You Can't Be Too Careful [Star Trek/Leonard "Bones" McCoy Love Story]

[13.] An Unexpected Message

A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! <3 Thank you as usual for being such awesome readers!!!

[13] An Unexpected Message

Sleep did not cure my restlessness. Yes, I had been tired that day, but Astrid’s question still hung over me. Yer sure yer not hidin’ any lads from me? her voice echoed in my head as I got ready for the day. I think I might be, I silently answered her. Casting a glance at her sleeping figure over my shoulder, I sighed and ran a brush through my hair before pulling it back into a tight braid and changing into my cadet uniform.

It was the second week of my fourth year with Starfleet. Astrid was already flourishing in her classes, as I knew she would. I was still doing exceedingly well in mine, but I had to work nonstop to reap my rewards. Astrid, however, was a natural, and all the work seemed effortless to her. It drove me absolutely crazy. Which, of course, meant that she had rubbed it in my face in every waking moment for the last 336 hours of my life.

I heard her alarm clock sound in the other room just as I finished up in the bathroom.

“Good morning,” I said to her as we passed in the hall.

She grunted in response.

I chuckled. Her strawberry blonde hair was a mass of tangles, her ocean blue eyes were still glazed over with sleep, her cheeks were flushed, one of her pant legs was rolled up to reveal a knee high sock while the other was pulled all the way down with no sock, and her shirt had been pulled on inside out.

“What’re ya laughin’ at?” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

“You’re quite a sight right now,” I told her truthfully, still giggling.

She groaned and playfully shoved me out of the way before trudging into the bathroom and locking the door behind her. Moments later, I heard the trickling water of the shower bouncing off the walls of the bathroom. I took a seat at my desk and slowly chewed on an apple as I looked over my notes one last time before class started. Astrid emerged from the steamy bathroom ten minutes later, her wet hair pulled into a bun that was tucked under her cadet cap.

“Do we have anythin’ decent fer breakfast?” she asked, yawning.

I sighed. “Just fruit. We need to go shopping soon.”

“With what money?” she exclaimed, collapsing onto her bed. “We’re practically broke.”

“We aren’t,” I reminded her, “you are. I, for one, have a job.”

“Aye,” she grumbled, “lookin’ after high class snobs.”

I shrugged. “It’s not that terrible. I walk their pets on Saturday morning, run their errands, and they pay me.”

She sighed deeply and rolled off the bed. “I’d still rather be doin’ somethin’ tha’ doesn’ require me ta pamper people who’re already pampered enough.”

I shrugged. “Well, that’s your choice. I’ve made mine. If it helps us get on, look after high class snobs I shall.”

She stood up and grabbed a banana before tugging me up out of my chair.

“C’mon,” she said, “le’s go. Time ta start the day.”

I gathered my things into my bag before following her out the door. After traveling a few walkways together, we parted ways and began our separate days, her in her engineering class, and me in my computer coding class.

The first few classes passed in a blur. Easy breezy. It was when I arrived at computer repair that the day slowed down and I was forced to truly think about what I was doing. Programming? I had that skill down pat. Coding? My specialty. You could give me just about anything to do with computers and I would pick up on it quickly. But when it came to picking apart the pieces of the machine, I was less keen. Engineering was Astrid’s thing, not mine. Nonetheless, it was essential to my education, so every day I would suck it up and work until I at least had a loose grasp on what I was supposed to be understanding. I would often stay up late, pouring over online lectures and through textbooks and making use of Astrid for explanations when I needed them.