In Which Professor Spock and Cadet Gaila Battle to Win the Heart of James Kirk: Part II
SPOCK
They were in his office and Jim was at the table, frowning at an essay on the PADD in front of him, absentmindedly drumming his fingers along the desk. Spock remembered when he was first assigned Jim Kirk as a T.A. - he had been convinced that the time it would take to explain the material and his teaching and grading system to Kirk would decrease his productivity. Jim, however, picked everything up with astonishing speed.
On the other hand, Spock’s productivity efficiency had decreased by 1%; his attention drawn instead to the lean callused fingers tapping over the desk. He wanted to brush those fingers with his and feel the hints of Jim’s dynamic mind. He wanted to test Jim’s productivity. Observe how well he could grade and write lesson plans with Spock’s mouth against his neck, his hand down those red cadet pants.
At the beginning of the semester Spock had been unnerved by how much Jim made him want. Initially, Spock had been frustrated with himself over what appeared to be a purely physical attraction. Spock had worked closely with aesthetically pleasing students before, but they had never captured his attention like Jim had. They didn’t occupy his thoughts when they were not present.
Jim had always been comfortable in his presence, as well. Other cadets and members of Starfleet seemed to be visibly awkward and uncomfortable in his presence for an average of 31.87 days worth of association with him. Jim had started sharing thoughts and insights with him after two days. Spock was unused to having to put so much of his intellect to work in conversation. Jim was intellectually stimulating and it made Spock want him more.
Spock tore his eyes away from Jim’s quietly drumming fingers only to frown at the message on his PADD.
“Cad-Jim.”
“Hmm?” Jim asked, slowly looking up from his work.
“I have received a letter from Professor Wells in the Engineering department. He states that you are passing up an opportunity to be a TA in his classes next quarters to TA for me. He seems displeased. It seems illogical to pass up an opportunity to cultivate other skills.”
“It’s not like I’ve dropped all engineering classes, it’s just a TA position. Besides, the material you teach and the skills I use helping with your classes makes more sense with my command concentration.”
“Nonetheless the fact remains that-”
“Spock, I like working with you, okay? If you're unhappy with my TA work or don’t want to work with me, that’s fine, I understand. I’ll go work with Wells, but otherwise I’d just stay with you if that’s okay.”
Spock felt a surge of illogical happiness. “That would be acceptable.”
Jim let out sigh. “Good because we’re already friends and to be honest I find Professor Wells a little creepy. I mean, he’s always-”
“Friends?” Spock asked suddenly. He’d never really thought about defining their relationship because he had an entirely different goal for it in mind.
Jim answered quietly. “Well, yeah, I’d thought…Well, after all those conversations, and then that day when you asked me to stay for chess. But if I’ve misinterpreted…”
“No, Jim. I, too, consider us friends. I was simply unsure if you did as well.”
“Okay, good. I do,” said Jim with a small smile.
As Jim was turning back to the student paper, Spock spoke again. “If you are hungry would you be amenable to getting dinner with me once our work here has been completed?”
Jim’s smile lit up his face. “Yeah, dinner would be great.”
Spock nodded at him and turned back to the PADD at hand before Jim could see the small smile fighting to appear on his face.
When they were finished with the necessary work in the classroom they walked to a small diner not far off campus. Spock studied the menu, looking for something that would be appealing and adequately satisfying his nutritional needs.
“What are you going to get?” Jim asked.
Spock lowered his menu and turned slightly so Jim could see the item he was pointing at.
“I believe I will order this vegetarian burger. It comes with a side order of carrots.”
“No, don’t get that. Veggie burgers are so boring and they never taste good. And you’ve got to be the only being in the universe who orders things solely based on the fact that they come with carrots.”
“Carrots are a nutritionally satisfying choice. Just because you do not find vegetarian food to your taste-”
“I like vegetarian food just fine. When it’s good.”
“What do you suggest I order?”
“They have a really good veggie sandwich here. I forget what it’s called, but I think it’s on the second page,” Jim said as he flipped through his menu. “Yeah it’s right here.”
“Where?” asked Spock, tracing his finger down his menu looking for the sandwich.
“Right here,” said Jim reaching over and grabbing Spock’s hand with his and moving it until Spock’s finger presumably pointed at the sandwich. Spock didn’t know; he was working too hard to maintain his controls to read the menu entry on a sandwich.
Jim had just grabbed his hand. However unwittingly it had been done, the facts remained, Jim just kissed him. Jim had kissed him and he had felt the electricity when Jim’s thoughts had brushed his. Spock wanted more. He felt himself tense from the effort of keeping himself from running his fingers up and down Jim’s, from pulling the cadet forward and brushing his fingers along his psi points, in public.
Jim pulled back fast when he felt Spock tense up.
“Oh shit, I’m sorry. I forgot for a second, about Vulcans and the no touching. I didn’t mean to offend you or anything, I’m just kind of a naturally touchy-feely kind of guy. I’d understand if you-”
“Jim,” Spock said to stop the stream of words. “Do not worry needlessly about it. No harm has been done. I find that I do not mind.” Spock hoped that Jim wasn’t adept enough at reading him to notice the slightly breathless quality that had crept into his words at the end.
“Oh good.” Jim looked at Spock with an unreadable look in eyes for a moment before getting up and walking to the counter to place their orders. Jim sat back down and began fiddling with the saltshaker. Spock hoped that Jim didn’t notice the way his gaze kept falling to Jim’s finger, to watch the way that the agile fingers moved around the saltshaker. Spock clenched his hands into lap, to resist the urge to slide his hand over Jim’s.
“You seem to be very concerned with offending me today. But in reality there is very little you could do to offend me Jim. But if you do so, I will not hesitate to tell you.”
“Okay good. That’s good. I just feel like I’m always making an ass of myself and would hate to do that with you. Since you’re all intellectual and put together and stuff. And I’m just not. But I really do enjoy your company because no one really talks to me about things the way you do.”
“I also find myself enjoying your company.” A server appeared and sat their sandwiches down in front of them. “Do you have any plans for this evening?” Spock asked.
Jim took a big bite of his sandwich, chewed, and swallowed before answering.
“Oh, yeah. I’m hanging out with my friend Gaila. Do you know Gaila?”
“I am acquainted with the cadet.”
“Yeah? I actually have to go meet her soon. It’s a good thing you said something, I had almost forgotten.”
Spock felt it a wise course of action to take a bite of his sandwich rather than to respond.
GAILA
Gaila looked up at the darkened sky, waiting impatiently for Jim under the tree that was their customary meeting spot. She started when she felt someone hug her from behind and spun around quickly, breaking out of the hug, only to see Jim grinning and red faced from running. Her anger with him quickly evaporated.
“You’re late,” she told him and began a brisk pace that he quickly matched.
“Sorry-was having dinner with Spock, ran a little late.”
“Spock’s the professor you T.A. for?”
“Yeah, he’s really cool though. Fun to hang out with.”
Gaila squashed the jealousy that began to build up at those words. Tonight would be more than just fun.
Gaila made a sharp left, surprising Jim who continued walking straight and had to jog to keep up with her.
“We aren’t going into the city? Where are we going? Doesn’t this road lead to that residential area where all the Starfleet people live?”
“Admiral Archer is out of town,” Gaila said with a sly smile.
“Oh?” Jim asked before understanding dawned in his eyes. “Oh! Awesome, haven’t done this in forever.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have invited you then, perhaps you’re too rusty to pull this off” she said teasingly.
“Hey,” he said held a hand over his heart and affected a wounded expression, “that hurts. You do realize that you are in the company of the only genius level repeat offender in the Midwest. I got this.”
“Yeah, but when was the last time you offended?”
“What? Oh, you mean…Um, not since I joined Starfleet.”
“Ha! Exactly,” she cried out and pointed at Jim, making him jump. “You’ve gone all squishy-”
“Soft.”
“Exactly. Going to all your classes, staying in on the weekends, sleeping in the engineering lab-”
“Hey that was one time!”
“-being a TA, watching your step. I should take you back to the dorms right now before you go turn us in.”
Jim threw his head back and laughed. “You’re crazy you know that.”
“Yes. But you,” she said, pointing her finger at him accusingly, again, “are squishy.”
“The phrase is ‘gone soft’ not ‘gone squishy.’” He laughed again and batted her hand down and away from his face; she retaliated by darting closer to him and wriggling her fingers up and down his sides, where she had discovered he was surprisingly ticklish.
“Argh. Hey!” He pinned her arms to her side and held her close so she couldn’t move. “Anyway I’m actually very-”
He cut himself off and laughed. She could feel it through her whole body since he was holding her so close. “What?” She asked.
“Oh, um,” he laughed, “I was just going to say something about actually being very hard.”
Gaila burst out into laughter, Jim laughing as well. She could feel his laughter again and she imagined he could feel hers as well, bouncing between them in an endless loop.
“Well,” Gaila, pushed forward in his grip until their bodies were flush against each other. “I can feel that you aren’t. Well not yet anyway,” she grinned impishly before squeezing his ass and pulling out of his grip and veering off, running across a huge immaculate lawn.
“Hey!” he shouted, and she could hear him chasing after her, close behind. He caught up and they ran across the dark lawn pushing at each other and stumbling like a couple of kids with a crush, out after curfew. They ignored the front gate and ran along the side of the gate until they were at the back entrance. They skidded to a halt in front of the security box. Jim began working at the control panel. “I will prove to you that I haven’t gone soft.”
“You aren’t soft? Are you sure?” slid a hand up his thigh.
Jim batted her hands away from him, “Quit molesting me, woman, I’m trying to prove my merit.”
Gaila took her hands off him, but pressed up against his back, peering over his shoulder. “No, don’t touch that one if you don’t want to alert all the security personnel in the neighborhood.” she said, correcting him and moving his hand.
“I knew that,” he said.
“Sure, sure,” she said, but moved back a bit. Jim was actually quite brilliant with breaking and entering. But he could still mess up if he had a pretty girl pushing against his back and ass, and Orion pheromones, even suppressed ones, wafting around him.
Gaila leaned back against the high metal fence, watching Jim work. Occasionally he stopped, frowned at the panel, and bite his lip. Archer’s was a new type of system that had never been hacked before. There were other Starfleet personnel who were off planet whose places would have worked just as well for their purposes and who had easier systems in the neighborhood. But she knew that half the fun was the breaking in. And she knew that the extra wait while Jim broke in would be worth the adrenaline rush he would get from it. Plus, soon he would be soaking wet and all hers.
Finally she heard a soft mechanical whirr and looked up to see Jim staring at the gate, stock-still and listening, making sure that no one knew what was going on and was coming for them. Gaila pushed off the fence and stood tense, ready to run.
After two minutes of nothing, Jim walked through the gate and gestured her forward, onto the back patio. They moved quietly across the patio, taking off their shoes and clothes until they were in their underwear standing at the edge of the deep end of Admiral Archer’s huge regulation competitive size pool.
She watched Jim eye the water contemplatively, clearly deciding on the best way to enter the water. Gaila decided for him and gave him a firm shove in before cannon balling in after him.
Jim rose to the surface, spluttering. He narrowed his eyes at her before sending a playful splash her way. Gaila ducked under the surface of the water and swam down deep and away from him. She rose back to the surface. The pool looked empty. She scanned around for Jim, but couldn’t see anything under the surface in the dark.
Suddenly, she felt something tug at her ankle and gave an undignified squeak as she was pulled under. She surfaced disoriented and splashing; Jim was treading water right up in her space. She could just make out his smile in the dark. It was genuine and wide; her heart fluttered and she reached out with her legs under the water, sliding them up against his. Jim licked his lips and she pushed a little further into his space.
Suddenly they heard voices and the whirr of Archer’s gate swinging open.
“Shit,” Jim whispered.
They scrambled to the edge of the pool, gathering up all their things and running around the side of the house before pushing out the front gate and taking a crazy path running through the yards of the most distinguished members of society in the San Francisco area, sopping wet in their underwear.
Jim was faster than her, but he grabbed onto to her hand, pulling her along behind him to make sure they didn’t get separated. The crazy zigzag path they took seemed to throw off the security. And eventually he let go of her and stopped in an alley and they pulled on their clothes before wandering back to their dorm building.
Jim’s dorm was on the first floor and they paused in front of it. It was the first time since they had run out of the pool that they got a good look at each other in the light. They stared at each other. They were both wet through their clothes, Gaila’s curly hair was flying every which way. Jim red and flushed in a splotchy sort of way. Suddenly they were laughing and clutching at each other’s arms for support.
“I can’t believe we really did that,” Gaila said through the giggles, “We just ran through the nicest neighborhood ever in our underwear.”
“I know. I think I saw my command track advisor.” They laughed some more until it slowed. Gaila realized that despite being disheveled, Jim looked really good all flushed and wet. She really wanted to help him out of those clothes and into a warm shower. She wanted to see in better lighting how his body looked with water running down it.
“So-”
“Do you-”
They spoke at the same time. Jim jumped in first, “Do you want to come in? I think Bones is actually at a party tonight, so we wouldn’t be bothering him and he wouldn’t grumble at us.”
“Yes, that sounds great.”
“Awesome.” Jim began to open the door.
“Oh wait, I think I got a message while we were running through the streets.”
The message was from her roommate, Nyota. It read: “Please come back to the room as soon as you can. It’s urgent -N. Uhura.”
“Damn,” she groaned. “I’ve got to go.”
“Are you swearing in standard now? Wait, what? Why?”
“Yes, I am it’s your bad influence.”
“Awesome.”
“The message was from Uhura. She says it’s urgent that I come back to the room as soon as I can.”
“Is she okay?”
“I don’t know, I should go. Sorry about tonight.”
“No, don’t be sorry, I had a great time.” He grinned. “My only complaint is that it’s ending so early.”
“I know. I’ll make it up to you.”
“You better.”
She regretfully left a wet and inviting Jim Kirk alone in his room and walked the stairs up to her room.
She keyed in the code and entered her room only to see Spock sitting on Nyota’s bed, with Nyota nowhere to be seen. Gaila stared at him for a moment.
“Did you kill Nyota and hide her body in the closet in order to frame me and get me out of the way so you can seduce Jim without competition?” She asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
Spock raised an eyebrow at her. “Cadet Uhura is in the long-range sensor lab and has been for the past two hours.”
“So, she isn’t in trouble? You sent that message? It’s illegal to break in the dorm rooms and to use people’s comm accounts without permission.”
“I told Nyota that my comm had certain limitations and I couldn’t accomplish what I needed to on it. She suggested that I use hers.”
“Sneaky, manipulative Vulcan.”
“I have not broken any regulations tonight. You on the other hand…”
“I should’ve known. You called security on us. How did you know where we would be? We could’ve gotten caught. You could’ve gotten Jim expelled.”
“The likelihood of that occurring was less than ten percent as you and Jim are skilled in evasion and deception and are both extremely charming individuals.”
“Get out.”
“Nyota expressed that I could remain here as long as I needed to.”
“I am wet and tired. I am going to take a long shower and unless you want a generous viewing of what you’re really up against I suggest you vacate my room immediately.”
Spock stood up quickly. “In that case, I will depart. Have a pleasant evening, Cadet Gaila.”
“Fuck you,” she said as he left the room, earning her another raised eyebrow.
As soon as the door slid shut behind him, Gaila promptly stripped down to nothing, got under her covers, pulled out her PADD and hacked into the personal accounts and finances of one Commander Spock.
Nyota entered the room just as Gaila found what she was looking for and let out a maniacal laugh.
Nyota eyed her warily. “What are you doing?”
“Looking at Spock’s recent purchases.”
“You hacked into his account, that’s-”
“Relax, I’m not going to buy or delete anything I’m just looking. It’s a trick I learned from Victoria Renalde. She would check her boyfriend’s account when she thought he was cheating on her. When guys are trying to get in someone’s pants they always like to lay down some cash.”
“That’s actually pretty smart. If you end up dating Kirk though, you probably shouldn’t try that trick on him.”
“Yes, I know. I trust him and he would never cheat on me.”
“Oh, by all means keep an eye on your man. I just meant that he’s smart enough to know you were in his accounts.”
“True.”
“So, what did Spock buy Jim?”
Gaila held out the PADD so she could read the entry.
“Two tickets? What is he taking Kirk there for?”
“I actually thought it was a good idea, it seems like something he would really like.”
“That’s true, it’s actually a really good idea, I’m sure Kirk’s genius brain will get a boner over it.”
“A mind boner?”
“Yes, a mind boner,” Nyota deadpanned. “But it’s Jim Kirk. He’s easy. He likes connecting with his date. You can take him on a date that he would love without spending half as much money.”
“Well, where would you take him then?”
Nyota lay back on her bed and thought about it for a minute. “I would take him to that amazing hamburger place in the city and then to that really cool old fashioned Burlesque club.”
“Thank you, Nyota, you’re a genius. You’re not giving Spock tips are you?”
“No. What’s that, Gaila? You want to take my turn cleaning the bathroom? Go right ahead.”
“If I get in Jim’s pants at the end of that date I will clean the bathroom for you for the rest of the year.”
“That sounds amazing. I just hope that Jim is as easy as he seems.”
“Don’t worry, he is.” Gaila reassured her. “I just have to make sure that evil conniving Vulcan doesn’t mess things up.”
They were in his office and Jim was at the table, frowning at an essay on the PADD in front of him, absentmindedly drumming his fingers along the desk. Spock remembered when he was first assigned Jim Kirk as a T.A. - he had been convinced that the time it would take to explain the material and his teaching and grading system to Kirk would decrease his productivity. Jim, however, picked everything up with astonishing speed.
On the other hand, Spock’s productivity efficiency had decreased by 1%; his attention drawn instead to the lean callused fingers tapping over the desk. He wanted to brush those fingers with his and feel the hints of Jim’s dynamic mind. He wanted to test Jim’s productivity. Observe how well he could grade and write lesson plans with Spock’s mouth against his neck, his hand down those red cadet pants.
At the beginning of the semester Spock had been unnerved by how much Jim made him want. Initially, Spock had been frustrated with himself over what appeared to be a purely physical attraction. Spock had worked closely with aesthetically pleasing students before, but they had never captured his attention like Jim had. They didn’t occupy his thoughts when they were not present.
Jim had always been comfortable in his presence, as well. Other cadets and members of Starfleet seemed to be visibly awkward and uncomfortable in his presence for an average of 31.87 days worth of association with him. Jim had started sharing thoughts and insights with him after two days. Spock was unused to having to put so much of his intellect to work in conversation. Jim was intellectually stimulating and it made Spock want him more.
Spock tore his eyes away from Jim’s quietly drumming fingers only to frown at the message on his PADD.
“Cad-Jim.”
“Hmm?” Jim asked, slowly looking up from his work.
“I have received a letter from Professor Wells in the Engineering department. He states that you are passing up an opportunity to be a TA in his classes next quarters to TA for me. He seems displeased. It seems illogical to pass up an opportunity to cultivate other skills.”
“It’s not like I’ve dropped all engineering classes, it’s just a TA position. Besides, the material you teach and the skills I use helping with your classes makes more sense with my command concentration.”
“Nonetheless the fact remains that-”
“Spock, I like working with you, okay? If you're unhappy with my TA work or don’t want to work with me, that’s fine, I understand. I’ll go work with Wells, but otherwise I’d just stay with you if that’s okay.”
Spock felt a surge of illogical happiness. “That would be acceptable.”
Jim let out sigh. “Good because we’re already friends and to be honest I find Professor Wells a little creepy. I mean, he’s always-”
“Friends?” Spock asked suddenly. He’d never really thought about defining their relationship because he had an entirely different goal for it in mind.
Jim answered quietly. “Well, yeah, I’d thought…Well, after all those conversations, and then that day when you asked me to stay for chess. But if I’ve misinterpreted…”
“No, Jim. I, too, consider us friends. I was simply unsure if you did as well.”
“Okay, good. I do,” said Jim with a small smile.
As Jim was turning back to the student paper, Spock spoke again. “If you are hungry would you be amenable to getting dinner with me once our work here has been completed?”
Jim’s smile lit up his face. “Yeah, dinner would be great.”
Spock nodded at him and turned back to the PADD at hand before Jim could see the small smile fighting to appear on his face.
When they were finished with the necessary work in the classroom they walked to a small diner not far off campus. Spock studied the menu, looking for something that would be appealing and adequately satisfying his nutritional needs.
“What are you going to get?” Jim asked.
Spock lowered his menu and turned slightly so Jim could see the item he was pointing at.
“I believe I will order this vegetarian burger. It comes with a side order of carrots.”
“No, don’t get that. Veggie burgers are so boring and they never taste good. And you’ve got to be the only being in the universe who orders things solely based on the fact that they come with carrots.”
“Carrots are a nutritionally satisfying choice. Just because you do not find vegetarian food to your taste-”
“I like vegetarian food just fine. When it’s good.”
“What do you suggest I order?”
“They have a really good veggie sandwich here. I forget what it’s called, but I think it’s on the second page,” Jim said as he flipped through his menu. “Yeah it’s right here.”
“Where?” asked Spock, tracing his finger down his menu looking for the sandwich.
“Right here,” said Jim reaching over and grabbing Spock’s hand with his and moving it until Spock’s finger presumably pointed at the sandwich. Spock didn’t know; he was working too hard to maintain his controls to read the menu entry on a sandwich.
Jim had just grabbed his hand. However unwittingly it had been done, the facts remained, Jim just kissed him. Jim had kissed him and he had felt the electricity when Jim’s thoughts had brushed his. Spock wanted more. He felt himself tense from the effort of keeping himself from running his fingers up and down Jim’s, from pulling the cadet forward and brushing his fingers along his psi points, in public.
Jim pulled back fast when he felt Spock tense up.
“Oh shit, I’m sorry. I forgot for a second, about Vulcans and the no touching. I didn’t mean to offend you or anything, I’m just kind of a naturally touchy-feely kind of guy. I’d understand if you-”
“Jim,” Spock said to stop the stream of words. “Do not worry needlessly about it. No harm has been done. I find that I do not mind.” Spock hoped that Jim wasn’t adept enough at reading him to notice the slightly breathless quality that had crept into his words at the end.
“Oh good.” Jim looked at Spock with an unreadable look in eyes for a moment before getting up and walking to the counter to place their orders. Jim sat back down and began fiddling with the saltshaker. Spock hoped that Jim didn’t notice the way his gaze kept falling to Jim’s finger, to watch the way that the agile fingers moved around the saltshaker. Spock clenched his hands into lap, to resist the urge to slide his hand over Jim’s.
“You seem to be very concerned with offending me today. But in reality there is very little you could do to offend me Jim. But if you do so, I will not hesitate to tell you.”
“Okay good. That’s good. I just feel like I’m always making an ass of myself and would hate to do that with you. Since you’re all intellectual and put together and stuff. And I’m just not. But I really do enjoy your company because no one really talks to me about things the way you do.”
“I also find myself enjoying your company.” A server appeared and sat their sandwiches down in front of them. “Do you have any plans for this evening?” Spock asked.
Jim took a big bite of his sandwich, chewed, and swallowed before answering.
“Oh, yeah. I’m hanging out with my friend Gaila. Do you know Gaila?”
“I am acquainted with the cadet.”
“Yeah? I actually have to go meet her soon. It’s a good thing you said something, I had almost forgotten.”
Spock felt it a wise course of action to take a bite of his sandwich rather than to respond.
GAILA
Gaila looked up at the darkened sky, waiting impatiently for Jim under the tree that was their customary meeting spot. She started when she felt someone hug her from behind and spun around quickly, breaking out of the hug, only to see Jim grinning and red faced from running. Her anger with him quickly evaporated.
“You’re late,” she told him and began a brisk pace that he quickly matched.
“Sorry-was having dinner with Spock, ran a little late.”
“Spock’s the professor you T.A. for?”
“Yeah, he’s really cool though. Fun to hang out with.”
Gaila squashed the jealousy that began to build up at those words. Tonight would be more than just fun.
Gaila made a sharp left, surprising Jim who continued walking straight and had to jog to keep up with her.
“We aren’t going into the city? Where are we going? Doesn’t this road lead to that residential area where all the Starfleet people live?”
“Admiral Archer is out of town,” Gaila said with a sly smile.
“Oh?” Jim asked before understanding dawned in his eyes. “Oh! Awesome, haven’t done this in forever.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have invited you then, perhaps you’re too rusty to pull this off” she said teasingly.
“Hey,” he said held a hand over his heart and affected a wounded expression, “that hurts. You do realize that you are in the company of the only genius level repeat offender in the Midwest. I got this.”
“Yeah, but when was the last time you offended?”
“What? Oh, you mean…Um, not since I joined Starfleet.”
“Ha! Exactly,” she cried out and pointed at Jim, making him jump. “You’ve gone all squishy-”
“Soft.”
“Exactly. Going to all your classes, staying in on the weekends, sleeping in the engineering lab-”
“Hey that was one time!”
“-being a TA, watching your step. I should take you back to the dorms right now before you go turn us in.”
Jim threw his head back and laughed. “You’re crazy you know that.”
“Yes. But you,” she said, pointing her finger at him accusingly, again, “are squishy.”
“The phrase is ‘gone soft’ not ‘gone squishy.’” He laughed again and batted her hand down and away from his face; she retaliated by darting closer to him and wriggling her fingers up and down his sides, where she had discovered he was surprisingly ticklish.
“Argh. Hey!” He pinned her arms to her side and held her close so she couldn’t move. “Anyway I’m actually very-”
He cut himself off and laughed. She could feel it through her whole body since he was holding her so close. “What?” She asked.
“Oh, um,” he laughed, “I was just going to say something about actually being very hard.”
Gaila burst out into laughter, Jim laughing as well. She could feel his laughter again and she imagined he could feel hers as well, bouncing between them in an endless loop.
“Well,” Gaila, pushed forward in his grip until their bodies were flush against each other. “I can feel that you aren’t. Well not yet anyway,” she grinned impishly before squeezing his ass and pulling out of his grip and veering off, running across a huge immaculate lawn.
“Hey!” he shouted, and she could hear him chasing after her, close behind. He caught up and they ran across the dark lawn pushing at each other and stumbling like a couple of kids with a crush, out after curfew. They ignored the front gate and ran along the side of the gate until they were at the back entrance. They skidded to a halt in front of the security box. Jim began working at the control panel. “I will prove to you that I haven’t gone soft.”
“You aren’t soft? Are you sure?” slid a hand up his thigh.
Jim batted her hands away from him, “Quit molesting me, woman, I’m trying to prove my merit.”
Gaila took her hands off him, but pressed up against his back, peering over his shoulder. “No, don’t touch that one if you don’t want to alert all the security personnel in the neighborhood.” she said, correcting him and moving his hand.
“I knew that,” he said.
“Sure, sure,” she said, but moved back a bit. Jim was actually quite brilliant with breaking and entering. But he could still mess up if he had a pretty girl pushing against his back and ass, and Orion pheromones, even suppressed ones, wafting around him.
Gaila leaned back against the high metal fence, watching Jim work. Occasionally he stopped, frowned at the panel, and bite his lip. Archer’s was a new type of system that had never been hacked before. There were other Starfleet personnel who were off planet whose places would have worked just as well for their purposes and who had easier systems in the neighborhood. But she knew that half the fun was the breaking in. And she knew that the extra wait while Jim broke in would be worth the adrenaline rush he would get from it. Plus, soon he would be soaking wet and all hers.
Finally she heard a soft mechanical whirr and looked up to see Jim staring at the gate, stock-still and listening, making sure that no one knew what was going on and was coming for them. Gaila pushed off the fence and stood tense, ready to run.
After two minutes of nothing, Jim walked through the gate and gestured her forward, onto the back patio. They moved quietly across the patio, taking off their shoes and clothes until they were in their underwear standing at the edge of the deep end of Admiral Archer’s huge regulation competitive size pool.
She watched Jim eye the water contemplatively, clearly deciding on the best way to enter the water. Gaila decided for him and gave him a firm shove in before cannon balling in after him.
Jim rose to the surface, spluttering. He narrowed his eyes at her before sending a playful splash her way. Gaila ducked under the surface of the water and swam down deep and away from him. She rose back to the surface. The pool looked empty. She scanned around for Jim, but couldn’t see anything under the surface in the dark.
Suddenly, she felt something tug at her ankle and gave an undignified squeak as she was pulled under. She surfaced disoriented and splashing; Jim was treading water right up in her space. She could just make out his smile in the dark. It was genuine and wide; her heart fluttered and she reached out with her legs under the water, sliding them up against his. Jim licked his lips and she pushed a little further into his space.
Suddenly they heard voices and the whirr of Archer’s gate swinging open.
“Shit,” Jim whispered.
They scrambled to the edge of the pool, gathering up all their things and running around the side of the house before pushing out the front gate and taking a crazy path running through the yards of the most distinguished members of society in the San Francisco area, sopping wet in their underwear.
Jim was faster than her, but he grabbed onto to her hand, pulling her along behind him to make sure they didn’t get separated. The crazy zigzag path they took seemed to throw off the security. And eventually he let go of her and stopped in an alley and they pulled on their clothes before wandering back to their dorm building.
Jim’s dorm was on the first floor and they paused in front of it. It was the first time since they had run out of the pool that they got a good look at each other in the light. They stared at each other. They were both wet through their clothes, Gaila’s curly hair was flying every which way. Jim red and flushed in a splotchy sort of way. Suddenly they were laughing and clutching at each other’s arms for support.
“I can’t believe we really did that,” Gaila said through the giggles, “We just ran through the nicest neighborhood ever in our underwear.”
“I know. I think I saw my command track advisor.” They laughed some more until it slowed. Gaila realized that despite being disheveled, Jim looked really good all flushed and wet. She really wanted to help him out of those clothes and into a warm shower. She wanted to see in better lighting how his body looked with water running down it.
“So-”
“Do you-”
They spoke at the same time. Jim jumped in first, “Do you want to come in? I think Bones is actually at a party tonight, so we wouldn’t be bothering him and he wouldn’t grumble at us.”
“Yes, that sounds great.”
“Awesome.” Jim began to open the door.
“Oh wait, I think I got a message while we were running through the streets.”
The message was from her roommate, Nyota. It read: “Please come back to the room as soon as you can. It’s urgent -N. Uhura.”
“Damn,” she groaned. “I’ve got to go.”
“Are you swearing in standard now? Wait, what? Why?”
“Yes, I am it’s your bad influence.”
“Awesome.”
“The message was from Uhura. She says it’s urgent that I come back to the room as soon as I can.”
“Is she okay?”
“I don’t know, I should go. Sorry about tonight.”
“No, don’t be sorry, I had a great time.” He grinned. “My only complaint is that it’s ending so early.”
“I know. I’ll make it up to you.”
“You better.”
She regretfully left a wet and inviting Jim Kirk alone in his room and walked the stairs up to her room.
She keyed in the code and entered her room only to see Spock sitting on Nyota’s bed, with Nyota nowhere to be seen. Gaila stared at him for a moment.
“Did you kill Nyota and hide her body in the closet in order to frame me and get me out of the way so you can seduce Jim without competition?” She asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
Spock raised an eyebrow at her. “Cadet Uhura is in the long-range sensor lab and has been for the past two hours.”
“So, she isn’t in trouble? You sent that message? It’s illegal to break in the dorm rooms and to use people’s comm accounts without permission.”
“I told Nyota that my comm had certain limitations and I couldn’t accomplish what I needed to on it. She suggested that I use hers.”
“Sneaky, manipulative Vulcan.”
“I have not broken any regulations tonight. You on the other hand…”
“I should’ve known. You called security on us. How did you know where we would be? We could’ve gotten caught. You could’ve gotten Jim expelled.”
“The likelihood of that occurring was less than ten percent as you and Jim are skilled in evasion and deception and are both extremely charming individuals.”
“Get out.”
“Nyota expressed that I could remain here as long as I needed to.”
“I am wet and tired. I am going to take a long shower and unless you want a generous viewing of what you’re really up against I suggest you vacate my room immediately.”
Spock stood up quickly. “In that case, I will depart. Have a pleasant evening, Cadet Gaila.”
“Fuck you,” she said as he left the room, earning her another raised eyebrow.
As soon as the door slid shut behind him, Gaila promptly stripped down to nothing, got under her covers, pulled out her PADD and hacked into the personal accounts and finances of one Commander Spock.
Nyota entered the room just as Gaila found what she was looking for and let out a maniacal laugh.
Nyota eyed her warily. “What are you doing?”
“Looking at Spock’s recent purchases.”
“You hacked into his account, that’s-”
“Relax, I’m not going to buy or delete anything I’m just looking. It’s a trick I learned from Victoria Renalde. She would check her boyfriend’s account when she thought he was cheating on her. When guys are trying to get in someone’s pants they always like to lay down some cash.”
“That’s actually pretty smart. If you end up dating Kirk though, you probably shouldn’t try that trick on him.”
“Yes, I know. I trust him and he would never cheat on me.”
“Oh, by all means keep an eye on your man. I just meant that he’s smart enough to know you were in his accounts.”
“True.”
“So, what did Spock buy Jim?”
Gaila held out the PADD so she could read the entry.
“Two tickets? What is he taking Kirk there for?”
“I actually thought it was a good idea, it seems like something he would really like.”
“That’s true, it’s actually a really good idea, I’m sure Kirk’s genius brain will get a boner over it.”
“A mind boner?”
“Yes, a mind boner,” Nyota deadpanned. “But it’s Jim Kirk. He’s easy. He likes connecting with his date. You can take him on a date that he would love without spending half as much money.”
“Well, where would you take him then?”
Nyota lay back on her bed and thought about it for a minute. “I would take him to that amazing hamburger place in the city and then to that really cool old fashioned Burlesque club.”
“Thank you, Nyota, you’re a genius. You’re not giving Spock tips are you?”
“No. What’s that, Gaila? You want to take my turn cleaning the bathroom? Go right ahead.”
“If I get in Jim’s pants at the end of that date I will clean the bathroom for you for the rest of the year.”
“That sounds amazing. I just hope that Jim is as easy as he seems.”
“Don’t worry, he is.” Gaila reassured her. “I just have to make sure that evil conniving Vulcan doesn’t mess things up.”