LIGHT-YEARS AWAY (Data x Reader) // Star Trek

Chapter Thirteen

"Well, well, well, guess what I heard?" Bones said leaning against your cupboard with a slight smirk across his face. 

"Hmm?" You shot up in bed, rubbing your tired eyes before desperately searching for the reason of your rude awakening. 

"This morning,  Riker let it slip about you and Data. Were you going to mention this to me or did you just want to keep me guessing?" 

You dramatically sighed, "What the hell Bones? This is why you woke me up? To pester me about my love life? How-how did you even get in here?" 

He just grinned in return, you shook your head and laughed too. "Fine, old man, I'll tell you." 

"Don't call me old! I'm not old, I'm aged. Like a fine aged whiskey." He snapped.

"Whatever." You shook your head. "Let me get dressed, meet me in Ten Forward, I'll come right on over...Given that, considering how slow you walk now, I might just make it there before you." You winked.

"Oh, how considerate. Giving me a damned head start are you?" He said drly before leaving your quarters. 

You chuckled as you quickly got ready for the day and made your way to the social hub of the ship.

"Y/n! Over here!" Bones called across the room to you. A few people turned towards his yelling which caused you to blush from embarrassment. You quickly made your way over to him and plopped down at the table.

"Now, are you going to tell me about this new relationship or what?" He asked smiling.

"I don't know...You seem like you're sorta desperate to know...I'm debating if I should not tell you just to be annoying." You said jokingly stroking your chin. 

He furrowed his eyebrows, "How long have we known each other now? Over a century? And you wouldn't tell your best friend in the entire world? The person you used to come running to everytime something went wrong, the person you would seek for love advice and-"

You cut him off, "Of course I will tell ya! You know how yesterday I said I had been trapped in a holodeck program and I ended up hiding in a cupboard with Data for hours until Riker saved us?" 

"Yes, I think I vaguely remember something like that happening yestarday." 

"Don't you try it with me mister! Riker told me all about how you were all worried about me and pestering him until he did something about it." You grinned, "Anyway, we ended up talking about relationships and I told him I had developed feelings for him and one thing led to another...not like that!" You corrected yourself,  "We just kissed....but now we are in a relationship!" You said failing to hide your own excitement. 

Bones instantly started grinning at your happiness, "That's great news darlin'! I'm excited for the both of ya...now, if he ever hurts you, you had better not delay telling me. I still keep a bag of hypos ready just in case," He threatened. 

You laughed, "I wonder where Data is...Actually, I haven't seen Lore around either." 

"Who's Lore?" Bone asked.

"Ehh...well, basically he is Data's brother. He's sort of like Data's replicant, they found him on Data's home planet in pieces and after a bit of reasembely they turned him on." You explained.

"Turned who on?" Riker asked as he took a seat at the table too.

"Commander?" You asked, shocked at how he always seemed to just fly in from no where, "I was just filling in McCoy about Lore." 

"Ah yes, Lore." He thought to himself for a moment and then grinned in a cheeky way. You knew whatever he was thinking, wasn't going to be good. "You find Data hot right?"

You coud feel your cheeks firing again. "...Of course I do. Dammit Riker, where are you going with this?" You already had suspisions. 

"Okay, so, I want to know. Do you also find Lore hot?" He asked, confirming the suspisions.

"What in the..." You shot him a glare but couldn't help but laugh when you saw the playfulness in his eyes. "I mean, yeah, I guess. But I like Data for Data, not Data for Lore. There's more to Data than just his exterior design." You said losing yourself in your thoughts. 

Riker and Bones shot you a curious glance, the obvious answer to being attracted to a machine was simply for the looks, but Data was different. The more you thought about it, the truer you realized it was. "I find him appealing for so much more than just his beautiful features, I love the way he is curious about everything and respectful, honest, kind, loyal...I love the fact that he's always growing and yet he can't even see it, I love the way..." You cut short when you saw Bones and Riker now both smirking at you. 

"Someone is in love," Bones whispered in a teasing voice. 

"Hehe" Riker said also teasing. 

You hissed. "Let me ask you this Riker if the love of your life had an identical twin, would you love them the same?" 

It was an obvious answer but yet you could see Riker despertly searching his mind for the answer. "...no?" he said at last.

You just rolled your eyes, "besides, I don't trust Lore. I have suspicions he was the one who locked us in the holodeck yesterday." 

Riker turned serious. "That's a serious accusation (y/n)...Why do you think it was him?"

You furrowed your brow, "I don't know, he just seems...off to me. I can't explain it, but...I don't know. Forget I said anything for now. There's always the chance the holodeck was just a prank gone wrong." You said laughing lightly.

"It'll be hard to forget, but I'll try for now." Riker said nodding his head.

"Have you guys seen Data at all today?" You asked.

"No, not yet. But I'm sure he'll be on the Bridge. I'm headed there now, do you want to accompany me?" Riker asked. 

You nodded your head, "Yeah, that sounds good." You stood and began following Riker. 

Bones suddenly grabbed your hand and pulled you down so you were face to face, "(y/n), if you have suspicions that this Lore is dangerous, please don't brush it off. You have always been right about this kind of stuff." He said worridly. 

You nodded your head in agreement and kissed him on the cheek before running to catch up with Riker.