James T. Kirk

It still surprised Nyota that he thought he had so little friends; she knew that a lot of people on the ship respected him, enjoyed his company. Yes, he could scare them at times with his scowls and loud words, but his bark was infinitely worse than his bite.

She picked up her glass and mimicked his action, raising it toward him. "Whatever you need," she repeated with a smile. "Even if that's just someone to drink with."

At his added comment she laughed, shaking her head. "You have been spending too much time around Kirk."

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"A man doesn't have to be Jim Kirk to know when he's in the company of a beautiful woman, or appreciate her costume," Bones smirked a little.

Okay, maybe he had been around Kirk too long... "You been having fun tonight?"

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"Doctor McCoy," she teased with a flutter of her lashes. "You can be charming." Replacing her now empty glass, Nyota gave him a small nod. "Aside from George trying to psychoanalyze me, I'm fine. How about you? I missed our beloved Captains entrance, but I hear it was over the top, as usual."

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Bones grinned, thinking back to Kirk's song. "The man knows how to get people's attention," he admitted, accepting another drink from George, busily talking to others.

But the party- "Looks like it was a good idea after all. I'd told Jim to cancel, but-" Bones looked around the room, "- I guess we all needed this. Got the chance to talk to people outside of work, you know, more casually." He looked around the room but didn't spot his head nurse. "Nice to just sit back and relax. Make some new friends."

He raised an eyebrow and took a drink.

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"He certainly does," Nyota agreed, ducking her gaze down to the countertop. She had to admit that he had some good ideas, and any Captain worth his commission realized the importance of crew morale, especially in difficult situations.

"Speaking of new friends, I heard you met with Tina's."

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Bones' fingers tightened around his glass. "You gonna get after me too?" he asked, tilting his head at her.

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"No," Nyota said, just a hint of sharpness to her tone. "I'm not exactly their biggest fan Leonard. And I'm not going to ruin the evening by giving you some speech about being more considerate, because right now I don't even want him," referring to the mirror of Pike, though she wasn't sure if he knew that, "on this ship. But it's nice for her. To have someone to talk to. I'm just suggesting a little more tact."

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"I was worried about her," Bones told her, "and at the time I hadn't known how close they were, not that knowing that makes me less worried. They've hurt people on board," he told her. "I'm not sure how much of that she even knows, but..."

One of them being Nyota's boyfriend but Bones wasn't sure how much of that incident she knew.

"I'll leave it alone, for now," he told her, "but I'm not convinced they're not looking for a way to get some sort of advantage over us."

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"I don't trust them either Leo," she sighed, pressing her lips together to keep from saying something less diplomatic. It was difficult not to judge them, so extremely difficult to want to treat that-- she couldn't even bring herself to call him Pike anymore, to treat him like someone worth respect.

"And I don't care what you say to them. I know you worry, I'm worried too. But Tina doesn't like people acting like she can't take care of herself. Neither of us do. So just trust her, alright?"

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"They hurt one of my staff already," Bones told her, folding his hands in front of him. "If they did something to her, I -" He closed his eyes. No one really cares what you think about this, McCoy.

"Right. Trust. Okay, we'll just see what happens." He finished his drink and slid the glass slowly out of his fingers.

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"Wouldn't be able to forgive yourself," she finished for him. Tina being friends with the other Spock didn't exactly make her tingle with pleasure either, though her issue was less with him and more with his partner. But she wasn't the one Tina harbored feelings for. "I know. And keep an eye on her sure. Just don't act like a--" Jealous boyfriend, she wanted to say. But instead she said, "just give her some breathing room."

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"Breathing is one of my favorite hobbies."

Spock had escorted Tina, once again on his arm - her dress seemed to call for such courtesies.

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Fucking great. "Good evening," he said to them both, giving Nyota a small look, as if to say, 'Look how I am behaving myself.'

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Tina shot Spock an incredulous look - was that a subtle segue into a conversation? - and then turned to smile at McCoy and Nyota.

"Mind if we join you for a bit?"

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He was not always subtle.

Spock inclined his head politely, acknowledging McCoy, then nodded more fully to Nyota.

"I am unfamiliar with your costume, yet its construction is intriguing."

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Nyota granted Bones a smile, glad that they both seemed to be behaving. For the moment at least.

She gave Tina a nod, glancing at Spock and grateful that Pike was nowhere to be seen. "Terran comic book character," she supplied. "I don't think it would fit you or I'd offer to let you borrow it after I'm done."

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Of course to behave, Bones remained silent.

He watched their faces, wondering how sincere this friendship was - and wondering where the other one, the one that looked like Admiral Pike was.

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"I'm surprised you've kept the mask on this long," Tina said, touching the edge of the material where it met Nyota's cheek. "It can't be very comfortable. I'm starting to regret my shoes a little, and they don't cover my face."

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"Oh believe me, it's coming off soon," Nyota laughed, flexing her fingers in the gloves. "It is all coming off. The only time someone should wear this much leather is if they have a whip in their hand."

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Spock raised an eyebrow and contained his smirk.

He was behaving. Mostly.

He slid an arm around Tina's waist, fingers brushing against her hip, to steer her toward a chair.

"You should sit."

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Bones' eyebrow lifted as well, as his turned away from the scene, trying not to smirk. Spock was just trying to irritate him now...

"Would you two like something to drink?" he asked, reaching around for two more glasses, determined not to let his wariness show. "I've some bourbon here," he pointed to his bottle, "but George can whip you up something if you want."

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"We just topped up, actually," Tina said, raising the James Kirk she had in hand. Her smile held a hint of self-deprecation. "And I think after this one I'd better stop, or I'm going to be progressively less and less fun to spend time with."

She leaned over towards Nyota, adding in a quiet murmur, "and I think I have plans that involve getting help removing this dress later, so..."

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Nyota shook her head, still fine with her glass of water. Leaning closer to Tina, her smile grew a little wider, a devious edge to it. There was just something about knowing her friends were going to get lucky after a long time without it that pleased her. She wasn't exactly sure what that said about her.

"Please tell me it's not," she murmured back, her head ducking briefly to Spock. "Or if it is, you'll definitely be needing that whip."

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"An interesting costume as well, Doctor."

Spock was not practiced at small talk. He sipped the chocolate concoction that George Kirk had handed him. It was not often he indulged in that sort of altering substance. Yet here, people appeared to enjoy the state of drunkenness without fear of assassination. Another difference to be filed away and weighed and measured.

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