Star Trek Imagines (Reader-Inserts) Part One

Voy. Icheb - You're Shy

You sipped your tea as your eyes scanned over the PADD which contained your current lesson. After Voyager had found an old Earth vessel stranded on a planet, they rescued you and welcomed you onto the ship. Being shy to begin with, you hadn't been able to really open up to anyone on the ship yet. It was hard to make friends when A) you didn't know anybody, and B) you were younger than all of the crew, except for Naomi Wildman and the borg children. The only person that really took it upon themselves to talk to you regularly was Neelix, but that was because he adored children and was the ship's morale officer.

"Is this seat taken?" a voice asked you.

You reluctantly looked up, seeing Icheb standing a mere two feet from you. "Uh, no, it's not."

He frowned slightly. "Mind if I sit with you?"

You shook your head and motioned towards the chair. You put the PADD down to make yourself seem more open and sociable.

He sat and looked at your PADD. "What are you reading?"

"An assignment Commander Chakotay gave me. It's about the physics of a star ship."

He nodded. "I quite enjoyed that topic. If you wish, I could help you with it."

You smiled shyly. "Thanks. I'll let you know if I need any help."

Icheb was silent for a few moments, then said, "I can leave if I'm distracting you from your studies."

"No, I don't mind," you said, blushing. "I could use the company. To be honest, it's been kind of lonely being one of the only people my age on the whole ship."

"That's understandable. When I first came on board, I had the other children to keep me company. Seven of Nine was also a big help."

You nodded, feeling yourself growing a bit more comfortable around him. It was nice to talk to him. "That must have been even harder for you."

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"Well ... you were borg," you said, then quickly added, "Sorry. You probably don't want to talk about that stuff."

Icheb shook his head. "It doesn't bother me discussing my past. But, you might be right I was used to being with others every second of every day."

"I don't mean to sound rude, but why are you sitting here?" you asked softly. "I'm not really the most approachable person."

"I know," he said. "That's why I came over. Seven of Nine told me I should try to talk to you since you tend to keep to yourself. She said it would be a good idea for me to make another friend, and for you to make one."

"Oh." You bit your lip. Of course he was only there because Seven of Nine had sort of ordered him to be.

"And I ... I think you're cute," he said slowly, looking down at the table.

Your cheeks burned and you looked up at him. You then realized that he too was shy, or just awkward due to his past. You smiled. "Thank you. That's very sweet of you to say. You're not too bad, either."

He met your gaze, smiling slightly. "If you'd like, we could hang out again sometime. Maybe ... maybe on the holodeck or something?"

Your smile widened. "I'd love that."

Icheb said, "I'm glad I sat here with you."

"I am, too."