Alex Pov:
Starbase Yorktown was as magnificent as they had said it would be. It was a man made planet that was practically self-sufficient. Claire and I got off of the ship that had brought us, and made our way to our apartment in a couple of transporter tubes. We reached our apartment, and I unlocked the door.
"Ready?" I asked Claire, reaching out for the handle, grasping it in my hand.
"Ready," Claire responded with a smile, placing her hand on top of mine.
Together we turned the handle, opening the door to our new home. It was a three bedroom apartment with two bathrooms. I had one bathroom in what was to be my room, and there was one that would be Claire's that would also be used for company. The extra room was going to be an office and entertainment room with a foldout couch for any company who might come to stay.
As we set foot into our main living space, which was bigger than any of the rooms, but still not very big. We would be able to fit a couch and some book shelves, as well as a table and chairs for us to eat our meals at. The kitchen was a good enough size that we would be able to cook when we wanted and place take out on the counter when we didn't.
Other than the unpacking that we needed to do our apartment was otherwise set up with our furniture and the spaces were nicely filled. I let Claire make her way into her room, as I made my way into mine. I grabbed a couple of boxes, opening up a few, and started hanging up my Starfleet uniforms and casual clothing. I also moved my dresser into my closet to keep all of my clothing in the same place, and moved my bedroom around to resemble what it had looked like in my old place. I was a creature of habit, and I wasn't ready to run into any furniture or anything.
Once I had my room settled, and the things that I needed for the next day unpacked and put away, I went to check on Claire. I walked over to her room, knocking on the door, waiting before walking in.
"Come in," I heard Claire say in a soft voice.
"Hey sweetie," I said, opening the door. She was unpacking her books and already had her clothes put away, along with having her bed made, "You hungry? I was thinking we could go walk around and find somewhere to go eat and then do some grocery shopping."
"Yeah, sure," Claire replied, continuing to put her books up on their shelves.
"Okay, then," I smiled, "I'll go get ready, and meet you by the door in fifteen."
"Okay, mom."
I made my way back to my room and got ready, throwing my hair up into a pony tail and throwing on some tennis shoes to go with my tank top and capri look. I grabbed my bag, and I walked to the door, meeting Claire there before going out for the night.
John Pov:
I awoke to Cap shaking my arm, trying to get me up.
"I don't want dinner Cap," I said, flipping myself over, so I wouldn't face him.
"Well, good, cause I'm here to get you up for breakfast," he replied with a chuckle, "You were asleep when I came to get you last night, and I figured you had decided to go to bed early when you wouldn't respond. So now it's time for breakfast."
"Oh," I yawned out, sitting up, "I'll be right there."
Cap walked out of my cabin, and I got ready for my day. I got dressed, and grabbed my pack, making my way to the cafeteria. I made sure my school supplies and headphones were in there along with my drawing supplies, and walked through the door. It was just me and a few of the other red and blue shirts. The main crew was up on the bridge already, so I didn't have to deal with any of them. I ate, and then made my way to the archive room. No one ever went in there because there was never much reason for them to do research, but even when they did go in, none of the crew could really find me in the corner.
I walked over behind the shelves, and threw in one of my earbuds, that way I would still be able to hear if Cap called me to the bridge. I pulled out a few of my old Klignon lessons, studying them, the way the words looked, the way they sounded. I made the separate sounds, forming the words silently to myself, then saying them aloud more progressively. I wanted to be ready when Uhura quizzed me during my next lessons. I proceeded to look up an archived book on medicines and started to read through it, knowing I was going to be starting more lessons with McCoy whenever he was able to teach me.
"John, please report to the bridge," an overhead voice announced, causing me to put my things away and make my way to the bridge.
I reached the bridge with my bag slung over my shoulder. I kept my head down so I wouldn't make any knowing eye contact with Spock or Uhura, or even McCoy for that matter. I looked ahead to Cap's chair, stopping just within earshot to listen to overhear him and McCoy having a similar conversation to the night before.
"Hey Cap, McCoy," I announced myself as I got closer to the chair, not wanting to hear that conversation again.
"Hey kid," McCoy responded. Jim, however, kept looking at me with that same look he had given me the night before. I avoided eye contact with him by just looking at Bones, trying to keep my energy the same it had been before.
"You wanted to see me Cap?" I asked, running a hand through my hair and looking towards him.
"Oh, uh yeah, you're with Bones today," Jim said, adding, "You doing okay bud?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," I responded.
"Your tone does not denote…"
"Not the time Spock," I interrupted, "So Bones, lead the way." I made my way to the door, waiting for Bones at the door to the bridge.
"Jim, may I speak to you for a moment?" I heard Spock ask Jim as McCoy made his way over to me.
"What's up Spock?" Jim questioned him in reply, as McCoy nodded at me to walk out the door.
"I have a concern about John…"
That was all I heard, but I knew it was more about me and I didn't want to hear it. I followed Bones down to the medbay, and set my bag down where he always had me place it. I sat in a chair waiting for him to tell me what to do, but in return I only got a stare like he would typically be giving Cap.
"What?" I asked him in a curt tone.
"Oh you know what," he replied in his usual knowing tone, "I've been with Jim for awhile, and I can smell bad when it's near me. So spill."
"I overheard you guys last night," I said quietly, realizing that we weren't going to be doing any work today. I pulled out my sketchbook and pencils, getting ready to draw.
"You really never go anywhere without that sketchbook do you?"
"I didn't have it when I went to find you last night," I sniped at him.
"Of course you went looking for me, what's the only rational thing for Jim to do?" McCoy asked rhetorically, chuckling to himself, "You two are a lot alike."
"Probably because everything I've ever known is him, I'm never going to get my old self back. All I know to do is what Cap would do. He just happened to find you first."
"So what did you need to ask me last night?" Bones asked me.
"Why is Cap giving me that look? The one he was giving me this morning. I didn't mean to call him that, and now I've got Spock "concerned," so that's a whole thing in and of itself," I groaned out, sketching out Bones with his signature look.
"Spock concerned? Now that's something I'd pay to see. And Jim," McCoy sighed out, "Well Jim has father issues, so he'll never be ready to be a father, even though he probably already is somewhere."
I laughed at the joke, and stared hard at McCoy, "Do you think he'll get over it and just let it drop?"
"Spock or Jim?" McCoy asked with a joking tone, "But seriously, no I don't think he'll just drop it. Although, I don't believe he'll talk to you about it very soon either. Just let it work it's own way out. He just needs to figure everything out for himself."
"Yay, so maybe I should take that time on Yorktown that he was telling me about."
"What are you talking about?" McCoy asked me quickly, looking confused.
"He didn't tell you? He wanted me to think over staying on Starbase Yorktown until the ship comes back around to refuel for the trip home. He thinks it would be good for me to have some extended time off the ship. To go to an actual school and meet people my own age. He said we could work it out if he could find somewhere for me to stay."
"Girls?" Bones asked in response.
"What?" I queried in response, looking up from my nearly finished sketch of Bones.
"He said girls specifically didn't he?"
I laughed, "Yeah he did."
"But wait, that would mean that you wouldn't be around for the next couple of years, wouldn't it? Jim's really gonna just let you go like that?"
"I guess. So are we done here?" I asked, packing up my stuff. I left the sketch of Bones sitting on the table where I had been sitting.
"Yeah, I've gotta go find Jim," McCoy said sternly, "Oh and by the way if you see Spock, I was never here."
"Whatever you say Bones," I said laughing, heading off to my cabin.
