Celebrating Birthdays

[no_ordinarylife]

It seems like yesterday they were just celebrating his birthday. It's been months since the crew assembled in the lounge and the newest ship to bear the name Enterprise is almost ready for her initial test flights. The deep seated anticipation has driven him back to work. It's the only way to keep himself sane. There are people he wants to see before his time at Yorktown is over. Amara is at the top of his list. He secretly hopes he can convince her the next five years would be worth her while.

He arrives with not just one, but two, bottles of tequila. One in each hand.

Comments

[no_ordinarylife]

If they weren't having this exact conversation, he'd probably smile at the comment. "Yeah, I am your friend," he pushes through. "But I'm also a starship captain responsible for lives of his crew. I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you were capable."

He looks her square in the eye. "Maybe you're not as good as Sulu. But most people aren't."

[cadet_amara]

She met his eyes for a moment, still frowning just a little as she considered it in all seriousness. She could tell he meant it. It was the way he met her eyes. And while she still had her doubts, she somehow knew he was asking because of her skills as a pilot, and not because of their old friendship.

Leaning back in her chair, she broke his gaze, considering the glass in her head. "Well..." She said slowly, still thinking of a response. "Who am I to refuse the Captain of the Enterprise?"

She looked up to meet his eyes again, a slight smile playing at the corners of her mouth. At least she wouldn't be stuck here anymore!

[no_ordinarylife]

Her acceptance elicits a truly happy smile, one that reaches his eyes. He feels like he should say something more but is content to leave it be.

"It was four seconds," he refutes mischievously, reaching for his own glass.

[cadet_amara]

"Bullshit." She returned that smile with a grin of her own. It was an old argument, but one that she enjoyed having. "It was five, and you know it."

[no_ordinarylife]

"Four and a half," he insists, just for fun.

[cadet_amara]

"Five." She crossed her arms, giving him a challenging look, not budging an inch. "They only added a second to my time because I did half the course upside down and they said that wasn't the "regulation course"."

[no_ordinarylife]

"Yeah, you keep tellin' yourself that," he teases.

[cadet_amara]

"I will, thanks." She replied, raising an eyebrow in response. "And see if I ever make you dessert again."

An empty threat. She liked cooking, especially baking, and she had a talent for sweet talking her way into the ship's galley when the mood struck her to cook, which was quite often. There would likely be many, many cakes, cookies, and creative meals in the future of the Enterprise.

[no_ordinarylife]

He throws his hands up in mock surrender. He loves her baking. "You're right. It was totally five."

[cadet_amara]

She laughed at that response. "Miss my double chocolate chip cookies that much, huh?"

[no_ordinarylife]

He has a mouth full of her cheesecake now but he nods vigorously. When he's done, he adds, "And you make the best pumpkin pies."

[cadet_amara]

She grinned, remembering that pie. "I'll keep that in mind when Thanksgiving rolls around. As long as you stay away from the jello molds."

[no_ordinarylife]

"Hey. That was an ingenious use of a jello mold." He's obviously still proud of himself. Stupid academy pranks.

[cadet_amara]

"I don't even want to think about what disgusting things you could probably find out here to put in a jello mold."

Oops. That sounded like a bit of a challenge.

"And that was not a suggestion." she quickly added.

[no_ordinarylife]

"Tell me about your 'black market dealings involving an illegal poker game' and I won't take it as a challenge," he smirks.

[cadet_amara]

"Is that because you want to hear the story, or because you want in?" She teased right back, raising an eyebrow again.

[no_ordinarylife]

"Yes."

Damn, that was good cheesecake.

[cadet_amara]

"Long story short? I might have convinced this guy in security who has a thing for me to let me in on his poker game, which includes a guy in aeroponics. Then I may have pretended I'd never played before, and batted my eyelashes a bit more than I should have to convince them I was completely innocent and sweet, and then had a lucky hand."

In other words she suckered some poor guy into a date to get in on a game and then hustled them.

[no_ordinarylife]

All for a couple limes? "Officer thinking," he comments smartly, pouring her another shot of tequila. "And now you have my word I will not challenge myself to imaginative jello mold creations."

Best blackmail ever.

[cadet_amara]

Limes, and first dibs on the best fruits coming out of aeroponics. But it was harmless enough.

"No, I think that was more "con man" thinking than anything. My brother would have been proud." She laughed a little, shaking her head.

"But at least now the jello is safe. I will sleep better knowing that slimy creatures and jello are protected from your fiendish intentions."

[no_ordinarylife]

He smirks at the word 'fiendish'. "My intentions toward the jello are strictly honorable."

[cadet_amara]

"Oh sure. You're the picture of chivalry in regards to gelatin." She teased, pouring them both another drink.

[no_ordinarylife]

"Jiggle, jiggle."

Okay, maybe he doesn't need any more to drink.

And I'm off to bed. Night!

[cadet_amara]

She snickered, shaking her head at his bad joke.

"Drunk already? My, my, have you become a bit of a lightweight in your old age?"

[no_ordinarylife]

"Nah. Just happily buzzed."

And he may very well just keep it there. He has a drink regularly with Bones but very rarely does he get sloshed anymore. The downside of never really being off duty.

"And who are you calling 'old'?"