#25: illogical
Title: illogical (Chapter 1)
Rating: G (now. But expected to be NC-17)
Word count: 3k
Summary: The stars look beautiful from Earth, but when Sehun sees them close up, all he can think about is being sucked out of the nearest airlock into the vacuum of space. [Star Trek AU]
Author's note: First of all, thank you to the mods for being so patient with me and allowing me a very generous extension. Second, thank you to my lovely prompter for getting me excited to write this story!! I hope I haven't strayed too far from your prompt, a Star Trek AU seemed so perfect for it. I am nowhere near finished with it, so I hope you'll forgive me for only having the first chapter ready. It will be continued in the near future! And credit to @tiny_star_field on twitter for the adorable mini skies that can be found periodically in this fic.
Mod note: This is chapter one of a fic that will be continued by the author in their personal time once the exchange has finished.
“Today is a momentous occasion for the cadets of Starfleet Academy, for it marks the day they will join the ranks of Starfleet officers to make their own footprints in the galaxy. All the young faces here will, without doubt, surpass our expectations and...” The superintendent’s speech trails off into a background buzz. Two others-the head of the graduating class and a Starfleet admiral-had spoken before the superintendent and Sehun stops trying to listen.
All the speakers, as well as the professors before the end of term, had relayed the same message. Four years and you're finally ready to put your life at risk for the greater good of the galaxy with nothing except your uniform and your guts. Some of you aren’t ready for this, but don’t screw up because the Federation’s success depends on you. Real confidence booster.
Sehun passes his tongue over his lips and tries to focus on the figure at the podium, but the words are floating in one ear and out the other. “The Starfleet board of trustees would like to recognize a few choice cadets for their outstanding work in their respective fields. I will start by reading off their names.” A shuffle of papers. “Please make your way up to the podium when you are called.”
Sehun leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest, resisting the urge to fiddle with the pins over his breast pocket. He’s been downright average these past few years, at least by Starfleet standards. Doing more than what’s expected of you has a way of getting you assigned to more “challenging and skill-worthy missions”- Federation lingo for getting killed in action, or at least seriously injured. Clapping resonates through the large room as a cadet accepts a small plaque and shakes hands with the row of superiors standing on the stage.
Sehun hadn’t come up with the a groundbreaking cure for the rare Florka disease from the Gamma quadrant, or “developed a new torpedo locking mechanism that will give the Federation an upper hand in aggressive negotiations.” (More clapping.) In fact, he’d made sure he stayed right on the edge of the honor roll: never creeping up or dropping down.
The superintendent starts to call the remaining cadets up by alphabetical order for their diplomas, starting with a long list of A’s. Sehun’s attention wanders over to the imposing Golden Gate bridge in the distance, just visible between the towering skyscrapers and the slight haze, and then to the figure next to him. The cadet wears the same maroon uniform but with the cap pulled down to his nose.
Sehun rolls his eyes and jams his elbow into the man’s armpit, earning a small huff. He bends over to be heard over the cheers as Atwood, Samantha receives her diploma. “You’re the only person I know who can sleep at a time like this,” he whisper-yells into Jongin’s ear.
Jongin jolts upright, cap sliding off his unruly brown hair and almost toppling to the ground. He blinks a couple times at the podium, watching Bacharan, Thomas collect his diploma. “Shit,” he whispers, turning his wide eyes to Sehun. “Did I miss something?”
Sehun struggles to keep a straight face. “They called your name, you dipshit. I tried to wake you up but...” He almost loses it at the way Jongin’s eyes are widening with every word. “I don’t know how you managed to sleep through your own graduation,” he adds for an extra kick, words laced with false sympathy.
Jongin blinks some more, trying to process the information and willing it not be true. Ch’Tang, Jahir is called up to the stage and clarity replaces the confusion and fear on Jongin’s face.
“Asshole.” He pinches Sehun’s side and yanks the cap back over his head, brushing away the bangs that tickle his eyes. “I hope you get assigned to the Farragut, that ancient piece of crap,” Jongin hisses, though his words lack any venom.
Sehun bumps Jongin with his shoulder. “Nah, you didn’t miss anything,” he responds truthfully. “Unless you wanted to hear the superintendent’s speech.” Jongin snorts and slumps back into his chair, eyes beginning to close again.
Sehun jabs him with his elbow. “What?” Jongin whines, straightening himself before he can slouch any further.
“I’m not going to wake you up when you actually miss your name, dumbass,” Sehun retorts. Jongin grumbles something under his breath and resigns himself to watching the next five people collect their diplomas before he’s called.
Sehun discreetly pinches Jongin’s ass as he shuffles up to the podium to collect his certificate. Sehun feels his chest swell with pride and claps loudly as Jongin grins from the stage. He can see Jongin opening the ship assignment before he even gets back to his row.
“The fucking USS Exodus,” Jongin whispers, ecstatic, as he drops back into his seat. Sehun feels a twinge of jealousy at the flourishing script on Jongin’s ship assignment. “Thought I was gonna get put on the Toledo or something, but not this.” Jongin stops in contemplation. “Or maybe they put me on the wrong one. I mean, the newest ship in the dock? No way. They couldn- ”
Sehun slaps Jongin’s back a couple times, simultaneously congratulating him and shutting him up. “You deserve it, man,” he says, half trying to convince himself of those words and feeling guilty immediately afterwards. He gives Jongin’s shoulder one more squeeze and rises as his name is called. He sucks in a breath and straightens his uniform, glancing back at Jongin for a moment. This is it, he thinks as he walks towards the outstretched hand at the podium. Last moment as a free and safe citizen.
. · ˚ ⊹
· ˚ * ✵ ˚
˚ ⊹ .
Sehun hides himself in his room after coming home from graduation to a frantic, hovering mother. He gives her an excuse of I really have to unpack and freshen up, but his bags are still strewn across the floor. Sehun has no intention of touching them, fully intending to spend his week at home relaxing. He'll probably be taking the same ones aboard the ship anyways.
Sehun peels off his jacket, flinging it somewhere in the vicinity of his closet, and flops on top of his cartoon solar system adorned bed, tablet in hand. He pulls up the briefing file, containing his ship assignment, officer conduct expectations, and some other debatably useful information that he’ll have to cram into his brain. He hasn’t opened the ship assignment yet, fearing he’ll be on some sort or exploratory ship that’ll be off planet for 5 years. Or worse, a defense ship where death or serious injury is almost inevitable.
He smashes his chin into his pillow and holds the tablet out in front of him, going through the ship info until he reaches the picture of what he’ll call home for at least the next couple of weeks. He's been stationed on the USS Invidia: a small, but heavily armed Defiant-class starship, intended for escort purposes.
From what Sehun can gather, his first mission will be fairly straightforward. They’re to go with a small entourage of Starship vessels to the Betazed planet where the biannual Trade Agreements Conference will be held. They’ll be on standby during the conference, should any negotiations go haywire. Sounds easy enough, Sehun tells himself, or rather, hopes for fervently.
Sehun rolls over onto his back and lifts the pages above his head. He scans over the ship layout- it looks easily navigable, considering it's only meant to accommodate a crew of about 50 and has 4 decks. He has the list of crew members on the next page, but it's no one he recognizes.
Sehun sighs, letting the papers fall onto his face, which momentarily block the too-bright sun that's at just the right angle to stream through his blinds. He has less than a week at home before he goes back to San Francisco and boards his shuttle to Starbase 1. That’s a week to stuff his face with homemade food and enjoy the feeling of being on solid ground with minimal probability of dying.
Sehun makes it through half of the Betazed reference pages before he dozes off. But he doesn't get more than two minutes of shut eye before his tablet is threatening to vibrate itself off of his bed stand. He jerks upright, almost flinging the tablet to the floor in the process..
It takes him several jabs at the screen before he can answer the call and he doesn't know who it's from until a face pops on the screen. And even then, Sehun can only see a pair of jet-black eyes peeking through the bangs of equally dark hair, but that gives it away immediately.
The head pops up to reveal a grinning Luhan. “Ensign Sehun!”
“Not yet, Lu,” Sehun complains, feeling a blush creep up his neck. “I’m still a cadet, technically.”
“Okay.” Luhan concedes with a small pout. “Well, Cadet-slash-Ensign-in-a-week Sehun, congratulations!” Sehun grins but his lips quickly drop into a frown.
He pinches a stray string from his comforter and yanks on it, getting frustrated when it doesn’t come out. Luhan’s face gets closer to the screen. “What’s wrong?” he questions when Sehun still doesn’t look up. “You should look happier, I mean...no more tests or simulations to stress over.”
“But that’s exactly what I’m worried about, Lu,” Sehun says, wincing at how whiny he sounds. “I don’t have any more time to practice screwing up. I’m going to screw up for real now.”
He glances up at surprise as Luhan’s laughter filters through the screen. “Shut up, Sehun,” Luhan snorts out as his laughter dies down. He composes himself slightly as Sehun fixes a glare on him. “Really, though. Have some more confidence in yourself. You didn’t go through four years of that hell to screw up. You’ll be fine, I promise.”
“Thanks, Lu.” Sehun still feels and probably looks doubtful, but he doesn’t want to keep talking about it so he changes the subject. “I got assigned to the Invidia,” he says, looking back at his comforter and smoothing a hand over it to get rid of the bumps.
“See? You don’t have to be scared about a thing in that ship,” Luhan informs him. “She has enough torpedoes and phaser cannons to blow the moon out of the sky.”
Sehun laughs and and rolls over into a sitting position, placing the tablet in his lap. It’s an angle that gives the impression of having a double chin even though Sehun is painfully scrawny. “What about you?” he asks. “Where are you stationed?”
Luhan’s mouth splits into a wide smile at the question. “Well, they finally graduated me off that shitty science vessel,” he pauses to shove what looks like a handful of raw ramen into his mouth. “I mean, no offense to the Toledo or anything but it had like 2 decks and I was seeing the same ten people for a year.”
“I remember,” Sehun cuts in. “You wouldn’t stop complaining about how awkward it was after you had that fling with the science officer.” Luhan glares.
“Anyways, they put me on the Exodus!” he exclaims, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “She’s straight out of the hangar. An absolute beauty.” Sehun feels another pang of jealousy.
“Jongin’s stationed there too,” Sehun says, trying to keep his voice light. Luhan looks pleased at the information.
“Good,” he says. “I’ll get to boss him around now.” He shuffles around for a minute and holds up a certificate for Sehun to see. It has Luhan’s name in flourishing script with the prefix of “Lieutenant” and just above it, in bold, capital letters, “Bridge Officer”.
Sehun’s jaw drops and he brings the tablet closer to his face, scrutinizing the paper. “When did that happen?” he asks as Luhan lowers the certificate. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Took the test a month ago and they sent this a couple weeks ago. You were in the middle of your finals, didn’t want to disturb you,” Luhan responds. “But I’ll be chief communications officer.” Sehun’s chest swells a little with pride.
Luhan disappears from the screen for a second, only to reappear a moment later with a bowl of more food. “What’s the Invidia’s mission?”
“Just an escort thing,” Sehun responds, certain that Luhan’s mission is much more exciting than that. “The Trade Agreements Conference, on Betazed.” Luhan looks up from his desk at this.
“Betazed?” He sighs. “Wish I could come with you, haven’t seen grandma in a while.” Sehun remembers when he had been frustrated with Luhan’s ease in picking up his emotions. That’s when Luhan had told him he was a small part Betazoid, a race famous for being natural telepaths.
“I’ll drop by if I get a chance,” Sehun jokes, knowing fully well that they probably wouldn’t set foot on Betazed for the duration of the trip.
Luhan senses Sehun’s dejection at his rather un-inspiring mission. “Don’t worry, Exodus’ mission isn’t much better. I think they’re giving us a trial run.” Luhan rests his chin on his palm. “Don’t really blame them though, we have a pretty young crew. The captain is like, my age.”
Sehun’s eyes widen at this. “Your age? How- ”
“Remember that article that came out about a year ago?” Sehun can’t say he does so he keeps a blank look on his face. “It was the USS Solent,” Luhan continues, trying to recall the rest of the story. “They picked up a distress signal from a Lissepian carrier pod, you know, the intermediaries everyone uses for trade agreements? They were being pursued by a few Ferengi warships, probably because the Ferengi thought they weren’t making enough profits from the negotiations. They demanded the Captain to come aboard to negotiate a ceasefire, so the Solent sent Captain Scott. Something happened and the Ferengi got insulted, so they killed the Captain, those irrational bastards. Kim Minseok became acting captain and opened fire on the warships.” Luhan pauses to grab more dry ramen. “Oh, and Park Chanyeol, he became first officer. Managed to save the Lissepian ambassadors and get the Solent out of there with most of its crew. Amazing really.” Sehun’s wondering at this point what this has to do with Luhan’s ship. “And now, they’re both head of command on the Exodus.”
Sehun nods, impressed. Most officers didn’t get promoted to command until they’d served for many more years.
“Not like I’ll get to see their skills though, we’re just going on some ambassadorial mission.” Luhan sighs and gives Sehun a small smile after a ping comes through his tablet. “There’s a briefing meeting I have to go to,” Luhan says regretfully. “If I don’t talk to you before you leave, good luck kid.”
“Yeah, you too Lu.”
. ˚ · · ⋆
· . * · . . ˚
* .
Sehun can feel his mother’s worry radiating across the table as he grabs a large piece of kimchi with his fingers and shoves it into his mouth to avoid her stare. It’s the last real food he’ll be eating in a while; the food from the synthesizer isn’t quite the same.
His father settles himself at the head of the table, locking the wheels of his chair. Sehun still remembers the day he’d come home from a year long exploratory mission, paralyzed from the waist down.
He finds himself wishing, probably for the first time, that Seyoon was home, to distract his mother with news from his recent trip to Deep Space 9. Sehun had caught a glimpse of Seyoon outside the graduation hall, holding a microphone out to the superintendent as he asked “What expectations do you have for this graduating class?”
He knows his mother appreciates Seyoon’s occupation far more than his. It’s safer and much more glamorous. His face appears on the screen in their living room at least once a week, coated in makeup and artificial lighting. It’s times like that when Sehun wonders if he should’ve picked on occupation where his feet would stay firmly planted on the Earth’s soil. Maybe a lawyer or even a shuttle technician.
That would be better than wondering when he’d be sucked out of an airlock into the vacuum of space.
. · · . ✦ *
+ .
. ˚ ✧
Sehun tugs his hood over his ears and bends to hug his mother. “Promise you’re coming back in one piece,” she whispers.
“It’s only an ambassadorial trip, omma,” he assures her as he pulls uncomfortably at the damp spot on his t-shirt. “I promise. I’ll see you soon, really soon.”
+ . ✵ ˚
. . .
✷
It’s loud in the shuttle hangar, but Sehun doesn’t mind. It keeps him from continuously licking his lips in anticipation. He doesn’t have much with him, just one duffle bag with some toiletries and a couple personal belongings. He sees a few familiar faces, even spotting his partner from his Advanced Navigation course.
After searching for a good few minutes, he finally spots shuttle 8402 and jogs over. He only has five minutes before their scheduled departure time. The officer at the door stops him to get his name and give him a quick once over with a tricorder, in case he’s carrying some sort of contagious virus.
“Ensign Oh, you’ve been reassigned,” the officer says, quickly tapping at his tablet.
Sehun frowns and tries to get a look at the screen. “But I didn’t request a reassignment, sir. There must be some sort of mistake.”
The officer shakes his head. “No mistake, ensign. As of 2100 last night, you were assigned to the USS Exodus. ” Sehun’s mouth opens in disbelief.
“What?”
Rating: G (now. But expected to be NC-17)
Word count: 3k
Summary: The stars look beautiful from Earth, but when Sehun sees them close up, all he can think about is being sucked out of the nearest airlock into the vacuum of space. [Star Trek AU]
Author's note: First of all, thank you to the mods for being so patient with me and allowing me a very generous extension. Second, thank you to my lovely prompter for getting me excited to write this story!! I hope I haven't strayed too far from your prompt, a Star Trek AU seemed so perfect for it. I am nowhere near finished with it, so I hope you'll forgive me for only having the first chapter ready. It will be continued in the near future! And credit to @tiny_star_field on twitter for the adorable mini skies that can be found periodically in this fic.
Mod note: This is chapter one of a fic that will be continued by the author in their personal time once the exchange has finished.
“Today is a momentous occasion for the cadets of Starfleet Academy, for it marks the day they will join the ranks of Starfleet officers to make their own footprints in the galaxy. All the young faces here will, without doubt, surpass our expectations and...” The superintendent’s speech trails off into a background buzz. Two others-the head of the graduating class and a Starfleet admiral-had spoken before the superintendent and Sehun stops trying to listen.
All the speakers, as well as the professors before the end of term, had relayed the same message. Four years and you're finally ready to put your life at risk for the greater good of the galaxy with nothing except your uniform and your guts. Some of you aren’t ready for this, but don’t screw up because the Federation’s success depends on you. Real confidence booster.
Sehun passes his tongue over his lips and tries to focus on the figure at the podium, but the words are floating in one ear and out the other. “The Starfleet board of trustees would like to recognize a few choice cadets for their outstanding work in their respective fields. I will start by reading off their names.” A shuffle of papers. “Please make your way up to the podium when you are called.”
Sehun leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest, resisting the urge to fiddle with the pins over his breast pocket. He’s been downright average these past few years, at least by Starfleet standards. Doing more than what’s expected of you has a way of getting you assigned to more “challenging and skill-worthy missions”- Federation lingo for getting killed in action, or at least seriously injured. Clapping resonates through the large room as a cadet accepts a small plaque and shakes hands with the row of superiors standing on the stage.
Sehun hadn’t come up with the a groundbreaking cure for the rare Florka disease from the Gamma quadrant, or “developed a new torpedo locking mechanism that will give the Federation an upper hand in aggressive negotiations.” (More clapping.) In fact, he’d made sure he stayed right on the edge of the honor roll: never creeping up or dropping down.
The superintendent starts to call the remaining cadets up by alphabetical order for their diplomas, starting with a long list of A’s. Sehun’s attention wanders over to the imposing Golden Gate bridge in the distance, just visible between the towering skyscrapers and the slight haze, and then to the figure next to him. The cadet wears the same maroon uniform but with the cap pulled down to his nose.
Sehun rolls his eyes and jams his elbow into the man’s armpit, earning a small huff. He bends over to be heard over the cheers as Atwood, Samantha receives her diploma. “You’re the only person I know who can sleep at a time like this,” he whisper-yells into Jongin’s ear.
Jongin jolts upright, cap sliding off his unruly brown hair and almost toppling to the ground. He blinks a couple times at the podium, watching Bacharan, Thomas collect his diploma. “Shit,” he whispers, turning his wide eyes to Sehun. “Did I miss something?”
Sehun struggles to keep a straight face. “They called your name, you dipshit. I tried to wake you up but...” He almost loses it at the way Jongin’s eyes are widening with every word. “I don’t know how you managed to sleep through your own graduation,” he adds for an extra kick, words laced with false sympathy.
Jongin blinks some more, trying to process the information and willing it not be true. Ch’Tang, Jahir is called up to the stage and clarity replaces the confusion and fear on Jongin’s face.
“Asshole.” He pinches Sehun’s side and yanks the cap back over his head, brushing away the bangs that tickle his eyes. “I hope you get assigned to the Farragut, that ancient piece of crap,” Jongin hisses, though his words lack any venom.
Sehun bumps Jongin with his shoulder. “Nah, you didn’t miss anything,” he responds truthfully. “Unless you wanted to hear the superintendent’s speech.” Jongin snorts and slumps back into his chair, eyes beginning to close again.
Sehun jabs him with his elbow. “What?” Jongin whines, straightening himself before he can slouch any further.
“I’m not going to wake you up when you actually miss your name, dumbass,” Sehun retorts. Jongin grumbles something under his breath and resigns himself to watching the next five people collect their diplomas before he’s called.
Sehun discreetly pinches Jongin’s ass as he shuffles up to the podium to collect his certificate. Sehun feels his chest swell with pride and claps loudly as Jongin grins from the stage. He can see Jongin opening the ship assignment before he even gets back to his row.
“The fucking USS Exodus,” Jongin whispers, ecstatic, as he drops back into his seat. Sehun feels a twinge of jealousy at the flourishing script on Jongin’s ship assignment. “Thought I was gonna get put on the Toledo or something, but not this.” Jongin stops in contemplation. “Or maybe they put me on the wrong one. I mean, the newest ship in the dock? No way. They couldn- ”
Sehun slaps Jongin’s back a couple times, simultaneously congratulating him and shutting him up. “You deserve it, man,” he says, half trying to convince himself of those words and feeling guilty immediately afterwards. He gives Jongin’s shoulder one more squeeze and rises as his name is called. He sucks in a breath and straightens his uniform, glancing back at Jongin for a moment. This is it, he thinks as he walks towards the outstretched hand at the podium. Last moment as a free and safe citizen.
. · ˚ ⊹
· ˚ * ✵ ˚
˚ ⊹ .
Sehun hides himself in his room after coming home from graduation to a frantic, hovering mother. He gives her an excuse of I really have to unpack and freshen up, but his bags are still strewn across the floor. Sehun has no intention of touching them, fully intending to spend his week at home relaxing. He'll probably be taking the same ones aboard the ship anyways.
Sehun peels off his jacket, flinging it somewhere in the vicinity of his closet, and flops on top of his cartoon solar system adorned bed, tablet in hand. He pulls up the briefing file, containing his ship assignment, officer conduct expectations, and some other debatably useful information that he’ll have to cram into his brain. He hasn’t opened the ship assignment yet, fearing he’ll be on some sort or exploratory ship that’ll be off planet for 5 years. Or worse, a defense ship where death or serious injury is almost inevitable.
He smashes his chin into his pillow and holds the tablet out in front of him, going through the ship info until he reaches the picture of what he’ll call home for at least the next couple of weeks. He's been stationed on the USS Invidia: a small, but heavily armed Defiant-class starship, intended for escort purposes.
From what Sehun can gather, his first mission will be fairly straightforward. They’re to go with a small entourage of Starship vessels to the Betazed planet where the biannual Trade Agreements Conference will be held. They’ll be on standby during the conference, should any negotiations go haywire. Sounds easy enough, Sehun tells himself, or rather, hopes for fervently.
Sehun rolls over onto his back and lifts the pages above his head. He scans over the ship layout- it looks easily navigable, considering it's only meant to accommodate a crew of about 50 and has 4 decks. He has the list of crew members on the next page, but it's no one he recognizes.
Sehun sighs, letting the papers fall onto his face, which momentarily block the too-bright sun that's at just the right angle to stream through his blinds. He has less than a week at home before he goes back to San Francisco and boards his shuttle to Starbase 1. That’s a week to stuff his face with homemade food and enjoy the feeling of being on solid ground with minimal probability of dying.
Sehun makes it through half of the Betazed reference pages before he dozes off. But he doesn't get more than two minutes of shut eye before his tablet is threatening to vibrate itself off of his bed stand. He jerks upright, almost flinging the tablet to the floor in the process..
It takes him several jabs at the screen before he can answer the call and he doesn't know who it's from until a face pops on the screen. And even then, Sehun can only see a pair of jet-black eyes peeking through the bangs of equally dark hair, but that gives it away immediately.
The head pops up to reveal a grinning Luhan. “Ensign Sehun!”
“Not yet, Lu,” Sehun complains, feeling a blush creep up his neck. “I’m still a cadet, technically.”
“Okay.” Luhan concedes with a small pout. “Well, Cadet-slash-Ensign-in-a-week Sehun, congratulations!” Sehun grins but his lips quickly drop into a frown.
He pinches a stray string from his comforter and yanks on it, getting frustrated when it doesn’t come out. Luhan’s face gets closer to the screen. “What’s wrong?” he questions when Sehun still doesn’t look up. “You should look happier, I mean...no more tests or simulations to stress over.”
“But that’s exactly what I’m worried about, Lu,” Sehun says, wincing at how whiny he sounds. “I don’t have any more time to practice screwing up. I’m going to screw up for real now.”
He glances up at surprise as Luhan’s laughter filters through the screen. “Shut up, Sehun,” Luhan snorts out as his laughter dies down. He composes himself slightly as Sehun fixes a glare on him. “Really, though. Have some more confidence in yourself. You didn’t go through four years of that hell to screw up. You’ll be fine, I promise.”
“Thanks, Lu.” Sehun still feels and probably looks doubtful, but he doesn’t want to keep talking about it so he changes the subject. “I got assigned to the Invidia,” he says, looking back at his comforter and smoothing a hand over it to get rid of the bumps.
“See? You don’t have to be scared about a thing in that ship,” Luhan informs him. “She has enough torpedoes and phaser cannons to blow the moon out of the sky.”
Sehun laughs and and rolls over into a sitting position, placing the tablet in his lap. It’s an angle that gives the impression of having a double chin even though Sehun is painfully scrawny. “What about you?” he asks. “Where are you stationed?”
Luhan’s mouth splits into a wide smile at the question. “Well, they finally graduated me off that shitty science vessel,” he pauses to shove what looks like a handful of raw ramen into his mouth. “I mean, no offense to the Toledo or anything but it had like 2 decks and I was seeing the same ten people for a year.”
“I remember,” Sehun cuts in. “You wouldn’t stop complaining about how awkward it was after you had that fling with the science officer.” Luhan glares.
“Anyways, they put me on the Exodus!” he exclaims, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “She’s straight out of the hangar. An absolute beauty.” Sehun feels another pang of jealousy.
“Jongin’s stationed there too,” Sehun says, trying to keep his voice light. Luhan looks pleased at the information.
“Good,” he says. “I’ll get to boss him around now.” He shuffles around for a minute and holds up a certificate for Sehun to see. It has Luhan’s name in flourishing script with the prefix of “Lieutenant” and just above it, in bold, capital letters, “Bridge Officer”.
Sehun’s jaw drops and he brings the tablet closer to his face, scrutinizing the paper. “When did that happen?” he asks as Luhan lowers the certificate. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Took the test a month ago and they sent this a couple weeks ago. You were in the middle of your finals, didn’t want to disturb you,” Luhan responds. “But I’ll be chief communications officer.” Sehun’s chest swells a little with pride.
Luhan disappears from the screen for a second, only to reappear a moment later with a bowl of more food. “What’s the Invidia’s mission?”
“Just an escort thing,” Sehun responds, certain that Luhan’s mission is much more exciting than that. “The Trade Agreements Conference, on Betazed.” Luhan looks up from his desk at this.
“Betazed?” He sighs. “Wish I could come with you, haven’t seen grandma in a while.” Sehun remembers when he had been frustrated with Luhan’s ease in picking up his emotions. That’s when Luhan had told him he was a small part Betazoid, a race famous for being natural telepaths.
“I’ll drop by if I get a chance,” Sehun jokes, knowing fully well that they probably wouldn’t set foot on Betazed for the duration of the trip.
Luhan senses Sehun’s dejection at his rather un-inspiring mission. “Don’t worry, Exodus’ mission isn’t much better. I think they’re giving us a trial run.” Luhan rests his chin on his palm. “Don’t really blame them though, we have a pretty young crew. The captain is like, my age.”
Sehun’s eyes widen at this. “Your age? How- ”
“Remember that article that came out about a year ago?” Sehun can’t say he does so he keeps a blank look on his face. “It was the USS Solent,” Luhan continues, trying to recall the rest of the story. “They picked up a distress signal from a Lissepian carrier pod, you know, the intermediaries everyone uses for trade agreements? They were being pursued by a few Ferengi warships, probably because the Ferengi thought they weren’t making enough profits from the negotiations. They demanded the Captain to come aboard to negotiate a ceasefire, so the Solent sent Captain Scott. Something happened and the Ferengi got insulted, so they killed the Captain, those irrational bastards. Kim Minseok became acting captain and opened fire on the warships.” Luhan pauses to grab more dry ramen. “Oh, and Park Chanyeol, he became first officer. Managed to save the Lissepian ambassadors and get the Solent out of there with most of its crew. Amazing really.” Sehun’s wondering at this point what this has to do with Luhan’s ship. “And now, they’re both head of command on the Exodus.”
Sehun nods, impressed. Most officers didn’t get promoted to command until they’d served for many more years.
“Not like I’ll get to see their skills though, we’re just going on some ambassadorial mission.” Luhan sighs and gives Sehun a small smile after a ping comes through his tablet. “There’s a briefing meeting I have to go to,” Luhan says regretfully. “If I don’t talk to you before you leave, good luck kid.”
“Yeah, you too Lu.”
. ˚ · · ⋆
· . * · . . ˚
* .
Sehun can feel his mother’s worry radiating across the table as he grabs a large piece of kimchi with his fingers and shoves it into his mouth to avoid her stare. It’s the last real food he’ll be eating in a while; the food from the synthesizer isn’t quite the same.
His father settles himself at the head of the table, locking the wheels of his chair. Sehun still remembers the day he’d come home from a year long exploratory mission, paralyzed from the waist down.
He finds himself wishing, probably for the first time, that Seyoon was home, to distract his mother with news from his recent trip to Deep Space 9. Sehun had caught a glimpse of Seyoon outside the graduation hall, holding a microphone out to the superintendent as he asked “What expectations do you have for this graduating class?”
He knows his mother appreciates Seyoon’s occupation far more than his. It’s safer and much more glamorous. His face appears on the screen in their living room at least once a week, coated in makeup and artificial lighting. It’s times like that when Sehun wonders if he should’ve picked on occupation where his feet would stay firmly planted on the Earth’s soil. Maybe a lawyer or even a shuttle technician.
That would be better than wondering when he’d be sucked out of an airlock into the vacuum of space.
. · · . ✦ *
+ .
. ˚ ✧
Sehun tugs his hood over his ears and bends to hug his mother. “Promise you’re coming back in one piece,” she whispers.
“It’s only an ambassadorial trip, omma,” he assures her as he pulls uncomfortably at the damp spot on his t-shirt. “I promise. I’ll see you soon, really soon.”
+ . ✵ ˚
. . .
✷
It’s loud in the shuttle hangar, but Sehun doesn’t mind. It keeps him from continuously licking his lips in anticipation. He doesn’t have much with him, just one duffle bag with some toiletries and a couple personal belongings. He sees a few familiar faces, even spotting his partner from his Advanced Navigation course.
After searching for a good few minutes, he finally spots shuttle 8402 and jogs over. He only has five minutes before their scheduled departure time. The officer at the door stops him to get his name and give him a quick once over with a tricorder, in case he’s carrying some sort of contagious virus.
“Ensign Oh, you’ve been reassigned,” the officer says, quickly tapping at his tablet.
Sehun frowns and tries to get a look at the screen. “But I didn’t request a reassignment, sir. There must be some sort of mistake.”
The officer shakes his head. “No mistake, ensign. As of 2100 last night, you were assigned to the USS Exodus. ” Sehun’s mouth opens in disbelief.
“What?”