A/N: Homecoming, n.: A week, in late September/early October, when high schools across America have dress-up days, charity carnivals, athletic events, parades, and dances to welcome the students back (but really it's an excuse to par-tay). The homecoming court consists of 8-12 boys and girls—dukes and duchesses—from whom a king and queen are elected by the student body and crowned at some point during the festivities. Because I am from the South, we also had a mum exchange, where the boy obtains an elaborate flower-ribbon-medallion thing—a mum—and gives it to the girl, who gives him an arm garter with ribbons and bells in return. It's a little weird. Also, I totally BSed the football stuff. (It's football. Who really gives?)
Spock's reaction at the beginning of this chapter is based upon my own, and maybe yours too. I dedicate this chapter to Long-Haired Girl, who left me something to think about (maybe this says a lot about me, but I hadn't actually considered that), and Mukumuku, who not only has an awesome name but whose very long review gave me the impetus to finish this chapter. Thanks so much, guys!
x
Enterprise High
being a high school AU of ST: XI
with many hijinks
and much angst
x
Chapter Nineteen: The Lights of Zetar
x
Spock didn't feel any different.
On Monday, he sat in his car in the driveway for a little longer than he normally did, and walked slower to the front door of his house, feeling his footsteps reverberate up his legs. His clothes felt strange; unnatural on his body, as if they no longer fit properly. His mind was going a thousand miles an hour, but he took time to notice the pale veins on the leaves of the poplar trees that arched across the walkway between the garage and the house. Through the branches, the sky was overcast, an enclosing, deep purple-blue. His forearm itched. He scratched it distractedly.
That had been… interesting.
Sex with Uhura was not nearly as awkward as he'd expected it to be. While there had been a few mortifying moments, her sweetness had made everything better, smoother, more grounded and easy to deal with. Her eyes had gleamed joyfully as he had pressed against her, and no matter how much she had to help him and guide him, she had kept smiling, as if she couldn't believe what was happening.
Which made him feel terrible, because he could believe what was happening, and why had she been so elated when he had felt so—normal? He had been happy, of course he had, but also incredibly nervous, and somehow also deeply guilty, though he tried to convince himself he was doing nothing wrong.
He frowned at I-Chaya, who greeted him with his usual exuberant licking. I-Chaya didn't notice anything, even though sehlats had an incredible sense of smell. Well, maybe he sniffed at Spock's lower quarters a bit longer than usual, but that was probably just Spock being paranoid. Spock cleared his throat and said a soft 'hello' to his mother from the base of the stairs. He didn't really want to talk to her; he needed to take a shower first. He was convinced the scent of Uhura was still on him, obvious to everyone he encountered.
"Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes, dear," called Amanda from the kitchen. That was what he got for coming home so late. He rushed his shower, hoping his parents wouldn't ask why he had come home and bathed, since he generally showered in the morning. They probably will, he thought pessimistically, scrubbing his legs with mint body wash. He turned off the water and dressed in two minutes, brushing down his sopping hair with his fingers and arriving downstairs fourteen minutes and forty-eight seconds after Amanda called to him about dinner. Sarek was already there. Sure enough, he turned to Spock.
"It is abnormal for you to cleanse yourself in the daytime," Sarek said. Any human would have said, Weird that you took a shower. It was one of those "You should see this as a question, unless you'd like to be obtuse and see it as a comment" statements that Spock himself was so good at because Sarek used them all the time.
Amanda set a squash casserole dish down in the middle of the table. "He can shower whenever he wants, dear," she said to Sarek. "Have a seat, you two, I'm almost done with the katterpod beans."
Spock and Sarek took their chairs. Spock chose not to reply to the pseudo-question and did not look at his father.
"How was school?" Amanda asked, bustling about while Sarek eyed him.
"Troubling," Spock said, deciding on the spur of the moment to lead the conversation in a direction that would distract his parents from his recent abnormal behavior. "There are bullies on this planet, too."
Both Sarek and Amanda paused in what they were doing. Sarek stared at Spock, his eyebrows a fraction of an inch closer together in concern.
"Are you having problems with them?" Sarek asked, his voice and betraying no tremor.
"No," said Spock. "A boy in the hovercar club was. We—myself and a few acquaintances—dealt with the bullies."
Amanda didn't like the sound of that. "What did you do to them, Spock?" she said quietly.
"There were eighteen of us," said Spock, knowing how bad this sounded. "And five of them. But they were not hurt badly."
"Spock," said Sarek, rather coldly, "you should know better than to attack humans weaker than yourself. It is against the rules and laws of this land and our land to harm other people, and it is morally repugnant to seek revenge through intimidation or treachery."
"Something had to be done," said Spock, obdurate. Dinner lay ignored. "Bullies have to be stopped. You cannot reasonably tell me otherwise."
Sarek evidently did not know what to say to that. Amanda stepped in.
"Look at me," she said. There was a high string of tension in the room. Spock moved his gaze to her. She was standing next to the seated Sarek, hands on the table, leaning forwards. "You have done violence for the purpose of vengeance. That is against your way."
Spock lowered his head for the first time. The defiance went out of his face. "I know," he whispered. "I do—realize that what I have done is wrong. But I could think of no other option. They will not bother him again."
"Think on what you have done," said Amanda gently. "We understand, but do not approve. We will not punish you." She sighed and moved away from the table. "Shall we eat, now?" Sarek nodded. Amanda returned to the kitchen to fetch the katterpod beans. Spock felt the silence keenly. He had to say something to Sarek, who was staring at his glass of water, obviously unsure of how to deal with his half-human son.
"I am sorry, father," Spock said quietly.
Sarek shook his head, still riveted by the glass. "You will always be a child of two words, Spock."
Amanda sat the beans down next to the casserole. Spock noticed her hands shake slightly. He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering the way she looked at him the first time he saw her in the hospital after—after the incident. Her hands had shaken then, too. He never wanted to see that expression or anything like it again, and berated himself for selfishly reminding them of his old, unreasonable actions.
x
Okay, thought Bones. Okay. I can do this.
It was Friday. He was aware of next to nothing but the sound of his own heavy breathing. His heartbeat was a dull thud in the background. Hands clapped his back hollowly; he felt as if the friendly slaps reverberated through his whole being. Breath. Breathing. He was focused, focused. He let out one final, heavy sigh.
I'm ready.
The coach gave them the go, and Leonard "Bones" McCoy, number 47, led the Enterprise Eagles out of the locker room and onto the football field to deafening cheers.
Kirk, meanwhile, could not believe that his mother was sitting next to him at his own high school's homecoming football game.
"Can't you go sit with somebody else?" he growled, shoving her arm. She laughed and waved her gold and blue flag higher in the air. He scowled bad-temperedly, feeling like Bones. How lame was it to have your mom sitting with you?
She wasn't moving. "Seriously. Please."
"Who else are you going to sit with? Your boyfriend's down on the field, and don't tell me you actually have friends." Winona stuck her tongue out at her son jokingly. "I know you and Spock hate each other for some reason."
"Okay, yes, I would not go sit with Spock, but I'll have you know that I do have friends, thank you very much." He spotted Liam Ferrolin sitting with Rand, Ruth, Chapel, Sulu, Chekov, and Sylvia. "Those guys over there! I could go sit with them and you could not follow me."
"You're friends with them? Oh my God, is that Ruth?"
Shit. "No, but I did always think they were similar in appear—"
"It is Ruth! Look, she's waving at me!"
"She's waving at me, mom, she—"
Ruth ruined everything completely by standing up and shouting across the bleachers, "HI WINONA!"
Winona, grinning like the Cheshire Cat, grabbed Kirk by the collar and dragged him over to Ruth. Kirk was this close to attempting to destroy the world. He gave Ruth the most hateful glare he could come up with and she just winked at him and hugged Winona tightly. Everybody else looked bemused.
"Guys, this is my mom," muttered Kirk, staring at the ground as if it had personally offended him.
"I'm Winona!" she said cheerfully. "Nice to meet all of you!" They introduced themselves, smiling; her cheeriness was contagious. "Ooh! There's Chris!" She was looking across the stands at Pike, who was sitting with Sarek, Amanda, and Chane Uhura.
"Mom, if you go sit with them, I'll… I'll do the dishes for a week," he begged.
"I'm holding you to it," she said fake-sternly, wagging her finger in his face. He scowled at her again and she laughed and left for the company of adults.
"Sometimes I think she has ADD," sighed Kirk, sitting heavily next to Liam.
"She is very… energetic," Liam agreed delicately.
"Hey, JTK," said Ruth, from behind him. "Don't forget we have to go down to the sidelines at halftime for the court introduction." Kirk looked excited. Ruth rolled her eyes. "You love being the center of attention, don't you?"
"Maybe a little," Kirk admitted. "It validates you, you know?"
"Yeah, whatever."
"It's starting!" cried Kevin Riley from a few seats back. Chekov turned to look at him and saw a disinterested John Kyle lounging nearby, idly flipping through a news magazine. Chekov knew how he felt; he had only come to the game because Sylvia had wanted to. She had asked him if he were interested in dating her, and he'd had to say that he wasn't, which had made her perpetual smile disappear for only a moment. She was trying to convince him to take her side with five-minute kisses that made him loose his breath completely (which was upsetting Sulu for some reason Chekov couldn't understand). Still, even though she was beautiful and sweet, he couldn't think of her as a girlfriend.
The Valor Warriguls had won the coin toss. Kirk was slightly alarmed by the number of Klingons on the Valor team—he'd known that ever since the Great Accord twenty years ago, Klingons had been immigrating to Earth; there had even been a few families of them in Riverside—but it surprised him to see they were interested in human sporting events. Valor High was in the Toghlahbe Heights, the Klingon neighborhood in San Francisco, and evidently they had adopted more than just an American address.
"Oh God, how tall is that one?" said Sulu, pointing to the Warrigul quarterback. "And I think it's a she."
"She is," said Riley grimly. "The terror of the team. She—"
He stopped talking abruptly as a Warrigul linebacker took down Bones. Kirk put his hands over his mouth, but Bones leapt back up immediately and shook his fist at the linebacker, who shook her fist right back until the referee pushed them back into the lineup. At the snap, Bones grabbed the ball and ran for it, passing to the running back twenty yards downfield, who tossed it back near the five yard line to avoid the safety bearing down on him. Bones caught it midair, throwing himself over the end zone line. The Enterprise section erupted in cheers.
"Off to a good start!" cried Rand, clapping wildly.
"God, is this only the first field goal?" sighed Kyle, massively bored.
"That was a touchdown," hissed Riley.
"Ah thought you were Irish," commented Scotty to Riley, walking up with Gaila on his arm.
"Only by birth," said Riley distractedly, back to staring at the field. "Everyone's American during football season."
"Says you," Chekov heard Kyle mutter.
Kirk, who was really only interested in the game because Bones was in it, watched attentively with nearly everybody else. Chekov and Kyle started talking about fifteen minutes in and became fast friends (although Kyle was a little put out when Chekov insisted that soccer was invented by the Russians).
The first quarter was relatively uneventful; it ended at 18-9 with a Valor field goal. Bones stomped off the field and doused himself thoroughly with Gatorade before blowing kisses at Kirk, who caught them energetically. The second half was more exciting; at one point, Liam and Kyle had to wrestle Riley away from the sideline, where he was verbally abusing the ref. Spock, who was sitting on the second row with Uhura, looked rather taken aback by Riley's language.
"What colorful metaphors," said Spock, raising his eyebrow.
"That's one way to put it," laughed Uhura.
Half time arrived with the game tied at 33-33. The homecoming court and their dates made their way to the field for the small parade. Kirk leapt over the railing without waiting for the coach to open the gate and threw himself at Bones, kissing him furiously.
"Are you alright?" he finally asked Bones seriously, his arms around Bones's sweaty neck.
"I'm perfectly fine," said Bones, shifting closer to Kirk, who was blessedly cool against him. "That quarterback is drivin' me mad, though. Did you see her take out that wide receiver ten minutes back? They think three of his ribs're shattered. And she's only half Klingon."
"My God. Keep away from her."
"You don't have to tell me."
Everybody lined up and paraded onto the field, waving at the Enterprise section while the Valor supporters looked on, bored. When Bones's name was called, he got the biggest cheer. Sulu, with Chapel, Liam, with a clever girl named Areel Shaw, and Gary, with Elizabeth, grinned at him, while Raj Rapali, who'd been forced to take Holliday as his date, looked murderous. Of the girls, Gaila got the most applause.
Kirk watched the duchesses and their dates. Gaila and Scotty looked incongruous together, but happy; he wondered how long ago they had arranged to go to homecoming together, since Gaila was one of the most sought-after girls in school. Ruth and Rand, Kirk noticed, were oddly similar, with their curly blonde hair done up in twists at the back. Janice Lester, a hawklike brunette, was grasping the arm of an ill-at-ease Arthur Coleman. She glared at Kirk; so far, she was the worst enemy he'd made at school, but he wasn't sure how he'd done it. She had been willing enough to sleep with him a few weeks ago; why did she hate him so much now? Miramanee Scharf, a black-haired, pink-cheeked American, escorted Salish Solari, who could have been her brother but for his everpresent scowl. When Kirk turned to the final duchess, who must have been Edith Keeler, he realized that he had never met her before. She had large, liquid eyes that could stare right through you and a pouting mouth. She was without a date.
"Edith's an interestin' one," Bones muttered in his ear. "One of her ancestors founded NASA; don't let her corner you or she'll talk your ear off about how we should be spendin' more on space exploration."
"I thought Starfleet was forty percent of the Federation's budget, and research was another ten."
"It is. She thinks it should be fifty-five, with twenty for research."
Kirk whistled. "How would we keep up the Food Program, then?"
"For the love of God, don't ask her how or she'll tell you, and the tellin'll take years off your life."
"I'll take your word for it."
The court did a bit more waving and posing before they were ushered off. "I only hope I get elected as a consequence of winnin' the game," Bones said gruffly. Kirk could tell he didn't really mean it, and patted him on the shoulder. He didn't blame Bones for wanting the crown.
Up in the stands, Amanda and Winona were chatting amiably about their sons, Sarek was looking miserable without actually looking miserable, and Pike and Chane Uhura were deep in conversation about an obscure African neo-yardan author whom they both loved to read.
"Nyota is a very nice girl," said Amanda, "but I think my son likes yours better."
"You hinted as much the other day," said Winona skeptically, "but Amanda, they hate each other."
"Their personalities do not exactly mesh, I agree, but I think that is more a consequence of their upbringings rather than their mutual dislike. Spock is structured, organized, and precise. James seems—"
"—like an uncouth barbarian?"
"I would not speak so insensitively, but… yes."
Winona laughed. "I had to work to support my boys. We never spent much time together when they were kids. They never got a lot of discipline, and they inherited their father's impulsive streak. Jim's as clever as a button, but he's been arrested five times already—that I know of."
"I'm sorry you were not able to stay close to them," said Amanda kindly. "I was blessed by Sarek's choice of careers; his job paid well enough for me to resign from Starfleet as soon as I discovered I was pregnant with Spock. I was a stay-at-home mother for him. I know him almost better than he knows himself, I think."
"How wonderful for you. If there's one thing I regret, it's not knowing Jim well enough. We talk about everything, but I can never tell what he's thinking, or planning, or not telling me."
"Some people are simply more mysterious than others. But Spock has surprised me before, and I have no doubt that he will do so again."
The intense part-Klingon quarterback continued to give Enterprise a hard time throughout the rest of the game, but no matter what the Valor players did, they couldn't keep back Bones—until the end. The score was 54-48 with two minutes left in the game when the Valor quarterback ran another touchdown, tying the score, and in the next play, another linebacker slammed into Bones so hard Kirk could feel the pain in his own chest.
Nobody noticed Bones stumble slightly when he stood. Masking his limp as best he could, Bones ignored every thing he had ever learned as an athlete or a medical student about playing with an injury and walked to the lineup, ignoring the new, sharp ache in the same ankle that had been fractured last weekend.
The teams worked their way up the field towards the Valor end zone. The roar from the crowd was deafening, now. Bones clenched his teeth, feeling the pain in his very nickname. Ten more yards. If he could run it up the field, past that damn linebacker….
The snap. The rough, ridged surface of the football heavy in his hands. He leaned into a sprint, every other step a heart-wrenching twinge, shoved his way through the linebacker with pure orneriness, and threw himself heavily over the line.
It was the final score. Valor didn't have time to get the ball back down the field. The announcer screamed that Enterprise High had won their homecoming game and the students poured into the field as if those words had broken a dam. Bones was absolutely swamped by spectators. He batted them away from lifting him onto their shoulders and gasped that he needed to sit, sick as the agony in his leg finally reached his mind. The people surrounding him could tell something was wrong, and escorted him to a bench. He limped obviously, now, pushing away Riley's helpful arm and falling back onto a chair like an old man. Kirk was at his side, and so was the PT, who sounded extremely pissed. Bones was doing his best not to faint—the pain had built in a crescendo since the adrenaline had left his body, and he couldn't even count the issis in the fortississimo of ouch that was his ankle, and then he couldn't quite hold on anymore, and fell into blackness with Kirk's arms rushing to encircle his exhausted body.
x
"Your boyfriend is very stubborn."
"Thanks."
Gray images swam before Bones's eyes, and the quiet beep and hum of machinery whispered in the background.
"He is an incredible player." The first voice was straightforward. "A natural."
"Runs in his blood." The second voice was a murmur. "You're not half bad yourself."
"Thank you. I think he is waking up. I will take my leave. It was nice to meet you, Kirk."
"You too, Torres."
Footsteps, leaving. Bones's eyes fluttered open. "Ugh," he said, tasting a horrible flavor in his mouth. "Water."
He was in a colorless hospital room, an IV running into the flat of his hand and restraint cords wrapped snug and secure around his lower legs. Over the glowing osteoregenerator set over his ankle, a TV in the background talked about a break in at a local weapon storage facility. The scent of disinfectant was heavy in his nostrils.
"Right here, Bones." A hand held a paper cup to his lips. "Your dads are on their way. I think your coach and the PT are going to kill you."
"We won, didn't we?"
"Yes, but you're in the hospital, and your ankle is going to take twelve hours to set."
Bones grinned blearily at Kirk. "I repeat, 'We won, didn't we?'"
Kirk frowned at him. "You should be taking this more seriously."
"I know, but I don't feel like it. Who was in here just now?"
"The Valor quarterback. Great girl. Don't change the subject. You know you're not supposed to play injured."
"Christ, there was a minute left and we had thirty yards to go. I'm fine. It's bein' repaired, isn't it?"
"Yes, but next time it could be worse. Bones, you know better than this. That was a very me thing to do."
"Yeah, you're rubbin' off on me. It's all your fault."
Kirk was solemn. He put his hand carefully on Bones's wrist.
"You don't know how this looks," he said gently. "You're all hooked up to a machine. They've got your legs restrained so that you don't kick the regenerator off. You collapsed on the field. Everybody is incredibly worried."
"Well, I'm worried too," Bones relented. Kirk looked marginally happier until Bones finished, "about whether or not I can show up for the dance. They'll let me out by six tomorrow, right?"
"That's what you're worried about?"
"Well, yeah. I made a reservation for us at Seeko's. And I have to go be crowned king, don't I?"
"What makes you think you'll win?" joked Kirk, deciding not to be too mad at Bones.
"Oh hell, you were there for the end of it—"
"I'm kidding, Bones; calm down. Of course you'll win."
Bones realized he was blushing. "No I won't," he muttered, looking away from Kirk.
"Why are you so ashamed of being popular?" Kirk asked curiously.
"I'm not ashamed," Bones insisted. "I just—I feel like I shouldn't depend on the opinions of other people so much."
"It's impossible not to, though," said Kirk, sounding like he understood exactly what Bones wanted to say. "We just have ourselves, and the only thing we get from others is a vague idea of what they think of us, but that vague idea means everything because it's all we've got, and whenever the idea becomes really clear—whenever we get ourselves validated by a large number of people—things feel less obscure, I guess."
"Profound."
"I try. Now, let's see if you're interested in food. Sports heroes have got to keep their strength up.
x
The doctors let Bones out of the hospital at four o'clock the next day. He had to practically pry himself out of their grip; evidently he could use a few more hours under the osteoregenerator, but he really had to get ready for dinner and the dance, and his ankle was thoroughly healed. Since he was nineteen, he could refuse treatment, and since he was pre-med, he knew that his treatment wasn't particularly urgent. The reinforcement could be done at any time.
So, Bones showered and dressed himself carefully in gray slacks, polished shoes, a crisp white shirt and a tie that matched his sky-blue eyes. His coat was cobalt blue, the color of a foreboding storm. He looked dead sexy, if he did say so himself.
x
Uhura decided to spare Spock the details of arranging their dinner and made reservations for two at Pagh, a Bajoran soul-food eatery in downtown. She got to his house at seven forty-five and waited with Amanda and Sarek for Spock to descend from his room.
Amanda and Sarek were dressed in their finest; they were having a number of high-ranking Vulcans over for a late dinner after Spock left. Sarek nodded solemnly to Uhura when she entered the house, and Amanda smiled widely at her and drew her to the side.
"My dear, I just wanted to tell you that I think you've been very good for Spock," Amanda said quietly to Uhura. "I'm proud of you for convincing him to go to this dance; he refused to attend last year. But I wanted to ask you a favor. He's not—he's not exactly social. You know him well enough by now to realize that he doesn't have many friends. I was wondering if you could, perhaps, encourage him to spend time with others of his own age. He adores going to Council meetings with Sarek, but—he needs interaction with his peers."
Uhura felt guilty. She was well aware that she was keeping Spock away from potential friends so that she could spend more time with him, and thought maybe Amanda suspected this.
"Of course," murmured Uhura. "I'll make sure he talks to people tonight."
"Thank you, dear," said Amanda, squeezing Uhura's shoulder kindly. "Here he is," she added, looking up.
Spock descended the stairs hesitantly. Uhura gulped audibly. He looked incredible. He was wearing a dark gray shirt, a white tie, and black slacks. His black formal jacket was draped over his arm. He smiled shyly at her, the first public display of emotion she had witnessed from him. He thought she looked like an angel in her long white formal gown. It was simple and strapless, with an empire waist and a slit halfway up the thigh.
Sarek looked slightly disapproving of Spock's timid smile, but said nothing. He merely requested that Spock have an enjoyable fete and that he be home by two AM.
Amanda straightened Spock's collar rather tearfully. "Have a good time, dear," she said, kissing his cheek. "Don't get in too much trouble. I love you."
"I love you too, mother." He squeezed Amanda's hand, offered his arm to Uhura, and left the house without looking back.
x
"What is this?" said Kirk, staring at the huge golden flower-and-ribbon contraption Bones was holding out to him. Bones turned slightly red and lowered the thing a bit.
"It's a mum," he said shortly. "Were I'm from, we make them for our homecomin' dates. You don't have to wear it; it's just a traditional thing."
Oops. "Er, sorry. I didn't mean to be culturally insensitive," said Kirk, accepting the thing. "Just out of curiosity, is it even meant to be worn? It's gigantic."
"It's worn in pictures," said Bones, shuffling forwards to pin the back to Kirk's lapel. "I've never made one before, so I went a little overboard on this one. Sorry. I talked to my grandmother last week and she insisted I make you one with three carnations on it, which is the traditional blessin' number—don't even ask, okay?—and it got a bit out of hand. And now I gotta get a picture of you with it so I can send it to her."
"Ah," said Kirk, looking down and realizing he was unable to see his toes. "Hurry. I might fall forwards from the weight."
"Shut up," growled Bones, but he was smiling despite his tone.
x
"You're great," said Sulu breathlessly and sincerely, "you really are, but—I don't know. It's not the same."
Chapel sighed and turned away from him. "Alright. We'll stop."
She reached forward and turned off the holoprojector. They had been playing Taramon, a fantasy holoprogram, but Chapel had reprogrammed it to include some sci-fi elements, including an ansible and instant travel. Chapel and her mother always inserted their own creations into the holoprograms they played, but Sulu liked experiencing the work as the programmer had originally intended.
"We should get ready," commented Sulu, glancing at the time. "I'm kind of glad we didn't go out to dinner."
"Me 'oo," said Chapel, her voice muffled by the last honey chapati from their meal. "I olways 'rop food on me—oop." As if to reinforce her statement, a drop of honey rolled leisurely out of the end of the rolled-up flatbread and onto her bare leg. "'ammit."
Sulu handed her a napkin wordlessly.
x
Homecoming, like prom, was held off school property, at the Zetar Hotel. The ballroom was a wide, bright space, full of gold inlay and mirrors and polished beech- and balsa-wood. The psi-electronic DJ hovered over the crowd, asking for requests and interpreting thought patterns with its limited telepathy.
It had taken most of Uhura's persuasive skill to prevent Spock from arriving at the dance at nine, when it started. She tried explaining to him that punctuality was frowned upon at human social events such as these, but her protests went mostly over his head, and they got to Zetar at nine-thirty instead of Uhura's preferred ten, which was a solid compromise, she supposed. There weren't nearly enough people present, but that ended up being a good thing, since it turned out that Spock was absolutely unable to dance.
Uhura spent about an hour trying to explain and demonstrate freestyle dancing to him and eventually gave up and let herself be led around the room in an expert Viennese Waltz, the only dance he knew, laughing as she tripped over the fast steps. Of course Spock would be excellent at ballroom but otherwise incapable of impromptu dance, she thought. The idea caught on, though, and many of the couples and groups present tried the step with Spock as their patient instructor. The DJ obligingly played some Strauss.
"What the hell?" said Kirk, entering the ballroom with Bones on his arm to find a hundred high schoolers box stepping and promenading with Spock acting the part of the sorcerer's apprentice near the front of the room.
"Okay, let's just leave now," said Bones, trying to move backwards but running into Sulu and Chapel, who were walking in behind them.
"Woah," said Sulu, putting his hands out to stop Bones. "Careful there. You don't want to run over the lights."
"Are you two high?" Kirk exclaimed.
"No!" said Chapel quickly. Then she frowned, pensive. "Well, a little."
Kirk snorted and then tried to look innocent when Bones glared at him.
"Come on. It's a school dance," said Bones, glaring. "If they catch you, we'll all get it."
"You are one to talk," said Sulu, poking his finger at Bones's chest. "Did you or did you not light up with me on the soccer field a month ago?"
Bones looked like he was going to start yelling, so Kirk wandered away hastily. He found himself leaning against the back wall, watching Spock conduct the waltzers. Uhura was off talking to Rand, glancing back at Spock every once in a while with an indulgent smile on her face.
Bored, Kirk approached Spock. "Having fun?" he asked, coming to stand beside the half-Vulcan.
"I was," said Spock pointedly, gesturing at one couple to stop them from running into another pair.
"Don't be snippy, I haven't done anything to you yet."
"I note the 'yet' with great trepidation, James," said Spock warily.
Kirk gave him an appeasing smile. "You're safe." They were silent for a while as they watched the dancers, who were mostly managing on their own, now.
After a while, Kirk extended his arm to Spock. "Teach me?" he said, not sure what had come over him, but wanting to learn anyway. The dancers were beautiful in their smooth, clockwise flow around the room; he wanted to emulate their flow, and slip away in the stream of people.
Spock eyed him suspiciously and then gave in. "Place your left hand on my shoulder," said Spock, taking Kirk's cool right hand in his. "Elbow bent, please." He snaked his arm around Kirk's waist, pressing his hand into the small of Kirk's back. "The count is 3/4 time." He said the steps as he pressed Kirk forwards, one foot at a time. Kirk picked up the idea quickly and stopped staring at his feet to grin up at Spock, who was a half a foot taller than he was.
Spock swallowed. He didn't think he had ever been this close to Kirk. The boy had incredibly blue eyes.
The song finished and Kirk gently wrestled his hand out of Spock's grip. "That was fun," he said sincerely. "Thanks for teaching me. I've got to go show Bones how to do that." He gave Spock another brilliant smile and walked off. Spock watched him go, discomfited.
"Hey," said Uhura behind him. He turned guiltily, but she was smiling at him. "Want to dance with me?"
"Of course," he said gracefully, and took her hand.
x
Gaila and Scotty didn't arrive until eleven, when the dance was in full swing. At eleven thirty, the DJ switched off and Principal Barnett took the stage to announce the king and queen. Bones tried to hide in the back until Kirk found him and dragged him forward to stand with the rest of the court at the front of the audience.
Bones won, of course, as did Gaila. They ascended to the platform amid reverberating acclamation, Bones bashfully and Gaila brashly, and bowed for the coronation. Barnett lowered two borite crowns onto their heads and presented them to the school. Riley, in extreme fangirl mode, nearly swooned when Bones came down to shake his hand first. (Kyle punched him in the ribs.) Gaila dipped Scotty into a thorough kiss, evoking catcalls and the descent of frowning chaperones.
Sulu, who had evidently designated his house as the official after-party locale, invited just about everybody present to show up at twelve thirty for a continued celebration. Kirk dragged Bones off to obtain more alcohol and Uhura somehow managed to convince Spock to have sex with her in the backseat of her car in the parking lot (and was ridiculously proud of herself about it). Sylvia and Chekov, meanwhile, got to third base, and Sulu and Chapel, both depressed by their situation, relit their high. Scotty and Gaila disappeared to parts unknown and showed up at Sulu's in different clothes and with mussed hair.
At Sulu's house, Kirk gave Bones a congratulatory blow job in the bathroom (it was by no means the worst place he had performed fellatio). Chekov nearly walked in on them. Spock and Uhura considered the alcohol Sulu had spread all over his dining room table and decided against it.
"I must return home by two AM," said Spock, gazing almost sadly at a lone bottle of icewine. "It would be unintelligent of me to consume alcohol at this time."
"If you won't, neither will I," said Uhura loyally. "Come on, let's find Christine." She knew that Chapel was good at talking to Spock, since she'd had a crush on him for the majority of the previous year and could carry on long conversations with him. Christine, while strangely fascinated by Spock's right ear, nevertheless managed to hold her own with him about the relative merits of subspace radio technology and psionic transmission. Uhura didn't think Spock realized she was high, which was hilarious in and of itself, since he kept getting these faintly puzzled expressions whenever she would say something particularly non sequitur.
Gaila, about to toss back a shot of tequila, frowned and reached for her thigh. Uhura watched as she removed a vibrating PADD.
"What is it?" said Uhura, as Gaila's face twisted when she read the screen.
"My local news alert. Two fire stations near here are on fire," Gaila said. "KRON says—ow! Jim, get off."
"Oh, sorry," said Kirk, hurriedly backing away. He'd fallen hugely over somebody's foot and straight into Gaila. "I tripped, sorry."
"Are you drunk already?" said Uhura disapprovingly.
"No!" protested Kirk. "I haven't even had a beer yet! You are so prejudiced."
"I am not, I simply—"
"Wait," said Kirk, looking suddenly alert. "What about fire stations?"
"Two nearby, six and fourteen, they're on fire," said Gaila, handing Kirk the PADD. "Ironic, huh? Fire stations on fire. They think it's arson, of course; how else could two be up in flames at the same time? No luck is that bad."
Kirk stared at the PADD for a second, then wrestled his communicator out of his pocket and called his mother while Gaila and Uhura stared at him.
"James Tiberius Kirk, it is one in the morning—"
"Mom, are you at home?"
"Of course I am, I—"
"Please just trust me, here—go see if the house is on fire."
"What?"
"Do it, mom."
"The fire alarms aren't going off—" There was the sound of shuffling feet, and doors opening and closing. "I'm outside. No smoke, no fire. What's this about?"
"I'll tell you later—keep an eye out, okay?"
"Okay—"
Kirk ended the call and dialed Pike, whose number he had in case of a hoverclub emergency.
"James? What is this about?"
"Mr. Pike, I'm sorry to call so late, but—are you at home?"
"No, why?"
"Does anyone besides you live in your house?"
"James, explain—"
"Please, just answer the question, sir."
"Well, alright—I live alone."
"Okay, good. Um, it's possible that your house is on fire. You should check that out."
"What?"
"I have to go, sir, I'll explain later."
Kirk ended that call, too. Who else, who else? Oh yes—Spock.
Spock was still talking to Christine. Kirk grabbed his shoulder and turned him around unceremoniously.
"Call your father," he said, expression completely serious.
"Excuse me?" said Spock, staring at Kirk coldly.
"Do it," snapped Kirk, his tone leaving no room for argument.
"If I may inquire as to why—"
"On the day of my birth, the main fire station on Calder II was set on fire," said Kirk, talking faster than usual. "A day before, the Starfleet armory on the planet had been emptied. Two similar events have once more occurred. I suspect Nero. You need to contact your parents and make sure they are safe."
Spock immediately flipped open his communicator. "Spock to Sarek. Spock to Sarek."
There was no reply.
Uhura saw Spock's hand tremble as he closed the lid. "Father always answers."
"Try your mother."
Spock did. There was nothing but static on the line.
"It's a diversion," whispered Kirk, an expression of horror slowly creeping across his face. "The fire at the stations."
"We have to go check on them," said Sulu, who had been listening to the conversation. "Come on. Get in my pickup. We'll check everything out."
x