Bold

Two

Sat quietly in the rec room, Eli flicked through the pages of a book on her PADD. It had been about three weeks since she had joined the crew of the USS Enterprise on her five year mission into the unknown.

Plopping down next to Eli, Max Darius smiled to himself. He had taken Eli under his wing after they had met on her first day, helping the young woman get to grips with life on a starship and settle into a routine. Eli, of course, was very grateful and was quickly coming to count on Max as a friend.

"What're you reading, Eli?" Max asked.

"Stephen King's It. It's a classic." She replied, not looking up from her device.

"Let me guess. You're imagining McCoy as little Georgie, aren't you?" Max joked.

"I wasn't, actually, but now I am!" Eli said, giggling. "But he doesn't deserve to have his arm ripped off, Max."

"Who, George?"

"Stop it, now. Let's not stoop to his level, Max." Eli half scolded.

"Oooh! Says you, Miss Catty." Max replied with raised eyebrows.

"Oh shut up."

~~~

"Well, sir, you seem to have broken your ankle." Max informed the redshirt lying on the biobed matter-of-factly.

"Well give him a starship and call him Captain Obvious!" Eli snorted, walking over with a PADD. "It's a hairline fracture on your ankle - it should heal in a few weeks. We'll give you a boot to protect it from further stress, but take a few days off just to rest it. Don't forget to keep it elevated and apply ice to the area whenever possible. Feel free to take paracetamol if the pain gets too much." Eli told him with a smile.

"Hey! I was getting around to that bit." Max protested.

"You were taking too long."

"Yeah? Well, take a look at Grumpy-guts practicing his bedside manner." Max said to distract her from teasing him.

"Oh this'll be just peachy." Eli muttered.

~

"How bad is it, Doctor?" A young science officer asked, hardly daring to hear the news. His face was scrunched up as if bracing for someone to punch it.

"Oh for god's sake! All you did was stub your toe. You didn't even break it!" McCoy exclaimed. "You're just being pathetic!"

"But, but it hurts!!"

"Ugh. Just get out of my sickbay, you idiot." He sighed and sat down on a biobed, rubbing his head and muttering to himself quietly.

"You know," Eli said, interrupting his thoughts, causing McCoy to nearly jump out of his skin. He looked up as she said, "You ought to work on that bedside manner of yours, Peach. You come across as a bit of an arsehole." She chuckled to herself.

Then, just like that, she walked away, leaving him utterly speechless.

~~~

"Jim, I don't know where she got it from! She just won't stop calling me Peach." McCoy complained to his friend, later that day. "I asked her to stop the first time she said it, but she doesn't listen!"

"Bones, you sound like a child."

"Says you!" McCoy retorted, despite knowing that he was right.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? When I told her you liked being called Peach, I didn't think she'd actually do it." Kirk said, shrinking away slightly. He held up his glass as a form of alcoholic protection.

"So this was your fault?!"

"Uhhh... no? Maybe? Yes?"

"I swear, Kirk, if this wasn't really good, you'd be covered in it, right now." McCoy threatened, picking up his glass and taking a sip.

"Well, at least you haven't killed her yet. That's a good sign." Jim said, sporting a look that made it more like a question than a statement.

"Well, she's a decent enough doctor and she gets the job done, that's for sure." He said with a defeated sigh.

"Wow! We actually found ourselves someone that the great Leonard McCoy approves of! And I would even go as far to say that you like her."

"Hey, I like you, don't I? It's not necessarily a good sign."