āThought youād never ask.ā They fall into step beside each other as casually and as easily as ever, and it doesnāt even occur to Leonard that heās usually the one to propose they retire somewhere and knock back a few. Things have been a bit off lately, however; he can blame stress.Ā
One day heāll look back on this moment, as he will look back upon many moments in a desperate effort to try and understand where it all went wrong, and despair. He knows Jim better than nearly anyone else. He should have seen it. He should have asked questions.Ā
Instead, he endeavors to let all the stresses of the day melt away in his best friendās presence, relying on their easy rapport. Theyāre in need of another change in scenery, and Leonard, for one, cannot wait to get off the ship for a bit. He figures Jim already has a plan, and as per usual, heās prepared to follow the man anywhere.Ā
Hell, maybe this small respite is just the chance he needs. Maybe this is when everything changes.Ā
āYou, uh, wanna talk about it? Youāre lookinā like someoneās been yankinā your pigtails.ā He is referring, of course, to Jimās expression. Rather than the open, utterly careless look his Captain is usually sporting, he seems a tad on the serious side today.
Itād been a toss up whether he had a shower or a drink first, but while he felt like the unwashed, he didnāt want to let the rapport heād been building with McCoy fade. He also really needed a drink. Everything was going well, according to his cunning plan, but it was taking so fucking long, which was to be expected. Good plans took time, and it wasnāt as if he was trying to steal a torpedo or a shuttlecraft. He was trying to steal the NCC-1701-A.
āI miss the Enterprise,ā he said without a single reason to lie. That ship equated to his power. It got him the respect he deserved, and the fear he craved. A captain without a ship was NOTHING, and if he didnāt come back with a replacement, heād be sent to some crapfest space station or shitty world and left there to rot. The Emperor did not like failure, even if he could prove that it was the Admirals who set him up.
He played with the spherical ice ball in his glass of bourbon and then licked the alcohol from his fingertip. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed just how much attention McCoy was paying to his nasty little playing with his food habit. Now that was interesting. Where he came from it was Spock. Was it McCoy here?
āI feel like Iām never going to be on the bridge of a ship again, and that thing we took out to Altamid doesnāt count. Do you miss her?ā