Soft slurping echoed through the room, the sweet tea cooling the frustrated medical officer. Some days, his southern gentleman way of life couldn't stand up to the ridiculous goings on aboard the starship Enterprise. After half of security and a good portion of engineering died in a Klingon attack, all the "grieving" captain could think about was if he would be assigned attractive female crewmates. The doctor sipped his tea again, closing his eyes, using his furrowed eyebrows to keep them that way. It shouldn't bother him so much, but just how the captain treated those women, like he thought he was teaching them about love, it made him sick. Women were supposed to be treated with respect, protected, honored. The doctor sighed, correcting himself. The GOOD ones should be. That definitely didn't include his ex-wife. Ugh, hopefully she'll never be included again. 'Great way to dredge up old memories, Leonard. Just what I wanted to think of.' Thankfully, someone charged into the infirmary, despite the late time, singing the news.
"Doctor McCoy!" The cheerful landing party member skipped into the room, his red shirt blazing under the light. "It's time to go pick up the new crewmates. And that means…" McCoy rolled his eyes.
"Examinations…" He stood up with extra force, slurping down his sweet tea, pretending it was a mint julep, then swaggered out to the transporter room. "All 134 of them. Great."
"So, Bones?" the whirring of his tricorder gave him a few moments to ignore the captain. "What do you think of the new crew members?" He looked at them running through their lines, waiting for their exam, picking up their clothes, room numbers, waiting to be beamed up. So far, the doctor had been happy to notice that the majority of the new crewmates were men, and most of those who were women, were a different species that the captain would hopefully not find attractive. Most human men would actually be quite repulsed by these women. They came from a lot of gaseous planets; their forms weren't as pleasantly fixed as Earthlings were accustomed. "Any of them… pretty?" Rolling his eyes, he sent off the next healthy ensign.
"Dammit, Jim. These are your new crewmates, not eye candy." He readied his tricorder for the next crewmate, readying his mouth to give Captain Jim one of his famous moral speeches. "Women aren't something to stare at and push your base desires on. They're someone to help you, comfort you, understand and give advice. You're supposed to do the same too. You respect and love the woman for what's inside." McCoy looked impatiently at the next approaching crewmember, wishing they'd hurry up and get here so he could hurry up and get to his Romulan ale. She was walking quickly away from a group of three girls, the ones she'd presumably came with, skipping a bit as she tried to hurry herself. Her short curls bobbed as she jogged over. A smile lit up her face, tightening McCoy's throat. His heart raced as he tried to regain control of his breathing and voice. Her eyes darted around the area, taking in everything, every detail, and all of the captain and Bones. "Beautiful." Big brown eyes came to rest on him, her smile pushing freckles up her cheeks.
"What was that, Bones?" Kirk knew he had him, not only from Bones' reaction, but from the look of the girl; so cute and innocent, athletic, the center of attention. Exactly what Kirk wanted. "I couldn't hear you over the sound of my being right."
"Jim…" He didn't really want to hear it now, especially with the woman who started this standing right in front of him. "I'll talk to you later. I want to finish this up so I can go sleep." Jim shook his head, leaving this be for the time being, but after words, he was going to take this for all it's worth.
"Oh," The woman's worried face broke through the two's catty conversation. "I'm sorry you have to be up at such an ungodly hour." Sitting down in front of him gently, she tucked her legs neatly together to the side, crossing her ankles. Her hands rested obediently in her lap. "I hope you get enough sleep tonight; we wouldn't want a sleepy CMO on duty, would we?" Her frail smile brightened Bones up. It might be a weak, tired smile, but the good graces of a woman had never been given to him in years, let alone a smile. He'd take anything he could get at this point, and she was definitely making a good start. The way her eyes crinkled up in the corners, he was thrilled to know it was genuine, but he couldn't avoid the feeling growing in his stomach. Something was going to start because of her. It would be painful, long, and dramatic. Like sex with his ex. That was quickly shaken from his mind, and he began to study the woman, taking in her medical record with a renewed vigor.
'Get this done, get the hell out, never see her again. That's all I gotta do. Come on, Leonard.'
Her smile began to fade as he studied her coldly, rushing through the process in order to leave sooner. His attachment to his work seemed a bit unhealthy to her, but she couldn't complain. He was good at his job, or else he wouldn't be on the Enterprise. She just wished he'd be a bit nicer to her. 'I'll have to work on that, getting him to be friendly around me.'
And so the game is on.