A little mini chapter as I've been writing the next chapters in random bits and pieces but you all always wait so patiently for updates so here's a hint at where we're headed.
Enjoy!
Shopping with Jim was funny but also a nightmare, the man couldn't stay focused on one thing especially when it came to decorations the only things they'd actually managed to order was the tree and they'd had to order it for delivery as it was 7ft tall, a synthetic one much to Jim's disappointment even after being reminded they were light years from earth and that it was exactly priority to transport trees to York town for one human holiday.
"Jim you need to pick a colour scheme you can't just be throwing every colour onto a tree, it'll look crazy."
"No I get what you're saying but no we need every colour Alex, we need blue, red and gold." Jim argued at the back of a rather tidily tucked away shop that specialised in exactly what they needed. It turned its stock to Christmas themed around this time each year and alternated between the holidays of different races and religions throughout the year, they'd had to walk to the very back to get to the Christmas stock but the space was still massive and every nook and cranny was filled, for a modern shop it felt very rustic and that what had drawn them both too it in the first place.
"Why red, blue and gold?" Alex asked confused as she rummaged through a box that contained Christmas tree toppers, not one seemed to be the same and she was astonished at how they'd organised the boxes with toppers in by size of tree, 3 different boxes next to each other on the floor level of the shelves aptly labeled too, it definitely made it easier.
"For us, we need command gold, coms and engineering red and medical and science blue, Alex. Cmon I thought you'd have clicked on faster than that." Jim jibed throwing her a grin and a friendly eye roll as the red head opened her mouth in realisation before laughing quietly.
"That's actually a pretty cool idea, still a weird colour combo though." She said the last part under her breath earning her an elbow from Jim which she laughed at leaning over to look in his box. "But I could kinda see it working more if you didn't go with literal gold, go yellow like the colour your uniform actually is and it would look kinda groovy, maybe even a bit retro." She said taking the gold bauble away from the red and blue ones Jim had picked out and replacing it with a nice matte yellow Jims eyes widening before he grinned.
"Perfect. But now I'm thinking we can't really have tinsel. It'll distract from our enterprise theme. Do you think they have starfleet themed baubles?! I'd kill for one of the enterprise." Jim said his eyes going wide again but this time in hope as he stood back eyeing the labels boxes on shelves with giddy excitement as Alex laughed at him before jabbing him in the side.
"Not. everything. Needs. To. Be. About. The. Enterprise." Alex stated, punctuating each word with a jab in the man's side as he hunched and jumped with each prod, laughing the entire time.
"No but it'd be pretty cool, you have to admit."
"Your allowed one enterprise themed bauble if you can find one that is, because anymore than that and your gunna trigger me into thinking about work." Alex laughed lightly while Jim grinned and stepped back looking up at the shelves and the many labels making sure he had put the three coloured baubles to the side so he didn't lose them. "You know what you could do, you could get Spock a bauble for the tree, it's a weird tradition my family has when we lived together, we'd get each other a bauble every year, then you have a bauble for every Christmas you spent with people you love. Don't look at me like that I know it's sentimental-"
"No it's nice, it's a nice thing. But now I have to get everyone a bauble. So what bauble are you getting me?" Jim winked as Alex laughed, her cheeks pink from slight embarrassment but it faded quickly as Jim's eyes lit up with excitement at the idea.
"Obviously I'm not telling you but it's definitely going to be completely inappropriate just so you know it's from me." Alex smiled evilly as she started towards a sign that read 'design your own decorations' it led to a booth with a curtain which Jim immediately stuck his head through as soon as Alex stepped in and closed the curtain.
"So what's it gunna be."
"It's gunna be the word Cunt in big letters if you don't get your head out of here Jim!" Alex half shouted as Jim laughed narrowly avoiding being slapped square in the forehead as he backed away from the booth.
"You call all your superior officers a Cunt?"
"No only you, you're special, consider it a term of endearment." Alex replied from behind the curtain as Jim leaned against the machine with a smirk.
"So what do you call Bones then."
"All sorts, little shit, asshat, Chief, lover boy when he's being particularly difficult."
Jim laughed at the string of names as he leaned against the booth. "Why Chief? What's that about?"
"He's the cmo isn't he? Chief Medical Officer." Alex replied casually as Jim chuckled and nodded to himself.
"Maybe I should start calling him that."
"Don't."
"What why-"
"Because he'd absolutely murder you where you stood then come after me." Alex popped her head out of the booth's curtain looking at Jim with guilt as she shook her head.
"What- does it really get to him that much?" Jim frowned at the red head as she started to blush, biting her lip in hesitation before she disappeared back into the booth.
"Something like that..."
Jim clicked on immediately and put his head in his hands with a groan. "You guys are into some weird shit."
"It's not weird and kink shaming is rude, it's not Leonards fault I accidentally conditioned him to respond to it."
"You conditioned him!-" Jim exclaimed with a mischievous look of shock on his face as Alex dragged him into the tiny booth and put her hand over his mouth while trying not to laugh.
"Jim shut up people could hear you, yes I conditioned him it wasn't intentional, I'm sleeping with your best friend. Sometimes these things happen. Do you want the whole world to know about it?" Alex hissed urgently as Jim's eyes were filled with laughter as he shook his head, Alex's hand still over his mouth but she could feel the smile there as she tried not to smile herself. "Good now keep your shit together please, you can't talk about weird kinks either you absolutely have a thing for Vulcan ears now." Alex smirked as she took the hand off Jim's mouth and he laughed openly.
"Yea but I can't believe you've corrupted Bones he's always been so unbothered whenever sex was mentioned and now I'm hearing this."
"Jim, he's a human male. You didn't honestly think he was all innocent and pure did you?" Alex chuckled to herself as Jim shrugged.
"No but maybe just more innocent than this." Jim waved his hands haphazardly while Alex giggled at him looking at him with knowing eyes as Jim stood there in slight shock still, that endearing half embarrassed smile still on his face. "What?"
"Have you ever actually listened to your best friend talk?" Alex asked cryptically.
"Yea why?"
"Doesn't matter, I might scar you for life if I say anymore."
"Yea but now I want to know what you mean of course I've heard Bones talk Ace, I've lived with him." Jim said but Alex ignored the man biting her lip to keep her mouth shut as she smiled to herself continuing designing one of the baubles she was making while humming.
"Jim I know I got under your skin with that fan fiction I sent you but you gotta give it up." Alex looked at Jim then who rolled his eyes and gently jabbed the woman in the side as they both laughed.
"I can't believe people write that type of shit about us."
"They've got wicked imagination though, the ones about you and Spock are cute until you end up getting railed-" Alex cut off as Jim's eyes widened and they both cracked up laughing.
"I can't believe you've read fanfiction about me and Spock." Jim scrunched up his nose at the woman who just laughed at him.
"Hey, sometimes the story lines are wild. It's like people writing mini books about people that I know. Besides, regardless of who it's written about, if it's written well, it's hot." Alex said matter of factly as she frowned at the screen. "People are obsessed with Spock's hands and fingers by the way, just so you know." She said matter of factly as she spun her design around on the screen, smiling at the item in triumph as the moon hung on a thread and after tapping a few things on the screen the inside lit up to reveal the word 'Cunt' cast in shadow.
"You're so getting fired." Jim said with a laugh as he added it to the basket via the screen with a grin as he wrapped an arm around Alex's neck before messing up the woman's hair with his knuckles. Strangely flattered that she felt so comfortable around him and had obviously remembered his love of the moon from that conversation a while back where they'd all been in Bone's room after getting her back. Alex yelped at the assault as she laughed, batting Jim away with a grin as he looked at her fondly.
"Don't look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like you're glad I'm around." Alex laughed lightly.
"I am glad you're here though, I knew I'd recruited the right person as soon as you sassed Bones in the transporter room on your first day. Just didn't know we'd end up friends as well, you've really infiltrated our ranks." Jim finished with a laugh as he looked down at the red head who was flushed red in the cheeks.
"I'm glad I'm here too… and yea well… you all encouraged the 'infiltration' treating me like I was there since day one. It was- nice... I never said thank you for that, but thanks. It eased my nerves a lot."
"You were nervous?" Jim asked curiously as he frowned lightly at the woman beside him as they were both crammed into the tiny booth. Not an ounce of awkwardness between them it almost felt like she was an old childhood friend.
"Of course I was, Jim you're lovely but you still have a very big reputation, you're starfleet's golden boy. Spocks the first Vulcan ever in starfleet, and he's your first officer and Leonard. I never knew what he looked like but I'd been hearing his name tossed around in the medical world for years, he's made cures for various diseases and his research on a lot of things is referenced none stop, and my god the amount of times I heard people in my surgery talking about him." Alex rolled her eyes with a wide eyed look on her face that told Jim that Bones wasn't always just being talked about because of his medical prowess.
Smirking Jim elbowed her gently, quirking his head at her as he started creating his own bauble on screen. "What were they saying?"
"Gushing over his amazing bedside manner, talking about his hands as well seemed to be a really popular topic which I didn't understand until now. Oh and how they wouldn't mind him rearranging their insides." Alex quirked a brow up at Jim then who was grinning like an idiot at the gossip.
"Wow I wasn't expecting that, people really are thirsty, so what did you think when you first met Bones then? Finally putting a face to the name." Jim liked this, the idle and relaxed chit chat that they could fall into. And he really did like hearing about Bones and Alex, honestly they were nye on perfect for each other and it was really interesting to hear what they said about each other when one wasn't around. Because there was so much respect there but it was also adorable at how clearly soft they were for each other. When Alex wasn't throwing innuendos into everything to fuck with him. Alex paused then, looking past the screen thoughtfully with a hint of a smile that had Jim smiling to himself already.
"You wanna know what my honest to god first thoughts were?" Alex said trying not to laugh as she bowed her head and put a hand over her eyes.
"Yea." Jim grinned wider.
" when I saw him stood behind you in the transporter room with Spock and he introduced himself- I think it was something along the lines of 'Oh dear god, he really is easy on the eyes and he's southern.' Followed by 'he's a big deal and your boss, you have to behave.' The rest of my thoughts were just kinda intrigued…Other than what I'd heard and read he was a complete mystery to me, his personality wasn't as widely known like you or Spock, though I will say you're both far more complicated and diverse personality wise than what people say. "
"That's actually sort of sweet, the fact that you told yourself Bones was a big deal and that you had to behave and do as your told, then proceeded to not behave at all for the next few months-" Jim cackled as Alex slapped him squarely in the chest with a huff of laughter herself as she covered her face in embarrassment.
"He made me feel comfortable!" Alex defended herself half heartedly as Jim continued to giggle to himself. "He was really charming and always joked back and forth with me."
"Look at you going all red talking about Bones, but yea I will admit, you absolutely had him hooked as soon as he realised you had a sense of humour and could give just as much as you took."
"What? Are you serious? Half of our interactions were us making sly digs at the others expense."
"Yea that was 100% partly flirting because you both still do that shit now."
"Oh my god I was flirting with him, how did you pick up on that? How the hell did Leonard pick up on that? That's such an awful flirting technique. But I really don't know how else I- I don't know how to flirt like a normal woman apparently thanks for that realisation Jim." Alex looked around the booth wide eyed in shock as she tried to figure out what alternative route she could have taken to flirting but nothing at all sprung to mind.
"No way of course you know how to flirt drove Bones up the wall with it, he's said as much."
"No that was me being suggestive, I wasn't flirting, that was like super obvious to mess with him, that was making my interest known. Although i will admit, it is really entertaining to rile him up while he's trying to work-"
"Ahhh too much information Alex, how do you talk about this stuff so easily?!"
"Because it's interesting and it's a natural thing so…" Alex shrugged before looking at Jim with mischief in her eyes. "And I get a kick out of making you squirm." Alex laughed as Jim frowned at her in a huff as she put an arm on his shoulder. "No but really I don't think it's a topic that should be considered risqué, plus I'm a doctor, I know a lot about it biologically and psychologically, it's really interesting emotionally and behavioural wise to me what people are like during, before and after the act."
"Out of all the things that have came out of your mouth today I think that was the thing that sounded most like it was a doctor speaking, and it was about sex." Jim shook his head while grinning as Alex just wiggled her eyebrows cheekily next to him.
"Obviously not everything is about sex though Jim there are other things in life, like getting drunk, helping people and chocolate. They all release Dopamine too." She spoke casually as Jim just continued to shake his head and laugh, editing his designs for separate baubles on screen making sure to add them all to the basket.
"You know you're a weird woman Alex, good weird at least, you keep us all on our toes." Jim said with a smirk as he elbowed the red head gently with a fondness in his voice as they swapped places in the booth again, Alex designing some more of her own baubles, the pair continuing to chat and joke as they finished up before leaving with multiple orders placed for delivery.
"Right so they're getting delivered in 3 days time, then we can wait till everyone is free to decorate the tree- Ace cmon we don't need to walk." Jim spoke with an eye roll dragging the woman towards the transporter.
"Jim it's literally a couple minutes walk, walking is good for you."
"Yea but so is swimming and I could be in the pool ten times as fast if we go this way- cmon it'll be fine-" Jim nudged the woman into the transporter unit who rolled her eyes as Jim stepped in beside her typing in the same destination as there atoms scattered.
Alex felt the change in her gut before it truly clicked what had just happened, and seeing the teetering frame of what should have been Jim appear in the transporter right after her confirmed it. Jim was all lose clothes and thin arms, a pinched chin with the same ocean blue eyes but framed by a different face as she looked up and met Alex's green eyes. Recognition was slow but it sunk in as Jim held her stomach in slight discomfort.
"Alex?" That was all that came out of the blonde's mouth before she started to fall. Alex reached out and caught the smaller frame easily as she slammed the lock down button on the transporter with a scowl that could kill. Well… she was now a he. Again.
"I've got you Jim, I'll get us back to Leonard." Alex scooped Jim up into his arms bridal style as she walked to the front desk of the hotel not noticing the alarm sound coming from the transporters as she stormed over to the desk. "We need medical equipment sent up to our room, there's been a malfunction with the transporters, a gender re write- contact the engineers in the Hub building for details-" Alexs voice was stern low and undoubtedly still British as the clerk at the desk just seemed to look at him in confusion.
"Im sorry sir, what room are you in?"
"It's Dr Reid, and this is James Kirk, just send up the medical equipment please, and contact Harry Groves at the Osiris Clinic, tell him it's happened again."
I'm not sorry