The Halloween Spirit

Title: The Halloween Spirit
Author: Tempest
Series: TOS
Pairing: S/Mc
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The Starship Enterprise has a Halloween party, and a good time is
had by all.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters; Paramount does. I own this story;
there is a difference. The same goes for anybody offended by the idea that two men could deeply and completely love each other. Archive at your own risk. Flames and feedback welcomed.
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The Halloween Spirit
By Tempest
October 31, 2002
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It was around late October, on Terra, nearing Halloween. And the crew was
looking with anticipation to the 31st. The annual Halloween Ball would be
taking place in the main recreation room, and once more, there would be a
costume contest, best single or group costume won. And what was better, the
stills in engineering, that, officially, nobody knew about, would be
providing refreshments for the entire crew.

The entire crew was buzzing with ideas for costumes. They had to outdo
the visiting commodore from last year, and his assistant, who, dressed as a
couple of Orion dancing slave women, had swept the contest, before returning
to their own base.

Of course, not *everybody* was interested in a costume contest, as was
the case with Commander Spock. It was a source of arguments between he and
his mate.

Spock found the whole idea of Halloween rather distasteful. He could not
understand what would motivate humans to want to shed their own personalities
for those of another, for an entire day. The origins were of more concern to
him than he would let be known, especially because of his "Satanic"
appearance. And the decorations that were appearing all over the ship were
beginning to annoy him. And worse, orange was not easy on the eyes.

But most of all, he did not appreciate the fact that Kirk and McCoy had
taken it upon themselves to try to scare him at least once before the day
occurred. Kirk would try to find something that would scare him, and McCoy
had taken to randomly appearing in an attempt to get some sort of reaction
from the Vulcan.

Spock walked down the corridor to sickbay with reservation in his eyes.
Whatever McCoy was planning, it would have something to do with this holiday,
and he found himself wary, even of his mate.

The door to sickbay slid open, and he walked in. The lights were dimmed.
Usually this meant McCoy was about to do something. But nothing jumped out.
The door slid shut behind him, and it locked.

McCoy came out and waved at Spock. Spock sighed inaudibly. "Leonard," he
asked, "Was there a reason you called me here, aside from the fact that you
have taught yourself to crave my presence in my absence?"

McCoy smiled at him. "Yeah, Spock. Once and for all, I'm getting you to
agree with me."

Spock leaned against the wall. "Agree about what, Leonard?"

McCoy moved in closer and wrapped an arm around Spock's shoulders, "The
costume contest."

Spock shook his head. "I have explained my opinion on this subject to you
already, Leonard. How many times must I do so?"

McCoy smiled brighter. "I have a new argument that will make you see
things my way." He leaned over to whisper something in the Vulcan's ear.

Spock's eyebrow crawled halfway into his hair. "Indeed, Leonard? Do you
mean that?"

McCoy nodded adamantly, a wicked grin on his face.

Spock nodded slowly in consent. "In that case, Leonard, I will agree. We
can work on that later. I need to go to the bridge now."

McCoy sighed a little, "Yeah, I know. Go. Get out and I'll see you
later." He leaned over to give Spock a peck on the cheek before the Vulcan
turned and left.

McCoy watched at the doors slid shut. He whispered to himself, "Told you,
I'd win, Jim." Then he went back to work, as well.
*******************************************

After their shifts had ended, Spock walked to the quarters he shared with
McCoy. They were empty, it seemed, so he went to change out of his tunic. He
heard soft footfall, and was not surprised when a loud "Boo!" echoed in his
ear. With barely any reaction, beyond minor irritation, he turned around to
the somewhat disappointed face of his mate.

McCoy snapped his fingers and whispered, "Damn."

Spock simply looked at him, and continued to undress until he stood only
in his pants. "You will not succeed, Leonard," he said, going to the inner
part of the room and sitting on the bed.

McCoy followed him, sitting so close to the Vulcan he was practically in
his lap. "I'll just need to try harder, Spock," he replied, grinning.

"If you say so, Leonard," Spock answered, and then changed the subject.
"What are your ideas regarding the costume contest?"

McCoy grinned at him, "I got a couple of ideas. How about you go as Jim?"

Spock looked at him incredulously. "I doubt the Captain would find that
amusing, Leonard. And if I dressed up as the Captain, who would you be?

McCoy thought a moment. "I don't know. How about we go as vampires?"

Spock quickly replied with a question, "Do you wish to win, Leonard?"

McCoy smiled at him, "Of course," he answered.

Spock looked at him, "Then we will have to appeal to a sense of irony. I
have an idea."
*******************************************
A few days later, Halloween arrived, and at 1900, the Enterprise's Annual
Halloween Ball began. The main lounge was darkened, dance music playing, the
stills were at maximum efficiency, and all sorts of wonderful foods were out
for the taking. But most impressive were the crewmen themselves, in all types
of costumes, all awaiting the contest.

Scotty, dressed as William Wallace, authentic clan kilt and all,
approached Kirk, clad in a toga. "Captain, let me guess, Tiberius?"

Kirk smiled at the engineer, "Nope, Claudius. Good guess though." He
sipped his brandy, and examined the room. A good number of crewmembers were
already around, and the competition looked stiff for the contest. A pretty
young yeoman dressed as Cleopatra walked by; Kirk smiled at her. Being the
judge had its benefits.

Chekov walked up to him, drinking a glass of ale. His beard and mustache
made him look for more menacing than he truly was. Kirk examined him, "You
make an excellent Lenin, Mr. Chekov."

Chekov blushed slightly. "Thank you, Captain. You make a good Tiberius,
as well."

Kirk's smile was not so bright. "Thanks, Chekov, but I'm Claudius."

The Russian shrugged his shoulders, "If you say so, Sir." Then he went to
talk with Scotty.

Kirk turned back to the crowds, wondering who would win the contest this
year. He managed to have a dance with the yeoman dressed as Cleopatra, and he
was enjoying himself. On the dance floor, he bumped into Nurse Chapel,
sporting pointed ears, and lines on her face. He smiled at her, "You know,
Christine, T'Pau is Spock's grandmother, so this won't work."

She smiled back at him. "Captain, it took a while, but I accepted him and
Len. This is just for fun." She began to walk away from him, then stopped and
turned back. "Great Tiberius costume, Captain." Then she left.

Kirk was beginning to grow irritated. "I'm not Tiberius, he yelled to
her. I'm Claudius."

The doors swished open, and there were a few gasps from crewmembers. In
stepped a very pointed eared, horned, and tailed Satan, with his arm around a
brown-haired, tunic-clad, angel, wings and a halo in place. Most of the crew
was surprised McCoy had managed to convince Spock to participate in such an
"illogical" holiday as Halloween. And their choice of costumes were...quite
surprising.

Kirk noticed them out of the corner of his eye, and walked closer. When
he realized who they were, he burst out laughing. When he finally was able to
contain himself, he slapped McCoy on the back, "Well, Bones, I have to hand
it to you, you won the bet. But how?"

McCoy smiled back at him, "Just call it one of the privileges of being
his bondmate, Jim." He turned with fond eyes towards Spock. "And surprising
as this may sound, these costumes were his idea."

Kirk eyes Spock with surprise, "Really Spock?"

Spock nodded, "Indeed, Captain. I have spent too much time around humans."

McCoy reached up to caress the tip of Spock's left ear. "You know you
love it." Spock stood, letting the human touch him, not saying anything.

Kirk smiled, "Well, unless somebody manages to blow you guys out of the
water, I'll think you'll win. But I gotta be fair, and the judgment doesn't
start for another 15 minutes."

McCoy nodded, "Yep. Thanks for the compliments, Jim. Oh, and very nice
Tiberius costume you have there."

This caused Kirk to blow his top, "I'M CLAUDIUS, DAMMIT!" he yelled,
louder than he meant, causing the crew to stare in his direction. He coughed.

"Sorry," he said, and then a devilish look entered his eyes. "Let me get
the two of you something to drink to make up for it." He walked to the
refreshment table and returned a few moments later, handing a brandy to each
man.

McCoy took a sip of his, and smiled. Spock eyed his warily, took a sip,
stopped, and then reached into the glass, pulling out what appeared to be an
eyeball. He raised an eyebrow and looked at the Captain.

Kirk sighed, "Damn, too easy, I should have known." Spock nodded

Kirk shrugged his shoulders, "Ah, well, guess you're too good for me,
Spock." He smiled at the Vulcan. Spock merely nodded again.

Kirk looked around the room, "I guess I can get on with the judging. Get
ready to win."

It was, of course, at this moment that Lieutenants Sulu and Uhura walked
in, arm in arm, dressed as each other. It took most of the officers a few
moments to realize that they *were* in costume. And then laughter echoed
through the hall.
*******************************************
Back in their shared quarters, Spock and McCoy were changing out of their
costumes. McCoy had gone into the bathroom for a much-needed shower, and
Spock sat on their bed, wearing only his Starfleet-issue boxer shorts. It had
been about twenty minutes since McCoy had entered the shower, and the water
had stopped running more than six minutes ago. No sounds emanated from the
head.

Curious, Spock went to the door. "Leonard?" he called into the room. But
there was no answer. He slowly opened the door; the room was dark. Concern
overtaking him, he moved fully into the room.

From behind, a loud, "BOO!" came. Momentary shock caused him to turn
around slowly, to face the grinning face of his bondmate, clad in a towel.

"Finally gotcha, Spock," McCoy said, a grin still plain on his face.

Spock recovered quickly. "I was not frightened, Leonard, merely
surprised," he said, exiting the bathroom and heading for the sleeping alcove.

McCoy followed behind him. "It's close enough in my book," he replied,
sitting on the edge of the bed.

Spock did not press the issue, merely looked at the human with an intense
gaze, which meant he was thinking.

"Leonard, since we did not win the costume contest, does this mean I will
not receive the reward you promised me?" He cocked his head to the side, the
question in his eyes.

McCoy smiled at him, before reaching up to pull him onto the bed, kissing
him deeply. After many moments, he released the Vulcan's mouth, only long
enough to say, "Oh, you'll get it alright, Spock. Just because you found the
spirit of Halloween," then he pressed the Vulcan to the mattresses, and the
two enjoyed a very pleasurable Halloween treat.

Finit

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