He chuckled slightly. "When I was a teenager I was kind of awkward. That first kiss I told you about? I was fifteen when I got it. It wasn't until I was eighteen that I kind of hit my stride. I got a couple guys at the local college who took me under their wing, but generally I just got told to crack jokes and be charming. It helped that I started to do more manual labor where I grew up when I was fifteen. Got a nice set of muscles out of it, which the women seemed to appreciate."
He waited for a moment as the waiter came with their wine. "Scotty rambles sometimes. It's amusing to listen to when it's on a subject that isn't about the ship. The rest of my friends are pretty quiet." He paused. "Well, Spock can get pretty long-winded, and he has a different point of view about things, considering what he is. The whole 'Vulcans can't lie' thing means you get the blunt truth from him pretty much all the time, especially since he also hasn't heard of tact. When he goes on at length there's times I really want to punch him in the mouth. But he's one of my best friends, so I put up with it."
He was quiet for a moment as he thought. "Well, that depends on where I'm living. If I'm still in my apartment in San Francisco or the place here I'd probably want something I could keep in the apartment. An iguana or something, maybe a Komodo dragon. But if it was anything at all? A zebra. They were my favorite animal when I was a kid. I've only ever seen them in books and movies. I've never actually been to a zoo to see one up close."