Author's note- I didn't write Chekov as he would normal speak since I didn't want to offend anyone or get some of the words wrong. Enjoy! :)
The Enterprise seemed so much bigger than it looked on its schematics, every hall Lexie walked down seemed to go on forever. In a way it was kind of over whelming just the sheer size of the thing, but Lexie tried not to think of it that way, she saw it as the start of her space adventure, besides it wouldn't look good if she didn't know where she was going. 'At least I'll get my daily steps in.' She thought to herself as she turned a corner to walk down yet another long hallway, she had a good sense of direction so had no worries about not finding her way back to her quarters, even if she did get lost she would be too shy to ask someone for directions.
As she walked down the halls she noticed that the few officers that were about kept staring at her, some of them even seemed to whisper to one another as she walked past. It wasn't as if Lexie didn't know the reason for their stares, it was very obvious. They were all gawking at her eyes since they stood out so much because they were different. However, Lexie was used to this type of thing given that it happened constantly throughout her time at the Academy. She was often the target of teasing because of her condition but she never took what people said seriously, well she did at the beginning. There was a time when she believed that being different was a curse however, she soon learned that being different was something special, this was thanks to a small handful of people who actually complimented her eyes much like how McCoy had done.
Lexie soon stumbled her way into one of the rec rooms, which was full of officers enjoying some down time. She was contemplating just walking straight back out since she hated being in crowded places, but knew that she would have to do this sooner or later. It wasn't like back at the Academy were she could avoid people by simply heading off into the city, on a star ship there weren't many places to go, so she made her way over to an empty chair which sat next to a large window. She stared out at the stars which were rushing past, they were more like blurs than stars, Lexie was still over the moon that she was finally on a star ship heading off to explore strange new parts of the universe. This was her dream, one that kept her going through some tough times in her life which she was hoping to forget all about. Lexie was hoping to leave all of the bad memories back on Earth and to start making new ones in space, alongside Delta. Just then she saw a reflection in the window of someone standing beside her. Lexie turned to see a group of about five male officers standing there all wearing red uniforms much like herself, they looked a little older than her, maybe in their early twenties. Lexie felt her anxiety level shoot up and her heart begin to race.
"Hey, we've never seen you onboard before, you must be one of the new crew members we picked up before our mission started." One of them said, Lexie just nodded slowly. "Yeah I am." "What's wrong with your eyes?" Asked another, she knew one of them would say that. "It's a medical condition I have." She stated slowly, "Is it contagious?" Another asked, "No it's not, I was born with it." It didn't take long for the group to all be taking it in turns to mock her eyes. Lexie could have just walked away however she was frozen with nerves. The men carried on for well over five minutes and had even started to get physical with Lexie, mainly touching her shoulders or stroking her hair. She finally plucked up the courage to say something to them, "Please just leave me alone." "Aww you hear that lads, the weirdo wants us to leave." They all laughed at Lexie who was on the verge of breaking down into tears.
When suddenly a voice spoke out in a thick Russian accent, "Leave her alone." She looked up to see a young man in a yellow uniform standing behind the men, "What makes you think it's alright to tease someone just because they're different." The young officer said, the group turned to face him. "We'll say what we like." One of them said, "You can't go around teasing people on this ship." "Oh yeah, and what are you gonna do?" One asked as he cracked his knuckles, Lexie felt her heart beat faster. Was she really going to cause a fight? The young man simply smiled, "I won't do anything however, I know someone who will be very interested in hearing about all of this." The grouped exchanged looks between themselves before one turned back to face the Russian, "And who would that be?" "Mr Scott of course. I'm sure he would have plenty to say about the fact you're harassing this girl and believe you me he takes this sort of thing very seriously, so I suggest you leave before I com Mr Scott to come up here to deal with the situation, because I can guarantee that he wouldn't just have a stern talking to you." The mere mention of the Commanders name was enough to make the men run off, much to Lexie's relief. Clearly the ships Chief Engineer scared some of the officers.
"Are you alright?" The young officer asked softly, Lexie just nodded. "I'm fine, thank you." The officer placed himself in the seat opposite her, "They didn't hurt you did they?" He asked, Lexie shook her head. "No." "You're one of the new officers aren't you?" Lexie just nodded; she was too nervous to speak. She wasn't very good at talking to new people which is why she didn't have many friends at the Academy. "I'm Ensign Pavel Chekov. What's your name?" There was something in the way the Ensign spoke which seemed to make Lexie less nervous, she couldn't tell if it was his accent, or just how softly he spoke, or maybe even both of them but, she could tell that he wasn't like the men before, he seemed kind. "I'm Lieutenant Lexie Smith." Chekov smiled softly at her. "It's a pleasure to meet you Lieutenant." "Please, call me Lexie." She replied as she smiled slightly. She then saw Chekov staring at her, obviously he had noticed her eyes, she braced herself for a comment. "Your eyes are wonderful." Lexie was surprised, that wasn't the comment she was expecting. "You really think so?" Chekov nodded quickly, "Yes, I do." "Thanks Chekov." The two of them looked at each other, "I can't believe what those men were saying." Chekov stated. "It's nothing I haven't heard before." Lexie replied, she then changed the subject not wanting the officer to ask about her past. "So, what do you do on the ship?" Lexie asked finally, "I work as Navigator on the bridge, what about you?" Chekov asked, his accent had slightly softened but not much, "I'll be working down in Engineering, Mr Scott gave me today to settle in." The two of them continued to talk for a while.
A while turned into an hour, the both of them hadn't noticed how much time had passed until they looked around to see that the rec room was now basically empty. "Wow when did it become so late?" Questioned Chekov, Lexie just shook her head. "I best be heading back to my quarters." She said as she stood up, closely followed by Chekov. "And I should be heading up to the bridge, I have a shift starting in a little while and I can guarantee that it will take me a few attempts to log into my station." Lexie tilted her head, "Why's that?" "The computer has a hard time understanding my accent sometimes, maybe during this mission it will start to understand it." Chekov smiled; Lexie couldn't help but laugh. The two of them walked towards the doors and left the rec room together. "I'm heading that way, take it your heading the other way?" Chekov said as he gestured down the hall. "Yeah. Thank you again for what you did Chekov, I hope we see each other again soon." Chekov smiled, "I hope so too. Have a good night Lexie." "I will, have a good shift." The two of them then turned their backs on each other and walked off, Lexie was feeling very proud of herself. It was the first time she had actually sat and talked to another officer without feeling anxious.