AN: I tried for 2,500 words or more without the author's notes included, I really did. There was real hope for it too but, alas, somehow I just didn't feel right expanding this chapter further.
"So McCoy – "
"Bones."
"Bones?"
"You can call me Bones. It's a nickname of sorts."
"Oh, well, Bones, why are you hiding out here today?"
"I'm not hiding out."
"It's not your regular day to pop in. So why are you here?"
"Can't I visit a friend?"
'Friends are we now?' [good god woman, yes!] Harriet raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow and waited, unimpressed. This was the game she often played with Spock so she knew she could hold out.
McCoy finally gave in. "I'm escaping a walking disaster determined to get kicked out of the Academy."
"What's his name?"
"Why's it have to be a him?" 'Stalling.'
"Because I've never heard you talk so favorably about a nurse or fellow doctor. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard you talk about women outside of academics in general."
McCoy's face turned somewhat sour. He looked down for a bit at the cup of tea Harriet, 'Call me Hari!', had prepared for him. It took him a while to grudgingly answer her but he did. "Jim. He's more of a headache than he's worth."
"Sounds like the makings of a either a beautiful friendship or an exasperating romance."
McCoy almost choked. "Romance?! Where the hell did you get that notion from?"
Harriet shrugged, a small smile on her face as she leaned on the bar. "You never know. Besides, like I said, you don't really talk about women."
McCoy scowled again. It seemed to be one of his favorite expressions. "No. Just, no."
Harriet leaned further on the bar, tilted slightly left, and just kept smiling at him. Then she started to bat her eyelashes at him.
McCoy looked mildly disturbed and distinctly uncomfortable so she laughed good naturedly and sat back on her stool. There was a lull and the bar was clean so she really had nothing else to do but badger McCoy – 'Bones. He said call him Bones.'
"I swear you do these things on purpose."
Harriet's smile brightened. "Because I do." She was bored in her old age (I am not old!) [old as dirt], so she had to take advantage of the small things in life – like baiting Bones.
"Hmmph." Bones looked off to the side, picked up his cup, and took a large gulp. "So what is it this time? Stress reliever?" 'Avoidance. The women thing must be a sore point for him.'
"Hmmm. Not quite." Harriet loosely crossed her arms. "It's a mild relaxer, something to help calm your nerves." Bones gave her a disbelieving look. 'She should start naming them… maybe this one will be skeptical #1?' "Well, you looked less peachy than your everyday spectacular self. So, what do you think?"
"I can't tell if it's working."
"Good. You shouldn't. Not right away anyway." Harriet leaned back onto the counter, placing a hand under her chin. "So, really, what's on your mind?"
Bones made a face but kept quiet. Harriet's smile softened. After a while, she simply said: "you're welcome to stay as long as you like." She moved to get up and walk further down the bar, where she had some imaginary bean sorting to do. "And there's no cap on the calming draught so let me know when you want to top up."
Bones hurrmphed again before muttering, "calming draught? What is this? The twentieth century?"
"This is Smaug, the Great and Terrible. I mentioned him before right? I found him a few months ago or, well, he found me." When Spock continued to eye the kneazle-esque feline, she elaborated. "He's a cat."
"I am aware of its likely species."
"Yes, I know Spock, but you're eyeing him like he's a science experiment gone wrong." Which was fair.
"I do not know the reason you are … introducing him to me," although he appeared as if he was beginning to suspect.
"I have a client I have to go see out of town. I'll be away for a few days."
"And you wish for me to care for him."
"Yes. You don't have to do much. Just make sure he's eating the food in the dispenser and hasn't accidentally, or deliberately, turned off the self-cleaning cat box I'll give you."
Spock looked unconvinced.
Harriet put the black furball of a cat down. "It's only for a few days. I'll be back Sunday evening."
Spock eyed the cat as it sauntered away. "I am not … fond of animals."
"With cats, you don't really need to be. They more or less take care of themselves. The shedding will be minimal and you won't even need to pick him up." She moved to the kitchen area. "Now, tell me about your week. Are you ready to start teaching? You'll be filling in for another professor, yes?" She put the kettle on and moved toward her espresso machine.
Spock continued to eye Smaug as he sauntered up the steps. When the cat finally disappeared from view, he turned his attention back to Harriet.
"My week has passed satisfactorily. I am adequately prepared to begin teaching. I also find the inherent challenge of imparting my knowledge to others … stimulating."
"Hopefully your students will be appropriately engaged in the material. I know I nearly unenrolled when I realized half the students in one of my classes had failed to read the assigned material."
Spock tilted his head slightly to the left. "As they are willingly attending the Academy, it is logical to presume that they shall be."
Harriet beckoned Spock to enter the small kitchen properly and have a seat at the island. "While that may be logical, I have found that some students are either under prepared or under motivated." Harriet worked the espresso machine until it produced a satisfactorily dark liqueur. "Are you prepared to handle such students?" She proceeded to prepare the milk for frothing.
Spock finally took a seat at the island, arms folding smoothly to rest on the counter. As he considered her question, he seemed as uncertain as Spock ever displayed his uncertainly. "I am not. I will rectify my presumptions and attempt to plan accordingly."
The kettle began to sing and Harriet moved to remove it from the heat. "Are you in the mood for something spicy or something more mellow?"
Thankfully Spock was used to her speech patterns by now and knew how to interpret the question – for all that he probably wouldn't answer it directly. "I do not have a preference." Sigh. 'One day.' She frothed the milk and slowly poured it into her cup, indulging in a bit of artistic design. Humming as she did so, she decided on something spicy then pulled a stool to the side of the island so she could face Spock as they waited for the water to cool.
"Well, if you have any questions about their behavior, ask. I would like to participate in your effort to determine the best way to respond to them. I often find the motivations of my classmates difficult to understand." She blew lightly on her cappuccino before placing the cup back on the saucer. "In the meantime, tell me about what made your week satisfactory."
Spock considered her, a silent inquiry. She got up and moved the tea service so Spock could easily reach it.
"Details, Spock, I want details."
"Whhell, what ha-ad happened was…"
"Yes?"
"It's just that, well…"
McCoy was making his impatient face no. 2. 'O boi.'
Harriet quickly huffed out the breath she'd been holding, then proceeded to innocently look up and to the left. "Well, I may or may not have gotten so frustrated I compared him to a green elf, goblin thingy, dropped a tablespoon of that Venus 'fly trap' spice stuff into his tea, and left him all on his lonesome at a table clearly meant for two at a very public eating space." Breathe.
McCoy nearly did a spit take before his permanent scowl dissolved into spurts of gruff, 'manly' laughter. Harriet nervously joined him.
"Right. Too much? Yea, well, I realized that when I was halfway out the door and it's not like I could just turn back around, right? A girl's gotta commit." She sipped her lightly spiked, way too fruity, and truthfully disgustingly colorful drink. It certainly wasn't one of Joe's finest, as she had requested.
For a moment, Bones couldn't find his voice. Finally, he managed to get out a "Yea, sure." He let out a low chuckle, then took another sip of his drink. "The poor guy."
Harriet folded her arms on the bar and put her head down on them. "I don't even know how to begin apologizing. He must be so confused."
Bones ran a hand down his face, smile having turned into a slight smirk. When Harriet remained silent, his expression turned slightly panicky. "You're not actually asking for advice, are you?"
Harriet turned her head to face him, eyes purposely wide, face slightly pouty. Bones started to look mildly uncomfortable, awkward. 'O Bones, if only you knew how easy you make it.'
He made a noise in his throat, hands gripping his drink firmly. "Right, well Orion right? – How the hell did you even make friends with an Orion, a male Orion?" Incredulity face no. 3 – progress. 'Merlin, he cycles through emotions fast.'
"Vulcan."
Bones turned to look at her, drink halfway to his face. "Huh?"
Harriet sat up in her chair and contemplated her offensive drink. "He's a Vulcan."
"A VULCAN?" 'Still no spit take. Merlin and Morgana, what's it gonna take?'
"Yup." She popped the p. "Makes it worse, right?"
She turned enough to get a peak at Bones' face. He appeared to be caught between being outright confused and impressed. He settled for snorting, then taking another sip of his drink. "Bloody hell, Hari, you did that to a Vulcan?" He put his drink down and shook his head. "And I thought Jim was a hand full. Did he even understand what you'd done?"
Harriet sighed dramatically, letting her hair swoop slightly to the right. "I'll have to chuck it up to having been 'emotionally compromised' (cue air quotes). It's a hit to the female of the species that I'm not particularly willing to accept but I just can't find a way to 'logically' (again, air quotes) defend my frustration." She made a fist, propped her head on it, and contemplated other ways to induce a spit take reaction. "Anyway, that was my day. So what'd Jim do this time?"
Bones made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a strangled snort as he contemplated the bottles of liquor on the wall in front of them. "Jim? What hasn't Jim done?"
"Yea but he must have done something particularly annoying and or bold for you to have agreed to a proper drink." Bones gave her an acknowledging head tilt… thing. 'Guys, so few words needed.'
"Jim was Jim. He's gotten it into his head to attempt a training exercise meant for command track hopefuls, called the Kobayashi Maru, a third time. The first two times were bad enough."
Harriet perked up. That was the character exam Spock had worked on, to see how cadets reacted to the no-win scenario. His version would apparently replace last year's version. "Isn't that only for first class midshipmen? How has he taken it two times already?"
"He found a loophole. Apparently, as long as you're not a complete plebe and are on the command track, you can take the exam with the recommendation of your Advisor."
"Your concern? Other than the fact that he's clearly not ready for such a position."
"How he got the recommendation." He brought his drink back up. 'Opportunity.'
"If you're jealous, you could always put the moves on him." 'Choking could count as a partial success, right?' She hit his back a few times. "Easy there. Wouldn't want you to choke before you have a chance to find out if Jim reciprocates."
"Why do I put up with you woman?"
Harriet smiled brightly. "Because in spite of it all, I'm intelligent, not socially inept, and surprisingly sane."
Bones gave her a look that easily conveyed his disbelief.
Prompt: Harriet brings Spocky home to meet Smaug, The Great and Terrible (Can you watch him for the weekend?)(A partial request fulfillment for Anake14); Wha ha-had happened was...; Dialogue, Dialogue, Dialogue!
