Friends?

Posted on Sunday October 18th, 2020 @ 12:14am by Cadet Freshman Grade Chloe Graydon & Petty Officer 1st Class Jaxson Morris

1,943 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Shakedown Cruise
Location: Mess Hall
Timeline: Day 4 - 1400 Hours

Chloe walked into the mess hall and looked around, trying to find an empty table. It was busy in the mess hall for some strange reason. Seeing no spare tables, she looked instead for someone to sit with. She spotted someone who looked close to her age, and walked over. “Hey.” She said in greeting. “It’s a bit full in here...mind if I sit with you?” She asked.

Jax was off duty that day and had decided to spend it roaming the ship, seeing who he might run into. He'd chosen a simple look, a pair of black sweats and a white muscle shirt, and was sitting at a table all by himself enjoying a burger and some crunchy fries. When he heard someone speak he turned his head to see who it was and noticed one of the cadets standing by his table. "Um, sure..." he said a bit surprised she'd approached. He hadn't had much interaction with the cadets yet and didn't even know her name.

Scooting his tray a little to make room for her to put her's down he then held out his left hand for a quick shake, "Jax," he said, by way of introduction.

Chloe places her tray down and took his hand, shaking. “Chloe, good to meet you, Jax.” She said, taking her seat. “So.” She paused to put a fork full of food into her mouth. “What do you do here?” She asked with a smile.

"Propulsion specialist, keeping up with the stuff that makes us move," Jax answered, moving to take a bit of his burger. "What about you?"

"I'm one of the cadets, which you obviously know." She said, realizing her mistake as she said it. "Sorry...I work in Ops, doing odd bits and pieces." She replied.

Pursing his lips and nodding as she spoke Jax reached out and grabbed a fry, dunking it in ketchup before biting into it. "Sounds like it could be interesting. Probably never gets boring, that's for sure. Just doing odd bits and pieces," he said with a smile. "What year you in?" he asked.

"First Year, only recently started. Mum's Starfleet through and through so couldn't go anywhere else but the Academy." She answered. "How long have you been with Starfleet? Any interesting postings?" She asked.

"Been out of the STSA for almost four years now. Can't say I've had any interesting postings yet, honestly. Just pretty routine stuff. You looking for adventure?" he asked, taking a sip of his drink.

Chloe let out a small laugh. "No, just here to learn. Hopefully a cadet cruise is going to be the best place to learn things. Even if there are some slight...hiccups...along the way." She replied, looking down slightly.

Jax gave her an odd look, curious, but also not wanting to overstep. He'd only just met the girl, after all, and anything going on in her life was none of his business unless she decided it was. "Hiccups usually happen at the worst times," he said, leaning back in his chair. "So, curious, why'd you choose my table? I'm not the one people usually go to when they are looking for a new friend."

Chloe shrugged. "You looked like you were a similar age to me, and not massively high ranking. I find some of the commissioned officers can be a bit...stuck up?" She said, for want of a better word. "And you look friendly enough. Although I do say never judge a book by it's cover, sometimes looks can be deceiving, however apparently not the case with you." She gave a cute smile.

Narrowing his eyes ever so slightly for a moment Jax looked at her, not sure whether she was being serious or not. Finally, he decided to just go with it. "Yeah, you right, they can be a bit stuck up, but there's some good ones as well. Don't count them all out," he replied. "And I am a pretty friendly guy, once you get past the gruff, scary exterior," he added with a chuckle.

"Not that scary and gruff." She replied. "So, what do you like to do in your downtime?" She asked.

Pondering her question while he took another sip of his soda Jax stared off for a few moments, then returned his attention to her. "I'm a pretty chill dude, really. I like to watch movies, listen to music, watch or play sports, and I have an ongoing hobby with restoring hoverbikes for when I'm wanting to get my hands dirty."

"Any particular sports?" She asked, interestedly. "I like to swim a lot, I find it really relaxing." She said, taking a sip of her coke.

Shaking his head Jax replied, "Nah, not really. Only ones I play are soccer and basketball, but I can watch pretty much any sport. Never been a big swimmer though."

"I love swimming, so relaxing, and quiet. I used to swim in races. Won a few times too. It was always a good laugh when I did it too, we were all really close to each other." She replied, smiling more as she remembered the good times she'd had with the swim team.

Jax smiled at how enthusiastic the cadet was, it was nice to see someone talking about something they truly enjoyed. "I played basketball all through junior high and high school. It was the same with us, I considered a lot of the guys I played with to be nearly family," he said in reply.

Chloe nodded. "I don't have much of a family left anymore...me, Mum, the new one. That's about it." She said, almost cryptically.

At first, Jax didn't even catch that something she'd said was confusing, and he almost glossed over it as he looked out at the room, before he finally turned his head to look back towards her, his interest piqued. "The new one?" he asked, completely clueless as to what that could mean.

Chloe nodded again. She was really bad at secrets, no matter how hard she wanted to keep them. "Can you keep something a secret?" She asked nervously.

Jax had a very bad feeling all of a sudden and licked his lips to buy himself some time. Finally, he nodded, "Um... Yeah, so long as it isn't going to get someone hurt..."

Chloe shook her head. "No. No! Nothing like that!" She stated. "I'm...urm…I'm pregnant, so there's a new little one coming to my family. Nobody else really knows yet." She said.

His eyes going wide Jax sat up straighter. "Oh, that's not exactly what I was expecting to hear. But you seem more nervous than excited..." he said, reaching out and placing his hand on her arm, feeling unusually concerned for her, considering he'd only just met her.

"I'm still young...maybe too young for this...and the father is on the ship and we're not together anymore and I don't even know if he wants to keep it. I haven't told my Mum yet." She replied, starting to ramble.

Jax's mouth dropped open into a silent 'Oh' as the young woman got to the part about not having told her mother. Now he understood why she was so nervous. "That's a lot to have to deal with," he said, and then instantly felt like an ass. "I'm sorry, that's was lame. Of course it's a lot to deal with. No wonder you wanted someone close to your age to talk to."

Chloe nodded. "Sorry, I shouldn't have bought the mood down." She said, feeling a little embarrassed. "I just feel like there's not many people I can talk to. I mean I talk to the Counsellor, and Freya, but that's about everyone I have to talk to..." She said.

Jax was not exactly sure what to say. He'd never found himself in a situation like this and was completely out of his element. "It makes it a lot harder when we feel like we have to keep stuff to ourselves," he agreed. "But hey, if you need someone totally unrelated to the whole thing I can lend an ear. Not sure how much help it'll be, but..."

"Thank you." Chloe answered, smiling. She looked around the room and saw it starting to empty out a bit. She also noticed Caleb sitting at a table in the other corner of the room. 'Good' She thought to herself. 'Let him think i've moved on. Make him jealous.' She looked back at the table and looked down, lost in thought.

Jax stood, "I'll be right back," he said.

Moving away from the table he approached one of the replicators and spoke quietly. A few moments later a small tray appeared, and he grabbed it and moved back to the table. Setting it down he picked up the large mug that had sat on it and placed it in front of her. It steamed slightly, and a wonderful sweet and spicy aroma filled his nose.

"I know it's the middle of the day, but my mom used to make this for me when I was upset when I was a kid. It's sweet chai with extra cream and sugar. Always helped to calm me down," he said with a smile as he took his seat again.

Chloe picked the cup up with two hands, raising it to her mouth. She blew gently on the hot liquid to cool it down, before taking a sip. The drink was a perfect mixture of Sweet and Spicy, with the cream adding a creamy taste to it. It immediately made her feel warm inside, making her feel better. She looked up with a smile. "That drink is perfect. You have to programme that into my replicator!" She said.

Jax chuckled slightly, and nodded, "Definitely. It's an old family recipe, but somehow I don't think my mom would mind, given the circumstances."

"So, any plans for the rest of the day?" Chloe asked.

Leaning back into his seat, crossing his arms slightly and holding his cup so he could sip out of it Jax shook his head. "Nah, not really. Just enjoying the day without any work to do," he answered. "Prolly just watch some movies or something in my quarters. Haven't made very many friends yet, so..." he added.

"Well if you get bored i'm sure we could find a holodeck programme, if you wanted. If you would consider me a friend, that is." She answered.

"Sure! Sounds a lot better than sitting in my bunk by myself with headphones in so I don't disturb my roommates," Jax replied, "What kind of programs do you like?"

"I like adventurous things. Or hiking, that's always relaxing, but can get a bit boring. Anything particular you like to do holodeck wise?" She asked.

Jax wondered if he should bring up his normal holodeck programs, and then figured he might as well. "Honestly, when I'm on the holodeck I'm usually either rebuilding a hoverbike, or racing one."

"I've never been on a hoverbike...is it hard to ride one?" She asked.

"Not really, hell of a lot easier than a real motorcycle," Jax replied with a laugh. "But I could teach you if you'd like."

Chloe nodded. "I'd like that." She smiled again. "When do you wanna go?" She asked.

Standing up and holding out his hand Jax smiled, "No time like the present!" he said.

Chloe took one last look over at Caleb, and then took Jax's hand letting him lead the way.

=/\= To Be Continued =/\=

Petty Officer 1st Class Jaxson Morris
USS Poseidon

&

Cadet Freshman Grade Chloe Graydon
Medical Cadet
USS Poseidon

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