Pock's Office and Personal Quarters

Jim smirked playfully back, hand running up and down her back. "Well, we can stop, if you truly wish," he said, voice laughing. His other hand tangled in her hair. "But I vote we don't."

Pock leaned it close to his lips, the movement of her speech no doubt brushing the very edges of them faintly and flirtatiously together. "And I vote..." she murmured, "that you are merely attempting to distract me due to the fact that you are painfully aware of the statistical improbability of you beating me." Her eyes glimmered with laughter.

Jim's eyes burned with a sudden competitiveness. "I'm sure that you're aware that that statistic is only at 49%, kitten," he said pulling back and looking down at her. "I love you, but I'm going to kick your ass at chess tonight."

Pock grinned devilishly, her eyes alight. "You will attempt it," she purred laughingly, "but whether or not you will be successful remains to be seen."

He pressed a teasing kiss to his partner's lips just because he could, and pulled back. "I will be successful," he said, moving to sit down on his side of the table. "Ready, love?" he asked, eyes glistening up at her with competitiveness burning in his eyes.

Pock moved to sit down, her own eyes competitive as well, though in a much more subtle manner than her partners. He was always so unbridled, so fully and wholly enamored with his own passions. It was one of the many things she loved about him. "I am indeed," she said. "Your move."

((NEW THREAD))

Jim entered the room just behind Pock, and collapsed in the chair he normally occupied when they played chess in there. "Well. That was an interesting day."

They'd picked up the other ambassador, got Ambassador Pax and James settled, and they were now officially off shift.

Pock sighed as she sat gently down at the edge of her bed. "Indeed it was," she said. She slipped her shoes off, and stretched, glad to be once more in the privacy of her own rooms. "Certainly not what I expected when I woke up this morning, though I find life on the Enterprise rarely meets my expectations."

Jim stood, back cracking as he did so. He relocated and sat down next to her and toed his shoes off, arm automatically slipping around her. He leaned back against the headboard, happy to just be cuddling. "Neither was I, but then again, shit rarely goes the way we expect it to on this ship."

Pock quirked an eyebrow, suppressing a smirk as she leaned back against the pillows and into Jim's arm. She liked touching him.

"I believe that is what I said," she told him, a playfulness to her tone.

Jim pressed a kiss to her temple, arms squeezing lightly. "And I was just saying it a different way, kitten."

He loved cuddling with her, and would gladly stay here, wrapped up in each other's arms for the rest of his life.

She rolled her eyes slightly. "Redundancy is illogical, Jim." Nonetheless, she leaned into him, laying her head against his shoulder and breathing in the scent of everything that was Jim. The soap he used and the smell of his skin, lingering against the smell of his clothes.

A few moments of easy breath passed, and her courage boiled up in her chest. "May I make an inquiry?" she asked softly.

Jim's head leaned against hers, noting how well they fit together, and how it seemed like no one could tell where one of them started and the other one ended.

"Yeah, of course," he murmured. "Whatever you want."

Pock hesitated for a moment, gathering her words and lining them up properly in her head. "Earlier, you seemed upset in the Admiral's office," she stated. "I wish to inquire as to what upset you so. Was it something I or Admiral Archer said?"

Jim's mind immediately went to the thoughts he was thinking in Archer's office. He stiffened slightly, before forcing himself to relax. "What..." He cleared his throat. "What makes you say that?"

She tossed him a withering glance, feeling him stiffen at her side. "Do you not think I have come, over the course of our having known each other, to recognize the flicker of displeasure in your eyes? I have, ashayam. You were unhappy in the Admiral's office, and I have inquired as to why. If the question distresses you and you do not wish to answer, state so thusly and we will proceed from there in a way more suitable to your personal emotional comfort."

Jim's shoulder shrugged. "It was nothing, kitten. I was just being stupid." Oh shit, he knew better than to display his innermost thoughts on his face for people to see. It was just giving people ammunition with which to smack him in the face with later. His mom had done it. Frank had done it.

Pock turned to face him. "You are lying, Jim. Why? Are you upset with me?" She could see no other logical reason for him to wish so deeply to hide his feelings from her. She loved him, and he knew that. What purpose would hiding the truth from her serve?

"I'm not lying about it being stupid," Jim said, looking at her and meeting her eyes. "I'm not upset with you. If I was, I'd assume we'd be having a shouting match over it right now. Well, I'd be shouting, you'd be logically debating." He shrugged again, hoping slightly that she'd drop it, but knowing that was unlikely now.

"Do not attempt to distract me with idle ramblings," she chided. "If you do not wish to tell me what upset you, Jim, you have that right. I apologize for intruding upon your personal matters."

He sighed. "It was just stupid thoughts, kitten," he murmured. He didn't know what to say other than that. "And you aren't intruding. You're part of my life, and my personal matters. You, more than anyone, have the right to intrude as you call it."

Pock was stubborn when she wanted to be, and in this case, it was almost involuntary. She was curious, and curiosity was a powerful thing. "If the thoughts were so inconsequential," she said, "then why are you so loathe to voice them aloud?"

Jim sighed. "Just because," he said, head dropping to her shoulder. He almost wanted to beg her to drop the subject, but she was like a dog with a bone. Once she got started, she wouldn't let it go until she was satisfied.

Pock pressed a kiss to his head as it rested on her shoulder, exhaling. Whatever it was, it was clearly upsetting him to speak about it like this, and the last thing she wanted to do was upset Jim. So instead, she just relaxed, letting him rest against her. "Very well," she said softly, pressing another kiss to his head. "I will refrain from inquiringly upon this subject further." After a few silent moments, she murmured, "T'nash-veh ashaya."

Jims murmured, "Love you, too," against the fabric of her top. There was another few moments of silence before he asked, "Why me? Why did you choose me, when there are so many other people out there who would gladly be your partner?"