This was just so strange. Izaya was being showed to the quarters (room) he would be staying in while he was on this ship for who knows how long. He would be staying on a starship in the future on the other side of the galaxy from earth. It was a bit hard to process, even for him. He felt a little awkward, but at least this Mr. Kim was trying to be polite, even if he looked like he felt awkward as well. They got into a turbo lift (which seemed like the future name for an elevator, although it was voice activated, since it started moving after he said deck 10.)
Occasionally Izaya noticed Mr. Kim would glance at him, as though not knowing what to do around him. He seemed wary of Izaya, which he supposed was understandable.
"It's a good thing we had a spare room you could stay in." Kim tried.
"Mmm. Is that the only place where there are spare rooms?"
"I'm not sure actually. We just thought it would be a good idea to have a guest staying near where the mess hall is, like if they don't have any duties they need to do."
"Okay."
"I'm sure that doesn't make much of a difference to you though." Kim said but looked like he immediately seemed to regret it.
Izaya sighed, figuring he meant that getting to the mess hall would be easy for him from anywhere and that I could easily entertain himself with his Q powers. It was an understandable assumption to make.
"I suppose so. Thank you anyways."
Mr. Kim looked a little relieved and surprised by Izaya's response.
"You're welcome."
The turbo lift got to deck 10, and Izaya continued to follow the other to where he would be staying. The doors of the rooms they passed reminded him of elevator doors.
"So it must be pretty strange being here, right?"
Izaya sighed.
"Yes."
They stopped in front of one of them, and the doors slid open. Izaya followed him inside.
"Okay, so when others want to come in they press that button on the outside and can't enter until you say they can come in. Through there is a bathroom."
Izaya looked around the room. It was very plain looking, although a different style from what he normally saw. There was a bed, a dresser, and he could see the door to the bathroom. Everything seemed to be of darker colors, mostly grays and silvers. Yet, there were also some blacks and navy blues. The walls reminded him of the walls on the inside of an airplane, soft looking like a carpet but still sturdy. These were gray like most of the ship was.
"You can always put more stuff around here to make it seem more personal."
"Mmhmm."
"Oh, also."
He handed Izaya a small metallic badge. There was a silverish piece that looked almost like a triangle but with a slanted inwards curve at the bottom, that was on and connected to a circular gold piece.
"This is your combadge. It's required for everyone staying on the ship to wear one. That way we can reach you, locate where you are, and possibly get a lock on you from the transporter. It's more of an in case of emergency thing to have. You must have it with you at all times. And if you're sleeping or showering, at least have it nearby."
Izaya nodded.
"Alright." He took it and looked it over. "How do I-"
"You just place it over the fabric of your clothes, push a little, it should stick on."
Izaya did as instructed and it worked.
"That's kinda cool."
Kim showed a small amused smile at that.
"Ok, so if you want to communicate with someone, you just tap on the badge, say your name and say to whoever it is you are trying to communicate with. Like this." He tapped his badge.
"Kim to Izaya." The voice came out of the badge. "And then to respond you would tap the badge and say your name here."
Izaya decided to try it. He tapped his badge and said, "Izaya here." He heard his voice come out of the other's badge. Kim nodded at that.
"Yep, and then we can continue to talk through it without having to tap it, until one of us says our name and out then tap it again." Which he then did.
Izaya nodded.
"Alright."
"So, let me know if you need anything or have any questions. You know how to get a hold of me. I will probably show you around the ship tomorrow, possibly with my friend Tom Paris."
"Alright, thank you. What's your name again?"
"Ensign Harry Kim. On this ship I usually get called by my rank and last name except for by friends."
"Alright."
"So, if you get hungry or anything, just head over to the mess hall. We passed it on the way here. If you're not sure how to get somewhere, just ask the computer and it should give you instructions on how to get there. Unfortunately, we have limited replicators, so you will definitely need to go there to get something to eat. We don't have any that aren't being used.
I will say though, that the captain doesn't want you just wandering around by yourself around the ship, for security reasons, so it may be a good idea to go with me or Lieutenant Paris somewhere, like if you wanted to do something."
"Alright. Um, what are replicators?"
Kim's eyes widened slightly.
"Oh right. I kinda forgot that you're from the past. Um, it's a type of machine that can recreate any kind of food you want."
"Wait, seriously?"
"Yeah. Although since replicator rations are low, we try to recommend going to the fresh food from kitchen first."
"You keep mentioning that you are low on resources. Also, I never really heard how you ended up on the other side of the galaxy. Was it perhaps, an accident?"
"Yes it was actually. But it's a long story that would probably be better for another time. I have some more work I have to get to, so I should get back to my station on the bridge. Again, don't be afraid to contact me if you need anything. The Captain wanted to make sure that you are well attended to while you are here."
"Alright. Thank you again."
"You're welcome." Kim bowed and left to go back to his station. Izaya sighed again. He stood there, looking over the room again. He was thinking about everything that had happened today and groaned at the thought. He flopped on the bed, not really wanting to do anything right now. He didn't exactly know yet what he could do on the ship anyways. His chauffeur might as well had ordered him to his room for the night.
The was a clock on the table next to the bed. It was a bit late, but Izaya was used to working really late for work.
It had been a long day though, so he might as well get ready for bed. He went into the bathroom, got undressed, and went over to the shower. After he opened the door and stepped in, he realized though that he didn't know how to use this shower. There wasn't a nob to turn the shower on. He didn't even see a nozzle for the water to come out of. One wall of the shower had lit up circles lining the whole side, which reminded him of what the side of a solar panel looked like.
Hmm. Maybe that Mr. Kim knows how to work this thing?
"What the heck!?"
Izaya gasped and opened the shower door slightly to see Ensign Kim in his bathroom, looking bewildered. Izaya screamed. Kim jolted, looked to him, but immediately looked away when he saw that Izaya was in the shower. Izaya was thankful when his towel suddenly appeared wrapped around himself.
"How the heck did you get in here!?"
"I-I don't know! I was almost back to the bridge when all of the sudden I was here. I swear."
Izaya thought for a moment, when he remembered that he was wondering if Mr. Kim knew how to work this a moment before Kim showed up. Izaya leaned on the wall behind him and sighed.
"It's probably my fault."
"What do you mean?"
"I...I was thinking that you probably knew how to get this shower to work right before you appeared here. I must have brought you here without realizing it. I'm sorry. I promise I didn't purposefully mean to bring you here over something like that. I don't quite have a handle on these Q powers yet."
Mr. Kim still looked bewildered and like he felt awkward, but a sense of understanding came across his face.
"Alright. Um, I thought you'd had your powers before though."
"I had these powers when I was a child, and recently got them back again, so I'm not quite used to them yet."
This was so embarrassing.
"Alright." Mr. Kim clearly did not know what to say to that in this awkward situation.
"Well, uh, since I'm here, do you want me to help you with that?"
Izaya sighed and nodded, thankful that this ensign Kim seemed to be a nice guy even during such an embarrassing situation. Izaya gripped his towel around himself tighter before stepping out. Kim made sure to look away from him.
Izaya, with his free hand, motioned towards the shower.
"So, how do you get this shower to work?"
"Well, first off, it's a sonic shower."
"A sonic shower? What's that?"
"A sonic shower is basically a shower that uses sonic pulse vibrations to remove the dirt off of your body. Most people agree that it feels very relaxing."
"Hmm."
"I suggest you try it. And if you don't like it, I can ask if you can stay in a room with a normal bathtub."
"Alright."
"Anyways. The shower, like many things on this ship, is voice activated. You get in, stand where you want to in front of those circles, you say 'computer start sonic shower', and it starts."
"A-alright."
Izaya got back in, carefully taking the towel so that he was still covered.
"Oh, um, t-thank you. And sorry again about this."
"It's alright. This crew has been through some weird stuff, so it's not the first time I've been whisked somewhere by surprise. Let me know if you have any more trouble with anything. I'll see you tomorrow." He walked out.
Izaya sighed and faced the wall with the circles. As soon as he was sure that Mr. Kim was out of his quarters, his towel reappeared next to the shower.
"Computer activate sonic shower." The computer made a beep noise, and then he heard the vibrations start. He could feel the vibrations all around him. It felt warm and nice. The feeling was like one of those vibrating massagers. But without the weight of the metal massager. He could feel the dirt all over him being removed from his body. It felt very good. He sighed as he enjoyed the feeling of everything yucky being vibrated off of his body. He could get used to this. Afterwards he felt cleaner than he ever had after a normal shower or bath. The shower also left him feeling very relaxed and sleepy. He was almost too tired to get some clothes on.
Just as he thought that, a pair of short sleeve white silk pajamas appeared on his body. This wasn't something he would normally wear, but at the moment he didn't really care. He practically floated to his bed. Never before had he fallen to sleep so easily before.
It was a shame that he couldn't keep the restful sleep.
A/N: I'm sorry for the short chapter this time. I had trouble deciding how long to make chapter three. I almost cut it after Q disappears again, but thought it worked better where I ended it yet. I don't really have a set definite length for every chapter to be. At least this update was soon after chapter 3 though. Let me know what you think. Also let me know if you have any questions.
I had trouble describing what *Neelix looks like tbh. I posted an image of him on AO3 if you wanted to look at that, (or you could always google it lol).
