

"We'd probably make them short-circuit," agreed Will with a grin. "Sometimes I swear that that's what's happening to Data when he heard us talk."

"Kid just doesn't get it," groaned Katherine. She had a problem with Data for whatever reason, even harder to explain than Leonard and Spock's need to argue.

"He will," Will declared confidently. "I know he will. Just give him time to get past the short-circuiting phase."

"And judging someone as you do without him knowing is dishonorable," growled Worf.

"You say about half a billion things are dishonorable every day, Worf," Katherine sighed. "Soon enough I suppose everything will be dishonorable in some way."

"Including bitchy teenage sisters [5]," Will deadpanned. Deanna swatted him. Next to the two, Janice smirked. Barely a day went by without Deanna smacking her former boyfriend for something he said. Considering what typically came out of his mouth, no one blamed her.

"Hahaha," Katherine replied sarcastically. "Anyway, back to the Data issue. We've given him more than three years now to adapt and he hasn't been able to do it."

"Jean-Luc says it'll take time," Will argued, rubbing the shoulder Deanna had slapped absentmindedly as he spoke. He was an unusual person: he could go from teasing to serious within a minute's notice. "After all, we haven't exactly had it easy either and look how we are today."

"And I'm sure Jean-Luc would understand emotional issues like this," Katherine argued back, sarcasm dripping from her words once more. "He never once shed a tear when our parents died." [6]

"Which is exactly why he would understand this shell-shocked behavior."

"Which is exactly why he might not be right about this!"

"On the contrary, I believe Jean-Luc's refusal to give in to his emotions after the deaths of our parents was due to a need to retain his honor in front of us," Worf entered the conversation.

"Honor had nothing to do with it!" Katherine declared.

"I wonder what it's like at their dinner table," Katie whispered to James, who snickered.

"Where did he pick up all that honor stuff anyway?" Janice asked Deanna on the other side of the table.

"No clue," Deanna replied.

All in all, it was a regular lunch. And a loud one. Ah, to be a teen.

[1]: I've never seen ENT, so T'Pol as a background kiso around Spock will be the best I got for now.

[2]: Vulcans. I really couldn't think of anything better. It's really dumb, I know, but I'd be glad to hear suggestions.

[3]: AKA the game my friends and I play early three times a week. Ah, to be an illogical, immature high schooler.

[4]: Spock doesn't use nicknames, as previously noted in Totally Illogical. Hence the "Kathryn" here.

[5]: This is what Katherine Pulaski reminded me of a little throughout her run on the show. Maybe it's just me though.

[6]: Aaand there goes the angst. Yay. This actually has a logical explanation: I noticed every regular on TNG had at maximum one birth parent still alive on the show (not counting adoptions). Actually, this plot line in this story has the potential to become a prequel if I ever finish this story…

Please review and thank you!