The Hopper
The following story line is mine. Don't try to copy it cause I'll get mad
In a like vain, Star Trek and all characters are the sole property of someone other than me.
++"I don't know if this is such a great idea"++
While the crew hadn't noticed anything amiss, they suddenly noticed what they had missed. Deneb and Jim were discreet about their relationship, but people started noticing that he made it to every opening night and usually to as many shows as he could get to. They noticed Deneb laughing more, being more relaxed and they noticed that she didn't scurry away when the Captain walked into the galley. In fact, they noticed that he seemed to eat every meal with her. In other words, they noticed.
"Jim, I've never seen her happier" Bones declared one night when Deneb was not about. The two men were playing rummy, a game Bones had taught Jim years ago.
"You've only known her six months, Bones" Jim reminded his friend.
"Maybe, but I've spent more time with her than you" Bones defended.
"That, my friend, is changing" Jim smiled to himself as he put a card down.
"Mmm. Yes, I've noticed" Bones replied, "And I'm not the only one. The whole crew can tell what's going on" Jim looked up, slightly concerned. It would not do for the whole crew to be gossiping about their Captain.
"They're all her friends" Bones said, "They're happy for her" Jim shifted his eyebrows. He was suddenly unsure that he entirely approved of his crew's interest in his...his....companion. Girl. Wife? Had he about thought 'wife'? Did he really consider her as such?
"What're you thinking about, Jim?" Bones asked, suddenly suspicious of his friend's expression. Jim didn't answer. He studied his hand.
"C'mon, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a dentist" Jim looked up.
"Dentist?"
"I don't pull teeth!" Bones clarified, "Now, are you going to tell me what you're thinking or am I going to have to pull it out of you?"
"I was thinking about Deneb" Jim admitted, drawing a card and discarding another.
"There's a big surprise" Bones mumbled. He wasn't happy with his hand.
"I was just considering asking her to........ug, never mind" Jim quickly changed his mind about confiding in his friend. He discarded and laid his hand on the table.
"Rummy" he announced, hoping to distract Bones.
"Damn it, how do you do that?" Bones exclaimed, flopping his own hand on the table. Jim almost thought he'd gotten away with it. But Bones was quicker than that.
"You were thinking about asking her to what?" he wanted to know, and now there were no cards to use as distractions. Jim would just have to answer the question.
"I was thinking about asking her to marry me" he said under his breath, hoping Bones wouldn't catch it.
"You were what?" Bones said, though by his tone Jim could tell he'd caught it.
"Are you out of your mind?" Bones was all up in arms about his "little sister" friend, "You're in your thirties and she's only....." And then something strange happened. Bones stopped talking. He stared at Jim for a moment and then sat back in his chair, which he had risen from to berate his Captain.
"Actually, I don't even know how old she is"
"Closing in on three hundred I'd say" Jim tried to joke but it was lost. It was true, he doubted anyone on the ship knew how old Deneb was.
"And that's another thing!" Bones was up again, having latched onto a new idea, "You hardly know anything about her! Why, you don't even know how old she is! And have you even stopped to consider you're the captain of a starship? You think she's going to follow you around, on every mission?"
"I don't see why she wouldn't" Jim replied, picking the deck up and putting it back into its box.
"And what about if you have kids, huh? You can't raise kids on a starship" Bones pointed out. Jim hadn't thought of that. He did want children, desperately. And it was true, you couldn't raise kids on a starship. And he couldn't imagine leaving them on some planet (his mind immediately thought, Iowa, Earth) while he went gallivanting about in space. He wanted to be there for his children. He wanted to be with Deneb.
"I just said I was thinking about it, Bones" he said aloud. After all, he had, hadn't he?
"Thinking. Thinking for you is paramount to acting" Bones told him. Bones knew him well.
"In your mind you might've well already said the vows" he added for good measure. Jim didn't respond. He sat at the table, looking at the boxed deck of cards sitting in his hand, wondering what he should do. He loved Deneb, truly, but could he ask her to become his wife? If he did, he knew he would have to give up the captaincy of the Enterprise, and he just didn't think that was something he could do. But he couldn't imagine going on without Deneb either.
His heart had already made a decision but his mind was still fighting with it.
"You could at least ask her how old she is. Maybe she's not even old enough to get married!" Bones said, a hint of an accusatory tone in his voice. Jim didn't get the chance to respond because just then Deneb walked in the door. She had her hair pulled back, but not up, and she was wearing what she called "jeans", denim pants, and a sort of uniform style shirt she had designed herself and Uhura had helped her create.
"Hello, Bones!" she said with genuine pleasure in her voice.
"Hi, Neb" Bones was the only one she allowed to use the special nickname her brother had given her.
"Are you leaving?" she asked, a dash of concern and disappointment in her voice.
"I think I better" Bones replied, "I'm a doctor, not a councilor" And with that he swept out of the room.
"What was that all about?" Deneb asked when the doors had closed. Jim didn't reply. She ignored the silence and went about the room, straitening things and telling him about her day. When she was done she smiled and went to sit on his lap. She was very light, though she was not thin. (Not to say she was large, she was well toned, just not slim)
"And how was your day?" she asked.
"Not bad" he answered, brushing a stray bit of hair away from her face.
"That's good" she murmured and kissed him lightly. Then she smiled and got up.
"I have a play to direct" she said, "I'll be in cargo bay 4. Are we having dinner tonight?" she asked, though she knew the answer well.
"Of course" he smiled at her as she winked and left. He sighed to himself.
Later that night.
"A success, my dear, as always" Bones smiled at Deneb. She smiled in return.
"Thank you, Bones, but I, of course, had much help from the crew" Scotty had once again helped with the sets and they were, once again, magnificent. Yeoman Rand had turned out to be quite the actress and she played well with both Chekov and Sulu. The crew, as well as the Command Crew, always greatly enjoyed the results.
Normally, Jim would have been up there with Bones congratulating Deneb, but tonight he hung around in the back, allowing her bask in the light of her accomplishment. She really did look young, Jim couldn't place her any older than perhaps 24, if he stretched it. The age difference, however, didn't bother him. After all, in all technicality she was at least two hundred years old.
He wanted to ask her to marry him. He would figure everything else out later. Perhaps she'd be willing to put off having kids for a while so he could captain the Enterprise for at least a few more years. And then perhaps they could switch to a ship they could raise the kids on. But all of that could be left for later.
What he was worried about now, was her response. The best scenario, of course, would be that she said yes, happily and without arguing. But he doubted that would happen, not when she was always so worried about relationships being destroyed when she hopped. Though she'd been here for six months, he knew in the back of her mind she still believed she would be disappearing any day now. If she said no, would he have ruined everything they had?
"Come on, we have dinner waiting" he finally said, pulling her away. He would have to risk it. He had prepared a quiet dinner for two in one of the smaller meeting rooms near her quarters. She smiled with delight when he led her in. It was lit by candle light (not an easy thing to do on a starship) and fine "china" was set upon a perfect white table cloth.
"What's the occasion?" she asked coyly as she took a seat. She was wearing an emerald outfit today and it enhanced the green of her eyes and vibrant reds in her hair.
"You are" Jim answered simply, pushing her chair in after she'd sat. She smiled at him, but cautiously.
"What're you up to, Jim Kirk?" He smiled but didn't answer. The meal went well, she laughed and Jim didn't think he'd ever seen her so lovely as in the candle light. It was as if she'd been made to be displayed in a candle lit room. Her skin glowed, her hair glowed, her eyes glowed. He sighed contentedly as he realized just how in love he was.
"Deneb" he started, trying to mask this all important question in the shroud of unimportance, "How long have you been hopping?" He knew she had been sixteen when it had started, all he had to do was add. But she was too smart for him.
"Why do you want to know?" she asked, suddenly defensive.
"I was.wondering how old you were" he admitted. She sighed but her defenses fell.
"Old enough to know better, too young to care" she answered. It was a cryptic answer, one Jim didn't care to consider.
"I was wondering because..they'll need to know.to put it on a marriage certificate" He was looking straight at her. He expected to see some kind of change in her expression, but there was nothing. For a moment, he thought she hadn't understood. But then she pulled her hand out of his.
"James T. Kirk, are you asking me to marry you?" Jim smiled abashedly.
"I was trying to" he answered. She frowned.
"Then do it right" she ordered. It wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting. He'd expected her to yell, to cry, to tell him he was crazy. He hadn't expected to be getting on one knew, to beholding her hand in his, to be presenting her with the ring he'd had a hard time getting his hands on.
"Deneb Darling, will you do me the honor of being my wife?"
"Yes, Jim Kirk, I will" she answered matter-of-factly and took the ring from his hand and slid it on her finger.
"It's not a diamond" she said, admiring it on her finger.
"No" Jim smiled mischievously, "It's a Denebian Emerald"
In a like vain, Star Trek and all characters are the sole property of someone other than me.
++"I don't know if this is such a great idea"++
While the crew hadn't noticed anything amiss, they suddenly noticed what they had missed. Deneb and Jim were discreet about their relationship, but people started noticing that he made it to every opening night and usually to as many shows as he could get to. They noticed Deneb laughing more, being more relaxed and they noticed that she didn't scurry away when the Captain walked into the galley. In fact, they noticed that he seemed to eat every meal with her. In other words, they noticed.
"Jim, I've never seen her happier" Bones declared one night when Deneb was not about. The two men were playing rummy, a game Bones had taught Jim years ago.
"You've only known her six months, Bones" Jim reminded his friend.
"Maybe, but I've spent more time with her than you" Bones defended.
"That, my friend, is changing" Jim smiled to himself as he put a card down.
"Mmm. Yes, I've noticed" Bones replied, "And I'm not the only one. The whole crew can tell what's going on" Jim looked up, slightly concerned. It would not do for the whole crew to be gossiping about their Captain.
"They're all her friends" Bones said, "They're happy for her" Jim shifted his eyebrows. He was suddenly unsure that he entirely approved of his crew's interest in his...his....companion. Girl. Wife? Had he about thought 'wife'? Did he really consider her as such?
"What're you thinking about, Jim?" Bones asked, suddenly suspicious of his friend's expression. Jim didn't answer. He studied his hand.
"C'mon, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a dentist" Jim looked up.
"Dentist?"
"I don't pull teeth!" Bones clarified, "Now, are you going to tell me what you're thinking or am I going to have to pull it out of you?"
"I was thinking about Deneb" Jim admitted, drawing a card and discarding another.
"There's a big surprise" Bones mumbled. He wasn't happy with his hand.
"I was just considering asking her to........ug, never mind" Jim quickly changed his mind about confiding in his friend. He discarded and laid his hand on the table.
"Rummy" he announced, hoping to distract Bones.
"Damn it, how do you do that?" Bones exclaimed, flopping his own hand on the table. Jim almost thought he'd gotten away with it. But Bones was quicker than that.
"You were thinking about asking her to what?" he wanted to know, and now there were no cards to use as distractions. Jim would just have to answer the question.
"I was thinking about asking her to marry me" he said under his breath, hoping Bones wouldn't catch it.
"You were what?" Bones said, though by his tone Jim could tell he'd caught it.
"Are you out of your mind?" Bones was all up in arms about his "little sister" friend, "You're in your thirties and she's only....." And then something strange happened. Bones stopped talking. He stared at Jim for a moment and then sat back in his chair, which he had risen from to berate his Captain.
"Actually, I don't even know how old she is"
"Closing in on three hundred I'd say" Jim tried to joke but it was lost. It was true, he doubted anyone on the ship knew how old Deneb was.
"And that's another thing!" Bones was up again, having latched onto a new idea, "You hardly know anything about her! Why, you don't even know how old she is! And have you even stopped to consider you're the captain of a starship? You think she's going to follow you around, on every mission?"
"I don't see why she wouldn't" Jim replied, picking the deck up and putting it back into its box.
"And what about if you have kids, huh? You can't raise kids on a starship" Bones pointed out. Jim hadn't thought of that. He did want children, desperately. And it was true, you couldn't raise kids on a starship. And he couldn't imagine leaving them on some planet (his mind immediately thought, Iowa, Earth) while he went gallivanting about in space. He wanted to be there for his children. He wanted to be with Deneb.
"I just said I was thinking about it, Bones" he said aloud. After all, he had, hadn't he?
"Thinking. Thinking for you is paramount to acting" Bones told him. Bones knew him well.
"In your mind you might've well already said the vows" he added for good measure. Jim didn't respond. He sat at the table, looking at the boxed deck of cards sitting in his hand, wondering what he should do. He loved Deneb, truly, but could he ask her to become his wife? If he did, he knew he would have to give up the captaincy of the Enterprise, and he just didn't think that was something he could do. But he couldn't imagine going on without Deneb either.
His heart had already made a decision but his mind was still fighting with it.
"You could at least ask her how old she is. Maybe she's not even old enough to get married!" Bones said, a hint of an accusatory tone in his voice. Jim didn't get the chance to respond because just then Deneb walked in the door. She had her hair pulled back, but not up, and she was wearing what she called "jeans", denim pants, and a sort of uniform style shirt she had designed herself and Uhura had helped her create.
"Hello, Bones!" she said with genuine pleasure in her voice.
"Hi, Neb" Bones was the only one she allowed to use the special nickname her brother had given her.
"Are you leaving?" she asked, a dash of concern and disappointment in her voice.
"I think I better" Bones replied, "I'm a doctor, not a councilor" And with that he swept out of the room.
"What was that all about?" Deneb asked when the doors had closed. Jim didn't reply. She ignored the silence and went about the room, straitening things and telling him about her day. When she was done she smiled and went to sit on his lap. She was very light, though she was not thin. (Not to say she was large, she was well toned, just not slim)
"And how was your day?" she asked.
"Not bad" he answered, brushing a stray bit of hair away from her face.
"That's good" she murmured and kissed him lightly. Then she smiled and got up.
"I have a play to direct" she said, "I'll be in cargo bay 4. Are we having dinner tonight?" she asked, though she knew the answer well.
"Of course" he smiled at her as she winked and left. He sighed to himself.
Later that night.
"A success, my dear, as always" Bones smiled at Deneb. She smiled in return.
"Thank you, Bones, but I, of course, had much help from the crew" Scotty had once again helped with the sets and they were, once again, magnificent. Yeoman Rand had turned out to be quite the actress and she played well with both Chekov and Sulu. The crew, as well as the Command Crew, always greatly enjoyed the results.
Normally, Jim would have been up there with Bones congratulating Deneb, but tonight he hung around in the back, allowing her bask in the light of her accomplishment. She really did look young, Jim couldn't place her any older than perhaps 24, if he stretched it. The age difference, however, didn't bother him. After all, in all technicality she was at least two hundred years old.
He wanted to ask her to marry him. He would figure everything else out later. Perhaps she'd be willing to put off having kids for a while so he could captain the Enterprise for at least a few more years. And then perhaps they could switch to a ship they could raise the kids on. But all of that could be left for later.
What he was worried about now, was her response. The best scenario, of course, would be that she said yes, happily and without arguing. But he doubted that would happen, not when she was always so worried about relationships being destroyed when she hopped. Though she'd been here for six months, he knew in the back of her mind she still believed she would be disappearing any day now. If she said no, would he have ruined everything they had?
"Come on, we have dinner waiting" he finally said, pulling her away. He would have to risk it. He had prepared a quiet dinner for two in one of the smaller meeting rooms near her quarters. She smiled with delight when he led her in. It was lit by candle light (not an easy thing to do on a starship) and fine "china" was set upon a perfect white table cloth.
"What's the occasion?" she asked coyly as she took a seat. She was wearing an emerald outfit today and it enhanced the green of her eyes and vibrant reds in her hair.
"You are" Jim answered simply, pushing her chair in after she'd sat. She smiled at him, but cautiously.
"What're you up to, Jim Kirk?" He smiled but didn't answer. The meal went well, she laughed and Jim didn't think he'd ever seen her so lovely as in the candle light. It was as if she'd been made to be displayed in a candle lit room. Her skin glowed, her hair glowed, her eyes glowed. He sighed contentedly as he realized just how in love he was.
"Deneb" he started, trying to mask this all important question in the shroud of unimportance, "How long have you been hopping?" He knew she had been sixteen when it had started, all he had to do was add. But she was too smart for him.
"Why do you want to know?" she asked, suddenly defensive.
"I was.wondering how old you were" he admitted. She sighed but her defenses fell.
"Old enough to know better, too young to care" she answered. It was a cryptic answer, one Jim didn't care to consider.
"I was wondering because..they'll need to know.to put it on a marriage certificate" He was looking straight at her. He expected to see some kind of change in her expression, but there was nothing. For a moment, he thought she hadn't understood. But then she pulled her hand out of his.
"James T. Kirk, are you asking me to marry you?" Jim smiled abashedly.
"I was trying to" he answered. She frowned.
"Then do it right" she ordered. It wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting. He'd expected her to yell, to cry, to tell him he was crazy. He hadn't expected to be getting on one knew, to beholding her hand in his, to be presenting her with the ring he'd had a hard time getting his hands on.
"Deneb Darling, will you do me the honor of being my wife?"
"Yes, Jim Kirk, I will" she answered matter-of-factly and took the ring from his hand and slid it on her finger.
"It's not a diamond" she said, admiring it on her finger.
"No" Jim smiled mischievously, "It's a Denebian Emerald"
