Leonard McCoy leaned casually against the side of the desk in Admiral Kirk’s office. “So as it turned out, your entire contribution to the mission was to hover over Spock on the bridge and sit in your quarters doing paperwork. You could’ve done that back here.”

“It was a sensitive situation,” Kirk countered, scrolling idly through the list of proposed course catalog revisions on his desk monitor. “While it was best to maintain the pretense of a civilian exchange, it was important to show the Romulan government that we took the peace gesture seriously—that it had the attention and support of officers at the highest level.”

McCoy scoffed. “Most convoluted excuse for a mission I ever heard. I’m just trying to decide if you did it to get out of trudging through that course catalog, or to get out of your blind date with Rosemarie Yeun.”

“Rosemarie seems like a perfectly charming lady. I told her I’d be happy to reschedule.”

“You knew she was shipping out this week to do a geological survey on that new colony world. Buzzelle or whatever.”

“Basel. Like the one in Switzerland.” Kirk furrowed his brow, glancing up at the doctor. “Wasn’t Buzzelle your grandmother’s maiden name?”

“Stop trying to change the subject. You can’t keep making excuses to get out of having a social life.”

“Bones, you know as well as I do how unpredictable Starfleet life can be.” He glanced at the chronometer. “Although I do have a meeting scheduled with Commander Rakatheema from Starfleet Security in about two minutes. So can we talk about this later?”

McCoy grew pensive. “Now that you mention it, there is a very attractive genetics researcher at Starfleet Medical who’s been dying to meet you, Jim. If you can find an evening free this week—”

“Bones, just stop. I was being polite before. This obsession of yours with my romantic life has—”

“Or your lack of one.”

“Has got to stop. It’s not as though I’ve ever needed help connecting with women.”

McCoy crossed his arms. “You’re starting to believe your reputation from the vid dramas. I know you better than that, Jim. Getting women interested in you has never been the problem. The problem is prying you away from your obsessive work ethic. And I don’t mean the occasional casual fling in the heat of a crisis. I mean opening yourself to the possibility, now that you’re settled down on Earth, of finding someone worth settling down with.”

Kirk’s aide signaled from the outer office. “Admiral? Commander Rakatheema has arrived.”

“Excellent, Lieutenant,” Kirk said with feeling. “Send him in, please.”

“That was not two minutes,” McCoy said.

“Some officers pride themselves on punctuality,” Kirk said. “You should try it sometime.”

“Ha, ha. If I have to be insulted, I’ll just go find Spock so I can get it from an expert.”