'Shared body heat.'
Pike couldn't believe he'd let it come to this. It had been a regular away mission... up to a point... but now they were stuck on an empty, hostile planet, having to resort to basic survival training. Did they even cover that at the Academy these days?
He mentally kicked himself for following the crumbs he found in Number One's file. It had 'proceed with caution' practically stamped all over it. He was so eager to find his friend, he'd put another officer in danger, not just himself.
Pike turned round to face Ensign Tilly, he realised she'd stopped a few paces back. She looked frozen to the spot in fear. He instinctively reached for his phaser and scanned the horizon. There was no movement, but maybe she'd seen something.
'Ensign, report!' Pike hoped the order would snap her out... and he was right.
'Do you want to be the spoon?'
Pike froze, as it slowly dawned on him what Tilly was referring to... his confused expression turned to a gentle smile. He'd made an off-the-cuff comment about how they'd survive the night and it had obviously sent the young Ensign into a panic.
He tried not to take it personally, he'd never take advantage of someone under his command but there was little history to go on between them. If the reports he read about Lorca were anything to go by, Tilly had every reason to be nervous. He wasn't Lorca.
Pike watched Tilly go from panicked to embarrassed in a matter of seconds, as she realised what she'd said. He was saved from an outburst as his communicator beeped into life...for the first time in hours.