Jukebox Hero

Rated: G
Category: Quintuple Drabble. Rok. Jankom. Found Family. Jankom Pog Can Fix It!
Time Frame: Post Season One.
Spoilers: General Series Knowledge Only. One Line From "Asylum."
Summary: Puns are fun. They can also be hurtful and misunderstood. But good friends can fix that.
Note: Written for the Thirty Days of Prodigy prompt of "favorite character." With thanks to Foreigner for the title.

Rok growled.

And not the normal Brikar way that the universal translator turned into Federation Standard, but in the "I'm very frustrated, so leave me alone" way.

Too bad that Jankom wasn't one for picking up on cues – or at least not all of them.

He caught up to her in the hallway as she tried to sneak away to her quarters after her lessons.

"What's wrong, kid?"

"Nothing," groused Rok, turning away from him.

"Aw, come on, you can tell Jankom. Jankom is good at secret-keeping."

Rok looked unimpressed, but answered anyway.

"It's not a secret."

"So you can tell me!" said Jankom, excited.

Rok sighed. "Or it's not a secret to anyone but me, anyway."

Jankom looked confused. "You lost me."

"Everyone knows but me!"

"Knows what?"

"They all keep saying it and I don't know what it means, and I… I…"

Rok trailed off, sniffling a little.

Jankom held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Whoa, slow down. Who keeps saying what now?"

"The other kids. They keep saying I should be a 'rock star' and giggling. Like that guy at the space station. And I don't get it. What do rocks have to do with stars? Do they think I'm dumb?"

To his credit, Jankom didn't laugh. He did bite his lip for just a second to hold one in, but he didn't laugh.

Instead, he started walking down the hall again.

"Come with me, kid," he said, waving a hand for Rok to follow.

Now it was Rok's turn to look confused, and to her credit, she didn't ask why. She just followed.

Several turns of the corridor later, they were in Jankom's quarters.

"Computer," he called, "play 'The Immigrant Song'."

Almost immediately, loud music filled the room.

Rok put her hands over her ears, and then Jankom did laugh.

"Computer, fifty-percent volume."

The noise level dropped, and Rok put her hands down.

"What is this?" she asked.

"This," said Jankom proudly, "is rock and roll, the greatest music ever invented anywhere. And… hold on a sec… computer, display accompanying video, main screen."

The largest screen in Jankom's quarters then came to life, showing a long-haired human dancing and singing on a stage.

"And that," said Jankom, "is a rock star. One of the coolest things anyone can be."

It took a second, but then Rok's eyes widened.

"So they think I'm cool?"

"If they don't, they're the dumb ones," said Jankom, wisely ignoring that it was likely just a play on words and Brikar physiology.

Rok smiled, and after a moment, she looked thoughtfully at the screen.

"Are there more of them?" she asked.

"Tons," answered Jankom.

What followed was a night of musical introductions and impromptu lip-syncing and air guitar the likes of which the temporary housing units on the academy grounds had rarely seen.

And if anyone was bothered by a Brikar belting out Queen's "We Will Rock You" at two in the morning, no one was brave enough to say anything.

A/N:We're all ignoring the fact that Trek characters are still obsessed with the 20th Century, right? Right. Besides, I can really see Tellarites digging classic rock. And I realize now that this fic is not obvious as to who my favorite character is. I'll let you guess. Oh, and this one is all for lpff, my very own Jankom Pog.