"Say the word. Vulcan."

"Wulcan."

Spock looked at Chekov and considered. Uhura had worked extensively with Chekov, at the ensign's request, on improving his standard English, and she had warned Spock that the young man's accent wasn't going anywhere.

Regardless, the way Ensign Chekov insisted on pronouncing the English name of his home planet... irked Spock somehow. He understood the limits of language, and never expected humans to be able to pronounce the proper words in the Vulcan language (the fact that Uhura could speak Vulcan fluently was one of the many reasons he felt attraction for her, and indicated a very high intelligence and a flexible mind, which were important traits in a mate). But "Vulcan" was a word humans gave his planet and his people, and to hear a human mangle the word quite so much was... bothersome.

Chekov obviously did not show the same aptitude for languages that Uhura did, and Spock could not logically fault him for that - he was extremely gifted in other areas. However, the fact that the ensign could very well pronounce the "v" sound, just in other words, confused Spock. He didn't like to be confused.

Not to mention that, on more than one occasion, the ensign's tendency to swap Vs for Ws had eaten up precious seconds in tense situations. It was a matter of ship safety, potentially, and Spock had to take care of it. Yes.

He was convinced he could get Chekov to pronounce it properly. He had invited the ensign to his quarters and they had spoken for quite some time about wormhole physics, and then Spock had brought it up. Chekov, who was still eager to improve his standard English despite his failure with Uhura, was happy to try it out.

"Say waiting," Spock requested. The ensign was sitting on the edge of Spock's bed, attentively, and Spock had pulled up his desk chair to sit nearby.

"Vaiting," Chekov said.

"Do you feel what you are doing?" Spock said. "You say 'vaiting' and you briefly touch your upper teeth to your bottom lip. Do you feel that?"

Chekov shook his head, eyes as wide as usual.

"Say it again," Spock instructed, coming to sit beside Chekov on the bed.

"Vvv-" Chekov started, but Spock had pressed a thumb up to Chekov's lips, pushing his bottom lip against his teeth.

"There," Spock said. "That's how you make that sound."

"Vvv," Chekov hummed again and Spock nodded approvingly, his thumb still on Chekov's lips. Chekov's eyes had gone even wider and his pupils were slightly dilated, which Spock did not understand in this situation, but he didn't detect any distress or discomfort, so he ignored it.

"When you say Vulcan, you push your lips out, like this," Spock said, and his fingers cupped Chekov's mouth, pushing his lips out into a pucker. "This is how you are supposed to say waiting. With your lips pushed out, like you are waiting for a kiss."

Chekov nodded, his breathing slightly ragged. He didn't make any move to disengage his face from Spock's hands, and he kept his lips puckered like that.

Spock realized the inappropriateness of what he had said. It occurred to him that Chekov's dilated pupils and ragged breathing actually did make sense in this situation. He was slightly gratified that his inadvertent flirtation had not resulted in repulsion.

Ensign Chekov was not a bad looking human by any measurement, and also had a very high intelligence and flexible mind. Spock had not yet had the experience of kissing another male, despite the captain's best efforts.

He very slowly withdrew his fingers, purposefully rubbing a thumb against the ensign's lips as he did so. "Say waiting," he instructed again.

Chekov flushed ever so slightly. "Say vaiting, as if I am vaiting for a kiss?" he confirmed. Spock nodded.

Chekov opened his mouth and paused for a very short while, almost pushing the word out, twisting his lips as they tried to make him say a V. They eventually puckered out, asking for a kiss. "V-w-waiting," he said, triumphantly.

Spock leaned down and kissed the ensign, slowly and chastely. Chekov responded, timidly pushing his lips against the Vulcan's, poking the tip of his tongue ever so slightly inside.

Spock disengaged and leaned back, nodding. "Very good," he said. "Say Vulcan."

Chekov tried it again, tried to catch his bottom lip in his teeth, but it did not work. "Wulcan," he said softly.

Spock pressed his lips against the ensign's again, but did not kiss. He very gently nipped Chekov's bottom lip with his teeth. "Vulcan," he whispered against that mouth, and Chekov emitted a slight whimper.

"Vvvvvul-" he started, and when his bottom lip popped out from his teeth on the L, Spock took the opportunity to protude his tongue into the young, hot mouth.

Chekov melted into this kiss, leaning his head back and putting his arms around Spock's shoulders. Spock took this to be a signal of encouragement, and he placed one hand on the back of Chekov's neck, and the other around his waist. He kissed Chekov rougher than his first kiss with Uhura; he often observed the captain kissing other males with a fierceness he did not use on females right away.

It was the correct tactic, and Chekov sighed into the kiss, allowing Spock to trace the inside of his mouth with his tongue, and lean him down until he was lying on his back on the bed.

After one hundred and thirty four seconds, Spock disengaged from the kiss. He propped himself up on his hands and looked at ensign Chekov, who was lying with his eyes closed, his face flushed and his mouth still slightly open, licking his lips. After another eight seconds, Chekov opened his eyes slowly, remaining silent.

Spock raised an eyebrow. "Now say it again. Vulcan."

Chekov smiled up at him, impishly. "Wulcan!"

THE END