Chocolate Comes in Colors?

StarFleet Academy, 2252

Cadet Spock was uncomfortable. Against his better judgement and definitely against his wishes, he was attending a 'mixer' held by his advisor and mentor, Captain Christopher Pike. The noise level was much too high, the room was much too crowded, and most of the cadets too were too intoxicated. He stood against the wall, hands clasped behind his back and wondered how soon he could leave without appearing totally rude.

He kept refusing offers of alcoholic drinks. He knew the alcohol would not affect him, and most of the drinks he was being offered had odors or tastes that were either repulsive or so bland that he saw no benefit to drinking them.

He had also refused most of the food that was being offered. There was far too much meat in most of the offerings. The remainder of the food was extremely salty or excessively sweet, neither of which was appealing to him.

Captain Pike came back around the room, offering something else. When he got to Spock, he held out the dish. "Come on, try one of these. They're not really very sweet, this is dark chocolate. It's an interesting taste if you've never tried it."

Spock condescended to take one of the small, dark brown spheres. It was unexpectedly soft in his fingers. He held it under his nose and sniffed. Interesting. He took a small nibble off the side. The 'chocolate' melted on his tongue. Unusual. He nibbled again. Before he knew it, the small brown sphere was gone.

He stood against the wall, watching the people in the room. He stuck his fingers in his mouth and sucked off the remainder of the chocolate clinging to them. He looked around for more. There the plate was. Selecting two more of the small spheres, he soon had them finished off.

For some reason the lights in the room seemed blurred. He was having difficulty standing upright and sagged against the wall, trying to keep his balance. Perhaps it was time to go outside and get some fresh air. He staggered through the room, running into people and furniture, until he found the door and exited to the path through the housing area. Everything looked strange. The lights along the path looked much brighter than usual. Things seemed distorted. He squinted, trying to bring focus back to his eyes.

As he staggered along the path, suddenly his stomach heaved and churned. Nausea swept over him in waves. Had he been poisoned? He lurched over to a bush and threw up. Shaking and clammy, he staggered on to his room and collapsed on the bed.

Whatever 'chocolate' was, he was never going to eat any of it again!

December, 2257

Commander Spock sat at the desk in his office, grading papers. The traveling Christmas party was in full swing. People roamed the halls with plates of food, sharing with everyone in sight. He had already had fourteen offers of food, everything from 'pigs in a blanket' (whatever those were) to brandied fruitcake. He had turned them all down. He wished all those celebrants would just go somewhere else and let him finish grading these papers. Where was his aide when he needed her?

The department secretary appeared in his doorway. "Commander Spock, I have just the thing for you here. Peppermint bark - please try some."

Peppermint. That was the tea that Nyota had made last week. It had a pleasant taste that lingered gently on the tongue for some time. Perhaps he would try some. He took a small piece off the proffered plate and took a small bite. Smooth, creamy substance with small, hard crystals with intense peppermint flavor. Quite nice. He smiled his appreciation and accepted two more pieces before the secretary went off down the hall to find someone else to share with.

He was in the middle of the third piece when Nyota came in the door. She stopped in astonishment. "What are you eating! Don't do it, put that down!"

"It is peppermint bark. Very nice, actually."

Nyota hurried over to him and yanked the remainder of the last piece out of his hand. "That's CHOCOLATE!"

He looked at her in astonishment. "No, I am sure that chocolate is brown. This is white." He looked longingly at the small remaining piece of peppermint bark in her hand. "I would like it back, please, Nyota." He licked his lips to remove the last traces of the lovely creamy substance from his lips. "Please, Nyota, give it back." His voice was cajoling her, low and sultry. "I would really like to eat it."

"Oh, my God, Spock, how much of that did you eat? Come on, tell me, how much did you eat?" She was right beside him now, leaning over him.

He reached up and pulled her down in his lap. Lovely Nyota, this was where she belonged. He smirked at her and drew one finger down the side of her face. "I will kiss you if you give me back the lovely peppermint bark." he crooned at her.

"Spock! Stop it, the door is open. I've got to get you out of here right now before someone sees you behaving like this." She jumped up out of his lap as he tried to pull her back. She went around the room, shutting down the computers and turning off the lights. When the room was completely dark, she came back to where he was sitting. "Okay, up now, come on."

With great difficulty, she managed to get him on his feet and headed out of the office. He draped his arm over her shoulder and tried to bring her close to him. It felt so good to touch her. He turned his face into her hair and inhaled deeply. She always smelled so good. Maybe he could kiss her now. No, she was forcing him to keep moving down the hall.

"Where are we going, lovely Nyota?"

"I need to get you to your quarters as quickly as possible, Spock, before anyone sees you like this."

His quarters would be very nice. He could definitely kiss her there. He smiled happily. He let her drag him along, down the path in the cool night air.

Nyota was frantic. How could he have been so stupid? He KNEW what chocolate did to him, he had told her about that party when he was an undergraduate. After that, he had researched chocolate and discovered what it did to Vulcans. He was always careful since then never to eat any. He was stumbling and staggering along and she was having a lot of trouble keeping him upright. Every time they passed a bench, he tried to go sit down on it.

Eventually, they reached the building containing his quarters. She managed to get him inside and into the turbolift. No stairs tonight. As the turbolift rose upwards, he leaned into her and started to caress her hair and face.

"Spock, stop it." she hissed at him. "We're out in public. Behave."

"But it is so nice to feel your hair, lovely Nyota. It is soft." Sighing, he bent his face down to hers and nibbled on her lower lip.

"Oh, Spock, you're going to regret this so much in the morning."

The turbolift door swooshed open and she pushed him out into the hall. Tugging and pulling on him, she managed to get him down the hall to his door. She reached out and tapped the access plate and the door slid open. Into his living room she went and straight across to the bedroom. "Computer, lock door. Lights 50 percent." She called out, and she let him drop down on the bed. She knelt down and removed his boots as he sat on the edge of the bed, totally relaxed. Then she unfastened his jacket and removed it.

He sat there enjoying the feel of her hands on his body. He wished he had enough peppermint bark to have some every night if Nyota was going to bring him back to his quarters and undress him when he ate it. He smiled broadly at her as she pulled his sweater off over his head. Why was she muttering so? He was very happy. When she turned to hang up his jacket and fold his sweater neatly the way he liked it, he stood up and dropped his pants. She turned around to see him with his hands at the waist of his underwear.

"SPOCK! Stop that right now! Lay down on the bed immediately!" She pushed against his shoulders and he dropped down on the bed, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her down with him. Struggling against his strength, she only managed to get free because of his almost total lack of coordination. She lifted his feet up on the bed and rolled him over to the middle of the bed, where he flopped loosely, lying still and grinning up at her.

"Please come and join me, lovely Nyota. I wish to kiss your face now. Please, please." He was crooning at her again.

Nyota stood looking down at him. She was never likely to see him this free again. Her resolve wavered. He was holding out his hands, begging her to come lay down with him. She sighed. What the hell, he wasn't likely to remember it anyway. She sat down and pulled off her boots. Standing up again, she removed her jumper and sweater while Spock made very appreciative noises from where he lay in the middle of the bed. When she was standing there in her underwear, she looked at him again. Oh, he was DEFINITELY aroused. This was probably NOT a good idea at all.

"Computer. Lights off." She slid down onto the bed beside him and snuggled up against his warm length. He wrapped his arms around her and crooned in her ear. She turned her face toward him and kissed him once, being careful not to put too much tongue into it. When he tried to continue, she turned her face into his shoulder. "No, no more. Close your eyes and go to sleep."

"But... But... Lovely Nyota, I want to kiss you some more. I want to kiss your face and your shoulders, and...." his voice trailed off and all his muscles went lax.

Oh, thank goodness, she thought. He's finally passed out. She lay there beside him, so comfortable. She could stay just a little while. When she realized that she was drifting off to sleep, all warm in his embrace, she forced herself to get up out of the bed and get dressed again. She tugged the blanket out from under him and covered him up, then let herself out of his quarters.

***

Several hours later Spock awoke. His head pounded. His stomach lurched. But he remembered every single moment. Nyota let him kiss her? Chocolate came in colors?

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Author's note: I would like to thank Gwen Kathleen for the idea of using white chocolate :-)