Fic: Afternoons & Coffee Spoons
Title: Afternoons & Coffee Spoons
Series: ST XI
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2205
Disclaimer: They're not mine, unfortunately.
Notes: Written for a fic meme, for notchka88 who requested “Kirk & Uhura as besties.” I did that, but naturally had to throw in some K/S.
Summary: Jim spends the day with Uhura. Coffee, gossip, shopping, and Uhura encourages Jim to admit his secret crush.
It was Jim's favorite part of shore leave.
Uhura had been sworn to secrecy, and she was more than happy to keep the knowledge to herself if it meant she had someone to shop and gossip with.
*
It always starts the same, with Uhura sitting in a coffee shop waiting for Jim. Sure enough, always late but never a no-show, Jim sneaks in wearing sunglasses and a hat and looking suspiciously at the other patrons.
“Have you seen anyone?” He always whispers across the table, never relaxing until Uhura confirms she hasn't seen a crew member since she left the ship.
Jim finally grins as he takes the hat off and pulls the sunglasses down to stare at Uhura over the top of them. “Did you order my usual?”
She grins back, pushing a cup towards him, “don't I always?”
Jim tosses the hat and sunglasses on the table before taking a swig of coffee. “Hot!” he gasps, nearly choking on the steaming liquid.
“Blow on it, Jim.” Uhura laughs. “I swear, you're like a giant child.”
Jim sticks his tongue out at her. “Be nice to me or I'll go back to the ship.”
“No you won't, you love this too much.”
Jim reluctantly nods in agreement.
“So what's the plan for today?”
“The usual,” Uhura replies. “Coffee, clothes shopping, I need a new dress and you said you needed new underwear.”
Jim nods again.
“And I have to fill you in on Chapel's new guy.”
Jim raises an eyebrow, “she's not still after Spock, is she?”
“Nooo, you don't have to worry about that. This is someone new.”
“I'm not worried about it,” Jim says as he blows on his coffee.
“Right, Jim,” Uhura replies with a smirk.
*
Jim loves sitting outside the change room, commenting on Uhura's clothing choices as she models them. It reminds him of when he was a kid and his mom would get dressed up for dates - he'd comment on her clothes, usually negatively in the hopes of encouraging her to just stay home with him.
With Uhura he's more honest.
“Nice cleavage.”
She tosses a hanger in his direction.
“What?!” he says exasperatedly. “It's true!”
She glares at him, but sticks the dress in the 'keep' pile.
He calls under the door as she tries on another dress, “so tell me about Chapel's new man.”
“You're not going to believe who it is.”
“Try me.”
Uhura interrupts her changing, holding a dress over herself as she opens the door a crack to peer out at Jim.
“It's Leonard McCoy.”
Jim grins. “You're kidding.”
Uhura eyes him suspiciously. “You already knew, didn't you?”
“No, no,” Jim says. “This is new information.”
“Liar!” She says with a laugh. “How did you find out?”
Jim points to himself. “Umm.. Bones's best friend? Jim Kirk? Ring a bell?”
“Okay, you knew already. So why didn't you tell me?!”
“I was going to! I was saving it for shore leave gossip.”
“Fine,” Uhura says with mock frustration, closing the door again. “You're forgiven.”
Jim sits silently for a few minutes, watching the store employees walk by.
“So..” He hesitates. “You think she's over Spock then?”
Uhura's laughter trickles out from under the door. “Well, she didn't really have a choice. He wasn't interested.”
“No?” Jim asks casually as the change room door swings open.
Uhura walks out and stands in front of the mirror. “What do you think of this one?”
“It's cute, but the red one is nicer.”
“But I'm always in red.”
Jim grins. “Yeah, well, it suits you.”
She ends up buying three dresses, including the one with the great cleavage. And the red one.
*
“I don't know how you go through underwear so fast.”
It's Uhura's turn to sit outside the change room, watching Jim disappear and reappear wearing various types of boxers and briefs.
“I'm always ripping them. My pants, my underwear, my uniform shirts. Starfleet replaces it all, but I hate their standard issue regulation underwear.
Uhura laughs. “You're supposed to wear it though, you know.”
“I'm Jim Kirk. If I want to keep getting laid I'm not wearing those all the time.”
Jim disappears into the change room, only to reappear in red boxer briefs.
He stands in front of the mirror, pulling at the bottoms of the briefs where the fabric touches his legs. Even with his own underwear as an extra layer underneath, his ass looks fantastic and Uhura tells him so.
He shifts in the mirror, attempting to crane his neck to get a look at his own butt. “You think so?”
Uhura nods. “I'm almost jealous.”
He grins at her in the mirror and she grins back.
“So..” She begins casually, as Jim continues to stare at himself. “Who are you trying to impress?”
Jim turns suddenly to disappear into the change room. “The ladies,” he replies as an afterthought just as he closes the door.
“Ahh, the ladies,” Uhura replies. “Anyone else?”
“Don't know what you're talking about!” Jim shouts under the door in a sing-song voice.
Uhura waits until he reappears, wearing blue briefs. They're so small his white regulation briefs stick out from the top and bottom.
“Woah!” She jokingly shields her eyes. “Those are tiny. I can see everything.”
Jim adjusts the fabric over his bulge. “Shut up.”
She watches him watching himself in the mirror. “Blue, huh?”
Jim glances up at her for a second before turning back to his own reflection. “Yeah, so? Blue's nice.”
“Yeah, definitely. And it's a nice shade of blue.” Uhura says, trying to hide a smile. “What shade is that anyway? I'd almost call it...” She pauses dramatically. “Science blue.”
Jim turns again and disappears into the change room.
“I'm okay with it, you know,” she calls after him.
There's a long silent pause behind the change room door.
Finally Jim speaks. “Okay with what?”
“With your crush on Spock.”
There's another long pause, and Uhura notes that Jim doesn't shout denials under the door.
When he reappears wearing his regular clothes, he looks at her meekly. “I don't have a crush on Spock.”
She laughs. “Jim, don't even start with me.”
*
“This one's nice,” Jim says, handing Uhura a bottle of pale pink nail polish.
He'd love to say she drags him kicking and screaming to the cosmetics section, but, in truth, he always goes willingly.
Uhura holds up the bottle, comparing it to another one in her hand.
“So, if someone did have a crush on Spock..” Jim says quietly. “How would someone go about pursuing that..?”
He holds his hand out to Uhura and lets her test the polish on his nails. She paints his index finger with one shade of pink, and his middle finger with the other. They always do it this way because testing it on herself would mess up Uhura's own nails.
“Well, if someone wanted to pursue Spock,” Uhura begins as she tilts his fingers into the light, comparing the two colors. “I'd suggest taking it slow. He's old-fashioned and, you know, Vulcan.”
“What type of.. people does he go for?”
Uhura smiles at him. “He appreciates intelligence, so you've got that going for you.”
Instead of protesting the mention of himself, Jim gives in and simply nods.
“He likes chess, so you have that in common.”
Jim nods again, his hand still outstretched as Uhura paints his fingers with two new colors.
“He's surprisingly sensitive, but he masks it of course. Just like this guy I know.” She gives Jim a wink. “He's a workaholic, and the ship is his number one priority.”
“Same with me.”
Uhura nods, eying him carefully. “Yeah. So you're both in love with the ship, and you're both in love with you.”
Jim's eyes grow wide. “What the hell do you mean by that?”
“You know, you, in love with yourself--”
“No, no,” Jim interrupts, careful not to pull his hand from Uhura's grasp. “The joke about Spock being in love with me. That's not funny.”
Uhura gives him a look, as if he's the biggest idiot alive. “It's not a joke, Jim. Why do you think he avoided Christine Chapel for so long? He was in love with someone else.”
Jim stares at her in shock. “Me?”
“You.”
He yanks his hand from her grasp, effectively smearing green nail polish across his fingers. “Why didn't you tell me?!”
“Jim, calm down.” Uhura reaches for his hand again, resuming her testing. “I didn't tell you because I was waiting to see how you felt. If you weren't interested in him, there was no point telling you.”
“So how do you know this? Did he tell you?”
“He didn't have to tell me. I can just see it.” Uhura grabs Jim's other hand and paints on a shade of purple. “The same way I could see it in you.”
“Oh.” Jim's face falls a little. “So you could be wrong.”
She pauses her testing and looks up at him reassuringly. “Jim, I know Spock. Trust me, I'm not wrong.”
They stand in silence for a few minutes as Uhura examines the colors on Jim's hand, and Jim contemplates the news he's just received.
“Is this why..” Jim pauses. “You know.”
“Why Spock and I broke up?”
“Yeah.”
“No, our break up was a mutual thing. We're just better as friends.”
“Oh.”
“But that doesn't make you his second choice, if that's what you're thinking.”
Jim glances up at Uhura, and she smiles at him.
“I think he's been attracted to you since you guys first met. And then he got to know you and he fell. Hard.”
“Yeah, well, that makes two of us.”
Uhura lets Jim's hand fall, and she picks up two bottles before heading to the front of the store.
“So you're okay with this?” Jim calls after her as he jogs to catch up.
She pauses at the souvenir counter, pointing to some brightly colored stones. “You have to get something for your mom.”
“Oh, right.” Jim moves cautiously around the table, pretending to examine the souvenirs.
“So you're okay with this?” He asks again, after a moment.
Uhura glances up at him and smiles. “Jim, I don't normally approve of friends dating my exes. But you boys are clearly obsessed with each other.”
Jim nods, picking up a random stone and following Uhura to the register.
“Besides,” Uhura adds. “I want you to be happy. And I want Spock to be happy.”
As Uhura sets her purchases on the counter, Jim comes up behind and wraps his arms around her waist. He buries his face between her neck and shoulder, and smiles. “You're the best.”
She wraps her own arms around his, patting his hands. “I know. And you'd better not forget it.”
*
“You pick the restaurant,” Jim says. “Whatever you want, my treat.”
“Jim, you always pay for dinner anyway.”
“I know, I know, but just pretend. Today it's because you're so goddamn beautiful and amazing.”
Uhura smiles and winks at him. “You'd think I just helped you get laid or something.”
“Better than that,” Jim grins as he follows her into her restaurant of choice. “It's better than that.”
“Eat quick,” Jim says after they've been seated.
Uhura glares at him over the top of her menu. “Why?”
“We've gotta get back to the ship. I've got new underwear, and a sexy Vulcan to pursue.”
“Jim, be nice to him!” Uhura laughs, tossing a napkin at Jim. “He's shy and sensitive.”
“A sexy and shy Vulcan to pursue! Even better!” Jim gives her a wink as she tosses a spoon in his direction.
They place their order and Jim takes a sip from his water glass. “I'm joking, you know.”
“Joking about what?”
“The underwear thing, and the shy, sexy Vulcan.” Jim pauses as he takes another sip of water. “I'm going to be nice to him.”
Uhura grins. “I know, Jim.”
“I do want to get back to the ship, though." Jim smiles shyly. "Just to see him.”
Uhura jokingly rolls her eyes. “Oh god, you're like an adorable little lovestruck puppy.”
It's Jim's turn to toss a spoon in her direction. “Shut up,” he says with a laugh.
“Dinner first,” Uhura replies. “A nice gossipy dinner together, and then we're going back to the ship. Deal?”
Jim grins and blows her a kiss. “Deal.”
Series: ST XI
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2205
Disclaimer: They're not mine, unfortunately.
Notes: Written for a fic meme, for notchka88 who requested “Kirk & Uhura as besties.” I did that, but naturally had to throw in some K/S.
Summary: Jim spends the day with Uhura. Coffee, gossip, shopping, and Uhura encourages Jim to admit his secret crush.
It was Jim's favorite part of shore leave.
Uhura had been sworn to secrecy, and she was more than happy to keep the knowledge to herself if it meant she had someone to shop and gossip with.
*
It always starts the same, with Uhura sitting in a coffee shop waiting for Jim. Sure enough, always late but never a no-show, Jim sneaks in wearing sunglasses and a hat and looking suspiciously at the other patrons.
“Have you seen anyone?” He always whispers across the table, never relaxing until Uhura confirms she hasn't seen a crew member since she left the ship.
Jim finally grins as he takes the hat off and pulls the sunglasses down to stare at Uhura over the top of them. “Did you order my usual?”
She grins back, pushing a cup towards him, “don't I always?”
Jim tosses the hat and sunglasses on the table before taking a swig of coffee. “Hot!” he gasps, nearly choking on the steaming liquid.
“Blow on it, Jim.” Uhura laughs. “I swear, you're like a giant child.”
Jim sticks his tongue out at her. “Be nice to me or I'll go back to the ship.”
“No you won't, you love this too much.”
Jim reluctantly nods in agreement.
“So what's the plan for today?”
“The usual,” Uhura replies. “Coffee, clothes shopping, I need a new dress and you said you needed new underwear.”
Jim nods again.
“And I have to fill you in on Chapel's new guy.”
Jim raises an eyebrow, “she's not still after Spock, is she?”
“Nooo, you don't have to worry about that. This is someone new.”
“I'm not worried about it,” Jim says as he blows on his coffee.
“Right, Jim,” Uhura replies with a smirk.
*
Jim loves sitting outside the change room, commenting on Uhura's clothing choices as she models them. It reminds him of when he was a kid and his mom would get dressed up for dates - he'd comment on her clothes, usually negatively in the hopes of encouraging her to just stay home with him.
With Uhura he's more honest.
“Nice cleavage.”
She tosses a hanger in his direction.
“What?!” he says exasperatedly. “It's true!”
She glares at him, but sticks the dress in the 'keep' pile.
He calls under the door as she tries on another dress, “so tell me about Chapel's new man.”
“You're not going to believe who it is.”
“Try me.”
Uhura interrupts her changing, holding a dress over herself as she opens the door a crack to peer out at Jim.
“It's Leonard McCoy.”
Jim grins. “You're kidding.”
Uhura eyes him suspiciously. “You already knew, didn't you?”
“No, no,” Jim says. “This is new information.”
“Liar!” She says with a laugh. “How did you find out?”
Jim points to himself. “Umm.. Bones's best friend? Jim Kirk? Ring a bell?”
“Okay, you knew already. So why didn't you tell me?!”
“I was going to! I was saving it for shore leave gossip.”
“Fine,” Uhura says with mock frustration, closing the door again. “You're forgiven.”
Jim sits silently for a few minutes, watching the store employees walk by.
“So..” He hesitates. “You think she's over Spock then?”
Uhura's laughter trickles out from under the door. “Well, she didn't really have a choice. He wasn't interested.”
“No?” Jim asks casually as the change room door swings open.
Uhura walks out and stands in front of the mirror. “What do you think of this one?”
“It's cute, but the red one is nicer.”
“But I'm always in red.”
Jim grins. “Yeah, well, it suits you.”
She ends up buying three dresses, including the one with the great cleavage. And the red one.
*
“I don't know how you go through underwear so fast.”
It's Uhura's turn to sit outside the change room, watching Jim disappear and reappear wearing various types of boxers and briefs.
“I'm always ripping them. My pants, my underwear, my uniform shirts. Starfleet replaces it all, but I hate their standard issue regulation underwear.
Uhura laughs. “You're supposed to wear it though, you know.”
“I'm Jim Kirk. If I want to keep getting laid I'm not wearing those all the time.”
Jim disappears into the change room, only to reappear in red boxer briefs.
He stands in front of the mirror, pulling at the bottoms of the briefs where the fabric touches his legs. Even with his own underwear as an extra layer underneath, his ass looks fantastic and Uhura tells him so.
He shifts in the mirror, attempting to crane his neck to get a look at his own butt. “You think so?”
Uhura nods. “I'm almost jealous.”
He grins at her in the mirror and she grins back.
“So..” She begins casually, as Jim continues to stare at himself. “Who are you trying to impress?”
Jim turns suddenly to disappear into the change room. “The ladies,” he replies as an afterthought just as he closes the door.
“Ahh, the ladies,” Uhura replies. “Anyone else?”
“Don't know what you're talking about!” Jim shouts under the door in a sing-song voice.
Uhura waits until he reappears, wearing blue briefs. They're so small his white regulation briefs stick out from the top and bottom.
“Woah!” She jokingly shields her eyes. “Those are tiny. I can see everything.”
Jim adjusts the fabric over his bulge. “Shut up.”
She watches him watching himself in the mirror. “Blue, huh?”
Jim glances up at her for a second before turning back to his own reflection. “Yeah, so? Blue's nice.”
“Yeah, definitely. And it's a nice shade of blue.” Uhura says, trying to hide a smile. “What shade is that anyway? I'd almost call it...” She pauses dramatically. “Science blue.”
Jim turns again and disappears into the change room.
“I'm okay with it, you know,” she calls after him.
There's a long silent pause behind the change room door.
Finally Jim speaks. “Okay with what?”
“With your crush on Spock.”
There's another long pause, and Uhura notes that Jim doesn't shout denials under the door.
When he reappears wearing his regular clothes, he looks at her meekly. “I don't have a crush on Spock.”
She laughs. “Jim, don't even start with me.”
*
“This one's nice,” Jim says, handing Uhura a bottle of pale pink nail polish.
He'd love to say she drags him kicking and screaming to the cosmetics section, but, in truth, he always goes willingly.
Uhura holds up the bottle, comparing it to another one in her hand.
“So, if someone did have a crush on Spock..” Jim says quietly. “How would someone go about pursuing that..?”
He holds his hand out to Uhura and lets her test the polish on his nails. She paints his index finger with one shade of pink, and his middle finger with the other. They always do it this way because testing it on herself would mess up Uhura's own nails.
“Well, if someone wanted to pursue Spock,” Uhura begins as she tilts his fingers into the light, comparing the two colors. “I'd suggest taking it slow. He's old-fashioned and, you know, Vulcan.”
“What type of.. people does he go for?”
Uhura smiles at him. “He appreciates intelligence, so you've got that going for you.”
Instead of protesting the mention of himself, Jim gives in and simply nods.
“He likes chess, so you have that in common.”
Jim nods again, his hand still outstretched as Uhura paints his fingers with two new colors.
“He's surprisingly sensitive, but he masks it of course. Just like this guy I know.” She gives Jim a wink. “He's a workaholic, and the ship is his number one priority.”
“Same with me.”
Uhura nods, eying him carefully. “Yeah. So you're both in love with the ship, and you're both in love with you.”
Jim's eyes grow wide. “What the hell do you mean by that?”
“You know, you, in love with yourself--”
“No, no,” Jim interrupts, careful not to pull his hand from Uhura's grasp. “The joke about Spock being in love with me. That's not funny.”
Uhura gives him a look, as if he's the biggest idiot alive. “It's not a joke, Jim. Why do you think he avoided Christine Chapel for so long? He was in love with someone else.”
Jim stares at her in shock. “Me?”
“You.”
He yanks his hand from her grasp, effectively smearing green nail polish across his fingers. “Why didn't you tell me?!”
“Jim, calm down.” Uhura reaches for his hand again, resuming her testing. “I didn't tell you because I was waiting to see how you felt. If you weren't interested in him, there was no point telling you.”
“So how do you know this? Did he tell you?”
“He didn't have to tell me. I can just see it.” Uhura grabs Jim's other hand and paints on a shade of purple. “The same way I could see it in you.”
“Oh.” Jim's face falls a little. “So you could be wrong.”
She pauses her testing and looks up at him reassuringly. “Jim, I know Spock. Trust me, I'm not wrong.”
They stand in silence for a few minutes as Uhura examines the colors on Jim's hand, and Jim contemplates the news he's just received.
“Is this why..” Jim pauses. “You know.”
“Why Spock and I broke up?”
“Yeah.”
“No, our break up was a mutual thing. We're just better as friends.”
“Oh.”
“But that doesn't make you his second choice, if that's what you're thinking.”
Jim glances up at Uhura, and she smiles at him.
“I think he's been attracted to you since you guys first met. And then he got to know you and he fell. Hard.”
“Yeah, well, that makes two of us.”
Uhura lets Jim's hand fall, and she picks up two bottles before heading to the front of the store.
“So you're okay with this?” Jim calls after her as he jogs to catch up.
She pauses at the souvenir counter, pointing to some brightly colored stones. “You have to get something for your mom.”
“Oh, right.” Jim moves cautiously around the table, pretending to examine the souvenirs.
“So you're okay with this?” He asks again, after a moment.
Uhura glances up at him and smiles. “Jim, I don't normally approve of friends dating my exes. But you boys are clearly obsessed with each other.”
Jim nods, picking up a random stone and following Uhura to the register.
“Besides,” Uhura adds. “I want you to be happy. And I want Spock to be happy.”
As Uhura sets her purchases on the counter, Jim comes up behind and wraps his arms around her waist. He buries his face between her neck and shoulder, and smiles. “You're the best.”
She wraps her own arms around his, patting his hands. “I know. And you'd better not forget it.”
*
“You pick the restaurant,” Jim says. “Whatever you want, my treat.”
“Jim, you always pay for dinner anyway.”
“I know, I know, but just pretend. Today it's because you're so goddamn beautiful and amazing.”
Uhura smiles and winks at him. “You'd think I just helped you get laid or something.”
“Better than that,” Jim grins as he follows her into her restaurant of choice. “It's better than that.”
“Eat quick,” Jim says after they've been seated.
Uhura glares at him over the top of her menu. “Why?”
“We've gotta get back to the ship. I've got new underwear, and a sexy Vulcan to pursue.”
“Jim, be nice to him!” Uhura laughs, tossing a napkin at Jim. “He's shy and sensitive.”
“A sexy and shy Vulcan to pursue! Even better!” Jim gives her a wink as she tosses a spoon in his direction.
They place their order and Jim takes a sip from his water glass. “I'm joking, you know.”
“Joking about what?”
“The underwear thing, and the shy, sexy Vulcan.” Jim pauses as he takes another sip of water. “I'm going to be nice to him.”
Uhura grins. “I know, Jim.”
“I do want to get back to the ship, though." Jim smiles shyly. "Just to see him.”
Uhura jokingly rolls her eyes. “Oh god, you're like an adorable little lovestruck puppy.”
It's Jim's turn to toss a spoon in her direction. “Shut up,” he says with a laugh.
“Dinner first,” Uhura replies. “A nice gossipy dinner together, and then we're going back to the ship. Deal?”
Jim grins and blows her a kiss. “Deal.”