Awakening with a jolt at the annoyance of an alarm clock on the nearby bedside table, James Kirk wipes his eyes sleepily and sits up. He looks to his left at the sleeping, ever-cold lump swaddled in a dozen blankets and smiles. He stands to his feet, groggily replacing his clothes and finger-brushing his dirty blond hair out of his ice-blue eyes. Gathering what little belongings he brought to the room only hours ago, he stops to brush his fingers lovingly down his lover's cheek. The gesture awakens the sensitive woman, and her eyes open slowly.
"Where are you going?" She asks tiredly.
"It's dawn, Alana. I have to get to the deck."
She sighs and rests her eyes, closing them. "Already?"
A small grin appears on his face. "Yeah, I know. But I'm not the one making the rules." He leans down to give her forehead a light kiss and she grabs his hand, kissing his knuckles. "I'll see you at nine." He turns to leave.
"James?" She calls out suddenly, and he turns, seeing that she has sat up. "Before you go, promise me we won't keep this a secret forever?"
"Sure." He offers her a lopsided smile and nods a goodbye as he opens the door, letting in the bright hallway light.
As his eyes adjust to the new lighting, James thinks about the flippant reply he gave Alana. He reaches up to scratch his face and notices there is a prickly stubble that's appeared upon his jawline. Entering the deck, he sets his belongings in one of the small lockers near the door, and walks in, making a beeline for his chair.
"Good morning, Captain," greets Chekov, who sits in front of a screen full of stars.
"Morning, Mister Chekov. Any news for me?"
"Not at the moment, sir, no."
"Then we're off to a great start." James smiles at the young Russian man, who turns back around in his seat to study coordinates listed on the holographic ledge below the screen.
"Actually, Captain, we're having trouble down here," comes Scotty's voice from a small speaker on James's chair.
"Already? Scotty, it's six in the morning. Is it something you and Kevin can't fix?"
"What, you don't want to spend a little quality time with us, Captain?" Comes the usual snarky reply.
Blowing air through his nostrils in an exasperated manner, James stands up. "I'll be down momentarily." James turns to face his trusted crew member, Sulu. "You have the chair, but if anything happens, I'm the one calling the shots."
"Always a pleasure in the morning, aren't you, Captain?" Sulu replies.
"Mister Spock, you're with me."
The two walk in silence down to the bridge until Spock, looking rarely intrigued, turns his head to look at his captain.
"Forgive me, Captain, if I overstep my analyzation boundaries, but are you in a romantic, possibly sexual, relationship at the moment?"
James snaps his head over to look at Spock. "No, are you crazy?" He asks incredulously. "What gives it away?"
Spock looks down, seemingly out of humor, but his unreadable expression stays. "I could not help but notice that you have not shaved in a while, your hair is often unkempt, you're later than usual to meet us at the deck, and when I came to give you those papers you asked me to look over this morning, you were not in your living quarters. It is most unlike you."
"Damn. I was hoping no one had noticed."
"Is that... Sarcasm, Captain?"
"More or less." The pair stops walking, and James's voice becomes serious. "I would like for you to keep this under wraps. I could lose my flying rights if I'm found out, and I currently have the best crew and ship I could ask for. I don't want to risk that."
"If I'm correct, you are already 'risking it,' Captain."
"Mister Spock," comes the warning tone of voice James has switched to.
"I apologize, Captain. It is in my nature to take into account-"
Spock is cut short as a passing Doctor McCoy calls out James's nickname.
"Morning, Jim."
"Captain," Spock corrects quietly, without any notice from Bones or James.
"Where are you two off to?"
"Ah, Scotty said something went wrong down at the bridge," James answers.
"Well, I'll join you. The baby can be delivered later." Bones takes one look at a surprised James and taken-aback Spock, and explains. "Joking, boys, take it easy." He then folds his arms. "Say, ah, Jim, haven't you got a razor somewhere?" He asks, noticing the fine stubble on James's face. The three continue walking.
Spock looks at James precariously.
"Go ahead. I guess he should know, too," James says, looking down at his shoes.
"What is it, Spock?"
"He is involved in a romantic, perhaps sexual, relationship with one of our crewmates."
"My God, Jim, are you crazy? Couldn't you lose your privileges if someone found out?"
"You know, I wasn't exactly planning on having people find out." James shoots Spock a look.
"Well, don't be calling me when she tells you she's pregnant, because I don't plan on delivering a baby on this ship anytime soon."
"Why do you use the 'she' pronoun, Doctor? Was there something I missed?" Spock asks, feeling rather disappointed that he might have missed a crucial piece of information.
"Oh, it's just a guess, Mister Spock." Bones slips James a sly smirk, making the captain blush out of embarrassment.
The trio enters the doors to the bridge, and a frantic Scotty comes to meet them.
"Great Scot, Captain, what took you so long? The generator's been on the fritz all mornin'!"
"And, now I'm leaving. It was nice to see you, Captain," Bones says sarcastically. "Mister Spock," he says, acknowledging the Vulcan with a nod of his head.
"What? You come back here! We need all the help we can get, lad!" Scotty calls after the leaving man.
"I'm a doctor, not an engineer, Mister Scotty!"