Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Wish I did.
A short story of how Spock and Jim meet. Academy era.
Ever wake up with the feeling that your life is about to change? That something was going to happen that would alter the course of your life forever? Jim had that feeling today. Had that feeling really, really bad.
It's not like he woke up late, he woke up early. Three hours earlier than normal actually. Before his roommate Bones even. That never happened. Ever. And he even had energy. Weird.
Jim tossed a pillow at his roommate. "Let's go lazy bones. Let's go get coffee."
Bones just cracked an eye. "Are you crazy? It's barely five! I don't have to be at the clinic until 1300"
Belatedly Jim looked at the clock, and gave Bones an apologetic smile. "Oops," Jim laughed, "my bad." He started buzzing around the room putting away laundry that had been piled on the floor and began organizing his desk once that was done.
Throughout this Bones just lay in bed, staring at Jim as he raced around the room with steadily growing shock and amazement. "Who are you and what have you done with my roommate?" he finally choked out.
"Nothing…Why?"
"Oh, no reason." Bones muttered. "Started cleaning like a maniac after getting up way early and wants to go for coffee. No reason at all."
Jim put down the rag he had been using to clean his desk and crossed the room to the other man's bed. "You know Bones, I sense sarcasm."
He looked at Jim blankly. "No!" He exclaimed.
Jim smirked. "Yep. Definitely sarcasm." With that, he grabbed the edge of Bones' blanket and whipped it off onto the floor.
"Jim!"
"Come on, coffee time."
Jim waited until he saw Bones make his way to the bathroom and then made his way out of the room towards the common room to wait.
Bones shook his head as Jim breezed out of the room. "Idiot kid. Wonder what bee he has in his bonnet this time."
Once Jim and Bones sat down with their food and they finally had his first sip of coffee, Bones started to question Jim. "So, you know it's Friday right?" When Jim just stared, Bones let out an exasperated sign. "Don't look at me like that. You're the one who is never a) up at five and b) you never go to your classes, especially not the Friday class. So what's up?"
Jim laughed. "No idea. Just woke up with a need to do stuff."
"Do stuff? You were cleaning. Were you out drinking last night? You running a fever?"
"No and no. I don't know Bones, just woke up wanting to get going. No mother henning required."
Bones shook his head and made a mental note to keep an eye on Jim today. "Ok."
The rest of breakfast was eaten in silence before Jim left for the library to kill time before class. "Study my ass," Bones muttered after Jim's retreating back. "Study for what?"
Jim took a look around the library and couldn't believe his eyes. Every table was full of red uniformed cadets except one. The last table had one man in a professors black uniform – everyone seemed to be avoiding this particular professor like the plague. Odd, Jim thought. Professors were usually approachable if you were a good student. Which is probably why no professor really liked him. He quickly debated with himself. Should he take the three PADDs back to the dorm? Should he browse the shelves until a spot opened up? Decisions like this sucked.
Finally, the work smarter, not harder part of his brain kicked on in combination with the I've got balls part. Decision made, Jim walked over to the professors table and dropped his three PADDs onto the side of the table directly across from the professor.
The professor didn't even startle, but looked up at Jim with a blank stare.
The fact that Jim missed that this particular professor was Vulcan could be attributed to having looked at him from behind. The delicately pointed ears and pale green skin was a dead giveaway now though. Jim was taken aback by the smooth, almost human brown eyes that stared up at him. "Mind?" He whispered breathlessly.
The Vulcan professor took a cursory glance at the full tables, then inclined his head to indicate to Jim he didn't mind.
"Thanks Professor. I've never seen it this packed before."
The Vulcan quirked an eyebrow. "Are you unaware of the commencement of exams in three days, Cadet…?"
"Kirk sir, Jim Kirk." Jim couldn't tear his eyes away from the Vulcan's. "I guess I forgot." He watched as the Vulcan's eyes contracted minutely before returning to their emotionless position.
"Do you find it unnecessary to study Cadet Kirk?" When Jim just shrugged, the Vulcan let out an imperceptible sigh. "What is your area of study?"
"Command." To distract himself, Jim lifted up one of the PADDs in front of him and began to skim through the text.
"Yet you read texts on botany?"
"Yeah, just for kicks." When the Vulcan tilted his head to the side, Jim laughed. "For fun professor. I'm reading texts on botany for fun."
"In place of studying? Do you not find this illogical?"
Jim smiled again. He couldn't remember ever smiling at another person genuinely for this long before. Something about this man before him made him feel different. "Yeah professor, instead of studying."
With that last comment, the Vulcan looked back down at the PADD in front of him and seemed to disregard Jim's presence at the table.
The next few hours passed comfortably. The only sound at the table was the periodic clicking on the PADD. Jim wasn't paying much attention to what he was reading though. Instead, he saw the Vulcan's eyes staring out at him from the PADD. He heard that emotionless velvet voice wash over him.
Jim was sad to leave but he figured that going to class might not be such a bad idea today. He shivered though when he heard the Vulcan's voice whisper after him…
"Until we meet again Cadet Kirk."
For the next week, all Jim could think about was the Vulcan's voice and eyes. They haunted him every waking moment and even during his dreams. When he was not writing exams, Jim spent his time in the library. So much time in fact that the manager asked him if he wanted to work part time throughout the year.
He thought of the Vulcan so much that he started to wonder if he should worry about his sanity. Or talk to Bones about what was going on. Come on, he thought, I'm Jim Kirk – ladies man. He had never even thought about another man in other context besides friendship. Not that he was a homophobe though. Far from it. He just never thought about men that way. He didn't even know what to tell himself about what was happening. But he couldn't think of anything but a pair of brown eyes and a soft voice that drifted throughout his conscious and unconscious mind.
But he never saw the Vulcan.