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Spock looked like a disgruntled cat.
Jim resisted the urge to laugh as he watched his half-Vulcan boyfriend delicately step through the heavy snow that littered the ground outside, trying in vain to not get it on himself. They had been on away missions to snowy planets before, but this was the first time that Jim had seen Spock interact with snow in a non-professional setting. That Spock had agreed to spend their winter shore leave with him in Iowa was enough to make him pinch himself to check if he was dreaming.
“Spock, the snow isn’t going to kill you.” Jim joked lightly, earning a soft glare in return.
“I am aware. However, I still do not understand why you humans are so enamoured with snow.”
Jim shrugged. “It’s fun! Sure it’s cold, probably colder for you, but you can play in it and sled and even make snowmen!”
“‘Snow-men’?”
Jim laughed. “Yeah! C’mere.”
Spock slowly made his way towards Jim and watched warily as Jim began to form a large ball of snow, rolling it until it was big enough to work as a base for their snowman.
“There, so that’s the bottom. You try to roll a slightly smaller one that we can put on top to be its belly.” Jim instructed and snickered as Spock stared at the snow with trepidation.
“It is cold.”
“You’ve got mittens on, Spock.”
Spock gave Jim a side-eyed look before letting out a soft sigh, gathering some snow and attempting to mimic Jim’s actions from earlier, forming a somewhat lumpy ball that worked for the midsection of their snowman. Jim lifted the ball and managed to get it on top of his, and turned to grin at Spock, who was brushing the snow on his mittens off on the side of his pants. Truly, he looked like a cat, and Jim resisted the urge to coo at him.
“Okay, one more.”
For the next bit of time, the two managed to make another small ball and added it to the snowman, and Jim grabbed some sticks and small pebbles, explaining to Spock how the items were used to complete the snowman.
Spock raised an eyebrow. “This is… illogical.”
“It’s fun! And fun is always logical. C’mon, put the sticks where the arms should be.”
Spock stuck the sticks in, looking at the snowman with a curiosity that was endearing. Soon enough, the snowman was more or less complete, and while Jim wished for things like a scarf and carrot to top off the look, he figured it was a good first snowman for his boyfriend.
“See? All done! Look how cute he is!”
Spock tilted his head slightly. “What are we to do now?”
Jim shrugged. “Admire our work! It’ll be here till the snow melts.”
“So it is simply decoration?”
“I think so. The process is the best part, I figure.”
Spock looked unamused, but the way his eyes glittered a bit when looking at the snowman showed Jim that he agreed, and Jim felt a flush of pride.
“Thank you, for showing me this human tradition.” Spock replied, and Jim laughed, pulling Spock in for a soft kiss.
“Any time. Maybe tomorrow I can show you what a snowball fight is.”
“I’m afraid I do not understand why one would fight in the snow voluntarily.”
“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll see soon enough. Maybe we can ambush Bones too. He loves snowball fights.”
Spock looked at Jim. “I find your statement a bit dubious.” He replied, though the corner of his lip twitched upwards.
Oh yes , Jim thought, this was going to be a good winter shore leave.