Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed - [Bridge] - [Uhura, Kirk]

[behnd_blueyes]

Returning to alpha shift, Kirk noted a few things. Chekov wasn't there. Uhura was a little on edge. And she and Rand both had a subtle, probably unnoticed-by-them shift towards each other, the way a dog and master attune themselves to each others' presence without knowing it

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[spkng_in_tngues]

They were progressing, were on course for another planet, another mission, making their way back to Earth. But it wasn't entirely smooth. Uhura had banished Chekov to gamma shift for the time being, until she could find out more about what had happened on the planet.

"Kirk. Did you enjoy your first away mission?"

Not his first away mission but his first under her command, his first since whatever the hell Pike had starved him.

[spkng_in_tngues]

It was, if nothing else, a quiet shift. When it ended, Uhura rose - noted that her crew waited for her approval.

"Kirk. I want to speak with you in my ready room."

[behnd_blueyes]

That could mean anything, of course, but it did mean that if he was an example to the crew, it was left to their imaginations as to what it was. For now. Kirk rose and went willingly, no reason not to, after all. He did, indeed, have some of his old swagger back as he joined her.

[spkng_in_tngues]

Uhura let him follow her, the space between her shoulderblades prickling as it had not done since Kirk's return to the bridge. But he was different now - he had found something or gotten something back during the away mission. Still, she kept her shoulders straight and her pace easy as she led the way.

It was a relief, though, to settle into the chair behind her desk to face him again.

"Sit. I want you to tell me about Andrea. What was she like on the planet? What was she like with Korby?"

[behnd_blueyes]

Kirk sat, crossing his legs with an ankle on one knee.

"Interested in the little thing, are you?" He might have asked whether that meant she was getting nowhere with Rand, but he didn't want to push her too far. "You've seen her. She's docile, obedient, Korby's wet dream."

[spkng_in_tngues]

Uhura rolled her eyes. Kirk could insinuate all he wanted. But the thing was a robot and while Uhura might feel bad for her... No.

"I've seen her. But you've seen her in her natural environment, her home. What did you do to her, Kirk?"

[behnd_blueyes]

"Do to her, captain? Is she damaged?" He did look innocent, ready to trot outrage out for display.

[spkng_in_tngues]

"Can the innocent look, Kirk. I know you better than that - I've watched you practice that look."

She shook her head, enough to feel her hair wisp across her shoulders.

"What did you do to convince her? It certainly wasn't out of the goodness of her heart."

[behnd_blueyes]

Uhura exaggerated. He hadn't need to practice that look in awhile. "Captain," he said, smiling, "you've known me awhile, now. What do you think I did?"

He left just enough pause for her to supply it in her mind.

"Logic. She's a robot--I offered her incontrovertible proof that Korby didn't give a shit about her."

[spkng_in_tngues]

"Did you fuck her?"

She wasn't jealous. She was curious. Just how true to type had Kirk reverted?

[behnd_blueyes]

His smile was mild, for him.

"That would have proven only that we were all just like him," he said. "I merely... encouraged her to consider her own possibilities."

[spkng_in_tngues]

Uhura wasn't entirely sure the Jim Kirk with whom she'd allied herself before would have grasped that subtle difference.

He was more dangerous now.

"Would you like to encourage her some more?"

[behnd_blueyes]

Kirk's glance at her lingered a moment, weighing. Questioning. It was loaded, obviously, but that was a given.

"To what end?"

[spkng_in_tngues]

"To the end that she's useful; I don't need her to be a prisoner yet. If you've made some sort of connection with her, that's something we can leverage."

Whatever he had with McCoy, it had made Kirk more cautious. Or maybe that was the result of Pike's punishment. Either way, Kirk was thinking before he was acting.

[behnd_blueyes]

Perhaps more cautious--or perhaps he just wasn't as interested in her favor anymore.

"Hence bunking her with your yeoman," he said. "She not getting anywhere?"

[spkng_in_tngues]

"Please. Why have only one plan when several approaches are more likely to produce results?"