This drabble is set in the little world I created in my fics The Journey Home and Beyond and The Five Year Mission.
Celebrating holidays aboard any starship was always a bit of a schizophrenic affair. With a mix of cultures and religions from a number of worlds (the majority of whom were actively secular unless they felt their peoples traditions were getting the shaft), any sort of observance could turn into a minefield. But, being a crew full of adult people, the crew of Enterprise had come to a compromise.
Uhura stood in the ships lounge, looking around at the odd mish mash of decorations that people had chosen to display at the non-denominational winter celebration. Though in all honesty, it wasn't as much non-denominational as it was multi-denominational. There were flowers for the Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe, wreaths and candles for St. Lucia Day, Menorahs and dreidels for Hanukkah, cups and kinaras for Kwanzaa, a Kadomatsu and a shimekazari by the door for Omisoka and enough random Christmas things to choke a horse.
Some things had absolutely no business on a ship, like the 7 foot tall inflatable Robbie the Reindeer, but were quite amusing. The mistletoe was another fun addition as was a huge quantity of moonshine, courtesy of the engineering crew. Apparently, the still had been responsible for almost a third of the explosions during the first week of the ships cruise, at least until they managed to nail down the finer points of the process.
As the liquor flowed, the Mistletoe became more and more popular. Kirk planted a kiss on each crew persons cheek, but he had been doing that all night. Most laughed it off, a few pecked him back in return and Chekov non chalantly kissed the captain three times on alternating cheeks. Uhura thought Spock was going to nerve pinch Kirk (again) when the Captain planted one on the Vulcan, but her laughter had distracted the science officer. Scotty, who had obviously been dipping into the booze before the party, returned the smooch with laughter of his own.
The highlight of the night had to have been Dr. McCoy's entrance. Everyone had taken to turning to the door to see what Kirk was going to do, so as soon as the doctor noticed all eyes on him, he knew something was up. A rapid assessment was made and he saw Jim approaching with a smirk and realized he was under the mistletoe. Uhura wondered if Kirk even noted the devilish twinkle in his best friends eyes or heard Lilah giggling somewhere in the crowd.
"Happy Holidays, Bones!" Jim declared, stopping in front of him and pulling the older man towards him to deliver his kiss. Instead of simply standing there and enduring, Bones moved quickly, bringing up his own hands to clasp Jim's neck and jaw, changing the angle of his head and sealing their mouths together. Everyone gaped, and from her vantage point, Uhura could see Jim's eyes fly wide, but he didn't pull away.
After a few moments, Bones ended the kiss and stepped back from a stunned Kirk. Slapping his friend on the shoulder, McCoy said, "Happy Holidays, Jim."
Kirk just blinked at him, obviously dumbfounded and seemingly unable to process what had happened. McCoy just smiled in a pleased fashion and headed off to get something to drink.
Like most of the crew, Uhura hung back, enjoying the fact that someone had beat Kirk at his own. Lilah however walked over to Jim and placed a hand on his arm. "Okay there, Jim?"
His reply made Uhura slightly fearful of the next party. "Yeah," he said, shook his head then continued, "Yeah, I'm good. But if that's how we're playing, then game on Bones!"
Yeah, she was gonna have to smack whoever thought mixing mistletoe and Jim Kirk was a good plan.