Disclaimer: Star Trek is owned by Paramount.

Author's Note: Written to fill this prompt by spockollama on the st_xi_kink_meme: "... I keep picturing Kirk giving Spock Vulcan kisses on the bridge and stuff like that, thinking they're being really sneaky and clever, while the crew mentally roll their eyes. ... The 5 times Kirk and Spock thought they weren't being obvious (or something) and the 1 time they didn't care."

Pairings: Kirk/Spock; "background" McCoy/Uhura

Rated T.

An Exercise in Discretion

ONE

Their feelings have grown over months. They made Spock leave Nyota without a real explanation; but he and Jim still didn't dare to act upon them.

Until some weeks ago. After an away mission almost went badly, they finally gave in and spent their first night together.

They're in a relationship now, to Jim's surprised delight, but they're extremely discreet about it. No holding hands in public, no personal items in their partner's quarter, not even leaving a party together, and no talking about it to others, ever. They are captain and First Officer, it just wouldn't do. Starfleet regulations are very case-by-case about this, but crew morale is another thing.

Being a captain means Jim has more responsibilities and a lot more different things to pay attention to than he ever thought possible. And while his crew, from the bridge officers down to the last crewman 3rd class in Waste Management & Recycling, consists of top professionals who know what they are doing, it's also true that many have their little quirks.

Take Janice, his yeoman, for example. Recently, she has developed this strange habit to announce herself through the comm before she leaves her office for his quarters, where he signs the daily reports every evening. She could just ring the door or punch in her code to open it, but, no, she seems to like giving him those 5 minutes of anticipation.

Yes, that's just a small thing, it's not worth getting upset about, but 400+ small things don't make being a captain any easier, Jim can tell you. So he isn't inclined to add to them by inviting everybody to discuss his private life.

As for Spock, he regards keeping your personal affairs to yourself as the logical course of action, anyway.

TWO

Jim loves to hear his lover's voice, and Spock has confessed he feels the same.

Fortunately, the fact that Spock mans the science station makes it possible to indulge themselves a bit: Jim just asks for some data or other as often has he can without attracting unduly attention, and while Spock answers with numbers or dry scientific facts, they both know what they really want to say.

Of course, they only do this on quiet shifts, when it's totally inconspicuous. It's just background noise then; most of the bridge crew has some special project they're working on at those times, like the helmsman and the navigator do.

Why, only last Friday, immediately after he asked Spock about the proton flow from a nearby star system (actually, a totally unimportant bit of information), he heard Sulu say: "3 minutes and 46 seconds." To which Chekov answered: "Da. I win."

Nobody ever notices anything.

THREE

Back home in Iowa, Jim loved making love under the stars on warm summer nights.

Sex in the observation lounge of the Enterprise is even better; it feels like you are floating among the stars and nebulas beyond the window. Spock and Jim have tried it a few times. It was great, but they can't do it as often as they want to: only on rare occasions, late at ship's night, the lounge is completely unoccupied. A few times, they had to make a retreat. Once, they had to hide in a supply closet.

Good thing there's the schedule that shows which rooms are assigned to the various research projects. Scotty compiles it and brings Jim the PADD once a week.

Normally, Jim doesn't deal with all kinds of Red Tape more than he absolutely has to, but it covers the observation lounge, as well as the arboretum and the botany lab (good locations, too!).

So he took a closer look and found that each week, certain hours are marked "Unoccupied; Captain's discretion". Those entries even have a thin flashing frame!

This comes in very handy; Jim wonders why he never spotted those before.

FOUR

They are riding the turbo lift to the bridge officers' quarters; they can't wait to get there, to be alone. Jim feels a pang of disappointment when the lift stops and Gaila enters. Now he can do nothing but look at Spock.

And then Gaila sniffs the air, and Jim recalls that the Orion pheromone thing is a two-way street: Orion women do not only produce massive amounts of pheromones, they are also very capable of sensing them, even in other species. But Gaila exits the lift without saying a word, and never makes the slightest allusion afterwards.

Still, Jim can't shake off the feeling this was a close call.

FIVE

Jim cannot help himself. Standing at the science station while Spock gives his report, he gives in to his need to touch the man he loves. He puts his hand on the backrest of Spock's chair, and Spock leans against it, ever so slightly. They don't move, and they talk about the work at hand, but Jim can feel a bit of Spock's body heat through the uniform.

That's when Jim looks at Nyota at the neighboring station and gets the impression that she seems very stiff and her complexion is, maybe, a little paler than usual.

Suddenly, she stands up and says: "Captain, may I be excused for the rest of the shift? I don't feel well today."

Before he can give her permission, she bolts for the turbo lift and leaves.

And then Bones is beside them, hisses very quietly, but furiously: "Real subtle, you two!", and goes after her.

It takes Jim more than a moment to process all this; he's surprised, embarrassed and even shocked, and the tips of Spock's ears have turned a faint shade of emerald. But when Jim looks around, everybody on the bridge is going about their business, nobody reacts. It seems they haven't heard what Bones said. That's a relief.

The next day, Bones refuses to discuss this at all, just points out he's a doctor, not a gossip.

And everybody and everything is back to normal. It's almost unsettling.

…AND

If you know it's going to last, there comes a moment you realize it doesn't make sense to hide any longer.

So, when they enter the mess hall, Jim takes Spock's hand for all to see.

To their immense surprise, everybody rises and starts applauding. And there is a loud "PLOPP" – from a champagne bottle opened by Bones. Nyota, on Bones' arm, gives Spock a warm smile that reminds Jim of his mother, approving of her son's choice when Sam introduced his fiancée Aurelan to the family.

Scotty leads the crew to three cheers. And then Gaila, in Orion dancing costume (which means there's no escaping this carefully planned surprise party), steps forward carrying a cake decorated "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, CAPTAIN AND COMMANDER!"

Jim, baffled, realizes, yes, it's been exactly a year today. But how could they know? He turns to Spock, who raises an eyebrow and nods at Keenser, who sits on a table, looking very smug indeed.

And now Jim remembers how he stood behind Spock's door, ready to dash across the corridor back to his own quarters, waiting for somebody's steps outside to pass. He's aware of Keenser's habit to walk the decks at night, but had completely forgotten what he was taught in Exobiology class: that Keenser's species is among the very few that have even sharper hearing than Vulcans.

Even a captain learns something new every day.