Chapter Nine: Love's Lookin' Good on You

Jim can't shake the feeling that something's changed between him and Spock, and changed for the better.

Spock had been beautiful on the ugliness of the barren plains of Tarsus, beautiful enough to hold back the demons of Jim's memories. With Spock there, the memories had just lurked around the edges, because, somehow, they couldn't get past Spock.

Jim sighs softly in the captain's chair, waiting for the other survey team to beam back from the planet.

His personal communicator buzzes. Looking at it, he finds he has a memo from Spock:

To: Captain Kirk

From: Commander Spock

Request.

Captain,

I request your presence in Rec Room Five for a game of chess following the end of alpha shift.

–Spock

He can't hold back the excited smile that spreads across his face, stretching the skin and muscle so much it hurts. Of course, he doesn't care.

He dashes off his reply:

To: Spock

From: Jim

Re: Chess

I'll be there with bells on. Figuratively. Look it up.

And call me Jim.

–Jim

He can't stop smiling throughout the rest of shift, feeling almost giddy with excitement. When Chekov asks a question, something about Klingon space, he has to force himself to sober up, because 'gleeful' is not an expression one uses when discussing Klingons. It just isn't.

However, once that conversation is over, the grin worms its way back onto his mouth. He decides to look over and see if Spock is hiding the Vulcan equivalent of a smile.

He is.

That just makes Jim even more pleased, his own smile widening to jaw-straining proportions once again.

Once he's finally able to announce the end of shift, it takes all of his self-control to not run off of the bridge. Instead, he moves at a fairly normal pace, trying to look casual.

Uhura takes one look at his smile and gives him a glare that, if looks could kill, he'd be disintegrating.

He mouths 'Sorry' at her.

He really is sorry about all of this, because he never thought for even a second that Spock would take the initiative, or even respond to his flirting, much less almost have sex with him. Besides, it isn't his fault Spock did, right?

She raises her eyebrows and leaves the bridge, a little faster on her feet than she had been.

Shrugging off the whole thing, Jim heads for Rec Room Five. Butterflies are flittering around in his stomach, and he finds his palms are sweating. He looks around and sees Spock is already out of sight. He takes a deep breath and wishes that the uniforms had pockets he could shove his twitching hands into.

He reaches the rec room, managing to control his nerves. After all, it's not like this is a date or anything.

Just a game of chess.

Admittedly, a game of chess between two people who almost had sex and managed to wreck a healthy, standing relationship, but still, it's just a game of chess.

Spock is sitting in the corner, three-tiered chessboard already set up, pieces in their starting positions. His legs are crossed, and, holy Hell, they practically go on forever. Jim groans internally; the last thing he needs is to screw up his first game of chess with Spock just because he happens to look really, really good with his legs crossed.

He sits down across from Spock, smiling. "Hey."

Spock quirks an eyebrow and tilts his head. "Where are the bells?" he asks wryly.

Jim laughs. "Spock, I told you to look that up."

The mock-innocent, mischievous expression on Spock's face, hidden under the usual layer of calm, makes Jim smile. This is one of his favorite things about Spock; he can convey more with just his eyes than most people can with their whole bodies.

…Damn, this is not a good line of thought to be having with Spock right here. Jim crosses his legs as casually as he can, keeping eye contact with his first officer, who has set the pieces so Jim has the first move.

Jim picks a piece at random and moves it, having no real strategy as of yet.

Spock seems to think otherwise, though, because a look of pure concentration settles on his face. He sits like that for a good fifteen seconds before he makes his move, a move Jim notices is leading into an extensive, high-turn gambit that, if left unnoticed for too long, becomes completely unbeatable.

Jim can't help the thrill of excitement that runs through him; Spock doesn't just play chess, he plays chess like a master, and Jim hasn't played someone like that in years.

He sits and thinks for a few moments, studying his possible blocks for the gambit. He decides to play it subtly, making a move that could start the counter-gambit, or it could just be another move, depending on if Spock notices it or not.

Spock doesn't seem to, just playing the textbook next move in his strategy.

If Spock keeps doing that, Jim will have him cornered in thirty or so turns. It's normally not like people to play like this; normally, the gambit is played in conjunction with other, more distracting moves.

Carefully, Jim makes another random move, one that puts a rook in danger. It'll make a good diversion as his bishops scuttle closer to Spock's king.

The game lasts a total of one-hundred-and-twenty-three moves and ends in a stalemate, much to Spock's surprise.

"Fascinating," he murmurs.

"Didn't think I was that good, huh?" Jim grins, picking the pieces up off of the board. "Nobody does until they play me."

"You are a master." The statement, calm and utterly certain, catches Jim completely off his guard. He's never been called a master before; he just plays for the fun of it, and, back in high school, the field trips had been the reason he'd gotten good enough to join the chess team and actually compete. Coming from Spock, the compliment makes him feel like he's some sort of god of the chessboard or something.

He tries to come up with a good response, but he feels as if his brain has been completely shot to Hell by Spock's compliment, so he just sort of sits there, not quite gaping at the Vulcan hybrid.

A small smile, practically invisible, ghosts up the corners of Spock's mouth and brightens his eyes, making him almost radiant to Jim, taking his breath away. He slides out of his chair, straightening up to his full, considerable height as Jim stays seated, still stunned. He says, "I should like to face you again in the near future. Your strategy, or perhaps lack thereof, is intriguing and brooks further observation."

Jim finally smiles, the expression once again making him feel like he's going to tear the sides of his mouth. He winks, not really thinking about what he was saying, "You know, if you want my company that much, all you have to do is ask…"

A tiny change passes over Spock's face for an instant, a flash of uncertainty that makes Jim want to backpedal.

"I shall keep that in mind, Captain." He pauses and looks over at the clock. Raising an eyebrow, he says, "Perhaps you would accompany to the officers' mess hall? It is past time for dinner."

"S-sure." Jim can't help but wonder if maybe Spock is asking him 'out,' but he tries to squash the thought. He stands up, bringing himself well within Spock's personal space, and breathes as easily as he can with him that close. Which isn't too easily, actually, but he hopes Spock won't notice. "Now? Or is there anything you have to do first?"

"Anything that may be awaiting my attention can wait another hour or so, Captain."

"Jim. Call me Jim; we're not on duty, and all of my friends…" He trails off a little, because he's not sure what category Spock falls into anymore. He wonders, for a moment, if Spock fits into any category, or if he ever did at all.

Spock inclines his head gracefully. "Jim. I should be honored to be counted amongst those with who you are on a first-name basis."

Jim almost sags in relief, smiling. "Great!"

"Now, shall we?" Spock tilts his head slightly in the direction of the door.

Jim nods, and they depart for the officers' mess.

When they get there, it's completely vacant, which makes Jim just a little nervous. At least there had been a few people in the rec room, which usually helps Jim when he's nervous; he's great around people, if a little reckless, but being alone with Spock scares him a little, given all of this…stuff…between them.

Spock seems to notice, cocking an eyebrow at him. He opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted when Chekov skids into the room.

"Keptin! Meester Spohk! Zere are Kleengons off ze starboard bow!"

[end Chapter Nine]

Word Count: 1,492 *hums Columbus song*

Author's Note: It seems everyone enjoyed Tarsus, which is awesome! This chapter is considerably lighter, fluffier fare. Don't worry, though; there will be cracky, dramatic stuff in Chapter Ten.

And I'm sorry this chapter's a little late; the Ship Wars on LJ have eaten my soul. The battle post went up on Wednesday, and the theme is AU, so I've been doing so many little ficlets and round-robins for that. Who knew I could write a LotR!Trek AU, a Western!Trek AU, a ChippendalesDancers!Trek AU, an Adroid!Kirk AU, a Zombie!Kirk AU, a KnightsTemplar!Spork AU, and an AU based on All Quiet on the Western Front involving Kirk and Spock in a shellhole.

If anyone here doesn't know what Ship Wars is, here's a little explanation: It's a little competition between thirteen different ships (K/S, K/Mc, S/Mc, Mc/S/K, S/U, Mc/Chapel, Mc/Chekov, Mc/U, Scotty/Chekov, Sulu/Chekov, Pike/Number One, Pike/Kirk, and Crackship, who ships everything), where a prompt is put forth, each team puts forth an entry, members of the ships vote, and a themed "battle post" is put up. In the battle post, the teams write ficlets, post art, and show off pretty macros based around the theme. It's also a place where gift!fic is given to other teams. For example, I'm a member of Team Spork, but I gifted a fic to Team Pirk based off of an awesome macro they did. I love it to pieces. We're currently in Prompt Five, which was "Fairy Tales." There's going to be a shore leave after this round, and there'll probably be more recruiting done (I got recruited during the last recruitment drive, between prompts Three and Four) then, so I recommend that everybody with an LJ (or a willingness to make an LJ) go and look over the comm. the Ship War itself is being held at, st_respect. You'll be surprised to note that Chulu and Crackship are basically tied for first place, which means that they are totally awesome. I also recommend Team Pirk, because, despite its tiny size (there's five of 'em now, and they started off with three) they hold so much awesome it's scary, and Bruce Greenwood is REALLY FUCKING HOT.

*looks up at author's note* Whoo, that was long…Sorry about all of the ramblings!