Joanna pulled the cookies out of the oven, and set them to cool. Two different kinds of cookies with Lenny as her able assistant, helping her dish them onto the pans he'd laid out the silicon mats on and testing the batter.
"Have you had dinner?" She wanted to make ice cream sandwiches but she hadn't had dinner, and that would be setting a bad example. Luckily, they happened to be in the kitchen with really nice people who would feed them.
"Nope," he said, swinging his legs. He had been hungry earlier, but now that he was in another unfamiliar place, with someone who's name he didn't remember, he felt a little unsettled.
Joanna wrapped an arm around him. "How about we see have some dinner? I haven't eaten either. And then we can make ice cream sandwiches with the cookies." She was pretty sure there'd at least be some mac and cheese if not something even better. "They should be cooled down by then. I couldn't have done this without you so easily."
"Okay," he told her, scooting off to the side so he could slide off the counter. Taking her hand again, they walked into the kitchens, where the people who worked there smiled and patted his head, and told him how precious he was.
"Why are they looking at me like that?" he asked her after one particularly enthusiastic hug from a galley worker.
Joanna was trying, and failing, to hide her giggles at how the galley workers were hugging Lenny. She tried to sober up at his expression. "Because they're not used to having kids on board the ship." She knew that wasn't really an explanation. "Especially ones who are awesome helpers like you."
Lenny knew that grown-ups said things like that when they didn't want to tell the real reason, but he let it go, as someone was bringing him a plate of food. Momma and Daddy didn't let him have french fries too often, even though the sandwich wasn't too bad.
Lenny liked sandwiches.
"So, do you live here?" he asked as he began eating. "In space, I mean."
"Yep, I'm an ensign here, in Science," Joanna said. "Ensign Joanna McCoy, at your service." She dug into her mac and cheese. It was her weakspot. "I do stuff with plants and antibiotics."
"I like plants," Lenny nommed his sandwich carefully. "Thought you was from Momma's family?" he asked. His granddad used to say "Somethin' was afoot," when things didn't make sense, or he lost his glasses again.
Right now, somethin' was afoot on board this ship.
"That's what your Momma said," JOanna nodded. Which was a pretty crappy lie, to be honest. She was a McCoy. And she had the barest traces of a southern accent. Not a California one. When they were lying to little Jo she was coming up with the familial relationship.
"Well, I'll come visit for a little bit, but I work here, so I got to stay on the Enterprise doing experiments and stuff," Jo looked at his plate. It was clean enough. "Done with your dinner?" She was going to have herself a ice cream and cookie sandwich for desert.
"Yep," Jo nodded. Sort of. Not really. Kind of? Oh well, it was a little too complicated to explain. "He works security and teaching people martial arts. Do you know what those are?" Crap. She hated lieing. "What's your favorite kind of ice cream?"
"Have you had dinner?" She wanted to make ice cream sandwiches but she hadn't had dinner, and that would be setting a bad example. Luckily, they happened to be in the kitchen with really nice people who would feed them.
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"Why are they looking at me like that?" he asked her after one particularly enthusiastic hug from a galley worker.
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Lenny liked sandwiches.
"So, do you live here?" he asked as he began eating. "In space, I mean."
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Right now, somethin' was afoot on board this ship.
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But Joanna (that was her name, couldn't forget it) had made him cookies, the ones he liked. "You comin' back to Georgia with us when we go home?"
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Ice cream... "I like lots of ice cream," he said, playing with his spoon. "Sometimes Momma and I make sundaes."
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