for ZEX, it's time to par-tay

[bornsnarky]

[standing at the bar, yanking on the collar of this damn dress uniform]

[reeeeeeally hoping these Thraddash people don't approach me, surely there're enough interesting people around here that I can just get convivially drunk with Scotty and ZEX and Uhura]

[I can see Jim in the corner being all charming and shit, and there're a couple more being entertained by Chekov and Gaila, excellent, maybe I can get out of this formal reception with my sanity relatively intact]

[then a gravelly voice behind me says he'll buy me a drink]

[...turning]

Ah. Um. Thanks, I guess. I'm Leonard McCoy.


[he says he knows]

Comments

[bornsnarky]

[slightly earnestly drunk]

You have a nice laugh.

[zexyandiknowit]

[While still kinda laughing]

Do I? I've been told it's girlish, by human standards.

[bornsnarky]

[shrugging the shoulder that isn't leaning on you]

It's a little high pitched, maybe? But 'girlish' ain't bad, anyway.

[zexyandiknowit]

VUX do not even have the concept. It's... it's strange. But not bad?

[bornsnarky]

Definitely not, and I'll smack anyone who says otherwise.

[you are fast exploding my unexamined concepts of gender, and I like it]

[zexyandiknowit]

[Giggles, softer than usual, feeling strangely warm]

[bornsnarky]

[aaaand heading down the corridor]

[at least we're keeping each other upright]

[and I'm not scrubbing puke out of the carpet while wearing a loincloth]

[zexyandiknowit]

[What has Jim done to your standards, you poor man]

...Did you really mean to examine me?

[bornsnarky]

[bad bad things]

Yup, I better. You're probably okay, but I better.

[zexyandiknowit]

[Small sigh, but v. fond]

[bornsnarky]

[you better be]

Your quarters, if you want. I have a tricorder on me.

[zexyandiknowit]

Of course you do. Why would anyone go to a formal party without one?

[Turning the corner, then. TO THE TURBOLIFT]

[bornsnarky]

Well, exactly. Young people today...

[walking with you peacefully]

[zexyandiknowit]

"Young people"? You are not so ancient.

[bornsnarky]

Pfft. I'm plenty ancient.

[zexyandiknowit]

[Thinkin' for a moment]

I am older than you, I think. If... how long is a human year? An Earth year?

[bornsnarky]

Are you? Huh. 365 and a quarter days, roughly. Earth days align with ship days, so 24 hours.

[zexyandiknowit]

Yes, that was difficult... Sleeping at night felt like a series of naps.

I am older than you. But tell me about the young people, I have not heard this.

[bornsnarky]

How long's your day?

You are? I feel so young. [laughs]

Ah, you don't have that trope, huh? Young people are ignorant, young people are annoying, young people are too loud, and so on. I thought it was just a cliche until I got old and discovered it was all true.

Old people suck, too, don't get me wrong.

[zexyandiknowit]

Nearing thirty hours, from your perspective. I... hmm. I am approaching fifty human years, very soon. Odd.

"Too loud"? Why?

[bornsnarky]

[sudden horrible thought] How long's the average VUX lifespan? Huh, thirty hours, that must've taken some adjustment.

Because they don't shut up and they talk about stupid things?

[shrugs]

[zexyandiknowit]

Oh, very comparable to yours I imagine. [Absent pat on McCoy's back] One hundred and fifty-some years, yes?

Tell me the stupid things. ♥

[Turboliftttt]

[bornsnarky]

...not quite. We can manage one twenty or so sometimes, but the usual's more like seventy to ninety.

[laughs] Nah.

[zexyandiknowit]

Is it? Lucky I am already older, then.

[And the lights pass by in the turbolift and throw McCoy's gorgeous laughing face into relief, and ZEX's stomach does that weird thing it's been doing again]

[bornsnarky]

Yeah, we're fairly similar in terms of distance through our lifespans, I guess.

[mmm I like your face, too]

[never knew how much I like green, before]