Chapter Text
Jim had not left the USS Republic on good terms. Sure, he was being transferred to a Constitution-class ship, which was a big step for an ensign with little experience, but to get there he lost his friend Ben. It was a duty or friendship choice and as much as the blond-haired male valued friendship, his duty as a Starfleet officer came first. The comforting smell of caffeine and old books could not even bring any relief to the way Jim felt. The coffee shop on Starbase 9 was a classic one, real beans, real books as they used to read and a real barista. It was going to be a couple of weeks until the USS Farragut would dock and until then, Jim had a little vacation. The standardised shoe wear got cleaned the moment they made contact with the sonic doormat inside. The ensign went straight for the counter, glad there were only a handful of people around; it added to the ambiance. There was a Vulcan behind the counter, placing the Starfleet thermos cups in the display cupboard. Unsurprisingly he was very precise about their alignment and position. It looked impeccable. Jim leaned on the counter, squinting up at the menu. Of course they needed to have more than just regular Terran coffee. There was also an assortment of Vulcan, Andorian and what not hot beverages. “May I be of your assistance?”
Jim finally looked away from the menu and straight forward at the Vulcan from before. His face was characteristically expressionless. Were he human, he would probably have gotten a speech from his manager. “Uh yeah uh”, Jim said as he tried to get his head around things. He was daydreaming again and needed something to keep him from falling asleep any second now. Being an engineer on a ship that was close to decommissioning had given him so little time to sleep that he now felt himself close to addicted to caffeine. “I need something to keep me awake. Just your strongest coffee, please, or whatever strong alien thing you got.” Jim waved with his hand at the menu. He could almost feel those dark, piercing eyes on him. It took a full minute, before the Vulcan moved a muscle. He did not say anything as he was working on the order, just handed Jim a thermos cup. “Thanks”, Jim muttered as he took it.
“This is a Klingon beverage called Raktajino. I do not advise drinking it too much. An excessive amount of caffeine can cause irregular heartbeat, seizures, dizziness, diarrhoea, fever, irr…” Jim laughed and held his hand up, hoping the other would stop, but he did not until he finished the end of his list. “Do you often consume caffeinated beverages? Repeated expose increases the body’s sensitivity to the symptoms of caffeine overdose. Why are you laughing? Do health risks amuse you?” The ensign could almost swear the other was making an attempt at small talk, but the confusion in the other’s voice, combined with the lack of expression on his face just made things more funny.
“Hold up, big guy. Are you a barista or did you escape Starfleet medical?” Jim joked, taking a sip of his beverage. It was supposed to look cool, but he did not expect the alien taste and almost choked on how much more bitter it was than the Terran coffee he was used to. Taking a napkin from the counter, he wiped the little fluid that had escaped his lips and was now resting on the corner of them.
“As for now, I am a barista. My superior officer suggested a short leave for me to work on what he referred to as ‘people skills’. I figured being a barista on my leave would increase the opportunities to work on what humans call ‘small talk’, ensign.” The way he referred to Jim’s rank made it clear that he outranked him. Still, this situation was weird and Jim needed normal, Terran coffee to deal with it. At least he knew now that the pretty barista was trying to make some small talk. Well, since Jim had no one here, he might as well help out the Vulcan with his people skills and small talk. Without a word, the dark-haired male took the cup with the left-over Raktajino. Jim did not protest. It tasted horrible and he never wanted to drink it again.
“A word of advice”, the ensign started as he watched the other make him something new, “do not judge people’s caffeine intake nor warn them of the dangers of it.” Jim really hoped the other man was making him something drinkable. “Try something like… the weather is nice today, isn’t it?” He flashed his charming smile as a new cup was placed in front of him.
“We are on a Starbase. There is no weather”, the Vulcan replied as he put the cup down. Jim nodded, surprise on his face. He muttered a small agreement, before putting the cup to his lips. He mentally buckled up, before taking a sip. He was, once again, surprised at the taste, but this time it was nice. It tasted like bitter chocolate, but with a sweet after taste. It was really good. If the stoic alien behind the counter could make this for him every day, he would marry him, figuratively of course.
“This is good, what’s in it?” Jim took another sip, careful not to burn himself by drinking too much in one go. As the other listed the ingredients, Jim was sure of one thing: he could not make this himself. “That’s a whole list, guess I will have to come back while I am here for more. When I do, I hope you are better at small talk.” Without thinking about it, the young Starfleet officer winked at the barista, glancing at the name plate, before he turned to leave. “Until then, Mr Spock.”
Jim had found himself back later that day, but unfortunately his newfound friend was not there anymore and he did not have the name of the beverage Spock had made him. For some reason, he found himself wandering around in the hope of spotting the Vulcan. In a big Starbase it was not surprising that he did not walk into him in one of the public areas. There were no people needed in engineering or at least Jim was not needed. He had tried, but people did not take him all too seriously, given how new he was in the field. This reduced him to spending most of his time in his room, reading until the next day. Jim woke up early to go to the coffee shop around the same time as he had done the previous day. He let out a content sigh when he saw a familiar face through the window. He did not realise he was supporting a happy smile as he once again entered the coffee shop. “Hello, Mr Spock”, the brown-eyed male mused as he entered the quiet shop, leaning on the counter like he had done the previous day. “How is the small talk coming along?”
The Starfleet officer with the bowl cut that put all human bowl cuts in history to shame, almost dropped a thermos cup at the intrusion. His facial expression did not change as he caught it mid-air and continued drying it off. “As I was processing your kindly provided tips, it occurred to me that I did not catch your name, ensign”, he replied, but this time there was no hint of irritability in his voice. Jim almost offered a hand, but then the little bit of Vulcan culture he remembered came up and he quickly retracted it, before giving the other his full name, feeling like Spock was the kind of guy that would not be satisfied with merely ‘Jim’.
“But you can just call me Jim. Say, that drink you made yesterday, what is it called?” Before the younger man had even finished the question, said beverage was put in front of him, steaming with the inviting promise of something bittersweet. Jim smelled it, before taking a content sip. It was just as delicious as yesterday and he was almost certain that the recipe was exactly the same.
“It is my own blend. Since you mentioned needing caffeine, but showed signs of having the tendency to overconsume, I made an approximation of the minimal dosage that would be effective on a human male of your heritage and size. Your reaction to the Raktajino made it clear that you have a high density of TAS2R receptors. Regardless you seem to consume bitter beverages instead of taking caffeine capsules. Taking all that into account I made you a beverage with sufficient caffeine and a bittersweet flavour to mimic the taste of coffee without overstimulating your TAS2R receptors.”
The words came too fast, flew past Jim’s ears, but what he could filter out of it was kind of… flattering? “So… you made this drink specially for me?” He ended up asking, not sure if he was correct or not. It sounded like the other made him a medical prescription instead of coffee, but that may just have been the tiredness of a Starfleet officer still lingering inside Jim. The simple nod and brief confirmation was all Jim needed though. Was this a romantic thing? It sounded like something the ensign had read in the romance novels last night. Why else would the other make him a custom drink? Never before had Jim any interest in men, but this was simply too much for him to ignore. Heteronormativity had died out decades ago and sexuality was no longer an issue anywhere. The only obstacle Jim could possibly name was how Vulcans had the tendency to look down on emotional humans, of which he surely was one by Vulcan standards. However, Spock did not look at him with any judgement. ‘Whatever’, the ensign’s brain called out and a flirty smile appeared on the blond human’s face. “Why mister Spock, that is a big gesture. Perhaps I can repay you with more private lessons on small talk?”
Spock seemed to consider the suggestive invitation for a date. He blinked, face as blank as ever, before giving a small nod. “Repaying me would not be necessary. However, your assistance is very much welcomed. I am, however, occupied until 19:00 today.”
Jim quit leaning on the counter and took another sip of his special drink. “Great, small talk is very common over dinner. Meet me at the food plaza when you are done.” Another wink and the cocky ensign sauntered out like a jock who just scored a date with the most popular cheerleader. With a thermos cup in hand, he walked right out and continued walking until he realised he was going absolutely nowhere. He hoped he at least looked cool when he walked out, like a man who had more to do than just hang around the coffee shop and have small talk with the charming barista. The truth was, he really had nothing better to do. However, he could do with changing into something other than his Starfleet uniform. Ever since he graduated from the academy, he had hardly worn anything else. Jim was not sure if he still had a preference in clothes anymore.
After changing into something simple, yet elegant, Jim had enough time left to pick between restaurants at the plaza. While Vulcan culture was part of the Starfleet Academy curriculum, it was more focused on how not to start a war and not on how to pick a good restaurant for a date with a Vulcan. At least finger food and the steakhouse were out of the question. As Jim was squinting at another menu on his small PADD, he was no longer looking at the other guests and inhabitants of Starbase 9. As one would expect, he walked face first into someone else. The brown-eyed human let out a soft ‘oof’ as he bumped into the hard body and dropped his PADD in the progress. He looked up, hoping he did not just walk right into an admiral or something. He met eyes with a tall and muscular Andorian. The blue skin, white hair and antennae made it impossible to miss, but never before had Jim seen an Andorian with such built. Could they even get this buff? Wouldn’t they get exhausted too soon to train to that extend? “I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going”, the Starfleet officer apologised, eyes fixated on the brooding figure. She smiled, friendly, and bent down, looking at his PADD as she picked it up.
“If you are looking for a place to eat, I recommend the steakhouse. It is really good”, she said with a voice that did not sound quite right, but Jim could not lay his finger on the oddity of it. He took his PADD back from the big, Andorian woman.
“Won’t do, my date is Vulcan, so probably a vegetarian”, Jim replied, letting out an awkward chuckle. The woman was obviously older than him, but she was not wearing a uniform. Neither was he, so it was unclear whether he had walked right into an Andorian ambassador or admiral, who could kick his ass and ruin his career at the same time. He was just happy she did not seem to be the temperamental type. If she were, he would probably not have all his bones still in tact by now.
“Oh really? In that case, there is a small corridor next to the Tellarite bar. There is a Vulcan restaurant there, exclusively for Vulcans, but I can pull some strings for you.” She smirked and got her own PADD from a small pouch hanging from her utility belt. She did not even wait for Jim’s answer, just started messaging whoever she was messaging. The blond ensign tried to stop her, but she merely giggled and turned away from him. “Don’t worry about it. I do everything for a good love story. I have to go now, but if you run into me again, I want all the juice. What’s your name?”
‘What an odd one’, Jim thought as he smiled and nodded his head. “I can live with that. I am Jim Kirk. Thank you so much, miss…?” She offered her hand after finishing up. Jim felt so small when he took it. As her fingers circled over his hand, blue skin completely covered it. She shook his hand with such enthusiasm, that the Starfleet officer feared losing his hand for a moment.
“Just call me Flora”, she beamed and Jim had a hard time not frowning. That was hardly an Andorian name, but humans nowadays had the tendency to give their human children alien names, so why could Andorians not do the exact same? Before Jim could make a comment on the name or anything, she was running off. “Bye, Jim! See you around!” He yelled another ‘thank you’ after her, but he doubted she heard him. A little stupefied, the young Starfleet officer was left in the middle of the plaza. It was way too early for his date to begin. He just hoped his name stayed on the guest list until tonight.