I. Uhura

Uhura was the first to find out. This was only logical, being that she was the closest person to Spock, besides Jim. Spock had ended the romantic relationship between them a month in. It had been done in a strange way, half clinical and half emotional. But Spock was strange, and that was something Uhura liked about him. She was sad to see him go, but endeavoured to remain his friend, not wanting to lose him completely.

She did not find out by accident. Spock told her.

"Lieutenant," he said one night, having visited her quarters after main shift, "Although we are no longer in a romantic relationship, I feel it would be a courtesy to let you know that I am now involved with someone else."

"Oh," she had replied, surprised to say the least, "Do you mind if I ask with whom?"

"I do not mind." He paused, shifting where he stood in the middle of the room. Uhura knew him well enough to know that he was feeling nervous, despite no outward appearance as such. The run-on sentences were enough to prove that, "I chose to come and tell you as I still consider you a friend and I am under the impression that it might be polite in this situation to let you know before you find out unintentionally."

"Thank you, Spock," she said, but knew he was stalling because he was reluctant to tell her who it was, "I really appreciate it."

There was an awkward silence before her curiosity truly got the better of her, "who --?"

Spock interrupted before she could get any more of the question out, "The – the captain."

Realization dawned across her face, a strange sense of relief blooming in her chest, "That makes sense."

"It does?" Spock sounded and looked surprised.

She smiled at him, stepping forward to wrap him in a hug, "I'm proud of you, Spock. I hope you two will be happy together. Honestly."

He returned the hug.

II. Bones

Bones found out by accident after walking in on a half-naked Captain and fully-clothed Spock making out in the medical bay, tongues and hands fully involved in the activity. "What's going on?!" he had practically shrieked, causing Kirk and Spock to move apart so fast that they nearly knocked half his medical supplies off the table nearby.

"Good afternoon, Bones," said Kirk, looking torn between being happy at getting some loving, and dismayed at being caught doing so by his best friend and Chief Medical Officer. "I....uh...I've made a full recovery."

"So I see," said Bones, not looking at Spock, who was smoothing down his uniform and not appearing upset at all. There was a long awkward silence, which eventually Kirk tried to break by starting a fit of polite coughing, but McCoy wasn't having any of that and interjected, "What were you two doing?"

"I believe you have eyes, Dr. McCoy," said Spock, "And if you were using them when you walked into the room, I do not think you need to be asking that question."

"I mean explain."

"Spock was merely expressing how he felt about the fact that I had made a recovery." Kirk was looking idly for his shirt on the ground.

"He doesn't feel," said McCoy although he knew that wasn't true. Spock looked like if he were human he would have rolled his eyes in exasperation, "How long has...this...been going on now?"

"Three point four weeks," provided Spock, when Kirk paused too long to try and add up the days.

"Okay, fine, whatever," said Bones, rubbing his forehead, "Just be careful with each other – I am not fixing it if you injure one another or get pregnant or anything else like that...and no more doing this in the sickbay! I have to work here, you know."

"You mean you don't care?" asked Jim in surprise, finally locating the shirt and pulling it on.

Bones threw his hands up in the air, "Damn it, man, I'm your doctor, not your mother. Now get out of here, I need to go and bleach my brain."

"I do not believe that introducing the chemical bleach to your brain would be of any use to you, as you should know, being a doctor --"

"Get out!" shouted Bones.

III. Scotty

Scotty barely reacted. Well, he laughed. It was in the engine room. Kirk had been called down to take a look at something, and the logical thing to do was bring his science officer with him. Scotty had babbled on about the engine, the entirety of which Kirk understood perhaps 50% of. Spock had questions and the conversation went on a lot longer than it should have, resulting in an antsy Kirk shifting from foot to foot. Eventually the Engineer had left to go and check something, and the bored Captain Kirk pushed Spock up against the nearest vertical surface and started exploring his mouth.

The man had come back sooner than expected and had interrupted them with a loud echo of laughter, which had reverberated through the engineering decks and was probably heard several galaxies away.

"Oh, priceless," he said amidst the chuckles, "Oh dear sweet god!"

He punched Spock in the shoulder, hard and wandered off, still laughing. When he was gone, Spock and Kirk looked at each other. Kirk shrugged and Spock said, "He took that very well."

IV. Chekov and Sulu

Scotty was capable of many things. Keeping his mouth shut was not one of those things. Chekov and Sulu sat with Scotty at most mealtimes. It was easy talk between them, about navigation and sandwiches and women. They also liked to gossip about their crewmembers. Not that they would call it gossiping – it was more like...a manly discussion about people they all happened to know.

"So," Scotty said one morning over his eggs. The others could tell just from that word that the information about to follow was going to be good, "The Captain and the first officer are having a steamy romantic affair."

"Oh, like we haven't heard that one before," said Sulu, rolling his eyes, "Someone tells us that rumour at least once a week."

"Vhy don't you come up with some new material?" Chekov added cheerfully.

Scotty leant forward, palms pressed to the table, "No really. This time it's true!" At their disbelieving looks, he continued, "I saw them!"

"Saw them doing what?"

"Kissing, Sulu, kissing. An' I'm not talking peck-on-the-cheek, possibly-platonic. I'm talking tongues in mouths not-their-own."

Chekov looked as excited as any teenager would be at hearing gossip about the popular kids in school. "Vell, I think ve should inwestigate."

Investigating turned out to be more of an adventure than half their missions. It was extremely hard for three people to trail someone, even more so when that someone was either Spock or Kirk, the former being very observant, and the latter being easy to lose if you weren't paying close enough attention.

Spock caught them following him eventually, turning around and giving them a very frightening look, "Why have you been following me?"

All three of them had no good excuses prepared and just stammered until he told them to stop it and marched away. "I think we might have to admit defeat," said Sulu, a week after they had begun their hunt for proof, "We just can't catch them together. Obviously Scotty was lying."

"I was not!" protested Scotty, "I swear to god, fellas, they were gettin' at it!"

"Sure they vere," said Chekov incredulously as they approached the rec room, planning to maybe play some pool despite the late hour. "I vas making out with Admiral Pike last Vednesday too."

"No, really--" began Scotty as he walked through the silently parting doors into the recreation room. He stopped talking and all three of them stopped walking as they looked at the pool table in disbelief. Captain Kirk stretched on his back on top of something with Spock holding him down on it was nothing they hadn't seen before, but their locked mouths and the soft noises coming from Kirk were certainly new. "Ha!" mouthed Scotty, pointing triumphantly at them, "I told you so!"

Chekov's eyes were so wide, they looked as if they might fall out of his eye sockets. Sulu had a hand clamped over his mouth, afraid of gasping or laughing or making some sort of noise that would alert their superior officers to their prescence. "Look!" mimed Scotty again, "I was right! Totally. Romantic. Affair!"

Sulu finally came to his senses and took hold of the backs of their uniforms, dragging them out of the room and into the hallways where they stood in confused silence for some time. "So you were't lying?" said Sulu eventually.

"I never lie," said Scotty, at which the others laughed.

Sulu sighed, "Well, I guess since our mission has been accomplished, we should call it a night. We can't exactly go back in there."

"No pool?" said Scotty, looking heartbroken.

Sulu hit him in the back of the head. "Of course not!"

V. Discussions

"Captain," said Spock one night into his ear as they lay together in the much-too-large-for-one bed in the Captain's quarters. It was almost like the people who made the ship wanted him to have company. That was Kirk's excuse anyway. "Captain, I really think we should cease the displays of affection in public areas."

"What public areas?" responded Kirk, "We have yet to display any affection on the bridge, in the hallways or in the mess hall."

"No, but we have displayed affection, and been seen by crew members in the medical bay, the engine room and the recreation room."

"Yeah, but--" Kirk paused, "—wait, the rec room?"

"Yes, you did not notice?"

"No, I was a little busy at the time," said Kirk, wide smirk plastered across his face, "Anyway, you know I can't control myself around you. I have to put up with you looking sexy all day on the bridge, so as soon as we're alone I just can't keep my hands off." Spock smiled into Kirk's hair where Kirk couldn't see it and the captain continued, "and I know you're so hot for me, and so previously repressed, that you can't help but respond."

Spock didn't answer, which Kirk took as agreement, and so he continued, "Should I be insulted that you want to keep it secret?"

"It is not because I am ashamed of our relationship, so do not think so. It's just that Starfleet regulation states that crewmembers should not become involved, particularly in the case of--"

"Spock, since when do I care about Starfleet regulation?"

Defeated, Spock mumbled, "I do not believe you ever have."

"You love me anyway," asserted Kirk, looking pleased with himself.

VI. Public Displays Of Affection

It turned out that nobody minded now that it was out in the open that Spock and Kirk were together. Scotty, Sulu and Chekov had managed to spread it throughout the crew within a matter of days, and it wasn't exactly hard to believe. In fact, when on duty they barely acted any differently now than they had before it was official (they had always been a little suspect in how they behaved), except that Kirk could now make lewd comments to Spock and everybody knew that he wasn't kidding.

The Captain also had a habit of giving his first officer breathtaking kisses whenever they separated - when one of them finished a shift or left the mess hall or outside whichever quarters they had chosen to sleep in the night before. The only issue anyone had with this is that it was entirely too hot for words. Oh, and Spock didn't approve. But Kirk gave the orders, so that was that.