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Once again, they materialized on the surface of an alien planet.
Khan was next to Jim, half turned towards him, obviously attuned to him.
Or, part of him was. The Augment's eyes certainly were elsewhere, darting here and there, picking up things that were beyond the range of Jim's perception, his head canted to pick up sounds inaudible to human ears, and God only knew what scents he was drawing up through his augmented nose.
By now, Jim was used to it. Tricorders, of course, were capable of so much more, but they could only register things. They didn't give recommendations. They didn't think. The Augment at Jim's side also extrapolated and strategized from what he perceived, and had saved the lives of the landing party more than once because of it.
"Well?" Jim finally asked, when Khan had remained silent, a curious smirk on his chiseled features.
"Animals nearby," was his Consultant's report. "Probably not dangerous. Some sort of industrial activity a few miles away, stationary. That'd be our objective. There's also a storm coming towards us, won't hit for at least a couple hours, but it will be severe. Oh, and you should probably take some antihistamines. We're surrounded by blooming plant life."
On cue, Jim sneezed.
Khan's eyes crinkled at the corners - his equivalent of a full-blown smile.
Jim scowled at him, not meaning it. Seeing the Augment like that - amused and almost unguarded - certainly was worth whatever discomfort he himself was feeling. He sneezed again, not having to fake it, and was rewarded by a deepening of the nascent smile.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Jim mock-grumbled, fishing for the epidermal patch he hoped would stop the itching in his nose and eyes.
Khan did. Well, he didn't exactly laugh, but he kept his smirk firmly in place, with a side of superiority about human frailty.
Just then, a flock of bird-like flying things passed overhead, beaks wide open, though no sound emerged.
To Jim's amazement, Khan's smile dissolved into an expression of pain as the Augment raised both hands to his ears. "Ow."
"Supersonics?" Jim hazarded a guess, briefly side-eyeing the flyers.
Khan, still holding his ears firmly closed, read the word off Jim's lips and nodded. With a wince, he removed one hand to pull the ear plugs he had designed, following a similar situation a week ago, out of his pocket. They would filter out the supersonics while leaving lower frequencies unaffected.
Jim couldn't keep a smile off his face. Being augmented clearly wasn't an advantage all the time.
"Better," Khan said, after a moment.
Jim, too felt his nose clear and his eyes stop watering. "Same."
Thus plugged up and patched up, they turned towards their objective, side by side.
Jim grinned. We're quite a pair. In more ways than one.
And he wouldn't have it any other way.