Roommates

[corn_fed_mind]

Sitting in Pike's office, Jamie is suddenly hit with exactly what she got herself into.

There's medical exams to be completed, she needs to pick up her uniforms from the campus quartermaster, she needs to sign up for her classes (and Pike is doing his utmost to get her into the classes that she needs so that she can finish in three years), and most of all, she needs a dorm. That, apparently, seems to be the easiest to settle on - she even has options.

While Pike is on a comm with the head of the Command school, sternly telling him that he knows there's empty seats in Early Starfleet History and there's no damn good reason why Jamie can't have one of them, Jamie herself is going over the dorms that have space for her. Starfleet Academy is difficult to get into. Everyone in the Federation knows this. It takes most people three and four applications before they get in - a detail that isn't lost on Jamie, but she isn't letting it go to her head.

Much.

Anyway, it takes a special kind of person to even get into the Academy, and with all that pressure on a person to succeed, some people flake out at the last minute. That's why she actually has a pick when it comes to dorms. As far as she can tell, there's no huge difference between any of them aside from location, and without a class list, how's she supposed to know what location is best? Instead, she goes for scanning the rosters in each hall.

First, she looks up her seat mate from the shuttle, McCoy. Archer Hall. She's already got a roommate, though, someone named Christine Chapel. There's a couple spaces available there - no fully empty rooms, but it seems cadets Riley, Mitchell, and Korby could all use a roommate.

Then she looks up Uhura to see where she is. Nimitz Hall. And she's got a lovely Orion roommate too. Unfortunately, Nimitz Hall is completely full up, and the only way to get a room there would be-

And then Jamie gets a thought. She glances over to make sure that Pike is still occupied with his comm call - he is - and starts typing on the PADD Pike had handed her. It's not difficult, Pike had logged into the system under his own username so that she could get a dorm without needing to wait for his approval, and within thirty seconds, Chapel has been reassigned to Korby's room and Jamie has put her name on the other half of room 381.

Comments

[sweetgeorgiapeach]

McCoy doesn't need to go through all that hassle, thankfully. Since she was recruited following the correct system and schedule, she already has her class and housing assignments when she steps off the shuttle. That's not the only perk the "real" cadets get either. Medical exams where done shortly before the pick-up and the emissary already has all her uniforms ready. She even got one shipped to her that she technically was supposed to wear on the shuttle ride out there.

All she needs to do is register that she is in fact there, and that she really is who she claims to be, and she given the code to her dorm plus the codes that will let her into the buildings that she'll need access to.

She heads straight for her room, confident that her uniforms and PADD will already be waiting. And probably her roommate, too.

McCoy took a lot of care in picking Christine Chapel as her roommate. They met at one of the few pre-semester mixers where McCoy bothered to show up, because it was Medical Only, and she didn't talk to Chapel long before she knew that this girl would be a good choice for someone to share a room with. She had aspirations of being a doctor, but wanted to do nursing first to gain a broader perspective of the field in general. That showed she had enough of a passion for her work to be an interesting study partner. She was smart enough, too, but not so smart that she could breeze through her studies with minimal effort. That told McCoy that there wouldn't be lot of time for partying and filling the room up with distractions. They also got along well enough to keep in touch outside the mixers, a small miracle in itself, but not as important as her other criteria.

From what she had learned Chapel was ambitious, systematic and tidy, and seemed perfect, logical choice for someone McCoy would have to live with for at least a year, maybe as long as four. Applying to share a room together had been her suggestion and McCoy was kinda happy when they got the approval. If she had to be here, she thought to herself as she punched the code and the door slid open, at least she could be here with a friend.

[corn_fed_mind]

Her uniforms and PADD are there, sure. But no roommate in sight.

Jamie's uniforms and PADD, on the other hand, are being brought down to Pike's office where her schedule is FINALLY falling into place. Good thing, too, she is starving. There's a couple raspberry muffins sitting on a plate on Pike's desk, and she's awfully close to swiping one of them when he looks up from his work station to address her again.

"You're all set."

"Really? That's it?"

"That's it for today, at least. They can't get you in at medical until tomorrow at 9 am. Codes to your dorm are on your PADD, and if there's anything else you need, you can comm me any time. Any questions?"

"Just where's the grub?"

"Maps are on your PADD too." Pike smiles, but he's severely underestimating this moment in his office. For all Pike knows, this will be the last time he directly interacts with Jamie Kirk until she takes one of his classes. And he's okay with that. He's happy just to know he nudged the best of Starfleet's future into Starfleet in the first place.

Oh how wrong he is.

Jamie sweeps out of Pike's office and heads straight for the dorm to drop her stuff off - and maybe see if that hottie of a roommate is there.

[sweetgeorgiapeach]

McCoy's there when Kirk shows up, but she is also passed out on the bed, blissfully unaware that the clothes and things in the room don't belong to the right person. She isn't one to pry, and even if she was, the bed looked more inviting anyway.

After two days of non-stop drinking, she's out cold and probably won't wake up until the next morning. Unless someone dares wake the sleeping beast.

[corn_fed_mind]

Yeah, guess who's going to poke the bear with a stick?

"Hey, you hungry?"

Pokepokepoke

[sweetgeorgiapeach]

"No. Go on without me, Christine."

She doesn't even open her eyes. Just pulls the pillow over her head and snuggles deeper under the blankets. She knows there's supposed to be all kinds of start of term events today, but nothing is important. It's all about touring the Academy and getting to know people.

Fuck that.

[corn_fed_mind]

"Jamie, actually."

Pft, like she really cares about those events. She just wants food and someone to sit with. Not that she couldn't find someone at the canteen, but she already likes this one better than anyone else.

[sweetgeorgiapeach]

It takes a second before it dawns on her. Just a moment where nothing happen before she sits up, still slightly disoriented. Her hair is defying gravity in some places, there's pillow creases on her face and drool on her cheek that she tries to wipe off as she jumps out the bed.

"What the HELL are you doin' in my room?"

[corn_fed_mind]

"Our room, actually." She manages to bite back the "surprise!" she's dying to let out, but she isn't the least bit affected by the snarling or the drooling (maybe a bit by the surprisingly sexy bedhead). "I know you haven't eaten in at least 24 hours, so come on, time to fix that."

[sweetgeorgiapeach]

"No. Where's Christine. You're in the wrong room."

She's too drunk and tired for this. It was fine while she was still up, but now that she let herself fall asleep, all it wants to is to go back and get some rest.

"What did you do?"

[corn_fed_mind]

"Guess Christine switched rooms. Come on, food. I am not holding your hair while you're puking up nothing thanks to your hangover."

[sweetgeorgiapeach]

She looks a little hurt, but she's too tired to start working out why Christine would suddenly change her mind. She decides to call her later and figure out what happened.

"I don't get sick. Go away, kid. I'm tired," she grumbles as she pulls off her jacket and actually remembers to kick her boots off before crawling back into bed.

[corn_fed_mind]

Psh, of course she'll hold her hair back.

"Want me to bring you something?"

She grabs the blanket off her own bed to drape over her roomie.

[sweetgeorgiapeach]

She has already drifted off again. Won't hear the question, won't notice the extra blanket.

[corn_fed_mind]

Well, alright. Jamie ruffles her roommate's hair gently and then heads out for some food.

By the time Leonora wakes the next morning, Jamie will still be out. Jamie's uniform pieces will be flung all over her bed and somehow, her desk is a mess already, but at least it will be nice and quiet.

With a plate of food and a glass of water waiting on Leonora's desk.

[sweetgeorgiapeach]

McCoy wakes up to four messages and two missed calls from one Christine Chapel. She's wondering if Leonora changed her mind about her and she's kinda upset over it. Judging from the texts she is under the impression that McCoy's the one who requested a different roommate, and all she can do is hope this isn't a rumor Kirk somehow spread.

Too tired to deal with it just yet, she drags her ass out of bed and heads for a long, hot shower. Washing off the grime of a two-day bender always helps make her feel human again, but it's not until she comes back out and discovers that breakfast is waiting that her mood shifts towards good. She grabs one of the sandwiches and nibbles on it while sorting through her schedule for the day. She only has plans of showing up at the things that are either absolutely mandatory, or too interesting to miss. She's fortunate because she already has two complete medical degrees behind her. There's a lot of mandatory basic first-year medical courses that she can simply skip, and it means she gets to actually work at the hospital as an actual doctor and not just some bottom-of-the-ladder medical cadet. Which gives her more freedom than the kids just starting out with their degrees. Means she gets a lazy morning and doesn't need to be anywhere until after lunch.

When she finally does leave the room, there's no longer a mess all over Jamie's side of things. As a 'thank you' for the breakfast (and for letting her sleep it off in peace), McCoy has organized her whole side. She hasn't touched the bag with her personal belongings, but all her uniforms and PADDs are all where they should be, and her bed is even made.

[corn_fed_mind]

Right around lunchtime is when Jamie blows back into their room, her arms full of bags, which she promptly dumps onto her neatly made bed. That lone bag she had was actually pretty empty, mostly the stuff she hurriedly tossed in after she left Frank's house for the last time, but thanks to her recent shopping spree, she at least has things necessary for survival. Like deodorant.

But those bags can be unpacked later. Jamie has zero intention of attending any of the freshie mixers or orientations, especially when her charming roommate is finally up.

"You're awake!"

[sweetgeorgiapeach]

Well. So much for leaving. She steps aside to let Jamie in and shrugs. "Don't sound so surprised."

[corn_fed_mind]

"I'm more surprised that you're upright. Lunch?"

[sweetgeorgiapeach]

"I was headed out to meet my roommate for lunch, actually. She seems to be under the impression that I didn't want her after all? Wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

[corn_fed_mind]

"No idea at all. This mean you're kicking me out?"

[sweetgeorgiapeach]

"You gonna cry if I do?"

She gives her a look, but doesn't have the patience to keep the mask on for long. So she shakes her head.

"Just tryin' to patch things up with my one friend at the Academy. Don't care who's in the other bed as long as you're not gonna be a headache."

[corn_fed_mind]

"Please. I don't cry." Well, not yet, at least. "I'll be a model roommate, I swear."

She says this like she isn't a chronic snorer who has absolutely no personal boundaries, actively seeks out parties and trouble, and is somehow incapable of picking up after herself. That would scare off McCoy, wouldn't it?

[sweetgeorgiapeach]

She doesn't need to say that. McCoy can already read it off of her, already knows it from the three encounters they've had in the past few days. The snoring she doesn't know about, but won't that be a lovely surprise...

"I guess I owe you lunch after you gave me breakfast."

[corn_fed_mind]

"You totally do, but you're meeting... whoever, it's fine." Oh, she hasn't forgotten Christine's name, she just doesn't want to meet her just yet. Let the dust settle a bit and see how everything plays out before she shows her hand.

[sweetgeorgiapeach]

"You can come along?"

[corn_fed_mind]

"Nah, it's alright, I gotta unpack all of this. Dinner?"

[sweetgeorgiapeach]

"Can't. Got dinner with the doctors, but I guess it's not like you won't see me around, right? Now that we're bunk buddies and all."

[corn_fed_mind]

"Oh, I certainly hope I'll be seeing a lot of you." That comes out with a wink and a bit of a leer before she turns back to her bags and starts unloading. "Have fun, Bones."

[sweetgeorgiapeach]

She means to grumble a 'see you later' and leave, but the nickname stops her in her tracks. What the hell?

"Don't call me that," she says in what can almost be called a snarl before she does leave. She's already late for her lunch date, and now she's annoyed as hell, too. That better be the last time she hears that name. The last thing she needs is a constant reminder of a drunken admission that she has lost everything that matters.

[corn_fed_mind]

Jamie just waves at her cheerily as she leaves.

That reaction alone will make the nickname stick.

Once she leaves, Jamie will first dump everything out on the bed to stash the bags and sort everything. First, they get divided up into where everything needs to go. Toiletries, makeup, hair things all get to go to the bathroom. There's a pile for things that will go in the closet, another for the dresser, and a third for the stuff for her desk. (The dresser pile is basically nothing but lacey or stringy or otherwise completely impractical lingerie, of course.)

From there, everything gets put in their proper places, and an hour later, after a whirlwind of activity, things are all nice and orderly. She can be completely organized, and she really does try to be. It just rarely sticks for more than a week or two, despite her best efforts.