Part IX - Persuasion
Kirk and McCoy settled quickly into the routine of the Academy. It didn't take long for Kirk to see what McCoy had been talking about in terms of his free time. The classes at the Academy were intense and demanding, both mentally and physically. But despite that, McCoy was scheduled to take a shift at the hospital starting only one hour after classes ended for the day, giving McCoy barely enough time to eat something, shower and change before starting work.
On the plus side (so far as Kirk was concerned), when McCoy came off shift and slid into study mode, he couldn't have asked for a better study partner. For the first time that he could recall, Kirk was dealing with someone who was his intellectual equal on a daily basis - something deep within him responded to that before Kirk even consciously realized what was happening. McCoy's specialty might have been medical, but the man had a broad range of interests and had an opinion - an informed opinion - on a vast array of topics. It was as it Kirk's brain had been living on bread and water, then suddenly was introduced to a five-star buffet. The nagging boredom that had plagued him his entire life vanished as did his doubts about ending up in Starfleet. Now that his brain felt fully awake and stimulated, Kirk never wanted to go back to that numb feeling he'd had while lying on the grass in Iowa, staring at the sky.
To his own surprise, Kirk found himself making accommodations for McCoy. While Kirk had a steady stream of sexual partners, he made sure they always left before McCoy's shifts ended so that McCoy could get his study and sleep in with as little distraction as possible. He even got in the habit of picking up McCoy's meal rations for him when he started noticing his roommate was losing weight from being too tired to go stand in line.
Still, even with Kirk's efforts, McCoy was showing ever increasing signs of exhaustion. Despite that, several of Kirk's opponents had come down with mysterious medical ailments - tired or not, McCoy was meticulous about holding up what he considered to be his end of their bargain.
After they passed the six week mark, Kirk decided he had waited long enough for things to straighten out. It was time that the Medical staff found out that McCoy might not have a standard protector, but he wasn't without backup. After all, so far as Kirk was concerned, he had found the perfect wingman - McCoy's only flaw being his inability to hit the local bars with him. That had to change.
By this point, Kirk's name was known around the campus and not simply from the association with his father. Kirk had shown himself to have quick fists, but an even quicker mind. His frequent trips to Medical for McCoy to patch him up after altercations meant he was as well known in Medical as he was on the more academic side of campus. Even more known once the doctors made note that however bad Kirk looked when he came in, his opponents always looked far worse.
All of that added up to it causing a jolt of fear when the doctor in charge of scheduling heard the door to his office open and found himself suddenly alone in the room with Kirk. Doctor Tomas started sweating as Kirk paused to lock the door before saying so much as a word. The sight of the man's obvious nerves made Kirk smile broadly - that barracuda smile that conveyed threat better than most people's scowls did.
"Doctor Tomas, isn't it? I know with the rush of a new Academy class starting, some things get neglected, but I thought I'd bring it to your attention that my roommate, Doctor McCoy, hasn't had so much as one day off since the beginning of classes."
Despite his nerves, Tomas' eyes narrowed.
"McCoy is on the Medical track - you're on the Command track. Why would you care?"
Kirk had come prepared for that question or some variation on the theme.
"I care because Doctor McCoy and I have several classes in common. Classes that I use him as a tutor for. He gotten so tired recently that he's becoming useless to me. Do you have any idea how unhappy that makes me to have his services unavailable when I want them?"
'Tutoring' was a common Academy euphemism for using a classmate as a cheat in a class or on a test, so Kirk knew he was implying to Tomas that McCoy was part of the reason for his scores all being at the top of his classes. Better that than for Tomas to think there was anything personal between Kirk and McCoy. Because really, there wasn't anything personal. At least, that was what Kirk was telling himself that as he leaned forward a bit.
""Now, there's a three day break in classes starting tomorrow. If McCoy were to be off the hospital rotation for at least two of those days, I bet he might get enough rest to be useful to me again. Which would make me happier. And I thought I'd let you know that I'm holding you personally responsible for my happiness, Doctor Tomas."
"Are you threatening me, Cadet Kirk?"
Kirk actually laughed at that question.
"Me? I never threaten, Doctor Tomas. Ask anyone. Oh, and if you would give me a copy of McCoy's schedule for the next few days, I'll make sure that he gets it."
Then Kirk snapped his fingers as if suddenly remembering something.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Check Admissions. Room 461, if I'm not mistaken."
Tomas hesitated slightly as he caught the glint in the blue eyes watching him, then he slowly reached over to his intercom.
"Admissions, this is Doctor Tomas. Could you tell me who has been admitted to room 461?"
"Yes, Doctor. That would be Lieutenant Graham. He was admitted late last night with a concussion and a broken leg."
It took a moment for Tomas to remember to sign off from Admissions. Graham had been a recurring thorn in Tomas' side for months, but it was unnerving to him that Kirk had somehow found out about that. If he knew that, what other things might Kirk have discovered. Swallowing hard as Tomas turned back to him, he saw Kirk's smile widen a bit.
"See? Consider keeping me in a happy mental state as being a good thing, Doctor Tomas. Now - that schedule?"
Late that evening, or actually early morning, as McCoy drug himself into their room, he considered the only highpoint was that he might get to sleep for more than two hours straight since there weren't going to be classes for a few days. He didn't pay attention to anything in the room as he made a beeline for the bathroom to rinse off a few layers of the grime that he felt had attached to his skin.
A few minutes later and McCoy staggered slightly as he emerged from the bathroom, damp and still rubbing a towel against his hair. Since Kirk was likely asleep, he didn't bother turning up the lights, negotiating his way to his bed by memory alone. It wasn't until he sat on his bed and felt that something was already there that he realized anything was different. Then the thing on the bed moved and he dropped the towel as he jumped back off of his bed. At the sound of McCoy's yelp, Kirk started giggling - actual giggling - and ordered the lights up ten percent.
Also giggling was what, or rather who, was in McCoy's bed. Which turned out to be an Orion woman with velvet green skin and red hair who was wearing nothing but nail polish and a smile. McCoy immediately turned to his roommate - who was now imitating a hyena.
"What is this, Jim?"
"Wow - it has been awhile for you, hasn't it, Bones? That would be a woman. More specifically, this is Gaila, the young lady from my Engineering class I've told you about."
Propping herself up slightly, the redhead was studying McCoy very intently. At which time he recalled that he wasn't even wearing nail polish.
"Hi, Leonard. Nice to meet you. Jim's told me so much about you."
Her eyes roved a bit further down and her smile increased.
"He left out a few details though. Not that I mind being pleasantly surprised. I can see where you got your nickname."
Finding himself flushing (not blushing, thank you very much), McCoy turned on Kirk again.
"Dammit, Jim - what did I say about my bed?"
"You said I couldn't have sex there. I didn't think you'd mind having it there yourself."
That stopped McCoy cold.
"Excuse me?"
"Gaila's not here for me, Bones - she's here for you."
Shifting his attention back to the woman still occupying his bed, McCoy couldn't say that he wasn't highly tempted. It had been awhile. Longer than Kirk likely suspected, but after another minute, a slightly mournful sigh emerged.
"You have no idea how much I regret saying this, Miss - but I'm too damn tired. Plus I've got to be back on shift at the hospital in about five hours."
Gaila just hummed slightly as she patted the bed next to her.
"I know you're tired. Jim's told me all about what they've been putting you through. But don't you worry about a thing. You just lay down and let me take care of everything."
Kirk chimed in while he got into a more comfortable viewing position..
"Besides, you're off the schedule for the rest of today and all of tomorrow as well, Bones. Let Gaila help you release some of that built up tension, then you can get some sleep. After that, you and I are going to hit a few bars together."
"I'm - what? How did you?"
His tired mind really was having trouble keeping up with everything, but he didn't resist when the green hands reached up to take hold of him and gently guided him back down to the bed. Kirk chuckled again.
"Relax, Bones. Remember our agreement - you handle the medical end, I handle the physical end. Consider this part of my end of the bargain."
What little protest remained died without much of a fight as Gaila's fingers began a skillful combination of massaging and teasing. In the back of his mind, he wondered briefly if he'd pissed Kirk off somehow and this was Kirk's way to get him offguard to kill him. Then Gaila's hands shifted and the forefront of his brain forcefully told the back that there were far worse ways to go. A moment later, both halves of his mind agreed to shut up and enjoy.
