once i get a more 'Mature' area of the story I'll start posting on AO3 to avoid having the story removed...Thank you everyone that took the time to message me with that concern.

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Weeks passed with little disturbance, besides the ones that Jim had caused, and finally he was situating himself into the new and stable life. He and Bones shared a few of the basic introductory courses, but that would only last for a short while.

The Doctor was of course taking refreshers on specific medical practices and a few extras on, specialized, xenobiology and Jim was on the Command track so the two would rarely have a shared class after the semester ended. Not that it was particularly important. Bones was still uncomfortable around Jim, though not as much as he'd been that first night, and did well to close his eyes every time he exited the shower in the mornings.

It could be significantly worse, and it was the man's way of coping with a situation he didn't fully understand, so Jim didn't reprimand him often; only when he was being particularly obtuse. Jim liked to think that they'd grown closer as roommates; they certainly spent plenty of time together in the room in comfortable silence, but whenever Jim tried to invite him out he was turned down. Understandably, the man was probably working very hard, probably also trying to come to terms with the fact that he would be working in space most likely but it still would have been nice to share a meal together now and then. They hadn't since that first day.

No matter though, Jim buried himself in his textbooks, pushing the reading glasses further up his nose as he leaned closer to the tablet. It just would have been nice to be friends with his roommate.

"Mind if I sit?" A feminine voice asked.

"Hmm?" Jim looked up. She was lovely; green skinned with beautiful red hair that hung is tight curls around her face. He must have turned pink because she grinned. "Go ahead."

"I'm Gaila," She said, offering a hand.

Jim took the hand and smiled brightly. "Jim." He said. "Your hair is beautiful, is that natural?"

Her cheeks became a deep emerald as she glanced away nodding. "It's a rare mutation among Orion people. What is your track?"

"Command," Jim said, setting down his tablet. "You're…not a first year are you?"

The woman shook her head, curls bouncing in all directions. "Nope, second. I'm in engineering."

Jim's smile widened. "First year command." He said. "I'll have second year credits soon enough."

She looked at him curiously and nodded for him to continue. "I'm challenging the theory courses in my track." He groaned a little, slouching. "Most of the courses require long, thoroughly researched papers as well as a 90% score on the exam in order to be exempt from attending."

The woman giggled. "Well, we are technically military, and operating in space. It would be unfortunate if someone managed to challenge the course, pass, and not fully understand the importance of the class."

"Yeah, s'why I haven't complained too much." Jim continued to smile and reach forward, grabbing Gaila's hand gently. "If they keep bothering you feel free to come and find me."

Gaila's dark eyes widened. "I'm sorry." She said suddenly. "You just…You felt nonthreatening…I'll go."

Jim released her hand. "You don't have to. I'm not exactly getting along with my roommate, or classmates, so I wouldn't mind the company."

Her green skin darkened again. "I was on my way to get dinner when I came here." She said. "I was being followed, so I thought the library might be safe…Come with me?"

Jim could feel his demeanor brighten. He did well to always keep a smile on his face no matter what his mood, but he felt genuinely happy that the beautiful, and seemingly well spoken, woman would invite him along. The walk to the mess hall was slow and sedate. The two chatted about the mechanics of a starship's core, the latest technological advances, and why they joined the Fleet. Unlike Jim's anticlimactic and simple answer of 'It was a dare', Gaila revealed that she had once been a slave, rescued, and wanted to do something that would help others as Starfleet had helped her.

Jim's hearted melted a little. She was still building her self-confidence, but he could see a force to be reckoned with inside of her, just waiting to be unleashed. She looped their arms and leaned in smiling. Much of dinner followed the same conversation as on the way to. Jim went into a little more depth about his reason for accepting Pike's challenge, and how could he not after such a heartfelt reason from his new friend. After living in the shadow of a dead man for so long, the challenge to do better, was more like saying 'do more, and overcome the shadow'.

A few of Gaila's friends from the woman's dorm sat around them, joking with the green woman and occasionally asking if Jim was going to be her new man. Jim waggled his eyebrows at her and winked. They were done eating though, and left soon after with Jim offering in front of the group if he could walk Gaila back to the dorm entrance.

"So, the reason you don't get along with your roommate, is it because he found out?" She asked as they exited the cafeteria, picking up on the conversation from where it had been interrupted and frowning as Jim stiffened. "I'm sorry, I over stepped my boundaries. We Orion…Have a sense for these things…Sorry."

Jim just shook his head. "You don't have to apologize. Just, don't tell anyone okay? But yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the reason I'm not getting along with him." He sighed, patting Gaila's hand. "It's probably my own fault. He was dealing with it fine the first few days, but I kept teasing him."

"You could apologize?" She suggested with a smile. "It never hurts to try."

Returning the smile in full, Jim nodded and released Gaila from his grips. "That's true." He said, bowing. "Well, Mi'Lady, thank you for allowing me the honor or escorting you to your abode. I do hope you rest with ease."

"Why thank you," She said, giggling. "I would find it suitable, and enjoyable, if we could perhaps do this again in the future. Perhaps tomorrow after class we shall encounter one another in the library."

"What was that?" Jim laughed.

"I thought we were imitating Vulcan's." She said, grinning despite herself.

"I'm so introducing you to period dramas." Jim declared. "Next time we both have a full day off expect me, a lot of junk food and a ton of vids."

Gaila saluted, and pecked him on the cheek. "See you tomorrow then."

He stayed until she was inside and out of sight before moving on. Jim was sure she was aware of it, though perhaps not, but they'd been followed to the dormitories. Jim made sure to keep to the sidewalks and pathways with people still wandering on them. It wasn't terribly late, only about 9pm, so there were still people rushing to get dinner and heading off the campus for a drink or something similar. His mistake occurred when he stepped onto the grassy patch on the backside of his own dorm rather than walking around.

There was a massive blind spot here, he knew, and often cut through in the mornings to get to breakfast more quickly. Several others did the same, but at night it was vacant, and posed a potential hazard to anyone who dared walk through. Jim knew this, and slipped up.

Three male figures caught up to him quickly, shoving him into the grass. Jim jumped back up, but before he could speak the three were already balling the fists and lashing out with knees and elbows. Jim didn't make a sound beyond the occasional grunt or groan from being hit particularly hard, but the others did. One man he'd broken the nose of with strong head-butt, another would likely have a fractured bone in his foot, and the last had broken several knuckles against Jim's cheekbone.

Jim took the most damage; he was bleeding and ached all over, but he could move as the three left and grinned bitterly, and painfully, as he clenched the identification tags he'd snagged off them. His vision blurred slightly as dizziness came over him. He would probably be fine after sleeping though, god that's all he wanted to do at the moment.

"Cadet," A stern voice echoed behind him. "Three of your peers have indicated that you were highly inebriated and had become injured after belligerently forcing them to leave. They informed me that you had fallen down several times."

Jim clutched his head and snorted. "They sporting a broken nose, fingers, and a limp?"

"Indeed." The voice informed. "I will assist you to the medical center."

"No need," Jim said, straightening up as best he could. He held out the id's. "I'm James T. Kirk. Those three have been stalking and harassing an Orion Cadet, second year engineering route, Gaila, I believe and didn't like that I walked her back to her dorm tonight. If you need further proof I'll be available tomorrow. Right now I just need to sleep."

"I must insist," The dark blur shifted closer. Jim shook his head to try and clear away the fuzz, but only ended up stumbling in the process. Moments later darkness invaded his vision and he completely collapsed.