InsaneJournal

Jim asked Mary to meet him outside of Starfleet's deep space headquarters on the starbase, giving her simple instructions for her to find it - basically, he told her that she can't miss it. Once she arrived, he greeted her with a grin and motioned for her to join him inside, where he had to present his ID, sign her in as a guest, and then led her to a bank of clear turbolift elevators that didn't just go vertically but every direction. "After you," he said, stepping aside to let her enter first. Then he joined her and passed his finger against a keypad to give them access to the research floors of headquarters.

"Now, I know you probably stopped by the bookstore I mentioned, but I thought you might be interested in seeing something really neat," he said, leaning his shoulder casually against the wall. He was in his uniform, not the gold command shirt that he wore on normal days on board the Enterprise, but something more akin to business casual, Starfleet regulation that wasn't dress but wasn't on duty. It was dark gray which gold stripes at the shoulders and his rank along the lapel.

---

He looked good in it, but then again, Jim was a good-looking man. Mary liked the gold shirts, though this outfit was nice as well. She liked him better in uniform than out.

Mary smiled at him as the lift took them up. She had been delighted to be invited to come in here, considering that non-Starfleet people weren't allowed unless accompanied by someone like Jim. She was very excited to see whatever he had to show her. “You've kept me in suspense all day.”

---

“There’s a small library in the research department here that houses physical books, many of them antique, though not all of them Terran,” Jim explained casually. “I thought you might be interested in paging through them, having a little bit of familiarity.” Though a lot had happened throughout the course of Jim’s life, he was having trouble wrapping his mind around the displaced feeling many of the travelers might be having since arriving in this century, especially someone like Lady Mary, who came from a time so many centuries before now.

When the turbolift stopped, he had to use his finger and ID card again before it opened and they could step out into a dimly lit hallway. “Almost there,” he said, starting off down it and waiting for her to fall into step beside him.

---

Mary grinned at him. “That sounds delightful.” She was pleased that he had thought of her. It made her heart feel light.

Instinctively, Mary put her hand in the crook of Jim’s elbow as they walked down the hall. “You know, I hate to admit that I wasn't a terribly prolific reader back home. I did enjoy it and read in my spare time, though it was just as likely to be Vogue as it was a novel.” She laughed slightly. “I was better at maths.”

---

He glanced down at her arm in his, forgetting for a moment that this was probably what she was used to, even if it probably - no, definitely - look odd to anyone passing by them. Though Jim also didn't think they'd run into anyone in this area of headquarters. Besides, if they did, he didn't really particularly care. He gave her hand a light pat and turned them down a side corridor. "Well, you don't have to read any of them, but they might at least feel like home."

---

Tony’s words about this being “a date” echoed in Mary’s mind, but Jim’s thoughts were right. Gentlemen escorted ladies in her time and it had nothing to do with romantic intentions. Although she had to admit to herself that she enjoyed being on his arm in particular.

When they reached the door to the room that housed the library, they stood in front of it while Jim scanned his card. After it slid open, Mary positively grinned at the sight behind it. “Oh…” she said as they walked into the room. There were shelves and shelves of real books. “I never would have guessed that I would be so happy to see a room with books,” she said with a light laugh.

---

Jim allowed her to step in first while he fiddled with the lights and temperature controls. "Now, I don't think you can look at all of them, but I'm sure there's a section here somewhere that we can pull the books off the shelves and page through them." He scrolled his finger along the screen next to the door and paged through it to find out where they could look at the books. "I don't know if we'll get lucky or not," he said, "some of these books might be really boring.

---

Mary stood next to him, watching the screen as he scrolled through the titles in the library. “Did you have a favorite that you read when you were growing up?” She asked. She didn't need for it to be all about her. Even if whatever he picked was from after her time, Mary would still enjoy looking through it.




"A favorite book?" he echoed, then turned to her with his eyebrows up and a grin on his face. "Oh, I'm sure what I read growing up is nothing that would be here in this library, not to mention nothing that you'd be interested in reading." He'd been the type to swipe his stepfather's dirty magazines or read old westerns when he read a real story.

---

Mary cocked an eyebrow at him, but said nothing. That grin of his was rather disarming. “How about Shakespeare then?” She asked. “It has been a while since I have read any of him.”

---

"There might be some Shakespeare here. Let me double check," he said, turning his attention back to the database and squinting until he found what he was looking for. "Ah, yes, there's a folio. Well, it's a replica of a folio, so not an original - I don't know if any of the originals exist off Earth - but it was made sometime in the 20th century so it's old." He double checked its location and then motioned for her to join him.

---

She laughed slightly at his comment that the 20th century was “old”. Mary truly hoped that he did not find her old. Old-fashioned, maybe, but not old. She followed him through the stacks. “I always did rather like Shakespeare when the governess made us read his plays. He had a biting wit.” Mary could admire that - and relate.

---

It would be impossible for Jim to think of the woman standing in front of him as old. Sure, she was born a long time ago, but time travel was complicated enough that she wasn't any older than she was when she last walked on her own Earth in her own time. That thought didn't even cross her mind. "Which play is your favorite?" he asked her. "I once saw an entire production of Romeo & Juliet done in Bothan. I couldn't understand a word of it so it's a good thing I knew the plot."

---

“Much Ado About Nothing,” Mary answered quickly. That one was far and away her favorite. “I enjoyed the comedies more than the tragedies. They have done Shakespeare in alien languages?” She smiled at the thought of that. Almost a thousand years after his death and the Bard still had staying power. “Apparently you do some reading if you know the plot of Romeo & Juliet.” Mary gave him a coy smile.

---

“Romeo and Juliet was still required reading in grade school,” he said. “And besides, my mom liked the theater so she dragged me along with her a lot when I was a kid. I was always more interested in the sword fights and death scenes than the romance, but who doesn’t know the plot of Romeo and Juliet?” Jim led her down a narrow aisle and then pushed a button to open a panel in the wall, revealing three rows of neatly placed books - real books. “And yeah, Shakespeare’s stood the test of time. A lot of other cultures and races like to adapt him for their people.”

---

Mary stood close to him as he opened the wall. That in itself was fascinating, like seeing a secret compartment. “I think that just makes you a typical male then,” she said. Did he have a cultured side that he was trying to hide? She wondered why he would do that. Perhaps such a thing wasn't considered attractive in this time.

Mary was probably supposed to be looking at the books, but for a moment she was caught up in looking at him, tucked away as they were in their private corner of the library. Her eyes were on his jaw and lips when she realized there had been a lengthy silence between them. “Ah. Um. May I touch them?” She asked, finally turning towards the books.

---

Jim nodded. “Sure you can. They’ve all been covered with preservation seals.” He leaned in to look at the spines and then put a fingertip against the top of one and tugged it off the shelf. “Here,” he said. “William Shakespeare, in its original English translation, even.”

---

She took the book from him, pleased to see that it was Much Ado, and flipped through to find one of the lines she loved. “‘I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest’,” Mary read. For some reason she had always found Beatrice and Benedick’s love story to be very romantic.

---

“I don’t remember that one,” Jim said, hitching a shoulder against a break in the shelving, against a bulkhead. “But go on and keep reading it,” he said, “I like listening.”

---

“Well, you’ll have to be Benedick then, or I’ll be talking to myself,” she said, moving close to him so that he could see the book as well. Mary pointed to the next line, which was his.

---

He leaned in toward her. "Oh, so we're performing now?" he asked with a grin. "You know, maybe that's not a bad idea for the whole ship. Do you want to put on a play?" Maybe he would even make a cameo or some kind of appearance there if someone set it up. He made a mental note to suggest it to Agent Carter next time he had a chance to.

"'Come, bid me do anything for thee,'" he continued, reading Benedick's line for her.

---

“A play? Well… I don't know.” Mary could sing, but she didn't fancy herself an actress. Not that she couldn't do it. Perhaps others would be better at it and would have an interest.

It stilled her for a moment, as did hearing Kirk say that line. If only he was really saying it to her. “‘Kill Claudio.’” Or Lucifer maybe. Not that he was killable.

---

Maybe Jim should have been more familiar with the play. He wasn’t even sure what scene she had chosen, and he looked down to make sure that she was reading the correct line. Not that he knew anyone named Claudio. “That’s a little rash, isn’t it?” he muttered, then cleared his throat and gave a short bark of a laugh. “‘Ha! Not for the wide world.’”

---

Mary tried not to smile as he got into the acting. His commentary was amusing too. “Claudio wronged Beatrice’s cousin and accused her of being with another man and left her at the altar.” Apparently Beatrice didn't take kindly to people hurting her family. Mary could respect that.

“‘You kill me to deny it. Farewell.’” Mary made to go off with the book, as if she were exiting the scene, but quickly came back. There was more, but that was probably enough for now. She closed the book and handed to to him. “Thank you for indulging me, Captain,” she said with a smile. “You make a lovely Benedick…” Mary paused, debating whether or not to add her next statement. “He is supposed to be played by a handsome man after all.”

---

His smile came, slow and casual, as she clipped her way through the next line and even acted it out, strolling away from him with the book. He almost called out to her but then she turned and came back. He took the book from her and tucked it back into its place on the shelf. “If you’re going to be calling me handsome,” Jim said slowly, “then perhaps you ought to call me Jim instead of captain.”

---

Mary felt her heart start to pick up pace in her chest. “Is that proper?” She asked. “Perhaps if I only called you Jim to your face.” Other people might start to wonder otherwise. “You must call me Mary then,” she continued, moving a bit closer to him. “Do you break women’s hearts, Jim?”

---

He shrugged. “I’ve never really considered myself a complete stickler for the rules and protocol,” he said. “And besides, you’re not a member of my crew, Mary. You’re a guest. You’re welcome to call me anything you’d like.” Jim smiled and then tipped his head to the side at the question. “Well, now that’s something you’d have to ask a woman, don’t you think? I definitely don’t intentionally break any hearts or break anything at all.”

---

“You're a man of distinguishment. You should be called by your title.” That was what was right. “But I admit, I am pleased to be able to call you Jim if we are alone.” Mary tried to read his face after his second statement, but it was inscrutable. She did at least believe his sincerity. “Perhaps I ought to guard mine, just to be safe, even though you've been nothing but a gentleman to me.”

Their flirtation had been much more prolific over the PADD.

---

He would readily admit that he liked the fact that he was a captain already, and that he headed up the crew of the Enterprise. That he captained Starfleet’s flagship. But he didn’t need to be reminded of it every time he spoke with someone, especially not with someone like her. “I promise I will never do anything you don’t want me to do,” he said. But then a moment later he closed off the bookshelf and offered her his arm. “Can I buy you a drink before I have to get back to the ship?”

---

“What about things I do want you to do?” She asked quietly. Mary slipped her hand in the crook of his elbow though. “I would like very much if you did, Jim,” she said of his offer of a drink. This evening had been lovely so far. Mary felt special for getting to see something that not many of the other travelers would.

---

“Well then we’ll just have to see where life takes us, won’t we?” he suggested to her, giving her a mischievous wag of his eyebrows. He gave her hand a pat and led her out of the room and back into the dimly lit hallway. “Good,” Jim said, “then that’s what we’ll do and then I’ll leave you to enjoy the rest of the starbase on your own.”

---

Mary smiled at the look he gave her, though his words made her wonder. Perhaps she was so used to men here like Lucifer coming on so strongly that she could not even appreciate the fact that Jim was being a gentleman. She wondered if that was rare in this century. What she did know was that she felt good on his arm.

“That sounds like a wonderful plan.”