The Kiss (Star Trek: TOS story by Amanda Warrington)

Fanfiction
Title:	The Kiss
Author(s):	Amanda Warrington
Date(s):	print zine-(5/1994) The K/S Archive - (1/2009) Archive of Our Own - (4/2012)
Length:	print zine-35 pages The K/S Archive - 40,719 words Archive of Our Own - 40,813 words
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:	The Kirk/Spock Fanfiction Archive Archive of Our Own
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The Kiss is a Kirk/Spock story by Amanda Warrington.

It was published in the print zine, and online in 2009.

Summary

Sent to retrieve a scientist the Federation fears has gone over to the Romulans, Kirk and Spock end up in a kiss while undercoverand trying to keep the man under surveillance in a gay bar

Reactions and Reviews

Unknown Date

A classic Kirk-struggles-with-his-sexuality fic. But don't be put off by the premise, because it's long and plotty and hot like burning. Probably better if you've seen the TOS ep "The Immunity Syndrome", as it's crucial to the latter part of the fic and mostly skimmed over.

1994

“The Kiss” of the title, which takes place in a gay bar of the same name, is without a doubt the sexiest, bar none, that I've ever encountered in K/S fiction. If there were prizes for this sort of thing (and maybe there should be, although then you'd have to explain to your grandparents how it came to be on your mantel) this would be the hands-down winner.

The first half of the story smoothly integrates a K/S first time into a nifty intrigue-and-adventure tale in which Kirk and Spock are ordered by a rogue admiral to trail, spy on and apprehend a civilian scientist who the admiral thinks is about to defect to the Romulans. (If you’re concerned about potential due process problems here, rest assured that the admiral does get his comeuppance) The details of Kirk's and Spock's shadowing their target, traveling from port to port, bugging the hotel, etc. are extremely well written and make fascinating reading. Our guys trail their quarry to a gay bar and eventually find out, in an interesting and poignant subplot, what really is going on in his life. But first, the Kiss, which the pair are more or less forced into by an insistent bar owner. Of course, it leads to a K/S relationship and to some of the hottest sex scenes on record.

At the beginning of the bar scene, the pair have a hard time getting in until Kirk, in a wonderfully Kirkish display of the blarney, convinces the bar owner that he wants to get it on with Spock. This was so well done, and worked so well, that I really wish the author had kept it up. Instead, both men are unhappy campers once they get into the bar. Uncharacteristically, they let their irritation with the bar owner and the clientele get the better of them, almost to the point of jeopardizing their mission. This was strangely unprofessional of Kirk and Spock and quite unnecessary, even counterproductive, to the story. I would have loved it if the Kiss had been initiated by Kirk in an effort to play the part of a gay cruiser to the hilt, as part of his personal best to maintain their "cover."

Anyway, they get together. The second half of the story deals with the issue, "will they stay together?" In an interesting twist, Spock is experienced in gay sex, has wanted a permanent relationship with Kirk for some time, and sees this get-together as an opportunity to convince Kirk that Spock is the best sexual partner he'll ever have. Needless to say, Spock does a fantastic job; he sure convinced me.

However, the hitherto exclusively-heterosexual Kirk has doubts. The weakest part of the story begins when our captain, fresh from never having been laid so good in his life, unaccountably decides he's attracted to a bimbonic passenger on a cruise ship. He doesn't consummate it (frankly, after all the action with Spock I'd be shocked if he could get it up more than a millimeter), but nevertheless comes to the conclusion that (a) he isn't ready to settle down with a man and (b) he isn't ready to settle down, period.

The difficulty with problems (a) and ( b) is that they are posed almost as theoretical difficulties for Kirk, He announces to Spock that he doesn't think he can give up women and that he has a fear of commitment, but we don't see why, or even what he feels. We don't see him struggle or sweat about commitment nor do we see a strong sexual need for a woman that can't be satisfied with Spock. Kirk's decision not to continue his relationship with Spock seems almost intellectual, without any real underpinning in emotions or drives.

It's not illogical that Kirk would have a problem giving up women or a problem with commitment. The difficulty with this story, rather, is that neither problem was developed dramatically so that the reader experiences it as a problem. Besides, the combination of (a) and (b) is one dramatic obstacle too many. The story would have been stronger had the author focused on one of them, and then shown Kirk really struggling with his own needs and feelings.

Both problems dissipate after a tie-in from "The Immunity Syndrome" in which Kirk realizes, after Spock almost dies, that he can't bear to live without him, and McCoy explains to Kirk that his interest in casual encounters with women isn't really a problem after all. This brings us back, more or less, to where we were in mid-story. What was hard to see as a real problem in the first place is revealed as a non-problem.

While a story in which Kirk decides to go on tomcatting is not my favorite type of K/S story, I do wish that the author had either not raised this as a problem or, having raised it, had written a real story about it, that is, a story in which the problem is a problem, but is worked through and resolved. As it is, she raises it, only to avoid it.

The story ends with more great sex. Overall, it's a good read and highly recommended provided you have a cold shower at the ready.

1999

It’s not tight enough. Scattered through this story there are parts where the reader isn’t brought into the action. This severely hampers the flow. I loved the kiss scene though. Kirk is testing the waters in order to find out if his reaction to that kiss was accidental—does he have homosexual tendencies? Fine testing ground.