Emmy had skipped actually entering the mess for lunch, deciding to grab a rations pack and stay in her room. When dinner rolled around, she'd decided to go to the mess for dinner and hoped that it would be quieter for her, but sadly she was mistaken. She'd arrived late, hoping to miss any of the other 'popular kids' who wished to apologize to her…or even worse, try and make conversation from their feelings of guilt. But surprisingly, even though she had been wrong about missing any of them and one of the 'popular kids' did join her, it hadn't turned out too bad, Emmy decided with a small smile as she thought back on the conversation she'd had with Commander Richards—Kat, as she demanded to be called.
Emmy sat down at the exact table she'd eaten breakfast at, even though most of the mess hall was empty. She liked the familiarity.
Glancing around discreetly, Emmy was pleased to see that none of the 'popular bridge kids' were there. Relaxing, she began to eat, happy that she was able to enjoy her meal warm, instead of chilled as it had been after speaking with Captain Kirk.
She was halfway done with her food when the mess doors opened and Commander Richards walked in, heading for the replicators. Emmy breathed a sigh of relief because she hadn't been noticed, and began to eat again.
"God, replicator food sucks, you know?" Commander Richards said, plopping down gracefully in the seat across from Emmy.
She nodded, not sure exactly what to say.
"How are you?" the Commander asked as though they were friends.
"I'm well, Commander Richards," Emmy replied formally.
"Blah. My name is Kat, which I'm ordering you to call me. Don't pull that formal crap with me; it's like the bane of my existence," Kat spat, her face scrunched up in annoyance.
"Okay…Kat," Emmy replied hesitantly.
"So, Emmy, I've decided that we're going to be best friends," Kat said with a smile.
"You decided?" Emmy questioned slowly, becoming confused.
"Yup," Kat answered brightly as she began to munch on plain crackers and carbonated water, a combo most commonly used to cure an upset stomach.
"Are you sick?" Emmy couldn't help but ask, the nurse in her shining through.
"No, my stomach's just a little upset today, probably something I ate yesterday. I'm not concerned, but Kirk is like a nagging old lady sometimes, so I just gave in and got some water and crackers. It should settle my stomach just fine," Kat replied, taking a nibble of one of her crackers.
"Why did you pick me to be best friends with?" Emmy couldn't help but ask quietly.
"Oh that's easy. Because you're not a slut throwing yourself at Kirk, plus, once you get together with Spock we can totally double date," Kat said with a smile as Emmy swallowed her drink wrong.
"Not that I am a slut, but how can you tell?" Emmy asked curiously after clearing her throat.
"Right corner of the mess hall. There are five girls, all part of the CJTKFC, which stands for Captain James Tiberius Kirk Fan Club. They don't care that he's not single. If they get the chance to put moves on him, they go for it. And you're not one of them," Kat said with a small laugh while Emmy watched the group the Kat was speaking about. They were indeed glaring heavily in this direction.
"Well…at least it's only five girls, right?" she asked Kat, trying to bring some positive light to it all.
"If only, my dear Emmy, if only. It's like this; there are the CJTKFC girls, and let me tell you there are a whole hell of a lot of them, then there are the gay men that think I'm using Kirk, then the lesbians that think that Kirk's using me, then the group who don't believe it's healthy for the ship's Captain to be in a relationship on board, and then the 1% who just don't care," Kat rattled off, taking a drink of water.
"I didn't know you both were so popular," Emmy mused, wondering how she had missed all of this.
"I'm not—he is. If we broke up and he got a new girlfriend or fuck buddy, all the attention and hate I've been getting would be transferred to her," Kat said quietly.
"Then you must really like him to deal with all that," Emmy murmured, in silent awe knowing she could never handle all of that attention.
"Oh, I love him, but I'll never tell him," Kat answered with a smirk.
"Why not?" Emmy questioned back.
"Because if I tell him, he'll get bored, and we're only six months out in this five year journey. I like my position on the bridge and don't want it to be awkward, so I let him lead, but damn, is he slow about it. I figure it'll take another six months till we're actually gf/bf unless he gives in to one of the many temptations around this ship," Kat said seriously.
"You don't trust him?" Emmy couldn't help but ask.
"It's not that I don't trust him, it's…okay it's like this. Kirk wants what his parents had, but is scared he'd leave a wife and child alone due to his duty and the cycle would repeat. When he gets close and there's pressure, he jumps ship and takes the easy way out. But he knows once he jumps ship from the U.S.S. Kat he's lost every right to her, so hopefully he'll think before he fully leaps," Kat said softly with a sad smile.
"Moving on from my drama, how big is he?" Kat asked with a large grin.
"What?...Wait…what?" Emmy stumbled to answer, totally thrown from the quick change in topic.
"Spock! Duh, how big is he? Is he good in bed?" Kat asked, grin still in place.
"Umm…I'd rather not answer," Emmy said quietly.
"Damn. He's small, isn't he?" Kat guessed with a sympathetic grin.
"NO! He's not," Emmy blurted out before she could process what she was saying, her face going bright red.
"Really? How big?" Kat asked deviously.
"I don't know," Emmy answered quietly.
"Well, was he the biggest you've ever had?" Kat asked with a grin.
"Sort of," Emmy replied, knowing it was all about to come out.
"How sort of?" Kat questioned, her face scrunching up in confusion. "Unless…he's the only one you've ever had," she continued, realization falling upon her.
Emmy couldn't answer. She was frozen with embarrassment.
"Well damn," Kat said leaning back in her chair, her face serious.
Silence descended over the table.