"You're cheating."

"From what I know about this game, I believe it is impossible to cheat."

"Erm, no. No, David. Cheating is possible, it's very possible. Do you know how? You keep cards stashed away. You don't reveal the fact that you've got the card I'm asking for; that's how you cheat."

David sat cross legged and looking over the cards in his hands to Alma. She was sitting much the same, in between them on the coffee table sat the deck of cards. There were already a few pairs of four laid on the surface; Alma was endeavouring to teach David Go, Fish! He, like with all tasks he got set, was incredibly fast at learning. So fast that in fact Alma was determined on the fact that he was cheating. He did have moments of looking incredibly shifty. So she contributed that to either him scheming or him cheating, or just him generally thinking. It surely wasn't his natural expression which was a neutral small smile and a general content expression. 

"Got any sevens?"

"See! And that's why I say you're cheating!"

"I just picked a card from the deck like you said I had to, with the rules of this game, and all that."

"No you didn't, you fibber!"

David smiled and held out a hand. "Sevens?"

"I hate you right now."

"That's an impossibility." David said surely while Alma glared at him and handed over the precious collection of sevens that she had been pestering about for the past ten minutes of this game. And with the cards slowly and begrudgingly placed in his hand he placed the set of four down with a rather triumphant look on his face. 

"I don't want to play anymore."

"Is that because you're losing?" David smirked her way while fanning the cards in his hands out so he could see what he actually held. 

Alma frowned at him. Honestly when she suggested playing cards, she thought nothing of it. She thought it would be fun. This wasn't fun anymore. And like any other person, she looked offended and simply answered; "What? No! Of course not!" And David, much like anyone else looked so far from convinced it was a little funny. 

He raised an eyebrow, placed his cards face down so she couldn't see them and just rather comically nodded and said in a dry voice; "Uh-huh."

They stared blankly at each other for a while before Alma groaned and shut her eyes and rubbed them. David didn't technically need to blink, even if he did out of habit, or at least to further attempt to fit in with those around him. So of course he was going to win the stare off. He sat smiling happily with himself even as Alma peeked through her fingers with narrowed eyes. He didn't take her glaring to heart. She hadn't ever shown any annoyance to him, well, maybe there was once, but never again really. 

"Are there other games?" 

"I'm going to avoid Snap," Alma said while running a hand down her face. She strangely had mental images of David getting a little too into it and cracking the tabletop. "Solitaire is nice," by that she also thought it could be described as boring too. Boring, quiet, far from nice really. Yet David looked interested. He scooped up his cards and the deck and handed them to her from across the table.

"Show me," he said while watching as she picked up her cards and added them to the ones he was holding. 

Alma nodded and shifted around the table, she patted the floor beside her and David moved around. Shuffling the cards she looked up at him. "Do you enjoy playing cards?"

"It seems like a simple way to waste time." David stated instead. Alma just tilted her head, he sighed. "I don't have a comment really. There is something enjoyable about. If only to see your face when you lose."

"David!" Alma exclaimed and stopped shuffling the deck and reached up to shove him on the shoulder. "No one likes defeat rubbed in their face!"

"So you wished to stop because you were losing." David smirked and straightened up to look at her smugly. 

"You're insufferable."

"And you're still stewing over defeat."

"At least I lost to a worthy opponent."

"Someone who had only just learned the game. Can they be classed as a worthy opponent?"
"Picking holes, David."

"Stating the obvious, Miss."

Alma shook her head, "Sometimes it doesn't need to be stated, least of all when gloating, 8." David frowned down at her. Alma smiled, "I've quite decided that each time you address me as such, I'll address you by that. Can't we be on first name basis? You used my name earlier. Can't you just stick with using it?" She asked while placing the deck down on the table and turning to kneel beside him. "We are...whatever we are, we should be on first name basis anyway, right? David, you will forever be David to me, never 8. I am Alma, not Miss, even if I am one it isn't my name." She said while placing her hands on her knees and leaning against them slightly. 

"It seems strange. You have always been Miss to me. Regardless of what your name is."

"Is this a possible 'overstepping a boundary' thing, hm?" 

David looked around thoughtfully for a few moments before slowly nodding. He looked back at her, "I think perhaps that it might be."

"Regardless of you saying that one didn't possibly need to be stepped on and over?" Alma smirked and leaned an arm against the table before leaning her chin in her palm. David looked a little confused by this, and Alma just sat and slightly enjoyed how much this predicament seemed to cause him a moment of being truly miffed. "This, my dear, is what you call contradiction. And slight hypocrisy, perhaps." Alma rubbed her chin in thought as she slowly turned and commenced laying out the cards for game. 

David sat and watched and picked up the gist of this game quite quickly. He frowned, it was quiet though. Didn't involve much. And it was seemingly a one player game. "This is boring." He stated rather plainly, Alma laughed and glanced up at him, she handed him the cards. David looked at the ones she was endeavouring to stack, and commenced playing. He looked down when she shuffled closer and leaned her head against his shoulder. He stopped playing then, the game didn't quite grab his attention anyway. 

"David, who else is on this ship?" Alma looked up at him curiously. 

"I'm surprised you've not asked sooner." He looked down at her, "Would you like to see them?"

"It's a bit creepy. But go on then." Alma said while moving away from him. David stood and held a hand out to aid up her. Once he did he kept a hold of her hand and gently led her out of the room and back towards the spacious white walled room which housed all the chambers. Honestly David was surprised she hadn't asked sooner about her fellow travellers. She was an incredibly curious person. Maybe she was just waiting to meet them in person? David didn't know but he stopped and let go of her hand so she could flit between the tubes and look quickly at the occupants. "Yeah, this is creepy," Alma laughed awkwardly and leaned her hands against the side of one chamber. "Hello, having pleasant dreams down there?" 

David rolled his eyes as she directed a question down at one Rafe Millburn. He walked over to where the sleeping biologist was, and Alma. "You can see."

"I am not watching dreams, David. That's taking it to a new level. Wait a minute...is that what you did with your spare time?"

David smiled and walked around her. "Maybe." 

Alma turned and walked after him, "David!" She laughed. David glanced over his shoulder at her, he smiled only for that to slip as she glanced down a corridor illuminated by blue low lighting. "What's down there?" Alma pointed a finger. She hadn't seen this corridor before and didn't know where it went. 

David sighed and shook his head. "Maintenance." He said, even though secretly he knew that that specific corridor led down to the room where Peter Weyland was hiding away in his own chamber. Alma didn't need to know about that. No one needed to know about that. So he lied. "Most of the systems backups are down there." He explained, trying to further the lie. Alma looked up at him and shrugged slowly. David smiled, rather happy that she seemed to buy into the lie. Reaching down he held onto her hand and pulled her away. He half thought she looked close to walking down there to explore. So instead he decided to avoid that equation and take her elsewhere. His plan of action was slowly dissipating by the second mainly because Alma let out a yawn from behind her other hand. His expression softened, "Bed for you I think." David got a serious look sent his way and a quick shake of the head. He looked at her patiently and a few seconds later she let out another series of yawns. "Come on," he placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her towards the corridor which led to her room. 

"No...seriously, let go, David, I don't want to go to sleep..." Alma shooed his hand away and rather defiantly - or as defiant as possible - stomped a foot. David crossed his arms, he did find her moment of childish defiance amusing. 

"Fine, follow me, Alma." David turned and walked away from her. She looked perplexed and trotted after him quickly. She finally got to his side and looked around confused as they made their way to the main bridge of the ship. She stepped aside as he took to looking over a monitor and with a quick look sent her way, he pushed a button and the shields which were protecting the windows lifted. Her eyes widened slowly. The view stretched basically all around the room, she walked slowly away from the monitors and keyboards and sat slowly down on a ledge near a module to one side. David moved slowly over and looked around the machine with a curious look. "Better?" 

"This is amazing. Why'd you keep this secret, huh?" Alma kicked her legs gently and looked up at him with a wide smile. 

David slowly moved around and sat down by her side. "Mainly because we were travelling through asteroid fields. If the shields weren't up, the windows would've been damaged. If they were damaged...well, I don't need to state what would happen there."

"Can of beans in a microwave."

David frowned at the analogy as she grinned. Slowly he smiled back and nodded. "Exactly." He said after a moment of thought. He understood what she meant after a moment of pondering. He looked to the darkness, the white lights which were the stars. Distant spheres could be seen, planets or moons it wasn't certain which. Honestly Alma thought it was beautiful, if not a little lonely looking. It was all that vast black punctured by white silvery pricks of light. It didn't cut through the darkness much. The lights of the ship didn't either. 

"Did you come out here at all?" 

David shook his head, "No. I had other things to do."

"Like watching dreams?" Alma laughed. 

David gently nudged his shoulder against hers. "No, like lessons, and reading, you already know what my schedule was." 

She linked her arm with his and rested her head against his shoulder. David managed to turn his hand and grasp onto hers gently. "It's weirdly peaceful."

"I suppose it is."

"You don't like it?" She looked up at him curiously.  

He smiled, reaching up with his spare hand, he swept some hair behind her ear and kept his hand against her cheek. "I can understand the fascination with the stars. People have been obsessed for thousands of years; but it just doesn't hold the same fascination with me. Perhaps it will when we come to our destination, as opposed to just drifting." 

"Drifting about is boring, isn't it?"

"The view rarely changes." David confirmed. 

"Still peaceful though," she said quietly while tucking her head under his and looking out of the windows. It was distracting really, watching things travel by. And admittedly her mind slowly became distracted too and she felt herself drift off. 

David smiled, he may have done this on purpose if only to get her to sleep. She could be such a stubborn person when she wished to be. He stayed resting his chin against the top of her head for a few more moments before carefully turning and managing to pick her up. He walked slowly and carefully through the ship to get to her room. He didn't walk too fast in fear of waking her up. If she woke up then she'd be pottering around for hours to come, or she'd collapse somewhere and go to sleep. She might as well just suck it up and go to bed. It was clear her body wished to sleep, no matter how much her mind disagreed. 

So with that, he laid her slowly on her bed. He reached down and pulled the covers over her as she rolled onto her side and reached to hold onto the pillow below her. David stepped back and looked at her. She seemed so content. He looked over his shoulder and left the room, if only to go and put the shields back down on the windows. He couldn't leave them unguarded. He wasn't technically meant to open them anyway, but David had done enough things so far he wasn't meant to do. What harm did one extra thing do? Coming out here had a use anyway, Alma managed to go to sleep and everything was fine.

Turning slowly on his heels he made his way back to her room. He had planned to spend it sitting on the floor waiting for her to wake, much like he did last time but was a little surprised when he returned back to her half sitting in confusion. "What is it?" David asked while walking over with a worried look on his face. He minutely heard the door slide to a shut behind himself as he sat on the edge of the bed. 

Alma blinked and looked to him, "Nothing." He frowned, not believing her at all. "Just...do you ever have those moments where you just zone out and forget where you are and when you come back to reality?" David shook his head, even if she tried to explain what she was feeling simply, he still didn't understand her there. He was pretty much always alert. He'd made it clear zoning out, he guessed was similar to daydreaming, was a lost notion on him. Alma leaned away from her elbows and pulled her knees slowly up. Resting her arms over her knees she ran a hand through her hair. "I just remember seeing stars and then wake up to being here. I couldn't piece it together and it startled me is all. Should've known I hadn't suddenly got into sleepwalking, and that it was you who had moved me."

"As much as I enjoy our moments together, I do not think I am a particularly good pillow."

Alma chuckled lightly, "Your shoulder is comfier than you think." She said awkwardly as David's lips slowly turned up into a smirk. "Anyway! I'm going back to sleep," she said with a quiet cough as she pulled the covers back up, she was quite comfortable and couldn't be bothered to move and get into her forgotten pyjamas which were kicked out of the bed. 

"Good idea," David said while making sure she was all tucked up as he went to move. He paused in motion as Alma looked at him uncertainly. "What is it?"

"Can you stay?"

"I'll be right here."

Alma looked quickly to where he pointed and frowned. "On the floor? Again?"

David smiled and shrugged. "I don't mind, honestly."

Alma looked unconvinced. She scooted and patted the bed beside her. David looked rather puzzled by the whole notion of laying down and being on the bed. He never used the bed that was in his room back in her apartment. And likewise he had nowhere to technically rest, not that he needed it, back in the Weyland building. The last real time he was laying down was when he first woke up. And that seemed like such a long time ago now. 

"You look...confused."

"It's an interesting concept this."

"Meaning?"

"I can see why you would be reluctant to leave." David smiled and tilted his head to look at her. She laughed gently and nodded. "I can understand why you spend eight hours here. Even if I do still think that it's a waste of time." 

"That's okay for you, you don't get tired." Alma rolled her eyes and buried her face against the pillow. Her one visible eye opened when she felt movement. David had turned and was looking down at her simply. "Please don't watch me sleep."

"I have nothing else to do." He said quietly with a small smile. "At least this way I am close if you wake with a start again." 

"You worry."

"I do. But I'll look after you, Alma. I always will. So go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake." David said gently while she slowly shut her eyes with a sigh. "And plus, tomorrow is Christmas." A wide grin appeared on her face then, David reached forwards and brushed a hand through her hair. "I somehow have a feeling you'll be spending most of the day running about like an excitable child. Even if there is nothing really up here which relates to Christmas, other than the tree and the never ending films." He said thoughtfully, Alma reached up and held onto his hand from where it had stilled. David slowly blinked and looked back to her, "Good night, Alma." David whispered and leaned forwards to kiss her gently on the forehead, he realised he was more or less talking to someone who had somewhere along the line drifted off back to sleep. Conscious or not, she still seemed with it enough to hold onto his hand and shuffle closer to nudge her head under his. David smiled and let out a content sigh.

He managed to reach behind himself and switch the bedside lamp off before wrapping an arm around her, while the other managed to get underneath the pillows and support her head. Even if he didn't need to, he laid and shut his eyes, he could almost imagine what it would be like to actually fall asleep, honestly he was struggling to think of anything so simply enjoyable as this; laying in silence with her wrapped up tightly against himself, holding onto his shirt and seemingly as comfortable as himself in this moment.

——

(Edited: 27/Feb/2021)