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“You want me to do what?” You ask, mouth agape and eyes wide as you process what the captain has just told you.
“I want you to pretend to be my wife when we go down to sort out boundary lines with the Zilans,” he repeats himself, completely serious.
“Why me? There are plenty of other people you could be fake married to,” you look around the bridge, eyes searching for an example, “like Spock! You two would be super cute husbands.” Kirk doesn’t seem to find your suggestion as funny as you do. He runs a hand down his face, eyes rolled up toward the ceiling as a sigh escapes his lips.
“You’re the only qualified senior officer with a history of negotiating up your sleeve. And while Spock and I are definitely a power couple, his demeanor doesn’t scream diplomacy,” he explains.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” you mumble to yourself before looking Jim in the eye. “I’ll do it.”
“Great!” He exclaims before turning you and guiding you towards one of the conference rooms, hand on the small of your back gently pushing you where he wished. “Come in here and we’ll go over the mission details.”
Listening to all the specifics and learning your cover made you feel like a spy. At one point your brain drifted into a daydream, which consisted of the mission impossible theme song and you shooting an old-fashioned gun at an evil villain's henchmen. When Jim realized you were no longer focusing on the presentation he snaps his fingers in front of your face. Blinking in surprise you zone back in on the blond man in front of you.
“Did you hear anything that I said?” He exasperatedly asks.
“Yeah. We’re going to be taking a shuttle down to be greeted by the Zilan ambassadors. We’ll stay the night before negotiations start the following morning. Our aim is to get them to share as much of their space with us as possible. On top of that, we have to act as if we’re married because, in their culture, having a spouse is seen as a sign of maturation and is worthy of respect for both partners.” With your summary, you stood up and pat his chest reassuringly. “I got this Captain- or should I say, honey? I’m gonna go get my stuff together.”
Jim’s gaze follows your form as you leave the room, smiling to himself. If he was being honest with himself he would admit there were more reasons he chose you to go down with than those he gave you. One of them being the admiration he held for your carefree, kind of spacey personality. Another being the fact he would get to hold you close and have an excuse to be romantic with you. But Jim Kirk was rarely honest with himself.
———
“Hello Ambassador Har, I am Captain James Kirk and this is my beautiful wife Lieutenant Y/N Y/L/N,” Jim introduced you two to the scaly, lizard-like alien standing in front of you. You smiled in greeting at him. Your hand was settled in the crook of Jim’s elbow, and your sides were pressed flush against each other’s.
“It is a pleasure to meet you both,” he gave a courteous nod, “let me show you around." Picking up your bag you followed him down the path toward the giant building in front of you.
The palace-like building was magnificent. The walls shimmered a light pink in the setting sunlight their dual suns cast. It blanketed the gardens that surrounded the entirety of the property, thick bushes for as far as you could see with orange flowers starting to close as the light faded.
As you wandered through the halls Har informed you of the history of Zilan’s government, motioning to different works of art that displayed the events he talked about. Every now and then you would ask a question, inquiring for more details or a better explanation. Each time you did you could feel Jim’s eyes on you, watching your curious eyes dance around the walls. The tour ended at the quarters you would be housed in for the night.
“I will send someone in the morning to wake you, they will be bringing breakfast, then again an hour later to accompany you to the meeting,” Har says opening the door for you.
“Thank you, I’m awaiting our discussion,” you say as a farewell before Har retreats down the hall.
Closing the door you turn to take in your surroundings. Straight in front of you is a couch facing two chairs with a table in the space between them. Just past that is a large, four-poster bed. You could see a door to the right of it which you assumed was the bathroom. To the left was a large window looking out onto the garden you admired when you first landed.
Jim was the first to move, grabbing both of your bags and moving them to the foot of the bed. Walking to the window you could only see what was lit by the bioluminescent flora.
“Wow,” you breathe out at the view, “I wish we had plants this beautiful on earth.”
Jim looks over at you from his spot where he was rifling through his bag, before deciding to meet you at the window. He stands next to you, taking in the landscape. You look up at him, analyzing his expression. His jaw is relaxed, shoulders slightly slumped, eyebrows uncreased, and lips sent in an easy, almost-smile. The serene one he’s wearing is unlike any other you’ve ever seen upon his face-- not that you look at his face often or anything.
You flick your eyes back outside before you can be caught staring, but you were too late. He had noticed. He always noticed you.
“Mm,” he hums finally commenting on your statement, “we have something more beautiful than this on earth.”
“What?” Your eyebrows pull together as you question him.
“Me.” A snort escapes you when you process his reply, throwing you into a fit of laughter. He smiles down at your shaking frame.
“If you say so, Captain,” you say after gathering yourself. Heading over to your bag you stop to pick out what passes as your pajamas, an oversized t-shirt, and some boy-short underwear, on your way to the bathroom.
Pajamas on, teeth brushed, and ready for bed you re-enter the bedroom. Your eyes land on a shirtless Jim in black sweatpants hung low on his hips exposing his back muscles working as he goes toward the couch, pillow, and blanket in hand. He hasn’t noticed your reappearance yet so you take the moment to fully admire him as you lean against the side of the doorframe.
“What are you doing?” Your voice startles him, causing him to drop the objects he was holding.
“I was going to sleep on the couch,” he explains, picking up his items.
“That thing is way too small to be comfortable, I think we’re capable of sharing a bed,” you chastise him, pushing off the doorframe, “plus who am I going to snuggle with if I get cold?” You untuck the covers and get under the sheets, nodding your head in a ‘get over here’ motion.
“Okay, okay,” he sticks his hands up, surrendering to your demands. He switches off the light before getting in on the other side of the bed. You both quietly lay there for awhile, enveloped in a comfortable silence as you stare at the barely visible ceiling. Well, before you break it, that is.
“Do you remember the day we met?”
“Yeah. We were outside the academy, on the giant green lawn. It was one of our blessed days off and it felt like everyone was out having a good time. I went up to you and started a conversation. You looked radiant in the sun, and the wind was in your hair. That’s what I remember,” his voice was low and soft it held a hint of gentleness as he recounted his memories.
“Well, I remember you running away from a bug and swearing more than Scotty does when he’s drunk and rambling on about his beloved warp core,” you tell him, breaking the sweet moment he had created.
“That… was not my proudest moment,” he admits, turning his body so he was on his side facing you, you did the same mirroring his actions.
“Maybe, but you sure made a lasting impression on me.” Those words make him want to pry, to know if you thought he was a playboy, or a cocky soon-to-be dropout. He wants to know how you expected him to turn out, if you were wrong about him, if you were right about him.
“Really? And what was that?” He gives in to his urges, hoping for an answer he doesn't think he'll get.
“That moment made me realize that you weren’t just some untouchable sex god- Hey! Don’t laugh at me, that’s what all your want to be conquests called you.” You slap his bare, warm chest as he chuckles at your phrasing. When he gains control of himself you continue.
“It showed me that you weren’t always sauve. It- it made me believe in you, as weird as it sounds. I had heard plenty about you beforehand, from the one night stands to taking the Kobayashi Maru, and plenty in between. I just thought I saw who you really were under that flirtatious front, and I liked what I saw,” you finish by taking in a deep breath awaiting his reply.
“After that day I thought you were different than the others I had tried to charm. You accepted my banter but challenged it when necessary, and you could keep up with my banter unlike any other. It was different than those that outright refused my advances, I viewed them as challenges waiting to be won. It felt, well, it felt like you were just trying to be my friend.”
You reach out a hand to touch his chest, the same spot you had hit moments ago. A smile placed itself on your lips at his words. One of his hands comes up to cover yours before he intertwines his fingers with yours.
“I did, and still do, want to be your friend,” you tell him, knowing that your words aren’t nearly enough but it’s all you can think of right now.
“Do you not consider us to be friends now?” He takes on a fake offended tone.
“If we’re already friends then how am I supposed to take our relationship to the next level?” You retort.
“I mean, we are already married,” he trails off, raising his eyebrows suggestively with a devious smirk to match.
“Only in your dreams, Kirk,” you wink at him. Untangling your hand from his, you turn the other way once more.
“Every night, Y/L/N,” he whispers, body unmoving as he still faces you.
“Goodnight, and sweet dreams, Jim,” you mumble, eyes closing on their own accord.
“My dreams are always sweet with you in them,” he replies as you drift off to sleep. A smile stays on your face throughout the night. And if you wake up the next morning with Jim’s front pressed into your back, arm wrapped around your waist pulling you into him… well, you’re not one to complain about your dreams coming true.