Chapter Text
End of the week Captain’s dinners were always a special treat for the Enterprise crew. It allowed them to mingle, relax and enjoy each other’s company. Three years of meals together cemented the tight bond they had with one another.
On tonight’s menu was a giant tomahawk steak with chimichurri sauce, roasted fingerling potatoes and broccolini. After a lifetime of replicated food, La’an thought she was in heaven, and they hadn’t even sat down to eat yet.
The security chief, standing alone, watched the crowd from a corner of the room. Una was helping Chris to prepare dinner. Uhura and Joseph were discussing recent travels back to Africa. Erica was chatting with Nurse Chapel and from what La’an knew, they had been friends for a long time. Going back even before their Enterprise days. The women’s laughter was joyous and bordering on raucous. La’an didn’t think she could ever lose herself like that in humor. Her joy, her mirth, tended to be a lot more sedate. I guess that’s why she related a lot to Pike’s Number 2, Spock. They both kept themselves restrained. Anger being the primary emotion that tended to overwhelm the tight lid they had on their feelings.
Speaking of Spock, he was likewise alone in an opposite corner of the room. He was looking down at a PADD and not engaging in any socialization. La’an snorted. They made quite the pair. Both extremely dedicated to Starfleet and both rather inept at socialization. La’an, after years of therapy, finally attained the “Fake it until you make it” attitude of being social. She told herself that she was capable of making close friends, trusting people, and it was her hope that with time it would be true.
For Spock she knew that he used to be open and trusting, but something happened in his past to change that. He didn’t share much with her about it. He told her that he couldn’t. That he was sworn to secrecy. It was hard to accept that the man she loved kept secrets from her, but she knew that he would tell her if he could.
Spock looked up from his PADD and his eyes found hers. It was fucking electric. The intensity of his gaze always startled her. He looked at her as if she were the only one in the room. The only one that truly mattered. Like he was desperate to cross the room and devour her. The sheer masculine confidence he exuded excited her in a way that nothing had before. It caused a shiver to run down her spine and a sharp spike of arousal. He always did this to her. Maybe she hated him a bit for how little control she had over her body’s reaction to him. And La’an always needed to be in control.
She was continually amazed that they were even together. Had found that their connection went beyond that initial mind meld, beyond being colleagues. Did it take being trapped in a Jeffries’s tube together during one clusterfuck of a mission a year ago to reveal their mutual feelings? Yes. Has it been an easy ride since, hell no! Sometimes she bristled against Spock’s apparent coldness and La’an knew her defensiveness frustrated him.
But there was genuine passion there and mutual understanding. Their core values aligned and maybe that was what mattered. Was it enough to sustain a relationship? They would find out together.
La’an watched as Spock began to cross the room, presumably to speak to her. But he stopped abruptly and altered course as Chris announced that dinner was served. Spock sat at the table and in a bold move she went and sat next to him. He glanced at her slightly alarmed and she smiled professionally.
All this time and their relationship was still a secret onboard the Enterprise. It wasn’t necessarily against regs to be dating a fellow officer but the fact that he was her superior officer on the bridge made things a little dicey. A month ago, out of the blue, he suggested that she take the exam for Lt Commander. Was this Spock’s way of asking to take their relationship public? That once they were of equal rank it would be more socially acceptable? She panicked at the thought and shut down the conversation by telling him she would think about it.
La’an turned to Spock and asked politely, “Pass the potatoes, please?” He did as she asked, and she found that she was disappointed that their fingers didn’t touch as he gave her the bowl.
He tilted his head closer to her as she concentrated on her food, “Have you read the briefing on our upcoming mission to Argulis III?” His voice was low so that only she could hear. La’an could feel his warm breath on her ear he was that close. If she turned her head towards him, she was certain their lips would meet. And wouldn’t that be a scandal.
“Yes. The Argulis people have been struggling for a long time with climate change. It’s affected their ability to grow crops. The atmospheric re-processors are sure to make a huge difference in their quality of life.”
“Yes. It will. I am eager to get started.” There was something else in his tone of voice. An undercurrent of innuendo. For a professional conversation it felt pretty damn intimate.
La’an’s stomach flip flopped. She secretly loved how he set her on edge. Loved the thrill of feeling aroused by him while they sat having a friendly, benign, dinner amongst the crew. It felt forbidden. It spoke to that tiny need inside to break the rules. To not be so rigid. She wondered if Spock likewise secretly had the same need.
Her throat constricted and she felt a a pulse of desire shoot through her as he dropped his hand to her thigh under the table. Spock lightly stroked the fabric just above her knee and he continued his conversation.
“I noticed yesterday that the phasers on the port side are slightly out of alignment. There is a variance of 0.006. That’s outside Starfleet recommended guidelines. I understand that you aligned them yourself. But perhaps you need to take a further look at them.”
She took a deep breath as Spock’s fingers drifted to her inner thigh. Her face was surely pink now in embarrassment, arousal and to be honest, annoyance that Spock was toying with her; both with conversation and his furtive actions.
She reared back, turning her head to confront him. His fingers froze, “0.006 is the new Federation standard for all Constitution class ships.
“Perhaps but it’s not good enough. You can do better,” His voice challenging and seductive.
La’an grit her teeth and she bristled at the insinuation that she wasn’t doing her job to the best of her abilities. Her heart beat a rapid tattoo in her chest. Spock stared her down, silently commanding her to respond. She was not going to back down.
“0.006 is the Federation standard.” End of question. She swallowed past the lump in her throat. Her body felt on fire and she couldn’t wait for the dinner to be over so they could go back to her quarters. Their foreplay could be fucking wild.
His fingers resumed their journey along her inner thigh and she resisted the urge to moan. Placing her fork down beside her plate she dropped her hand to join his under the table. She wasn’t bold enough to touch him like he was touching her, but she had a better idea. Her index and ring finger found his and she gently stroked his own. A truly Vulcan turn on. La’an heard Spock’s sharp intake of breath and when she glanced at him she could detect a slight green flush to his face.
She was thrilled that she could affect him like this. La’an respected his Vulcan stoicism as she had learned to adopt a similar philosophy to manage her trauma. But passion and love threw everything out the window. It made her feel alive while she thought it might have made Spock feel more conflicted about his identity. But in this moment, he seemed to be fine initiating a romantic overture.
A flash of white caught her attention, and she lifted her head to see Nurse Chapel looking at her amusedly. Christine raised one of her perfectly crafted eyebrows in question. La’an ignored the look, shuffled Spock’s hand out of her lap, and resumed eating. This time hurrying through the meal, not tasting the food.
When she was finished, she stood abruptly and announced that she had to be up early for crew evaluations and that she had enjoyed the dinner. She acknowledged the rest of the crew with a nod, but her eyes lingered a moment on Spock.
She left the Captain’s quarters and took a deep steadying breath. Walking lazily down the corridor back to her room, she knew that Spock would eventually follow and meet her there. He couldn’t help but follow her after that experience at dinner.
La’an heard soft steps behind her, but she didn’t look back. She knew it was him, instinctually. Like their bodies and their souls were highly attuned to one another. Her heart beat faster as she tried to anticipate his next move.
She passed a recessed alcove. One minute Spock was behind her and then he was grabbing her arm, pushing her into the hidden space and against the wall. His long hard body pinned her to the surface and she felt a rush of excitement in the contact. He leaned down and buried his face in her neck.
“Finally.” He sighed, moaning under his breath. An emotional admission that had her heart and body aching for him.
Control was the name of her game though, so she lifted his face from her shoulder and kissed him soundly. It was like heaven. That explosion of taste and touch, tongue and yielding lips. La’an felt his hands grip her hips bringing them in full contact with his own. She shuddered as she felt the evidence of his desire and she deepened the kiss. At this rate they wouldn’t make it back to her quarters. She began calculating the distance to the closest empty room.
A loud cough from outside the alcove drove the two lovers apart, their breathing haggard, their faces flushed with embarrassment and longing. They had been caught.
“Wow, you guys are totally obvious.”
It was Nurse Chapel, a cheeky smirk on her face.
“A little advice you two from someone who has been there…if you’re trying to keep your relationship a secret you should probably stop eye-fucking each other across the Captain’s quarters. And you know…avoid getting caught making out in public.’
She laughed in amusement as La’an buried her face in Spock’s chest in mortification.
“We’ll take that under advisement. Thank you, Nurse Chapel.” Spock was way too composed for their current predicament.
“Also, Congrats! I’m happy for you guys.” She spoke genuinely. “You kind of deserve each other. It makes sense.”
Spock and Christine nodded to each other and the nurse continued along her way.
La’an lifted her head and asked, “Have we really been that transparent? Does everyone know and we’ve just been deluding ourselves?”
“Perhaps. I admit I have been preoccupied with our relationship. So much so that it may be affecting my judgement.”
“I think your judgement is just fine.” La’an countered. “Although we should probably contain these encounters to the privacy of our bedroom.
“Noted,” Spock replied.
He added, “And I think we should continue our discussion about the phaser variance in your quarters. Now, if possible. I don’t think your argument about Federation regulation was very persuasive.” Their strange foreplay was back on.
La’an lit up inside as she retorted invitingly, “Oh I’ll show you just how persuasive I can be.”
She left Spock standing in the alcove, a bemused half-smile gracing his face. She knew he would follow.
There was no doubt about that.