The club was just what Jim was looking for. It was dark and noisy enough to fit with his mood, but it had some quiet areas around the bar, so Spock did not mind following him and Bones inside. Besides that, it wasn't a cheap place, so there wasn't risk of finding more than one or two members of his crew there. Jim liked to share some fun with his people when they were on shore leave, but that night he wanted to unwind, focus on Bones, flirt a little, drink as much as he wanted, and he didn't like the idea of the captain showing up drunk in front of his crew.
So far, the night was being a success. Bones, Spock, and he had got dinner in a small restaurant that served earth dishes made with ingredients from all over the galaxy. After that, they had stopped in a hole in the wall on the darkest corner of the promenade deck, where Jim had bought some bottles of not exactly legal liquor under the disapproving look of Spock. Now Jim was ready to start with the funner fun part of the program.
Bones and him were well into their second beer and Spock was sipping some kind of blue cocktail with a name that Jim would not be able to repeat until he were a lot drunker. Bones looked more relaxed than he had seen in a long while, but all the same Jim was not going to take his eyes off of him.
The issue with the holodeck was still bothering him. He had attempted to pressure Spock for more information, but the Vulcan had plainly refused to speak again about the matter, so he was still clueless. However, he had decided to observe Bones, all night if it was needed, until he found what was happening. Nothing to note at the moment, he decided, and waved to the waitress for another drink.
"Another beer?" the girl said, leaning over the bar in front of Jim and allowing a perfect view of her neckline. "Or are you ready for something more interesting?"
"More interesting?" Jim, who had been busy listening Bones and Spock bantering about the need or no need of more illumination in the place, turned on his stool to take a better look at her. She was definitely not from Earth, but no less beautiful. Her white hair fell almost to her waist. She had big, black eyes, a little too big for her to be human, and a delicate purple script running from the temple to her chin, outlined beautifully over the light shade of blue of her face. A shade of blue that, judging by the extremely low neckline of her dress, spread all over her body.
"Well, this is a trade post, you know? There's always something new and exciting to try," she said with a smile that told Jim that they were not speaking about drinks any more.
"Always?" he asked returning the smile.
"Always, if you're brave enough."
And how could Jim not be interested? He was in the space to learn about new worlds and civilizations and of course that included beautiful, exotic, alien waitress.
She was looking at him, inviting and daring, and Jim's interest grew even more. Of course he was up to the dare. Only maybe a little later, he decided after a quick look at his two friends. Bones was leaning back against the bar, checking out the rest of the patrons, while Spock seemed perfectly happy, lost in his own thoughts. He didn't want to leave then, not yet. He allowed his eyes to make a slow run over the waitress body and smiled suggestively.
"It's a little early to start being adventurous. Let's keep to the beer for now and maybe later I'll be interested in listening more about those other options."
A disappointed expression crossed briefly the girl's face, but soon enough the suggesting smile was again in place, Jim had another beer on his hand and a new one was left on the bar next to Bones. When he turned to join his friends again, he found Spock's eyes watching him with the same expression that he used when he observed some especially fascinating specimen. Jim arched a bow inquisitively. It wasn't as if Spock wouldn't have seen him flirting before. The Vulcan, however, ignored the question and Jim decided to let it pass too.
"So, gentlemen," he asked. "Have you heard about that last date between Yeoman Lars and Ensign Zas?"
Bones' groan was perfectly audible, Spock's reproachful look was a lot more subtle, but just the same they jumped immediately into a discussion about the last and hotter affair between two members of the crew. As much as they denied to be interested in gossip, they always knew what was happening on the ship. Spock said it was his job to know the mood of the crew and anticipate possible troubles and Bones... Well, the best rumours always seemed to arrive to the sickbay quicker than to the bridge. There were even people who looked for Bones to speak about their problems. Not that his friend made any effort to convince people to go and tell him stuff, but they did it all the same. So, dragging them to a heated debate about Lars and Zas, who were a well-known secret for everybody in the Enterprise, was not difficult.
And then there was Chekov's recently developed obsession with the yeoman in charge of the gyms of the ship. Jim was almost sure that he was faking it to make Sulu jealous, but Spock didn't believe that the navigator could be so devious. Bones, the secretive bastard, said that they both were wrong and implied that he knew something that they not. Trying to coax him for that information, with some not very well concealed help from Spock, was fun however, and they still had not run out of the topic when Uhura came into the club looking for Spock.
She looked a lot like the night Jim had met her in Riverside, happy, smart, bold, and hot as hell, although this time she was more interested in taking Spock away than in drinks.
"Ah, the beautiful Uhura, who has no first name," Jim greeted her with a mischievous smile. "Can we tempt you to stay and have a drink with us?"
"No, you can't", she answered with a mock frown. "It's late and I have more interesting plans for tonight." She pronounced plans with a very evident capital P, wrapping an arm around Spock's waist and pushing him gently to the door. "Have a good night, gentlemen."
"Don't do anything that I wouldn't do," Jim said to the backs of the pair. While he watched them leave, Bones excused himself to go to the rest room and Jim decided that it was time for a change of scenery for them too. He turned to the waitress, who was looking at him from the back of the bar, and waved her to come closer.
"I think that we are ready to make our night a bit more exciting. Can you suggest us a good place? Maybe you could join us later, when you finish here?" He added when she made a face of disappointment. "Maybe bring a friend?"
The smile came back, full strong, on the girl's face. "Well, there's a place in corridor C-23 where you can..."
"Captain?" The unexpected voice of Spock at his back almost made Jim jump from his stool.
"Spock," he said trying to get his balance back. "What happens? I thought you had left with Uhura."
"I am leaving, but before proceeding with our plans for the night I decided I should tell you something."
"And it had to be now?" It had to be something really important if Spock was willing to delay the kind of things that Uhura seemed to have planned for him that night.
"Some nights ago you asked for my opinion about a situation involving Doctor McCoy."
"Yes. And you decided that it was not your business," Jim said bitterly.
"I have reappraised my position regarding this issue. You wanted to know the difference between the simulations and real life," the Vulcan continued, ignoring Jim's acerbic tone. "My analysis shows only one very clear difference between those two situations and you have it there." He pointed subtly to the waitress and then went back to Uhura without waiting for a reply.
He had to stop doing that, Jim decided. There had to be some regulation somewhere that forbade the first officer to leave the captain hanging like that. It was really annoying, almost rude. Not proper of a Vulcan at all. And what did he mean with the waitress? Of course she wasn't in the simulations. That wasn't possible. They had met her less than two hours before. Maybe he was talking about the waitress in a more general way? But that was hard to believe too. Bones had chosen a waitress for the simulation although there were several men working in Brennon's too, and he was in very friendly terms with her.
Jim had drank in dozens of places with Bones and he had always got on well with waitress. He'd go as far as to say that they loved Bones. His friend was, without exception, nice and polite with them. Even when he was drunk, Bones was never rude or looked for problems. He was a mournful drunk and, when he really wanted to drink hard, he preferred to do it alone, at home.
So, what was the problem with this one? She had not spoken to Bones, it had been with Jim... It had been with Jim that she had been flirting and if Jim remembered well, he hadn't seen fake Jim flirting with anyone in the simulations. It was that? Bones didn't like him flirting? That was absurd. Spock had to be wrong. Asking him had been a desperate last resort, but the Vulcan used to be right in his deductions about people.
Maybe Spock thought that Bones was jealous. Right, Jim thought making fun of himself. As if that could be true. Jim had been dreaming about something like that almost since the shuttle in Riverside. Being Bones' best friend was amazing, but if he'd have the chance of having him as something more without risking that friendship, Jim would jump all over it without any doubt. He had even made a move to bring him into his bed when they had just met. Bones' refusal, however, had been categorical and Jim had not dared to try again later. He was Bones' best friend and that had to be enough.
Only that, if Spock was right, he still might have a chance to have it all, the friendship, the passion that he knew run deep inside Bones, and the love. Love forever, because he knew his friend well enough to be sure that he didn't do things by half. The divorce hadn't been his decision. It had been his wife who had decided that she wanted something different and Jim was not that stupid. If Bones wanted him, he was going to stay with him for as long as he wanted.
And that led him again to the first question. Was Bones interested in him at all? He made an effort to remember as many details as he could about the simulations. Fake Jim wasn't flirting outrageously, but he was a lot more handsy than real Jim had ever been. And Bones didn't seem to mind it. He hadn't complained, groaned, or threatened fake Jim for that. He acted as if he enjoyed and, if Spock was right, that was the truth. Now he had to decide what to do about it because he was not a coward, he was not going to resign himself to be without him anymore.
Just then Bones appeared at the other end of the club and Jim kept his eyes fixed on his friend while his friend made his way to the bar. For first time in ages he allowed himself to look at the Doctor in a non-platonic way. Maybe he wasn't beautiful in classical way, but he was the most handsome man in the place and Jim was not the only one aware of it, since more than one head turned to watch him.
"Hey!" Jim said when his friend was again with him. "Are you ready to leave? We have some more places on our agenda for tonight."
"Are you sure?" Bones asked shooting a quick look to the waitress. "Don't you want to try something more interesting'?"
"Nah" Jim smiled broadly. Maybe Spock was right after all. "I told you that tonight was only you and me and I was serious."
The smile on Bones' face was more than enough to compensate Jim for any potential adventurous experience that he could miss that night.