The BLTS Archive - Seven Year Itch
by Kalita Kasar (kalitafic@hotmail.com)

---

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this story, they were born
in     other creative minds, but they keep intruding into mine, so
what's a girl to     do? I don't make any money from this; it is just
a labour of love, for me     and them.

Vulcan terms:

d'Vel'nahr - Vulcan-by-choice kae'k'akkayam - mind retraining moi tema
qomi - good evening human kahr-y-tan - the way of the Vulcan V'tosh
Ka'tur - Vulcans without Logic

---

"AH! You mean SEX!"

The loudly spoken statement caused a momentary lull in conversation in
the mess hall as several people, Malcolm Reed included, turned to look
in the direction of the conversation between Trip Tucker and one of
the Vulcans from the Vahkless.

"This sounds interesting," Reed remarked to Travis who shared a table
with him, "in fact, it sounds too good to miss, if you'll excuse me?"
He picked up his mug of tea from the table and made his way over to
where his lover sat with the Vahkless' engineer.

"Am I interrupting anything?"

"No! Please join us, Mr....." The Vulcan, who looked like a chubby and
bright-eyed teenager; the complete antipathy of anything Reed would
have expected a Vulcan to look like, smiled up at him.

"Ah, Reed. Malcolm Reed."

"Kov. We were just discussing Vulcan mating rituals." The Vulcan said.
"Most of my people are extremely uncomfortable talking about such
things. So many inhibitions..."

Nodding, Reed eased himself into a chair next to Trip who was hanging
on every word with rapt attention. He raised an eyebrow at his lover,
but didn't receive so much as a glance as Tucker leaned across the
table a little, his eyes fixed on Kov's face.

"Vulcan males are driven to mate once every seven years."

"Seven YEARS?" Trip's surprise was evident, in his tone, and the
incredulous glance he now turned to Malcolm.

"Frightening." Reed allowed, smiling at Trip's expression. He knew his
lover was contemplating the thought of going for more than seven days
'between drinks' as Trip would have said it. He suppressed a smirk,
returning his attention to Kov as the Vulcan seemed to see the need to
make some kind of qualifying statement.

"Over the past few years, we've been developing methods to accelerate
the mating cycle."     Again those bemused blue eyes turned in Reed's
direction, speaking volumes without saying a word. Reed met them with
a small smile, an idea beginning to form in his mind.

"Ye'up fer seconds?" Tucker asked Kov.

"I've had enough, thank you." Kov said, pushing back his chair, "Back
to work! A pleasure meeting you, Mr. Reed."

"Likewise," Reed said, rising to his feet as Kov got up.

Kov left the mess hall with Tucker close on his heels.

Resuming his seat, Reed stared down into his tea cup watching the
patterns of steam swirling off it's surface as he toyed with the spark
of an idea that had begun to form in his mind as he watched Tucker
with Kov. After a few moments he gave a small, amused chuckle, and
took one last quick mouthful of the hot liquid before he got up and
headed for the doors; he needed to see Phlox and arrange a small
conspiracy.

"I wonder what he's up to?" Travis Mayweather indicated Lieutenant
Reed with a nod of his head as the Armoury Officer passed the table.

Turning to watch Reed leave, Hoshi Sato frowned. "I don't know," she
replied, looking back at her lunch partner, "but whatever it is, it's
sure amusing him. . . " She narrowed her eyes. "Something's afoot,
Travis, and I intend to find out what!"

"Okay, Miss Marple." Travis replied with a chuckle, but just you make
sure you spill all the dirt to me as soon as you do!" Travis grinned
and pushed his chair away from the table.

"Of course! You know I wouldn't leave you out of anything, who else
knows how to get me those cherry liqueur chocolates I love so much?"
she shot him an arch glance and a cheeky wink, following her 'mark'
out of the mess hall as inconspicuously as possible.

---

Making his way along the hallway, Reed paused at the end, waiting
until some enlisted crew vacated the lift before he stepped in. He
paused in the act of pressing the button for E deck as a frantic voice
called, "Hold the lift!"

A moment later, a flushed and panting Hoshi cannoned into the lift
with him and smiled brightly. "Thanks," she said, her dark eyes
studying his face for just an instant too long before she turned to
look at the lift doors. Malcolm gave her a small, tight smile and
pressed the button for his deck. "Where to?" he asked the ensign.

"Oh! Uh. . . " Hoshi stumbled for a moment, before her eyes lit on the
buttons with the lighted one for E. "E deck," she said a trifle too
brightly. "Looks like we're headed the same. . . way."

"So it would seem." Malcolm released the hold on the lift and slipped
his hands behind his back, keeping his attention fixed on the deck
numbers as they scrolled by.

"So uhm. . .  I couldn't help overhearing a little of Commander
Tucker's conversation in the mess hall." Hoshi said.

"It was rather. . . conspicuous," Reed said, not volunteering anymore.

"Yeah." Hoshi paused a moment, "Have you had a lot to do with our
visitors? I've spoken with one or two of them, but since we already
have a good database on Vulcan linguistics, there hasn't been much for
me to do. . . They seem a lot more open than most Vulcans."

"Yes." Reed nodded his agreement. "Not the usual type." He heard Sato
sigh and bit down lightly on the tip of his tongue, the small twinge
of pain enough to keep his expression from breaking into a smile at
her expense.

"Well, here we are," he said a moment later as the lift halted and the
doors slid open.

"What?" Sato looked startled and then she grinned, her cheeks flushing
a little. "Oh, E deck." She stepped out of the lift after Reed and
walked alongside him until he paused at the doors to sickbay. "Are you
feeling sick?"

"No. Just a social call," he replied smoothly. "Excuse me."

"Sure." Sato flipped him a small wave and walked on along the hallway
as Reed stepped into the sickbay. He did not see her double back a few
seconds later to peer through an unfrosted portion of the plexi-glass
doors.

"Lieutenant Reed," Phlox seemed more than delighted to see his friend
and ushered him into his office area. "Have a seat, please." He moved
to sit behind his desk, smiling all over his broad, pleasant face.
"What do I owe this pleasure to?"

"I have a small favour to ask," Reed said as he took a seat opposite.
"Something I think you will enjoy since it will give you a chance to
practice your skills in disguise."

"Oh? Do go on!" Phlox leaned forward, folding his hands on the desk
and fixing Reed with a look of intense interest.

---

I didn't find out anything!" Hoshi complained to Travis. "You know
sometimes I think that man is telepathic or something. . . there's
something not right about the way he can keep a secret!"

Laughing, Mayweather handed her a cup of coffee. "Don't take it to
heart," he said. "Malcolm's spent years training to do just that. I
swear I've never managed to find out anything he didn't want me to
know!"

"But you're forgetting, I found out his favourite food for his
birthday. . . " Hoshi said.

"And that's not exactly classified information." Mayweather grinned at
the expression Hoshi shot him. "Okay, okay I'll admit that you did a
good job there. Have you tried speaking to Phlox? Maybe he can tell
you what Malcolm's up to?"

"Tried that," Hoshi said despondently, "he said he wasn't at liberty
to disclose the matters Lieutenant Reed discussed with him." She
sipped her coffee. "I just give up! Whatever it is, we're never going
to know and that's that!" She was stopped by the sudden choking sound
from her friend, as the Navigation Officer stared, open mouthed at the
doors of the mess hall, his hand falling on Hoshi's arm and shaking it
lightly. Turning, she followed his gaze. "Oh my. . . who is that?"

Standing in the doorway, his gaze serenely taking in the quiet room
was a Vulcan. One neither of them had ever seen before. His features
carefully schooled into the placid expression of an adherent to
Surek's logic, he held his hands lightly clasped behind his back.
Encountering his gaze as the Vulcan turned to look at her, Hoshi
cleared her throat nervously and lowered her eyes, unable for the life
of her to understand why Travis appeared to be helpless with silent
mirth.

She looked up, smiling nervously as she became aware that the newcomer
was standing right beside their table. Meeting the gaze of the Vulcan,
she was about to make a formal greeting when her eyes widened and her
mouth dropped open in a perfect mirror of Mayweather's expression a
few moments before. Hoshi gulped and closed her mouth quickly.

"Ensign Sato," the 'Vulcan' said in measured tones. "My time is
limited, and I require your assistance with a small project. A
*sensitive* project." His gaze swept from Hoshi, to Mayweather and
back, "One for which I will require your absolute confidence."

Hoshi nodded numbly and got to her feet. She had never seen Lieutenant
Reed look more incredibly gorgeous in all the time she'd known him.
"Of. . . of course," she mumbled, shooting Mayweather a speaking
glance as she followed the Vulcan male out of the mess hall.

As they stepped into the corridor the Vulcan glanced at her. "You may
address me as Vreedik." He said simply.

---

Charles Tucker III made his way along the corridor to Malcolm Reed's
quarters. It had been a long day showing Kov around the ship, and
explaining points of engineering, human culture and anyone of a
million other questions the 'juvenile' Vulcan had raised. He sighed
wearily as he keyed in the access code for his lover's cabin.

When the door slid open, he stepped into the room and stopped dead in
his tracks. He must have made a mistake. This was not Malcolm's cabin.
Tucker looked around in confusion. Had he stumbled into T'Pol's
quarters by mistake? "What the hell?"

Tucker stared at the decidedly Vulcan wall hangings and other décor in
disbelief. The scent of hot wax and incense hit his nostrils in an
almost overpowering wave. "Malcolm? Are you in here?" Tucker took a
step further into the room, vaguely hearing the door hiss shut behind
him. It was then that his eyes fell upon the figure seated,
cross-legged on the floor in front of a small bank of candles. A
Vulcan in Malcolm's quarters? He took a half step back; convinced that
he had mistaken which room he was entering.

"Ah. . . sorry," he muttered, retreating rapidly.

"Moi tema, qomi." The Vulcan said softly, raising his head and meeting
Tucker's eyes.

"I. . . I think I must've. . . " Tucker began and then stopped.

"I am . . .  Vreedik." A raised eyebrow told him the Vulcan expected
him to respond in kind.

"Vreedik?" Tucker moved forward a few paces. "Vreed-ik?" Something
began to make sense to him all of a sudden, "Malcolm?"

The only answer was a raised eyebrow, and a slight inclination of the
head.

"What the hell are you playin' at?" He hunkered down in front of the
still seated man, and stared intently into his face, amazed to
recognize his lover underneath what amounted to a very skilful
disguise.

"Play is illogical," Vreedik replied. "I have made a life decision. I
have become. . .  d'Vel'nahr. Vulcan-by-choice."

"Oh man, you gotta be kiddin me!" Tucker reached out and gently
touched the tip of one pointed ear. "Okay, nice joke, Malcolm, now
take this stuff off will ya? I'm starving and I. . . I want. . . " He
leaned in, avoiding the candles and attempted to brush his lips across
Malcolm's. He sat back in surprise when the caress was stiffly
avoided.

"Your proposal is illogical, it is not the time of Ponn Farr." Vreedik
told him.

"Ponn Farr?" Tucker's face was a picture of bewilderment. "Can I have
that in English?"

"Ponn Farr, the time of joining, the mating time."

"Oh. . . I get it. . . " Tucker grinned. "You're jealous, aren't ya?
C'mon Malcolm, that's crazy, you know I love ya to death! Kov's just a
kid, you know, an engineer, that's all it is. . . we talked a lot
about. . . about engines and culture and. . . "

"Sex," Vreedik put in.

"Aww but that didn't mean anythin'! I was curious, that's all. . . I
mean c'mon Malcolm. . . he's a kid by Vulcan standards, I don't want a
kid, I want a man!"

"I am not jealous. Jealousy is a human emotion. I merely stated that
the time of mating is not. . . yet."

"So how long are ya gonna make me wait - Seven years? Is that the
thing you latch onto?" Tucker made a sound halfway between a growl and
a whimper as his frustration mounted. He'd spent the entire day
imagining what would happen when he finally got the dark haired
lieutenant alone in his cabin and now he was confronted with Malcolm
dressed in some weird Vulcan getup and telling him that sex was out of
the question. He looked into his lover's eyes. "Well, okay mister
Vreeee-dik," he deliberately drawled the name, placing over emphasis
on the syllables. Trip knew that Reed couldn't stand it when he
deliberately exaggerated his accent. "Why lookit there!" Tucker traced
an arc across the ceiling with one arm. "It's one o' your
Micro-sing-ulari-tees or a wormhole, hell take yer pick ah don't
care!"

He quickly snuffed the candles; not wanting them to cause a hazard
when the growing, smouldering fire he could see in Malcolm's eyes
broke loose. "I give up. . . mister Vreeee-dik," Tucker sat back on
his heels and clapped his hands, loudly, the sound reverberating in
the small cabin. "Poof, it's a temporal what not and seven years have
passed! Time for the Pooon Farrr or whatever the hell ya call it."

He backed off a little as Vreedik began to stalk him across the room.
"Whatsamatter? Can't ya restrain yerself?" Tucker allowed his lips to
curve into a seductive smile. "Oh no wait, I gotta better ideah! Let's
make this into a threesome. . . go on and bring T'Pol back here and
she can stand there, and you can stand here. . . " As he spoke, Tucker
mapped out the positions with his hands, "and ya can both yammer at me
about the kahr-y-tan or kae'k'akkayam until I fall into a coma!"

Something in Vreedik's eyes flashed dangerously and Tucker felt an
answering flash of fire run through his body; he'd seen that look many
times before, and he knew he was getting through to his lover in a way
only he was able, or permitted to do. Still on hands and knees, he
backed up while Vreedik also on all fours stalked him with the fluid
grace of a huge black cat.

Tucker's heart was racing now, he was playing with fire and he knew
it. No one else had ever seen this side of Reed's nature, it was
something only he ever saw, the naked passion and raw need that flared
in the darkened eyes excited him. He swallowed hard watching as his
lover slowly hunted him down.

"Go on, it'd be fun. . . " he goaded, "I'd be out cold. . . helpless.
. . at yur. . . mercy, you could do whatever you'd like an. . . an I
couldn't do anything ab. . . "

Vreedik chose that moment to pounce and Tucker's words were smothered
by a searing kiss full of very human passion. He struggled for a
moment, feigning resistance until strong arms reached to pin his hands
behind his back, effectively immobilizing him while the heated lips of
his lover wreaked havoc on him, causing his mind to reel and his blood
to heat to a fever pitch.

Dimly, Tucker was aware of the cold deck-plating coming up to meet him
as he was pushed backwards onto the floor. The hands that had pinned
his behind his back released him, only to move to his head, holding
him still as Vreedik deepened the kiss, his tongue thrusting between
Trip's parted lips with urgency.

Before he could think or react, hands had quickly unfastened the
zipper of his flight suit, pushing the top section off his shoulders
and impatiently pushing his under shirt up so that slender fingers
could explore his naked skin. He groaned, craving more of his lover's
hungry assault. "God, Malcolm!"

"Vreedik!" the passion roughened voice corrected. "Call me Vreedik!"

"Vreedik. . . oh gawwd, yeah, that's sooo . . . " His words trailed
off into a sobbing moan of pleasure as his partner's lips made a
burning trail lower, across his stomach to where Tucker desperately
wanted attention.

---

Hours later, lying in his lover's arms, Tucker stirred slightly,
lifting his head to peer at Reed's face through the dim starlight,
"Y'awake?" he asked.

"Mm." The response was muted but came quickly enough to tell him
Malcolm was alert.

"That was some idea you came up with there," Tucker grinned in the
darkness. "How do ya come up with these role plays or whatever you
call em?"

"Oh, I don't know," Malcolm murmured, pulling Tucker's head back down
against his shoulder. "I've always had a lively imagination, I
suppose." He moved to press his lips against Tucker's tousled hair
kissing him lightly. "It's fun."

"Yeah, I'll give ya that," Tucker agreed, hitching closer to the
warmth of his lover's lean frame. "Ya know I never would've imagined
playin' games like that in the bedroom. . . before I met you, that
is."

Well, then, I'm glad to think I've broadened your horizons." There was
a soft snuffle of laughter as Reed tightened his arm around Tucker's
shoulders. He was silent for a few moments, before he turned to face
Tucker, fingers gently tracing the contours of his lover's face in the
dark. "Where did you learn those Vulcan terms you used?"

"What kahr-y-tan and kae'k'akkayam?" Tucker smiled. "I spent the whole
day makin' a 'cultural exchange,' with Kov ya know; you're not the
only one who likes t'study that kinda stuff."

"I guess I'm not," Reed conceded. "Still, the fact that you learned
how to pronounce those words so quickly was. . . surprising."

"Oh I'm full of surprises," Tucker reached out and closed his fingers
around Reed's sex as he spoke. "Ya want I should show ya a few of my
more. . . intricate moves?"

"I would find the experience. . . enlightening." Reed replied in his
most practiced Vulcan tones. "Teach me how to be. . . V'tosh Ka'tur,"

"With pleasure, mister Vreeee-dik."

---

The End

© 2002 kalitafic