Le pas de deux
kototyph

Pairing: Spock/Kirk
Universe/Series: STXI
Rating: PG-13
Relationship Status: First Time
Word Count: ~6000
Genre: Romance, Humor
Warnings: Language, Sexual Situations
Summary: ksadvent 2011 fic. Original prompt: "Ballet AU: It's Nutcracker time for The Federation's "Enterprise Ballet Company". Young, bold, and rakish Jim Kirk is brought in to ramp up the Company's end of year performances, after a not so great season earlier in the year. Spock, the lead Principal dancer is not pleased, but cannot help but be attracted to the charismatic Jim. Bonus points for: Christmas eve, drinking hot cocoa together backstage/dressing room/in the wings, and finally Jim talking Spock into dancing with him on stage. Curtain's magically opening to a live audience...or its already open, and just the two of them, either would be great."

Special super duper thanks to angelmaple, for what amounted to a last-minute beta booty call. :D Stay gold, bb.

Le pas de deux – Scene I

9:17pm, April 16th, 2008

"Come share a busman's holiday!" says the text, and Spock is just tired enough of his father's veiled insults and his mother's forced enthusiasm to make his excuses and leave the ambassadors' quarters for the gritty streets of New York.

Pike has sent a scan of his ticket—seat 15A, Aelita: Queen of Mars, the David H. Koch Theater. The theater is on 62nd andColumbus Avenue, home of the New York City Ballet. Busman's holiday indeed.

Spock slips onto the balcony and into the seat next to Pike at the opening of the third and final act. The director hands him a program without looking away from the dancers cavorting onto center stage, and Spock reads, Aelita, queen of Mars, looks down on Earth and dreams of her human lover…

He has read to the point where the king of Mars, in his anger, sets his guards upon her when Pike grips his arm, and Spock looks up in time to see Aelita joined by a lithe figure in black.

The two are alone on stage, lit by a bloody orange light as paper flames crackle at the edges of the stage. Aelita spins en pointe to see who has come, but the man darts out of her sight, his movements whip-quick and teasing. They turn in concentric circles around each other, Aelita's unseen partner drawing ever closer until the man is flush behind her, their bodies pressed close but not touching.

They pause in tableau, backlit. Her arms are flung out to the sides from her last glissade step. As the music quiets and darkens, slowly, tenderly, his hands shape the air around her body, still not touching, until they slide over her hands, fingers intertwining in a way their bodies could not.

The two begin a passionate pas de deux, and Spock finds himself leaning forward in his seat, utterly mesmerized.

The female lead is a fine performer, long-limbed and slender but indisputably a creature of the earth. Her partner dances as though he is a spirit of air and fire, all tours en l'air and grand jétés, gravity-defying and breathtaking. Next to him she seems clumsy, a touch of contrivance to her grace. Perhaps that is by design, as this can only be Aelita's dying fantasy as her palace burns around her, and this man her human lover.

The two dance, fast and fierce, ecstatic, as the flames press closer and closer. The memory of her lover draws Aelita close, spins her away, dips her low and lifts her up. The tongues of fire are other dancers, and they sway and grope after the oblivious pair. Aelita's lover is as much a part of the flames as they are and slowly, he consumes her.

The music swells, and the pair's frenetic energy subsides. Her lover draws Aelita to him, his arm at her waist, his face bent to hers as if to kiss her. Gradually, gracefully, he turns them in place, her leg held in perfect arabesque until the movement stills and he lowers her to the floor. The fire soars above them, and she beckons languidly for him to join her on her unwitting pyre. He sinks down to her, the cymbals and drums reaching a crashing crescendo as flames rise to cover them.

The stage goes black.

Spock sits, stunned, as applause bursts out and the audience leaps to its feet. Someone nudges his side, and he looks over into Pike's sparkling eyes. "Who was that?" he asks, and does not need to specify.

Pike chuckles, and says "Jim Kirk. Fantastic, isn't he? He came through the academy a few years after you, one of my last students."

Spock has heard the name— professional ballet at their caliber is a small and incestuous crowd— but has never had occasion to match it to a face. Below them, Kirk trots out for his bow, grin wide and electric, and the audience roars.

There's no point in avoiding the pertinent question, the obvious reason Pike asked him to attend. "Will you invite him to joinEnterprise?"

"It is… a possibility," Pike allows, still clapping heartily. "God, the kid can dance. I'd like to see him in another year or two, give him some space to mature into that still be around, God and the budget willing, and hopefully time will take some of the piss and vinegar out of the brat."

In contrast to his words, the man's tone is incredibly fond, and the sentiment must be mutual. When Kirk's gaze settles on them, his grin widens further and he waves energetically. Pikes laughs, and waves back. Kirk holds up three fingers.

"Three?" Spock asks.

Pike shakes his head, still chuckling. "That kid. He told me he'd makeEnterprisein three years, when he graduated."

The man slants a look at Spock then, a sly smile playing around his mouth. "You want to meet him? He'll sulk if I don't say hello, and you might as well tag along."

It would be interesting, to see if Aelita's lover is as magnetic in person as he is on stage. Kirk is still looking at them, and when he sees Spock looking back his smile grows more cocksure. He blows a kiss, and Spock raises a brow.

"Thank you, but no," he decides. "I should be rejoining my parents soon."

The look in Pike's eyes is knowing, but he only shrugs. "Suit yourself. See you in May?"

"May," Spock agrees, slipping out of the balcony.

Six months later, Spock will learn through a two inch long AP story in the Chronicle that the New York City Ballet's James Kirk has been in a shuttle accident; his injuries are said to be severe, and it is unknown if he will ever dance again.

Spock will feel a sensation in his chest that, if he were given to flights of fancy, he might describe as a little like his heart breaking.

Dictionary of Terms :

Le pas de deux – literally, the steps of two – a dance of only two people

En pointe – on point

Glissage – gliding, a gliding step

Tours en l'air – literally, turns in the air

Grand jété – a 180 degree split in mid-jump, traveling step

The five premiere ballet companies in the world are said to be the Kirov, Bolshoi, Royal, Paris, and NYCB.