exastris_scientia | retired open post // will still tag in if threads are ongoing!

( they've all grown and changed. how could they not have, when they've witnessed the destruction of vulcan, when khan has laid devastation on earth, when they've been through so much together at so young an age. they've changed, and it hasn't changed her love for spock or his for her, but it has changed how she looks at kirk.

how spock looks at him, too. )

Oh, I think I can definitely handle you.

( she's fluent in several languages and conversational in several more, of course uhura is aware of just how flirtatious that statement sounds. it's entirely deliberate, too. )

[ They've all been through a hell of a lot, and Jim is grateful daily for the fact that he has the best crew in the whole of the fleet. He never really understood, though, one of the lessons Pike tried to teach him. Command can be lonely. Sure, Pike had his wife, who was now left behind, and that seemed like an all too real possibility and reason (excuse?) for him to not get close to anybody.

So maybe he still plays up the dumb hick routine. It's like a comfortable jacket, he's gotten used to wearing it. And maybe he doesn't see the way either of them are looking, or he's purposefully oblivious. Who knows. He saw what loving his dad did to his ma years after the fact. He heard about what happened after he died in Main Engineering. He sees it like a ghost across their features sometimes, when he's pretty sure they think he's not paying attention. It's another thing on the growing list of stuff he doesn't bother commenting on.

Anyways, what if he's wrong? Jim was never the sort to question his gut feeling, but what do you do when even that is conflicted? ]

Yeah? Put a glass of Bones best Saurian Brandy where your mouth is.

( their lives were never going to be easy. uhura's mother has asked her, before uhura had gone to starfleet academy, if she's aware of that. no one could have predicted genocide and everything else that has happened to them, that they've been a part of, but uhura has always known that her choices, her ambition and her drive wouldn't let her live an easy life.

it's no different for any of the rest of the crew, she thinks. )

You're on.

( in some ways, uhura knows that they've been lucky so far. even with everything that has happened: it could have been worse. everything could have been so much worse, and at least she's still got spock. they've still got the enterprise, and they still have the crew. )

[ These kind of things, the things they've been privy to in the course of their time in Starfleet, leave marks on people in a variety of different ways. Some wear it a little more visibly, and others make a conscious effort to bury them. It isn't easy either way is picked, but something has to be done.

A lot of people left the Academy, and Starfleet, after Vulcan and the battle for it. They just---couldn't handle it. ]

All right, so am I coming to you, or what? I'm ready whenever you are.

[ Jim can't imagine what it has been like for Spock and the remaining Vulcans. They could have lost Earth too, they got damn close. But at the end of the day they've got each other, and Jim wouldn't trade his crew and family for the whole galaxy. ]

You have the Brandy. I'm coming your way.

( one of spock's uniform shirts is lying carefully folded atop a console in her room and the temperature is a little warmer than standard in most quarters on account of her own home country and spock's, and there is nothing wrong with having jim over, but uhura, though not vulcan in the least, likes some clear dividing lines at times.

she likes certainty. in her quarters, she thinks she'd miss spock more than she'd enjoy jim's presence, and that isn't fair to either her or him. )

Yeah, it's unlocked for you. Just hit the button.

[ Jim has hung out with Spock a time or two in his quarters, one that is sometimes shared with Uhura, not like it is a secret, and boy, he gets the old expression hot as Vulcan. New Vulcan was nearly identical in climate and geography, minus the significant portion of desert. It still had them, certainly, just not as wide as a planetary occurrence. Uhura's isn't too terrible compared, but it's still toasty to him.

But Jim decides that they are gonna have themselves a friendly drink before this wager begins in earnest, so he's poured them both a glass of the stuff he pretends to not know Scotty has down in Engineering, and a full bottle of Bones' brandy unopened on the table. ]

( it doesn't take very long to make her way to jim's quarters. it's funnny now to think that there's anticipation curling in her stomach rather than annoyance, how far they've come. it isn't funny to think about all the things they've lost on the way, but sometimes, there are reminders of all the things they've gained, too.

the friendship with jim is something she's gained, for sure. maybe there's more to be gained, still. it's even more of a gain for spock, she knows. )

Is that Scotty's stuff? ( yeah, those are her first words once the door to his quarters closes behind her. )

[ They've had serious losses over the years, but they have gained more than they ever thought possible. For Jim, he never expected a family to come of a crew. A home to come in the form of his ship. He'd never trade any of that, and there isn't anything he wouldn't do for his crew.

And, years later, Jim knows full well that Uhura's first name is Nyota, but it just feels weird to say after being in the proverbial dog house for so long. He'll stick with what he knows, it's safer that way. He's seen her combat training skills, she is not to be trifled with.

Apparently, tonight, he's an idiot though, but it sounds like a bit of fun. ]

Sure is, but if you tell Spock I will deny everything. Don't make me regret sharing.

I'd say my lips are sealed, but if they were, I couldn't drink anything. ( she smiles a little. ) And that would be a pity.

( she's had scotty's stuff before. it's strong, but that isn't a bad thing. and maybe drinking it with jim tonight will lead to more, but that isn't a bad thing, either. uhura doesn't like to think of it as liquid courage, but lowered inhibitions might be just what she wants tonight. )

I'll just have to trust you then, won't I? [ He quirks a grin at her, and takes a sip of his own glass after picking it up. ]

But, before we go anywhere with anything, I have a confession: I don't actually have a hand phaser handy. This was all a clever ploy.

I'm shocked.

( her tone is utterly dry, the precise nuance of it something that could have come from spock rather than from her — but she's grinning while she says it. ) How deceitful.

I know. It's terrible. Awful. Maybe even scandalous.

[ The dry as the desert tone makes him chuckle heartily before he downs the rest of his glass, quirking an eyebrow in challenge. ] I'm trouble, what can I say?

retired open post // will still tag in if threads are ongoing!

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