The morning after the night before [Chris, Karl]
The play had gone well. While a part of him wished he could have made it down to Comic Con to see Karl and Zach, Chris had put that out of his mind, focusing entirely on the performance. By the time he walked out the stage door he was tired, yet riding that high from a night where everything had gone right. He’d signed a few autographs, even
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A shrill beep broke through the short silence following his words, and made them all jump. Well, everyone but Uhura. It seemed to have emanated from a computer-like thing on the desk nearby, something on the screen flashing, and Karl was the first up and over to inspect it. "A communication request. From Ensign Joanna McCoy. That's Bones' daughter, right? I better...yeah ( ... )
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Coffee was one of the first things he came across -- naturally, considering these people's jobs -- so he punched that in, and it magically appeared in the alcove in a sleek metal mug. "Hey," said Karl, pleased. "There we go, I didn't blow it up."
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Watching as Karl went through the rest of the options, he waited for something to sound appetizing, but was curiously disinterested in almost everything. Finally, he settled on the next thing to scroll past. "I'd like the roast beef sandwich. Are there fries?" Chris wondered.
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His stomach started grumbling as the food appeared, the smell of hot grease (healthy, no doubt) reaching his nostrils. It could've passed for home-cooked, but the one thing betraying the fact that the meals had been materialized by a machine was the identical arrangement and placement of fries on the plates, down to the number. Slightly unsettling, but not enough to blunt his appetite.
He handed Chris his, and they went back over to the couch area, sitting down across from each other to eat. Karl was hungry enough that he focused mostly on his plate, but he did notice (in sneaking little glances, looking quickly down again when Chris started to look up) that Chris was playing with his food more than much of it was actually going into his
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Chris glanced up occasionally, curious as to whether Karl felt the same way. He seemed to be making short work of his own food, though. Chris drank some more coffee, then picked through his fries.
"Maybe after lunch, you can try logging in to your journal? You might be able to get a message to Nat and the kids," he said, his voice hesitant. It had to be hard for him, Chris thought, remembering Karl's expression when he'd realized his tattoo wasn't there.
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They both fell silent again, Karl turning his coffee cup around and around in his hands and Chris playing with his sandwich. After the fifth fry he picked up but didn't eat, Karl felt compelled to intervene, for Chris's health. "You all right? Beyond the obvious, I mean?"
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Chris looked up, dropping the fry back onto his plate. "I don't know yet," he replied honestly. "I guess I'm trying to adjust to all this." He indicated his left arm, the tattoos visible below the short sleeve of his shirt. He was silent a few minutes, tearing a corner of bread off his sandwich and crumbling it idly. "I--I'm sorry about this morning. That was awkward."
He kept his eyes on his plate, feeling his face get hot.
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Thinking on it, that last part had possibly been a dumb thing to say. Shrug. Too late.
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The food was already doing him some good. He was feeling more energized, antsy, ready to see what was out there beyond the walls of this room (besides space, which he was already quite well aware of, thank you). "Wanna go look around? Uhura didn't say we had to stay in here..."
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Chris was halfway across the room when the door chimed. Casting a curious glance at Karl, he responded. Uhura hadn't been gone long - maybe it was Zach? "Enter."
The armed, red-shirted officer was a surprise. Chris listened as he identified himself as security. One of the formalities Uhura had mentioned, no doubt. He answered the questions directed at him as best he could, anxiety making him want the interrogationinterview over with as soon as possible. Once the officer was done with them both, they were cleared to explore the public areas of the ship.
"Okay..." Chris stared at the door after he left, then looked at Karl. "I guess that's one question answered."
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"I keep expecting to round a corner and see Bruce and Anton sitting there playing magnetic chess," Karl admitted with a laugh, when they took a right turn, finding no Pikes or Chekovs but only a little alcove with a computer terminal and another bright stretch of door-lined hallway. The halls didn't just end like their set had. This was really real. So cool.
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"I guess we'll get a lot of that," he murmured, feeling a little self-conscious.
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At the end of a hall, a lift door opened for them with a hiss, and they gingerly stepped inside. "Where should we go?"
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He looked around the interior of the lift as they stepped in. "Um... what about the recreation deck, if it's called that?"
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A large open room was revealed, several walls made almost completely of floor-to-ceiling windows -- Karl closed his eyes for a second in dizzy surprise, then stubbornly forced them open again -- with comfortably low lighting, cushiony low couches and seats, and some small tables and chairs set up at one end of the room. There was even a pool table, and at the opposite end, a wide, well-stocked bar, which Karl immediately gravitated towards. "This is the lounge, then, like The Next Generation. Alcohol, mate. They'll forgive us for raiding the bar."
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