He stared back, stunned into silence. “W-well,” he finally stammered, “I’m certainly not the type to poach on another man’s… I mean…”

Janith-Lau scoffed, arms akimbo. “ ‘Poach’? What is this, Capella IV? I’m not a possession, Leonard.”

“No, of course not. That’s not what I…” He sighed. “I’m sorry. That was a stupid thing for me to say. I just meant that I wanted Jim to have a shot at being happy.”

She relaxed and gave him a beautiful smile. “You know what? Jim said something very similar about you.” Her expression sharpened again. “And he was rather quicker to accept that I had a say in the matter.”

McCoy didn’t trust himself to reply. He was feeling lost. Was she angry at him or flirting with him? “I… thought you weren’t interested in military men.”

Her head tilted in confusion. “Then why did you think I’d be interested in Jim?”

“Well… because he’s Jim! I don’t know. Maybe I figured he could win you over. I never expected you to make the first move. Least of all with me.”

She stepped closer. “You, Leonard McCoy, are the least military Starfleet officer I’ve ever met. You’re a healer, a man of great compassion. The fact that you tolerate being in Starfleet at all is my greatest source of reassurance about its intentions.” She smirked. “Even if you do act like a relic of a less enlightened age sometimes.”

“I do fancy myself an old-fashioned gentleman,” he admitted. “But that means always letting a lady set her own pace. So… what would your say in the matter be, Doctor?”

Her features became more approving. “I say I know an excellent vegetarian restaurant in the Mission District, and I’d like to take you to dinner there tonight. Are you game?”

The first thing he thought to say was If I wanted a vegetarian meal, I’d go to dinner with Spock. The second thing he thought, mercifully, was What the hell are you thinking? Say yes!

He gave her a courtly smile and bow. “I would be honored, my dear.”

McCoy began to wonder why he’d devoted so much of his attention lately to Kirk’s romantic life instead of his own. Perhaps, given his record of failed relationships, he’d assumed he was a lost cause.

Yet now that he finally saw what was in Ashley Janith-Lau’s eyes as she looked at him, he felt renewed hope that maybe he was worth pursuing after all.

U.S.S. Asimov