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To say that Christine Chapel was looking forward to the Holiday party would have been an immense understatement, she was perhaps the most excited she had ever been in her life. This was because she had a plan, to woo the Communications Officer of the USS Enterprise.
For some time now her and Nyota had been growing closer, she thought back to how this friendship had developed and how much she wanted for it to transform into something more.
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Uhura was the only woman on the alpha shift bridge team while Chris was one of many women in the sickbay, Chapel had never had an issue with her place in a team before due to the fact that the nurses worked so closely together. But there was a big difference between working closely with people and actually knowing them. She knew a lot of the nurses by name and little more, she certainly knew nothing in depth about the bridge crew.
Their first proper conversation took place just after the announcement that Chris would be going on an away mission instead of Doctor McCoy. She had just stepped out of the briefing room when she heard heels clicking towards her and then a soft hand reach her arm.
“Hey, Christine, right?” Uhura spoke quietly, as though she was scared that Chris may run away scared at any moment.
Chris nodded and looked up to meet Uhura’s eyes.
“I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be on the mission as well, so if you need to chat about it then I’m your girl.” Nyota tilted her head and smiled, Chris thought that that smile was perhaps the sweetest thing she’d ever seen.
It was a simple gesture, but it meant a lot to Chris. The fact that Nyota was willing to offer comfort to a complete stranger.
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Since that mission they had met up fairly regularly for dinner in the mess, speaking about everything and nothing at the same time. Conversation flowed easily between them, as though they had known each other far longer than a matter of weeks.
One night, after a particularly rough interaction with yet another strange space phenomenon, Uhura turned up at Chris’ quarters with a bowl of popcorn and a couple of blankets. This eventually became a reoccurring event every other night, starting with old Earth animation before quickly moving to a selection of low budget films.
Uhura scoffed, “Please tell me she isn’t going to marry that idiot?! Sally has clearly been in love with her for years!”
The two of them were curled up on either end of the couch in Chris’ lounge area, one blanket draped over the both of them. She hadn’t been too focused on the holo-film because about halfway through the film Uhura had tangled up their legs under the blanket, causing tingles to run from their shared points of contact, but even she could see that the main character had more chemistry with her best friend than the love interest they had shoved between the two women.
“This is what we get for watching vintage films, women couldn’t possibly love other women!” Chris exclaimed dramatically, flailing her arms about as she spoke.
Uhura giggled and grabbed one of the Chapel’s hands, clasping it in her own, “My dear, they are just gals being pals!”
She was suddenly filled with tingles once again; she felt her face flush and her heartbeat speed up. It was then that she realised she was acting like a schoolgirl with a crush, this wasn’t the first time that Chapel found herself appreciating women. There was really hardly any point for labels in this century, but if she were to classify herself, she thinks that bisexual would fit her rather nicely. She hadn’t ventured too deeply into the world of dating since Roger, her failed attempts at gaining the attention of a certain Vulcan on board had quickly put a stop to that.
But right here, with one hand clasped by the most wonderful woman she had ever met, their legs muddled together under the blanket, Christine thought that perhaps she could give the idea of romance another go.
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Which brings her back to the Holiday party and her great plan, which was either going to end wonderfully or tragically. Chris had never been the type of person to only put half the effort in, she was going to go all out.
Uhura loved music, she had a terrifically beautiful voice and Chris adored it when she would sing in the recreation room. Chapel had a much different voice, while Uhura could sing melodic slow songs, Cristine had the voice of a punk singer. It contrasted her vintage look and Nyota had admitted to being incredibly shocked when they’d headed to karaoke on the last shore leave.
And it was a punk song she was planning on performing at the Holiday party, she just had to work out how she was going to get a band to perform with her. It wasn’t as though she was incredibly close to many on the ship.
There was one other person on this ship that she could talk about this stuff with, Doctor McCoy. Her and the Doctor had bonded over their mutual crush on the ship’s resident Vulcan, and while her efforts at flirting went unnoticed by Spock, Leonard was far more successful. Chris prided herself on having a pretty well refined gay-dar, but somehow, she had managed to miss the longing looks sent towards Leonard. Before the two men had begun their courtship, Chris and Leonard would chat about romance while stocking the cabinets. She knew that he would understand and hopefully, he could help. After all, everyone knew that Leonard was a soppy romantic.
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Chris figured that the best time to ask the Doctor was early on during the shift, before any physicals took place and hopefully while he was still on a high from seeing his Vulcan. So she headed into the sickbay that morning determined to speak with Leonard.
She found the Doctor fiddling with one of the sickbay beds, “Morning Chris, tryin’ to figure out if I can fix this bed without asking engineering for help.”
Christine took a deep breath before she responded in what she hoped was a confident and calm manner. “Leonard, I have a favour to ask of you. It’s a bit of a big favour really.”
The Doctor immediately stopped messing with the bed and gave his head nurse his undivided attention. “Tell me what’s going on, Chris.”
“Well, me and Nyota have been spending a lot of time together.” She stated while rubbing her hands together nervously, “And, well I want to ask her out.” The last part sort of came out more like a shout rather than confident and calm. She tried at least.
Leonard grinned, “Me and Spock had noticed the two of ya hanging out! Oh, Chris I’m so happy for you!” The grin returned to a kind smile, “How can I help?”
She sighed happily at her friend’s reaction, “How musically talented are you?”
A maniacal grin spread over Leonards face, “Oh this I can work with, tell me what you need and I can get it. I know a certain Scotsman that can play the drums.”
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Which brought her to where she was now, standing just off stage at the USS Enterprise holiday party. Microphone in one hand and a bottle of water in the other just to sip before they were called onto the stage.
To her left stood Leonard McCoy holding an old-style bass guitar, hair messed up to match the punk aesthetic they were aiming for, although his science blues reduced the punk vibes a fair bit. On her right was Montgomery Scott, who Leonard had recruited to play the drums, he certainly looked more punk than McCoy as he wore his kilt. The least punk looking out of the bunch was Spock, Chris couldn’t quite work out how Leonard had managed to convince the Vulcan to play guitar, perhaps he was also a romantic at heart.
That left Christine, she was mostly still in her uniform, the only real difference being her choice of tights and the neatness of her hair. It certainly wasn’t up to dress regulations right now. Her normal tights had been replaced by fishnets and she was wearing slightly more eyeliner than usual. Just enough to hint at being punk while still being appropriate if an emergency were to interrupt the performance.
They had a plan, as far as anyone else on the ship was concerned this performance was just between McCoy, Scotty, and Spock. Christine wasn’t involved at all. It would begin with McCoy playing a couple bars on his bass guitar to set up the suspense, more than the original song had, while Chekov would take control of the lighting and dim the room down so that there was one spotlight left on the stage.
That was where Chris would stand, and Scotty would begin playing when she began to sing. Spock’s part in the operation was limited to the chorus which was why he’d stay hidden in the back, left to be heard but not seen. Leonard had even managed to recruit Sulu to ensure that Uhura was centred in the crowd.
Her thoughts were broken when she heard Yeoman Rand speaking to the other three, “Right boys, It’s your turn. Good luck with… Whatever you’re doing...?” She finished by glancing suspiciously at Scotty’s kilt.
The three men nodded at her, one with a very neutral face while the others were giggling, before they began walking on stage.
Soon after they had left her sight, the lights in the room dimmed and the sound of Leonard’s bass guitar began to thrum around the room.
Chris glanced out onto the dark stage and saw a spotlight shine right in the middle, “Rand, hold my water for me please?”
She held the microphone up to her face and began to sing before she had reached the spotlight, allowing her to remain mysterious for a moment. Scotty’s drumming started right on time as the words left her mouth.
“I can’t stop thinking about you
One look and I knew I was about to do
No, I got one look at your face
You’re the kinda girl I cannot replace”
She stepped into the spotlight and smiled as the crowd gasped.
“Your round hips and your brown eyes
And that tight red dress going up to your thighs
Making my head turn upside down
Maybe you and I could run this town”
Chris readied herself to let loose after the next word, “Yeah!” She began to stomp around the stage, the spotlight following where she went. Spock chimed in with his guitar ringing in everyones ears along with the chorus.
“You’re the only thing running through my head
Looking right, looking left and you right there
All these other couples say it all to me
There’s two dudes sitting in a chair
Their hands all up in each other’s hair
And all I could do is wish that could be me”
The rest of the song passed in a bit of a blur, she was so focussed on putting on a performance and getting the words right that perhaps she’d even blacked out a little bit. Before she knew it the song was over.
The instruments finished and the crowd began to roar but all Chapel could focus on was Uhura in the middle of it all looking amazed. She hopped off the stage, placing her microphone on the floor, and headed towards Uhura. The crowd parted to allow her through, clearly, she looked like a woman on a mission.
“Nyota, I was wondering-” Christine began, but was swiftly interrupted by Uhura wrapping her arms around her neck and kissing her to within an inch of her life. Those wonderful tingles began again and she brought up her hands to cup at Uhura’s jaw.
Uhura leaned away, “I want to be more than gal pals.” She giggled.
Chris joined in with her laughter, “So do I if you couldn’t guess from the song.”
Although the two of them were surrounded by a crowd, they felt completely alone in the universe at that moment, alone together.