A/N: Righty ho… so, not quite as quick as the last chapter, but hey… two days is good too, right. Thank you so much for your reviews guys, I sort of knew we wouldn't repeat the miracle of last time, but still… pretty cool.

(Is it horrible of me to hope for 85 reviews after this chapter… that would just be so great… hint, hint O.O)

As I've stated in some replies, I'm starting to make a bit more use of the M rating, and even though we're nowhere near the hefty stuff, I thought I might as well ease you into things… hope that's OK.

Disclaimer: I own my OCs, that's it.

The first truly glorious Saturday towards the end of February saw a veritable mass exodus of students and faculty members, all with rather large and somewhat mysterious packages in tow. The time for early test flights and equipment checks for the model flyers had arrived.

Christine met Pavel and Lily at 0800 hours in the hanger to finish up the last adjustments before their baby would taste the open air for the first time, and the entire place was already buzzing with activity.

"Tuna and egg mayonnaise… I'm telling you." Lily had an expression of deepest conviction on her face as she flicked a strand of her black and purple fringe out of her eyes.

"Absolutely not! Cucumber, chicken, and green tomato chutney." Christine sounded equally as determined.

"Why am I not surprised… cucumber and green tomatoes is so you."

Shrem, who'd only just arrived, and was now walking past their table, gave both of them a disbelieving look and muttered:

"No way in hell is that thing gonna fly… do I even want to know what you intend to do with all the food?"

"They're discussing the perfect sandvich filling, it has nothing to do vith the flyer… I hope…" Pavel looked a little uncertain.

Lily and Christine just grinned at each other and said with almost perfect synchronicity: "Picnic!"

"Way to have your priorities straight, ladies." Jim called from his spot one table over.

---

They'd all been invited to Admiral Pike's small summer house, just 20 minutes shuttle ride from the academy and with plenty of outdoor space to figure out just how much work their models still needed. Christine feared that in their case the answer to that question was 'a lot'… they might as well have put cucumbers in there somewhere, she didn't think it would make much of a difference.

There were five flyers currently laid out on the grass in front of them, and it pained Christine to say it, but theirs was by far the oddest and least flight-worthy looking one of the bunch.

Why was it they'd decided to make it look like a bug that made you throw up and bleed from your nose, again?

There'd been a bit of a surprise as to who the fifth flyer belonged to: Shrem and Aureya owned one, of course, Jim and Gaila the second, Scotty had decided to go it alone, and Lily, Pavel, and Christine owned the fourth; the final flyer, however, was there courtesy of team Pike/Taylor. The two had baffled them all when they'd produced their rather impressive little model, which they'd sort of built on the sly.

They messed around with the flyers for a good two hours, and miracle of miracles, their odd little bug actually did fly, even if in circles and with a distinct tilt to the left.

Their 'moral support team' consisting of Bones, Sulu, and Spock, all being bossed around by a now 8 months pregnant Noyota, had set up their picnic while they'd all been shouting at inanimate objects above their heads and hurling trash talk at each other.

Christine wasn't really very good at trash talk; she was pretty sure calling Gaila a 'ginger nincompoop' was the complete low point of her efforts, considering the other woman laughed so hard, she'd actually had a tiny bit of snot come out her nose.

There was enough food to feed about 80 people, and while Noyota's culinary skills weren't exactly a surprise, the fact that Jim brought along the most divine potato salad she had ever tasted, came as something of a shock. Shrem, however, took the crown hands down with spicy courgette sandwich fingers and a blueberry and buttermilk cake that caused a small fistfight between Bones and Scotty once that last piece was reached. (Bones claimed the piece of cake in the end by kicking the other man in the shin… Christine had never heard such creative cursing, not even from Aureya… she thought it was the accent that truly made it.)

Now everyone was lounging around the two large blankets, with Commander Spock being the only person still in a dignified position, he had his legs folded neatly beneath him, his back straight; Eya had fallen asleep right next to him, and Christine had to smile at the fact that she held her fists balled next to her face like a small child. She herself was leaning back on her elbows, ankles crossed, discussing combat techniques with Hikaru who was to her right, his elbow propped up on the blanket, and his chin in his hand. She had not really had many opportunities to speak with the young man, who, she found out, was himself relatively new to their mad little social circle, so they alternated between topic specific points, such as phaser settings, and personal trivia, such as favourite foods.

"My brother was an excellent fencer, he had a whole set of trophies in his room. I tried once or twice, but I don't think I'm really coordinated enough, those genes must have taken a time out for me." She smiled at the memory of her brother, and wondered when fondness had replaced what had previously only been pain.

"William Chapel, right?"

"You knew him?" There was an excited flutter in her chest.

"Not well, he was in his final year when I started at the academy, but we were both on the fencing team."

"Oh my… I think I remember you; you beat that African fencer, the one who wore all his medals on his competition suit. Will competed in his last fight for the academy that day."

"Wait… you're that gangly blond teenager who wouldn't look at, or speak to anyone at the after-party." His eyes had gone wide, and a small smirk was playing around her lips.

"Sounds like you." Shrem commented from his prone position on her other side, his large form taking up much more space than any one man had a right to; he had his arms folded behind his head and his eyes closed, not opening them even as he spoke. As a result, he didn't see the small glare she was sending his way. When she turned back to Sulu, however, she said:

"Sounds like me."

Both men laughed.

"So, if you were a teenager back then… how come you're a first year? How old are you… oh, wait,… is that a rude question already."

Christine laughed at that, shook her head and told him:

"I was involved in academia, as a biochemist, and it's not rude to ask yet… at least I hope not… I was 28 two months ago."

"Oh fuck." Shrem was now bolt upright beside her and glaring.

"What? Did something bite you? I've got anti-septic…"

"No, you're birthday!… You mentioned something at Gaila's party, and I didn't take proper notice, and then you didn't say anything anymore, and…. bloody hell, Chris, you could have said something."

"It's no big deal." The entire place had gone oddly quiet, and when she looked around, she noticed that everyone was now staring at her, even Eya and Miriam, who'd both been dozing. A lump formed in her throat and she could feel herself blush and panic.

"Seriously, it's not… I mean, I would have… it's just… I didn't know you that well yet, and…"

Great! Perfect timing for the shy thing to kick back in, but having 12 people stare at you like you'd just shot a puppy was a little unnerving.

"Don't be mad… I'm sorry."

"Sheesh, Buttercup, we're not mad… it's just weird, and… well,… a little sad… and sort of hurtful… and embarrassing,… because I was definitely your friend two months ago, even if you didn't think so, I sure did." The expression on Shrem's face made Christine's insides go lumpy. His eyes had gone really wide and sort of dark hazel when they were usually almost gold, and his lower lip was about a millimetre away from a full pout.

"Ahhhm, I…"

"Not to mention you robbed us of an 'old lady' party." Gaila, too, looked rather perturbed.

"A what?" Christine definitely didn't like the sound of that.

Noyota, who was the only one who had not sat up at Shrem's little outburst, presumably since it was just too much hassle, filled her in:

"I got one last year… Gaila, Aureya, and Shrem, aka 'the girls', kidnapped me from our apartment, dressed me in tweed, put a grey wig on me, blindfolded me, and dragged me to the Green Wolf. We had prune juice and vodka, everyone was made up to look old, and we played backgammon… well, we tried, we sort of got too drunk. Apparently 28 is the point of no return, who knew." The rather fond smile on her face made the whole thing seem marginally less gruesome.

"I think I'm sort of glad you guys didn't know…"

"Oh, that was a great party. I didn't have to dress up and was by far the hottest chick there." Miriam gave them a wicked little grin. Christine would have thought it was sort of tasteless to describe 28 as old in front of a woman 40 years off the mark, but she had once again underestimated Captain Taylor's infinite capacity to just roll with the punches.

"You sure were, Mimi, you sure were." Shrem winked at the older woman, then turned back to Christine and announced:

"Leave it with me, I'll think of something… I'll make it up to you."

"Why do I feel like that should worry me?"

***

At some point in the early stages of her discussion with Hikaru at the picnic, Christine had been verbally wrangled into attending the hand-to-hand electives the academy held for its students and staff.

Her very first of those fell on another Saturday, and saw Jim in charge as instructor. It was a little odd to hear people calling him 'Sir'. It had never occurred to Christine how peculiar it was that people regularly called Commander Spock 'Sir', who was, in fact, of lower rank than Jim.

"Right, I'm gonna show you something that I like to call the 'Iowa Sling' today. Pair up."

Christine looked around a little helplessly, before horrible flashbacks to gym class made her duck her head and study her feet.

"Chris? You open?" Aureya gave her a wide grin, then added: "I promise I'll go easy on you."

A little flustered, what with being so far outside of her comfort zone, Christine just muttered the first thing that popped into her head:

"But you're so little… I don't think that's fair." Unfortunately, she'd been too loud and Jim turned to her with a smirk:

"Don't worry, I've seen her take Spock down, and that means something, trust me, I'd know."

Completely without thinking, and most certainly not intending to be funny, Christine stated:

"Yea, but I'm sure he was willing, so I don't think that counts." She slapped a hand over her mouth immediately. There were some rather loud snickers and giggles from the group and Jim rolled his eyes. She mouthed a quick 'sorry' to Aureya, but the younger woman didn't seem too concerned, she just smiled at her.

"You know what, I might as well take this opportunity to demonstrate that size doesn't matter." Jim seemed sort of pleased.

"Yea, you just tell yourself that if it makes you feel better, sweetie."

"And we have a volunteer! Ladies and gentlemen: Cadet P'Grell… Keep your shirt on this time, Shrem, no need to make the ladies swoon."

"Oh admit it, you're just worried you won't be able to control yourself at the sight of my bare chest."

Apparently Christine was on an 'oblivious and dumb' roll, since her mouth asked, rather sincerely:

"Why his shirt? I thought it was his pants."

Oh for the love of… what is wrong with you? Shut up, shut up, shut up!!!

When the giggles died back down, Miriam's voice carried across the small outdoor space loud and clear:

"Shirt: swoon, pants: faint."

Ok, so even Christine had to laugh at that one.

Shrem just wore one of those long suffering expressions, the one that said 'what else is new', then shrugged, and nudged Jim.

"So, you gonna sling me, or what?"

Christine had to admit, it was quite impressive watching Jim, who, while not exactly short, could never be called tall, sort off curled Shrem around his waist and then chuck him to the ground. To be fair, Shrem did play possum, so that Jim ranted something about active participation at him, which just caused Shrem to go leaden, and made Jim stumble sideways when he anticipated less resistance and overbalanced.

They were left to practice the move with their partner, and while Christine started out being a somewhat delicate with Eya, she quickly gave up on that, after the other woman had made her collide with the ground a little too enthusiastically one time too many times.

The session ended with some light sparring. Aureya beat the crap out of her… in a friendly sort of way.

They all finished with three laps around the exercise grounds, and by the end of the entire thing Christine was sore, sweaty, and tired.

"So, I'm coming with you to your place. I still have some clothes at Gaila's. We can get cleaned up and changed, and hit the clubs… I call it 'the hunt 101'."

Christine groaned as Shrem draped one massive arm around her shoulder and grinned widely.

"I was sort of hoping you'd forgotten about that… and I'm in some serious pain. Couch? Movie? Pizza? Please?"

"Uh-uh… exercise releases endorphins, testosterone… even in women…and tightens your muscles. In other words: it makes you happy, relaxed, horny, and hot… we're not wasting that, Sunshine."

Christine tried the Bambie look that always seemed to work for Eya, even though she knew she really wasn't fawn material, except perhaps in the 'I have no control over my skinny little legs' department, and Shrem just snorted and shook his head.

"Nope, not working... you're going."

***

Shrem managed to find enough food in her fridge to throw together some sort of baked sausage and bean casserole, and vanished into her bathroom to clean up once the large dish was in the oven. Christine was setting the table, still in her loose grey Starfleet sweat pants and undershirt. She'd take second dibs on the bathroom… she was quicker in there anyway.

She really had hoped that Shrem had forgotten about his little plan of taking her on the prowl, she had a hard time explaining to him that the idea of sex with some random stranger, simply for the sake of attempting to achieve the – for her so elusive – physical pleasure commonly associated with that activity, sounded about as inviting as getting a tooth transplant.

She had tried to communicate her concern, but that had just lead to one of the most embarrassing conversations she'd ever had the misfortune of having with Shrem… and they tended to talk about some weird things on occasion.

It went something a little like this:

Shrem: So, this whole 'I don't like sex' thing, how serious is that?

Christine: Hm?

Shrem: I mean; have you ever had an orgasm?

Christine: Excuse me?

Shrem: I'm just trying to figure out if there's a serious problem, or if it's just the unfortunate situation you were in, Buttercup. What happens when you masturbate?

Christine: chrrr kkk rrrr (chokes on sip of water taken at an inopportune moment)

Shrem: Are you uncomfortable talking about this sort of thing?

Christine: --------------- (hopes her face says: 'who the fuck wouldn't be?'… but then realises that the answer to that question is quite obvious, and includes the man sitting in front of her, the woman across the hall, and quite possibly another five or so people of her closer acquaintance.)

Shrem: That's a yes, is it?.... Right, just nod if you've ever cum when…

Christine: Enough, Shrem. I know what you're doing, and just so you know, I'm not technically 'frigid'… ugh, what a horrible word. Happy?

Shrem: Ecstatic… now, was that so hard? (grins)

Christine: I hate you.

She shook her head at the memory and felt her face go warm, still somewhat uncomfortable at the notion of having… reluctantly as it was… talked about that sort of thing with a man. She jumped when her com unit gave a little bleep and announced:

"Incoming, Patterson and Lauren Chapel, New Orleans."

Ahh, crap… just what she needed.

"Accept call."

"Christine, darling, such great news! We've managed to secure an extra two tickets to the beneficiary gala for New Vulcan… I'm sure Robert was invited, so they might be unnecessary, and since he'll be back by then… but just in case… it is rather a prestigious event… so it is possible that he might only have received one ticket, and it's always good to be prepared."

"Hello, mother. I'm well, and you?"

"Don't be snippy, young lady." Her father remarked from his position right behind her mother, a noticeable frown on his face.

"Father." Christine sounded mostly tired as she gave him a small nod.

Sucking in a deep breath for courage, she steeled her nerves and looked her mother straight in the eyes:

"Thank you, that is very considerate of you, but I think I've already explained to you that I don't associate with Robert anymore, and…"

"Don't be ridiculous, Christine. Some silly little misunderstanding is no reason to end a relationship of nine years. Robert will be back in a little over a month and you two will sort things out and everything will be fine."

"Misunderstanding? Mother, I saw his student aide perform falatio on him, I'd hardly call that a…"

"Christine, language! How can you even use such filthy words in front of your mother?" Her father looked equal parts angry and outraged, and for the life of her Christine could not suppress the small fit of giggles that burst forth. How often had she thought her parents might faint if they could overhear her conversations with her friends… if they considered this to be a filthy word, she'd pay money for them to spend 20 minutes with anyone from Engineering… preferably Eya or Scotty.

"Why are you laughing?... Oh my word, Robert did mention that he thought you were a little hysterical lately, it appears he was right."

Christine attempted to come up with anything to say to that, but was interrupted in her contemplation by her bathroom door sliding open.

"Wow, I'm such an idiot, I actually forgot to get my clothes first… well, Buttercup, look on the bright side, you get to see me topless after all… and I'm ever wearing a towel, Eya never receives that sort of consideration… Oh, hello there."

"---"

"---/---"

"I hope you don't mind, I borrowed some of that lotion stuff you have in there… mmmmm, cinnamon… nice."

"---"

"---/---"

"Something wrong, Sunshine?"

"Why are you naked?????!!!!!" OK, so now she was hysterical.

"I'm not, I'm wearing a towel." Shrem looked at his barely covered crotch, back up at her, and offered a nonchalant:

"See?"

And then, as if nothing was the matter at all, he smiled widely, indicated the com screen and ventured:

"Your parents?... Hi." He gave them a little wave.

Lauren Chapel looked as if her eyes were about to pop out of her head, and Patterson was studying something to his left, neither one returned the greeting.

"OK, then… bad timing?... Ahm, I'll just be over at Gaila's… get me when you're done… Oh, and the casserole should be ready in about 20." Still completely oblivious, he walked up to her, placed a kiss on top of her head, and waltzed to the door, calling a somewhat muted;

"nice meeting you" over his shoulder.

When the door slid closed behind him, Christine turned back to the screen in slow motion, her eyes squeezed partially shut and her jaw clenched.

"Ahm… that was my best friend… Shrem P'Grell… he's in engineering."

Yup, that cleared up everything.

She sort of expected someone to start screaming at her any minute now, she expected her mother to cry and wail, her father to shout, instead, when she finally opened her eyes fully again to focus on her parents, she was just in time to watch her mother keel over sideways. Her father lunged after her, barely managing to grab her arm, and scowled at Christine:

"This… you… not over!!!!!!... end call!" Her screen went transparent again.

Her mind was a bit hazy, so her first few thoughts were really a little unfocused: She briefly contemplated that Miriam was wrong… apparently 'shirt: faint' was an option too. Then she wondered how someone looked like a blue teddy bear one moment and then looked… ahm, well… entirely different the next… there was nothing soft and cuddly about Shrem in a towel. Sure, she'd been aware of the fact that he had really broad shoulders, and had assumed that he was physically fit, but…. It certainly explain why the two girls in her med lab class who'd been with him still blushed every time they saw him, and…

Ahhh… enough!... Inappropriate! Focus! Right: set table, have shower, get Shrem.

She did just that, and even took the casserole out of the oven before she went over to Gaila's and retrieved a fully dressed and somewhat sheepish looking Shrem.

"Ahm, Buttercup? Jim just explained that your parents might have gotten the wrong idea… so,… you know… I'm sorry. I can call them and explain, if you want."

"No, I think they've seen quite enough of you for one day. No need to make my father pass out too."

"Huh?"

"You made my mother faint."

"Wow, someone's not getting any."

"Shrem!"

"Sorry… just a joke."

"Not funny… ugh."

"Talking of getting some, here." Shrem shoved a black piece of fabric at her.

"What…"

"You're not going like that." He indicated the navy blue button down shirt she'd put on over a pair of dark trousers.

"What's wrong with it?" He just raised an eyebrow and twitched an antenna. She let out a small gasp as she unfolded the item of clothing he'd handed her. It was a black top, simple but with a low neckline and slits at both sides.

"I'm not wearing that… also, if that's Gaila's, there's no way I'd fill it… up here, I mean." She frowned at her chest a little.

"She said it's too small for her… and you've got nice little puppies… not exactly a hand full, but that says more about my hands than your boobs."

"Shrem,… how did you even come up with the hand to chest …?"

"I've made estimates."

"Wow… thanks?"

"Sure… food, change, go… come on."

Christine sighed in exasperation, but concluded that it would probably be pointless to struggle. She'd go along, fail miserably at the whole endeavour and be excused from any further attempts.

Good plan.

A/N: 85… maybe… please?