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It was cold in the tent.
That’s all Spock could think about. He should have been thinking about what predators, if any, were on this uncharted planet. He should have been thinking about getting the communicators working again. He should have been thinking about his broken ankle. He should have been thinking about when the Enterprise was going to come back around, find them, and pick them up.
But he could only think of the cold.
The rain hammered on top of the tent. Jim and Leonard could only sit and watch it fall from inside their temporary shelter whilst Spock sat with their commutators, adjusting the frequencies so they could pick up the Enterprise. The trouble was, the Enterprise had to warp out on an urgent rescue mission. An earthquake had devastated a human settlement on a planet in the neighbouring star system. Scotty had received the call whilst he, Jim and Leonard were scouting this unknown class-M planet, and Jim had ordered the Enterprise to go and help with the relief efforts. But the transporter had malfunctioned and would take a few hours to fix, so Jim had ordered the Enterprise away.
Then there was a heavy rock-slide moments after the Enterprise had warped out of orbit, in which all their communicators were crushed, along with Spock’s ankle.
It was all a bit of a disaster.
“How’s the pain, Spock?” Leonard asked, tearing his eyes away from the rain to run a tricorder over Spock’s still form.
“Manageable.” He said, shortly. Because it was manageable. And that was the fifth time in an hour the doctor had asked the question. And he was cold.
His leg was stretched out in front of him, pillowed on Jim’s folded golden command shirt, ankle splinted. The bone had torn out through the skin, and it had been quite a gruesome sight. But as unpleasant as it was, he would live.
Thunder crashed above them, a strong gust of wind shook the tent and their lantern flickered.
Spock was unable to suppress a shiver.
“How’s the communicator coming along?” Jim asked. Spock didn’t have to look up to know his captain was smiling sympathetically. Spock was aware he probably looked a sorry sight.
“I’m almost done.” He said, clicking the final piece back into place. He handed it over to Jim.
The Captain flipped it open. “Kirk to Enterprise.” He said, but there was no response.
“Out of range.” Leonard sighed heavily.
“They’ll be a couple of days at least.” Jim grimaced as he looked down at Spock’s ankle. Spock followed his gaze to the green-spotted bandage. Leonard had been able to stop the bleeding by stitching the wound. Practically a medieval method, but they didn’t have anything on them but a simple first aid kit. It was only supposed to be a simple scouting mission.
“Looks like we’re camping,” Leonard said. “Haven’t been camping in years!”
“Well, we can’t make a fire.” Jim eyed the rain still pouring down in sheets outside the tent. They were lucky they were on top of a hill. Both humans glanced to Spock, who had begun shivering ever so slightly.
Spock only raised an eyebrow in response.
“You can admit you’re cold,” Leonard said, tersely. “We’re not gonna laugh at you.”
Spock’s eyebrow remained where it was. “Are you not?”
Leonard shook his head, exasperated. “I want to have a look at that ankle again. Spock, do you mind?”
“I mind very much,” Spock said, an edge of annoyance creeping into his tone. Admittedly, he was quite tired. And cold. He hadn’t slept for quite a while, and the rain was starting to sound quite soothing. But he pulled himself back to give the Doctor room to inspect his ankle.
“You always were a crappy patient,” Leonard said, but his words were almost fond. He took Spock’s ankle and rested it in his lap.
While this was happening, Jim stood and made his way behind Spock before sitting down behind the Vulcan and wrapped his arms around him.
Spock immediately tensed, just as Leonard laid a cautious hand on the bruised skin of his ankle. “Captain, what are you doing?”
“Warming you up,” Jim said, pulling the Vulcan into his arms and resting his chin on top perfectly combed hair, effectively forcing Spock to sag against his bare chest. Jim was warm.
This, combined with his foot in the doctor’s lap, being subjected to impossibly careful and tender touches, caused Spock to blush. “This is wholly unprofessional.” He muttered.
“We may as well be off the clock now,” Leonard said as he reached into his bag to pull out clean bandages. Spock glanced down at the wound. It looked ugly, the black stitches stood out against his pale skin, which was blotched with yellows and greens. It almost looked as bad as it felt.
Jim was lightly scratching his scalp now, and if Spock wasn’t trying to block the pain, he would have reacted. Leonard held the splint in place as he re-wrapped the ankle. Watching the bandage circle around his foot was almost hypnotising and Spock let his eyelids flutter.
Leonard gently lowered his foot back down to where it had been resting on Jim’s shirt. “It’s looking as good as it’s gonna get while we’re down here.” He shot Spock a sympathetic smile. “Sorry I can’t do anymore, darlin’.”
“It can’t be helped,” Spock said. Wind penetrated the tent then, and despite the warmness of Jim’s chest, Spock shivered again.
Leonard’s brow creased. “We don’t have any blankets.” His voice was almost apologetic.
Spock was about to repeat his earlier statement, but instead, he sneezed. Leonard’s brow furrowed even further.
“Well. Looks like we’re just gonna have to cuddle.” Jim said in feigned resignation. He rubbed his hands up and down Spock’s upper arms.
“Ever the optimist.” Leonard chuckled as he zipped the front of the tent closed. “Come on then. Let’s cuddle.”
“Cuddling is not even remotely professional,” Spock said, but mentally slapped himself. Truth be told – he really wanted to cuddle.
“Shut up Spock,” Leonard said as he shrugged off his shirt. “We’re keeping you warm. As a doctor, I think it’s very professional.”
“And a captain always has a duty to protect his crew,” Jim said. He gripped the hem of Spock’s own shirt, and once he got Spock’s nod of approval, helped the Vulcan out of it.
Once all three men were shirtless, Jim helped Spock lie down on his side whilst Leonard held the Vulcan’s injured ankle still. Spock was able to lie down without incident but didn’t bother to suppress a wince when he had to twist his leg slightly.
It was only Jim and Leonard after all.
When he was down, Jim tucked himself behind him, slotting one arm around Spock’s waist, one underneath the Vulcan’s head. Leonard lay down on the other side, pulling Spock into his chest. Once they were all settled, Spock let his eyes flutter shut.
Eventually, Spock allowed himself to purr.
“There he is,” Leonard mumbled sleepily against Spock’s scalp. Spock felt Jim let out a puff of laughter against the back of his head.
It had taken a long time for Spock to have the confidence to let himself purr in front of other people. In his entire life, he had only done it in front of two people – his mother and his sister, Michael. Now Jim and Leonard.
The rain continued to pelt against the side of the canvas tent. It seemed to have picked up within the last few minutes. But that was Ok.
Spock was finally warm.