Enterprise High
being a high school AU of ST: XI
with many hijinks
and much angst
x
Chapter Thirteen: A Taste of Armageddon
x
Monday night
x
George Samuel Kirk, Jr., had never been very responsible. He was much like his younger brother: extremely bright, impetuous, and interested in troublemaking. But while Jim was even-handed, keeping his temper simmering at a normal level, Sam had no patience at all. Six years ago, when Jim was eleven and Sam was fourteen, Sam had had one last argument with their stepfather, Franklin Sanford, and left home. Winona, who was off-planet at the time, didn't find out until she got back from Regulus IV, six months later. Jim had never forgiven Sam for leaving, but that didn't mean he was unhappy to see his brother finally knocking on his front door.
Jim threw the door open and hugged Sam tightly. Sam was a bearded, taller version of Jim, heaver and more confident. Sam introduced the woman accompanying him, an elegant, sweet-eyed brunette, as Aurelan Swift. She smiled nervously at Jim and shook his hand.
Winona bustled over, slapping Sam on the arm for not showing up two days earlier for dinner like he'd said he would. Then she hugged him too, and greeted Aurelan. The four ventured into the living room.
In the past six years, Jim had only been with Sam for seven days. Sam had returned to Riverside for a week after Frank finally moved out, four years ago. At first, Jim had been entirely unwilling to talk to him, but by the end of their time together, they had reconciled.
Sam had hitched a ride to Chicago the day of his last argument with Frank and started school there as an emancipated minor. He'd worked a number of odd jobs until he'd gotten hired as an assistant in a private biological research lab. He'd been arrested twenty times before he turned eighteen despite having responsibility pressed upon him at a young age. But now, with Aurelan next to him, he seemed calmer. Evidently she had slowed his headstrong rush.
"We're living in Austin," said Sam. "The university there's got me running an evolutionary biology lab. Aurelan's a student in astrophysics. We came here for a joint job interview with Starfleet; they're thinking about sending us to Earth Colony II."
"How long have you two been together, now?" asked Winona.
"Ever since I moved down to Texas a year ago," said Sam, smiling at Aurelan. He looked at his mother, eyes glittering. "I was extra motivated to take that interview with Starfleet—I've got news for you, mom. We're pregnant."
Winona squealed and threw her arms around Sam and Aurelan, who laughed happily. Jim was frozen for a moment, but recovered quickly, standing to shake Sam's hand. The embryo was only at a month and a half, but they already had names picked out. Winona threw a fit, going into a grandmotherly frenzy. She drew Aurelan away to grill her about her family and history, wanting to get to know the mother of her grandchild. Sam and Jim were left on the couch while the women wandered into the kitchen.
"You're old," said Jim without preamble.
"I am," agreed Sam, a distant smile gracing his features. "I am ancient. Elderly. Jim, I'm going to be a father. How weird is that?"
"Really, really weird," said Jim, realizing that he was going to be an uncle. "Especially considering you'll always be fourteen to me. Fourteen and just as tired of Frank as I was."
"Ugh. Don't even bring him into this conversation," said Sam, making a face. "I'm happy right now. Did you see her? Isn't she just the most beautiful woman in the world?"
"You're biased."
"Damn straight I'm biased. We're considering getting married."
"Woah now, don't get too ahead of yourself."
"No, really. I've already applied to be the second parent. We could just skip the process and have the child in wedlock."
"You're really interested in marrying her? Before I give my blessing, tell me a little more about Aurelan."
They talked through dinner and for hours afterwards. When Sam and Aurelan finally had to leave, Jim had to admit that he was sad to see his brother go.
x
Sulu had fixed Chekov dinner in repayment for Chekov's breakfast. They were at Sulu's house again, eating ravioli out of cooking bowls. Sulu wasn't very good at cooking, so he viewed the ravioli as more of an experiment in surface area to volume ratio. Only half of the ravioli had turned out well (Sulu had stuffed them himself), so he had dumped the failures in a bowl for his parents and emailed them that dinner was ready. They had just gotten back from wherever they had been. He'd only noticed when he'd seen their cars in the driveway earlier.
"Why do you talk so little with your parents?" Chekov asked after taking a long drink of water.
"We don't have much in common," said Sulu, spearing a ravioli. "You might see them at some point. I let them know I made dinner."
"Is it not strange to be so far from your parents?"
"You get used to it," said Sulu, shrugging. "When I was younger, it bothered me. But I'm really self-sufficient now."
"Then they haf always been like this?"
"Basically. Miko and Inoue raised me."
Chekov frowned. "I haf an older brother and two younger sisters, and we are close, but our parents take care of us. They do not—"
Chekov paused, hearing footsteps. He saw Sulu straighten a little, some hardness going into his eyes. A slim Japanese man with long black hair walked into the kitchen. He looked at Chekov only for a moment before turning to Sulu and speaking to him in Japanese.
Sulu replied shortly. Sulu's father did not respond, simply taking the remaining ravioli and two forks with him as he left the room.
"What did he say?" said Chekov.
"He told me to ask them anytime I invite somebody over," said Sulu, stabbing a pasta viciously.
Chekov did not know quite what to say. He sipped his water, watching as Sulu rubbed his creased forehead with a tired hand.
x
Chapel was texting Uhura.
idek where we're going, she typed, glancing sideways at Bones to make sure he couldn't see that she was on her PADD. hows your dinner?
ack, Uhura responded almost immediately. we havent started yet, im in the restrm hiding from sarek, that man is scary
sympathy. at least you got your loverboy.
youre working on yours though. ;)
Chapel flipped off the PADD, the corners of her lips upturned slightly. Bones was taking her out to dinner. He hadn't said where, and for some reason, she didn't ask. He was heading towards the financial district. They had been talking about their medical class until Bones's dad had called to ask him something. For some reason, that had broken the conversation of.
Bones shelled out for valet at Tabac, a mid-price place Chapel had heard about but never been to. It had a great atmosphere. All of the décor was done in various shades of brown and all of the food dishes were extremely colorful. When they were seated and had ordered drinks, Bones mentioned that they didn't serve brown food—the meals were dyed.
The fare was standard American. Chapel ordered shrimp, Bones tried grilled chicken. They didn't say much to each other, but what they said had meaning.
Chapel was always getting flustered, and tonight was no exception. She cared very much about other people and was obvious to read, even though she tried to remain neutral and expressionless as much as possible. Everybody liked her, but just as much, everybody liked to see her flustered, since she widened her eyes and stuttered in that deep voice of hers, so they teased her about her strong emotions. She knew she had been a fool around Spock for the past few years, and now she was starting to be that way around Bones. But she wasn't sure if he knew it or not. She was never sure exactly how much other people could tell about her.
Bones was perceptive, but he thought naïvely that Chapel was just being friendly. He was used to her stumbling over her words, accustomed to the elegant trip of her voice as her thoughts fell apart. She'd always been like that around Spock, but he hadn't put everything together yet.
Plus, he was too busy being confused by the two people he was currently attracted to. One of them was sitting in front of him, smiling nervously, and the other was the last man he'd kissed.
x
Uhura was having an interesting evening, to say the very least. Sarek absolutely terrified her. She felt like latching on to Spock or Amanda and using them as shields. The man didn't seem to blink. He was completely unlike Sinor, the only other Vulcan she'd had prolonged contact with. Even though Vulcans were members of the Federation, humans only saw their comrades on television or in news releases, rarely in person, and even more rarely one-on-one. The problem with Sarek was not that he was physically intimidating, it was that he didn't say much, and what he did say seemed very, very important, so every word she gave in reply had to be carefully thought out beforehand. Uhura had always known what to say in any situation and was unused to putting effort into her speech, but Sarek had taken her apart, and trying to put herself back together over was proving difficult.
Amanda had made a meat dish for herself and Uhura, telling Uhura she generally kept with the Vulcan vegetarian diet but occasionally craved flesh and had taken advantage of having another human at the dining table. Evidently Vulcans served a number of courses at their meals, because there had been a salad, a soup, a bread, and now an entrée, each with its own set of dishes and alarming time between courses for Uhura to deal with Sarek.
Dinner was in the formal dining room at a huge gold oak table. Spock's family was well off, and their house was large, but their decorations were simply… different. Instead of china cabinets or artwork, the room had been painted a pale red-brown. Gold and black swirls of Vulcan calligraphy and artwork, some in bas-relief, climbed the walls, arching on to the ceiling and growing out to form light fixtures and full sculptures. The chandelier above the table was one of the most beautiful things Uhura had ever seen; the Vulcan words (and derivatives thereof) for family, love, and logic sprung from the ceiling into 3D calligraphy that curled around light sources and dripped almost to the surface of the table. There was a matching centerpiece on the table, wrought of crystal: the word concentration twisted and swirled upwards, weaving into the dripping light.
Amanda scooped duck lo mein onto a plate for Uhura, I-Chaya nudging pointedly at her arm. Spock and Sarek were waiting to start on their vegetarian dish. Sarek turned to Uhura once more, asking her what her parents did for a living. She explained that she lived with one parent, her father, since her mother had left him years ago. He was an African literature professor at Berkley. Sarek said something about David Gbadamosi, a prominent 21st century philosopher who Uhura knew her father was interested in. They talked about his theory of threes for a while. Uhura even forgot about her food.
When Sarek paused to eat, Uhura realized why Sarek was such an incredible diplomat. He had the unexpected ability to command a situation. He had wanted her to be intimidated at first, she guessed, and now she had passed some kind of test and he was being less terrifying.
Spock shot her a half smile. She felt much better.
x
Tuesday night
x
"It's jus'—" Scotty mumbled through the corned beef in his mouth "—that ah can't understand what he sees in you." He stopped chewing for a moment, eyes going wide. Panicking, he waved his hands around, spitting flecks of bread into the air in his hurry to retract his statement. "Not that ah mean you're not incredible, lass! Ach, damnit…"
Uhura laughed instead of taking offense. Her sense of humor was surprisingly fluid. "I know what you mean, Monty," she said, taking a distinctively delicate bite of her pizza. "He always has a goal, doesn't he? He doesn't just do things."
"Aye, that's what ah was tryin' t' say."
"I'm sure. Well, to be perfectly honest, I don't feel like I know him that well yet. I know him as Spock, but not as my boyfriend."
"It'd probably take quite some time t' crack his shell," said Scotty wisely. "You havenae talked about what happened at Hikaru's, have yeh?"
"No, how could I? What do you think it was, anyway?"
Scotty shrugged. "Ah have no idea. Vulcan emotions run deep, in thin streams. Our feelin's may be a wide river t' cross, but ours're shallow compared to theirs."
"What is it with men and dangerous waters? D'you think all Vulcans have to be put on suicide watch at some point in their lives just because they think so much?"
"Wouldnae surprise me. But he is only half Vulcan, maybe that has somethin' t' do with it. He mentioned bein' bullied when he was a young lad. Maybe he didnae fit in."
"Spock, being at all concerned by social mores? Do you even know who you're talking about?"
He shrugged again. "Vulcans are extremely concerned by social mores, jus' not our own. Their society is stricter than ours. Maybe his piece couldnae fit in th' puzzle, so he broke himself tryin' t' conform."
x
Bones needed to clean his room. If he had voiced this thought aloud to Kirk, Kirk would have tried to take his temperature. The place looked spotless, but Bones could tell there was dust on the bookshelves and the carpet could use a vacuuming. He didn't let the caretaking robots in to clean, preferring to disinfect on his own time. He was always going to be a germaphobe.
Bones's room was painted and carpeted a deep blue, the same color as the science officer uniforms in Starfleet. Bones's goal was work for Starfleet on some lush, tropical outer planet packed with organic potential, discovering cures for the major sicknesses of his day, like Yaralt's Disease and the rack. He was skeptical about space—more than skeptical, actually, since he got motion sickness every time he went off planet—and had absolutely no desire to crew a Starfleet vessel, but if the Federation could get him to somewhere he could be useful, he'd be glad to go.
His fathers were out for their twenty-seventh anniversary dinner. Bones was eating thieboudienne out of a leftovers sack; he'd made too much of it for dinner a few nights ago. He'd been chatting with Chapel and Sulu earlier. He'd told Sulu about his situation, and Sulu had been most unhelpful, trying not to give advice in that damned considerate way of his when what he needed was actual advice. He was considering asking Uhura, but she was preoccupied with Spock, and what the hell was that about? Who knew Spock could keep up with Uhura? Dating Evan Gray, who had the personality of a whelk, had just about worn Spock down. And anyway, he was being unreasonably mad at anybody who liked Spock at the moment, since Kirk had so obviously been more worried about Spock being taken off the market than Uhura, and didn't that sonofabitch like him, Bones, the guy he'd made out with for an hour and a half four nights ago? Then again, Bones had told him that he wasn't interested in a relationship. But he'd realized pretty quickly he'd been lying to himself. The day of the race, Bones couldn't stop thinking about the opportunity he'd missed. He had never had sex with a man before, but he was sure willing to try it now.
x
Kirk twirled his straw in his drink, gazing lovingly at the woman sitting across from him. Helen Noel was a truly beautiful girl. She had a mischievous face framed by dark, wavy hair and bright brown eyes. She looked like she could give him a run for his money in just about anything, and if there was anything Kirk liked, it was competition.
She was in most of his AP classes. Her elective was psychology, which fascinated him. He loved psychiatrists and psychologists. He saw them as practice in strategy and tactics. Whenever he went to one—which was often, as a condition of the suicide watch placed on his medical record—he played an elaborate little game with them, hiding information in replies and holding out tasty tidbits of inner angst. Most of the psychologists never realized that he was playing a game. There had been one, an Orion a few years ago, who had grasped what was going on and nearly figured him out, but the session had ended not a moment too soon, and he'd requested a different shrink for his next appointment.
Helen was clever, guessing his intentions immediately. Their dinner was short and to the point, but in her bed that night, they took their time.
x
"How are you?" Winona asked Pike, passing him the lasagna. He took it quietly, shrugging. "Come on," she said. "Have you at least talked to her?"
"Yes, I have," he said. "The situation is insane. The baby isn't hers. She's surrogating again."
"Oh, god, really? For who?"
"You don't even want to know," said Pike, shaking mozzarella angrily onto his pasta.
"I do," said Winona gently. She touched Pike's hand. "Tell me, Chris."
Pike sighed heavily, falling back in his chair. They were at Winona's, at the small dining table in the whitewashed kitchen, the bright automatic lights shadowing their faces unattractively.
"It's Barda and Ezar's child," he said, resentment in his voice. "They chose her as surrogate. She was well qualified, intelligent, and knew Barda's family. Plus, her ex-husband was on the Supreme Court, remember? So she's influential. And they figure it'll be really significant that the child will have been gestated in a human womb."
Winona gaped at Pike. "Are you supposed to be telling me this? I mean, the press has been speculating for ages on who the surrogate is."
"I trust you," said Pike. "No, I'm not supposed to be telling you, but fucking whatever. I'm too mad right now."
"This child is going to cement the negotiations."
"Certainly. The first famous Romulan/Vulcan infant, conceived by Vice President Barda and Counsel Ezar, carried by a human, delivered during the peace talks."
Winona shook her head. "Barda and Ezar never found about what happened with you and her?"
"Maybe they did and just didn't care," said Pike. "It wasn't a big deal."
"Not a big deal? She got reassigned because of the incident. And look what it did to you!"
"Julie Eleen can do whatever the hell she wants," said Pike viciously. "I don't think she's the right person for the job, but if Barda and Ezar want to trust their precious child to her, then so be it. I'll tell you, though, she hasn't changed a bit. She acted all ignorant the other day, when Kirk was up on the stand, like she didn't know who he was or what she was going to do with him, or even who I was. She's a player. She's not to be trusted." He sliced his lasagna down the middle, tomato sauce and ricotta spilling graphically out of the folds. "She betrayed me, and I'll never forgive her."
x
Wednesday night
x
Winona cooked antelope steaks the next night. Bones's family was coming over. She made Kirk clean the living, bath, and dining rooms until they positively sparkled. The kitchen she had dealt with while Kirk was at school. It looked like a tamed, meek lion, considering how messy it had been before.
"You'd better appreciate the grandeur of this place," said Kirk, waving at the house after Bones and his family had come in. Winona was talking to David and Ian. "I spent hours on it. We hadn't given it a good clean since we moved in. There was elbow grease, Bones. My wrists are killing me."
"You poor thing," said Bones. "Are your wittle fingers tired too? Do you need to rest them?"
"Monster. You have no sympathy."
David and Ian and Winona talked mainly with each other, although the adults would interrupt Kirk and Bones occasionally to annoy them with questions about school. Bones didn't mind—talking to Kirk over dinner gave Bones an opportunity to watch Kirk's mouth. Kirk, noticing this, made as much of his asparagus as possible. Bones went red.
After the meal, Winona poured chardonnay for the men and Kirk and Bones retreated to Kirk's room.
Bones sat himself on the bed next to Kirk. "What d'you think about Chapel?" he asked Kirk.
"She's great," said Kirk seriously. "You two should date." No, you shouldn't. I think I might rather date you.
"She is great," agreed Bones. He paused, not sure how to segue into the next thing he wanted to say. "Hey, Jim?"
"Huh?" Kirk was checking his PADD for emails.
Bones put his hand on Kirk's thigh. "Would you mind—"
Kirk put the PADD down, staring at Bones's hand. There was a flicker of something in his eye, as if he had changed his mind. He looked oddly resigned.
"Haven't had any action in a while?" he said blandly.
"You're the third person I ever kissed, Jim. Can you blame me?"
"Good to know I've influenced you so badly." Kirk moved towards him. Bones felt goosebumps on his arms.
"Kiss me, you idiot," hissed Bones, grabbing Kirk by the back of the neck.
"Yes, Doctor," whispered Kirk, licking the soft inside of Bones's lips. Bones couldn't stand it. He surged forwards, devouring Kirk's mouth, fucking Kirk's lips with his tongue.
Bones pressed Kirk back onto Kirk's bed, straddling him, trying to ignore how submissive and quiet Kirk seemed. Bones wasn't hesitating, now. He tore at Kirk's shirt, ripping the collar as he tugged it off, and sat up to take off his own, Kirk panting underneath him. He came back down, kissing Kirk hard, fumbling at Kirk's pants.
He felt the limpness in Kirk's muscles, the way Kirk pushed at him weakly and kissed him back tentatively. All of it was in stark contrast to Kirk's tent-pole erection. Bones got the zipper down and brushed him through his boxers, ghosting his thin fingers up Kirk's length, and Kirk arched automatically, eyes wide and dull. Bones stopped, pulling back, glaring at the boy laid out before him.
"What is it?" he growled into Kirk's ear, a fist in Kirk's hair. "Dammit, Jim, what's wrong with you tonight?"
"I don't know," said Kirk hollowly. He wasn't looking at Bones.
Bones rolled off of him, eyes narrowed.
"You're not excited about havin' sex with me? Is that what it is?"
"I guess," whispered Kirk. He closed his eyes tightly.
Insulted, Bones got up and pulled his shirt back on.
"If you wouldn't be such a goddamn slut, shit like this wouldn't happen," Bones snapped, throwing the words at Kirk. They hit hard, and Kirk curled up a little.
Bones sighed disgustedly and left the room and the house, dragging his parents with him.
While Winona cleaned up the kitchen, Kirk laid in bed, in the same position Bones had left him in. He liked Bones, it turned out; but Bones had just reminded him—had just reminded him of—
He clenched his teeth, pushing the memories back. He felt like he was about to break.
x
Spock was picking up dinner from Suzy's. He had a lot of homework that night and Amanda had gone to visit one of her friends in L. A. Sarek had passed responsibility for supper onto Spock, strongly recommending to his son that he make or obtain baked potatoes. Which led to Spock hovering near the Suzy's pick-up counter, waiting for his meal.
He glanced through the trellis blocking the counter from the restaurant and saw half of a familiar face. He moved back, so that the trellis was no longer in his way, and saw Sulu sitting with Chekov not too far from him. The restaurant was quiet and Spock's excellent ears could easily pick up what the two boys were saying.
Sulu's expression was hovering on the verge of anger, but Chekov didn't seem to notice.
"… and she said she was wery happy to meet me in detail, and I thought it was nice of her to greet me so cheerfully. And she inwited me back to her house and we had a wonderful time."
"Did you," said Sulu coldly, his nostrils flaring.
"Yes, wonderful," Chekov repeated innocently. "She is wery talented with the oral sex, and I—"
"Okay, stop," said Sulu, slamming his fist on the table. Chekov jumped, startled. "You had sex with Gaila."
"Yes…? What is the matter with this? I haf heard it is her way of saying hello."
"It is. But. God, Pavel. It's Gaila. Everybody's had Gaila. You couldn't keep it in your pants for somebody special?"
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing. Never mind," snarled Sulu. "I'm full. And I'm leaving. Bye."
He slid out of the booth and walked away, leaving a shocked Chekov in his wake. Spock turned his face slightly to face the wall as Sulu stalked by.
Fascinating, thought Spock, watching Chekov begin to cry over his dinner. He considered attempting to comfort the boy, but his food had arrived, and he took it and left without a second glance at Chekov.
x
Thursday night
x
"Scotty got the plans approved."
"Did he? How do they look?"
"Beautiful. He was showing them to Spock during study hall." Chapel took a drink of Dr. Pepper. "The thrusters are going to be about four times as powerful."
"Awesome. More work for us, then. I've got tennis all next week. And a boyfriend."
"Still starry eyed?"
"Glittering." Uhura swirled her soup with her spoon. "I am utterly ridiculous, let me tell you."
"Oh, you don't need to tell me. Hey, did you notice Hikaru ignoring Pavel today?"
"Yeah, I forgot to mention—Hikaru found out about Gaila and Pavel."
"He didn't know already?"
"Nope. He had the worst reaction. Spock was telling me about it. Evidently he saw the whole thing last night at Suzy's. Hikaru just left, in the middle of dinner."
"How unreasonable!"
"I know, but love is crazy, isn't it?"
"Totally fucking insane."
Uhura laughed. "Humans don't make any sense at all. The only way for us to win is not to play."
"Says you."
"What, you think love is winnable?"
"You think it's about winning and losing?"
"That's not what I'm saying. Just—a successful relationship is one in which somebody dies. Doesn't that seem strange?"
"Not really. If you're happy when the game is over, you've won. It's been worthwhile. I thought you were a hopeless romantic."
"Yeah, but in the tragic sense. I have become less hopeless of late."
"Spock's not making you worse?"
"I have him now. I don't have to angst. It's just—it's really great being in love. You get to feel all these intense emotions that you don't get to feel otherwise. You can have the whole range of it—despair, elation, rage, obsession—and if you're really lucky, sex gets tossed into the equation."
"So, you're an emotions-whore. That totally explains why you're dating a Vulcan."
"Well, Monty was telling me their emotions are—different. They have to be logical or they're totally irrational; their passions rule everything."
"Intense. So, what, you're trying to break him?"
"Break him? I'm not trying to do anything but learn him. I wouldn't harm a hair on his head."
"What if he asked you to?"
"What?"
"Well—if he told you to hurt him."
"What are you talking about?"
"Kinks. Fetishes. Deep down dirty dark."
"You are so creepy."
"What a twenty-first century thing to say. Come on, I know you like ball gags."
"But do you have to say it so loudly? We're in a public place."
"What, BALL GAGS?"
"Shut UP."
"Okay, sorry. See, this is what I'm talking about. You have an emotional kink. Have you considered what his kinks may be?"
"Yeah, no, but what does that even have to do with anything?"
Chapel looked frustrated. "Never mind. You're so dumb."
"You bitch." They were quiet. "Want to watch a movie at my house?"
"Sure. Let's go."
x
Sulu showed up at Chekov's door, a repentant expression on his face. Chekov ushered him inside and to the dining room table. He had made fish soup, pelmeny, and apple pastries.
"I want to apologize for whatewer it is I did to hurt your feelings," said Chekov, sitting Sulu down at the table. Sulu sprang back up again, stammering apologies.
"No, I'm so sorry," he said to Chekov. "I shouldn't have freaked like that. I just—I guess I'm protective of you."
"Eweryone is protectiwe of me," said Chekov angrily, his curly hair falling over his eyes as he looked down. Sulu brushed it out of the way.
"Of course we are. You're a wonderful friend, Pavel," said Sulu sincerely. "Now, you can screw whoever you want to, as long as they don't hurt you. I'm sorry I didn't understand earlier. I'm just not good with one night stands."
Chekov hugged Sulu tightly, surprising him and forcing the air from his lungs.
"I am glad to haf you, Hikaru," he said, looking up at Sulu. "Now, do you want dinner? I haf made it myself."
Smiling, Sulu sat back down, Chekov next to him. Sulu decided he could take his time.
x
"This is the boy I was telling you about, dear," Amanda whispered in Sarek's ear as they walked up the pathway to Kirk's house.
"Is he," said Sarek, raising an eyebrow. "I shall watch him closely, then."
Winona greeted Sarek formally. Kirk blinked at Spock's father, immediately intimidated. Sarek was not as harsh to Kirk as he was to Uhura, but he talked to Kirk more, and did not allow Kirk to feel comfortable until Winona fetched dessert.
Kirk and Spock had architected an uneasy truce during study hall that day so that they could dine together without attempting to bite each other's heads off. But they bickered lightly despite the agreement instead of having an actual conversation.
"You mean you think the crystals have to go next to the primary? But that doesn't even make sense. You don't lose anything in the radium coils."
"In hovercar racing, the finish sometimes comes down to fractions of seconds, James. The milliseconds lost between the crystals and the thrusters could easily be regained."
"Don't patronize me—fractions of seconds. We can't move the crystals closer to the primary. The heat is too high."
"If we obtain an archanite shield—"
"Those are so cheap and we're on such a huge budget. Are you actually crazy?"
Spock did the Vulcan version of rolling his eyes, which was subtle, but Kirk could see it. They started off again, ignoring their food in favor of conflict.
Amanda winked at Winona. Then she had to kick Sarek under the table to keep him from asking about the purpose of the gesture she had just executed. Like father, like son.
x