Warnings, disclaimers and thanks enumerated in Part One.

Part Four of Thirteen: Routine

If you don't water your relationship it's going to die faster than that plant your aunt gave you last Christmas.

I made it back to Spock's quarters without doing anything that would earn me a Vulcan nerve pinch.

I was very proud of myself.

I didn't trip him in the corridor outside of the mess hall and throw myself down on top of his prone body; I didn't press my body against his in the lift; I didn't push him against the wall outside of his corridors and kiss him until our toes were curling.

No, I kept my hands to myself.

Which meant that I was completely allowed to grab him the second we were alone.

I nipped at his lips, licking the part with the tip of my tongue, waiting for him to open his mouth and allow me in. His fingers tightened on my hips as our tongues slid together.

Success!

My head was spinning when I finally let go of his mouth long enough to breathe.

"Nyota," he said softly.

"Mmmhmmm," I murmured, ready to dive back in.

"I have a great deal of work to finish."

"You're always telling me that Vulcans don't need to sleep as much as Humans," I said, kissing his neck. "You can work the night away after."

"Nyota, I must…."

I pulled my head back so I could look him in the eye. "Did you really think that I would allow you to go unmolested after telling me that you were jealous of my possible activities at the Academy? You're just lucky I didn't jump on you in the middle of dinner."

"I did not tell you I was jealous," he protested. "In fact, I was very clear that I was not jealous."

Sure.

"Really?" I demanded, "You asked me over and over what my plans were."

"On the contrary, you told me that you had plans and I ensured that you would not be late for them."

"And you didn't care what the activities were."

"You were not mine, Nyota. It was illogical for me to take any interest in your activities outside of our work together."

Mine.

I shivered.

"And now I'm yours."

"Just as I am yours," he said.

"That's it," I said, tugging at him, "You, me, bedroom. Now."

"I do not understand why this is so arousing to you," he said even as I dragged him towards his bed.

"Because I'm yours and you're mine and you were jealous," I explained.

How is he still not getting this?

"I was not jealous," he said again, even as I started tugging at his clothes. "I will concede that I was interested in knowing more about what you did outside of our study sessions; however, it was not my place to ask you to discuss such matters."

"Uh huh," I said, getting him naked and starting on myself. "Got it. You weren't jealous, merely interested."

"That is correct," he said, the last syllable ending in a strangled sound as I pushed my warm body against his warmer one.

"Happy to clear that up," I said, nipping at his ear and tugging him to the bed. "Very, very happy." My knees hit the edge of the bed and I folded down, pulling him with me.

He caught himself on outstretched arms; I strained upwards, seeking his lips with mine.

He gave them to me with a groan, his body pushing down into me. He was hard everywhere; it seemed that he had been just as aroused by our flirty banter in the mess hall as I was.

I ended the kiss, bit his earlobe and told him so.

He met my slightly unfocused eyes with his melting ones. "Nyota, I always enjoy our discussions."

"But that one was especially fun," I pointed out.

"Fun," he said. He still made it sound like a dirty word.

"Fun," I said. "Fun is fun. We need more fun."

"I do not understand your argument," he said, his skin sliding over mine in a most distracting manner. I figured I had twenty seconds tops before I was incapable of speech. "Fun is, by its very definition, fun."

I grasped his face in my hands and stared up at him. "Look, you have your naked body pressed to mine, Spock. Lucidity is impossible right now. Got it?"

His eyes bore into mine. "I understand."

"Good," I said, arching up against him; his mouth fell open slightly and his eyes were glowing in the dim light of the room.

I slid my hand between our bodies, trailing my fingers down the length of our bodies until I gained the juncture of my legs. I wet my fingers between my legs, making sure to bump his straining hardness with my knuckles, then I flipped my moist fingers over, stroking him with the moisture. He twitched and shook against my fingers.

"Nyota," he said, pushing into my hand.

"Yes," I whispered, guiding him into me. I closed my eyes and arched my back, taking every delicious millimeter inside of me. His lips found my neck and he moved inside of me, delicious and intoxicating.

This is fun. This is perfect. This is everything.

My teeth found his neck and I nipped and nibbled his muscles as he strained inside of me; he made irresistible whimpering noises – all of his Vulcan composure lost in what we were doing to each other. That thought crystallized all of the sensations – binding them into a point of excruciating perfection that sent my body hurtling…wherever it went during these moments.

He came moments later, pouring himself into my twitching body. I held his head as he shook through his climax.

"I love you," I whispered.

"And I you," he said, raising shaking fingertips to my face. Wordlessly – we didn't need the mantra anymore - his mind brushed against mine, then entered. The backdrop was blue – it had been for five months – would always be, I feared. So much loss.

I was pulled into the blue – then into the blackness of the first meld after - the roaring darkness so full of roaring pain and guilt that I couldn't believe one soul could contain it all; I thought about how I'd held him, rocked him, cried the tears he would not – could not – cry.

But you are here, he said gently, showing me the bright light that was me –what I brought to his life.

Always, Spock.

My love for him was finally as big and bright as his was for me.

My Nyota, the colors intensified, his way of saying that he loved me. We floated there, basking – all of the shadows gone.

Finally, he sighed. I must….

I know. No rest for the First Officer. I sighed myself.

He withdrew from my body and my mind.

I suppressed the overwhelming urge to pull him back to me; I settled for sighing and grousing. "They never told us about this."

"Please clarify, Nyota," he said; he was idly tracing my eyebrows – following their curve raptly.

"The Academy instructors – they never told us just how much paperwork there was going to be. They made it seem like we'd be flying from all over the galaxy, meeting new races, learning new things, gathering new flora – having adventures all the time." I sighed, "They didn't tell us we'd have to write everything down."

His lips quirked up and he moved his fingers to the top of my ears, "It is quite logical that Starfleet does not inform potential cadets of the amount of paperwork that will be expected of them once they are commissioned - it would make recruitment much more challenging."

I laughed and he met my eyes, his shining a little more than usual – the indication of full-on Spock amusement.

"You made a joke."

"I made an observation."

"A funny one," I insisted.

"Perhaps," he said.

I reached up and pushed my fingers through his sweaty hair. I counted three new gray hairs, bringing the grand total to ten.

He caught my hand and kissed the inside of my wrist, right where my pulse still echoed with the force of the earlier explosion.

"I must work," he said.

I murmured my half-hearted assent and he kissed me gently, then stood and pulled on loose pants and a t-shirt. Dressed, he bent down over me, brushing his fingers over my lips. "Rest well, Nyota, I will be beside you when you wake."

I pressed a kiss into his skin.

He straightened, said, "Lights out," and left.

I stared into the darkness and thought about those ten gray hairs – they were beacons in the inky darkness, proof that he needed to get his mind off of work once in a while..

He needed some fun.

And I knew just what to do.