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“Mr. Sulu, you have the helm.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
“Alert me if there’s any trouble. I’m going to bed.”
“Aye, sir. Will do.”
Captain Kirk stepped on to the elevator and turned the handle. “Deck three,” he told the computer.
As he walked up to the door to his quarters, he was surprised to see his second-in-command, Commander Spock, standing there.
“Spock, I thought you had gone to your quarters an hour ago.”
Spock looked up from the tablet in his hands. “I had, Captain. But then my computer alerted me to the final task on my roster for today. It must have slipped my mind.”
Kirk raised his eyebrows. “Oh? You have a mind like a titanium trap. I’m surprised anything slipped through.”
“I admit, I have been a bit distracted lately, which is why I am grateful for the reminder.”
“Do you always keep a task roster for yourself?”
“I do, actually. Not that they are usually necessary, but it is good to record where I left off in my usual tasks should an emergency or other important event occur.”
Kirk gave a curt nod. “Logical, as always, Mr. Spock.”
“Thank you.”
Tired of standing out in the corridor, Kirk opened the door to his cabin and gestured for Spock to enter first. “Do you keep a daily roster for me, as well?”
“Of course. As your First Officer, I keep rosters and crew schedules for the whole ship.” He pulled out the chair on the far side of Kirk’s desk. “You know that.”
The whoosh of the door shutting covered the sound of Kirk’s chuckle as he walked over and took his own seat at the desk.
Turning towards the replicator, Kirk picked up a disk and slid it into the slot. “Join me for dinner?”
“Yes, thank you, Captain.”
A moment later, they each had a bowl in front of them. Some sort of blue vegetable soup. Kirk wasn’t sure what planet it had come from, but it smelled good.
They ate for a few minutes, content in the silence. It was nice to relax for a few minutes before heading to bed.
“So what was that thing you forgot to do?”
“Mm, yes, my apologies.” Spock handed his tablet, which he had laid aside on the desk, over. “It is time for my annual report.”
Kirk paused, his spoon halfway to his open mouth, as he looked up at his friend. “Already? I feel like we just did this.” He took his bite as Spock answered.
“That was the quarterly report last week.”
“Mm.” Kirk picked up the tablet and looked at the screen, his brow furrowing as he chewed. Swallowing, he rubbed his face. “I must have been more tired than I thought. I didn’t even notice the time passing.”
“These last few months have been uniquely stressful.”
“Concerned for me, are you?” Kirk smirked.
Spock just stared at him.
“Alright.” He scanned again, briefly. Then he put the clipboard down and refocused on his food. “Anything of note?”
“A few items. First, Engineering has found a hairline fracture in one of our dilithium fuel crystals. It’s efficiency and maximum output have decreased by twenty-seven percent.”
“Well that’s unfortunate. Have the helm plot a course to the next starbase at a safe speed. We can’t risk it breaking altogether and blowing up the engine.”
“Already done, sir.”
“Next?”
“Next I have several requests for quarters reassignment. Moreso than usual.”
“Is that so strange?”
Spock shook his head. “No. Long voyages lead those not otherwise paired to pair up, due to the lack of availability and long periods of time spent together.” He took a bite of his food.
“Lack of availability? Spock, this ship has over four hundred people on it. I grew up near towns that had smaller populations.”
“And how many of the people in those towns left when they grew of age to find mates? How many strangers did they bring home with them?”
Kirk nodded. “Okay, fair point. I take it you have similar situations on Vulcan.”
“Yes. In fact, some clan compounds on Vulcan, such as T’Pau’s, are larger than the population of this ship. But also there are small villages. Vulcan and Earth are not so different.”
“Yes,” Kirk said thoughtfully, staring off into space over Spock’s shoulder. “And I’m sure you’ve heard stories from your mother.”
“Mm.”
Still not looking at his friend, Kirk leaned on his hand. “These quarter reassignments, they’re for the married couples, yes?”
Spock nodded.
Kirk’s brow furrowed. “So just how many marriages have I performed over this last year?”
“Three, plus one that Dr. McCoy performed in our stead during the week that we were both unavailable.”
Kirk looked at Spock, memory in his eyes. “The Tertian-5C incident, yeah?”
Spock nodded again.
“So that’s four quarter reassignments.” Kirk shrugged. “Not too bad. A little much for only being a year on, but it happens.”
“Seven, actually,” corrected Spock.
“Seven?”
“Indeed. It seems that among humans, co-habitating whilst in a relationship does not necessarily need, nor prelude to, marriage.”
Kirk shrugged off his initial shock and took another bite of soup. “Not everyone feels it is necessary for happiness.”
“Do you, Captain?”
Thinking for a moment, Kirk nodded gently, frowning thoughtfully. “Well, in general, I wouldn’t mind, but I would prefer to come to that conclusion in accordance with my partner.
“Hm.”
“I understand why that would be strange to you, after what happened with T’Pring.”
“Yes.”
They went quiet, Spock staring down at his half-empty bowl and Kirk staring at his friend, almost seeing the gears turning between his Vulcan ears.
“Have you been researching human courting rituals, Mr. Spock?”
Spock came back to himself and looked up to find that ever-present smirk on his captain’s face again. “Yes,” he answered. “The, uh, unusual number of requests piqued my interest.”
Kirk nodded, still smirking. “I’m sure they did. All in the name of science, of course.”
“I’m pleased you understand me, Captain.” The relief was audible in his voice.
Kirk sat back and laughed, his eyes closed, hovering his spoon over his bowl. “Spock,” he wheezed, “Spock, I don’t know if you know this,” he paused to swallow, “but despite my quips with Dr. McCoy in your presence, I understand you perfectly well most of the time. It is one of the greatest benefits of having you as my First Officer.”
Spock raised an eyebrow. “Thank you?” he said hesitantly. “I do not always understand you, or Dr. McCoy, but I enjoy your company nonetheless.”
“Thank you.” Kirk’s bright smile still sat across his face. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand all the time, anyway, what with you being raised in Vulcan society. I mean, I know your mother’s human, but I’ve seen the way she is with your father.”
“My mother is a wonderful woman.”
“No doubt.”
“And she does her best to conform to Vulcan society.”
“But no doubt she slips up from time to time, yeah?”
Spock thought for a minute. “In public? Not that I recall ever seeing. At home? At home she is not so tightly bound, which I have seen pleases my father on many occasions. It is the strength of that public veneer, that resilience in the face of that which is unfamiliar, even decades later, that gives me the utmost admiration and respect for her.”
“She acts more human at home?”
Spock nodded.
“That explains your sass.” He finished off the last of his soup.
Spock raised that cocky eyebrow of his again. “Captain?”
Kirk waved in a “don’t worry about it” gesture, then pointed at Spock’s bowl. “Are you finished with that?”
“Hm? Oh.” Spock finished his soup real quick and handed the bowl and spoon back to his friend. “Thank you.”
Kirk nodded, took them, stacked them together neatly, and placed them back in the replicator. With a push of a button, they were sanitized and the synthetic materials disintegrated to be recycled at a later time.
“Chess?” Kirk offered.
Spocked nodded, his eyebrows back to normal level. “Why not? A little recreation before bed can be quite relaxing.”
“I agree.” Kirk got up and fetched the 3D chess set from the chest of drawers in his living room. Sitting back down, he put it on the table. “Black or white this time?”
“I believe it is my turn to be white.”
“Alright.”
Together they set up the game.
Spock moved first. A pawn.
“So did you approve of the quarter reassignments?” Kirk moved a rook down to the lower level.
“As all parties involved consented and they did not put a strain on those particular crewmans’ schedules, yes.” Another pawn.
“You know not all couples can handle that level of togetherness? Sometimes they think they can, but then they get on the same schedule, and they work in the same field, or sometimes even the same room, and they see and interact with each other constantly. Sometimes to the point of not getting any private time for themselves.”
“I imagine those situations would grow quite tense for those people.”
Kirk nodded and moved one of his pawns. “It can. Everybody needs a break now and then, even from those they care for most.”
“Even you, Jim?” Spock moved one of his knights out to guard his pawns. “Do you think you could be parted from the Enterprise?”
“Permanently? Nah.” He moved a knight to challenge Spock’s. “Temporarily? Hehe. What do you think shore leave is?”
Spock nodded. “Excellent point.” He moved a bishop up a level.
“So how many empty quarters does that give us?”
“Nine, plus the few originally reserved for escorted passengers of note.”
“Thank you.” Jim poked his queen out past his pawns. Not too far. Just enough to show that he meant business.
Spock raised an eyebrow, surprised at the early reveal. “Despite the statistically negative goings on whenever I leave the ship, I must admit the lack of metal plating and artificial lighting can be, how do you humans put it…’a sight for sore eyes’.” He moved another pawn off to the side.
“Yes...yes indeed.” Jim blocked Spock’s newest pawn with one of his own. “I’m afraid I haven’t seen much of Vulcan. Do you have gardens? Forests? Or is most of your vegetation grown through scientific means? Greenhouses, botanical laboratories, etc.”
“Of course we have naturally occurring flora. Vulcans, after all, are omnivores. We must grow some of our food. Like Earth, we have genetically tailored some plants to suit our needs, but there are still wild versions. And many of the wild places on Vulcan are dangerous. Only our bravest and most elite hunters dare enter them, and even then mostly just to impress guests and high-ranking diplomats and officials with banquets. A custom I believe Vulcan and Earth share.” Spock used his other bishop to take out Jim’s side pawn.
Jim rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. “That we do. Food always brings everyone together.” Then he moved another pawn on the other side. “Tell me, Spock. What’s your favorite Vulcan plant.?”
“Favorite?”
“Yes. Favorite. The one you enjoy, or at least admire the most. Surely you have one.”
Spock’s hand hovered over the board as he thought. Finally he picked up the bishop that had taken out the pawn and moved it back a level, out of potential reach of Jim’s queen. “I would have to say, when properly translated, the Ladder-Tower Orchid.”
“Oh? And why’s that?” Kirk moved his queen back to her original place.
“It has excellent tensile strength, using itself and the stems of its leaves to create a tower of interwoven ladders, each layer blooming in tandem in order to maximize pollination potential. The flowers bloom in groups of five and can vary in color, taking advantage of all the light spectrums they can due to our weaker sun. The blossoms themselves are small, no bigger than this piece.” He lifted a rook off the top layer and placed it on the bottom. “But they are so tightly woven together that to remove one would be to remove the whole cluster. And if they reach maturity, many become towers large enough to house small animals. A symbiotic relationship is formed. The plant hides the animal’s young from would-be predators, and the animals travel with the pollen on their bodies to other plants, bringing about cross-pollination. The brutal wind storms that occur across Vulcan also help with pollination, but this small plant is strong enough to withstand most of nature’s abuse.”
“Sounds reasonable,” said Kirk, “but what happens when the would-be predators find other means of getting at the young? Or the plant isn’t quite mature enough yet and is destroyed by the windstorms?” He lifted his other knight up a level, placing it amidst the cluster of pieces in the middle, taking out one of Spock’s pawns and preparing to take out his recently moved rook.
“Every ecosystem must have its checks and balances,” answered Spock, moving his other knight to take out the one Jim had just moved.
“Darn it,” Jim swore, not realizing that Spock’s knight had been there.
“What about you, Jim? Do you have a favorite plant?”
Kirk closed his eyes, thinking. After a moment, he nodded. “I’m rather fond of the maple tree.” He opened his eyes again but didn’t look at Spock. Instead he was looking out over the man’s shoulder, lost in a memory. “Its leaves are like triple spearheads with nine total points, and they come in a range of colors, especially in early fall. Reds, yellows, oranges, and still some smattering of green on those that refuse to give up on summer. A rainbow running across the hills, as far as the eye can see.” He refocused on the game in front of him, hand hovering, trying to decide which piece to move. “And in the spring, it’s seeds do this unique thing where they have a fan-blade-like leaf around them, making them spin as they’re blown about by the wind.” He settled on one of his bishops and nudged it up one space. “Oh, I used to spend hours throwing up in the air just to watch them fall.”
“Hm.” Spock took out the bishop with his queen. “How poetic of you, Captain.”
Jim snorted with laughter. “I suppose it was.”
“I am vaguely familiar with maple trees. Do they have any practical applications?”
Jim nodded. “Oh, yes. The wood is hearty and strong, and is a good color. And the sap is drained and turned into confections. Mmmm.” He closes his eyes again, swallowing a bit.
“Confections? You consume the lifeblood of a tree for the sheer pleasure of it?”
“Mm-hmm.” Jim turned back to the replicator, suddenly in the mood for sweets. “Here, we can try some. It won’t be the same, of course, you’ll have to come visit Iowa with me sometime to get the real thing, but it’s as good as we can get out here.”
Spock’s ever-cocky eyebrow quirked up again for a moment. “Jim, wouldn’t killing an organism just for its sap be inefficient, not to mention hazardous? What of all the micro-organisms present in the tree?”
Kirk pushed the button on the replicator. “Oh, we don’t take all the sap. We only tap the tree itself for about a month out of the year. In the spring, when the sap gets flowing well after a winter’s hibernation. Then it gets processed, boiled down, and sterilized. We make all kinds of foods with it. Surely you have similar things on Vulcan.”
Spock nodded.
“Okay then.” Jim pulled two, small, leaf-shaped hunks of sugar from the replicator and handed one over to Spock.
He took it and turned it over in his fingers, examining the shape and color. “It’s rather large. Is it meant to be eaten all in one bite, like your boiled sweets?”
Kirk chuckled. “You could certainly try, but I would advise against it.” He took a nibble off one of the leaf points.
Just before Spock put it in his mouth, Jim said, “Oh, and I hope you like sweet.”
Spock copied his friend, nibbling off a tiny piece. He didn’t chew it, just let it sit on his tongue. Then his face puckered a bit while he processed. Clearing his throat, he put the candy down.
“Well, I must say, that is surprising.”
Kirk raised his eyebrows. “You don’t like it?”
“I did not say that. The sweetness is overpowering, but the flavor is right there alongside it. I can see why it would be unwise to eat a whole one quickly. One could become quite sick.”
“That’s what my mother said when I was seven.”
“You consumed an entire piece?”
“I ate a whole box,” Jim laughed. “Or nearly. Got about eight pieces in before I was ready to vomit. My mother caught me with the ninth in my hand.”
Spock sent his queen to take out one of Kirk’s bishops. “Check.”
“Already?” Jim scanned the board thoughtfully, surprised.
“You were not focusing on the game.”
Jim moved his king out of the way and nibbled his candy. “I suppose not.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, playing and munching. The occasional “Check” resounded when appropriate, but nothing else.
“Aha, checkmate!” Jim clacked his remaining rook down on the third level.
Spock nodded slightly, a not-quite-smile in his voice. “Congratulations. That puts our score to 74 to 13. Seven of those thirteen you’ve gotten in the last couple of months.”
“I’m getting better.”
Spock nodded again and started cleaning up the pieces.
“Maybe someday that score will even out a little.”
“Perhaps.”
Jim chuckled and finished picking up the game. “Was there anything else in that report?”
Spock picked up the pad and flicked through it. “Just need your signature on these order forms for food and medical supplies at the next starbase. Since we’ll be going there anyway, I’ve asked the various departments to give me lists of anything they may be running short of.”
“Of course. Practical and thinking ahead.” Jim winked and took the pad. A few scribbles with the stylus and he handed it back.
“Thank you, Captain.” Then Spock paused, gathering his thoughts, brow scrunched, mouth in a slight frown.
Jim frowned. He got up and came around to sit on the front edge of his desk. “I know that face. Tell me.”
Spock pursed his lips a little and didn’t look up. “Captain, I.... I have a request. A request that, depending on your answer, I would like off the record.”
“Oh?”
It took a moment, but Spock eventually said, “I was wondering, if maybe you would mind one more quarters reassignment.”
“You’re the quartermaster. Why are you asking me?”
Spock met Kirk’s eyes. “Because I need consent from all parties involved.”
It took a bit of hard staring before Jim got it. “Me? You want to move in with me?”
“Do you disapprove?”
Jim sighed and rubbed his face. Then he peeked solemnly between his fingers at his boyfriend.
Not able to stay upset long, he dropped his hands and the corner of his mouth quirked up in a soft smile. He gently held up two fingers in Spock’s direction, who responded in kind. The equivalent of holding hands, or a small kiss, on Vulcan.
“Are you sure this would be okay?” Jim asked. “You know Captains aren’t really allowed to have relationships as per regulations. Too distracting.”
“The fact that you and I have been in this relationship has been far more distracting to me than it has to you, I’m sure.”
Jim laughed and stroked his two fingers gently against Spock’s. “I don’t know if that’s true. I’ve been pretty distracted, not only with the ship to mind, and my relationship with you, but all the excursions and tragedies and incidents. It’s enough to drive a man mad.”
Spock nodded. “You are busy. But you also know that myself, Dr. McCoy, and Mr. Scott are all capable. You would not have given us our positions otherwise.”’
“You’re starting to make me think it wasn’t a wise decision.’
“Illogical, Jim. You, nor I, could have predicted our current circumstances.” Spock stroked his fingers back along Kirk’s. “You assigned us because we are best suited for the job.”
Jim nodded. “I did. And I couldn’t ask for better.”
“Thank you.”
Jim smiled and cupped Spock’s cheek in his hand, forgoing the Vulcan sign of affection for the human one.
Spock leaned his head against the palm softly. It was warm to him, humans having a higher internal temperature than Vulcans.”
“S’chn,” whispered Jim, pulling Spock’s face up to give him a kiss on the forehead.
“Jim,” Spock whispered back, running his hand up Jim’s thigh.
Kirk sighed against Spock’s forehead. “You know we need to keep this a secret as long as we can.”
“Yes, I’m aware, but if our unfocused natures have been anything to go by, I have no doubt we’ve been less inconspicuous than we thought.”
“Caught me staring at your ass, have you?” giggled Jim, moving back to look down into the man’s face.
S’chn raised an eyebrow. “I can hardly change my physical positioning. You know how my station works.”
Jim nodded.
“But not just I have noticed,” continued Spock. “One cannot fault the perceptiveness of Dr. McCoy, Mr. Scott, and the rest of the officers on the bridge. After all, it is an important skill that applies to their ranks and positions.”
“Shit.” Suddenly embarrassed, Jim got up and stretched, pulling his arms on the door jamb above the archway to his bedchamber. “I guess that means we need to tell everyone, don’t we? Despite regulations.”
“Jim, might I remind you that you have a tendency to bend, if not break, regulations if it suits you and your pursuits? If anything, I stand there and recite them just so you can know when, where, and exactly how to do so.”
Jim laughed heartily, turning and leaning against the archway, his arms crossing. “And it’s not like you stop me anyway.”
“I do so when logic dictates it is necessary.”
“Then tell me, does logic dictate that we would be able to find a loophole in regulations to permit us to be in this relationship, let alone move in with one another while on this assignment? I know if we weren’t currently, it wouldn’t be a problem, but we’ve got years until then.”
“We do. And we would. But no, I’ve run several paths through my mind. I see no available path outside leaving the ship entirely.”
“And we can’t do that.”
“No. Nor would either of us want to.”
“So what do you propose?”
S’chn raised his eyebrow again, sighing and lifting his hands in defeat. “To use an Earth phrase, and a quote Dr. McCoy often uses, ‘screw regulations’.”
Jim stared, wide-eyed, mouth hung open like a fish, at his First Officer. It took a few beats, but eventually he smirked and said, “Why S’chn T’gai Spock, I never thought I’d see the day. If only Bones were here to hear this.”
Spock frowned. “Please do not say anything to him. Our tenuous friendship primarily relies on spite and witty banter, and, on Dr. McCoy’s side, emotional outbursts.”
Jim nodded, smiling. “Between his emotional outbursts and your cool logic, I often feel as if I’m caught in the middle.”
“The proverbial angel and devil on your shoulders?” offered Spock.
“Something like that.”
“I apologize if it makes you uncomfortable.”
Jim waved his hand. “No, it’s alright.” He sat on his bed, beckoning Spock to join him. The office area seemed a bit restrictive to him at the moment.
Spock walked over and sat down.
Jim took his hands. “If anything, it can help me see the two sides of the equation in order to make the decisions I need to as a captain.”
“I’m glad to be of service.”
“Oh, Spock, you know you’re more than that to me.”
Spock nodded. “I am aware. Hence my request.”
Jim looked down at their hands and squeezed Spock’s fingers, running his thumb across the back of one hand. Then he leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“You know, usually when asking to move in with one another, the one asking is inviting the other to move in with them. Why are you asking to move in with me?”
“Your quarters are bigger.”
Jim laughed again.
After a minute, he calmed down and looked up to meet his boyfriend’s staring eyes. Smiling softly, he said, “I’ll think about it. It may mean having to adjust some of the regulations so we don’t have a full-scale riot on our hands, but I’ll think about it.”
Spock just stared at him, confused, which made him laugh again.