Chapter Text
It happens for the first time during one of their chess dates. Though calling them ‘dates’ may just be wishful thinking, Jim muses.
Spock’s eying the pieces on the board in that speculative way of his. Jim can practically feel him deliberate between moving his knight or one of his pawns, hoping to capture Jim’s bishop; Jim comes up with contingency plans for either. He wonders if Spock realizes how transparent he can be, sometimes.
It’s all in his eyes. They can be surprisingly expressive, especially when he lets his guard down, stops trying to keep his emotions reined in...well, at least stops trying as hard as he usually does. Several months have passed since their chess sessions (not dates, Jim reminds himself) became a regular thing, and Jim’s still equal parts fond and smug that Spock trusts him enough to relax around him.
Spock’s hand reaches out to hover over his pawn — Jim totally called it — when there’s a little buzz from under the table. Spock’s communicator.
After fishing it out of his pocket, Spock glances at the Caller ID and blinks. He looks kind of startled.
Jim’s immediately intrigued.
“Sorry, Jim,” Spock says, eyes darting up from the screen. “I should probably answer this.”
Jim watches as Spock greets the person on the other end of the line and tries to listen for any clues about the topic of the conversation. It must be something important, if Spock put their game on pause for it.
A few seconds later, Jim notices with no small amount of incredulity that Spock’s blushing, the tips of his ears flushed a light shade of green.
What?
Spock notices Jim noticing and the green darkens. “That’s illogical,” he mumbles — mumbles! — into his communicator, petulant. “And inappropriate.”
Then, “Fine. I’ll think about it.”
Spock hangs up. Clears his throat. He says, “Let’s get back to the game, shall we?”
And Jim desperately wants to ask questions, but he sees the new tension in Spock’s shoulders and the shy, almost flustered way he’s averting his eyes, and he stays quiet. His curiosity isn’t worth sacrificing Spock’s comfort. Especially not over something that seems so… personal.
“Your move.”