Work Text:
As soon as Ensign Abeladon learned that she was assigned to visit the USS Enterprise, she was very happy. The Enterprise was one of the most famous ships in Starfleet, and her exploits were borderline legendary to every Academy cadet. She didn’t do very much research in preparation, as she knew way more than she needed to know about the Enterprise and her crew from what she had learned in Starfleet Academy. Now, she was finally setting foot on the famed starship. Willing her heart to beat at a more normal pace, she stepped through the doors onto the ship. She was immediately greeted by a crewman in a red shirt, who was to escort her to her room. The politeness of the crewman pleasantly surprised her, as most of the lower-ranking members of Starfleet she had encountered tended to be terse and somewhat sullen.
“Your dinner meeting with the Captain and the senior crew will be at 18:00 hours in the conference room. Captain Kirk says that he is looking forward to meeting with you.” he said as they arrived at her guest quarters.
“Thank you for your service.” she replied.
The crewman nodded in acknowledgement, and left. Abeladon entered her quarters, and set her bag down on the bed. She had a little bit of time before she would need to start getting ready for the dinner. She started thinking about the senior crew, and about how wonderful it was going to be to meet them. Chekov, Sulu, Uhura, Scott, McCoy, Kirk, Spock… those people were her idols. She had grown up learning about everything that they had done in service of Starfleet. And now she was going to meet them… She looked at the clock on the wall, and saw that it was already 17:30. She needed to start getting ready.
Abeladon walked down the corridor of the Enterprise to the conference room, taking deep, calming breaths all the while. She was not going to freak out when she met the crew. That she had to make sure of. She had to make a good first impression. Sooner than she perhaps wanted, she arrived at the doors to the conference room. Taking one last deep breath, she walked through the doors into the room.
Even though she had taken care to leave her quarters early, she was still the last one there. She saw that there was one empty seat left, in between Kirk and Uhura. So she was going to be sitting next to the captain. No big deal. She quickly took in the rest of the seating around the round table, and saw that Spock was sitting on Kirk’s other side (which made sense, considering that Spock was the first officer of the ship). McCoy was sitting next to Spock, and next to him was Scott, Chekov, Sulu, and then back to Uhura and Abeladon. She quickly took her seat, and attempted to introduce herself to the captain, but he beat her to it.
“You must be Ensign Abeladon. James T Kirk, Captain of the Enterprise.” he said to her, shaking her hand.
Abeladon suppressed her urge to yell out in pure joy, instead saying, “It is an honor to meet you,” and returning the handshake (probably for longer than was expected). Thankfully, after greeting her, Kirk went back to the conversation that he was having with Spock. Uhura also greeted her, and once the meal had been brought from the replicators, Abeladon tried her best to focus on the food that she was eating. However, due to the fact that the Captain was sitting right next to her, she couldn’t help but pick up on a bit of what Kirk was exchanging with his First Officer.
“...I can’t help but notice that you’ve barely touched your meal.” Spock said.
“It’s nothing. I just don’t care much for the meat that the replicator typically makes.” Kirk replied.
“Still, you need to eat. You’ve gone far too long since your last meal.”
“I’ve told you once and I’ve told you again, I’m fine. Relax, ashaya t’nash-veh. Enjoy your own meal.”
Now, Abeladon had never been one for xenolinguistics, but she was pretty sure that she had heard the Captain of the Enterprise call his First Officer “my love” in Vulcan. What had happened? It seemed a little bit strange to call your subordinate by a Vulcan pet name, especially at a formal dinner. The ensign decided to shrug it off. She was sure that there was some reason for it.
The food had long since been finished, and now everyone was moving on to talking about what the Enterprise had done since there had been a meeting with Starfleet. She knew that most of it was just formalities, and an extensive report would be sent back with her, but she still tried her best to listen to the conversation. Unfortunately, she was again distracted by what Kirk and Spock were doing. As the discussion had been going on, the two of them has been holding hands on top of the table. Obvious reasons aside, Abeladon knew that Vulcans had particularly sensitive hands, and that finger-to-finger contact was their way of kissing. With this fact in mind, she found it strange that a Vulcan like Mr Spock would consent to contact of such a nature. But again, she tried to force it to the back of her mind, chalking it up as another quirk of command.
More time had passed and the conversation had devolved into small talk among the officers. She had heard snippets of conversations from around the table, including one between Chekov and Sulu that concerned her because it seemed to be about knives. Bored out of her mind, Abeladon turned to her right to attempt to strike up a conversation with Kirk, only to see that he was talking to Spock. The two seemed to have never stopped talking to, touching, or looking at each other during the entire dinner. This reawoke her suspicions. Was there something more between the officers than she had initially known? Before boarding the ship, she would have never suspected that Kirk and Spock were more than just good friends. Now, she had her doubts. The way that the two of them acted around each other-- wait, was that a wedding ring on Kirk’s finger? And-- did she just see the two of them kiss? She needed clarification on this, and quickly. She knew that she was going to ask Mr Spock about the matter, as she knew that he would give her a clear and logical answer. She just had to ask him.
“Um, Commander Spock?” Abeladon asked, tapping lightly on the Commander’s shoulder.
“Yes, Ensign?” Spock replied, turning around to face her.
“I don’t mean to pry, but what is the nature of the relationship between you and Captain Kirk?”
Spock raised an eyebrow at the question, but gave no sign of surprise. “The Captain and I are bondmates, and have been for almost two years.”
Ensign Abeladon tried her best to hide her shock, but she failed.
“Is this of news to you, Ensign?”
“I-I had no idea. Wait, two years? How come I haven’t heard about this?”
“It should be mentioned in the information on the ship. You did do research, right?”
“Um, well…” she nervously replied, fidgeting with her hands.
“I take it from your response that you did not?”
“Well, I thought what I had learned while I was still at the Academy would be sufficient…”
“Rookie mistake.” Kirk interrupted. He had caught onto the conversation that she was having with Spock, and chose now as the time to insert himself into it. As he spoke, he also draped his arms around Spock’s shoulders, like Starfleet’s finest cape. He pressed a kiss to the Vulcan’s cheek, which caused him to blush a delicate shade of green.
“Jim, after all of this time being in a relationship with you, I still do not understand why you choose to demonstrate affection in public.” Spock commented, placing his hand on top of Kirk’s, which were still clasped above his collarbone.
“It’s called a ‘public display of affection’, and I know that you enjoy it.” Kirk replied, smirking. Spock raised an eyebrow at his husband’s response, but commented no further.
Abeladon quickly cleared her throat to bring the two of them back to reality.
“Oh, sorry,” Kirk said, returning the conversation back to the previous topic. “Yes, I guess that this is old news, but I remember when we were first breaking the news to Starfleet. ‘Kirk here. Commander Spock and I are bonded.’, ‘No, bonded.’, ‘This isn’t some friendship metaphor, the two of us are bonded in the eyes of Vulcan law.’, ‘Spock and I are married!’. That certainly led to an interesting conversation with the Admiral. He was surprised by the fact that I was married, let alone to a man, let alone to a Vulcan, let alone to my own First Officer. But, I suppose, here we are. Life is full of surprises.”
“You and I are t’hy’la. It was destiny.” Spock frankly replied.
“I suppose that’s true,” Kirk said, sliding his chair so he was side-by-side with Spock, and not behind him. He took his bondmate’s hand into his own, and leaned his head on his shoulder. “You know, you’re just as adorable as you were on the day I met you.”
“I fail to see how this has any relevance to the conversation.” Spock replied, trying to maintain a nonplussed tone, despite the fact that he was blushing green from ear tip to ear tip.
“You’re so cute when you’re all logical.” Kirk fawned, kissing his husband’s cheek again.
“I am glad that my natural state is appealing to you, ashayam.” Spock replied, initiating a Vulcan kiss with his bondmate.
“Taluhk nash-veh k’dular.”
“Taluhk nash-veh k’dular.”
When Ensign Abeladon had been assigned to visit and report on the Enterprise , she certainly didn’t expect to see the great Captain Kirk flirting with his First Officer. But, she, supposed, anything could happen on the USS Enterprise .
Some Vulcan-English Translations
Ashaya t'nash-veh- My love
Ashayam- Beloved
Taluhk nash-veh k'dular- I cherish thee (a common expression of affection between bonded Vulcan couples)
T'hy'la- Friend, brother, lover. Destined partners. Soulmates. (honestly you should probably know the definition of this)