FIC: Prom Night 2/2
Polina gave winced as Hikaru stepped on her - again. Giving her an apologetic glance, he smiled nervously. She smiled to show him no harm and felt his hands tighten around her waist, as they tried once more. This time was a better run. Three minutes, she counted roughly before - she swore this time and pushed back from him, shaking her foot out. GOD DAMN IT! FIVE times on the same stupid fucking toe! She wriggled her foot out of her shoe and gave it a baleful look. It was going to bruise, damn it.
‘I am so, so sorry.’ Hikaru said, kneeling down to take a closer look. ‘Oh man,’ He muttered, standing back up and running a nervous hand through his hair, ‘I’m usually much better at this, but it’s just…’ He trailed off, staring at her.
Polina frowned. What? Was he saying she was a bad dancer? She took ballet for TEN years before dropping it to enter Starfleet! She danced very well, Polina sniffed; couldn’t say the same about him.
He glanced down at her skirt. She followed his gaze to the frills of her taffeta skirting. ‘It’s kind of well…’ There were some vague hand gestures at her, ‘Hard to see what’s going on down there, or you know? Get cues from your knees on where your feet is going to shuffle next so it’s kind of like,’ Hikaru gave her a slightly wary look, ‘Like trying to dance with balloons bumping into my legs.’
Polina grabbed a fist full of taffeta and lifted her frilly skirt up. ‘This is in the way?’
He nodded and gave her an apologetic smile. ‘Yeah… but hey, it’s a beautiful dress, you look great in it, really. The pink suits you.’
She smiled. He could be so sweet. Actually everything about him was very nice and sweet, even his protectiveness over his friend and aversion to her hands were sweet (when they danced, her hands were to strictly rest at his shoulders and no closer to his chin than that - she liked that, someone who knew what they wanted, boys her age never knew what they wanted). She wanted to dance with him. He had not ruined her evening; in fact, he made everything very, very good. Polina stepped back.
‘I have an idea.’ She said brightly.
===
Hikaru felt dismayed as his date lifted up her skirt for the second time that evening - he blushed hard as everyone in their immediate vicinity stopped dancing and stared - and whipped something from that jury-rigged garter of hers, and started to… riiiiiiiiiiipppp!
The diminutive Russian girl thrust a messy ball of shredded pink taffeta into his arms. ‘Here hold this.’ She said, and then bent down once more.
‘Ah… Sulu, what the hell is your date doing?’
He turned to stare at Kirk, who gave him a weird glance and went back to staring at Polina who was - Hikaru raised both eyebrows, barely reacting into time to a second ball of taffeta being thrown at him. A third came charging after it, hitting Kirk in the nose. There were a few more impressive tears, lots of gasping from spectators and then Polina Chekova was sighing happily, sliding a very sharp looking knife into a leather sheath. This girl kept knives tucked under her dress. She was adorable! And just the slightest bit strange.
And her skirt was now very short. Mini-dress short.
‘Polina, ah… wow, short huh? I don’t know what to say…’
He honestly didn’t. He could see her knees and a nice smooth stretch of leg above the knees - in fact he could almost… Polina slid the leather-sheathed knife back into the black leg - he tilted his head, no not a garter, more like a - holster. Oh God! Hikaru looked away - her panties were just above that thigh holster! She was like barely legal!
She grinned and wriggled her white heels on. ‘Try again yes?’
He glanced down at the armful of wrecked pink taffeta, and then over at the uniformed chaperons zoning in on the commotion to find out what the hell was going on. Not. Good. ‘How about later? A drink first? Vodka?’ He offered, glancing around for an exit.
At the magic word, Polina clapped her hands together and laughed. ‘Oh yes please!’
He nodded to the nearest exit, ‘Let’s go someplace quiet.’
Suddenly there was a furious yell from the outer fringes of the crowd, ‘HEY! What the hell do you think you’re doing!’
Someone else closer muttered loudly, ‘What in God’s name…?’
Kirk turned to the latter voice, and waved, ‘Hey Bones! Come here and let me introduce you to Polina Chekova!’
The man cut through the crowd and glowered at Hikaru darkly. ‘We’ve met.’
‘Oh.’ Kirk said and then did a double-take. ‘Oh, ohhhhh,’ The blond leaned towards his - friend, Hikaru assumed - and elbowed him, ‘Like that is it?’
The man shot Kirk a withering look, ‘Jim, don’t be RIDICULOUS! She’s fifteen!’
Fifteen? FIFTEEN? He just stared at a fifteen year old girl’s legs? That wasn’t even jailbait! That was just downright fucking WRONG!
God, he felt so dirty and nasty…
Dumping the taffeta where he stood, Hikaru Sulu made a tactical decision.
===
Glaring at the man who had terrorized her within an inch of her life the last time she had to leave the Academy for conference, Polina Chekova pointed at Hikaru who was running towards the exit. ‘Now look what you did!’ She growled.
Kicking off her shoes, she picked them up and ran after her date, ignoring the yells for her to stop. This evening was supposed to be fantastic! Her first Prom! No one had ever invited her to a dance ever, Cadet Hikaru was just doing it because Captain Pike made him but he had been genuinely so nice about it - they could be friends, she could see her being friends with someone like him. And now this.
She caught up with him outside, on the steps of leading onto the Promenade path around auditorium. He was leaned against the railing and turned to look at her.
‘Are you really fifteen?’
Polina shook her head, because he couldn’t listen to that crazy man! ‘No! No! I am sixteen! My birthday was last week!’
Cadet Hikaru stared at the sky and laughed, ‘Oh great, wonderful, great.’
She frowned. Americans were so weird. Polina put her shoes back on and ignored Hikaru’s chuckling. Behind her, his cadet friend and the hated Mik-khoy skidded to an abrupt stop, the auditorium door groaning on its hinges as it opened for them. Oh HELL NO, as Captain Cartwright liked to say.
She quickly ducked behind Hikaru. ‘No, no, no - stay away from me!’
‘Bones,’ Hikaru’s friend said, frowning, ‘What did you do?’
‘Whaddya mean what did I do?’ The man yelled, glaring at the blond. ‘I’ve babysat that little hellcat! It wasn’t an order but I did it anyway, because Captain Cartwright asked me to! I took time out of my busy conference schedule to get her to and from her astrophysics symposium and take her out for meals, and she turned my hotel mattress into a giant ice cube, got me kicked out of my conference and stabbed me with my own hypospray!’
He deserved every last thing. Daring to order her around, call her a little girl, drag her around by the arm and making her go to sleep by 9PM - WHO SLEEPS AT 9PM?
‘You,’ Polina yelled, pointing at him from over Hikaru’s shoulder, ‘Are a horrible doctor! I did not have a urinary tract infection from Risan herpes, you stupid man! I just wanted to get away from you!’
Suddenly the auditorium doors opened with a thud and revealed - Polina felt like crying.
‘Cupcake, what a surprise,’ Hikaru’s friend grinned, ‘How you doing, man?’
Cadet Dog-face gave Hikaru’s friend an annoyed sideways glare, ‘It’s Wilson, Kirk, get it right.’
Kirk turned back to her and smiled, jerking his head at the idiot. ‘You know Cupcake?’
Polina gritted her teeth. Unfortunately, last year, he was her escort to a training drill on the Lunar base campus. The man stood outside the door when she went to the bathroom! He was a creep, and started a fight when she finally convinced one of Andorian cadets from the visiting Andoria Gymnasium astrophysics program to buy her a drink. ‘He has a dog’s face and stinks just like one.’
Hikaru’s friend laughed. ‘Sulu, you have got to take this one home to your mom, they’re perfect for each other - I mean, dude, your mom won’t know what hit her.’
‘Um, Kirk,’ Hikaru said nervously, ‘Introductions?’
‘Oh yes, right,’ The blond chuckled, stepping forwards. ‘Hikaru Sulu, meet Doctor Leonard McCoy.’
Polina glowered at the doctor. So that was his name.
‘Bones,’ Kirk clapped McCoy on the shoulder, ‘Sulu and I have Tactical together - he’s the guy who I got that book on Argelian herbal remedies from. Sulu, Bones here is a specialist in infectious diseases and comparative alien physiology.’ With a pat on the shoulder, Kirk crossed his arms and winked at her. ‘What about you, Polina Chekova?’
She edged over Hikaru’s shoulder and stared at this Cadet Kirk. He didn’t seem to be annoying. He seemed to be like Hikaru - nice, approachable, close to her own age. ‘Advanced Theoretical Physics, astrometry, and stellar cartography-’
‘Polina,’ Doctor McCoy frowned, interrupting her. What was his problem! ‘Who is looking out for you tonight?’
‘Not you.’ She muttered darkly, and smiled when Hikaru turned to look at her. ‘Thank goodness for that!’ She chirped, almost gleeful when McCoy crossed his arms and glared.
‘Yes,’ Cadet Dog-faced said, crossing his pudgy arms, ‘Where’s your babysitter, Polina? It’s past 11PM.’
OH! THAT WAS IT! All the replicators were going to ignore his orders for the next year and give him nothing but - but - she glanced at Kirk - cupcakes!
Hikaru turned to face her. ‘Polina, I think you should call Captain Pike to come get you.’
What? NO! She had been looking forwards to this all term! It was the only social event she’d been allowed to attend because it was organized by the Academy board and not organized by one of the clubs! Next week she was going to be dispatched to the Federation Academy of Sciences on Deneb V for six months of further studies before she could come back here and the Academy of Sciences wasn’t like Starfleet - they were all academics, old people! Tonight was meant to be special! Captain Pike had gotten her a date, given her a pretty dress, and even given her till 1AM to have fun!
Polina stared at him, waiting for him to say something else, to change his mind.
Hikaru shook his head at her. He was serious? Bah. Too bad, she thought glumly, she liked him too - out of all of the stupid people that Captains Cartwright, Pike, Nyugen and Commanders Spock and Kidta had picked to stalk her, she liked him best.
Giving him a sad smile, she quickly hugged him and then stepped back to slam her heel down on his foot. Hikaru immediately grabbed the injured appendage, giving a short scream of pain.
‘He just touched me!’ She yelled pointing at her date angrily before wrapping her arms around herself, skittering away from him in her heels.
‘What?’ Hikaru yelled, grimacing as he leaned heavily against the rails, bent over the foot she’d stomped.
She felt a quiet satisfaction when Doctor McCoy started glowering at Hikaru. That man had to be itching for a hypospray. She knew him, and she bet her next drink that he had one inside his tuxedo jacket. Cadet Dog-face gave her a hard look - his version of reassuring, but it was just kind of creepy, especially when he switched back to staring down Hikaru and smacking his fist into his palm.
‘Don’t worry, Cadet Chekova, I got you covered.’
Oh please not that again.
Hikaru hobbled over with a groan and grabbed her by the wrist, other hand clutching his leg. ‘Polina! I never touched you! How can you say that! You know that’s not true!’
Yes, but they didn’t. Polina jerked her hand away and ran down the stairs. This was turning out to be more interesting than she’d expected. She knew that for all his stupidity, Cadet Wilson wasn’t a bad person or anything, a little too serious about the whole looking after her thing but eh, she could get around him easy. Now the Doctor, well, he was very, very interesting and he honestly considered her like a - Polina almost started laughing when Doctor McCoy reached into his jacket and - YES, two drinks for her - withdrew his trusty hypospray.
‘Crap, Bones! What are you carrying that around for?? It’s the damn Annual Prom!’
Polina looked to Cadet Kirk with approval. He was McCoy’s friend and even he thought the man was a total freak.
‘I’m a doctor, Jim, even at the damn prom!’ McCoy snapped at the blond before turning to Hikaru, ‘And you, you ought to be ashamed of yourself! Taking advantage of a girl that young!’
‘I only turned twenty last month, Doctor McCoy,’ Hikaru said nervously, his voice rising, ‘I was ordered to do this by Captain Pike, for heaven’s sake! I never even met her before tonight! She’s not -‘
Cadet Wilson stepped down a step menacingly.
Hikaru stuttered, eyes going wide. ‘She’s not - she’s not even my type!’ He looked from one face to another and shook his head frantically, ‘Can’t any of you see! She’s just doing this to get us all into trouble!’
Not his type? Now he was just trying to hurt her feelings. Polina gave him a sideways glance of admiration. Had he really seen through her? The only person that even came close was Commander Spock, which was why he was always so mean to her.
Doctor McCoy took out a vial and loaded the hypospray. Cadet Kirk slowly backed away, a grin on his face. ‘Um, Bones, geez, calm down will you?’
‘Yes!’ Hikaru said in a rush, pointing at Kirk, ‘Listen to Kirk, Doctor McCoy, just CALM down and think about this for a moment! She carries a sawteeth blade in a thigh holster and can kick-box!’ How did he know that? Polina stared at the man’s back in astonishment; could he tell just by looking at her legs?? Oh he was good! Hikaru threw his hands up in the air, ‘She can completely pummel me if she wanted to! I wouldn’t dare do anything to her!’
Polina jumped when suddenly, Cadet Kirk popped up from behind her. She’d almost forgotten about him in the middle of all this fun. The cadet gave her a relaxed smile, hands in his pockets. ‘So… you have it in for Sulu or something?’
‘Are you kidding?’ She whispered back, ‘I like him a lot!’
Kirk tilted his head at her, ‘You know, I heard about you and I must say, Bones is right about one thing: you are a strange girl.’
Both of them looked up when Hikaru hit the rails with a hard clang, grimacing and flexing his jaw. Polina covered her mouth and gasped loudly. Oh her poor Hikaru! She hoped that they didn’t break him too badly and wreck his good looks. Cadet Dog-face glanced at her and frowned.
‘You shouldn’t be watching this, Cadet Chekova.’ He said gruffly, before nodding at the man next to her, ‘Kirk, get her out of here.’
‘Oh, but- but-‘ She glanced between Kirk, who had a hand on her shoulder and Hikaru, who was currently trying to box Cadet Dog-face’s head in while they grappled. They hit the stairs with a hard grunt and Doctor McCoy leaned over and jabbed Hikaru in the back of the neck with his hypospray. Oh, she winced, that would have hurt.
Cadet Kirk threw his arm over her shoulder and steered her away, ‘Come on, we can get a view from the second floor landing windows.’
Polina blinked up at him. He glanced at her with a smirk. He knew exactly what she was doing and he didn’t stop her? Patting her shoulder, he pulled her up the stairs, heading around to the side so they could avoid the fight. ‘Say something to make them go easy on Sulu, I mean, you’re not honestly just let them going to beat him to death are you?’
‘Of course not,’ She scoffed, ‘Doctor McCoy would never go that far - by the time Cadet has hit Hikaru a few times, Doctor McCoy will be trying to sedate Dog-face instead.’
Kirk gave her a little laugh. ‘You’re just full of surprises. But seriously,’ He whispered against her hair, ‘For my piece of mind, say something.’
Polina turned around - Doctor McCoy was trying to drag Hikaru away from Dog-face and Dog-face was holding onto his neck and swearing at the doctor. She shrugged and turned back to Kirk, who was now staring at her with amazement.
‘See, told you.’
‘Miss Chekova,’ Cadet Kirk laughed, ‘Your next drink is on me.’
She beamed. Hikaru had the nicest friends. When he got out of the infirmary, she was going to ask him out, totally, even if Captain Pike didn’t like it, even if Doctor McCoy hated him, especially if Commander Spock hated him. Polina glanced down at offered hand and shook it happily.
Cadet Kirk bent a little and neatly kissed the back of her wrist.
Polina gasped in horror, ‘NO, DON’T DO THAT!’
the end :D
back to the first bit?