Snippet 5d

Silence passed, and Christi shook her head at Mel. "I don't think he's home ei-"

The door opened, and Sulu squinted sleepily through a crack as he scratched his head. "Yeah?" he asked, groggily, his smile becoming a little more sleezy when he saw the time of them. "Hey there."

"Hi," Mel said brightly, grinning at him and waving cheerfully. "We just moved into apartment 12J, and we're out to meet the neighbors! I'm Mel, and that's Christi. And you're Hikaru Sulu?"

"Yeah..." Sulu said, the smile fading from his face when he saw they knew his name. "And how did you find out my name...?"

"We memorized where everyone was for social reasons." Christi said, nodding responsibly.

"Oh." Sulu said, still not looking convinced but trying to hide it. "Well...nice to meet you."

"Yeah! Nice to meet you, too!" Mel said happily. "Feel free to stop by any time for anything. Seeya!" And she turned a second later, and started marching off down the hallway again.

Christi gave Sulu an embarrassed smile. "She takes some getting used to, but we - umm-" she looked back at Mel before slowly turning to follow her. "Bye."

Sulu stared after them as they disappeared out of sight.

"Great. You totally freaked him out." Christi sighed as they turned the corner. "Now he'll never trust us."

"Yeah, he will. He's just got to get used to us," Mel said carelessly, staring down at the list in her hands. "Let's see...next...aha! The Vulcan brothers," she inhaled excitedly and quickened her pace. "RIGHT down here!"

They arrived at apartment 23C, and Mel wasted no time in rapping on it just as loudly as she had before.

There was a moment of silence. Then the handle of the door turned, and it was opened a bit to reveal a dark, suspicious gaze that fixed on them immediately when they came into view. "Yes?"

Christi opened her mouth to respond, but...nothing came out.

Mel was in an equal state of shock. She stared, bug-eyed at the form of the Vulcan in front of them. He was clearly not Spock. He looked slightly older, with sharper eyes and a more angular face. His hair was longer than a typical Vulcan's, and he was dressed in a dark blue polo shirt and black pants - nothing like what Vulcans normally wore. But he still was, unmistakably, Vulcan.

It had to be Sybok.

"Can I help you?" he asked, now looking even more suspicious at their prolonged silence.

"We - uh-" Christi stammered, trying to clear her head. "We're the new neighbors. In...ummm..."

"Apartment 12J," Mel quickly finished, still staring at the Vulcan. "...we're...just...you know...introducing ourselves to everybody. You're...Sybok, right? I mean, yeah, you have to be - and - uh, I'm Mel, and that's Christi. ............hi."

Sybok merely stared at them. Then, taking a step back, he began to close the door.

"Wait wait wait!" Christi said quickly, putting her hand on the door. "Is...umm...Spock here?"

Sybok peered at her again, his eyebrows lowering again. "Why do you ask?"

Mel suddenly gasped, catching a glimpse of another figure inside the room and quickly grabbing onto Christ's arm. "Wait! I see him! He's sitting at the table in there! Spock!!"

Sybok shut the door.

Christi slumped in defeat. "Oh my god..."

Mel blinked at the door. Then, slowly, she turned toward Christi. "...that didn't go well." She said, still staring straight ahead as she turned away and started to walk down the hallway. "...now I KNOW we scared 'em."

"We should have used the Kirks for a test run." Christi said, kicking her self. "Uuughh..."

"You can't use the Kirks as a test run for the Vulcans," Mel said, giving her a look as they made their way down a flight of stairs toward Apartment 10B. "They're not exactly the same type of people."

They reached the apartment, and Mel gave Christi a wary glance before lifting her hand again, and rapping a few times on the door.

"Coming!" Came the call, and Christi exchanged a look with Mel just as the door opened and a smiling face appeared in the doorway. It was definitely Sam, and Christi once again found herself someone speechless. He was in jeans and a wife beater, his hair looking tussled perfectly and his eyes a shocking and very attractive blue.

Sam himself looked them over once with a surprised but pleased smile. "Well hello there. What are two lovely ladies like you doing at my door?"

Mel gave a little, subtle squeak, her eyes trained adoringly on Sam's face. Stiffly, she raised a hand to wave weakly at him. "...hi," she said in a rather small voice. "...we're...uh...the new neighbors in...uh...Apartment 12J...just...you know...wanted to say...hi..."

Sam chuckled, shoving the door open. "Well come on in. Jim's in his room - I'll go get 'im."

Christi looked at Mel with wide, excited eyes.

'Told you,' Mel mouthed at her, before giving another little excited squeal, and quickly scuttling into the room behind Sam.

The apartment definitely looked like it was inhabited by the Kirks. Simple with a hint of style, far from tidy but not too messy, with the TV on and the smell of something pizza-like coming from the kitchen. It was absolutely perfect.

"Catch me if I pass out," Mel muttered faintly to Christi as they walked further into the room.

"Not likely," Christi mouthed back, the smile returning to her face as Sam came back in the room. "Hey ladies. This is Jim. Jim, that's Christi and Mel."

"Hello, ladies," Jim, it turned out, shared his brother's attitude in welcoming visitors. He was dressed in equally casual attire - a black T-shirt and sweat pants, with his blonde hair mussed and suggesting that both of them were enjoying a nice day off at home for the day. He beamed at both of them. "Welcome to the neighborhood! It's a madhouse here, but don't worry. You'll soon be crazy enough to appreciate it, too."

"Oh I'm sure," Christi said, her voice a little hyper as she agreed. "So...this is your day off?"

"One of many," Sam said, flopping down on a chair before catching himself and immediately standing up again. "My apologies. Can I get you ladies anything? Soda? Beer?"

"Oh, no, thanks," Mel said, looking delighted that they'd been asked all the same. "Maybe some other time. We're just passing through, now. Getting to know the neighbors. Are, uh - are you guys pretty familiar with the people around here?"

"Depends on what you mean by 'familiar,'" Jim said with a light shrug, sitting down as well and motioning for Christi and Mel to sit on the sofa by the window. "I mean, we pretty much know everyone's name and know a couple quirks about each one...but we don't hang out or anything."

"Oh?" Christi asked, taking a seat. "Who do you know?"

Sam looked over at Jim as he tried to think. "There's that asian dude...mushu or something."