Kirk pushed away his empty tray and took a long sip from his coffee, ending with a gratified little sigh. Leaning forward on his elbows, he eyed his CMO sitting opposite. "So, Bones, what was your favorite subject in school?"
McCoy glanced up at him, in the process of sawing off a bite of synthetic t-bone. "You mean the Academy?"
"Well, no...I was thinking more school-school. You know, young and impetuous?"
"Hmph," through a full mouth. "Well, I liked anatomy in elementary, you know. I wanted to be a doctor since I visited my great-uncle's clinic when I was three. In highschool, I couldn't wait for the dissections; always liked'em."
"Much the same way, I presume, you enjoy performing surgery on the crew," intoned a familiar baritone from behind McCoy.
The doctor jumped, sending a glob of mashed potatoes sailing into Kirk's coffee with a mushy splat. "Spock, quite sneaking up on people like that! One of these days you'll give me a nervous breakdown, I swear," he finished, shoving another forkful of steak into his mouth. Smirking up at the Vulcan, he added wickedly, "And next time you need surgery for whatever dumb stunt you tried to pull to save the universe, I'll just dissect you instead. Always wondered where that missing heart really was."
Kirk chuckled and proceeded to fish the potato out of his coffee. "Sit down, Spock. We were just discussing school. What were your favorite subjects?"
Spock sat, bearing a tray with a bowl of gray-green glop that Kirk assumed was plomeek soup. "Vulcans do not have pref-"
He was cut off by a wave of McCoy's hand. "Yeah, yeah, heard that already. Of course you had favorite subjects. In highschool, let's say. Or whatever that's equivalent to on Vulcan."
"Terran highschool is the rough equivalent of Vulcan primary school," Spock replied, opening and spreading his napkin with typical precision.
McCoy muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "smart-alec," but Spock merely cocked a tolerant eyebrow and continued. "Earth history particularly interested me."
"What part?" Kirk asked.
"The literature fascinated me as a child." Spock took a bit of soup and swallowed.
McCoy piped up. "Like, Einstein's theories? Or maybe Confucius?"
The Vulcan's eyebrows kinked slightly. "I always found Lewis G. Carroll's works quite interesting."
The CMO's fork stopped halfway to his mouth and Kirk choked on his coffee.
One pair of Vulcan ears flushed viridian.