Author's Note:
Greetings and salutations good readers. Rule 37 seemed most popular when I asked you all which one you wanted so it is the one I did. Thank you all for your support of this story and please let me know what you thought of this chapter.
I know I always say it but I'll say it again, I own nothing.
Rule 37-Playing various love songs when Commander Spock and Lieutenant Uhura are eating together in the Mess Hall is foolish.
Jim, Scotty and Hikaru thought it was funny.
It had been Scotty's idea (it usually was) and he had easily got Jim to help, Hikaru took a bit of effort to convince but they soon had him in on the idea as well. They wanted to get it perfect so they planned carefully taking great pains to ensure that neither Spock nor Nyota knew what they were up to. They were also very careful to avoid arousing their suspicions, which was very difficult since Spock always seemed to know when Jim was up to something and it was part of Nyota's job to be able to know when people were hiding something. It also required a bit of reprogramming on Jim's and Scotty's part while Hikaru acted as a distraction to prevent anyone from seeing what they were doing. In the end it took several days before the plan was ready for implementation and it was a couple of days after the preparations were done that they finally got to put it into action.
Jim had overheard Spock and Nyota arranging to eat together in the Mess Hall after their shift and subtly let Scotty know so that he would be ready. Jim and Hikaru waited for the shift to end trying hard to make sure that nothing seemed out of the ordinary until Spock and Nyota eventually headed for the Mess Hall. They waited a bit longer and then went after them so that they wouldn't look suspicious. They meet Scotty at the Mess Hall entrance and ambled in looking like they were just getting dinner as normal and quickly found a table a suitable distance from their two targets. They talked and joked as normal while keeping a subtle eye on the other two; they waited until the perfect moment to begin.
Nyota was having a very pleasant evening.
It had been a very busy last few weeks and she and Spock had finally managed to get some time alone with each other with nothing else looming over them. The Mess Hall wasn't exactly private but they had their own table to themselves for the first time in weeks which was definitely an improvement. They had just hit a lull in their conversation and were enjoying each others company when 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' from The Lion King began to play. The music was somehow coming from right above them and people around the room turned to see what was happening, they quickly noticed Spock and Nyota sitting together and work hard to stifle their sniggers. Nyota decided to ignore them and the song and restarted her and Spock's conversation. The song ended and people returned to their own conversations, it was like this for a few minutes and Nyota had almost forgotten her annoyance, then the love theme from 'Titanic' began to play. Everyone started to snigger again and Nyota felt her annoyance grow while Spock merely looked around curiously.
As the meal went on more and more love songs played causing Nyota to grow exceptionally angry as everyone else's laughter increased in volume. She then spotted Jim, Scotty and Hikaru at a table together laughing the hardest and she realised exactly who was responsible.
She got up and swiftly made her way over to the three troublemakers who had ruined her evening with Spock. As she marched towards them the rest of the Mess Hall gradually stopped laughing until just the three responsible were left. They noticed the ominous silence and looked up to see Nyota heading for them, they then realised they had left it far too late to escape their fate.
Jim, Scotty and Hikaru spent almost all of the next day with a red handprint gracing their faces. They added Rule 37 but it was a long time before Nyota spoke to any of them off duty.
PS-There we go and there are now only two chapters left. I still want to know what you'd like me to write next so please give you suggestions and I'll think about them. I have a couple of ideas of my own but nothing for a full multi-chapter story.