Reboot Fic: Four Square 2/7 (Draws X)
Codes: Pike/Dael/Kirk/McCoy, various OCs and other pairings in passing
Rating: NC-17; warnings: kinky, queer, mixed poly relationship with large age difference
Word count: this part 8.100, complete 60.000 words
Direct links to part 1 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7
*
The second they step out of the building, Pike can see the exhaustion that Kirk had firmly hidden all through the reception settling back on his lover's face.
"What do you want to do?" Pike asks. He's been waiting for so long to see them, indulged in a thousand wild fantasies, but right now he only wants to do Kirk something good, in any way possible. "We could go home straight away, if you're tired."
"I'm damn tired, but I really could use a little chill time in your club. If you don't mind." Kirk gives Pike a gaze from under long lashes.
"Not at all." They make a brief detour to Pike's office to change into civilian nightlife attire, Pike in dark grey, Kirk all in black, then take a cab to the club. It's still relatively empty; it's not that late yet and most people come in after midnight. Pike's business partner Ole is behind the bar, giving Kirk an appreciating gaze when he serves their drinks. A few guests look their way, some of the regulars greeting Pike, but nobody forces them into talking. They take their drinks and walk into the depths of the club, settling down on the couch in a rather dark corner of the largest playroom.
"Lay down," Pike says and motions Kirk flat on his back with his head in Pike's lap and his boots hanging over the armrest to the left.
"Why?" Kirk says when he's settled comfortably, the drink safely deposited on a nearby table.
"I only want you to relax." Pike brushes his fingers through Kirk's hair with a smile. It takes only minutes until the tension and tiredness in Kirk's body starts to diminish, his lids falling closed and his face's creases slightly easing.
"It's so good to be here," Kirk says with a deep sigh after a long time of silence, his eyes opening a little. "We're so ready for a time-out. The travel was hell; jumping from one ship to the other, and on every single one, we had to join the captain's table, tell some stories, listen to other people's stories. Bones had to give feedback on every sickbay, and usually one or two strange medical cases. Even he was fed up after half the journey, and you know how readily he usually jumps to help everyone."
Pike hums in acknowledgment, his hands caressing down Kirk's neck and down to the chest.
"And then we had a brief stop in Pluto Major for meeting Wang Meng and his daughter." At Pike's questioning gaze, Kirk adds, "He's the widower of Doctor Mei, she was on Bones' team. Had only joined us for her obligatory three months on a ship, before she wanted to serve in the 'fleet hospital on Pluto." Kirk lifts a hand to his face, rubbing his forehead. "Parents just don't belong into space. Really, they don't."
Pike caresses the taut stomach with his fingertips. He's sympathizing with Kirk's assessment; it's been his major motivation to get Esteban and the Lexington back to Earth sooner than planned. On the other hand, if they took all parents off the ships, there wouldn't be many crewmembers left. The crews are often rather young, and it's a basic human desire to procreate. Remembering an internal report that had lately crossed his desk, which included a different approach to the parenting question, Pike says, "They're thinking about allowing Starfleet members to bring their families onboard, especially for longer missions."
"Families?" Kirk glares at him, and Pike instantly regrets bringing up the theme. "Not on my ship, as long as I'm in charge," the captain says sharply. "It's bad enough to lose people who knew what they signed up for, but children who didn't choose to live like that - no way. Don't tell me you're in favor of that."
"Frankly, as someone without children, I don't feel qualified to have an opinion on the matter."
"Would you have wanted to grow up on a space ship? Far away from your beloved horses and your desert?"
"Maybe," Pike says but admittedly can't imagine it; not the least because his parents had hated the idea of space exploration, an ungodly endeavor. "I don't know."
"And one day, the captain would walk into your quarters and explain to you just why your father or mother won't return to you again?"
Pike shrugs. "People die on Earth too."
"Not like that," Kirk whispers harshly, and Pike knows exactly what he means - not in the many unusual, brutal, messy ways you could die in space. As if the method of dying really made a difference.
Pike keeps stroking the prone man's chest. He's a little at loss how to veer Kirk's unusually brooding thoughts - and his own, obviously - away from any dangerous themes, and at last settles with reaching down between Kirk's legs, nudging the tight pants against the soft package underneath.
"Chris, I'm not really in the mood…" Kirk mutters, but when Pike whispers, "trust me," Kirk gives in.
"You're here for relaxing," Pike says and tenderly caresses his face. "You're safe, the doc is safe, everyone is safe right now. Close your eyes and enjoy the atmosphere." The playroom has started to fill over the last minutes, people settling into their plays. There is a group of three at the sling in one corner, and another couple at the St Andrews' cross against the opposite wall, a few voyeurs lingering at the sides. "Listen to their sounds. Smell the leather."
"And the come," Kirk adds, and his lips draw into a faint smile.
"They're not that far yet, but I guess it lingers," Pike admits amused.
"Sodom and Gomorrah."
"Hope so." Pike undoes Kirk's zipper, slipping his hand underneath the underwear. Kirk's breath hitches as he finds and cradles the half-hard erection, running his fingers over it down to the balls.
"You're not half as dirty as you pretend," Kirk challenges him.
"I can be a lot dirtier than you ever got to know, but it's never been the right time for it." Pike's hand closes around Kirk's dick, forming a tight tube. At the cross, a whip is taken to work, its sharp, stinging slaps setting the rhythm for Pike's speed. Kirk audibly inhales with every move, straining his body against Pike's. His legs fall further apart, the right knee hanging over the side of the couch by now.
"What dirty things would you like do to me?" Kirk asks breathlessly. "Tell me."
"I think first I'd strip and handcuff you, put you on a leash and show you around. Let people see what a hot guy I captured. Stroke your dick until you're hard, then put on a cock ring to keep you from coming before I want you to."
"Hmmm."
"Get you in the sling and tie you up, then fist you open. I'd love to get all my fingers into you, spread you wide enough to take two hands, all loose and wet."
Kirk bites his lower lip but comments, "That's not very dirty."
"All loose and ready," Pike repeats, "then I bring on a Vulcan stallion to ride you. Ever seen how well-hung they are? And they last forever, if they want to."
"Okay, that is dirty." Kirk laughs a little.
"He'd push his dick into your lovely mouth as foreplay, until he's all hard and leaking, then he'd fuck you until you come just from the ride."
"You like watching me getting fucked, huh? Watched me and Bones often enough."
"I got into the watching through you," Pike admits. "It's damn hot, no matter who's on top. But we're on the question of dirty…" His hand on Kirk's dick picks up speed.
"Maybe you'd rather I beat you up and kick you around until you're on the floor with a bloody face, and then I'd press the sole of my boot against your mouth and order you to lick it?"
Kirk's dick twitches in his grip, accompanied by an audible groan.
"You'd like that, yes? All the adrenaline and the sweat and the blood." Pike fists harder. "My boot's heel in your mouth, and your tongue working all over it until it's clean. Ah, I'd love to watch the watchers, how they start palming their own dicks on that lovely image. Whip them out and jerk off while you're doing your dirty work."
Kirk whimpers, his hips harshly gyrating upwards.
"And then I'd open my pants and get out my own dick and piss all over you, on your crotch and into your open mouth, making you drink it."
"Oh fuck." Kirk arches, and it only takes two more strokes until he comes hard and messy into Pike's hand and the stretched underwear.
"Wouldn't have thought you're into that kind of dirty," Pike says amused, wiping his hand on some dry fabric before pulling away.
"Ditto." Kirk slacks, trying to steady his breathing. "You'd be up for that for real?"
Pike smirks. "Maybe."
"I might get back to you." Kirk sighs, curling a little to the side. "Though we should keep that out of Bones' sight."
"No kidding." Pike pats Kirk's groin.
"See who's there, the ever-invisible Admiral Pike and his pet captain," someone states overly loudly, and Pike's head jerks up to meet the blood-shot eyes of John Farnham. His friend is obviously too drunk for his own good, or at least Pike hopes that is the explanation for this damn annoying behavior.
"The man who never plays in public," Farnham states slurred. "What happened to your usual reservation? Grew some balls at last, or only borrowed them from your officers? Pretend not to know me anymore now, do you? Been here for an hour, and you just don't seem to notice."
"I really didn't see you," Pike states coolly, putting a hand on Kirk's tensing body to keep him from getting up. "So calm down and let me introduce you -"
"As if anyone needs an introduction to the hero of the federation, Captain James T. Kirk," Farnham says with a sneer. "You're quite the couple. Does he get a piece of your ass or do you only top? Not that it matters, considering Kirk's reputation as the 'fleet's biggest slut -"
"John!" Pike inhales sharply, biting back his anger because otherwise he'd get up and punch his friend in the face which would only lead to unnecessary problems on top of whatever actual problem Farnham might have, considering that he'd never seen him that drunk before. "This club works by matter of respect. You insult a guest - you're insulting me. And that's enough. You better leave now." He really doesn't want to deal with such a confrontation right now, and considering Farnham's state, his friend wouldn't be able to join a serious discussion anyway.
"Huh - you're throwing me out?" Farnham says.
"Yes. Get out of here, John."
"After all the time. Decades, man -"
"Not enough to let you insult my partner. Get out of here and don't come back until you get a grip on yourself." Pike strengthens his hold on Kirk, not wanting a further escalation. Bad enough that most of the play going on in the room has already stopped.
"Do I have to call the doorman, John? I will, you know." Pike is relieved when Mario, one of the club's dungeon masters, shows up, carefully approaching Farnham.
"Hey, John," Mario hushes, pulling at Farnham's arm. "Come on, man, let's get out."
"You'll regret this, Chris," Farnham almost shouts.
"Keep threatening me in front of witnesses, and you'll get your job handed to you," Pike states icily, tilting his head to the gathered crowd. "Because I doubt your bosses would like to hear that you completely lose your senses when drunk."
"Go to hell, you bastard," Farnham growls, but at last gives in to Mario's insistent pull and walks away.
Pike whips out his communicator to call the doorkeeper. "John's coming your way to leave the club. Make sure that he does so without a fight, and put him on the black list for a month." When he closes the connection, Kirk sits up and stares at him wide-eyed.
"I thought John was your friend. What happened?"
"That's a really good question," Pike replies.
"John's been in a bad mood all week," one of the bystanders says. "Most think it's got something to do with Eric, seems they have broken up. But might as well be something else."
"Thanks for telling me," Pike replies to the man. He's sorry to hear that Farnham's relationship ended but it's not quite excuse enough for the uproar his friend had caused tonight.
Slowly, the plays resume and the men around them leave.
"John sounded jealous," Kirk states quietly when they are alone again.
"I guess he is," Pike says. "I thought John and I were just friends with benefits but he wanted more. He tried his hardest to get me into a relationship with him but I got together with Dael instead." He knows that Farnham hasn't really reconciled himself to Dael's existence, but he'd never have expected such a scene from him.
"Phew. Sore loser," Kirk says, shaking his head. "Guess I'm glad he didn't make it. Not sure we would've gotten along."
"Probably not." Pike frowns a little. With John, it would never have been a true foursome; John would probably have gone on a trip while the Enterprise men would have been on Earth, and would later have half ignored their existence, half tried to top his invisible competitors. It would've been nothing like with Dael in the mix, which might be a little complicated over the next days until everyone would find their new comfortable position in the cloverleaf, but it would surely work out.
His communicator quietly hums in his pocket, and he takes it out to accept McCoy's call, the confrontation with Farnham instantly pushed out of his focus.
"Doc, you're done? We're in the club, Jim in my lap. He's all ready for another round together with you, one way or another." Pike smirks at Kirk's instantly rekindled interest.
On the other end of the line, though, McCoy isn't quite in the same mood.
"No problem, we can finish here and collect you." Pike's gaze holds Kirk's. "Of course you can ride home, but I moved and you don't have a key for the new apartment yet. So you may have to wait for us for a few minutes…. Good." Pike closes the comm.
"We'll meet him at home. Let's go," he says. Kirk nods.
Ten minutes later, they're on their way.
*
When they arrive at Pike's new apartment, McCoy isn't there yet, so Pike shows Kirk around. "Kitchen, living room… main bedroom."
"Quite a change from your tiny apartment to this palace, Chris." Kirk whistles he sees the gigantic bed. "I see, you've upgraded the playground." His eyes sweep through the room. "Both dioramas," he notes with a smile.
"Of course." Pike opens the bathroom door. "Feel free to use everything. Towels are in the cabinet." He leads Kirk to the next room. There's only Pike's old, still queen-sized bed inside and one cupboard, plus a bunch of fake flowers Pike had felt to be necessary for stylish reasons.
"This is yours."
"Huh?"
"For you and the doc. There isn't a lot of furniture yet and all of it is old but I thought we'd go ordering something new now that you're here to choose for yourself."
Kirk's jaw drops. "You've got to be kidding. You can't just block a complete room of your apartment for us."
"I only moved into this palace, as you call it, because I wanted to have room for you," Pike states.
"I thought Dael…"
"Her existence motivated me to move in at last, but I made the purchase long before she became a part of the equation." Pike waves his hand. "So yeah, this is your room and I hope you consider this your base on Earth."
"Damn, Chris, I hate it when you turn me to mush," Kirk mutters roughly and draws one arm around Pike's hip. "I can't speak for Bones but I love it. Didn't have a place besides the Enterprise to call home for a long time." With a small laugh, he shakes his head. "Still think you should use it as a guest room when we're not here. It's really too nice to stay empty all the time."
"We'll see." Pike had never been one to play host within his own walls and he has little intention to start doing so now except for the three people close to his heart. "Come on, there's more to see. That's Dael's room." Pike points at the next, ajar door. "Ask her if you want a tour." Kirk nods.
"And that's the terrace," Pike says as he shows him outside. "I don't come out here often but I love the view."
"Yeah, breathtaking," Kirk agrees. "This is a fabulous apartment, Chris. I'm almost envious - if it weren't for having been offered a room in it." They kiss, body pressed against body.
"Gorgeous," Kirk mutters when he can speak again. Pike chuckles. "Me or the apartment?"
"Both." Kirk's hands are firmly around Pike's ass, nudging his muscles through the tight jeans. Pike takes an answering hold on Kirk's.
"Damn, I could just…" Pike whispers, but then there's the door bell and Kirk pulls away. "We already had all evening - now it's Bones' turn." They walk inside. "Have fun," Kirk says with a twinkle and starts to move to the Jim&Bones bedroom. Pike instantly shakes his head. "In there," he orders and points towards the main bedroom. "No discussion," he adds as Kirk looks like he wants to argue.
"Yes, sir," Kirk relents and picks their bags up from the corridor floor. "See you later." The bedroom door is firmly closed just as the door bell rings for a second time.
Pike straightens a little, then goes to open the main door.
"Did I interrupt anything?" McCoy says as he walks into the apartment. "Damn, I'm tired." He tears his dress jacket open. Pike watches the movement, placing McCoy into the slightly inebriated but still able to walk upright and have sex category. "And my feet hurt. God knows why there's never one fucking chair at a party." Pike nods amused and follows the doc's lead in removing his boots.
"Where's Jim?"
"Went to bed."
"Ah." McCoy gives him a critical gaze.
"Just giving us some space." Pike catches McCoy's hand, pulling him close. "Missed you so much," he murmurs and kisses him. It's almost chaste for a moment, before Pike pushes his tongue against the doc's closed lips that instantly open in a wet welcome. Once the dam is broken, there's no holding back, and when they part to breathe, they're both damn hard.
It's called mouth-fucking for a reason.
"You want a tour?" Pike says, slipping his fingers under McCoy's silken shirt to rub circles into the surprisingly soft skin.
"Could wait till tomorrow," McCoy murmurs.
"Then let me show you to the living room," Pike says and walks him towards it, one arm around the doc's shoulder.
"Whoa, what a difference from your old apartment," McCoy says in awe. "But I remember the couch."
"Fondly, I hope," Pike replies. "It sure remembers you."
He can see McCoy's eyes skitter over the shots of Dael, the only decoration related to her outside her room to have survived Pike's cleaning frenzy, but McCoy doesn't ask and Pike doesn't feel like saying anything about them. Instead, he slips one hand into the doc's hair, guiding his lover into another kiss. How he'd missed having this man in his arms - those broad shoulders, powerful arms and muscular hips. Taking all of the sturdy body into a tight embrace without fearing he'd crush anything, while two fine hands run over his own skin in an answering touch, carefully contained strength in every caress.
"Want something to drink?" Pike says eternities later, when he ruefully remembers the basic rules of hospitality.
"If you insist -" McCoy says, with his forehead leaning against Pike's, eyes closed, "I could do with a glass of water."
They walk into the kitchen together, joined at the hips. Their shirts had gone off somehow, Pike can't actually remember when, but it gives McCoy lots of room to roam his hands over Pike's body, embracing him from behind to tug at his nipples when he pours a glass of water at the sink. Pike invitingly pushes back with his hips, registering the hard bulge against his ass but not wanting to do anything about it yet. There's so much pleasure in just touching and kissing right now, Pike has no desire to shortcut to orgasm. Instead, he puts down the glass and reaches behind to run his fingers down McCoy's hips, pulling him a little closer.
"You're so beautiful… so hot," McCoy's voice rasps in his ear. "Missed you so much. Thought you'd die."
"I didn't," Pike says simply and turns around to capture McCoy's mouth, stealing the air for any further statements that might ruin the moment. He doesn't want to talk, only wants to feel, wallow in his man's smell and touch and the soft moans between them. His hands cradle the doc's face, trying to ease away the lines of worry that had developed over the last months, many tiny signs of how much the man cares about him. He'd never wanted to cause anyone heartbreak, and yet he does now at times, simply by who he is and what he's gone through. While his lovers had known that from the first second on - hell, had been there and saved him - they still hadn't signed up to suffer through his ongoing shit. It should've remained just a love story, not turn into something large and heavy and possibly painful.
He sighs into McCoy's mouth, close to speaking his mind, but now it's the doc's turn to silence him, a demanding tongue pushing between his lips and taking over, sweeping his moody thoughts out of his brain. They somehow make it back to the living-room, lying down face to face on the broad seating of the couch, and Pike stops over-thinking, his senses full of the man in his arms. For a long time, they keep it almost chastely above the belt, but then at last they rock against each other, palming their straining erections through the fabric as they'd never made it out of their pants. It's slow and almost painful but also absurdly erotic. Their lips are a raw by now from all their kissing and licking, their tongues entangled in another wordless dance of desire as they tumble along to a joined release, needy and shaken from the long build-up of their foreplay.
When Pike suddenly feels his orgasm spiking, at last and still much too early, he only manages a breathed "going to come" before the waves crush over him, going on for unbelievably long until his body goes slack and he sinks against the cushions in relief. In his arms, the doc is just as heavily breathing, their still touching bulges going soft between them. Wetness soaks through the material to meet Pike's palm, and he gives it another nudge before he pulls up his hand, drawing his lover in a satiated, deep kiss.
When he releases him, McCoy looks at him with a strange expression.
"Anything wrong?" Pike asks, stroking through McCoy's hair in an hypnotic pattern.
"You've changed," McCoy says after another long moment of silence.
"Care to elaborate?"
"You're gentler. Going slower."
"You're complaining?"
"No." McCoy tightens his hold, keeping their bodies close together. "Just noticing."
Pike doesn't say that it's probably got to do with all the first times he's going through with Dael, uncharted territories of another gender, another body form and size, and a history that might offer some pitfalls. It's easy to hold back when he's with Dael because it's the only way it works, and now he's obviously managed to adapt his newfound pacing to the doc's needs.
"Hope you liked it," he replies instead with his fingers still in McCoy's wild hair. Here's to spiky, he thinks to himself with a smile as he pulls some of the wisps upwards, and wonders how McCoy would look with that and a three-day beard. They really should try that in this vacation.
McCoy yawns. "How about moving to wherever you want us to sleep?"
"Sure." Pike unlaces from his lover and gets up, reaching out for him to follow. They quietly move into the bedroom, and McCoy gives it an appreciating once-over in the low light. The bed is surprisingly crowded by Kirk who's sprawled out on his back in all four directions as if he'd just crashed-landed in it, a soft snoring in the air. After quietly getting out of their soiled pants that land side by side on a nearby arm chair, they nudge their third into giving them some space before they curl into bed, Pike in the middle. He feels bathed in warmth, embraced by love, and it's exactly what he had hoped and yearned for. Now they just have to make that possible with all four.
Should be easy, Pike thinks in his happily exhausted haze, and drifts into sleep with his body sandwiched between Kirk's clean-shaven chest and McCoy's body, one arm around his waist and his lover's breathing cool breezes on his heated skin.
*
The next morning, they're all still laced together in the gorgeous bed that had been ordered with exactly this image in Pike's mind. He's wide awake, engaging in his favorite hobby of the last weeks - watching sleeping lovers. Only this time, there's a sudden edge of unease in the mix, anticipation and concern building as the moment when Dael should join them draws closer. After her last message that had proclaimed her delay, he hadn't heard anything from her, so she should hopefully be here soon. Focusing on the sounds in his apartment, he's got to wait for another twenty minutes until the tiny sound of the outer door lock breaks the silence, and Pike instinctively turns his gaze towards the bedroom door. It opens a little farther as Dael looks in, waving and pointing towards her room. He nods and draws out of the arms that hold him, following her as quickly and quietly as possible.
"Hey," Pike says as he walks into her room, adding a "Come here" as he sees her tiny hesitation. "Missed you," he whispers as she's in his arms, and kisses her thoroughly. She looks tired and exhausted, the tattoos sharp against her white face, her blue flight suit rumpled as if she'd slept in it for two weeks, which might not be far from the truth in that class. When he breaks the kiss, he laces one hand into her hair, messing it up a little more than it already is while looking at her with a smile.
"Really?" she asks quietly.
"Really. This apartment is terribly quiet without you." He runs his hand over her cheek, meeting her eyes fully. "You okay? I was concerned about you." Concerned is an understatement, but he doesn't want to talk about her strange recording right now, not when she only has a few days to get acquainted with his men.
She nods, her gaze still more serious than he'd like to see. "How was your evening?"
"Awesome. They're looking forward to meeting you."
"I am too. But I really need to take a shower first, it's been a long trip." Dael withdraws, but he snatches her hand.
"Let's shower together."
"It's a bit small for two -" she says with a wave at the small, never used bathroom that belongs to her room.
"We'll take the shower in our shower," Pike says pointedly. "As we always do."
"We'll wake them up."
"They'll survive." He pulls her close once more for another kiss, determined to ease her mind. There's no fucking way he'd allow her feeling like a third - or forth - wheel.
They slip into the main bathroom via the second, rarely used door that leads into the corridor, and shower together. She's got some fresh bruises on her body, the typical triangular patterns caused by belts tightening during flight maneuvers on the edge of a shuttle's capabilities. He caresses each of them as he soaps her, trying his best to massage the stress of the last two weeks out of her tense body. No wonder all Advanced Flight classes are followed by a mandatory week of rest. As his fingers stroke over her groin, he's looking at her questioningly but she shakes her head, so his fingers move further down her legs before he rinses her with a rain-like stream of water.
"I'm really quite done," she mutters as he rubs her dry.
"You want to sleep first?"
She shakes her head. "I doubt I could. I really want to get to know them now."
"You will." Pike hangs up the towels. "Let's see…" He cautiously opens the bedroom door. "They're already up, guess they're in the kitchen. Let's get dressed and join them."
Without thinking, Dael slips into the loose pants and an even looser shirt she often wears at home. After a gaze into the mirror, though, she strips with furrowed brows and gets into a pair of black jeans and a black tee instead.
"It's fine," Pike says soothingly, his hands on her shoulder as she stares into the mirror again, looking quite ready to change into yet something else.
She frowns a little, but stops messing with the clothes and moves on to style her hair, which doesn't take long but she's on it with more concentration than usual, lips pressed together.
Pike only brushes through his hair with his fingers, watching it drying into curls.
"You look fine," he says once more. It's amusing to see her so self-conscious but it's also making him a little nervous. "Let's go."
They pad through the corridor side by side. His heart in his throat, Pike opens the kitchen door. Kirk and McCoy are sitting perched on the edge of their stools around the prepared breakfast table, getting up as they walk into the kitchen together. They're dressed in slacks, with bed hair but alert gazes.
"This is Dael - Jim, Leonard."
Kirk makes a step forward, about to capture her right hand - and then stops right in the movement, taking a sharp breath.
"Whoa, last time I was that close to such a pattern," he says roughly, staring at her features, "it was to one of Nero's man who was about to kill me. Haven't thought about it since forever… damn."
"I'm sorry," Dael states and turns away.
"No - no, Dael, this isn't about you," Kirk gasps and captures her arm, pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry. It just came all back to me." He buries his face in her neck until she gives in and hugs him back. "So glad to finally meet you. So glad." Voice almost breaking, he holds her close for a while, his hug releasing and tightening like a pulsing heart.
"Get off the poor girl and give her a chance to breathe," McCoy says and eases Dael out of the embrace. "Dael - I'm so happy to meet you." He hugs her briefly, gentle but a lot more distant than Kirk, then releases her back into Pike's open arm. Pike puts one protective hand on her stomach. He's annoyed with Jim - it's not as if her tattoos should be a goddamn surprise to him.
"Let's have breakfast," he says controlled and leads Dael to her chair. Once she sits, he moves over to the coffee machine.
"You already helped yourself?" he asks his men, and they both nod. "Dael, want a coffee?"
"Sure."
He prepares a cup for her, medium strength with one spoon of sugar, and gives it to her. Then he sets out to make a cup for himself, taking his time to give the three a moment to acclimate without him. Kirk asks her about the flight class, a question she quickly diverts, clearly not inclined to talk about it. So Kirk fills the void himself with his own memories of Advanced Flight II, illustrating his colorful anecdotes with large gestures. The stories are funny enough to make everyone laugh, remarkably easing the tension in the room.
Time to sit down.
The cup in his hands, Pike makes exactly three steps from the sideboard towards his seat before his right knee gives in. The moment he goes down on it, he realizes two things: first, that he has forgotten to put on his knee protectors, and second, that with four people in the kitchen, he hasn't walked along the safe path and now crashes into the kitchen counter with his right elbow before hitting the floor. The cup flies out of his grip, the hot coffee splashing over the floor and the lower, closed cupboards.
"Shit," he groans, curling into a ball of pain. He faintly hears his name being called, and then someone tries to help him up.
"Wait a second," Pike says and shakes off the untimely and unwelcome grip on his upper arm, taking a few deep breathes. When he's ready, he takes Dael's offered hand and gets up.
"You're okay?" she asks quietly, and he just nods.
"What the hell was that?" Kirk asks wide-eyed, while McCoy proficiently cleans the floor.
"That was one of the blackouts I told you about," Pike says short-spoken. "Just what I learned to live with."
"I remember, you told Bones - but seeing it happening is quite another thing," Kirk mutters.
"Yes, it is." Pike moves his limbs a little - shit, it really hurts. "I've got to get my protectors." Despite his no thanks regarding any help, Kirk insists on coming with him to the bedroom, silently watching him putting on the knee protectors.
"How often does it happen?" Kirk asks quietly.
"Not very often, but in irregular intervals," Pike states. There's a throbbing pain in his elbow and he's just considering to ask the doc when the man walks into the room.
"Need any help?" McCoy asks, his medikit already in hand. Pike is relieved when Dael comes in with the doc and gets Kirk to leave with her; he really didn't want to cause a damn fuss this morning.
"The knee seems so be okay, but my elbow hurts like hell," Pike admits. McCoy quickly checks the joint, applying a hypo against the pain and then a regen scanner.
"How often?" McCoy asks when the other two are out the door.
"Once every two weeks, roughly."
"That's quite a handicap."
"Usually, I'm prepared for it. It's been a while since I forgot my protectors."
"You're planning your life around it? Avoiding situations where it could happen?"
"Sure."
McCoy gives him a sidewards glance. "Does Naaz know the full extent of the problem?"
"Mostly." Pike shrugs. "But she hadn't been able to find the reason yet. Remember, no quick fix? Except for this problem, I've recovered well - only eighteen percent below my past mobility."
"You'd be better off with minus twenty-five but no blackouts," McCoy says, "and you know that." He takes another scan of Pike, this time of his head. "I'd recommend a continuous scan, two days at least."
"I've got no time for that." Pike critically eyes the scanner. "I'd really prefer not have that right now. Can we spend the vacation without you making me feel like your patient?" He gets up from the bed, taking in the state of his knee.
"Still the same stubborn man," McCoy says, shaking his head as he closes the scanner. He gets between Pike and the door, putting his hand on Pike's shoulder. "I'll always take medical care of you when you need it. But I promise not to push the topic. For now." He reaches up and draws his thumb over Pike's lower lip, and Pike captures the hand and opens his mouth to draw in the finger, sucking at it.
"Damn…" McCoy murmurs and fucks his mouth with his thumb, then roughly pushes Pike back against the nearby wall and grinds their groins together. "The things you do to me," the doc mutters, and Pike smiles breathlessly around the finger between his lips, catching it lightly with his teeth. When McCoy pulls it out with a groan, Pike pats the doc's enlarged bulge. "Just wanted to change your mind to more interesting things, doc," he says. "Let's go back to the others." He passes McCoy, who hurriedly follows him.
"You bastard," the doc states as they walk back into the kitchen.
Pike tries not to notice how close Dael and Jim sit. He's prepared for it to happen and is relieved that Kirk's first strange reaction didn't seem to cause any repercussion on their relationship. No way he's going to apply double standards - she'd always known and accepted that he's got not one but two lovers, and it's absolutely her right to have lovers too. Actually, it should make things a lot easier if they share those lovers.
It will still hurt.
When he sits down, Dael gives him a small smile and gets up to make him a cup of coffee. Pike is surprised about how much he suddenly dislikes the servile look of the action, although she's done the same for him so often already. When she places down the cup, he captures her hand for a moment. "Thanks," he says, and it's not just for the coffee. She nods and squeezes his hand before drawing away.
"Better?" Kirk asks concerned.
"Yes," Pike replies shortly.
"Good."
A somewhat uncomfortable silence settles over the table until McCoy suddenly starts rambling on about their endless trip to Earth and the flying death traps they've been on, his voice filling the void until they're ready to speak about their plans for the day.
*
Kirk wins with the Mojave, and Pike doesn't resist, too aware of how his men obviously feel they're missing out on his life because he's never been there with them before.
Pike takes it like a good sport, throwing Kirk the key to his car and taking the back seat together with the doc, but he draws a line at visiting the former farm of his parents, and is damn glad when Tom doesn't have time for them either. It leaves them on the road for now, aiming for one of the tourist resorts where they could walk a few miles into the desert.
"You sure that's a good idea?" McCoy grumbles as they watch Kirk abusing the car, testing its limits.
"I hope so," Pike replies. He sits behind Kirk, which is good because he doesn't see most of the captain's driving activities, but he can see Dael instead, and seeing her smile at Kirk is causing a lot of strange feelings inside of him, before he pulls himself together, berating his ego for being so jealous. It's not as if her smiles should be a rationed quantity; if anything, anyone who could make her smile should be good in his book.
He focuses on the man at his side. McCoy just leans back into the seat, hiding a large yawn behind his hand. "Sorry, I feel a little hung-over."
"I can see that," Pike states amused and pats the doc's knee. Then his mind returns to the reception and especially Anumanchi. He knows he's too curious for his own good, but he really wants to know. "Doc - may I ask you a question?"
"Sure," McCoy says.
"Did you sleep with Naaz?"
After a stunned second, McCoy shakes his head with a grin and a traitorous blush. "You sure get points for being direct."
"So that's a yes?"
McCoy nods. "Yes, we did once. We met via a research project, which started off with a four day conference, and she seemed to hate me from the start for no obvious reason. I got really curious as to the why, so I made it my business to find out. We ended in bed in the last night… guess it had something therapeutic. She'd been so stuck in her resentments, and I really wanted to break down that wall - and there's nothing better than good sex for that." The blush deepens a little, as McCoy curls his lips. "She married a while later, dropped me a note when she did. We kept in contact over our work, but didn't have sex again." He eyes Pike. "Must sound weird, huh?"
"Not at all," Pike says, and bites down all funny remarks about healing sex. Which makes him suddenly wonder… "Did our relationship start as a therapeutic intervention too?"
McCoy looks at him with an unreadable gaze, not replying right away. "If anything," he says at last, "it's been therapeutic for myself."
Pike doesn't find a good answer to that, so instead of words, he reaches out to draw McCoy into a kiss that quickly escalates into something more.
When the car suddenly stops, they quickly pull apart. "Haven't made out in a car since forever," McCoy says huskily as he sorts his clothes.
"Same here," Pike mutters and restores his own proper look, trying to shake off the vague, bad conscience for having made out like teenagers, although none of the other two seem to mind. They all get out of the car into plain sunlight, putting on caps and sun glasses. McCoy shoulders the back pack with water and some power bars he'd insisted on, Kirk decides which path to take, and then they march on.
*
Pike's beloved areas of Mojave on horseback are fabulous - wild, untamed, quiet nature full of marvelous little signs of life. Tourist resorts on foot are terrible, though - all trampled paths and noisy people amidst a nature that has long succumb to the impact.
Getting a little bit of desert fed to him is mostly reminding Pike that he fucking misses his weekend rides, and that he'd either have to abstain from the desert forever or find a solution to resume his cherished trips, with or without Dael.
Possibly without, he thinks moodily as he watches Kirk and Dael walk in front of them. He's never seen the legendary Kirk charm in full swing, but he does now and it's impressive. Dael is melting like butter in the sun under its impact, her body pliantly leaning towards the man at her side, her concentration fully on yet another funny story he's telling her. Seeing her unfold under Kirk's attention, Pike wonders if he'd underestimated how much of a spring flower girl she could be with the right person at her side, and realizes that he's definitely not that person - and damn, it stings.
"Come here," McCoy says and pulls him aside into one of the few shadows of a rock. Pike accepts the offered water and a power bar, though the latter not without resistance.
"We just had a large breakfast, I'm not going to fall apart over a walk."
"Indulge your doctor," McCoy says and pushes the bar into his hand.
Pike shakes his head with a frown but takes a bite anyway; then his eyes stray towards the others who have stopped a little in the distance. He holds his breath as they draw closer, two small figures merging into what's unmistakably a kiss. A long, deep, kiss to boot, and he swallows harshly, his throat suddenly dry again.
"What did you expect, you basically threw them together all morning," McCoy says, his voice wavering somewhere between sympathy and annoyance.
"Yeah, I did," Pike says. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt anyway. He starts breathing again as the figures move apart and turn to walk back towards them, their hands unlacing when they're close.
"Somehow it feels as if I've been to places like this one a dozen times before," Kirk says as they've joined them. "When you know one desert, you know them all."
Pike incredulously shakes his head. McCoy rolls his eyes.
"Just kidding," Kirk adds with a smirk. "But I still would like to go back to the city. Let's go down-town, do some shopping. We're running out of civvies and besides, I really miss San Francisco."
"Sure, let's go back," Pike says with a shrug. It's not as if he wanted to go to the desert with them anyway.
One the way back to the car, Dael keeps at his side for a while but the path is too small for four in a row, so they end up split in couples again.
A car ride later, they hit the city.
*
Once again Kirk and Dael are in front when they walk along the shopping mile, with Pike and McCoy trailing behind them. This way, Pike gets a rare good look at people's reactions when the two pass them, and quite a few turn their head after Dael. It reminds him that while he might be used to her tattoos, she's still covering them most of the time outside the academy grounds or the nightly club scene. Displaying them in bright daylight has quite an effect, even in a city as tolerant as San Francisco.
Or maybe especially here, where most people had lost family or friends in the Narada incident.
Pike is glad that Kirk manages to keep her occupied with amusing space stories.
"You don't go shopping a lot like that, do you?" McCoy asks quietly at his side.
"No, we don't. Especially not after the yellow press threw out an article about us."
McCoy glares a little. "You could've told us."
"We didn't want to," Pike says evenly.
"You rather let her run the gauntlet?"
"It's her choice. If she didn't want to, I'm sure she's got the cover cream in her bag. And it's not as if Jim is so unrecognizable either."
"When he's in Frisco, he always seems to think he's still the uninteresting cadet." McCoy rolls his eyes.
"We're all in the same boat," Pike states as he catches a third year cadet watching their little procession open-mouthed. "You included." He laces his arm through McCoy's. "You might not be very well-known, but considering that you've been the center of a ceremony last night, it's not like you're invisible either."
"What's the headline going to be?" McCoy asks darkly. "Starfleet's golden quadrant?"
"Hey, Bones," Kirk says, stopping and half-turning with a dance in his step. "Stop moping and let's go in." He waves at the RoxX, one of the currently popular shops.
"That's clothes for kids," McCoy says grumpily as he eyes the windows.
"You're not that old, shut up." Kirk pulls him inside.
Pike lines up with Dael, smiling a little. "Up for shopping?"
"Only when you come with us," she says.
A young man walks out of the door, openly frowning at Dael before glancing over to her companion. From the corner of his eyes, Pike can see her jaw clenching.
"Anyone you know?" he asks when the guy is out of range.
"Just in passing," she says. "Let's go in." She laces one arm into his and pulls him into this temple of contemporary fashion crimes, mischief in her eyes.
*
The shopping eats the better part of the day, the shop-hopping conveniently sprinkled with lunch and coffee breaks. Their bags are full when they get home, and Pike is already wearing his brand new, dark-grey wet look pants that his three lovers had pushed into his arms right at RoxX, claiming that he'd never looked better. They had seemed all set to prove it too, as they hadn't been able to keep their damn fingers away from his ass in public over the course of the afternoon, although Pike himself is too aware of how his knee protectors are being outlined by this material.
Finally they are at home, and Pike changes into something less tempting but more kitchen-compatible. The doc volunteers to help, and they spend an enjoyable time cooking together. They're quite well-behaved too, keeping away from falling into the teenager spirit from the car ride of the morning, but there's an underlying erotic vibe in every touch they share that makes Pike looking forward to the evening.
When the food is ready, they set the kitchen table and Pike goes to fetch Kirk and Dael, ignoring McCoy's offer to take over this duty instead. He wants to know that the two are good with each other, that things work out as hoped for. The living room door is slightly ajar and he spies through the slit. They're on the couch, Dael kneeling over Kirk's lap with her legs left and right of him, and they're kissing, their hands entwined in a quiet dance. Pike quickly draws away from the door, back into the corridor.
"Hey Dael, Jim - dinner is ready," he calls out in no particular direction. "We'll be in the kitchen, waiting for you."
Pike returns to McCoy, squarely facing the doc's questioning gaze.
"All good," he says and sits down, cupping one of the doc's hands on the table top with his own. "All good."
***
Onto Part 3
Rating: NC-17; warnings: kinky, queer, mixed poly relationship with large age difference
Word count: this part 8.100, complete 60.000 words
Direct links to part 1 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7
*
The second they step out of the building, Pike can see the exhaustion that Kirk had firmly hidden all through the reception settling back on his lover's face.
"What do you want to do?" Pike asks. He's been waiting for so long to see them, indulged in a thousand wild fantasies, but right now he only wants to do Kirk something good, in any way possible. "We could go home straight away, if you're tired."
"I'm damn tired, but I really could use a little chill time in your club. If you don't mind." Kirk gives Pike a gaze from under long lashes.
"Not at all." They make a brief detour to Pike's office to change into civilian nightlife attire, Pike in dark grey, Kirk all in black, then take a cab to the club. It's still relatively empty; it's not that late yet and most people come in after midnight. Pike's business partner Ole is behind the bar, giving Kirk an appreciating gaze when he serves their drinks. A few guests look their way, some of the regulars greeting Pike, but nobody forces them into talking. They take their drinks and walk into the depths of the club, settling down on the couch in a rather dark corner of the largest playroom.
"Lay down," Pike says and motions Kirk flat on his back with his head in Pike's lap and his boots hanging over the armrest to the left.
"Why?" Kirk says when he's settled comfortably, the drink safely deposited on a nearby table.
"I only want you to relax." Pike brushes his fingers through Kirk's hair with a smile. It takes only minutes until the tension and tiredness in Kirk's body starts to diminish, his lids falling closed and his face's creases slightly easing.
"It's so good to be here," Kirk says with a deep sigh after a long time of silence, his eyes opening a little. "We're so ready for a time-out. The travel was hell; jumping from one ship to the other, and on every single one, we had to join the captain's table, tell some stories, listen to other people's stories. Bones had to give feedback on every sickbay, and usually one or two strange medical cases. Even he was fed up after half the journey, and you know how readily he usually jumps to help everyone."
Pike hums in acknowledgment, his hands caressing down Kirk's neck and down to the chest.
"And then we had a brief stop in Pluto Major for meeting Wang Meng and his daughter." At Pike's questioning gaze, Kirk adds, "He's the widower of Doctor Mei, she was on Bones' team. Had only joined us for her obligatory three months on a ship, before she wanted to serve in the 'fleet hospital on Pluto." Kirk lifts a hand to his face, rubbing his forehead. "Parents just don't belong into space. Really, they don't."
Pike caresses the taut stomach with his fingertips. He's sympathizing with Kirk's assessment; it's been his major motivation to get Esteban and the Lexington back to Earth sooner than planned. On the other hand, if they took all parents off the ships, there wouldn't be many crewmembers left. The crews are often rather young, and it's a basic human desire to procreate. Remembering an internal report that had lately crossed his desk, which included a different approach to the parenting question, Pike says, "They're thinking about allowing Starfleet members to bring their families onboard, especially for longer missions."
"Families?" Kirk glares at him, and Pike instantly regrets bringing up the theme. "Not on my ship, as long as I'm in charge," the captain says sharply. "It's bad enough to lose people who knew what they signed up for, but children who didn't choose to live like that - no way. Don't tell me you're in favor of that."
"Frankly, as someone without children, I don't feel qualified to have an opinion on the matter."
"Would you have wanted to grow up on a space ship? Far away from your beloved horses and your desert?"
"Maybe," Pike says but admittedly can't imagine it; not the least because his parents had hated the idea of space exploration, an ungodly endeavor. "I don't know."
"And one day, the captain would walk into your quarters and explain to you just why your father or mother won't return to you again?"
Pike shrugs. "People die on Earth too."
"Not like that," Kirk whispers harshly, and Pike knows exactly what he means - not in the many unusual, brutal, messy ways you could die in space. As if the method of dying really made a difference.
Pike keeps stroking the prone man's chest. He's a little at loss how to veer Kirk's unusually brooding thoughts - and his own, obviously - away from any dangerous themes, and at last settles with reaching down between Kirk's legs, nudging the tight pants against the soft package underneath.
"Chris, I'm not really in the mood…" Kirk mutters, but when Pike whispers, "trust me," Kirk gives in.
"You're here for relaxing," Pike says and tenderly caresses his face. "You're safe, the doc is safe, everyone is safe right now. Close your eyes and enjoy the atmosphere." The playroom has started to fill over the last minutes, people settling into their plays. There is a group of three at the sling in one corner, and another couple at the St Andrews' cross against the opposite wall, a few voyeurs lingering at the sides. "Listen to their sounds. Smell the leather."
"And the come," Kirk adds, and his lips draw into a faint smile.
"They're not that far yet, but I guess it lingers," Pike admits amused.
"Sodom and Gomorrah."
"Hope so." Pike undoes Kirk's zipper, slipping his hand underneath the underwear. Kirk's breath hitches as he finds and cradles the half-hard erection, running his fingers over it down to the balls.
"You're not half as dirty as you pretend," Kirk challenges him.
"I can be a lot dirtier than you ever got to know, but it's never been the right time for it." Pike's hand closes around Kirk's dick, forming a tight tube. At the cross, a whip is taken to work, its sharp, stinging slaps setting the rhythm for Pike's speed. Kirk audibly inhales with every move, straining his body against Pike's. His legs fall further apart, the right knee hanging over the side of the couch by now.
"What dirty things would you like do to me?" Kirk asks breathlessly. "Tell me."
"I think first I'd strip and handcuff you, put you on a leash and show you around. Let people see what a hot guy I captured. Stroke your dick until you're hard, then put on a cock ring to keep you from coming before I want you to."
"Hmmm."
"Get you in the sling and tie you up, then fist you open. I'd love to get all my fingers into you, spread you wide enough to take two hands, all loose and wet."
Kirk bites his lower lip but comments, "That's not very dirty."
"All loose and ready," Pike repeats, "then I bring on a Vulcan stallion to ride you. Ever seen how well-hung they are? And they last forever, if they want to."
"Okay, that is dirty." Kirk laughs a little.
"He'd push his dick into your lovely mouth as foreplay, until he's all hard and leaking, then he'd fuck you until you come just from the ride."
"You like watching me getting fucked, huh? Watched me and Bones often enough."
"I got into the watching through you," Pike admits. "It's damn hot, no matter who's on top. But we're on the question of dirty…" His hand on Kirk's dick picks up speed.
"Maybe you'd rather I beat you up and kick you around until you're on the floor with a bloody face, and then I'd press the sole of my boot against your mouth and order you to lick it?"
Kirk's dick twitches in his grip, accompanied by an audible groan.
"You'd like that, yes? All the adrenaline and the sweat and the blood." Pike fists harder. "My boot's heel in your mouth, and your tongue working all over it until it's clean. Ah, I'd love to watch the watchers, how they start palming their own dicks on that lovely image. Whip them out and jerk off while you're doing your dirty work."
Kirk whimpers, his hips harshly gyrating upwards.
"And then I'd open my pants and get out my own dick and piss all over you, on your crotch and into your open mouth, making you drink it."
"Oh fuck." Kirk arches, and it only takes two more strokes until he comes hard and messy into Pike's hand and the stretched underwear.
"Wouldn't have thought you're into that kind of dirty," Pike says amused, wiping his hand on some dry fabric before pulling away.
"Ditto." Kirk slacks, trying to steady his breathing. "You'd be up for that for real?"
Pike smirks. "Maybe."
"I might get back to you." Kirk sighs, curling a little to the side. "Though we should keep that out of Bones' sight."
"No kidding." Pike pats Kirk's groin.
"See who's there, the ever-invisible Admiral Pike and his pet captain," someone states overly loudly, and Pike's head jerks up to meet the blood-shot eyes of John Farnham. His friend is obviously too drunk for his own good, or at least Pike hopes that is the explanation for this damn annoying behavior.
"The man who never plays in public," Farnham states slurred. "What happened to your usual reservation? Grew some balls at last, or only borrowed them from your officers? Pretend not to know me anymore now, do you? Been here for an hour, and you just don't seem to notice."
"I really didn't see you," Pike states coolly, putting a hand on Kirk's tensing body to keep him from getting up. "So calm down and let me introduce you -"
"As if anyone needs an introduction to the hero of the federation, Captain James T. Kirk," Farnham says with a sneer. "You're quite the couple. Does he get a piece of your ass or do you only top? Not that it matters, considering Kirk's reputation as the 'fleet's biggest slut -"
"John!" Pike inhales sharply, biting back his anger because otherwise he'd get up and punch his friend in the face which would only lead to unnecessary problems on top of whatever actual problem Farnham might have, considering that he'd never seen him that drunk before. "This club works by matter of respect. You insult a guest - you're insulting me. And that's enough. You better leave now." He really doesn't want to deal with such a confrontation right now, and considering Farnham's state, his friend wouldn't be able to join a serious discussion anyway.
"Huh - you're throwing me out?" Farnham says.
"Yes. Get out of here, John."
"After all the time. Decades, man -"
"Not enough to let you insult my partner. Get out of here and don't come back until you get a grip on yourself." Pike strengthens his hold on Kirk, not wanting a further escalation. Bad enough that most of the play going on in the room has already stopped.
"Do I have to call the doorman, John? I will, you know." Pike is relieved when Mario, one of the club's dungeon masters, shows up, carefully approaching Farnham.
"Hey, John," Mario hushes, pulling at Farnham's arm. "Come on, man, let's get out."
"You'll regret this, Chris," Farnham almost shouts.
"Keep threatening me in front of witnesses, and you'll get your job handed to you," Pike states icily, tilting his head to the gathered crowd. "Because I doubt your bosses would like to hear that you completely lose your senses when drunk."
"Go to hell, you bastard," Farnham growls, but at last gives in to Mario's insistent pull and walks away.
Pike whips out his communicator to call the doorkeeper. "John's coming your way to leave the club. Make sure that he does so without a fight, and put him on the black list for a month." When he closes the connection, Kirk sits up and stares at him wide-eyed.
"I thought John was your friend. What happened?"
"That's a really good question," Pike replies.
"John's been in a bad mood all week," one of the bystanders says. "Most think it's got something to do with Eric, seems they have broken up. But might as well be something else."
"Thanks for telling me," Pike replies to the man. He's sorry to hear that Farnham's relationship ended but it's not quite excuse enough for the uproar his friend had caused tonight.
Slowly, the plays resume and the men around them leave.
"John sounded jealous," Kirk states quietly when they are alone again.
"I guess he is," Pike says. "I thought John and I were just friends with benefits but he wanted more. He tried his hardest to get me into a relationship with him but I got together with Dael instead." He knows that Farnham hasn't really reconciled himself to Dael's existence, but he'd never have expected such a scene from him.
"Phew. Sore loser," Kirk says, shaking his head. "Guess I'm glad he didn't make it. Not sure we would've gotten along."
"Probably not." Pike frowns a little. With John, it would never have been a true foursome; John would probably have gone on a trip while the Enterprise men would have been on Earth, and would later have half ignored their existence, half tried to top his invisible competitors. It would've been nothing like with Dael in the mix, which might be a little complicated over the next days until everyone would find their new comfortable position in the cloverleaf, but it would surely work out.
His communicator quietly hums in his pocket, and he takes it out to accept McCoy's call, the confrontation with Farnham instantly pushed out of his focus.
"Doc, you're done? We're in the club, Jim in my lap. He's all ready for another round together with you, one way or another." Pike smirks at Kirk's instantly rekindled interest.
On the other end of the line, though, McCoy isn't quite in the same mood.
"No problem, we can finish here and collect you." Pike's gaze holds Kirk's. "Of course you can ride home, but I moved and you don't have a key for the new apartment yet. So you may have to wait for us for a few minutes…. Good." Pike closes the comm.
"We'll meet him at home. Let's go," he says. Kirk nods.
Ten minutes later, they're on their way.
*
When they arrive at Pike's new apartment, McCoy isn't there yet, so Pike shows Kirk around. "Kitchen, living room… main bedroom."
"Quite a change from your tiny apartment to this palace, Chris." Kirk whistles he sees the gigantic bed. "I see, you've upgraded the playground." His eyes sweep through the room. "Both dioramas," he notes with a smile.
"Of course." Pike opens the bathroom door. "Feel free to use everything. Towels are in the cabinet." He leads Kirk to the next room. There's only Pike's old, still queen-sized bed inside and one cupboard, plus a bunch of fake flowers Pike had felt to be necessary for stylish reasons.
"This is yours."
"Huh?"
"For you and the doc. There isn't a lot of furniture yet and all of it is old but I thought we'd go ordering something new now that you're here to choose for yourself."
Kirk's jaw drops. "You've got to be kidding. You can't just block a complete room of your apartment for us."
"I only moved into this palace, as you call it, because I wanted to have room for you," Pike states.
"I thought Dael…"
"Her existence motivated me to move in at last, but I made the purchase long before she became a part of the equation." Pike waves his hand. "So yeah, this is your room and I hope you consider this your base on Earth."
"Damn, Chris, I hate it when you turn me to mush," Kirk mutters roughly and draws one arm around Pike's hip. "I can't speak for Bones but I love it. Didn't have a place besides the Enterprise to call home for a long time." With a small laugh, he shakes his head. "Still think you should use it as a guest room when we're not here. It's really too nice to stay empty all the time."
"We'll see." Pike had never been one to play host within his own walls and he has little intention to start doing so now except for the three people close to his heart. "Come on, there's more to see. That's Dael's room." Pike points at the next, ajar door. "Ask her if you want a tour." Kirk nods.
"And that's the terrace," Pike says as he shows him outside. "I don't come out here often but I love the view."
"Yeah, breathtaking," Kirk agrees. "This is a fabulous apartment, Chris. I'm almost envious - if it weren't for having been offered a room in it." They kiss, body pressed against body.
"Gorgeous," Kirk mutters when he can speak again. Pike chuckles. "Me or the apartment?"
"Both." Kirk's hands are firmly around Pike's ass, nudging his muscles through the tight jeans. Pike takes an answering hold on Kirk's.
"Damn, I could just…" Pike whispers, but then there's the door bell and Kirk pulls away. "We already had all evening - now it's Bones' turn." They walk inside. "Have fun," Kirk says with a twinkle and starts to move to the Jim&Bones bedroom. Pike instantly shakes his head. "In there," he orders and points towards the main bedroom. "No discussion," he adds as Kirk looks like he wants to argue.
"Yes, sir," Kirk relents and picks their bags up from the corridor floor. "See you later." The bedroom door is firmly closed just as the door bell rings for a second time.
Pike straightens a little, then goes to open the main door.
"Did I interrupt anything?" McCoy says as he walks into the apartment. "Damn, I'm tired." He tears his dress jacket open. Pike watches the movement, placing McCoy into the slightly inebriated but still able to walk upright and have sex category. "And my feet hurt. God knows why there's never one fucking chair at a party." Pike nods amused and follows the doc's lead in removing his boots.
"Where's Jim?"
"Went to bed."
"Ah." McCoy gives him a critical gaze.
"Just giving us some space." Pike catches McCoy's hand, pulling him close. "Missed you so much," he murmurs and kisses him. It's almost chaste for a moment, before Pike pushes his tongue against the doc's closed lips that instantly open in a wet welcome. Once the dam is broken, there's no holding back, and when they part to breathe, they're both damn hard.
It's called mouth-fucking for a reason.
"You want a tour?" Pike says, slipping his fingers under McCoy's silken shirt to rub circles into the surprisingly soft skin.
"Could wait till tomorrow," McCoy murmurs.
"Then let me show you to the living room," Pike says and walks him towards it, one arm around the doc's shoulder.
"Whoa, what a difference from your old apartment," McCoy says in awe. "But I remember the couch."
"Fondly, I hope," Pike replies. "It sure remembers you."
He can see McCoy's eyes skitter over the shots of Dael, the only decoration related to her outside her room to have survived Pike's cleaning frenzy, but McCoy doesn't ask and Pike doesn't feel like saying anything about them. Instead, he slips one hand into the doc's hair, guiding his lover into another kiss. How he'd missed having this man in his arms - those broad shoulders, powerful arms and muscular hips. Taking all of the sturdy body into a tight embrace without fearing he'd crush anything, while two fine hands run over his own skin in an answering touch, carefully contained strength in every caress.
"Want something to drink?" Pike says eternities later, when he ruefully remembers the basic rules of hospitality.
"If you insist -" McCoy says, with his forehead leaning against Pike's, eyes closed, "I could do with a glass of water."
They walk into the kitchen together, joined at the hips. Their shirts had gone off somehow, Pike can't actually remember when, but it gives McCoy lots of room to roam his hands over Pike's body, embracing him from behind to tug at his nipples when he pours a glass of water at the sink. Pike invitingly pushes back with his hips, registering the hard bulge against his ass but not wanting to do anything about it yet. There's so much pleasure in just touching and kissing right now, Pike has no desire to shortcut to orgasm. Instead, he puts down the glass and reaches behind to run his fingers down McCoy's hips, pulling him a little closer.
"You're so beautiful… so hot," McCoy's voice rasps in his ear. "Missed you so much. Thought you'd die."
"I didn't," Pike says simply and turns around to capture McCoy's mouth, stealing the air for any further statements that might ruin the moment. He doesn't want to talk, only wants to feel, wallow in his man's smell and touch and the soft moans between them. His hands cradle the doc's face, trying to ease away the lines of worry that had developed over the last months, many tiny signs of how much the man cares about him. He'd never wanted to cause anyone heartbreak, and yet he does now at times, simply by who he is and what he's gone through. While his lovers had known that from the first second on - hell, had been there and saved him - they still hadn't signed up to suffer through his ongoing shit. It should've remained just a love story, not turn into something large and heavy and possibly painful.
He sighs into McCoy's mouth, close to speaking his mind, but now it's the doc's turn to silence him, a demanding tongue pushing between his lips and taking over, sweeping his moody thoughts out of his brain. They somehow make it back to the living-room, lying down face to face on the broad seating of the couch, and Pike stops over-thinking, his senses full of the man in his arms. For a long time, they keep it almost chastely above the belt, but then at last they rock against each other, palming their straining erections through the fabric as they'd never made it out of their pants. It's slow and almost painful but also absurdly erotic. Their lips are a raw by now from all their kissing and licking, their tongues entangled in another wordless dance of desire as they tumble along to a joined release, needy and shaken from the long build-up of their foreplay.
When Pike suddenly feels his orgasm spiking, at last and still much too early, he only manages a breathed "going to come" before the waves crush over him, going on for unbelievably long until his body goes slack and he sinks against the cushions in relief. In his arms, the doc is just as heavily breathing, their still touching bulges going soft between them. Wetness soaks through the material to meet Pike's palm, and he gives it another nudge before he pulls up his hand, drawing his lover in a satiated, deep kiss.
When he releases him, McCoy looks at him with a strange expression.
"Anything wrong?" Pike asks, stroking through McCoy's hair in an hypnotic pattern.
"You've changed," McCoy says after another long moment of silence.
"Care to elaborate?"
"You're gentler. Going slower."
"You're complaining?"
"No." McCoy tightens his hold, keeping their bodies close together. "Just noticing."
Pike doesn't say that it's probably got to do with all the first times he's going through with Dael, uncharted territories of another gender, another body form and size, and a history that might offer some pitfalls. It's easy to hold back when he's with Dael because it's the only way it works, and now he's obviously managed to adapt his newfound pacing to the doc's needs.
"Hope you liked it," he replies instead with his fingers still in McCoy's wild hair. Here's to spiky, he thinks to himself with a smile as he pulls some of the wisps upwards, and wonders how McCoy would look with that and a three-day beard. They really should try that in this vacation.
McCoy yawns. "How about moving to wherever you want us to sleep?"
"Sure." Pike unlaces from his lover and gets up, reaching out for him to follow. They quietly move into the bedroom, and McCoy gives it an appreciating once-over in the low light. The bed is surprisingly crowded by Kirk who's sprawled out on his back in all four directions as if he'd just crashed-landed in it, a soft snoring in the air. After quietly getting out of their soiled pants that land side by side on a nearby arm chair, they nudge their third into giving them some space before they curl into bed, Pike in the middle. He feels bathed in warmth, embraced by love, and it's exactly what he had hoped and yearned for. Now they just have to make that possible with all four.
Should be easy, Pike thinks in his happily exhausted haze, and drifts into sleep with his body sandwiched between Kirk's clean-shaven chest and McCoy's body, one arm around his waist and his lover's breathing cool breezes on his heated skin.
*
The next morning, they're all still laced together in the gorgeous bed that had been ordered with exactly this image in Pike's mind. He's wide awake, engaging in his favorite hobby of the last weeks - watching sleeping lovers. Only this time, there's a sudden edge of unease in the mix, anticipation and concern building as the moment when Dael should join them draws closer. After her last message that had proclaimed her delay, he hadn't heard anything from her, so she should hopefully be here soon. Focusing on the sounds in his apartment, he's got to wait for another twenty minutes until the tiny sound of the outer door lock breaks the silence, and Pike instinctively turns his gaze towards the bedroom door. It opens a little farther as Dael looks in, waving and pointing towards her room. He nods and draws out of the arms that hold him, following her as quickly and quietly as possible.
"Hey," Pike says as he walks into her room, adding a "Come here" as he sees her tiny hesitation. "Missed you," he whispers as she's in his arms, and kisses her thoroughly. She looks tired and exhausted, the tattoos sharp against her white face, her blue flight suit rumpled as if she'd slept in it for two weeks, which might not be far from the truth in that class. When he breaks the kiss, he laces one hand into her hair, messing it up a little more than it already is while looking at her with a smile.
"Really?" she asks quietly.
"Really. This apartment is terribly quiet without you." He runs his hand over her cheek, meeting her eyes fully. "You okay? I was concerned about you." Concerned is an understatement, but he doesn't want to talk about her strange recording right now, not when she only has a few days to get acquainted with his men.
She nods, her gaze still more serious than he'd like to see. "How was your evening?"
"Awesome. They're looking forward to meeting you."
"I am too. But I really need to take a shower first, it's been a long trip." Dael withdraws, but he snatches her hand.
"Let's shower together."
"It's a bit small for two -" she says with a wave at the small, never used bathroom that belongs to her room.
"We'll take the shower in our shower," Pike says pointedly. "As we always do."
"We'll wake them up."
"They'll survive." He pulls her close once more for another kiss, determined to ease her mind. There's no fucking way he'd allow her feeling like a third - or forth - wheel.
They slip into the main bathroom via the second, rarely used door that leads into the corridor, and shower together. She's got some fresh bruises on her body, the typical triangular patterns caused by belts tightening during flight maneuvers on the edge of a shuttle's capabilities. He caresses each of them as he soaps her, trying his best to massage the stress of the last two weeks out of her tense body. No wonder all Advanced Flight classes are followed by a mandatory week of rest. As his fingers stroke over her groin, he's looking at her questioningly but she shakes her head, so his fingers move further down her legs before he rinses her with a rain-like stream of water.
"I'm really quite done," she mutters as he rubs her dry.
"You want to sleep first?"
She shakes her head. "I doubt I could. I really want to get to know them now."
"You will." Pike hangs up the towels. "Let's see…" He cautiously opens the bedroom door. "They're already up, guess they're in the kitchen. Let's get dressed and join them."
Without thinking, Dael slips into the loose pants and an even looser shirt she often wears at home. After a gaze into the mirror, though, she strips with furrowed brows and gets into a pair of black jeans and a black tee instead.
"It's fine," Pike says soothingly, his hands on her shoulder as she stares into the mirror again, looking quite ready to change into yet something else.
She frowns a little, but stops messing with the clothes and moves on to style her hair, which doesn't take long but she's on it with more concentration than usual, lips pressed together.
Pike only brushes through his hair with his fingers, watching it drying into curls.
"You look fine," he says once more. It's amusing to see her so self-conscious but it's also making him a little nervous. "Let's go."
They pad through the corridor side by side. His heart in his throat, Pike opens the kitchen door. Kirk and McCoy are sitting perched on the edge of their stools around the prepared breakfast table, getting up as they walk into the kitchen together. They're dressed in slacks, with bed hair but alert gazes.
"This is Dael - Jim, Leonard."
Kirk makes a step forward, about to capture her right hand - and then stops right in the movement, taking a sharp breath.
"Whoa, last time I was that close to such a pattern," he says roughly, staring at her features, "it was to one of Nero's man who was about to kill me. Haven't thought about it since forever… damn."
"I'm sorry," Dael states and turns away.
"No - no, Dael, this isn't about you," Kirk gasps and captures her arm, pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry. It just came all back to me." He buries his face in her neck until she gives in and hugs him back. "So glad to finally meet you. So glad." Voice almost breaking, he holds her close for a while, his hug releasing and tightening like a pulsing heart.
"Get off the poor girl and give her a chance to breathe," McCoy says and eases Dael out of the embrace. "Dael - I'm so happy to meet you." He hugs her briefly, gentle but a lot more distant than Kirk, then releases her back into Pike's open arm. Pike puts one protective hand on her stomach. He's annoyed with Jim - it's not as if her tattoos should be a goddamn surprise to him.
"Let's have breakfast," he says controlled and leads Dael to her chair. Once she sits, he moves over to the coffee machine.
"You already helped yourself?" he asks his men, and they both nod. "Dael, want a coffee?"
"Sure."
He prepares a cup for her, medium strength with one spoon of sugar, and gives it to her. Then he sets out to make a cup for himself, taking his time to give the three a moment to acclimate without him. Kirk asks her about the flight class, a question she quickly diverts, clearly not inclined to talk about it. So Kirk fills the void himself with his own memories of Advanced Flight II, illustrating his colorful anecdotes with large gestures. The stories are funny enough to make everyone laugh, remarkably easing the tension in the room.
Time to sit down.
The cup in his hands, Pike makes exactly three steps from the sideboard towards his seat before his right knee gives in. The moment he goes down on it, he realizes two things: first, that he has forgotten to put on his knee protectors, and second, that with four people in the kitchen, he hasn't walked along the safe path and now crashes into the kitchen counter with his right elbow before hitting the floor. The cup flies out of his grip, the hot coffee splashing over the floor and the lower, closed cupboards.
"Shit," he groans, curling into a ball of pain. He faintly hears his name being called, and then someone tries to help him up.
"Wait a second," Pike says and shakes off the untimely and unwelcome grip on his upper arm, taking a few deep breathes. When he's ready, he takes Dael's offered hand and gets up.
"You're okay?" she asks quietly, and he just nods.
"What the hell was that?" Kirk asks wide-eyed, while McCoy proficiently cleans the floor.
"That was one of the blackouts I told you about," Pike says short-spoken. "Just what I learned to live with."
"I remember, you told Bones - but seeing it happening is quite another thing," Kirk mutters.
"Yes, it is." Pike moves his limbs a little - shit, it really hurts. "I've got to get my protectors." Despite his no thanks regarding any help, Kirk insists on coming with him to the bedroom, silently watching him putting on the knee protectors.
"How often does it happen?" Kirk asks quietly.
"Not very often, but in irregular intervals," Pike states. There's a throbbing pain in his elbow and he's just considering to ask the doc when the man walks into the room.
"Need any help?" McCoy asks, his medikit already in hand. Pike is relieved when Dael comes in with the doc and gets Kirk to leave with her; he really didn't want to cause a damn fuss this morning.
"The knee seems so be okay, but my elbow hurts like hell," Pike admits. McCoy quickly checks the joint, applying a hypo against the pain and then a regen scanner.
"How often?" McCoy asks when the other two are out the door.
"Once every two weeks, roughly."
"That's quite a handicap."
"Usually, I'm prepared for it. It's been a while since I forgot my protectors."
"You're planning your life around it? Avoiding situations where it could happen?"
"Sure."
McCoy gives him a sidewards glance. "Does Naaz know the full extent of the problem?"
"Mostly." Pike shrugs. "But she hadn't been able to find the reason yet. Remember, no quick fix? Except for this problem, I've recovered well - only eighteen percent below my past mobility."
"You'd be better off with minus twenty-five but no blackouts," McCoy says, "and you know that." He takes another scan of Pike, this time of his head. "I'd recommend a continuous scan, two days at least."
"I've got no time for that." Pike critically eyes the scanner. "I'd really prefer not have that right now. Can we spend the vacation without you making me feel like your patient?" He gets up from the bed, taking in the state of his knee.
"Still the same stubborn man," McCoy says, shaking his head as he closes the scanner. He gets between Pike and the door, putting his hand on Pike's shoulder. "I'll always take medical care of you when you need it. But I promise not to push the topic. For now." He reaches up and draws his thumb over Pike's lower lip, and Pike captures the hand and opens his mouth to draw in the finger, sucking at it.
"Damn…" McCoy murmurs and fucks his mouth with his thumb, then roughly pushes Pike back against the nearby wall and grinds their groins together. "The things you do to me," the doc mutters, and Pike smiles breathlessly around the finger between his lips, catching it lightly with his teeth. When McCoy pulls it out with a groan, Pike pats the doc's enlarged bulge. "Just wanted to change your mind to more interesting things, doc," he says. "Let's go back to the others." He passes McCoy, who hurriedly follows him.
"You bastard," the doc states as they walk back into the kitchen.
Pike tries not to notice how close Dael and Jim sit. He's prepared for it to happen and is relieved that Kirk's first strange reaction didn't seem to cause any repercussion on their relationship. No way he's going to apply double standards - she'd always known and accepted that he's got not one but two lovers, and it's absolutely her right to have lovers too. Actually, it should make things a lot easier if they share those lovers.
It will still hurt.
When he sits down, Dael gives him a small smile and gets up to make him a cup of coffee. Pike is surprised about how much he suddenly dislikes the servile look of the action, although she's done the same for him so often already. When she places down the cup, he captures her hand for a moment. "Thanks," he says, and it's not just for the coffee. She nods and squeezes his hand before drawing away.
"Better?" Kirk asks concerned.
"Yes," Pike replies shortly.
"Good."
A somewhat uncomfortable silence settles over the table until McCoy suddenly starts rambling on about their endless trip to Earth and the flying death traps they've been on, his voice filling the void until they're ready to speak about their plans for the day.
*
Kirk wins with the Mojave, and Pike doesn't resist, too aware of how his men obviously feel they're missing out on his life because he's never been there with them before.
Pike takes it like a good sport, throwing Kirk the key to his car and taking the back seat together with the doc, but he draws a line at visiting the former farm of his parents, and is damn glad when Tom doesn't have time for them either. It leaves them on the road for now, aiming for one of the tourist resorts where they could walk a few miles into the desert.
"You sure that's a good idea?" McCoy grumbles as they watch Kirk abusing the car, testing its limits.
"I hope so," Pike replies. He sits behind Kirk, which is good because he doesn't see most of the captain's driving activities, but he can see Dael instead, and seeing her smile at Kirk is causing a lot of strange feelings inside of him, before he pulls himself together, berating his ego for being so jealous. It's not as if her smiles should be a rationed quantity; if anything, anyone who could make her smile should be good in his book.
He focuses on the man at his side. McCoy just leans back into the seat, hiding a large yawn behind his hand. "Sorry, I feel a little hung-over."
"I can see that," Pike states amused and pats the doc's knee. Then his mind returns to the reception and especially Anumanchi. He knows he's too curious for his own good, but he really wants to know. "Doc - may I ask you a question?"
"Sure," McCoy says.
"Did you sleep with Naaz?"
After a stunned second, McCoy shakes his head with a grin and a traitorous blush. "You sure get points for being direct."
"So that's a yes?"
McCoy nods. "Yes, we did once. We met via a research project, which started off with a four day conference, and she seemed to hate me from the start for no obvious reason. I got really curious as to the why, so I made it my business to find out. We ended in bed in the last night… guess it had something therapeutic. She'd been so stuck in her resentments, and I really wanted to break down that wall - and there's nothing better than good sex for that." The blush deepens a little, as McCoy curls his lips. "She married a while later, dropped me a note when she did. We kept in contact over our work, but didn't have sex again." He eyes Pike. "Must sound weird, huh?"
"Not at all," Pike says, and bites down all funny remarks about healing sex. Which makes him suddenly wonder… "Did our relationship start as a therapeutic intervention too?"
McCoy looks at him with an unreadable gaze, not replying right away. "If anything," he says at last, "it's been therapeutic for myself."
Pike doesn't find a good answer to that, so instead of words, he reaches out to draw McCoy into a kiss that quickly escalates into something more.
When the car suddenly stops, they quickly pull apart. "Haven't made out in a car since forever," McCoy says huskily as he sorts his clothes.
"Same here," Pike mutters and restores his own proper look, trying to shake off the vague, bad conscience for having made out like teenagers, although none of the other two seem to mind. They all get out of the car into plain sunlight, putting on caps and sun glasses. McCoy shoulders the back pack with water and some power bars he'd insisted on, Kirk decides which path to take, and then they march on.
*
Pike's beloved areas of Mojave on horseback are fabulous - wild, untamed, quiet nature full of marvelous little signs of life. Tourist resorts on foot are terrible, though - all trampled paths and noisy people amidst a nature that has long succumb to the impact.
Getting a little bit of desert fed to him is mostly reminding Pike that he fucking misses his weekend rides, and that he'd either have to abstain from the desert forever or find a solution to resume his cherished trips, with or without Dael.
Possibly without, he thinks moodily as he watches Kirk and Dael walk in front of them. He's never seen the legendary Kirk charm in full swing, but he does now and it's impressive. Dael is melting like butter in the sun under its impact, her body pliantly leaning towards the man at her side, her concentration fully on yet another funny story he's telling her. Seeing her unfold under Kirk's attention, Pike wonders if he'd underestimated how much of a spring flower girl she could be with the right person at her side, and realizes that he's definitely not that person - and damn, it stings.
"Come here," McCoy says and pulls him aside into one of the few shadows of a rock. Pike accepts the offered water and a power bar, though the latter not without resistance.
"We just had a large breakfast, I'm not going to fall apart over a walk."
"Indulge your doctor," McCoy says and pushes the bar into his hand.
Pike shakes his head with a frown but takes a bite anyway; then his eyes stray towards the others who have stopped a little in the distance. He holds his breath as they draw closer, two small figures merging into what's unmistakably a kiss. A long, deep, kiss to boot, and he swallows harshly, his throat suddenly dry again.
"What did you expect, you basically threw them together all morning," McCoy says, his voice wavering somewhere between sympathy and annoyance.
"Yeah, I did," Pike says. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt anyway. He starts breathing again as the figures move apart and turn to walk back towards them, their hands unlacing when they're close.
"Somehow it feels as if I've been to places like this one a dozen times before," Kirk says as they've joined them. "When you know one desert, you know them all."
Pike incredulously shakes his head. McCoy rolls his eyes.
"Just kidding," Kirk adds with a smirk. "But I still would like to go back to the city. Let's go down-town, do some shopping. We're running out of civvies and besides, I really miss San Francisco."
"Sure, let's go back," Pike says with a shrug. It's not as if he wanted to go to the desert with them anyway.
One the way back to the car, Dael keeps at his side for a while but the path is too small for four in a row, so they end up split in couples again.
A car ride later, they hit the city.
*
Once again Kirk and Dael are in front when they walk along the shopping mile, with Pike and McCoy trailing behind them. This way, Pike gets a rare good look at people's reactions when the two pass them, and quite a few turn their head after Dael. It reminds him that while he might be used to her tattoos, she's still covering them most of the time outside the academy grounds or the nightly club scene. Displaying them in bright daylight has quite an effect, even in a city as tolerant as San Francisco.
Or maybe especially here, where most people had lost family or friends in the Narada incident.
Pike is glad that Kirk manages to keep her occupied with amusing space stories.
"You don't go shopping a lot like that, do you?" McCoy asks quietly at his side.
"No, we don't. Especially not after the yellow press threw out an article about us."
McCoy glares a little. "You could've told us."
"We didn't want to," Pike says evenly.
"You rather let her run the gauntlet?"
"It's her choice. If she didn't want to, I'm sure she's got the cover cream in her bag. And it's not as if Jim is so unrecognizable either."
"When he's in Frisco, he always seems to think he's still the uninteresting cadet." McCoy rolls his eyes.
"We're all in the same boat," Pike states as he catches a third year cadet watching their little procession open-mouthed. "You included." He laces his arm through McCoy's. "You might not be very well-known, but considering that you've been the center of a ceremony last night, it's not like you're invisible either."
"What's the headline going to be?" McCoy asks darkly. "Starfleet's golden quadrant?"
"Hey, Bones," Kirk says, stopping and half-turning with a dance in his step. "Stop moping and let's go in." He waves at the RoxX, one of the currently popular shops.
"That's clothes for kids," McCoy says grumpily as he eyes the windows.
"You're not that old, shut up." Kirk pulls him inside.
Pike lines up with Dael, smiling a little. "Up for shopping?"
"Only when you come with us," she says.
A young man walks out of the door, openly frowning at Dael before glancing over to her companion. From the corner of his eyes, Pike can see her jaw clenching.
"Anyone you know?" he asks when the guy is out of range.
"Just in passing," she says. "Let's go in." She laces one arm into his and pulls him into this temple of contemporary fashion crimes, mischief in her eyes.
*
The shopping eats the better part of the day, the shop-hopping conveniently sprinkled with lunch and coffee breaks. Their bags are full when they get home, and Pike is already wearing his brand new, dark-grey wet look pants that his three lovers had pushed into his arms right at RoxX, claiming that he'd never looked better. They had seemed all set to prove it too, as they hadn't been able to keep their damn fingers away from his ass in public over the course of the afternoon, although Pike himself is too aware of how his knee protectors are being outlined by this material.
Finally they are at home, and Pike changes into something less tempting but more kitchen-compatible. The doc volunteers to help, and they spend an enjoyable time cooking together. They're quite well-behaved too, keeping away from falling into the teenager spirit from the car ride of the morning, but there's an underlying erotic vibe in every touch they share that makes Pike looking forward to the evening.
When the food is ready, they set the kitchen table and Pike goes to fetch Kirk and Dael, ignoring McCoy's offer to take over this duty instead. He wants to know that the two are good with each other, that things work out as hoped for. The living room door is slightly ajar and he spies through the slit. They're on the couch, Dael kneeling over Kirk's lap with her legs left and right of him, and they're kissing, their hands entwined in a quiet dance. Pike quickly draws away from the door, back into the corridor.
"Hey Dael, Jim - dinner is ready," he calls out in no particular direction. "We'll be in the kitchen, waiting for you."
Pike returns to McCoy, squarely facing the doc's questioning gaze.
"All good," he says and sits down, cupping one of the doc's hands on the table top with his own. "All good."
***
Onto Part 3