Author's Note: This is another completely absurd fic and is not to be totally taken seriously. I'm not even sure where the idea came from. Either way, I hope everyone enjoys it. Somehow this morphed into a 5 & 1 type of fic – a type I never thought I would be doing, nevermind for a topic like this one! Be kind and leave a review on your way out! Thanks. ~ RK
Sundaes with Nero
It was a very important day aboard the USS Enterprise, and not because it was a day the crew was to make first contact on a new planet, or a day in which they had to dress in their stifling, but stylish uniforms in order to welcome delegates aboard the ship. It was much simpler than that, and so much more fun!
Today was Pavel Andreivich Chekov's eighteenth birthday!
Everyone on alpha shift organized a surprise party in the main mess hall, which was much harder to do when Chekov was part of the alpha shift. It involved many sneaky coded verbal exchanges, random messages sent to each other's padds, and sometimes completely unrelated topics of discussion to throw the teenager off the scent. There was one time that Chekov was inquisitive about something, when Sulu accidentally mentioned the guest of honor. With some fast thinking, and the most charmingly convincing smile he could muster, Kirk made up the first thing that came to mind.
"Admiral Pike and a member of the Vulcan High Council are going to stop by at our next stopover for an inspection."
Chekov was confused. "Ve already have inspection, sair. Before ve depart for mission, yes?"
If Kirk's eyes widened, no one said anything. "Well, when the Vulcans are ready, they have requested us to escort them to their new homeplanet." Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Spock's slanted eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. To cover his surprise, Spock swiveled his chair as though something very interesting came through his monitors.
However, Chekov was not entirely satisfied. "And this varrants a second inspection?"
Kirk nodded. "Yep. Gotta make sure our future passengers are comfortable on the journey there."
Chekov seemed to accept this answer and turned back to his console…
…while Kirk got out his padd and furiously sent Uhura a message to put everything else she was doing on hold to contact Admiral Pike and Ambassador Selek of Vulcan – or as he preferred to think of him "Sugar Daddy Spock," since he found out that an older alternate version of himself had managed to hit that, which could be stretched to him hitting that…if only the older Vulcan would be game for it, because he sure would, since his Spock seemed to disregard any attempts at flirtation he'd come up with since the Lip-Lockers ended their Liaison five months ago! – inviting them to the party on the pretext of an inspection.
Everything was arranged, and to keep the ruse up, everyone decked themselves in their dress uniforms anyway as Admiral Pike and Ambassador Selek somehow miraculously arranged to make it to the Starbase just twelve hours before the Enterprise did to pick them up. Talk about great timing.
There was small talk and general merry-making all the way to the main mess hall between Pike, Kirk, Spock, and Selek. Spock had taken the liberty of scheduling Chekov on the shift that the party started so that he would have to hurry up, get dressed, and head to his own surprise party. Kirk was proud of Spock for it.
"Thank you for including me in these festivities, Jim. In my own timeline, this sort of gathering had been organized for Doctor McCoy by my own Jim." He saw the glint in Kirk's eyes. "He was not receptive to it." The older Vulcan had the look of one lost in a memory. "That is, he was not until Commander Scott began to serve the alcoholic beverages."
"That was his job for this, too!"
"I am relieved that some things are constants, no matter how insignificant they may seem."
Pike watched the exchange with interest. He was well aware who Ambassador Selek was. And he was always interested to get him with his younger counterpart, just to see which similarities they shared, and where they differed.
"I apologize for inconveniencing you, Admiral, due to the captain's ill-thought excuse to Ensign Chekov."
Pike laughed and waved a hand at his former student. "Shut up, Spock. This was going to be my ship and crew before I ended up in this chair, and went blue in the face to the rest of the Admiralty to gi." The older Vulcan had the look of one lost in a memory. "That is, he was not until Commander Scott began to serve the alcoholic beverages."
"That was his job for this, too!"
"I am relieved that some things are constants, no matter how insignificant they may seem."
Pike watched the exchange with interest. He was well aware who Ambassador Selek was. And he was always interested to get him with his younger counterpart, just to see which similarities they shared, and where they differed.
"I apologize for inconveniencing you, Admiral, due to the captain's ill-thought excuse to Ensign Chekov."
Pike laughed and waved a hand at his former student. "Shut up, Spock. This was going to be my ship and crew before I ended up in this chair, and went blue in the face to the rest of the Admiralty to give my ship to Kirk, here."
"May I ask why you did not recommend me as your successor?"
Pike gave him an odd look. "And leave Kirk your first? It's better this way. You'll keep him in line, whereas the other way around he would have been convincing you to break every rule there is."
Selek spoke before Spock could reply. "I'm sure he still does that as captain."
Kirk just laughed.
Spock watched him.
Selek and Pike watched them both.
The four situated themselves quickly at a table close to Scotty's makeshift bar, a table that had been reserved for the group by Leonard McCoy.
Only two hours later, Chekov arrived with Sulu on his heels, both dressed in their stiff uniforms, to be received by an enthusiastic, "Surprise!" and a seriously tone-deaf group rendition of the timeless song 'Happy Birthday'…in Russian! The look on the young man's face was of childlike wonder mixed with the blush of embarrassment. If their Russian was mangled, he didn't even care.
It was Uhura who came from who knew where with a large platter, and a radiant smile. "Happy Birthday, Pavel!" Then, everyone got to see what was actually on the platter. "I know you like ice cream, sweetie, so we had the galley make this giant ice cream cake!"
While Scotty looked almost as excited about the ice cream cake as he did about Scotch and sandwiches, the five men at the table closest to him all looked like they were about to faint. "Alright, now. Is there somethin' ya have against ice cream cake?"
The first to find his voice was Kirk, "Not ice cream cake, Scotty. Just ice cream."
Scotty looked mortified. "What's wrong with ice cream?"
It was Bones that looked angry rather than sick or sad as he growled out, "Lots."
Scotty just poured everyone another drink, then he sat down among them at the table. His ice cream cake slice could wait. "Spill it, gentlemen."
While Selek had long grown accustomed to these kinds of phrases, Spock was still adjusting. "For what purpose would you give everyone a drink only to instruct us to spill it?"
"He means talk about what our issues are with ice cream, hobgoblin!" Kirk saw the tiny smile on Selek's face as he tried to hide it behind the rim of his glass. He wondered if Spock would ever smile like that. He looked at Spock and realized that it may take him a long time to be that free with his feelings. He thought that was a shame.
"I shall share the story of my dislike first, if that is acceptable."
"By all means, old friend," encouraged Kirk. After all, he'd been there for some of it.
End Note: Leave a review on your way out! More to come! ~ RK
