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seren_ccdTitle: The Feeling of Being in Motion Again
Series: Going to Georgia
Pairing(s): McCoy/Chapel UST, pre-Spock/Uhura
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek. Someone else far cleverer than me does. The titles and excerpts are from Going to Georgia by the Mountain Goats.
Summary:
A/N: Thank you so, so much to everyone who has read and reviewed. They truly inspire me to keep going. A massive 'Thank you' goes to Kerichi for her fantastic beta skills that helped me knock this chapter into place!
As always, please let me know what you think!
Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Two Outtake
Christine woke up early the next morning, splashed some cold water on her face, and put on her running shorts and top. Her feet took her automatically out of her building and towards the park nearby. She stretched carefully and then started out on a slow jog. Her normal route was through the park and then around the perimeter of the staff quarters to end up back at her building. However, since she was expecting Nyota, she decided to take a shorter route through the park.
She got back to her apartment and hopped into the shower. Then she dressed in her traditional cooking clothes: blue jeans and a worn t-shirt. It was something of a relief to pull on her jeans as opposed to the Starfleet Medical uniform. Her feet thanked her when she slid into her comfortable sandals instead of the usual struggle into her boots. The little five year-old in her head rejoiced at not having to wear socks. She took a moment to pin her some of her hair back, but left the rest loose.
She headed for her kitchen. She'd made sure last night before going to bed that her kitchen was clean and tidy. Now, she just pulled out her cafe tierre, a gift from her uncle, and some of the house blend from her favorite cafe. As the water boiled, Christine double-checked her knives. She made sure they were sharp and clean, a habit learned in her mother's kitchen and reinforced in nursing school.
The water finished its boil and Christine prepared her coffee. She perched on one of the stools at the counter and looked over the recipe Nyota sent over the prior evening. She had butter, onions and the herbs it listed. She did not have a spare plomeek lying around. Once again, she shook her head at the implications that this little recipe held. This little Vulcan recipe. Christine wondered exactly who Nyota was so grateful towards that she felt he deserved homemade soup. She finished her coffee and ate a bowl of cereal.
At 1000 hours precisely, the door chimed. She walked over and checked the small vid-screen. Predictably, it was Nyota Uhura. She wasn't alone. Christine palmed the sensor for entry.
"Hi, Christine," Nyota said. She looked slightly sheepish.
"Hi! I'm Gaila," her friend said with a cheerful wave. Gaila was clearly an Orion, the green skin being something of a give away, and with the kind of red hair Christine would have seriously coveted a few years ago.
"Hi," Christine said. "Come on in."
She stood to the side and let Nyota and Gaila enter. Each girl carried a beige bag with the name of a popular fresh food market on the side.
"I hope you don't mind," Nyota said. "My roommate here kind of followed me."
"Please, if you think I'm missing this, you're crazier than I thought." Gaila looked at Christine with wide eyes that shone with mirth. "I've been to every single one of her cooking experiments and they've all ended in tears. When I heard that this time there was a chance for success, well, I couldn't miss that, could I?"
"Of course you couldn't," Christine said. "I'm happy you could join us. The kitchen's, well, right here. It's kind of a small place."
The apartment was open plan with a small counter that separated the kitchen from the living room where Christine had her desk set up. The kitchen itself had a stove, a small refrigerator, and a standard food synthesizer.
"I love it! It smells so much better than the dorms," Gaila said thunking her bag on the small counter. She wandered over to the one large window next to Christine's desk. "You get great natural light. Oh, and you can see the park!"
Nyota set her bag down a little more carefully. "It's a very nice apartment. You're lucky to have the room to yourself."
"I heard that!" came from over by the window.
Nyota rolled her eyes.
Christine laughed. "I kind of like it myself." She walked over to her refrigerator and opened the door. "Well, the very first rule of cooking is to make sure you've got snacks." She set a bowl filled with sugared ginger and some other dried fruits and nuts on the counter. "Would you like something to drink? I've got juice or water. Or coffee?"
"Ooh, juice please!" Gaila said.
"Water would be lovely," Nyota said. "And, I have to thank you again for helping me out. I hope you didn't think it was too presumptuous to ask. I loved what you brought for the social and then, I overheard you telling Sarah once how you liked to bake and, well..."
"I didn't mind at all. It's a pleasure, believe me," Christine said. "I'm kind of excited to try it out." She poured the drinks.
Gaila took hers and held it aloft. "Here's to Nyota finally making her move."
Christine raised her eyebrows in surprise.
Nyota glared at her roommate but seemed to come to an internal decision. She raised her glass. "Here's to me."
"Here's to move making," Christine said. She clinked her glass to the others and took a drink. "Okay," she said. "Let's see what we've got."
Gaila and Nyota started to unload their bags while Christine got out two chopping boards and cooking pan. Nyota also took her PADD out.
"Now, how far have you gotten in the past?" Christine asked.
"Well, I've managed to chop up the onions," Nyota said. "And then, I've tried to melt the butter..." She stopped and looked at Christine's pan so mournfully, Christine decided on a new strategy.
"Forget everything you've done previously," she said. "We'll just start at the beginning and go on to the end."
Gaila's red curls bounced as she nodded vigorously. "I agree."
"Sounds good to me," Nyota said.
They finished putting all the ingredients out and Christine got her first up close and personal look at a plomeek. "Wow," was all she could say. It looked like a marrow. Or a butternut squash. Only a lot more orange. Christine picked it up. "It feels like a turnip, a very big turnip. How much of this thing is edible?"
"Most of it, according to what I could find," Nyota said. She tilted her head. "I only managed to peel some of it once."
"Then her butter burnt and the alarms went off," Gaila said cheerfully.
Appearing mortified, Nyota shut her eyes.
"That's nothing," Christine said putting the plomeek down on her chopping board. "I once poured cold water over the lid of my mother's glass serving dish which had just come out of the oven. It made the most spectacular shattering sound."
Nyota and Gaila both winced.
Christine pulled her knife set over and her hand hovered over the handles for a moment, then she decided on her chef's knife. She pulled it from the block and looked at the plomeek and then at Nyota."How would like to do this?" she asked. "I mean, I'm happy to see what I can do with this monster, but this is your recipe. And I want to make sure you do as much as you can. What do you think?"
Nyota looked at the plomeek. "You're right," she said. "I do want to do as much of the work as I can, but I also know that I apparently have limits when it comes to cooking." She lifted imploring eyes to Christine. "Could you... Would you be able to say, direct me? And help with the stuff I really don't know how to do?"
"Sure." The corners of Christine's lips lifted up. "Do you want me to start with this guy?"
"Yes, please," Nyota said in relief.
"Excellent! Well, when in doubt," she said as she lifted her knife. "Start hacking away."
"'Hacking'? Is that a culinary term?" Nyota asked.
"Nope. Medical," Christine said. She winked at the other two.
Nyota grinned and Gaila giggled.
Christine sized up the vegetable. It really was shaped like a butternut squash with a bulbous lower section that thinned slightly into a column. She decided to try for more manageable pieces. She sliced the stem off and was pleased to see her knife go through the vegetable easily.
"Are there any seeds?" Christine asked.
"No," Nyota said. "It's sort of stringy and pulpy."
"So, more like a potato than a squash?"
"Definitely like a potato."
"Well, in that case," Christine said reaching to get a second knife. She handed it to Nyota, who took it gingerly, and also slid a chopping board over to her. "If you agree, I'll chop this sucker up and peel him if you want to attack the onions and the carrots. Since it all gets blended anyway, don't worry about precision, just make the pieces pretty small."
"I can do carrots," Nyota said. "And onions. You leave the crinkly brown stuff on them, right?"
Christine looked up with a start, but when she saw the barely suppressed grin on Nyota's face, she pointed her knife in her direction and said, "Nice one. Get peeling, young lady!"
Nyota sketched a little salute and started to peel the onions. Gaila plunked herself down on one of the stools on the opposite side of Nyota and Christine and just watched.
"Would you like to help?" Christine asked her.
"Oh no. I prefer my food prepared the way nature intended it, by someone else's hands," she said. She leaned an elbow on the counter and propped her chin in her hand. In a wistful voice she said, "Preferably a very fit young man with dimples and blond hair."
"She's Orion," Nyota said as if that explained everything. Christine supposed it did.
"What program are you in?" Christine asked Gaila.
"Engineering," she answered with a happy sigh. "I love taking things apart and putting them back together. And then making them go faster!"
"You should see what she did to her datapadd," Nyota said.
"What about you?" Gaila asked. "I've seen you around, but not in any of the command track courses."
"I'm not on the command track. I'm in the Medical School," Christine said still determining just how to peel the plomeek. Smaller sections, she decided.
"Aren't you already a nurse though?" Nyota asked. She'd finished peeling the onions and had started to slice them very carefully.
"I went through the nursing program at the Academy a few years ago," she said. "Then, I decided I wanted more and applied to Starfleet Medical." She shrugged. "So here I am."
"Have gone on any missions?" Nyota asked. Both she and Gaila looked at her expectantly.
"One," Christine said. "It wasn't very long, I'm afraid to say. Just to the Sirius sector to assist a colony, and only for about eight months."
The images of the decimated colony caused by the planet's unstable weather patterns flashed behind her eyes. She spent nearly a month treating people for burns caused by sand and wind. One small child had had grit so deeply embedded in her back; it had taken Christine nearly five hours to remove it all by hand due to the disruptions the weather caused to their electrical equipment.
"Was it intense?" Gaila's question brought her back to her kitchen.
The other woman's honest question made her smile. "Yes. It was very intense."
"Is it everything they say it is?" Nyota asked, the carrot she was chopping forgotten as she looked Christine with young, serious eyes.
Christine paused her own slicing and thought for a moment. "Yes. It is. It's everything they say it is. It's exciting and difficult. It's also a lot of things they don't bother to mention."
"For example?" Nyota asked.
Christine started to neatly cut the skin off the smaller sections she'd made. "You learn all about the mechanics, the numbers of space. How long travel takes, what the protocols are, so forth and so on. The main thing they neglect to tell you is just how incredibly vast it is. All that space up there and how utterly, utterly small we really are in comparison to it."
She looked down at the vegetable in neat pieces under her hands that were shiny with plomeek juices. "They forget to tell you how humbling it is."
"I hadn't thought about that," Nyota said softly. She went back to chopping the carrot methodically. "I've always wanted to be up there."
"I remember it being cold," Gaila said. "On the ship coming from the outpost, it was always so cold in the hallways. Except in the Engineering room. It was warm there."
Aware of the contemplative silence that had descended in the warm kitchen, Christine decided to lighten things a little, "They also forgot to tell us how many things are out there that can kill you."
The other girls grinned at each other. Christine felt like she was missing something. "What? What did I say?"
"Nothing, nothing," Nyota rushed to say, a grin still firmly on her face. "It's just that sounded almost exactly like something a friend would say."
"Would say? He did say!" Gaila said. "You sounded just like Bones."
Christine looked at her in surprise. "Bones? You mean McCoy?"
"You know him? Jim Kirk's friend?" Nyota asked.
"Yes, we work shifts together at the infirmary and have a few classes together," she said. She started to grin. "It did sound like something he'd say, didn't it?"
"The first time I met him he told me about the perils of space travel without proper vaccinations," Nyota said.
"The first time I met him he was tearing my infirmary apart to find a medikit to patch Jim up," Christine said.
Nyota shook her head. "That sounds familiar."
"You call him McCoy?" Gaila asked.
"Well, I usually call him Doctor," Christine said finally slicing off the last of the plomeek peel.
"Ooh, kinky. He'd totally be that type," Gaila said, fluttering her eyelashes. "It's in the eyes."
Christine's jaw dropped. "I mean, I call him Doctor when we're working," she said hoping her face wasn't flushing. "And this thing is done." She grabbed the potatoes and started to wash them under the faucet in the sink to the tune of Gaila's giggling.
"He's better than Kirk, that's for sure," Nyota said with a quick chop of her knife. "Mr. I-Couldn't-Take-a-Hint-Even-if-I-Was-Hit-in-the-Face-With-it."
Christine glanced over her shoulder. "I take it you've had the pleasure of a patented Kirk come-on?"
Nyota's exhale was long-suffering. "Too many."
"Not enough," Gaila said with a different sounding sigh. When Christine and Nyota looked at her, she said, "Hey, that boy has moves. And stamina. And enthusiasm. And-"
"Okay!" Nyota said. "Thank you, Gaila. I think we get it."
Christine couldn't help chuckling as she brought the scrubbed potatoes back over to the counter.
"I've only got one potato peeler, do you know if the skin has to come off or should it stay on?" she asked. Nyota wiped her hands on a kitchen towel and consulted her PADD.
"Leave them on," she said. She held out a hand, "I'll take half."
"Sounds good," Christine pushed some them over. "Again, I think smaller pieces are probably best."
Nyota nodded and they began chopping again.
"So," Christine said, unable to help herself, "a Vulcan recipe?"
Nyota stopped mid slice. "You caught that, hunh?"
"Very few cultures actually use the plomeek," Christine said. "It wasn't too hard to figure out."
"Right. Well, umm," she said.
"Oh, come on, Nyota!" Gaila said. "Splash it!"
"It's 'spill it'," Nyota said. "And we are up to our elbows in this stuff."
Christine tried to keep a straight face."You did promise drama."
"Yes, I did." Nyota released a deep breath. "He's a Vulcan. He's, well, he's my-"
"He's her instructor," Gaila said.
"He's not my instructor," Nyota said firmly. "He was my instructor. I've been his TA for the past semester and he has been generously assisting me with my thesis."
"Okay," Christine said. She finished her potatoes and started in on the garlic.
"He's extremely... I just find him—fascinating," Nyota said. The intense tone she applied to the adjective more or less told Christine everything.
She wouldn't dream of teasing her about it. "When do you plan on giving him the soup?"
"Well, if this goes well, I thought tomorrow," Nyota said. "I have a lunch meeting with him and I brought a thermos to take it with me. I've read that it keeps well."
"Sounds good to me." Christine looked at the mound of chopped vegetables and said, "I think we've done as much damage to these fellows as we can. Let's heat them up."
Nyota looked worried. "This is always the bad part. I don't want to mess this up." She picked at the cubes of potatoes and slid a hand over the onions.
"Why are you doing this again?" Christine asked, cocking her head to the side to study the young woman.
"It's a thank you," Nyota said after thinking for a moment. "He's done so much and I know there are things back home that he misses, even if he won't admit it. I want to do something that he'd appreciate."
"Well, don't worry," Christine said. "I'll help you step by step. The saucepan is already in place on the stove. Now, just turn the heat on to about just a little below high."
Nyota tapped the controls and adjusted the saucepan so it was perfectly centered on the eye.
"Add the butter and let it melt just enough so that the bottom of the pan is coated," was the next instruction. She handed Nyota a measuring spoon and the other woman carefully scooped out the correct amount and dropped it into the pan. It melted quickly.
"Okay, add the onions."
Nyota dropped the onions into the bubbling butter.
Christine reached over to her jar of utensils and pulled out a large wooden spoon.
"You know," Christine said thoughtfully. "A lot of cultures believe that food can be infused with the emotions and wishes of the one who makes it. There is a reason they say 'food is the way to a man's heart.'"
She handed the spoon to Nyota who took it and held it firmly in her hand. She eyed the pan, squared her shoulders, and then diligently stirred the onions until they were brown. Under Christine's direction and help, the other vegetables were added.
"Okay, I'll stir and you get the spices ready," Christine said.
Gaila handed the little packets they had bought earlier to her friend and Nyota measured them out and added them to the pan. Christine handed the spoon back over to her and added some water.
"Okay, stir one last time and then we'll let it simmer and then blend," she said.
After a final vigorous circle of the contents with the spoon, the lid went on.
Nyota let out a shaky laugh. "That wasn't so bad."
"See?" Christine said. The girls crowded around the counter and ate a few handfuls of nuts and fruit. They talked about classes and life at the Academy. Christine discovered she was truly enjoying herself.
"So, Christine," Gaila said at one point. "Any men in your life? Or women?"
"Ah, neither, actually," she said.
"Why not?" the Orion asked.
"Gaila," Nyota warned.
"No, it's okay," Christine said. "I'm so busy with school and shifts, I just haven't really bothered. Or had time."
Nyota nodded her head in understanding and Gaila rolled her eyes.
"There is always time for sex," she said. "What about McCoy?"
Christine's eyes widened. "Excuse me? There's nothing. I mean... No! It's... Why?"
Gaila gave her a look. "Hello? Orion?" She tapped her nose. "There's a definite spike whenever I mentioned him."
Christine narrowed her eyes. "Pheromones don't work that way."
"She's a nurse, Gaila," Nyota said. "You're not going to get her that way."
"Oh, right," Gaila said as her face fell a little. She quickly brightened. "Are you sure there's nothing there? I mean, he's a handsome male. That voice of his is just made for sex."
Christine felt her face flush and Nyota just shook her head.
"Especially when he does that thing, you know where he sort of drags the vowel out. It's that thing his accent does. What's that called again?" Gaila asked.
"Drawl," Christine and Nyota answered at the same time. They caught the other's eye and for the first time in a while, Christine found herself giggling uncontrollably.
"We're colleagues. Nothing else," Christine said when she calmed down. She paused for a moment remembering the chills his voice in her ear had caused during the shift last night. "Although, I do see your point about his voice."
"Ha! Knew it!" Gaila said. "But, if you're sure?"
"I'm sure," she said. "And I think we need to check the soup. Nyota, you're up. Have at it."
Nyota lifted the lid and the smell of gently spiced vegetables filled the room. She tested the potatoes and they were tender enough for everything to be poured into Christine's food processor.
After a few false starts and a small amount of spillage, the soup was blended to a nice smooth consistency.
"Let's try a bowl," Christine said. She ladled out a small amount and they all had a taste.
"Well," Gaila said. "It's okay. Kind of bland."
"I think that's sort of the point," Christine said. "It's not bad, though. What do you think, Nyota?"
"It needs something," she answered. "Can I-?" She gestured to Christine's spice rack.
"Of course."
After looking at the labels, Nyota grabbed a small bottle of cinnamon. Christine began to smile. Perfect choice. Nyota added just a small amount and it definitely picked up the flavor.
"Good idea," Christine said.
"My mother always added a little to soups to give it something extra," Nyota admitted. Then a stricken look came over her face. "Oh! Oh, how am I going to actually serve this to him? I have to re-heat it! How do I do that?"
"Easily," Christine said calmly. "He's got a stove, right?" Nyota nodded. "Then just pour it into a saucepan and put it on low, don't let it boil, just let it simmer and stir from time to time. Take this cinnamon and add it halfway through."
Nyota nodded again. "Of course. I can do that. I've done that before. I don't know why I'm overreacting."
Christine helped her pour the rest of the soup into the container Nyota had brought and they sealed it tightly.
"I can't thank you enough," Nyota said. "Really."
"Oh, no. Thank you!" Christine said warmly. "I haven't had this much fun in a while."
"What are you doing the rest of the day?" Gaila asked.
"Studying," Christine said. "I've got a huge amount of reading to do."
"You sound like her," Gaila said pointing to Nyota. "What about tonight?"
"I have no idea."
"We should go dancing! Oh, you should come!" Gaila said. "Please? We found the best place. They serve spicy food and these awesome fruity drinks and the music is amazing."
"Oh, I don't know." Christine hesitated. "I haven't seen the inside of a club in a while."
"It's not really a club. It's this old Cuban place," Nyota said. "The food is very good. You really should come. My treat."
"You can bring some clothes to change into and come back to the dorm with us and study," Gaila said. "Then we can all go out!"
It occurred to Christine that she hadn't actually been dancing or gone out with people, outside of a quick drink after a shift, in far too long. She'd been spending so much time studying and working, she'd forgotten that she actually enjoyed letting her hair down. "It sounds great," she said with smile. "I'd love to."
"Yes!" Gaila said throwing her arms around Christine in a big hug. The girl's exuberance made Christine laugh out loud and hug her back.
"Gaila, what have we discussed about personal space?" Nyota asked trying not to laugh.
"That other people have it?" she asked still hugging Christine.
"Yep."
With a big grin, Gaila let Christine go. Then she asked, "Now, what do you have in your closet?"
Christine quickly grabbed a pair of fitted black pants and a black tank top with silver patterns etched across the front. At Gaila's urging, she slipped her high-heeled black sandals that she'd only worn once in her bag and headed out. They dropped the soup off at their dorm room and she and Nyota studied quietly for a few hours while Gaila tinkered with someone's broken PADD.
When early evening came around, she spent a good hour laughing and painting toenails and getting ready.
Then they hit the restaurant, which did have the best spicy food and gorgeous sangrias. The band started up and Christine hit the dance floor with Gaila and Nyota next to her. She danced mainly on her own, but did accept one dance with a young man named Hikaru who was studying to be a pilot. He was a perfect gentleman and she had a blast.
It was close to 0200 hours when she finally made her way home. She kicked off her sandals and left her clothes lying in a heap on her bathroom floor and fell into bed with the fast rhythm of the salsa band still thrumming through her.
By the time Monday rolled around, she'd mostly recovered and had scheduled to meet both Gaila and Nyota for lunch later in the week. She walked through the campus on her way to the library when she thought she saw Nyota. She stopped and watched as Nyota and a striking man walked along the sidewalk the led up to the Communications lab. The man, unmistakably Vulcan, walked with his hands clasped behind his back and his head tilted towards her friend, completely focused on what she was saying. Christine watched as he politely allowed Nyota to enter the building before him and then followed her inside.
I guess the soup worked, Christine thought. She smiled to herself and hurried into the library.
*****
"I expect a full summation of the potential diagnoses and potential risks in my box by next Wednesday. Dismissed."
McCoy tapped the due date into his PADD and he made his way out of his class with the rest of the cadets. He was having one of those days when everyone he saw looked impossibly young and, not for the first time, wondered what the sam-hell he was doing there. He winced as the glare of the sun hit his eyes.
You signed up for it, old man, he thought. Now suck it up and keep going.
He noticed Jim was just a few feet ahead of him, eyes glued to his PADD for once. McCoy walked up to him. "Have we fallen into a parallel universe?" he asked. "Are you actually studying?"
"Bones, my friend," Jim said, not looking up from his reading material. "It is entirely possible that I have discovered the joys of proving people wrong."
"Oh, God," McCoy said, making a face once he saw what Jim was reading. "It's Tactical Analysis, right? You're out for blood, aren't you?"
"They should have known better to pick me for devil's advocate," he said. "It will be the debate to end all debates. The maneuver should be allowed and I can tell them all why."
"Well, it's nice to see you enjoying yourself," McCoy said sarcastically.
"Hey, it's probably just a phase," Jim said. "I just want to see the look on MacPherson's face when I counter each of his arguments. And, he-llo, is it Christmas already? Because, there are a nice set of presents under that tree."
McCoy followed his line of sight and saw seated around a small picnic table Uhura, Gaila, and--
"Is that Chapel?" he asked.
"It is indeed," Jim said as he headed off in their direction. McCoy rolled his eyes and followed.
The girls were talking happily. Uhura was the first to spot the men and stopped abruptly to frown at Jim. McCoy hid his grin at her reaction.
"Well, good afternoon, ladies," Jim said. "Gaila, Nurse Christine, Uhura." He drew out Uhura's name and got a withering glare for his trouble.
"Gentlemen," Christine said.
"Boys," Gaila said.
"I didn't see any of you this weekend." Jim's expression resembled that of a three year old missing his lollipop. "I've been inconsolable."
"Really?" Uhura asked flatly. "How terrible for you."
"It was horrible," Jim said. He turned to Gaila and gave her a grin. "I was in desperate need of comfort."
"Oh, were you?" she asked with wide eyes. "I was busy. With the girls."
"Ooh, doing what, exactly?" Jim asked. "Please say it was something depraved."
Uhura 's glare intensified, which McCoy hadn't been sure was actually possible.
"Oh, nothing much, " Gaila said examining her fingernails. "We just spent most of the weekend experimenting with vegetables."
McCoy suddenly forgot how to breathe and audibly choked on air. Chapel raised an eyebrow in concern, but he just waved a hand dismissively.
Jim laughed and but then took in the looks the women were giving him and his laugh faltered into a cough.
"You're serious?" he said.
Uhura and Chapel glanced at each other. With a shrug Uhura said, "She's not wrong."
"A very good time was had by all," Chapel added.
Jim's mouth opened and closed and his eyes glazed over. He seemed utterly incapable of speech.
"Congratulations, ladies," McCoy said. "You've actually broken him."
"Oh, I'm sure I can put the pieces back together," Gaila said. She stood up and trailed a slender green finger down the slope of Jim's nose. Jim began to come out of it and the corner of his mouth lifted. Gaila gently tapped him on the nose and dropped her hand. "But, I've got class first. Coming, roomie?"
"So not replying to that," Uhura said dryly as she grabbed her stuff. She said good-bye to Christine who replied with a smile and a wave.
"I'll walk you," Jim said quickly. "You'll see to Nurse Christine, right Bones?"
He clapped McCoy on the back and hurried after Gaila and Uhura. McCoy grimaced and looked at Christine, who looked like she was about to burst from laughing.
"Vegetables?" he asked.
She threw her head back and laughed.
"Yep," she said when she finally caught her breath. "It was a lot of fun."
"Right," he said. "I'm missing something here."
"You really are," she said. She stood up. "Let's go McCoy, 'see' me to class."
"Yes, ma'am," he teased, smirking when she shot him a glare.
She gathered up her bag and looked after the departing trio. "Is Kirk aware he's fighting a lost cause?" she asked.
McCoy saw Uhura walking stiffly while an oblivious Kirk chatted away. "I think that's part of the challenge," he said dryly. "Why? How much of a lost cause is it?"
"Irretrievably lost," she said. "I've seen the competition."
"Oh, really?" McCoy said. "Steep, is it?"
"Oh yeah," she said. Her eyes narrowed a little. "He pretty much hits every point of the tall, dark and handsome trifecta with a huge helping of mystery and exoticism."
McCoy stole a glance at her and involuntarily frowned at the pensive look on her face. But she came out of it with a little wave of her hand and a flippant, "Oh well, next life."
"Hunh," was his response.
They strolled towards the Science building.
"I didn't realize you knew those two," he said.
"I didn't really," she said. "I knew Uhura through the Chorale and then met Gaila this weekend."
"She's the one you were helping with a 'project'?" he asked.
"Mmm hmm," she said. "I had a really good time."
"Well, good for you," he said gruffly. Christine glanced at him.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, just feeling my age, I guess," he said.
"Oh, yes," she said her eyes sparkling. "Because clearly, you're ready for the old folk's home."
"Watch it, woman," he said. He squinted up at the sun. "It's just… They're all kids at the end of the day. Lives ahead of them. I just wonder what the hell I'm doing here."
"You've got your life ahead of you, too, Leonard." The sound of his name coming from her lips made him start. "And, I think you know this. Otherwise, why would you be here?"
They walked along for a moment before he replied, "Do you enjoy being the voice of reason?"
"It lends a certain amount of satisfaction to my life, yes," she said.
He had a retort ready but a loud "Heads up!" came from behind them.
They turned at the same time and a cadet rushed past Chapel. She was knocked heavily into McCoy. He instinctively caught her as she fell into him, his hands landed on her hips and her back pressed flush against him.
"Watch it, you moron!" he yelled. He looked down at Christine and for the second time that day forgot how to breathe. She rested against his chest and she tilted her head to look up at him. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was parted in surprise. Her scent filled the air around him and he felt his pulse speed up. He swallowed hard. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she said breathlessly. Her eyes darted down to his hands on her hips and it was her turn to swallow. "Who says chivalry is dead?"
He steadied her and once he was sure her balance was back, he removed his hands immediately. "Anything for a lady."
"Thank you kindly," she said.
He froze. The fall had loosened her hair and he had to clench his hand into a fist to stop himself from brushing the strands back from her face. She met his eyes and must have seen something because she seemed to freeze a little too.
Finally, she smiled a little unsteadily and said, "Come on, McCoy. Escort me to class. I want to hear you rip the instructor's theories to shreds again."
"Oh, my pleasure, milady," he threw a little extra drawl in for the heck of it and was pleased to see a blush bloom on her cheeks.
It put a spring in his step as they walked on.
Outtake: McCoy's Hands aka The Danger of Practicing Field Medicine
*****
Because ya'll are awesome and there is an actual recipe for it – I give you Plomeek Soup! If anyone tries it out, let me know how it goes!
I found this on RecipeLand and also at Recipezaar. It was originally published in a Star Trek cookbook back in the 1970s. I don't own it.
Plomeek Soup (Vulcan Orange Vegetable Soup)
Yields:4 servings
Recipe Cooking Time:
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 20 minutes
Ready In: 35 minutes
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 medium onions, up to 3, peeled and sliced
1 poundcarrots
½ pound turnip
10 ounces potatoes
5 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cups water
2 each garlic cloves
2 ½ teaspoons salt
¾ teaspoon basil (dried)
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup water (to rinse pan and blender then be added to soup)
sour cream for garnish
parsley leaves, finely chopped, for garnish
Directions:
In the pot, melt the butter and when it is foamy, add the onion and fry until golden.
Add everything else to the pot except the last cup of water and the sour cream and parsley garnishes.
Simmer, covered, for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are tender.
Run it all through the blender, about 1 to 1 1/2 cups at a time.
When it is all pureed, rinse the cooking pot with the cup of water and add that to the 'empty' blender.
Run the blender for a few seconds and then slosh the water about to get as much of the vegetable puree as possible off the sides of the blender.
Add this liquid to the soup.
Pour the soup back into the cleaned out pot and reheat it before serving (use very gentle heat).
Ladle into bowls.
Garnish with sour cream and parsley as described above.
Plommek soup is tradtionally served with a spoonful of sour cream on top; this is carefully swirled out with a spoon to make a spiral shape, representative of the galaxy.
The outline of the galaxy is then emphasized with very finely chopped parsley.
For less festive occaisions, it may be served with a small spoonful of butter (or maragarine) in the centre.
Series: Going to Georgia
Pairing(s): McCoy/Chapel UST, pre-Spock/Uhura
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek. Someone else far cleverer than me does. The titles and excerpts are from Going to Georgia by the Mountain Goats.
Summary:
A/N: Thank you so, so much to everyone who has read and reviewed. They truly inspire me to keep going. A massive 'Thank you' goes to Kerichi for her fantastic beta skills that helped me knock this chapter into place!
As always, please let me know what you think!
Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Two Outtake
Christine woke up early the next morning, splashed some cold water on her face, and put on her running shorts and top. Her feet took her automatically out of her building and towards the park nearby. She stretched carefully and then started out on a slow jog. Her normal route was through the park and then around the perimeter of the staff quarters to end up back at her building. However, since she was expecting Nyota, she decided to take a shorter route through the park.
She got back to her apartment and hopped into the shower. Then she dressed in her traditional cooking clothes: blue jeans and a worn t-shirt. It was something of a relief to pull on her jeans as opposed to the Starfleet Medical uniform. Her feet thanked her when she slid into her comfortable sandals instead of the usual struggle into her boots. The little five year-old in her head rejoiced at not having to wear socks. She took a moment to pin her some of her hair back, but left the rest loose.
She headed for her kitchen. She'd made sure last night before going to bed that her kitchen was clean and tidy. Now, she just pulled out her cafe tierre, a gift from her uncle, and some of the house blend from her favorite cafe. As the water boiled, Christine double-checked her knives. She made sure they were sharp and clean, a habit learned in her mother's kitchen and reinforced in nursing school.
The water finished its boil and Christine prepared her coffee. She perched on one of the stools at the counter and looked over the recipe Nyota sent over the prior evening. She had butter, onions and the herbs it listed. She did not have a spare plomeek lying around. Once again, she shook her head at the implications that this little recipe held. This little Vulcan recipe. Christine wondered exactly who Nyota was so grateful towards that she felt he deserved homemade soup. She finished her coffee and ate a bowl of cereal.
At 1000 hours precisely, the door chimed. She walked over and checked the small vid-screen. Predictably, it was Nyota Uhura. She wasn't alone. Christine palmed the sensor for entry.
"Hi, Christine," Nyota said. She looked slightly sheepish.
"Hi! I'm Gaila," her friend said with a cheerful wave. Gaila was clearly an Orion, the green skin being something of a give away, and with the kind of red hair Christine would have seriously coveted a few years ago.
"Hi," Christine said. "Come on in."
She stood to the side and let Nyota and Gaila enter. Each girl carried a beige bag with the name of a popular fresh food market on the side.
"I hope you don't mind," Nyota said. "My roommate here kind of followed me."
"Please, if you think I'm missing this, you're crazier than I thought." Gaila looked at Christine with wide eyes that shone with mirth. "I've been to every single one of her cooking experiments and they've all ended in tears. When I heard that this time there was a chance for success, well, I couldn't miss that, could I?"
"Of course you couldn't," Christine said. "I'm happy you could join us. The kitchen's, well, right here. It's kind of a small place."
The apartment was open plan with a small counter that separated the kitchen from the living room where Christine had her desk set up. The kitchen itself had a stove, a small refrigerator, and a standard food synthesizer.
"I love it! It smells so much better than the dorms," Gaila said thunking her bag on the small counter. She wandered over to the one large window next to Christine's desk. "You get great natural light. Oh, and you can see the park!"
Nyota set her bag down a little more carefully. "It's a very nice apartment. You're lucky to have the room to yourself."
"I heard that!" came from over by the window.
Nyota rolled her eyes.
Christine laughed. "I kind of like it myself." She walked over to her refrigerator and opened the door. "Well, the very first rule of cooking is to make sure you've got snacks." She set a bowl filled with sugared ginger and some other dried fruits and nuts on the counter. "Would you like something to drink? I've got juice or water. Or coffee?"
"Ooh, juice please!" Gaila said.
"Water would be lovely," Nyota said. "And, I have to thank you again for helping me out. I hope you didn't think it was too presumptuous to ask. I loved what you brought for the social and then, I overheard you telling Sarah once how you liked to bake and, well..."
"I didn't mind at all. It's a pleasure, believe me," Christine said. "I'm kind of excited to try it out." She poured the drinks.
Gaila took hers and held it aloft. "Here's to Nyota finally making her move."
Christine raised her eyebrows in surprise.
Nyota glared at her roommate but seemed to come to an internal decision. She raised her glass. "Here's to me."
"Here's to move making," Christine said. She clinked her glass to the others and took a drink. "Okay," she said. "Let's see what we've got."
Gaila and Nyota started to unload their bags while Christine got out two chopping boards and cooking pan. Nyota also took her PADD out.
"Now, how far have you gotten in the past?" Christine asked.
"Well, I've managed to chop up the onions," Nyota said. "And then, I've tried to melt the butter..." She stopped and looked at Christine's pan so mournfully, Christine decided on a new strategy.
"Forget everything you've done previously," she said. "We'll just start at the beginning and go on to the end."
Gaila's red curls bounced as she nodded vigorously. "I agree."
"Sounds good to me," Nyota said.
They finished putting all the ingredients out and Christine got her first up close and personal look at a plomeek. "Wow," was all she could say. It looked like a marrow. Or a butternut squash. Only a lot more orange. Christine picked it up. "It feels like a turnip, a very big turnip. How much of this thing is edible?"
"Most of it, according to what I could find," Nyota said. She tilted her head. "I only managed to peel some of it once."
"Then her butter burnt and the alarms went off," Gaila said cheerfully.
Appearing mortified, Nyota shut her eyes.
"That's nothing," Christine said putting the plomeek down on her chopping board. "I once poured cold water over the lid of my mother's glass serving dish which had just come out of the oven. It made the most spectacular shattering sound."
Nyota and Gaila both winced.
Christine pulled her knife set over and her hand hovered over the handles for a moment, then she decided on her chef's knife. She pulled it from the block and looked at the plomeek and then at Nyota."How would like to do this?" she asked. "I mean, I'm happy to see what I can do with this monster, but this is your recipe. And I want to make sure you do as much as you can. What do you think?"
Nyota looked at the plomeek. "You're right," she said. "I do want to do as much of the work as I can, but I also know that I apparently have limits when it comes to cooking." She lifted imploring eyes to Christine. "Could you... Would you be able to say, direct me? And help with the stuff I really don't know how to do?"
"Sure." The corners of Christine's lips lifted up. "Do you want me to start with this guy?"
"Yes, please," Nyota said in relief.
"Excellent! Well, when in doubt," she said as she lifted her knife. "Start hacking away."
"'Hacking'? Is that a culinary term?" Nyota asked.
"Nope. Medical," Christine said. She winked at the other two.
Nyota grinned and Gaila giggled.
Christine sized up the vegetable. It really was shaped like a butternut squash with a bulbous lower section that thinned slightly into a column. She decided to try for more manageable pieces. She sliced the stem off and was pleased to see her knife go through the vegetable easily.
"Are there any seeds?" Christine asked.
"No," Nyota said. "It's sort of stringy and pulpy."
"So, more like a potato than a squash?"
"Definitely like a potato."
"Well, in that case," Christine said reaching to get a second knife. She handed it to Nyota, who took it gingerly, and also slid a chopping board over to her. "If you agree, I'll chop this sucker up and peel him if you want to attack the onions and the carrots. Since it all gets blended anyway, don't worry about precision, just make the pieces pretty small."
"I can do carrots," Nyota said. "And onions. You leave the crinkly brown stuff on them, right?"
Christine looked up with a start, but when she saw the barely suppressed grin on Nyota's face, she pointed her knife in her direction and said, "Nice one. Get peeling, young lady!"
Nyota sketched a little salute and started to peel the onions. Gaila plunked herself down on one of the stools on the opposite side of Nyota and Christine and just watched.
"Would you like to help?" Christine asked her.
"Oh no. I prefer my food prepared the way nature intended it, by someone else's hands," she said. She leaned an elbow on the counter and propped her chin in her hand. In a wistful voice she said, "Preferably a very fit young man with dimples and blond hair."
"She's Orion," Nyota said as if that explained everything. Christine supposed it did.
"What program are you in?" Christine asked Gaila.
"Engineering," she answered with a happy sigh. "I love taking things apart and putting them back together. And then making them go faster!"
"You should see what she did to her datapadd," Nyota said.
"What about you?" Gaila asked. "I've seen you around, but not in any of the command track courses."
"I'm not on the command track. I'm in the Medical School," Christine said still determining just how to peel the plomeek. Smaller sections, she decided.
"Aren't you already a nurse though?" Nyota asked. She'd finished peeling the onions and had started to slice them very carefully.
"I went through the nursing program at the Academy a few years ago," she said. "Then, I decided I wanted more and applied to Starfleet Medical." She shrugged. "So here I am."
"Have gone on any missions?" Nyota asked. Both she and Gaila looked at her expectantly.
"One," Christine said. "It wasn't very long, I'm afraid to say. Just to the Sirius sector to assist a colony, and only for about eight months."
The images of the decimated colony caused by the planet's unstable weather patterns flashed behind her eyes. She spent nearly a month treating people for burns caused by sand and wind. One small child had had grit so deeply embedded in her back; it had taken Christine nearly five hours to remove it all by hand due to the disruptions the weather caused to their electrical equipment.
"Was it intense?" Gaila's question brought her back to her kitchen.
The other woman's honest question made her smile. "Yes. It was very intense."
"Is it everything they say it is?" Nyota asked, the carrot she was chopping forgotten as she looked Christine with young, serious eyes.
Christine paused her own slicing and thought for a moment. "Yes. It is. It's everything they say it is. It's exciting and difficult. It's also a lot of things they don't bother to mention."
"For example?" Nyota asked.
Christine started to neatly cut the skin off the smaller sections she'd made. "You learn all about the mechanics, the numbers of space. How long travel takes, what the protocols are, so forth and so on. The main thing they neglect to tell you is just how incredibly vast it is. All that space up there and how utterly, utterly small we really are in comparison to it."
She looked down at the vegetable in neat pieces under her hands that were shiny with plomeek juices. "They forget to tell you how humbling it is."
"I hadn't thought about that," Nyota said softly. She went back to chopping the carrot methodically. "I've always wanted to be up there."
"I remember it being cold," Gaila said. "On the ship coming from the outpost, it was always so cold in the hallways. Except in the Engineering room. It was warm there."
Aware of the contemplative silence that had descended in the warm kitchen, Christine decided to lighten things a little, "They also forgot to tell us how many things are out there that can kill you."
The other girls grinned at each other. Christine felt like she was missing something. "What? What did I say?"
"Nothing, nothing," Nyota rushed to say, a grin still firmly on her face. "It's just that sounded almost exactly like something a friend would say."
"Would say? He did say!" Gaila said. "You sounded just like Bones."
Christine looked at her in surprise. "Bones? You mean McCoy?"
"You know him? Jim Kirk's friend?" Nyota asked.
"Yes, we work shifts together at the infirmary and have a few classes together," she said. She started to grin. "It did sound like something he'd say, didn't it?"
"The first time I met him he told me about the perils of space travel without proper vaccinations," Nyota said.
"The first time I met him he was tearing my infirmary apart to find a medikit to patch Jim up," Christine said.
Nyota shook her head. "That sounds familiar."
"You call him McCoy?" Gaila asked.
"Well, I usually call him Doctor," Christine said finally slicing off the last of the plomeek peel.
"Ooh, kinky. He'd totally be that type," Gaila said, fluttering her eyelashes. "It's in the eyes."
Christine's jaw dropped. "I mean, I call him Doctor when we're working," she said hoping her face wasn't flushing. "And this thing is done." She grabbed the potatoes and started to wash them under the faucet in the sink to the tune of Gaila's giggling.
"He's better than Kirk, that's for sure," Nyota said with a quick chop of her knife. "Mr. I-Couldn't-Take-a-Hint-Even-if-I-Was-Hit-in-the-Face-With-it."
Christine glanced over her shoulder. "I take it you've had the pleasure of a patented Kirk come-on?"
Nyota's exhale was long-suffering. "Too many."
"Not enough," Gaila said with a different sounding sigh. When Christine and Nyota looked at her, she said, "Hey, that boy has moves. And stamina. And enthusiasm. And-"
"Okay!" Nyota said. "Thank you, Gaila. I think we get it."
Christine couldn't help chuckling as she brought the scrubbed potatoes back over to the counter.
"I've only got one potato peeler, do you know if the skin has to come off or should it stay on?" she asked. Nyota wiped her hands on a kitchen towel and consulted her PADD.
"Leave them on," she said. She held out a hand, "I'll take half."
"Sounds good," Christine pushed some them over. "Again, I think smaller pieces are probably best."
Nyota nodded and they began chopping again.
"So," Christine said, unable to help herself, "a Vulcan recipe?"
Nyota stopped mid slice. "You caught that, hunh?"
"Very few cultures actually use the plomeek," Christine said. "It wasn't too hard to figure out."
"Right. Well, umm," she said.
"Oh, come on, Nyota!" Gaila said. "Splash it!"
"It's 'spill it'," Nyota said. "And we are up to our elbows in this stuff."
Christine tried to keep a straight face."You did promise drama."
"Yes, I did." Nyota released a deep breath. "He's a Vulcan. He's, well, he's my-"
"He's her instructor," Gaila said.
"He's not my instructor," Nyota said firmly. "He was my instructor. I've been his TA for the past semester and he has been generously assisting me with my thesis."
"Okay," Christine said. She finished her potatoes and started in on the garlic.
"He's extremely... I just find him—fascinating," Nyota said. The intense tone she applied to the adjective more or less told Christine everything.
She wouldn't dream of teasing her about it. "When do you plan on giving him the soup?"
"Well, if this goes well, I thought tomorrow," Nyota said. "I have a lunch meeting with him and I brought a thermos to take it with me. I've read that it keeps well."
"Sounds good to me." Christine looked at the mound of chopped vegetables and said, "I think we've done as much damage to these fellows as we can. Let's heat them up."
Nyota looked worried. "This is always the bad part. I don't want to mess this up." She picked at the cubes of potatoes and slid a hand over the onions.
"Why are you doing this again?" Christine asked, cocking her head to the side to study the young woman.
"It's a thank you," Nyota said after thinking for a moment. "He's done so much and I know there are things back home that he misses, even if he won't admit it. I want to do something that he'd appreciate."
"Well, don't worry," Christine said. "I'll help you step by step. The saucepan is already in place on the stove. Now, just turn the heat on to about just a little below high."
Nyota tapped the controls and adjusted the saucepan so it was perfectly centered on the eye.
"Add the butter and let it melt just enough so that the bottom of the pan is coated," was the next instruction. She handed Nyota a measuring spoon and the other woman carefully scooped out the correct amount and dropped it into the pan. It melted quickly.
"Okay, add the onions."
Nyota dropped the onions into the bubbling butter.
Christine reached over to her jar of utensils and pulled out a large wooden spoon.
"You know," Christine said thoughtfully. "A lot of cultures believe that food can be infused with the emotions and wishes of the one who makes it. There is a reason they say 'food is the way to a man's heart.'"
She handed the spoon to Nyota who took it and held it firmly in her hand. She eyed the pan, squared her shoulders, and then diligently stirred the onions until they were brown. Under Christine's direction and help, the other vegetables were added.
"Okay, I'll stir and you get the spices ready," Christine said.
Gaila handed the little packets they had bought earlier to her friend and Nyota measured them out and added them to the pan. Christine handed the spoon back over to her and added some water.
"Okay, stir one last time and then we'll let it simmer and then blend," she said.
After a final vigorous circle of the contents with the spoon, the lid went on.
Nyota let out a shaky laugh. "That wasn't so bad."
"See?" Christine said. The girls crowded around the counter and ate a few handfuls of nuts and fruit. They talked about classes and life at the Academy. Christine discovered she was truly enjoying herself.
"So, Christine," Gaila said at one point. "Any men in your life? Or women?"
"Ah, neither, actually," she said.
"Why not?" the Orion asked.
"Gaila," Nyota warned.
"No, it's okay," Christine said. "I'm so busy with school and shifts, I just haven't really bothered. Or had time."
Nyota nodded her head in understanding and Gaila rolled her eyes.
"There is always time for sex," she said. "What about McCoy?"
Christine's eyes widened. "Excuse me? There's nothing. I mean... No! It's... Why?"
Gaila gave her a look. "Hello? Orion?" She tapped her nose. "There's a definite spike whenever I mentioned him."
Christine narrowed her eyes. "Pheromones don't work that way."
"She's a nurse, Gaila," Nyota said. "You're not going to get her that way."
"Oh, right," Gaila said as her face fell a little. She quickly brightened. "Are you sure there's nothing there? I mean, he's a handsome male. That voice of his is just made for sex."
Christine felt her face flush and Nyota just shook her head.
"Especially when he does that thing, you know where he sort of drags the vowel out. It's that thing his accent does. What's that called again?" Gaila asked.
"Drawl," Christine and Nyota answered at the same time. They caught the other's eye and for the first time in a while, Christine found herself giggling uncontrollably.
"We're colleagues. Nothing else," Christine said when she calmed down. She paused for a moment remembering the chills his voice in her ear had caused during the shift last night. "Although, I do see your point about his voice."
"Ha! Knew it!" Gaila said. "But, if you're sure?"
"I'm sure," she said. "And I think we need to check the soup. Nyota, you're up. Have at it."
Nyota lifted the lid and the smell of gently spiced vegetables filled the room. She tested the potatoes and they were tender enough for everything to be poured into Christine's food processor.
After a few false starts and a small amount of spillage, the soup was blended to a nice smooth consistency.
"Let's try a bowl," Christine said. She ladled out a small amount and they all had a taste.
"Well," Gaila said. "It's okay. Kind of bland."
"I think that's sort of the point," Christine said. "It's not bad, though. What do you think, Nyota?"
"It needs something," she answered. "Can I-?" She gestured to Christine's spice rack.
"Of course."
After looking at the labels, Nyota grabbed a small bottle of cinnamon. Christine began to smile. Perfect choice. Nyota added just a small amount and it definitely picked up the flavor.
"Good idea," Christine said.
"My mother always added a little to soups to give it something extra," Nyota admitted. Then a stricken look came over her face. "Oh! Oh, how am I going to actually serve this to him? I have to re-heat it! How do I do that?"
"Easily," Christine said calmly. "He's got a stove, right?" Nyota nodded. "Then just pour it into a saucepan and put it on low, don't let it boil, just let it simmer and stir from time to time. Take this cinnamon and add it halfway through."
Nyota nodded again. "Of course. I can do that. I've done that before. I don't know why I'm overreacting."
Christine helped her pour the rest of the soup into the container Nyota had brought and they sealed it tightly.
"I can't thank you enough," Nyota said. "Really."
"Oh, no. Thank you!" Christine said warmly. "I haven't had this much fun in a while."
"What are you doing the rest of the day?" Gaila asked.
"Studying," Christine said. "I've got a huge amount of reading to do."
"You sound like her," Gaila said pointing to Nyota. "What about tonight?"
"I have no idea."
"We should go dancing! Oh, you should come!" Gaila said. "Please? We found the best place. They serve spicy food and these awesome fruity drinks and the music is amazing."
"Oh, I don't know." Christine hesitated. "I haven't seen the inside of a club in a while."
"It's not really a club. It's this old Cuban place," Nyota said. "The food is very good. You really should come. My treat."
"You can bring some clothes to change into and come back to the dorm with us and study," Gaila said. "Then we can all go out!"
It occurred to Christine that she hadn't actually been dancing or gone out with people, outside of a quick drink after a shift, in far too long. She'd been spending so much time studying and working, she'd forgotten that she actually enjoyed letting her hair down. "It sounds great," she said with smile. "I'd love to."
"Yes!" Gaila said throwing her arms around Christine in a big hug. The girl's exuberance made Christine laugh out loud and hug her back.
"Gaila, what have we discussed about personal space?" Nyota asked trying not to laugh.
"That other people have it?" she asked still hugging Christine.
"Yep."
With a big grin, Gaila let Christine go. Then she asked, "Now, what do you have in your closet?"
Christine quickly grabbed a pair of fitted black pants and a black tank top with silver patterns etched across the front. At Gaila's urging, she slipped her high-heeled black sandals that she'd only worn once in her bag and headed out. They dropped the soup off at their dorm room and she and Nyota studied quietly for a few hours while Gaila tinkered with someone's broken PADD.
When early evening came around, she spent a good hour laughing and painting toenails and getting ready.
Then they hit the restaurant, which did have the best spicy food and gorgeous sangrias. The band started up and Christine hit the dance floor with Gaila and Nyota next to her. She danced mainly on her own, but did accept one dance with a young man named Hikaru who was studying to be a pilot. He was a perfect gentleman and she had a blast.
It was close to 0200 hours when she finally made her way home. She kicked off her sandals and left her clothes lying in a heap on her bathroom floor and fell into bed with the fast rhythm of the salsa band still thrumming through her.
By the time Monday rolled around, she'd mostly recovered and had scheduled to meet both Gaila and Nyota for lunch later in the week. She walked through the campus on her way to the library when she thought she saw Nyota. She stopped and watched as Nyota and a striking man walked along the sidewalk the led up to the Communications lab. The man, unmistakably Vulcan, walked with his hands clasped behind his back and his head tilted towards her friend, completely focused on what she was saying. Christine watched as he politely allowed Nyota to enter the building before him and then followed her inside.
I guess the soup worked, Christine thought. She smiled to herself and hurried into the library.
*****
"I expect a full summation of the potential diagnoses and potential risks in my box by next Wednesday. Dismissed."
McCoy tapped the due date into his PADD and he made his way out of his class with the rest of the cadets. He was having one of those days when everyone he saw looked impossibly young and, not for the first time, wondered what the sam-hell he was doing there. He winced as the glare of the sun hit his eyes.
You signed up for it, old man, he thought. Now suck it up and keep going.
He noticed Jim was just a few feet ahead of him, eyes glued to his PADD for once. McCoy walked up to him. "Have we fallen into a parallel universe?" he asked. "Are you actually studying?"
"Bones, my friend," Jim said, not looking up from his reading material. "It is entirely possible that I have discovered the joys of proving people wrong."
"Oh, God," McCoy said, making a face once he saw what Jim was reading. "It's Tactical Analysis, right? You're out for blood, aren't you?"
"They should have known better to pick me for devil's advocate," he said. "It will be the debate to end all debates. The maneuver should be allowed and I can tell them all why."
"Well, it's nice to see you enjoying yourself," McCoy said sarcastically.
"Hey, it's probably just a phase," Jim said. "I just want to see the look on MacPherson's face when I counter each of his arguments. And, he-llo, is it Christmas already? Because, there are a nice set of presents under that tree."
McCoy followed his line of sight and saw seated around a small picnic table Uhura, Gaila, and--
"Is that Chapel?" he asked.
"It is indeed," Jim said as he headed off in their direction. McCoy rolled his eyes and followed.
The girls were talking happily. Uhura was the first to spot the men and stopped abruptly to frown at Jim. McCoy hid his grin at her reaction.
"Well, good afternoon, ladies," Jim said. "Gaila, Nurse Christine, Uhura." He drew out Uhura's name and got a withering glare for his trouble.
"Gentlemen," Christine said.
"Boys," Gaila said.
"I didn't see any of you this weekend." Jim's expression resembled that of a three year old missing his lollipop. "I've been inconsolable."
"Really?" Uhura asked flatly. "How terrible for you."
"It was horrible," Jim said. He turned to Gaila and gave her a grin. "I was in desperate need of comfort."
"Oh, were you?" she asked with wide eyes. "I was busy. With the girls."
"Ooh, doing what, exactly?" Jim asked. "Please say it was something depraved."
Uhura 's glare intensified, which McCoy hadn't been sure was actually possible.
"Oh, nothing much, " Gaila said examining her fingernails. "We just spent most of the weekend experimenting with vegetables."
McCoy suddenly forgot how to breathe and audibly choked on air. Chapel raised an eyebrow in concern, but he just waved a hand dismissively.
Jim laughed and but then took in the looks the women were giving him and his laugh faltered into a cough.
"You're serious?" he said.
Uhura and Chapel glanced at each other. With a shrug Uhura said, "She's not wrong."
"A very good time was had by all," Chapel added.
Jim's mouth opened and closed and his eyes glazed over. He seemed utterly incapable of speech.
"Congratulations, ladies," McCoy said. "You've actually broken him."
"Oh, I'm sure I can put the pieces back together," Gaila said. She stood up and trailed a slender green finger down the slope of Jim's nose. Jim began to come out of it and the corner of his mouth lifted. Gaila gently tapped him on the nose and dropped her hand. "But, I've got class first. Coming, roomie?"
"So not replying to that," Uhura said dryly as she grabbed her stuff. She said good-bye to Christine who replied with a smile and a wave.
"I'll walk you," Jim said quickly. "You'll see to Nurse Christine, right Bones?"
He clapped McCoy on the back and hurried after Gaila and Uhura. McCoy grimaced and looked at Christine, who looked like she was about to burst from laughing.
"Vegetables?" he asked.
She threw her head back and laughed.
"Yep," she said when she finally caught her breath. "It was a lot of fun."
"Right," he said. "I'm missing something here."
"You really are," she said. She stood up. "Let's go McCoy, 'see' me to class."
"Yes, ma'am," he teased, smirking when she shot him a glare.
She gathered up her bag and looked after the departing trio. "Is Kirk aware he's fighting a lost cause?" she asked.
McCoy saw Uhura walking stiffly while an oblivious Kirk chatted away. "I think that's part of the challenge," he said dryly. "Why? How much of a lost cause is it?"
"Irretrievably lost," she said. "I've seen the competition."
"Oh, really?" McCoy said. "Steep, is it?"
"Oh yeah," she said. Her eyes narrowed a little. "He pretty much hits every point of the tall, dark and handsome trifecta with a huge helping of mystery and exoticism."
McCoy stole a glance at her and involuntarily frowned at the pensive look on her face. But she came out of it with a little wave of her hand and a flippant, "Oh well, next life."
"Hunh," was his response.
They strolled towards the Science building.
"I didn't realize you knew those two," he said.
"I didn't really," she said. "I knew Uhura through the Chorale and then met Gaila this weekend."
"She's the one you were helping with a 'project'?" he asked.
"Mmm hmm," she said. "I had a really good time."
"Well, good for you," he said gruffly. Christine glanced at him.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, just feeling my age, I guess," he said.
"Oh, yes," she said her eyes sparkling. "Because clearly, you're ready for the old folk's home."
"Watch it, woman," he said. He squinted up at the sun. "It's just… They're all kids at the end of the day. Lives ahead of them. I just wonder what the hell I'm doing here."
"You've got your life ahead of you, too, Leonard." The sound of his name coming from her lips made him start. "And, I think you know this. Otherwise, why would you be here?"
They walked along for a moment before he replied, "Do you enjoy being the voice of reason?"
"It lends a certain amount of satisfaction to my life, yes," she said.
He had a retort ready but a loud "Heads up!" came from behind them.
They turned at the same time and a cadet rushed past Chapel. She was knocked heavily into McCoy. He instinctively caught her as she fell into him, his hands landed on her hips and her back pressed flush against him.
"Watch it, you moron!" he yelled. He looked down at Christine and for the second time that day forgot how to breathe. She rested against his chest and she tilted her head to look up at him. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was parted in surprise. Her scent filled the air around him and he felt his pulse speed up. He swallowed hard. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she said breathlessly. Her eyes darted down to his hands on her hips and it was her turn to swallow. "Who says chivalry is dead?"
He steadied her and once he was sure her balance was back, he removed his hands immediately. "Anything for a lady."
"Thank you kindly," she said.
He froze. The fall had loosened her hair and he had to clench his hand into a fist to stop himself from brushing the strands back from her face. She met his eyes and must have seen something because she seemed to freeze a little too.
Finally, she smiled a little unsteadily and said, "Come on, McCoy. Escort me to class. I want to hear you rip the instructor's theories to shreds again."
"Oh, my pleasure, milady," he threw a little extra drawl in for the heck of it and was pleased to see a blush bloom on her cheeks.
It put a spring in his step as they walked on.
Outtake: McCoy's Hands aka The Danger of Practicing Field Medicine
*****
Because ya'll are awesome and there is an actual recipe for it – I give you Plomeek Soup! If anyone tries it out, let me know how it goes!
I found this on RecipeLand and also at Recipezaar. It was originally published in a Star Trek cookbook back in the 1970s. I don't own it.
Plomeek Soup (Vulcan Orange Vegetable Soup)
Yields:4 servings
Recipe Cooking Time:
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 20 minutes
Ready In: 35 minutes
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 medium onions, up to 3, peeled and sliced
1 poundcarrots
½ pound turnip
10 ounces potatoes
5 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cups water
2 each garlic cloves
2 ½ teaspoons salt
¾ teaspoon basil (dried)
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup water (to rinse pan and blender then be added to soup)
sour cream for garnish
parsley leaves, finely chopped, for garnish
Directions:
In the pot, melt the butter and when it is foamy, add the onion and fry until golden.
Add everything else to the pot except the last cup of water and the sour cream and parsley garnishes.
Simmer, covered, for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are tender.
Run it all through the blender, about 1 to 1 1/2 cups at a time.
When it is all pureed, rinse the cooking pot with the cup of water and add that to the 'empty' blender.
Run the blender for a few seconds and then slosh the water about to get as much of the vegetable puree as possible off the sides of the blender.
Add this liquid to the soup.
Pour the soup back into the cleaned out pot and reheat it before serving (use very gentle heat).
Ladle into bowls.
Garnish with sour cream and parsley as described above.
Plommek soup is tradtionally served with a spoonful of sour cream on top; this is carefully swirled out with a spoon to make a spiral shape, representative of the galaxy.
The outline of the galaxy is then emphasized with very finely chopped parsley.
For less festive occaisions, it may be served with a small spoonful of butter (or maragarine) in the centre.
