“On the contrary, doctor. Taking steps to protect your mate from any potential rivals is highly logical.”
“Oh, so it’s like that with Jim, is it?”
“Yes. Exactly like that.”
“Boys, boys,” Kirk said, cutting them off. “I know I’m pretty, but there’s no need to fight over me. At least, not until I’ve had my coffee and can appreciate a good cat fight. I bet Spock pulls hair.”
Bones rolled his eyes but Spock took Kirk's statement seriously. “I do not pull hair when I fight, Captain.” He sounded bemused. “The Vulcan nerve pinch is much more effective. Also, pretty is not the most accurate term to describe you. I should think that stunning would be preferable.”
Spock sounded so fucking sincere that Kirk actually felt his cheeks blush. He tried to hide it by taking a big sip of coffee, but the coffee was too hot and it burned his throat, making him choke.
Bones stood, but Spock was quicker and at Kirk’s side in an instant. “Jim!”
Kirk put up a hand. “I’m fine,” he wheezed. “Just embarrassed.”
Spock reluctantly sat back down. He kept his eyes on Kirk, sweeping his gaze from Kirk’s head to his feet to reassure himself of Kirk’s safety. And then he swept his gaze over Kirk again – much, much more slowly this time, lingering shamelessly on the tight-fitting briefs that covered Kirk’s ass.
A craving lust started a slow boil at the back of Kirk’s mind again. Spock’s lust, unfortunately, seemed to be more contagious then his jealousy. Kirk wasn’t jealous by nature, but he sure was horny, and he could feel that lust creeping into his own thoughts, simmering over into his own feelings.
Damn. This could be a problem.
Luckily, Bones broke the mood. “Damn fool way to go, choking on your morning cuppa joe," he said, leaning back against the bunk bed.
“Who is Joe?”
Kirk had to smile. “It’s just another term for coffee, Spock,” he explained, as he helped himself to the enormous amount of food Spock had brought him.
“I see. Interesting.” Spock’s tone of voice made it clear that by interesting he actually meant you humans are a illogical bunch of coconuts and I don’t understand you or your batty ways.
“Don’t we need to get back to the ship? Which means you have to put clothes on, Jim, or I’m going to be treating the whole crew for heart attacks when they get at look at their hot, naked captain.”
Kirk dropped the bacon-like thing he’d been about to enjoy as Spock’s jealousy swept through him. "Bones!"
“What?” Bones said, too innocently. “Not my fault the Vulcan is possessive and doesn’t like the thought of all of your crew getting an eyeful of your gorgeous –”
“Argh,” Kirk said, incoherently, as the jealousy heightened and he distinctly heard he is mine, I will not tolerate competition. “Bones, stop taunting Spock. Spock, get out of my head. And both of you, scram so I can eat my breakfast in peace.”
“But –”
“That is an order from your captain!”
Reluctantly, they both left.
Kirk got comfortable on Spock’s bed, and proceeded to enjoy all of the food Spock had brought. Sometimes, it was good to be king.
*****
It turned out that Kirk was needed for a last-minute meeting with the High Council, so he caught up with Bones and Spock at the beam up point a few hours later. As he approached, he heard their raised voices and couldn’t resist stalling around the corner to listen in to their conversation.
“ – and what about Uhura?”
“I informed her this morning of my new status as Jim’s bondmate.”
“What, you broke it off via communicator? Are you really that cold?”
“Not that it is any concern of yours, but we met for breakfast and I told her in person. I am learning about your human proclivity towards hurt feelings. It is never my intention to cause such a response.”
“Right. Bet you wish you'd known more about feelings when you told your bondmate that you weren’t interested in him in any way.”
“Yes.” Spock’s reply was quiet and devoid of sarcasm. “I do.”
“So is she going to kill Jim? Exes can be crazy, you know, and – ”
“Lieutenant Uhura’s intelligence in within the top 3.67 percentile of all humans. You do her a disservice by assuming that she could not accurately assign the blame to the one who deserves it.”
“Ah. She’s pissed at you.”
“Indeed.”
“Smart girl.”
“Indeed.”
“So tell me more about this bonding thing you did to Jim.”
“I propose instead that you enlighten me further as to your intentions towards the captain. I have now seen the two of you share the same bed twice.”
“Look at you, all jealous. You know, on earth we have a saying, that jealousy is a green-eyed monster. Maybe we should have called it a green-blooded monster?”
And that was Kirk’s cue to intervene before his two favorite officers got in a real brawl. Generally, he trusted that Spock would keep his temper and end the conversation, but right now Kirk was getting a reading of Spock’s jealousy loud and clear and he really didn’t want to see what an emotionally compromised Spock would do to Bones.
He stepped around the corner. Two heads turned in his direction, and to his relief, the fight stopped.
“Shall we beam up?” he asked rhetorically, pulling out his communicator to contact the ship.
10. Linked
Kirk sat at his desk in his quarters, going through all the paperwork that had accumulated during his leave. The ship was still in orbit around Riidux and would be for two more days, as all crew were to get equal allotment of shore leave and the final shift deserved the chance to enjoy their fair share. Since there wasn't a pressing need for Kirk to be on the bridge himself during orbit, he'd put Spock in command up there while he stayed here, in his quarters. This arrangement was a logical division of labor. That it let him conveniently avoid Spock and the conflicting feelings that came with the Vulcan was just a bonus.
Also fortunate for Kirk and his strained emotions was that Uhura was one of the ones who'd beamed down in the final shoreleave shift. Kirk could admit to himself that he was relieved he wouldn’t have to face her just yet. Spock had said she wasn’t mad at him - but Spock had also proved that he was absolute crap at accurately understanding humans.
Kirk's intercom buzzed. “May I come in, Captain?”
Speak of the devil.
Kirk sighed. So much for logical attempts at avoidance. “Computer, let him in,” he muttered, and the doors slid open.
Spock entered, carrying a tray with several dishes on it.
