A tray slammed down in front of Kat, jerking her attention away from the PADD she had been reading and onto the cadet sliding into the seat opposite her at the small table in the cafeteria of Starfleet Academy. Gabriel Lorca, one of Starfleet's brightest and Kat's best friend, had just arrived, as usual with all the subtlety of a photon torpedo. She raised an eyebrow at the sour expression marring the usually chipper man's face as he started attacking his goulash.

'The date went well then?' she ventured, laughing at the glower she received in return. 'I did warn you..'

'If you say I told you so one more time I swear to god Katrina I will run you through with this spoon,' Gabriel growled, waving the implement in what was presumably supposed to be a threatening manner.

'Alright, alright!' Kat raised her hands in surrender. 'What was so disastrous about it then?'

'She didn't say anything!' Gabriel huffed in exasperation. 'She just sat there simpering and giggling every time I asked her a question!' Katrina winced in sympathy. 'That's it, right there. No more dates.'

'You should sign up for that dating app I was telling you about,' Katrina said, waving her PADD at him. 'It's just for Starfleet students, so everyone on there can at least string a sentence together, and it's all anonymous so you won't get people trying to suck up to you because of your reputation.'

'Have you met anyone decent on there?' Gabriel sounded less dismissive than usual; the previous night must really have been a disaster.

'Not for long term prospects,' Kat replied, a mischievous twinkle in her eye, 'But I have had some pretty good nights out of it. Sometimes even mornings afterwards too,' she added with a wink.

'You are shameless,' Gabriel stated. Kat scoffed.

'As if that's not what you're after too,' she countered. Gabriel sat back, an expression of hurt on his face.

'You wound me, Kat,' he said, hand clutching his chest. 'I'm on a quest to find true love.' She rolled her eyes.

'I really will wound you if you make us any more late for class,' she said, effectively ending the conversation as Gabriel shovelled the rest of his lunch into his mouth before they legged it to their lecture.

Later that night, needing a break from the constant studying, Katrina picked up her PADD and logged in to her StarDates account. Although the name was cheesy, the app was actually pretty good for matching her with people that she'd been able to have a conversation with, not to mention some extremely good sex. The program had a basic format, with no pictures and just a section to write something about yourself and something about what you look for in a partner. She scrolled through a few profiles before stopping at one that caught her eye.

I'm a tall, handsome man with blue eyes and rugged good looks (the height and blue eyes are factual, the rest is subjective but I trust my own opinion implicitly). I like adventure, excitement, trying new things and conquering them.

I'd like to meet someone who can hold their own in a conversation; who won't back down from their opinion but will fight for what they believe. A similar attitude towards sex would be good.

Katrina laughed and added the guy to her possibles list. He obviously had confidence bordering on arrogance, a trait she knew she ought to abhor but found annoyingly attractive, especially when she wasn't looking for anything long term. A few minutes more didn't reveal any other potentials and she put her PADD aside, returning her attention to her xenobiology notes.

She was just finishing up and considering getting ready for bed when her PADD chimed to let her know she had a new message. Checking it, she saw that the man whose profile she had marked earlier had matched with her and had sent her a message.

You must be even more intelligent than your profile implies if you've marked me as worth a second glance.

Katrina laughed incredulously; this was by far the most intriguing first contact she'd had from anyone so far. The psychologist in her enjoyed trying to analyse people using just the words they chose. The blatant cockiness this man was displaying had to be covering something and she itched to find out what it was. She waited a few minutes before replying; it wouldn't do to encourage him too much.

And you must be even more arrogant than your profile implies.

Where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation.

He had replied quickly, too fast for him to have looked up the quote, which meant that he must be able to parrot classical literature on cue. That was an unusual skill for a Starfleet cadet, as most of them were far more science-minded, and she found herself being drawn in.

I'm impressed, and reluctantly concede that you might have a point. It's nice to meet someone who reads something other than their lecture notes.

Hang on, you take notes? I'm not sure I can associate with you after all.

I suppose your superior mind retains all the information without needing to write anything down like us mere mortals.

Sometimes. But I prefer to outsource my notes when I need them.

Oh I see, you're one of those people who prefer to let others do all the work and then take all the credit. Let me guess; you're on the command track?

There's nothing wrong with using the skills of those around you to make for better results, in fact I believe Starfleet encourages it.

Commanding a bridge crew is one thing, copying other people's notes is another.

I sense disapproval. You must be a scientist.

Medical, actually.

That's much better. Medics are generally more grounded than scientists and strong in all the right ways.

Thank you, I think?

You're welcome.

There was a pause here, as if neither of them quite knew where to go next. Katrina glanced at the chronometer and realised it was far later than she had thought; she had to be up in just a few hours.

I'd better go, she sent. I've got a really full on day tomorrow so I'd better get to bed. I've enjoyed chatting though.

She got up to use the bathroom, and when she returned she found one more message waiting for her.

Me too. Sweet dreams.

Katrina didn't get another chance to log on for the next two days; she was too busy rushing between classes, working extended shifts at the hospital and trying to find time to eat and sleep in between to bother checking her messages. When she did eventually look, after collapsing onto her bunk after a spatial mathematics class, she found several messages waiting for her. She scanned them quickly, dismissing most of them until she found one from Blue Eyes.

How's your full on day been?

It had been sent the evening after their chat, and she felt a pang of regret for not checking sooner. She tapped out a reply quickly.

It's ended up being more than a day! Sorry, I haven't been ignoring you, I just haven't stopped since we chatted – medics who take notes work much harder than command students who don't.

She thought the mild insult would appeal to him more than a proper apology and prick him into responding. Sure enough, she didn't have to wait long before her PADD chimed.

Fighting talk. I'll have you know it takes a lot of effort to do things as effortlessly as I do.

Katrina laughed, and settled down to reply. When she next checked the time, she realised more than an hour had passed and she had fifteen minutes until she was supposed to meet Gabriel for drinks in a bar ten minutes away.

Crap I'm so sorry I've got to go! I promise to check my messages more often though. Talk to you soon x

No worries. Have fun x