Chapter 3 - The Sweetest Taboo

"Okay, as the captain of this vessel I demand to get an explanation. Why is there a chaise longue in the botany department?" Kirk was standing next to the piece of furniture in question with his arms akimbo and pretended to look annoyed.

"Certainly, captain! I'm waiting for that flower (Lily-Lee pointed to a large bulging bud hanging from a vine) to open and wanted to be comfortable. Would you like to join me? It should be any minute now."

"And what about the ocean pH problem, shouldn't you be working?"

"All done. Spock is writing the report. This is my reward for being uncharacteristically productive. Lay down and get comfy for a while, you look tired."

"I'm on duty."

"I said comfy, not sexy, and I meant it." She really looked like she meant it. Kirk agreed to lay down and she lay on top of him like a lazy cat. Lily-Lee was resting her head on Kirk's chest. He was surprised that it could be so relaxing and comfortable and yet so non-sexual. It was just... cuddly. When was the last time he had been this close to someone without involving sex? It must have been years. He supposed people with children and families got this sort of contact all the time, but it was hard to come by for a spaceship captain. She was obviously used to resting on someone like this.

"Your people touch I lot, I suppose?"

"All the time. Sleeping on each other arms, always grooming and nit-picking, holding on to your babies and carrying them for up to a year. You have to hand them over to your sister when you have sex, though."

"Do you creatures have any sexual taboos at all?"

"Probably. It's hard to tell what an outsider would consider a taboo. I mean, we don't have sex with rocks or trees."

"But what other members of your own species would be out of bounds? Other women?"

"No, not at all. That happens every day. But not pre-pubescent children, nor your own children regardless of age, and... and... no, I guess that's it."

"So your sister's son, for example, would be a possible sex partner?"

"No, because my sister is part of my flock. We would not stay in a territory belonging to her son. Not that she has a living son, but I see what you mean."

"And what about male homosexuality?"

"I wouldn't know."

"How do you mean?"

"We women have no idea what the men are up to when we're not there. When we show up, they stand and shout and swipe at each other on each side of their territorial border and look like mortal enemies. But I have noticed that they are often well groomed and nit-picked, and they can't do that themselves. Young men about to leave the motherflock often go away together. It can be years and years before they attract a flock, and if they don't get a good territory and good new things the women may never come. Or maybe they don't want any women so they don't bother getting a territory but then how would we know?"

At the far end of the room, the door opened and Spock came in. He couldn't see them from where he was standing.

"Captain? Are you in here?"

"Over here, Spock." Kirk was about to get up but since Lily-Lee still lay on his chest and just turned her head around to see, he figured they could stay put. It was so very comfortable that it felt hard to break it. Spock came around the corner of the potting table and saw them, and froze.

"My apologies. I will return later." Spock turned around immediately and started to walk away.

"Come back here, Spock! You're NOT interrupting anything and you did NOT catch us at a bad time." Lily-Lee got up on her elbows but didn't move any further than that. Kirk was still so relaxed he felt he was melting into the upholstery. Her elbows were sharp and they dug into his chest a bit, but just as he was getting ready to say something she moved them away.

"Did I not? Perhaps I misinterpreted the situation, but my experience with humans have taught me to classify that position as intimate." Spock raised a disapproving eyebrow. That was enough to make Kirk contrary. He may have been a bit embarrassed to be caught with his pants up (so to speak), but if Spock was going to be snarky, Kirk was going to be bossy. God, the man could be infuriating.

"Sit down, Spock, that's an order. I'm just comforting Lily-Lee a bit, there is nothing indecent about it. What did you want?" And so Spock had to sit down and make his report next to the reclining captain and watch Lily-Lee curled up on his chest. She was hardly moving, but the few times that she moved a hand or even just a finger he noticed immediately. When Kirk placed a hand on her back he noticed immensly. He made his report as condensed as he could and departed. An hour later, she came to where Spock was sitting alone in the main computer room. There was no point in pretending that he hadn't been thinking about it the whole time.

"He has very pleasant musculature, you know. Soft as a pillow until he flexes it, and then it's hard a ropes. I listened to his heart valves moving and the air flowing back and forth in his lungs. It was wonderful." Lily-Lee got closer to Spock and she could see that the screen he seemed to be so focused on was in fact empty.

"He needed some touch, his oxytocin level was way too low. That's important, you know." She was right behind him now and could see how the muscles in his neck contracted and twitched as he was trying to control himself. If Lily-Lee had ever seen him use his vulcan strength to strike an enemy and set him flying across the room, she would probably not have had the nerve to tease him like that. But that was a side of Spock she was not aware of.

"Are you jealous? I know you wish it had been you." Spock shaked his head but his teeth were clamped together and stopped him from speaking. He shut his eyes hard but could not resist listening.

"Don't lie to me, there's no use. I know what you want. But you can still get the memory from my head in that strange way you did before. Do you want that? You could have it with you and keep it forever." Spock opened his eyes to narrow slits and glanced at her with a hungry look.

"What do you say, do you want it? Her face was right beside him, inside that head was a memory he knew was so sweet he could live on it for years. He could bring it with him and take it out and relive it over and over. His hand trembled as he raised it and moved closer to the contact points on her small cranium.

"So you do want it, huh?"

"Yes..." His voice was only a whisper. "I... want it."