Chris couldn't believe his rotten luck. He'd planned to spend that night with Vin, but an unexpected encounter with a uncharted plasma field had kept him on the bridge for a second shift. Normally he would have asked Buck to take care of it, but the first officer had a date. Technically so did the captain, but he knew Buck would never give up his. Chris had reluctantly called Vin and told him not to wait up and that he'd see him later.

He walked down the corridors of the Maverick greeting crewmembers as he went. There was never a quiet time on board since they worked in three rotations. He stood in front of Vin's cabin and was about to knock, but he realized the Vulcan was probably asleep, so he had the computer open the door. Being the captain had its advantages.

He slowly navigated through the discarded clothing and assorted replicator food and beverage containers on his way to the bedroom. Vin might be a Vulcan, but his lack of housekeeping skills would do a packrat proud. Sometimes, Chris wondered if the navigator and Ensign Dunne had a contest going on to see who could achieve the greatest degree of squalor before the Environmental Safety Officer declared their quarters a health hazard.

Vin's actual bedroom, however, was rather Spartan - just his bed, and a viewscreen with a halographic photo of him with his adoptive family and his horse, Peso, on the Texas ranch he had inherited when his folks had passed away. Vin was likely the only Vulcan cowboy in the known universe.

Vin didn't like the dark, and always had the room lit with moonlight programmed by the computer, complete with a starfield displaying the constellations as they would appear if seen from Earth. He also had a Vulcan sensitivity to cold, so even though the room temperature was well above what Chris considered comfortable, he wasn't surprised to see Vin curled up under thick covers, with not even his head visible.

Chris very quietly removed his uniform and slipped into bed with him.Vin acknowledged Chris's intrusion by making a low, rumbling noise that sounded like he was growling. Chris had never heard him make that particular sound before, but whether it was because he was Vulcan, or because he was just made that way, even though Vin slept soundly, a small part of his brain always acknowledged Chris's presence, even when he didn't actually wake up.

Unlike most Vulcans, Vin liked to be touched and held. Chris reached over to gently rub his back and soothe him back to sleep when his hand encountered... fur??

What the hell?...

And just as it was dawning on him that it was not Vin, but Vin's 50-kilo cat, Lila, in the bed, a massive paw slapped down on his hand and pinned it to the mattress.

Chris didn't exactly hate cats... but Lila was so much cat that she could be intimidating, and her message was clear: He was invading her territory.

Well, fuck that. He was the captain of this ship! He threw back the covers.

"Go on... git!" he shooed the massive feline away.

Lila didn't budge. She looked at him with her slitty little cat eyes and hissed.

Then, she took a swipe at him.

Chris instinctively jumped off the bed to avoid the powerful paw, an action which had the unfortunate result of causing a certain portion of his anatomy to swing and bob in the cat's line of sight.

Before he realized the potential hazard, Lila did what cat's usually do when they spot a swinging, bobbing object, and took a swipe at his dangling member.

And this time, her claws were out.

Starship Captain or no, Chris was still a male, and as such, he screeched in horror and doubled over.

His cries brought Vin rushing out of the bathroom, sonic toothbrush in one hand. "What... Chris! What happened?"

Vin flicked on the lights as Lila judiciously jumped off the bed and went off to a corner to groom herself. It crossed Chris's horror-stricken mind that she was going there to lick shreds of his cock from her claws. He felt like he was going to be sick. He rolled onto the bed, clutching his abused privates. He didn't want to know how bad the damage was."I'm gonna kill that damned cat!" he hissed as he curled up in pain.

Vin positioned himself protectively in front of the animal. "No you won't! I won't let you!." Then he eyed Chris suspiciously. "What did you do to her?"

"What did I do to her?" Chris asked, shocked. "Look at what she did to me!" He bravely raised a trembling hand to see that there was blood on it. "Aw hell..." Now he felt like he was going to pass out, too.

Vin quickly ran into the bathroom and came back with a wet cloth.

"Let me see," Vin said, swatting Chris's hands away from his bleeding equipment. There was a long scratch down the length of Chris's shaft. It wasn't very deep, and there really wasn't that much blood, but just the thought of it made Vin want to cross his legs.

Chris gasped as Vin took his cock in his hand and began to wipe off the blood. The mixed sensation of pain and pleasure was driving Chris crazy but the pain won out. "Damn it, Vin, that hurts!!" Chris yelled and hit him.

Chris's communicator went off. Vin found his uniform on the floor and poked around until he found it, then handed it to him.

"This... is the... Captain," Chris said through clenched teeth.

It was Dr. Jackson. Of course the ship's sensors had picked up the fact that he had been injured. Damn it!

"Everything's... okay Nathan," he sucked in his breath. "Just a... scratch."

"Chris, you don't sound too good," Dr. Jackson's voice came over the com badge. "And your heart rate is sky high. Maybe I'll just come and take a quick look..."

"You do that, Nathan, and I swear, I'll kill you." He flicked off the badge.

"Why are you going to kill Nathan?" Vin frowned.

Normally, Chris found Vin's tendency to take everything literally rather comical, but this time he said, "Shut up, Vin."

Vin ignored him. So did Nathan.

Vin called the Medical Officer back, anyway, and in seconds, Nathan was there.

Total lack of respect. Lot of good it did him to be the fucking Captain...

"What happened?" Nathan asked as he walked in.

"Don't rightly know," Vin said. "He wouldn't let me take care of it."

Nathan approached Chris as the Captain squirmed in pain. When he got closer he could see blood on Chris's organ.

True to the tradition of doctor-patient confidentiality, and always mindful of potentially unwise career moves, Nathan didn't inquire as to how the Maverick's commanding officer had come to be in the navigator's bed stark naked. "What happened?" he said as he quickly set to work.

"Went to surprise Vin," Chris growled. "Didn't know it was that damned cat in the bed. She reached up and swatted me."

"She probably thought your penis was a cat toy," Vin commented sagely.

Nathan forced a cough and tried to hide his smile as he sealed the scratch. When he was finished he quickly left Vin's cabin before he burst out laughing.

Vin was confused. Chris was angry, yet Nathan thought it was funny. Lila seemed pleased with herself, but that was because she was a cat, and who knew what they thought?

"Chris why is Nathan laughing?" Vin asked innocently.

"Never mind," Chris sighed. "This whole night has been a disaster."

Something else was bothering Vin. "Chris, you don't really want to kill Lila, do ya?"

"No, Vin, I don't," Chris said patting the bed. "Come here."

Vin did as he was told and Chris pulled him into a fierce kiss. Vin responded eagerly. He liked kissing Chris. A lot. He liked doing other things with Chris, too, and that gave him an idea. He moved his lips away from Chris's, moving slowly down to his chest, then his belly, licking and sucking Chris's pale, taut skin as he went until finally he had moved down far enough that he was between Chris's legs.

He looked up at him, winked, and smiled. "Maybe I'll just kiss it and make it all better."

And as the night progressed, Chris had to admit, the little Vulcan had one hell of a bedside manner.