"Jim, have you seen Christine this morning?"

"Last time I saw her was on the Bridge."

"That's odd. Wonder why."

"Well, you have full Captain's permission to go there and find out yourself," Kirk teased him.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny," Bones mocked as he made his way there.

What Bones found when the doors swished open took him by surprise. There was Nurse Chapel, leaned over the science station console; giving her biggest flirting eyes to Spock. He kept his eyes on the viewer, and seemed pretty disinterested, but of course McCoy didn't notice that part at all. He saw the blush on her cheeks, and his heart dropped.

"Heh-hem," he cleared his throat.

"Oh, Leonard! Good morning."

"Nurse Chapel."

Her eyes fell a bit at the formal statement, and her posture didn't exude confidence any longer.

"You didn't report to SickBay. I wanted to make sure everything was alright."

"Yes, sir. I just came to see what was outside the ship. I've never seen this part of the galaxy except in photographs."

"Did Spock here give you a thorough observation?"

"On the contrary, Doctor. There wasn't much to show through the view finder at this point in time."

"Not like she was paying attention, anyway," Bones muttered under his breath.

"I'm sorry, Doctor?"

"Oh nothing, Spock. Nurse, if you would so kindly join me when you are finished here."

"Certainly, Doctor."

Bones left in a rush; leaving the Bridge feeling awkward. Usually, he was either uber nice or completely sassy. This time, he seemed downtrodden; angry even. Christine's blush had faded, and she found her eyes darting to the floor out of some kind of guilt.

"Thank you, Mr. Spock. See you at dinner."

"Very well, Ms. Chapel."

Christine entered the turbolift with her PADD tight against her chest. Her head fell back against the wall, and she let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. Her eyes stared at the ceiling as if something above would give her answers. Why had Leonard just acted like that? What did she do wrong? She supposed she was flirting with Spock, but that was nothing new. Everyone on the ship knew she pined after him sometimes. But something about Leonard's behavior just left a pit in her stomach…

Meanwhile, Bones went to his Captain's quarters rather than SickBay. M'Benga could hold the fort down while he was gone. He didn't even knock on Kirk's door, he just sauntered in.

"She's in love with the hobgoblin!"

Kirk was reading with a glass of whiskey on his couch. He ushered Bones to sit next to him, and poured him a glass.

"What are you talking about?"

"Christine. She was ogling over your logical First Officer on the Bridge. Said she wanted to see outside 'cause she had never seen it before. Yeah, right."

"Well, firstly, she's not in love with him. And did you see Spock's reaction?"

"No… I mean, yeah. But it was his usual statue pose."

"Don't you think if he was interested he would have acted a little more… romantically?"

"No! He's a Vulcan! Don't try to change my mind on this. She's in love with him, and he's not stopping her advances. I should just give up now."

Kirk put down his book and turned to face his friend. He gave a sigh before putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Bones… they're not married for gods sakes. You know almost nothing about what is actually going on. Don't cave in just yet. I saw how she looked at you when she first saw you were on this ship."

McCoy perked up at this.

"How—how'd she look?"

"Like she had found her long lost high school sweetheart. Trust me, there's something behind those supposedly Vulcan-targeted eyes that you're not seeing. So instead of coming here defeated, get down there and snag her before someone else does."

"Jim Kirk style?"

"No, probably not," Kirk laughed in response. "Just put on that Southern charm we all know you have and sweep her off her feet."

"I don't know anything about wooing girls, Jim. That's your playbook."

"Be Bones. That's the only playbook you need."

Bones simply grunted in response, and left to head towards SickBay. He had some backtracking to do.

"Nurse Chapel?"

Christine whirled around, almost in shock, at McCoy entering.

"Yes, sir. What did you need," she said, almost panicked.

"Nothing, really. Just seeing if you were here yet."

"I got here about ten minutes ago. I apologize for my delay this morning. I should have commed you."

"You should have, but don't worry about it. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"Apology accepted," she said with her sweet smile.

Bones didn't know it, but his eyes were shimmering at the sight of her, and his closed-lip smile said a thousand words. She continued to gaze at him as if he were supposed to say something, but he never did. He merely cleared his throat and stated:

"We've only got ten routine exams today. So unless the Klingons decide to try and kill all of us this afternoon, we should get out early."

Christine giggled at that, and leaned against the medical bed she had been cleaning when he walked in. She brushed some hair off of her face. The PADD was placed just underneath her breast line, so as to push them up just a little bit. This did not go unnoticed by Bones.

"Too bad, really. I'm not sure what I'll even do with myself the rest of the night."

"Me neither. Not much exciting happening on the ship right now."

There was an awkward pause of silence. Bones shifted uncomfortably, and then his thoughts exploded out of him like word vomit.

"I know you probably had plans to meet Spock for dinner, but would you consider joining me instead?"

"I don't have plans. We just happen to be there every day at six like most of the crew. I would love to join you."

"Really?"

"Yes," she said, blushing once more.

Bones gave a genuine smile this time.

"I'll pick you up at seven. I've been dying to try a new recipe, but it makes enough for two, so I was saving it."

"You cook?"

"Sure do."

"Well you are just full of surprises, Doctor."

"Leonard, darlin'. Remember?"