He knew that he shouldn't leave the party like that, but he couldn't help it - he had to go to the bridge of his spaceship all alone. And it was as he expected; even in space dock, the sight on the main screen was beautiful. And it was all his to command, he thought as he walked along the upper rail of the bridge, brushing over the smooth, freshly polished consoles with his fingertips.

At his back, the door of the turbolift whooshed open, and he turned to identify the newcomer. "I knew I would find you here, Captain Sulu," the figure said.

Sulu laughed, fighting down the feeling of a schoolboy caught by his teacher. "I guess it's the same for all captains with their first own command, Captain Kirk," he said. "She's a beauty, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is," Kirk said and stepped down toward the center seat. "That's why I pulled some strings to get her for you."

"I've guessed that much," Sulu admitted. "Well - thank you." He toasted with his glass of Romulan Ale that McCoy had pushed into his hand but which he had been reluctant to drink, remembering all too well how much headache it could produce. And he had to be sober tomorrow when the great day of the first flight with his new crew would take place.

"I really wanted to do this," Kirk said. "You have long since earned your own command, and I always had a guilty conscience that our Genesis adventure had delayed your career that much." He toasted, too, and took a gulp from his glass that seemed to hold the same liquid.

"Now," Kirk said when he had leveled the glass down to his chest again, "it is time to tell you something, Captain Sulu." He played with the drink, and the light of the main bridge reflected in it, giving it a purple touch.

"Yes, Captain Kirk?" Sulu said.

"There is a certain...tradition on the Enterprise for officers who take over the ship from its former captain," Kirk said. "Of course, technically speaking this isn't the case here, as you don't get the Enterprise, but the Excelsior. But on the other hand, you probably would have gotten the Enterprise if I hadn't held on to her command by all means. Your succession would have been the logical thing, as Spock would put it."

"I agree," Sulu said. He gazed at his former CO. "What is that...tradition, Captain?"

"Well," Kirk said and stepped to the center seat, brushing his free hand over the back of the chair. "Let's say it's a kind of thank-you, from a new captain to the old one."

Something dawned on Sulu, the suspicion almost unbelievable at first. But the way Kirk floundered around the subject, it could well be something along that line. He decided to push the topic a little - soon they would be missed at the party, and he wouldn't want to have more of his officers up here, if Kirk was speaking about what he began to believe. He put his glass down on the side of the railing where nobody would likely tumble over it, and looked up to meet Kirk's gaze.

"I presume this tradition...is old?" Sulu said without moving.

"Very old," Kirk agreed. "It started with the first starship of the name Enterprise."

"And it has never been broken?"

"Not as far as I know," Kirk said. He turned to place his own glass into a secure corner. "Though it was not...undisputed." He smirked when he rotated back to face Sulu.

"I can imagine," Sulu grinned. Oh, he would have given half his annual income if he could've watched that scene. "Well, Captain," he said lightly, "I wouldn't want to be the first to break with any of the Enterprise's traditions."

"I love to hear that," Kirk said and circled around the center seat. He slowly sat down, laying his hands on the consoles to the left and right. "What a wonderful design," he murmured and leaned back, slightly spreading his legs. "As you know, Captain Sulu, there is no such thing as the center seat. It has a life of its own, a strength it will give to you when you need support. It is the focal point when your officers look to you for answers, for orders, or because they want to offer you their support. The engines are the heart of a ship, but the bridge is the brain. And you make the ultimate decisions." Kirk's hands rubbed along the edges of the armrests, almost lovingly drawing lines over the many colored buttons.

Sulu stepped to the chair until he stood right in front of it, his legs only inches apart from Kirk's knees. "It must be hard to give up this seat for another captain," he said earnestly.

Kirk looked up at him. "It's hell. And one day you'll learn that for yourself. A ship's not just a ship. She has her life, and you will belong to her, body and soul, for all the years that she is yours."

Slowly Sulu placed his hands on the edges of consoles and dropped to his knees. "This pain must be...relieved," he said, and glided his hands over his former captain's thighs. Never in all those years he had allowed himself to dream about this man, who had sometimes stood so near that he had been able to inhale his smell, fresh and...male, damn male. This might have been more fun with the younger Kirk, the thought crossed Sulu's mind, but vanished again; Kirk had never taken a lover onboard of the Enterprise, as far as Sulu knew. This moment here was one for a lifetime, and he would make good use of it.

"Indeed," Kirk said and spread his legs farther. At his groin, the pants stretched over the growing, unmistakable bulge.

"So when you got the Enterprise," Sulu began and rubbed over the strained fabric, which caused Kirk to breathe faster, "it was Pike who introduced you to this tradition?"

"Yes. He caught me in here red-handed, even before the official party," Kirk admitted humorously, his eyes fixed on the hands that stroked over the pulsing area.

"Did you do what I did?" Sulu whispered and slowly opened the zipper of Kirk's pants.

"That's none of your business, Captain Sulu," Kirk stated in his command voice, putting a clear end to the questions. "Every new captain has his own area of proficiency, and should be able to perform satisfactorily."

"Aye, Sir," Sulu said and entered the space between trousers and flesh with his fingers. There was no underwear, and he easily caught the pulsing penis, carefully freeing it from its captivity. He stroked the shaft teasingly before he closed one hand around it and rubbed up and down.

"Orders, Captain?" he asked with a grin.

"Steady as she goes." Kirk grinned back at him, his breathing already uneven. It became harsher when Sulu let his thumb glide over the glans while he caressed the relaxed scrotum with his other hand. Soon he fell into a regular rhythm that made the man in the center seat let his head fall back in visible arousal. Rough breathing filled the room as Sulu pushed his captain towards orgasm. But just as he felt it approaching, he stopped his manipulation. Oh no, he wouldn't make it that easy for Kirk, he smiled inwardly. In front of him, Kirk flinched in his seat, his hands tightly clamped into the consoles.

"Sorry, Captain, only a small evasive maneuver," Sulu mumbled and then bent forward and licked his tongue over the sensitive glans. An answering moan came from Kirk, and thus encouraged, Sulu let his tongue dance over the cock before he closed his lips over the shaft and ever so slowly took the hard penis into his mouth. It quivered on his tongue, taut and tense in its arousal.

"Maximum warp speed, Mr. Sulu," Kirk ordered with a gasp. His former helmsman grabbed the base of the penis tightly with his fingers, then sucked the blood-filled shaft hard. The flesh in his mouth seemed to vibrate now, filling with more and more blood that pressed out in some thick veins on the surface. Kirk's body arched, his thighs tensed, but Sulu knew he himself wouldn't last long at that speed. His jaws ached already, and so he let the penis go, raising his head.

"We have a power loss in the warp drive," he said apologizing.

Above him, Kirk chuckled breathlessly. "They come always so damn untimely."

Sulu closed his hand around the shaft. "But we just could divert some energy from the shields," he said and rubbed quickly up and down.

"That's - good," the haggard answer came back. "I knew I could rely on you - always -"

A long, unintelligible sound escaped Kirk, and in Sulu's hands the penis released its load, sending warm, white liquid all over his hand. It dropped down on the captain's trousers, leaving stains on the dark fabric.

Kirk's breathing became calmer again as his body relaxed in the aftermath of his climax. "What a ride. But we succeeded once more, Mr. Sulu." He bent his head forward and looked down on Sulu, another grin on his face.

"We did," Sulu agreed and fetched a handkerchief from his trousers, cleaning the fluid away. Then he stood up, tugging his uniform into the proper position.

Kirk rose from his seat, too, and closed the zipper. A sudden thought crossed Sulu's mind, and he met Kirk's gaze in curiosity.

"Captain - I just wonder...shouldn't there be a tradition for the new captain, too?"

"Oh," Kirk said, averting his gaze and brushing some invisible lint off his trousers, "did I forget to say that?" He looked up again, his lips twitched. "The new captain might request a...send-off into his new position."

"Indeed," Sulu replied slowly. "Did you ever learn what the usual welcome tradition for a bridge officer on the Enterprise was?"

Kirk raised his brows. "An Enterprise tradition I don't know? Now you're really making me curious."

Sulu closed his arm around Kirk's chest and gently directed him to lean over the helmsman's console.

"And I'd always wondered if they had been designed for this," Kirk said dryly as he closed his hands around the upper edges of the console for stabilization.

Sulu stepped behind him and pressed his formidable bulge between the captain's buttocks where it fit perfectly. "Oh," he said and reached around to open Kirk's pants once more, "Mr. Spock had found a very logical reason when he had requested the general height adjustment..."

The End