Here we go with chapter 2, I hope you'll enjoy!
They left sickbay and found the nearest turbolift. Christine sighed, closing her eyes. This was another one of those scenarios not in the recruitment brochures for Starfleet Academy. At least it hadn't been in there in her day. And already, the first practical challenge presented itself in the form of whose quarters to inhabit.
"I would propose to live in your cabin, for the time being, it's catered to your body's needs, after all."
Spock's conscious thoughts rang through her head as if he was standing next to her, and she flinched. It had been an abrupt change from the constant, calm lull of a second mental presence.
"You will get used to it fairly quickly, I believe."
"Oh, I'm sure I will, Spock. We Humans are quite adaptable. Will you be alright?", she thought.
"I will, for now."
Christine pondered the unusual situation they had found themselves in all of a sudden, not quite grasping how all this could be possible. But she also had no idea how to find out more about the 'how' and 'why' of this circumstance. And as a scientist, she hated it.
"Spock?"
"Yes, Doctor?"
"Oh, please! Can't you call me by my name? I know you found it unprofessional during our five-year mission, but it's been over twenty years! And we're both senior officers now. Off-duty senior officers sharing a head at that.", she insisted firmly.
"Fair enough.", Spock conceded. "What is it you wanted to say, Christine?"
"Do you think we could get another brain scan to know your whereabouts in my head, based on what areas light up?"
"Unlikely. First, how would you know who of us made a certain part light up? Second, my 'position' is not as clearly definable. And neither is yours under normal circumstances. The best way to describe it, as far as I can grasp our position, is that I am as much everywhere in your head as you are." Spock's mental voice carried a hint of concern when he continued after a pause: "That is why our cohabitation should not become permanent. I am by no means an expert on this matter, and, for the record, I don't believe anyone is, but I am sure that with prolonged cohabitation we are at an increased risk of brain damage or mental health issues. In any case, you will feel tired more quickly because double the amount of mental energy is needed to house both your and my consciousness."
"We will feel more tired, Spock.", she corrected him, but otherwise accepted his explanation with a quiet thanks.
She found that she did not need to form a 'loud', conscious thought to communicate with Spock efficiently. If anything, it took longer, but it also made it easier to keep her head, even if that wording seemed unfortunate, considering.
"So, when we exchange places, it's not really a physical switch?", she continued.
"Correct, it is not. I would imagine it to be a mental image procured by our subconscious."
"Ah, yes, I understand."
She did not understand. But she knew that Spock did not know any more about the processes surpassing their individual mental movements either. They were arranging themselves in a manner that could only be described in physical terms, albeit the furthest from it. The closest image Christine could find was a body of water with two currents. They moved as one, but deep inside there were two streams that touched, crossed, mingled, mixed on the edges, but were still two currents.
"You will give us a headache, Christine. Vulcan masters have pondered those questions for aeons."
"Well, they never had a Human to ponder, did they?", the Doctor remarked.
Nevertheless, she abandoned that line of thought as they had reached her deck and left the lift towards her cabin.
Spock pondered the face in the mirror. He raised a brow and Christine's face in the mirror raised a brow. He brushed one brunette streak of hair that had fallen into her face behind one ear and watched Christine's reflection copy the movement.
Christine pondered the face in the mirror as well, from the second row for once. That certainly was her face, but the way Spock raised its brow, the way he tilted the head to one side, and the slight pout of the lips, that was unmistakably Spock.
Spock raised one of the hands, stretching and bending the slender fingers a couple of times while watching Christine in the mirror do the same. It was a wonder how delicate a body could feel. He supposed Humans never truly realised how fragile they seemed, compared to other humanoid species. But then again, they made up for it with their resourcefulness and willpower.
"This is most illogical.", he observed.
"Is it, Spock? What about 'Infinite diversity in infinite combinations'?"
"Hm. Indeed."
He tossed the washcloth Christine had just used to freshen up into the laundry chute and turned towards the living area of her cabin.
Even the simple act of walking felt unfamiliar now. He noticed that the shoes Christine was wearing did not help, as he swayed slightly, trying to find his balance in the heeled boots. He steadied himself against the doorframe and looked down at the offending objects.
"There is no logic in high heels on a starship."
"There is no logic in high heels. Period."
"Yet you are wearing these instead of the flatter alternative."
"Sometimes I like how tall I feel in them."
"You are already tall, Christine. There is no need for these contraptions.", Spock huffed.
"I will take that as a compliment.", Christine retorted in good humour, perfectly aware that Spock had meant it more as an insult to the shoes than as a compliment to her.
"You may.", Spock sighed. During the many years he had spent among Humans, he had learned that they often preferred taking something as a compliment while knowing it had not been meant as such to being corrected in that regard.
Christine, meanwhile, felt an unseemly amount of malicious joy at seeing a decorated officer who was usually the epitome of grace struggle with a few more inches of heel in such a pitiful manner.
"Don't look at your feet, Spock. Look straight ahead and put one foot firmly in front of the other. Sometimes it helps to sway your hips."
Spock didn't dignify her with an answer, but instead pushed away from the doorframe and took some stiff, quick steps forward, swaying considerably less already. A few determined strides more and he had reached Christine's desk where he sunk into the chair.
"That wasn't that bad, Spock! Well done!"
"You are aware that I could have fallen and broken your ankle? It would have been an awkward appointment with Dr McCoy."
"I doubt he'd have found it awkward. On the contrary, he would have never let you live it down.", Christine quipped.
"Exactly."
He decided to drop the topic and glanced around him for the first time since arriving in her cabin. Despite having been colleagues for decades now, he recognised almost none of her personal belongings.
"I have never been inside your cabin before."
"No, you haven't. Not in this one, and not in the original one."
Christine was struck for a moment by how this inevitable invasion of her privacy did not feel nearly as invasive as it could have. But he was already in her head after all.
"I do not know what to do with your body in your cabin, Christine."
"That gives you credit. Others would."
"I do not understand."
But he blushed, or rather he made Christine's body blush when she inadvertently transmitted a mental image of what she had thought about to him.
"Sorry, Spock. Ehm…I don't know either. Sometimes I read, go to the mess hall…you know, the things everyone on board does."
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell.
"Come in."
Jim stepped in, hands behind his back.
"Hello, you two. Eh, Spock?"
"Yes, Jim?"
"Do the two of you have any plans for this evening?"
"You and I had a chess match scheduled, Jim."
Spock had said it as a matter-of-fact, but Christine knew he had forgotten until this moment. She felt a wave of mock disapproval at her amusement.
"Ah yes, right, if you're still up for that. Christine would we welcome, too, of course."
By the amused look shot back at him, he saw immediately that this invitation, albeit polite, had been redundant.
"I should hope so. You will have to contend with both of us or neither.", Spock noted.
"Well, then I'll gladly bear twice the amount of judgement and sass."
Jim smirked fondly and turned to leave. "I'll see you in a couple of hours.", he called over his shoulder as the door closed, leaving at least Spock to wonder who of them should feel more offended.
"Oh, I don't know, Spock, but I do know who is pretending to be.", Christine chuckled.
Until now, Spock hadn't even known that such a clear mental laugh was possible; maybe it was a distinctively Human trait.
When the intercom beeped as soon as the Captain had left, Christine answered it, and Commander Uhura's voice filled the room.
"Hi, Christine, I heard what happened and wanted to check in.", she said. "How are you?"
"Oh, just tired.", the Doctor answered, having only now realised how exhausting the day's events had been. "We're both fine, though, considering."
"Well, don't overexert yourselves, alright? Maybe find something relaxing to do.", Uhura said. "I'd come over myself, but I have a late shift today.", she added ruefully.
"Oh, don't you worry, Spock and the Captain had a game of chess planned for later, so we'll be busy, anyway.", Christine quickly assured her friend.
"Right, I forgot. They talked about it in the mess hall this morning. But I'll see you around lunch tomorrow?"
"Oh, I think so. If not, you know where to find me." She hadn't even thought about the next day yet.
"Well, I'll see you then. I've got to get ready for my shift now."
"Thanks for checking in. Have fun, and see you tomorrow."
They closed the frequency and Christine leant back in her chair, yawning slightly.
"If you are too tired, I can reschedule the match with the Captain.", the Vulcan in her head commented.
"Oh, I'll be fine, I'm not that tired.", she quickly dismissed the notion and yawned again, much to Spock's bewilderment.
Sometime later, they were ready to leave for their chess match. Almost.
"What do you usually wear off duty, Spock?", Christine asked, standing in front of her closet in the minty-green undershirt of the sciences division.
"Nothing you usually wear in any case, as we have established. Just do what you usually do, it's your body."
"I want to make you comfortable, though, we are sharing the same body, after all. Or, rather, I do not want to make you uncomfortable."
"I appreciate the thought, Christine, but that is unlikely. Just proceed."
Christine continued sifting through the compartments of her closet and eventually pulled out a casual but decent black sweater. The uniforms could feel a bit stiff after a day, and as far as she was concerned, comfort was a topmost priority in the case of involuntary cohabitation.
She chuckled to herself from within her turtlenecked undershirt as she pulled it over her head. Well, at least she had her priorities straight.
After tucking her choice of apparel into place, and deciding that at least her outward appearance seemed well put together, she left her quarters and turned towards the Captain's cabin. Arriving there moments later, she buzzed the door.
"Come."
Christine entered and stopped just outside the motion sensor of the door.
"Make yourselves comfortable, I'll just finish setting up the board."
Spock took over and lowered themselves into one of the chairs at the table.
"Something to drink, you two?", Kirk asked.
"No, thank you. Has Mr Scott made any progress regarding the machine, Jim?"
"Scotty is still figuring it out. But they're making progress. He says they'll probably need a day or two to get the machine running. You two managed to fry most of the circuits that weren't burned out already.", Jim answered while placing the last pieces on the board. "I'm sorry I don't have more extensive news.", he said, turning towards them. "I know that under normal circumstances, you'd be informed every second of the step, and you, Christine, would probably be fussing about whatever unfortunate soul got their body swapped, instead of the two of you being stuck with each other."
"The situation is tolerable for the time being, Jim."
"Hm, Christine?"
"It is.", she said, smiling. "But tell me if you're holding a grudge against him, maybe there's something I can do."
Jim chuckled. "Well…I'll think about it. But for now, no cheating, I haven't won a game in a long time. And I'm starting this time."
He moved the first black piece and waited.
"Are you that desperate, Jim? Very well, I do not need the advantage to win.", Spock countered while making his move.
They played in silence for some time after that, both deeply immersed in the game.
"Distracted, Spock?", Jim asked after a while, as he was gaining the upper hand sooner than he usually did.
"Not at all Jim. Luck must be on your side today."
"I thought Vulcans didn't believe in luck."
Spock was silent for a moment, barely reacting to Jim exercising his winning move.
"I suppose if there is one Vulcan that believes in luck, it should be me, after all that happened."
Jim beamed over at Spock with a radiant smile, and Christine felt for a moment as if she was intruding on something very private. But Jim reset the pieces again and looked at them challengingly.
"Well, one down, one to go? Is Christine up for a game?", he asked, doing the curious look towards Christine's brow which they had noticed Dr McCoy also doing before as if the other one of them was sitting behind a window in her head.
"You may underestimate what you're getting yourself into.", Spock warned, being quickly replaced by Christine.
"Please. Do your best.", he thought in passing.
"Oh, I will."
"I am.", she said loudly, taking the challenge.
To Christine's astonishment, she did win her game against the Captain, although it took her significantly longer than his win against Spock. Smiling smugly as she did her last move and announced her victory, she detected a slight huff of affront from Spock, despite his earlier encouragement.
"Well, I consider myself duly beaten." Jim looked up slightly less triumphantly as after his last game. "Nightcap? Spock usually takes tea, but if you have another wish, the two of you might come to a compromise."
"Oh, I'll try the tea, thanks. I don't know what other things might do to us in our state."
"Right you are, no experiments.", Jim agreed, while pouring the tea. "So, what are you doing tomorrow?"
"Not much, we'll see what we can and want to do together.", Christine said. "We could go to the lab, but I guess we'll decide spontaneously."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll probably look in tomorrow morning. Whose quarters are you staying in?"
"We decided Christine's quarters were the logical place to live in, for the time being, seeing as they're catered to her biological needs.", Spock answered.
"Hmhm, makes sense.", Jim nodded. "Look, if any of you needs someone to talk to, I'm here, alright? I know both of you are pretty good at sucking it up and pushing your emotions down, but this is a situation we haven't faced before and it's normal to feel overwhelmed."
"Thanks, we'll keep it in mind.", Christine nodded.
"You did participate in an involuntary mind-swap before, Jim. And the two of us did share consciousness previously to today.", Spock corrected his friend.
"Hm, yes, I did…But it wasn't the same. So far, you seem a lot more comfortable with sharing a body than you did before, or than I did with inhabiting another than my own, but I still want you to be careful."
Jim sipped his beverage awkwardly. It was obvious to Christine at least that he did not like that memory of being forcibly put in his ex-girlfriend's body while she took over the ship particularly much.
"Familiarity helps.", Spock said curtly, sipping his tea.
They talked to Jim for a while, and Christine was surprised at how comfortably she could converse with him. She had not even entertained the possibility of spending time with the Captain in his private quarters, but she found herself relieved that she wasn't just watching him and Spock interact but was actually taking part in the gathering. Still, she felt herself becoming drowsy after a while. Or maybe it was Spock getting drowsy; they could not tell the difference anymore. And so, they took their leave after a while and returned to their cabin.
There, they practically went to bed immediately, and Christine sighed contentedly as she shuffled under the duvet, snuggled deep into her favourite pyjamas.
"Good night, Spock."
"Good night, Christine."
What do you think will happen the next day? Will things continue to work so well, considering? Stay tuned! Reviews are always appreciated.