Not Mine, Never Mine Usual Disclaimers.

This story is set after 'Puppy Instincts'.

Spock took a moment to stroke the feline lazing upon the short wall in front of the apartment complex where Jim resided, hearing it purr contentedly. The creature's mind was dull and unevolved, very different from the complexities that Jim's mind presented while in puppy form. Spock recalled meeting the creature several days before, as he came home with Jim for the very first time.

'Say hello to Buttercup Spock, he's the friendliest cat you've ever met.'

'Buttercup?'

'Yeah, I know, it's a name more suited for a female cow than a male cat, but that's my neighbour for you. Just watch out for the ginger cow, she's a real piece of work, claws the crap out of you.'

'I will endeavour to remember that.'

'Speaking of things that you wish to endeavour to do...' Jim had trailed of suggestively.

Spock had been too distracted by Jim rubbing their fingers together at the time to argue about Jim's use of the word "endeavour".

Spock pulled himself back into reality and continued his way into the building, and up to Jim's apartment. Spock paused at the door, it was an old fashioned wooden one with hinges; Spock thought that they were a security risk, but Jim liked the rustic quality of having a hinged door. Spock had still worried, until he discovered that Jim had secretly built in a force field that automatically switched on and off as the lock was engaged. Jim had proudly shown it to Spock the first time that he brought the half-Vulcan over, as Jim put it, he was nostalgic, not stupid. This is why Spock felt a small stab of concern when he went to knock on the door to announce his arrival, only for it to swing open as the latch had not caught. Spock didn't panic, it was very possible that Jim had simply used his foot to shut the door, and hadn't checked to make sure that it had caught. Entering, Spock called out for Jim but he received no reply, he was sure that Jim was alright, there was no immediate sign of anything out of the ordinary.

'Jim,' Spock called again, tensing as there was yet again no reply.

Spock methodically searched each room, starting with the lounge, progressing into the kitchen area, and finally the bedroom. The sight that greeted Spock was one that he had never even paused to consider, as Jim was currently crouched down on the floor, the majority of his weight resting on his palms. Jim was completely immobile, eyes locked on an orange pillow lying upon the bed, which Spock was certain he had never seen before. Spock came into the room itself, standing behind Jim and observed the object that commanded his captain's attention. The bed was bathed in the late afternoon sun, the window had been left open a jar to allow a breeze to carry through, although neither helped to explain Jim's sudden bizarre behaviour. Spock placed a hand on Jim's back, only for the younger man to elicit a low growl, but otherwise remained perfectly in place. Spock blinked as the pillow moved, convinced that it was some strange trick of the light, yet unable to explain the link between the phenomena and the sudden tensing of Jim's muscles.

Spock decided that the most logical way to discover the mystery of the orange pillow was to examine the pillow itself. Spock hadn't quite touched it when he jerked his hand back as the "pillow" definitely moved, sitting upright to reveal that it was not a pillow at all, rather a large ginger cat, the "ginger cow" as Jim had put it. Spock concluded that Jim's puppyness was causing some territorial issues, especially given that Jim reportedly did not like the feline to begin with. Spock turned back towards Jim to see that Jim's gaze was fixated on the movements of the ginger and was shifting his weight, as if preparing to leap. The ginger for the most part was simply alternating between washing her paws, and giving Jim an "I am holier than thou" look, which Nyota once swore all cats had. Jim growled again and Spock was convinced that he needed to do something, but was unsure as to what, as he had no idea how to snap Jim out of his puppy mode. The ginger stopped washing her paws and moved, causing Jim to whine as she slunk across the bed to where Spock was still standing, purring as she rubbed up against the back of Spock's hand.

Spock had been considering shielding the feline from Jim's view, hoping that the lack of visual stimuli would break the spell his lover was under when he felt something soft brush across the back of his hand. The next moment Jim had charged at the offending animal, crashing into Spock, causing the half-Vulcan to crash into the mattress with his arms wrapped around a struggling Jim. Jim barked and struggled to break free of Spock's grip, causing it to tighten; meanwhile the ginger arched her back, fluffed her fur, hissed, and yowled her displeasure before escaping through the window from whence she came. Jim continued to growl, and attempt to wriggle free of Spock's encasing embrace, Spock fighting to keep a hold of his lover while attempting to reposition them into a less awkward position on the bed.

'Jim,' Spock coaxed, 'Jim, Jim, Jim, it is gone now.'

Jim kept squirming, although with less fervour than before, and Spock stroked Jim's back until Jim lay still across his chest.

'Arg,' said Jim, 'that was embarrassing.'

'It could have been worse my Jim; you could have done it in public, or chased a diplomat.'

'It's not that,' Jim said, his voice muffled as he attempted to bury his face into the crook of Spock's neck, 'I tried to chase a cat. There isn't a bigger cliché, except maybe the mailman.'

'Mailman?'

'Yeah, people who used to carried letters etc back before the days of electronic correspondence.'

'Why exactly would one chase a postal service worker?'

'Dogs chase cats, and mail people, and milkmen and stuff, it's like a cat chasing a bird, or stealing the fish out of the bowl. Please tell me I don't have to tell anyone else about this,' Jim's tone had become pleading.

'Doctor McCoy and Admiral Pike will want to know about this episode.'

Jim groaned, 'great, more people to laugh at me!'

'Jim, they need to know that something happened, not the details as to what happened.'

Jim sat up to look Spock in the eyes, 'you promise?'

'I promise my T'hy'la,' Spock said, sealing his promise with a kiss.

A/N: No, I don't hate cats, I own two kittens (I wanted a puppy).