The Elf and the Scientist
by: darke wulf
Disclaimer: I don't own them. I'm not making any money from them.
Major thanks to my Beta, csad21, who did an incredible job.
Two and a half hours after lying down James Kirk sighed and sat up in his bunk, giving up on actually getting to sleep that night. Just like almost every other night in the previous two weeks. He'd actually been fairly lucky; his chronic insomnia had left him alone for the first eight months of his captaincy. He suspected this had been due to him working himself until he dropped of exhaustion during those first few months as he got used to his new responsibilities. Now that he was settled into his position and stuck on a month-long milk run – ferrying an ambassador and her team to Sigmus VII for a series of talks with the ultimate goal of bringing the dilithium-rich planet into the Federation – it had returned with a vengeance.
Yawning, Jim rubbed at his eyes. He so desperately wanted to sleep. He knew that the rest of the crew, or at least the bridge crew, had noticed the dark steamer trunks he was sporting under his eyes. And from the glares he was getting from Bones, it was only a matter of time before the other man put a coffee restriction on his meal card and sedated him into oblivion.
Sleep was obviously not going to happen that night, however. Even… relaxing… to images of his smoking hot First Officer hadn't managed to help.
Ah, Spock. The longer they worked together, the more grateful he became that the half-Vulcan had decided to stay aboard the Enterprise rather than join the Vulcan colony. In spite of their inauspicious beginning, Jim had never known anyone that seemed to complete him so well and whom he in turn complemented. Not even his relationship with Bones could compare.
When Jim was with Spock, he found himself feeling a peace he hadn't known since he'd been a kid ensconced on his Mom's lap while she read bedtime stories to him. It was more than slightly disconcerting – really, it scared him shitless – when he thought about just how much he was coming to rely on Spock. There was definitely something special developing between them, though neither was in a rush to get there. For once in his life, Jim found himself content to let things happen as they would.
With one last great stretch Kirk rose, absently scratching his stomach as he moved towards an unremarkable corner of his room. His hand moved unerringly to a hidden release, opening the secret compartment he had built into the wall. His hand hovered over his stash of chocolate and alien substitutes thereof – the only way he was able to fill his cravings now that Bones had taken over control of his meals – but eventually he instead grabbed the long white lab coat also hidden within the niche.
Jim had always found exercising his mind incredibly relaxing. He honestly couldn't remember getting his first toolkit; it seemed like he'd just always had one. Whenever he'd been upset as a kid his mother had given him something to take apart or a scientific journal to read (or read to him herself), and it had almost never failed to calm him down. There was just something soothing about learning new things, stretching his brain in new directions, taking things apart to discover how they worked. He suspected it was similar to what others got out of meditation, but he couldn't say for certain, as he'd never had any luck in trying to still his overly active mind.
And so for the last week, when it became clear that the current bout of insomnia wasn't going to go away any time soon, he'd been heading to the various science labs to work. As Captain he had the necessary clearance to review everyone's schedules, as well as set security locks on the doors to whichever lab he was working in, so as to ensure privacy.
While normally a social creature, when attempting to work his brain into submission, he preferred solitude. Plus, he did have an image to think about. At this point it was hardly a secret that he was of higher than average intelligence, but few realized just how smart he was, or how much genuine enjoyment he got from scientific pursuits.
Packing the coat and his lab book into a duffel bag, Jim dressed in his uniform pants and black undershirt. He quickly checked work schedules and the currently occupancy readings before making his way towards Lab Nine.
He tried to stick to helping out in the labs Bones was overseeing, as the doctor was already well aware of both Jim's occasional insomnia and his tendency to de-stress with lab work. It meant that Bones could help cover for him when said work mysteriously completed itself. Of course, it also meant that he was stuck listening to innumerable lectures on the importance of sleep, but he figured in the end it was worth it.
He knew his need for secrecy tended to drive his friend to distraction, but it had been ingrained into Kirk when he was a child that allowing people to know his full capabilities was a very Bad Idea. As far as Jim was aware, only his mother, Bones and Pike had any idea as to what he was really capable of. He figured Scotty probably at least suspected him as well – the only way he had been able to convince the disturbingly possessive engineer to let him help out in engineering and not make a fuss about it had been to prove to him that he wouldn't accidentally blow up the ship from complete incompetence.
Finally arriving at the lab, he entered, rubbing his hands together and pulling up a chair to one of the computer stations to review the most recent report logs.
Three hours and a massive headache later had Kirk sighing at the blurred mass of numbers in front of him. Grumbling, he pulled a slim dark-brown framed set of reading glasses out of one of the pockets in his lab coat.
He was, of course, allergic to the drugs that would have been able to correct his vision. And no matter how safe the alternate procedure supposedly was, he was not letting anyone near his eyes with lasers just to correct a slight far-sightedness that he could usually deal with just fine, thank you very much.
But that didn't mean he was happy about having to resort to glasses. Thankfully, he only had to use them when tired or after several hours of reading. Still grumbling, he put on the glasses and went back to work.
"Captain?"
The unexpected call of his name broke Jim out of the science-induced reverie into which he had fallen. He jumped out of his chair, nearly toppling it and himself in his surprised clumsiness, and spun towards the familiar voice.
"Spock! What are you doing here?"
Spock stood a few paces inside the room, hands clasped behind his back and head tilted in the look of inquisitive confusion that Jim found absolutely adorable.
"I could ask you the same question, Captain. Is Doctor McCoy aware of your interference in his research?"
"It's not interference, Spock," Kirk replied, a little hurt that the other would insinuate such. "I'm pretty much just collating data at the moment. And yes, Bones is quite aware of the fact. He knows I wouldn't risk his work by doing something I shouldn't."
When the expected reply didn't come, Jim took a closer look at his First Officer, only to realize that Spock seemed preoccupied by something, and was staring at his face.
"Um, Spock? You still in there?"
Spock blinked, and suddenly awareness was back in those expressive brown eyes. "I am, of course, still in the lab, Captain."
"Obviously, Mister Spock. You seemed distracted there for a minute, though."
"Apologies. I was simply unaware that you required glasses."
"Huh? Oh, yeah." Kirk pulled the glasses off his face and put them back in a pocket, embarrassed at being caught wearing them by his… whatever Spock was becoming. "My eyes aren't really all that bad, so I don't usually wear them."
"You are aware of the fact that several treatments exist that would eliminate the need to utilize them at all, are you not?"
"Yeah, but I'm allergic to all the drug treatments. And I'm really not comfortable with the thought of the laser treatment," he explained with a grimace. "Maybe if they get really bad. But as it stands now I'd rather just live with them as they are."
"The procedure has been around for hundreds of years, Captain, and is quite safe."
"I know, but still. Like I said, my eyes really aren't that bad. I only need the glasses in extreme situations."
"And yet you are currently utilizing them."
"Well I've been staring at computer screens and printouts for the last," Jim paused to blearily gaze over at the nearest clock, "five hours."
"Indeed. Would I be correct in assuming then, that it has been you who has been working on various experiments during Gamma shift?"
"Hey, I only butted in on any of your groups once, and that was because I overhead the Lab Six team complaining about having to run through the convergence tests for their numeric simulation, which you'll find is something I'm more than qualified to do. I was only trying to help out."
"You misunderstand me, Captain. I was not meaning to appear as if I was chastising you in any way. In truth, the task was completed in a quite precise and satisfactory manner. I simply was under the impression that such subjects were of little to no interest to you."
"It's Jim, Spock. Neither one of us in on duty right now. And to answer your question: I admit that astrophysics isn't my first love, but the project itself is pretty interesting. And it's always fun to learn something new."
Spock gazed at Kirk, his emotionless façade giving none of his thoughts away, and Jim found himself becoming increasingly antsy the longer the silent perusal continued. As he straightened his spine and forced himself to present a confident front to his First Officer, he found himself disturbingly grateful for the myriad of meetings and diplomatic negotiations he was required to attend as Captain. It was only the self-awareness and control he was developing thanks to those meetings that made it possible for him to continue to meet Spock's eyes without flinching.
Finally Spock spoke, eyes still studying the Captain closely. "Why do you withhold your interest in the projects of the Science Department? Surely it would be far simpler and more efficient to include yourself in said projects upfront, rather than attempting to work surreptitiously in the background."
Kirk shrugged, unconsciously biting the end of his stylus as he considered his response. "Well, as Captain my schedule is usually pretty hectic. I wouldn't want to commit to helping out in the labs only to have something unexpected come up that kept me from doing so. And, I guess a lot of it is just habit, too…" Jim's voice trailed off as he was assaulted with less than pleasant memories of just how that particular habit had developed.
Being so desperate to fit in, to not be a nerd or a freak... He'd already had a dead hero for a father and so many allergies and health-related idiosyncrasies. In spite of his mother's best efforts, he'd spent most of his childhood causing trouble with a devil-may-care attitude, hiding his intelligence in a desperate bid to fit in, to be like everyone else–
A hard shake of his head forced those jaundiced thoughts back. He wasn't that person anymore. He had proven himself, independent of his father. He had become a hero in his own right, and was slowly finding acceptance and even friendship amongst his crew for the person he was. But he still wasn't quite ready to let go of all his secrets. At least not to make them general knowledge.
Bones knew him, from his near addiction to Orion pheromones to his actual addiction to ancient scientific journals. Sulu and Scotty were learning more and more about him each day. Uhura had discovered his talent for languages during a diplomatic mission gone bad – they now had an ongoing competition to see who could gain proficiency in the most obscure language, which Uhura was currently winning after passing the competency exam for Tamarian. Spock... Spock was altogether unique. With the way their relationship was progressing, Jim knew that it wouldn't be long until the Vulcan knew each and every one of his secrets. That was enough. For now at least.
"My apologies, I did not intend to bring up unpleasant memories."
Jim blamed Spock's insight into his thoughts on his own fatigue, combined with the Vulcan's talent with minutiae, because no, dammit, he was not that easy to read.
"No worries," he assured with a rueful grin. "I'm sure we'll eventually wind up talking all about my less than wholesome childhood. Just… not tonight." Because they would. The way they were going, Jim soon wouldn't have any secrets left from Spock. The thought was enough to bring him close to panic, so he didn't dwell.
Spock ignored the second part of Jim's comment. "If I may inquire, Cap– Jim, what task are you currently undertaking for the doctor?"
"Of course." Jim smiled, motioning Spock closer. "At the moment, I'm just cross-referencing known DNA against some of the more recent samples we've picked up. Pretty boring, really. The results the team is getting, though, have been pretty cool. Look here, at this string. This is from that weird ape-rhino thing we ran into back on Argus V. Then if you look at this data, you can see that there's somehow almost an eighty percent match between this and a similar sample from, of all things, an Earth crocodile."
Jim absently pulled out his glasses and put them back on as he continued to go through the experiment's findings, feeling energized and embarrassingly content at being able to share this facet of himself with Spock.
Eventually he looked up and froze, biting his lower lip when he saw that Spock was once again distractedly staring at him. He knew that look. He was intimately familiar with that look.
"Are you sure you're all right, Spock?"
Spock visibly started, a slight flush dusting his cheeks. "Forgive me, Jim. I find I am somewhat distracted."
A flash of insight struck Kirk. "It's the glasses, isn't it?"
A deepening of the green-tinted blush was more than enough to confirm his suspicions.
"Dammit. This is why I hate to wear them. I know it's pretty vain, but they make me look terrible."
From the ever so slight widening of his eyes, Kirk knew he had surprised Spock.
"Jim, you are mistaken. I do not find that your glasses hinder your appearance in any way. In fact, I find they have quite the opposite effect." Spock turned his head, refusing to meet Jim's eyes after his confession.
"Oh. OH! Really?"
"Indeed."
Jim could feel the goofy, delighted grin that stretched across his face as he leaned towards the adorably bashful Vulcan, but found he didn't want to bother trying to suppress it. It seemed tonight they would finally take the next step in the elaborate dance of their relationship.
Or not.
A loud, irritatingly high-pitched alarm caused them both to jerk apart, effectively breaking them from their mutual trance.
"Shit! What the hell?"
It took Kirk a moment to gather his thoughts, but eventually he realized that the noise was an alarm from one of his personal experiments that he had been running. "Fuck," he sighed, letting out a huge breath as his heart rate began to calm down.
Finally, the actual meaning behind the alarm penetrated his lust-addled mind. Forgetting his companion for the moment, he jumped from his chair and hurried towards the computer terminal he had been running his simulations on.
"You've got to be kidding me. It actually worked? I don't believe it!" Sitting down at the computer, he began to quickly skim through the results. "Yes! Scotty's gonna shit himself. This is exactly what we were hoping to see!"
The pointed clearing of a throat brought Kirk's attention back to the Vulcan.
"Jim? If I may inquire as to what has put you in such jovial spirits?"
Jim looked up, the surprise on his face quickly turning to apology. "Spock! Shit, sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you like that. Scotty and I have been working on this simulation for months, though, without any sort of result to speak of."
"Indeed? What is it you and Commander Scott are studying?" Spock asked, and Jim had to be imagining the slight tinge of jealousy he swore he heard in his voice.
No matter. Jim was absolutely giddy at the thought of sharing his pet project with Spock.
"We've been trying to prove the feasibility of a three nacelle design for starships. Nobody's taking us – well, Scotty really, cause he's the only one listed on the papers – seriously, but I know it's possible. If we're right, it should boost warp drive power by at least a third. Unfortunately, up until now every configuration we've tried has blown apart when we simulate anything above Warp 2. But this latest version made it up to Warp 4!" Jim finished, voice at a near shout, as he pointed to the results on the screen.
Spock took a brief moment to peruse the information before him, focusing in on a point Kirk seemed to be glossing over. "And yet this ship was also destroyed."
"Well, yeah," Kirk shrugged nonchalantly. "But we're making progress! Now we just need to determine which specific modifications, or combinations thereof, allowed this simulation to improve so much upon our last benchmark, and… Spock, you're looking at me funny again."
"Apologies, Jim," Spock murmured, sliding the fingers of one hand gently across Kirk's psi-points, drawing a delighted shiver from the blond. "As distracting as you were when discussing the work of others, I find that when caught up in the joy of your own scientific passions that you are simply… irresistible."
Suiting actions to words, Spock tangled his fingers in Kirk's hair and leaned in, placing a light, teasing kiss on his lips.
When the Vulcan moved to back away, Kirk groaned in protest and followed Spock's retreat, deepening the kiss, nipping at the thin, cool lips under his until they parted, allowing entry to his questing tongue.
Finally, several minutes later, Jim pulled back. Breathing heavily, he smiled up at his companion. "Irresistible, huh?"
"Affirmative," Spock replied, his own breathing disgustingly even. Jim made a personal vow to discover just what it took to leave the Vulcan gasping. Starting immediately.
Saving his work, he forwarded the results to Scotty, then shut down the terminal. "Come on," he ordered, standing and moving towards the door, grasping Spock's wrist and using it to drag him along. "I've got some other experiments in mind for the two of us."
"As you say, Captain."
Jim got the distinct impression that Spock was laughing at him. Or would be, if Vulcans laughed. That was all right, he'd already come up with fifteen ways to wipe any and all amusement from Spock's mind.
He was a genius, after all.