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In hindsight, Jim thought that he really should have been paying more attention to the general hustle and bustle of the going ons in the rec room. It wasn’t a requirement of his, as the captain, but he liked getting to know his crew and if he had been paying attention, he might have avoided any unnecessary –but unavoidable– embarrassment. No matter now, however.
He and Spock had entered the space together a few minutes after the end of their shift. There was nothing unusual about that; if Spock was in a more social mood, he and Jim would often play a few rounds of chess, their conversations fading into the backdrop of the rec room. It wasn’t always busy, but it was rare to find the room deserted.
On that particular evening, however, Spock had agreed to assist Uhura in her pet project of translating her nephew’s favored romance novel into Vulcan as an upcoming birthday gift. It was admiral, really, Jim had met the young man once and found it amusing that he was taking after Uhura’s interest in xenolinguistics and teaching himself Vulcan. He was almost fully fluent now and the translated book was something of an award for his progress and determination.
Jim had originally accompanied Spock in order to greet Uhura and check on her progress – her nephew had also shown a recent interest in Starfleet and his aunt’s career aboard the Enterprise, so the book was to be bound at the next Starbase they docked at and signed with personal messages from the Enterprise bridge crew, so Jim was bound to be involved in the process at some point or another, and he liked seeing Uhura’s eyes light up when she got to tell him about her progress – but when Jim made to leave, he felt slightly disappointed at not having spent more time with his crew. So, Jim made the executive decision to leave Spock and Uhura to their translation and settle himself on one of the rec room’s couches with a spare PADD he used in his free time. Jim had miraculously managed to finish the majority of his reports on the bridge and was looking forward to catching up on some of his recreational reading.
As it was, Jim was lulled into relaxation by the quiet chatter of the room, the hum of the warp core that seemed to permeate every part of the ship, and the calm, steady, pace of his novel – so much so, that Jim had forgotten all about Spock and Uhura’s collaboration just a few feet away at a nearby table.
Despite Jim’s lack, or abundance, of focus, his first response to hearing the word ‘k’diwa’ in Spock’s low voice, was to respond with a projected, “yes, ashayam?”
The room around Jim went quiet, but not fully silent. It wasn’t until he heard Uhura’s soft, melodic laughter that Jim noticed the change in atmosphere as well as what he had just done. Jim had just responded to a Vulcan term of endearment that Spock said, in public – although, looking back, it was said in a near clinical tone rather than the way that Spock liked to breathe it into Jim’s ear in their quarters when they were making love or the quiet way he used it to get Jim’s attention – and had then responded, instinctually, with his own Vulcan term of endearment, no less.
Spock had swiveled slightly in his seat to face Jim’s direction, blinking owlishly under the soft lighting of the room, struggling to fight down the beginnings of a dark green blush. Jim felt his own cheeks warm just as he felt warmth bloom in his chest at his love for Spock and the comfort he felt among his crew to respond to Spock’s accidental call. Spock’s hands tightened on his thighs, fingers twisting in the fabric of his pants, and the ivory blush on his face faded somewhat, only for the tips of his ears to begin to burn a bright green. Jim knew that Spock liked it when he spoke vulcan, particularly in the bedroom, but Jim had never spoken it out in public, other than when strictly necessary.
That, and that the majority of the crew were unaware of Jim and Spock’s relationship – other than McCoy as Jim’s best and closest friend, Uhura as Spock’s best and closest friend, and Sulu simply because of his status as a nosy sonofabitch that would have found out sooner or later if they hadn’t told him, then gossiped to the rest of the crew. Confidentiality was important as a part of senior staff, but with nothing else to do in the darkness of space, the crew could be the absolute worst gossip.
“Not in front of the crew, t'hy'la,” Spock managed to project through their bond, the phrase tinged with embarrassment and a thrill of shock and love. Spock, for all of his Vulcan control, liked to be claimed and to show everyone just who he belonged to. Jim was quite amenable to Spock’s desire, but there was still a time and place for everything and Jim was hesitant to share Spock with anyone else.
Jim smiled slightly, his cheeks still burning. Sure, the closest of the crew in the rec room had caught the exchange, but other than Uhura, they likely weren’t all that familiar with the Vulcan language, let alone the terms of endearments that were typically reserved for bonded Vulcan pairs and that Jim and Spock used in the privacy of their rooms.
Uhura, as the one of two who understood enough Vulcan to have catched the meaning of the phrases, grinned wide. With a sparkle in her eyes, she said in flawless Vulcan: “you two are perfect for each other.”
Spock’s blush came raging back twice as strong and Jim just laughed, taking a moment to translate Uhura’s Vulcan to Standard in his head. Jim knew enough to be mostly conversational, but he was far from fluent like Uhura’s nephew, Uhura herself, or Spock, who grew up fully bilingual. Although it wasn’t ideal, accidentally responding to a pet name wasn’t the worst way for the crew – or at least a part of the crew, even if they didn’t fully understand the significance of the moment – to find out about Jim and Spock’s relationship.
Maybe Spock would be a little more comfortable with the idea of telling the rest of the bridge crew about their relationship.