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seren_ccdChapter One
The slowly rising water laps at her ankles. The smell of rotten, water-soaked rice irritates her nose and turns her stomach. The water is the color of rust. Tannin. The result of the decomposition of the leaves in the water.
She can see in her mind the chemical process of that breakdown. The image of a leaf disintegrating into chemicals and seeping into the water. She can see it so very clearly.
How she is going to escape from this natural prison they’ve thrust her in…
That she cannot see at all.
Christine Chapel stared at the letter on her PADD. She tilted her head and shifted in her chair at her desk in sickbay as the hour of re-typing her research notes caught up with her and the muscles in her back complained from having been still for so long.
The letter was an invitation, or maybe a not-so-gentle reminder, from Starfleet Medical informing her that she was only one year away from her doctorate in endocrinology and wasn’t she eager to return and begin the process of submitting her thesis?
Define ‘eager’. she thought. Because she was eager. She was eager to finish the degree she’d started six years ago. The degree she’d happily interrupted to serve on the Enterprise after being commissioned during the Narada incident.
However, she was also eager to continue the work she was involved with on the Enterprise. Heck, the very thought of leaving the Enterprise did horrible things to her stomach. Leaving space, being on Earth, away from her staff, her friends... Leonard.
“Chapel! Where the hell are those bacteria samples?”
Speak of the devil…
Christine yelled back, “Exactly where you left them, in the tray next to the centrifuge.” She paused. Then said, “And stay away from my slides! Don’t you dare disrupt my cell membrane analysis, doctor! If one slide is so much as breathed on, you’ll have to find yourself a new head nurse!”
“You say that at least once a week,” he said sticking his head around the door. “I’ve stopped listening.” McCoy gave her an overly cheesy wink and Christine chuckled despite herself.
“Now, get in here, I think I’m onto something and I need you to check my math,” he said before he disappeared into the lab.
A feeling of fond exasperation settled over her as she gave Starfleet Medical's letter another read before shutting down her inbox and going to help McCoy.
Two hours later, after checking and re-checking analyses and wishing she had Chekov’s easy manner with higher mathematics, Christine left McCoy grumbling over his PADD for lunch.
“Don’t take too long,” she said. “You’ve got that meeting with the captain and Commander Spock in half an hour.”
“Mmmm, still don’t know why Starfleet wants us to go play ambassador,” McCoy said.
“Perhaps they were impressed with the results of the last time?” Christine mused.
McCoy shot her a glare and Christine couldn’t help a small grin. The last time the Enterprise had been asked to serve as ambassadors and mediate a situation on a planet called Ardana had gone less than well. The visit had ended with both Spock and Kirk entertaining a couple of seduction attempts, Kirk being abducted, then being poisoned by a gas and spending a fair amount of time doing hard labor in a mine. The state of the captain when he was finally beamed back to the Enterprise had been terrible, his mind and body ravaged from the effects of the poison and the back-breaking work in the mine.
“All I know is that this time, I suggested Jim wear a mask the whole time,” McCoy said.
“Well, isn’t the entire senior staff invited?” Christine asked. Off McCoy’s nod, she said, “There you go. Safety in numbers." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe we should impose a buddy system like they did when we were in elementary school?”
“Cute,” McCoy said. “I’ll be sure to mention that suggestion to Spock. I can just see him now holding hands with Uhura and glaring at all the other schoolkids for cutting in line.”
Christine rolled her eyes.
“So, would you be my buddy or would that too much of a cliché for you? The doctor and the nurse?” he asked spinning around on his lab stool to look at her.
“Oh, terribly clichéd,” she agreed adjusting her skirt and trying not to giggle like a teenager. “However, I’d just end up walking next to you talking about medicine."
McCoy stood up and stretched a little, Christine didn’t bother to hide her glance at the way his shoulders moved. He smirked and sauntered over to her coming to stand right in front of her, leaving only a few inches between them.
“The only problem with being paired up with you would be the temptation to find dark corners to hide in,” he said, his voice lowering and his drawl becoming more pronounced. His eyes raked over her face and focused on her lips as she licked them.
“In order to discuss your current analysis of Andorian mitochondria?” she asked, her head tilting up and her body beginning to tingle from the nearness of him.
“Of course,” he said simply. “You know how even the mention of mitochondria gets me all hot and bothered.”
Christine laughed and shook her head. “I always knew you were a cheap date, McCoy.”
The doctor grinned. “Hey, I’m just a simple country doctor, I don’t need any frills.”
“You certainly don’t,” Christine murmured as his head began to lower to hers. His lips had just brushed against hers when the beep of the centrifuge interrupted them. McCoy groaned and Christine sighed. She gently pushed him away. “Go finish your analysis and don’t be late to your meeting.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said the corners of his lips turning down. Christine quickly kissed his cheek and left the lab. She felt him watching her as she left and it was entirely possible she added the slightest of a sway to her hips.
Christine was still smiling when she reached the corridor near the mess hall, where she heard her name called.
“Christine!”
The nurse stopped and turned to smile at Uhura walking briskly down the hallway. “Hey, you. I thought you weren’t going to make it.”
Uhura gave her friend a relieved smile as she fell into step next to her. “So did I, but the transmission from Starfleet was delayed until after lunch.”
“Is it true that we’ve been asked to be the voice of Starfleet again?” Christine asked.
Uhura made an irritated face. “Yes. After what happened the last time, I’m more than a little surprised.”
“That’s what I said.” Christine shook her head. "You'd think we'd get better at this type of thing as opposed to worse."
“Well, to be fair,” Uhura said as they lined up to get their food. “The situation is urgent and we’re the closest Starfleet representative. I’ve always wanted to see Kalpharia. Did you know that their southeastern county has at least twenty-seven regional dialects? I’ve already been promised access to their national library’s archives.”
Christine and Uhura chatted about the upcoming visit to the planet as they walked their trays over to their usual table where Gaila and Janice Rand were already seated.
Christine could feel herself relaxing. She honestly loved their weekly lunches. Somehow, they always managed to find at least one day during the week in which they could all meet for a meal. She presumed it was just as much for relaxation purposes as it was anything else, but most of all, it was fun.
While Christine had become friends with Uhura and Gaila at the Academy, it hadn't taken long for Janice to be included in their small group. Especially after the ship had a run-in on planet Taurus-II in which the entire male contingency aboard the Enterprise was overcome by the 'siren song' of the planet's female population. Uhura, Christine and Janice made up part of an away team that eventually rescued the captain, Spock and Dr. McCoy. It made for an interesting mission and the women had bonded instantly.
“So, Janice,” Gaila said. “How's Jim these days?”
“Unbearable,” the yeoman said with a sigh that straddled the line of exasperation and affection. As Christine looked up from her lunch and studied her friend, she was pretty sure the affection was winning.
“Oh, dear,” Christine said mildly, then took a slow bite of her salad.
“I know,” Janice said. “He's been doing this thing lately, where he listens to me.”
“I'm... sorry?” Uhura said with a confused look.
“Yeah, he listens,” Janice said. She stabbed at a grape. “He really listens. He just stares at me and nods his head, then he asks informed questions and makes lists and suggestions.”
“Umm, this is a problem?” Gaila asked.
“Yes!” Janice said loudly, startling the rest of the table. Janice sighed and offered an apologetic look before going back to fiddling with her fork and staring at the table. When she started talking again, her voice was quiet and very, very serious. “It is. Because it's just lulling me into the false belief that he's going to actually think before he blunders off and does his own thing; completely disregarding anything I may have told him about or any plans he may have made.”
She frowned. “He's being considerate. And I wish he'd just go back to blowing me off.”
Christine shared a pointed and somewhat sad look with Gaila and Uhura. All three of them were well versed in the relationship or lack-there-of between the Captain and his Yeoman.
“Do you really?” Christine asked.
“No,” Janice said glumly. “I kind of like it when he pays undivided attention to me.” She groaned and Gaila patted her back. “I'm hopeless.”
“You're not hopeless,” Uhura said. “He's hopeless. The situation's hopeless.”
“Look at it this way,” Gaila said. “He's definitely into you. I mean, he's clearly watching your mouth when you talk, which is a bright, flashing red sign that means he's attracted to you. Plus, if he's watching your mouth, he's watching your other bits and that means he really wants to have sex with you. This is Jim we're talking about, he's so got a thing for mouths. And he's attempting to be sensitive and respect your position, which is another form of regard. So, really, it's all good!”
“You're right,” Janice said. “You're right. I know you're right. He is attracted, he does care, he respects me and his position. I'm just going to have to accept the fact that I'm going to die of sexual frustration.” She looked up at Christine. “People have died from that, haven't they?”
“Not that I know of,” Christine said fighting a smile. “But, there's a first time for everything.”
“Crap,” Janice said finally managing to stab the grape on her plate. She didn't eat it though.
"I've got some toys you can borrow if you want," Gaila offered helpfully.
"Thanks, sweetie," Janice said, smiling a little.
“Leave it to Jim to discover responsibility and actually stick to it,” Uhura said.
“Yeah,” Gaila said.
“Yeah,” Christine said.
“Crap,” Janice said. The pretty woman shook her head and fixed Christine with a look. “So, how's your relationship going?”
Christine swallowed her sip of juice and avoided looking anyone in the eyes. “What relationship?”
Uhura rolled her eyes and Gaila snickered.
“You and the good doctor,” Janice said. “How's it going?”
“I'm not... We're not... I... it's...” Christine tried to speak, feeling awkward and not a little embarrassed of her love life suddenly being on the table.
“Have you ladies noticed how she starts to stutter when we ask her about McCoy?” Gaila asked conversationally.
“Oh yeah,” Janice said smirking.
“I think it's cute,” Uhura said.
Christine glared. Uhura just gave her a pointed and terribly knowing look.
“McCoy does it, too, whenever the Captain brings it up on the bridge,” Uhura went on to say.
Christine's jaw dropped. "He brings it up on the bridge?” Her voice squeaked as she gave Janice a look that clearly said 'are you sure you want to have a crush on a man with the manners of a five year old?'
“He’s really hot!” Janice dropped her face in her hands and sighed. “And he’s really brilliant when he’s not being a jackass! Although…” Janice popped her head back up and pinned her with a stare. One eerily reminiscent of the one their much-discussed commanding officer got right before he had one of those brilliant insightful moments people kept forgiving his other behavior for. “You’re side tracking us. We - and by we I mean the entire ship – have come to the conclusion that you and McCoy are dating. Even if neither of you are aware of it.”
“We're not! I mean, we... it really isn't...” Christine couldn't quite pin down what she was feeling, but flustered came pretty close.
“She's doing it again,” Uhura said grinning.
“You know, if you were a piece of machinery I'd be rebooting you right about now,” Gaila said her eyes slowly moving over Christine's body.
Christine glared at her 'friends' and said, “We're not dating. We're aware that – something – is there, and are attempting to - explore- the possibilities, but we haven't put a label on it yet.”
“It's called dating,” Uhura said, rolling her eyes once again.
Christine glared into her juice.
“Okay, let's just go over the list,” Gaila said brightly. She flipped her curls over one shoulder and grabbed a PADD out of her satchel. The other ladies at the table groaned. “What? I don't know why you have such an aversion to lists. Especially you, Ny, you're the most organized person I know.”
“I work with lists all day,” Janice said. “I don't want to see them on my lunch hour.”
“Hear, hear,” Christine said.
“Exactly,” Uhura said. “I like having an hour in which I don't have to tap a silicone-based surface.”
“Well, too bad,” the Orion said cheerfully. She tapped a brightly painted nail on the PADD and brought up a document. “Now, Christine, if you answer yes to more than two of these questions, you are dating McCoy.”
“According to who?” Christine asked mortified.
“Cosmopolitan.”
“Oh, thank goodness. I thought for a minute you were consulting something with highly dubious content,” Christine said inwardly praying for Klingons to attack so she could get out of this ridiculous situation.
“Well, she sure sounds like McCoy,” Uhura said with a grin.
Christine threw a grape at her.
“Number one,” Gaila said loudly. “Do you share meals?”
Christine sighed. “Yes, but we work late hours and are often still going over results when we eat.”
“That's still a yes,” Gaila said tapping the PADD. “Number two: Do you find yourself touching him more in a playful and casual manner?”
“Yes,” the nurse said reluctantly remembering how she'd kissed his cheek on her way to lunch as she headed out of the sickbay.
“Number three: Does the gent in question touch you in a friendly and casual manner?”
“Yes,” Christine said staring at her juice and wishing she was the type of person who didn't mind airing her love life in the middle of the mess hall.
“Number four: Are you currently wearing matching lingerie?”
“That is not on there!” Christine said. Gaila showed her the page. “Oh, for... Yes. I am.”
“Oooh, what color?” Janice asked perking up..
“Pale blue with a floral pattern.”
“Pretty. You should really try the new line recently released from Paris Five. The silk is amazing and--”
“Ahem!" Gaila interrupted, looking sternly at Janice. "Number five: Do you find yourself inventing excuses to remain in his company?”
“Yes,” Christine said putting her head in her hands.
Janice reached over and patted her back. Uhura sniggered into her herbal tea.
“Number six: In the last week, how many times has he stayed with you in sickbay instead of going drinking with Monty?”
“How on earth is that in Cosmo?” Christine asked raising her head.
“We're allowed to make up our own questions,” Gaila said. “Now answer.”
“Well, I think he went with Mr. Scott on Monday,” Christine said her brow furrowing in confusion. “But, that may have been it. Huh.”
“Mmm hmm. Last one: and this is specific to you: Christine Chapel, have you cooked for him?”
Christine opened her mouth to say 'no' but she recalled last week specifically cooking jambalaya the way he said his mother always had, with thick slices of tomatoes and red beans. She closed her mouth.
She slumped in her chair and looked around at her girlfriends who all had amused and rather triumphant looks on their faces.
Christine sat up straight and mustered up all the eloquence she possessed and said firmly, “Ya'll suck.”
Christine walked back into the sickbay with only one thought going through her head. She and McCoy were dating. They were dating. And yet, they hadn't actually been on a date. Ugh. Typical.
Heaven forbid they actually do anything normally. Heaven forbid the man actually ask her out on a date or to one of the socials Kirk threw.
No, they had to eat dinner in the lab, surrounded by blood samples and centrifuges. Or in his office with paperwork.
Damn it. She nodded to one of the nurses on staff and picked up the duty roster. Her mind still puzzling out her 'relationship'.
The thing was, it wasn't like she minded how things were. She liked the late night eating while they discussed their day and their cases. She liked sitting in his office while she went over his reports and he went over hers. She loved that he often took the time to ask after her own independent research as she tried to stay on track with her doctoral thesis. She highly valued his input and opinions, and was grateful that he never pulled his academic punches.
On more than one occasion, a well-placed eyebrow and dry “Really?” had pushed her further than test data, crabby advisors, and her own perfectionism ever could. And it wasn’t like she never punched back. Christine smirked over a PADD as several, rather heated episodes flashed through her mind. No, he didn’t mind criticism, as long as it wasn’t misplaced
And all this was just the intellectual side of them. She didn't dare consider the actual attraction that hummed like a live wire in her whenever he was near. Her body would actually thrum and pulse when he stood close to her. It was like nothing she'd ever experienced before with her other boyfriends or even her fiancé. And the way he sometimes looked at her... It was warm and inviting and then could quickly become heated. Like he was so close to throwing her on his desk and just taking her.
Christine snorted out loud. She sounded like one of those trashy romance novels Gaila and Janice traded back and forth.
Work, she thought. That's what you need to do. So get to work, woman.
She froze. Oh for... She did sound like McCoy.
Next
The slowly rising water laps at her ankles. The smell of rotten, water-soaked rice irritates her nose and turns her stomach. The water is the color of rust. Tannin. The result of the decomposition of the leaves in the water.
She can see in her mind the chemical process of that breakdown. The image of a leaf disintegrating into chemicals and seeping into the water. She can see it so very clearly.
How she is going to escape from this natural prison they’ve thrust her in…
That she cannot see at all.
Christine Chapel stared at the letter on her PADD. She tilted her head and shifted in her chair at her desk in sickbay as the hour of re-typing her research notes caught up with her and the muscles in her back complained from having been still for so long.
The letter was an invitation, or maybe a not-so-gentle reminder, from Starfleet Medical informing her that she was only one year away from her doctorate in endocrinology and wasn’t she eager to return and begin the process of submitting her thesis?
Define ‘eager’. she thought. Because she was eager. She was eager to finish the degree she’d started six years ago. The degree she’d happily interrupted to serve on the Enterprise after being commissioned during the Narada incident.
However, she was also eager to continue the work she was involved with on the Enterprise. Heck, the very thought of leaving the Enterprise did horrible things to her stomach. Leaving space, being on Earth, away from her staff, her friends... Leonard.
“Chapel! Where the hell are those bacteria samples?”
Speak of the devil…
Christine yelled back, “Exactly where you left them, in the tray next to the centrifuge.” She paused. Then said, “And stay away from my slides! Don’t you dare disrupt my cell membrane analysis, doctor! If one slide is so much as breathed on, you’ll have to find yourself a new head nurse!”
“You say that at least once a week,” he said sticking his head around the door. “I’ve stopped listening.” McCoy gave her an overly cheesy wink and Christine chuckled despite herself.
“Now, get in here, I think I’m onto something and I need you to check my math,” he said before he disappeared into the lab.
A feeling of fond exasperation settled over her as she gave Starfleet Medical's letter another read before shutting down her inbox and going to help McCoy.
Two hours later, after checking and re-checking analyses and wishing she had Chekov’s easy manner with higher mathematics, Christine left McCoy grumbling over his PADD for lunch.
“Don’t take too long,” she said. “You’ve got that meeting with the captain and Commander Spock in half an hour.”
“Mmmm, still don’t know why Starfleet wants us to go play ambassador,” McCoy said.
“Perhaps they were impressed with the results of the last time?” Christine mused.
McCoy shot her a glare and Christine couldn’t help a small grin. The last time the Enterprise had been asked to serve as ambassadors and mediate a situation on a planet called Ardana had gone less than well. The visit had ended with both Spock and Kirk entertaining a couple of seduction attempts, Kirk being abducted, then being poisoned by a gas and spending a fair amount of time doing hard labor in a mine. The state of the captain when he was finally beamed back to the Enterprise had been terrible, his mind and body ravaged from the effects of the poison and the back-breaking work in the mine.
“All I know is that this time, I suggested Jim wear a mask the whole time,” McCoy said.
“Well, isn’t the entire senior staff invited?” Christine asked. Off McCoy’s nod, she said, “There you go. Safety in numbers." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe we should impose a buddy system like they did when we were in elementary school?”
“Cute,” McCoy said. “I’ll be sure to mention that suggestion to Spock. I can just see him now holding hands with Uhura and glaring at all the other schoolkids for cutting in line.”
Christine rolled her eyes.
“So, would you be my buddy or would that too much of a cliché for you? The doctor and the nurse?” he asked spinning around on his lab stool to look at her.
“Oh, terribly clichéd,” she agreed adjusting her skirt and trying not to giggle like a teenager. “However, I’d just end up walking next to you talking about medicine."
McCoy stood up and stretched a little, Christine didn’t bother to hide her glance at the way his shoulders moved. He smirked and sauntered over to her coming to stand right in front of her, leaving only a few inches between them.
“The only problem with being paired up with you would be the temptation to find dark corners to hide in,” he said, his voice lowering and his drawl becoming more pronounced. His eyes raked over her face and focused on her lips as she licked them.
“In order to discuss your current analysis of Andorian mitochondria?” she asked, her head tilting up and her body beginning to tingle from the nearness of him.
“Of course,” he said simply. “You know how even the mention of mitochondria gets me all hot and bothered.”
Christine laughed and shook her head. “I always knew you were a cheap date, McCoy.”
The doctor grinned. “Hey, I’m just a simple country doctor, I don’t need any frills.”
“You certainly don’t,” Christine murmured as his head began to lower to hers. His lips had just brushed against hers when the beep of the centrifuge interrupted them. McCoy groaned and Christine sighed. She gently pushed him away. “Go finish your analysis and don’t be late to your meeting.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said the corners of his lips turning down. Christine quickly kissed his cheek and left the lab. She felt him watching her as she left and it was entirely possible she added the slightest of a sway to her hips.
Christine was still smiling when she reached the corridor near the mess hall, where she heard her name called.
“Christine!”
The nurse stopped and turned to smile at Uhura walking briskly down the hallway. “Hey, you. I thought you weren’t going to make it.”
Uhura gave her friend a relieved smile as she fell into step next to her. “So did I, but the transmission from Starfleet was delayed until after lunch.”
“Is it true that we’ve been asked to be the voice of Starfleet again?” Christine asked.
Uhura made an irritated face. “Yes. After what happened the last time, I’m more than a little surprised.”
“That’s what I said.” Christine shook her head. "You'd think we'd get better at this type of thing as opposed to worse."
“Well, to be fair,” Uhura said as they lined up to get their food. “The situation is urgent and we’re the closest Starfleet representative. I’ve always wanted to see Kalpharia. Did you know that their southeastern county has at least twenty-seven regional dialects? I’ve already been promised access to their national library’s archives.”
Christine and Uhura chatted about the upcoming visit to the planet as they walked their trays over to their usual table where Gaila and Janice Rand were already seated.
Christine could feel herself relaxing. She honestly loved their weekly lunches. Somehow, they always managed to find at least one day during the week in which they could all meet for a meal. She presumed it was just as much for relaxation purposes as it was anything else, but most of all, it was fun.
While Christine had become friends with Uhura and Gaila at the Academy, it hadn't taken long for Janice to be included in their small group. Especially after the ship had a run-in on planet Taurus-II in which the entire male contingency aboard the Enterprise was overcome by the 'siren song' of the planet's female population. Uhura, Christine and Janice made up part of an away team that eventually rescued the captain, Spock and Dr. McCoy. It made for an interesting mission and the women had bonded instantly.
“So, Janice,” Gaila said. “How's Jim these days?”
“Unbearable,” the yeoman said with a sigh that straddled the line of exasperation and affection. As Christine looked up from her lunch and studied her friend, she was pretty sure the affection was winning.
“Oh, dear,” Christine said mildly, then took a slow bite of her salad.
“I know,” Janice said. “He's been doing this thing lately, where he listens to me.”
“I'm... sorry?” Uhura said with a confused look.
“Yeah, he listens,” Janice said. She stabbed at a grape. “He really listens. He just stares at me and nods his head, then he asks informed questions and makes lists and suggestions.”
“Umm, this is a problem?” Gaila asked.
“Yes!” Janice said loudly, startling the rest of the table. Janice sighed and offered an apologetic look before going back to fiddling with her fork and staring at the table. When she started talking again, her voice was quiet and very, very serious. “It is. Because it's just lulling me into the false belief that he's going to actually think before he blunders off and does his own thing; completely disregarding anything I may have told him about or any plans he may have made.”
She frowned. “He's being considerate. And I wish he'd just go back to blowing me off.”
Christine shared a pointed and somewhat sad look with Gaila and Uhura. All three of them were well versed in the relationship or lack-there-of between the Captain and his Yeoman.
“Do you really?” Christine asked.
“No,” Janice said glumly. “I kind of like it when he pays undivided attention to me.” She groaned and Gaila patted her back. “I'm hopeless.”
“You're not hopeless,” Uhura said. “He's hopeless. The situation's hopeless.”
“Look at it this way,” Gaila said. “He's definitely into you. I mean, he's clearly watching your mouth when you talk, which is a bright, flashing red sign that means he's attracted to you. Plus, if he's watching your mouth, he's watching your other bits and that means he really wants to have sex with you. This is Jim we're talking about, he's so got a thing for mouths. And he's attempting to be sensitive and respect your position, which is another form of regard. So, really, it's all good!”
“You're right,” Janice said. “You're right. I know you're right. He is attracted, he does care, he respects me and his position. I'm just going to have to accept the fact that I'm going to die of sexual frustration.” She looked up at Christine. “People have died from that, haven't they?”
“Not that I know of,” Christine said fighting a smile. “But, there's a first time for everything.”
“Crap,” Janice said finally managing to stab the grape on her plate. She didn't eat it though.
"I've got some toys you can borrow if you want," Gaila offered helpfully.
"Thanks, sweetie," Janice said, smiling a little.
“Leave it to Jim to discover responsibility and actually stick to it,” Uhura said.
“Yeah,” Gaila said.
“Yeah,” Christine said.
“Crap,” Janice said. The pretty woman shook her head and fixed Christine with a look. “So, how's your relationship going?”
Christine swallowed her sip of juice and avoided looking anyone in the eyes. “What relationship?”
Uhura rolled her eyes and Gaila snickered.
“You and the good doctor,” Janice said. “How's it going?”
“I'm not... We're not... I... it's...” Christine tried to speak, feeling awkward and not a little embarrassed of her love life suddenly being on the table.
“Have you ladies noticed how she starts to stutter when we ask her about McCoy?” Gaila asked conversationally.
“Oh yeah,” Janice said smirking.
“I think it's cute,” Uhura said.
Christine glared. Uhura just gave her a pointed and terribly knowing look.
“McCoy does it, too, whenever the Captain brings it up on the bridge,” Uhura went on to say.
Christine's jaw dropped. "He brings it up on the bridge?” Her voice squeaked as she gave Janice a look that clearly said 'are you sure you want to have a crush on a man with the manners of a five year old?'
“He’s really hot!” Janice dropped her face in her hands and sighed. “And he’s really brilliant when he’s not being a jackass! Although…” Janice popped her head back up and pinned her with a stare. One eerily reminiscent of the one their much-discussed commanding officer got right before he had one of those brilliant insightful moments people kept forgiving his other behavior for. “You’re side tracking us. We - and by we I mean the entire ship – have come to the conclusion that you and McCoy are dating. Even if neither of you are aware of it.”
“We're not! I mean, we... it really isn't...” Christine couldn't quite pin down what she was feeling, but flustered came pretty close.
“She's doing it again,” Uhura said grinning.
“You know, if you were a piece of machinery I'd be rebooting you right about now,” Gaila said her eyes slowly moving over Christine's body.
Christine glared at her 'friends' and said, “We're not dating. We're aware that – something – is there, and are attempting to - explore- the possibilities, but we haven't put a label on it yet.”
“It's called dating,” Uhura said, rolling her eyes once again.
Christine glared into her juice.
“Okay, let's just go over the list,” Gaila said brightly. She flipped her curls over one shoulder and grabbed a PADD out of her satchel. The other ladies at the table groaned. “What? I don't know why you have such an aversion to lists. Especially you, Ny, you're the most organized person I know.”
“I work with lists all day,” Janice said. “I don't want to see them on my lunch hour.”
“Hear, hear,” Christine said.
“Exactly,” Uhura said. “I like having an hour in which I don't have to tap a silicone-based surface.”
“Well, too bad,” the Orion said cheerfully. She tapped a brightly painted nail on the PADD and brought up a document. “Now, Christine, if you answer yes to more than two of these questions, you are dating McCoy.”
“According to who?” Christine asked mortified.
“Cosmopolitan.”
“Oh, thank goodness. I thought for a minute you were consulting something with highly dubious content,” Christine said inwardly praying for Klingons to attack so she could get out of this ridiculous situation.
“Well, she sure sounds like McCoy,” Uhura said with a grin.
Christine threw a grape at her.
“Number one,” Gaila said loudly. “Do you share meals?”
Christine sighed. “Yes, but we work late hours and are often still going over results when we eat.”
“That's still a yes,” Gaila said tapping the PADD. “Number two: Do you find yourself touching him more in a playful and casual manner?”
“Yes,” the nurse said reluctantly remembering how she'd kissed his cheek on her way to lunch as she headed out of the sickbay.
“Number three: Does the gent in question touch you in a friendly and casual manner?”
“Yes,” Christine said staring at her juice and wishing she was the type of person who didn't mind airing her love life in the middle of the mess hall.
“Number four: Are you currently wearing matching lingerie?”
“That is not on there!” Christine said. Gaila showed her the page. “Oh, for... Yes. I am.”
“Oooh, what color?” Janice asked perking up..
“Pale blue with a floral pattern.”
“Pretty. You should really try the new line recently released from Paris Five. The silk is amazing and--”
“Ahem!" Gaila interrupted, looking sternly at Janice. "Number five: Do you find yourself inventing excuses to remain in his company?”
“Yes,” Christine said putting her head in her hands.
Janice reached over and patted her back. Uhura sniggered into her herbal tea.
“Number six: In the last week, how many times has he stayed with you in sickbay instead of going drinking with Monty?”
“How on earth is that in Cosmo?” Christine asked raising her head.
“We're allowed to make up our own questions,” Gaila said. “Now answer.”
“Well, I think he went with Mr. Scott on Monday,” Christine said her brow furrowing in confusion. “But, that may have been it. Huh.”
“Mmm hmm. Last one: and this is specific to you: Christine Chapel, have you cooked for him?”
Christine opened her mouth to say 'no' but she recalled last week specifically cooking jambalaya the way he said his mother always had, with thick slices of tomatoes and red beans. She closed her mouth.
She slumped in her chair and looked around at her girlfriends who all had amused and rather triumphant looks on their faces.
Christine sat up straight and mustered up all the eloquence she possessed and said firmly, “Ya'll suck.”
Christine walked back into the sickbay with only one thought going through her head. She and McCoy were dating. They were dating. And yet, they hadn't actually been on a date. Ugh. Typical.
Heaven forbid they actually do anything normally. Heaven forbid the man actually ask her out on a date or to one of the socials Kirk threw.
No, they had to eat dinner in the lab, surrounded by blood samples and centrifuges. Or in his office with paperwork.
Damn it. She nodded to one of the nurses on staff and picked up the duty roster. Her mind still puzzling out her 'relationship'.
The thing was, it wasn't like she minded how things were. She liked the late night eating while they discussed their day and their cases. She liked sitting in his office while she went over his reports and he went over hers. She loved that he often took the time to ask after her own independent research as she tried to stay on track with her doctoral thesis. She highly valued his input and opinions, and was grateful that he never pulled his academic punches.
On more than one occasion, a well-placed eyebrow and dry “Really?” had pushed her further than test data, crabby advisors, and her own perfectionism ever could. And it wasn’t like she never punched back. Christine smirked over a PADD as several, rather heated episodes flashed through her mind. No, he didn’t mind criticism, as long as it wasn’t misplaced
And all this was just the intellectual side of them. She didn't dare consider the actual attraction that hummed like a live wire in her whenever he was near. Her body would actually thrum and pulse when he stood close to her. It was like nothing she'd ever experienced before with her other boyfriends or even her fiancé. And the way he sometimes looked at her... It was warm and inviting and then could quickly become heated. Like he was so close to throwing her on his desk and just taking her.
Christine snorted out loud. She sounded like one of those trashy romance novels Gaila and Janice traded back and forth.
Work, she thought. That's what you need to do. So get to work, woman.
She froze. Oh for... She did sound like McCoy.
Next
