Jingle Bell Shock - Star Trek Secret Santa 2017
Christine couldn't stay still. It was a big night aboard the Enterprise, and few people were more excited than her for it. The annual holiday party was tonight in recreation room 4, and other than being the biggest party of the year on the ship, Christine had a few personal reasons to be eager. But at the rate she was bouncing from task to task and looking at the time, she was sure Dr. McCoy was going to give her a tranquilizer.
"Nurse, please," McCoy said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. His hand came down on his desk with a sigh. "Can you just get me these last few tapes?"
"Hmm? Oh, sure." She barely even noticed as she went to the lab and came back with the requested tapes. At this point she was already planning her actions as soon as she could leave.
McCoy took the tapes from her when she came back, annoyance clear in his voice. "Thank you." The screen in front of him flashed on as he played the tape, and as he started to take down notes he grumbled, "Alright, Christine, you can go now."
Christine's head popped up. "Really? Wait, you're not done yet..."
He waved her off with one hand, not looking up. "Eh, if I keep ya here any longer, you might actually start bouncing off the walls. Besides, I don't have much more to do." He took a moment to give her a warm smile. "Enjoy yourself, Christine."
She returned the smile, and after thanking him, left sickbay and scurried down the corridors with the composed speed of the practiced nurse that she was. The party was going to start soon and she needed to get ready.
Once in her quarters, Christine wasted no time in getting ready. Her base outfit was simple enough - black slacks and a long-sleeved shirt - but the flair came with her sweater: a blue-and-white knitted Christmas sweater with the silhouette of a tree and white dots of snow peppering the front. The sleeves were purposefully long enough for her to bunch her hands up in them. For added fun, she pulled a Santa hat over her hair, tossing the ball of fluff at the end to the back of her head with a satisfying flick.
Ready as ever, she looked over to her bed, where a bag with a little bow on top waited. This was half of the reason she was so excited for tonight. While it was by no means mandatory, crew members often used the holiday party as the chance to exchange gifts with one another. And there was one person in particular Christine had singled out for a gift this year.
Picking up the bag and checking her mirror once more, Christine walked out of her quarters and strolled down to the turbo lift, her heart thumping. She wasn't one to be nervous, but the feeling was starting to mix in with the excitement. The moment she'd been planning for weeks, the one she'd been dreaming about and debating over for so long, was finally here. Oh god, it was here.
As the lift's doors opened on deck 7, she inhaled a deep breath to steady herself. She could do this.
Rec room 4 was as loud as ever. Loud, and smelling like cinnamon. Christine cherished the scent as she merged in with the mass of crew members filling the room. It seemed the party was well underway. Music jingled seamlessly overhead, and most people already had cups of egg nog or cider in hand and were standing around in conversation with each other.
Christine grabbed a cup of cider herself as she pushed further into the space. A couple of people greeted her as she walked around, and she responded with a polite hello of her own, but her eyes only wanted to see one person right then.
And suddenly they did.
As Christine turned around the corner of one group, she finally saw Lieutenant Uhura, sitting on a couch underneath a screen with a projected fireplace playing on it. She was leaning back against the couch, her legs crossed and eyes closed, a grin playing at her lips as she twirled a cup of egg nog around in her hand.
Christine's heart skipped a beat. She don't know how or when it exactly started, but somehow she'd developed feelings for Uhura over the past few months. She hadn't said anything at first, for fear of ruining their friendship, but as time went on and the line between "friendly smile" and "are you blushing for the same reason I am" blurred, she knew she had to say something. That's what tonight was for.
"Mind if I join you, Nyota?"
Christine's words jolted Uhura's eyes open. She blinked as she came out of her moment of peace, quickly shaking her head and focusing on the newcomer. When she recognized who it was, she was smiling again. "Oh. Hi, Christine!" She patted the empty spot to her left. "By all means, please do."
Christine accepted the invitation and sat down, carefully placing the present she'd brought along on her left and taking a sip of cider. "What were you thinking about?" she asked.
"Oh, sometimes I just like to settle back at parties like this and listen to all the noise without actually having to separate it all like I do on the comm. It's really relaxing," Uhura answered, her gaze still dreamy at the thought. "Anyway, how are you? I feel like we haven't hung out in forever!"
That earned a bashful smile. "Right? December seems to get busier every year, I swear." Christine settled back against the couch, her shoulders carrying the weight of her work on them. "I've been good, just tired. This party is the only thing that got me through this week."
"I hear that."
Christine nodded, then turned to her friend. "How about you?"
"Same, pretty much. I actually came straight here from my shift, why I'm still in my uniform." She gestured down to her clothing. Then with a laugh she brought a hand behind her head and stretched out, making Christine gulp at the sight. "Maximum relaxation time, you know?"
"Yeah..." Christine quickly looked away and came back to the conversation. "Y-Yeah, I know!" With a flash of realization, she pulled the bag at her side into her lap, staring down at it like it was a lifeline. It was sudden, but this might actually be the perfect moment to execute her plan. As much as her nerves suddenly didn't want to. "That, um...that actually is a good segue. This...is for you."
Christine offered the present to Uhura, who graciously blushed as she put her drink down on the table next to her and carefully accepted the bag. She reached in, her hands finding a good grip on whatever it was until she finally pulled it out and held it up. It was a sweater just like Christine's, only red instead of blue.
"I thought it might be kinda fun to make us matching sweaters," Christine started to explain. "And now you also have something festive for tonight!"
Uhura went from admiring the sweater to staring dumbfounded at her friend. "Wait, hold on, you made these?"
"Y-Yeah...?"
Uhura let the sweater fall to her lap as she pulled Christine into a hug, the latter immediately returning it. Uhura pulled back and said, "In case anyone hasn't told you, you're awesome. Thank you, Christine." She picked the sweater back up, admiring it with even more fervor. "This is gorgeous!"
The blush was back. Knitting was just a side hobby of hers, but she didn't really share enough of her work to garner a lot of compliments on it.
Uhura scooted forward on the couch and gently put the sweater on, then stood up and twirled around. "How does it look?"
"Oh, you look fabulous, honey," Christine said, a hint of amusement in her sincerity. "I hope it fits alright. I tend to make my sweaters a little big so they're all cozy." To demonstrate she pulled her own sleeves up over her hands and brought her cider up to her lips to take a sip.
After sitting back down, Uhura did the same with her sleeves, holding them close to her with a happy, playful smile. Christine could have died from how cute she looked, and that reminded her of the other part of her plan.
"There's...one more part to your present, Ny..."
Uhura looked at her curiously, and she motioned for her to lean in so she could whisper in her ear.
"I hope I say this right..." Christine admitted, willing her heart to calm down as she also leaned in. With a deep breath, she whispered, "Nakupenda."
Christine leaned back, her face as red as her Santa hat as Uhura sat there, speechless and mouth hanging open in shock. Judging by the reaction, Uhura knew exactly what the word meant in her native Swahili. But Christine couldn't read anything else in her expression, good or bad. And so, in a moment of panic, she stood up.
"I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have said that. I'm...gonna go get some more cider."
Christine turned away from her friend and walked away, refusing to let herself look back. Regret washed over her, but she wouldn't let it show yet. She did grab another cup of cider, her first cup abandoned on the couch. But instead of going back, she left the room, walking past the people spilling out into the hall, and navigated the corridors until she reached the observation deck.
She was relieved to find the room empty, and immediately began to pace as her thoughts overtook her.
Why did she say that? "Too soon" seemed like an understatement. She'd messed everything up, and with her best friend.
But...she'd been so sure that they were on the path to being something more than friends. She wouldn't have said anything at all if she didn't think there was at least a hint of returned feelings. There'd been so many shared looks and flirty smiles and...such a spark between them. Had she just read too much into everything? Had she been too hopeful?
Christine stopped and looked out one of the bay windows, taking in the magnificence of space. The stars didn't seem to have an answer for her, and she sighed wearily. Plans of avoiding Uhura started popping up in her head, making her both sad yet grateful that they worked in two different parts of the Enterprise.
Her thoughts froze when she heard the hiss of the observation deck's doors opening, and she looked towards them as Uhura walked through. So much for avoiding her.
Uhura seemed to have gotten over the shock of Christine's confession back in the rec room, and now looked more concerned than anything. She crossed over to Christine, taking up a spot next to her by the window. "Hey...you okay?"
Christine wished she had gone to her quarters. At least there she could've kept Uhura out. But now they were here alone, and she had to face the consequences of what just happened. She looked back out the window and shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I...shouldn't have said anything." In an attempt to lighten the mood, she asked, "Did I at least say it right?"
"You said it perfectly," Uhura chuckled. "But why'd you leave?"
"I...I don't know. I panicked. I felt like I made a mistake in saying...what I did...because it seemed like you...don't feel the same way." Christine turned away, biting her bottom lip as that realization finally hit her. But to her surprise, she felt a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to turn back around.
"Christine," Uhura started, making sure she had her friend's attention. "Listen, that's not why I reacted that way. I was shocked because-" She placed her other hand on the opposite shoulder. "-that was the sweetest thing that anyone has ever said to me, and to say it in Swahili means the world. Not a lot of people would go out of their way to look that up." She brought a hand down Christine's shoulder and started to draw lines between the dots of snow on her sweater with her finger. Both their gazes fixated on the movement. "And also, you never gave me a chance to actually respond."
Christine's eyes snapped back to Uhura, her mind already bracing for whatever the response may be. She willed herself to ignore the hand drawing constellations on her shoulder.
Uhura didn't look up until the last second. When she did, something fiery yet so adorable lit her eyes that Christine was caught off-guard as Uhura leaned forward and kissed her, one hand snaking around her neck to pull her closer.
Christine was stunned, suddenly understanding Uhura's reaction earlier. It faded away quickly though as she melted into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Uhura's back to hold her. They both gave their all to the kiss, to each other, leaving themselves breathless when they finally separated.
Uhura smiled, reaching a hand up to caress Christine's cheek as she finally answered, "I love you, too."
Happy Holidays to Weeks, aka enterprisetrampstamp (on Tumblr)! I'm your Star Trek Secret Santa! This was really fun to write, particularly because I never really focused on Chuhura as a ship before. But now, thanks to you, I have seen the light and it is GOOD! I hope you enjoy!
Also, "nakupenda" means "I love you" in Swahili. ^_^