I wrote this for a vocabulary assignment for my English class, so...yeah. There are some interesting words in here. ...However, the majority of the class is entertained by the similarities between 'castigate' and...well, you might guess.
Anyway, I don't own Star Trek. ...These disclaimers are beginning to irritate me; it's fanfiction, that pretty much means it's not mine. Heh heh.
Memories
James T. Kirk had just sat down for a dinner of steak and potatoes when Spock strode over to join him, cocking an eyebrow in disapproval at the omnivorous meal.
Jim chuckled softly and called out, "Would anyone like to trade me a salad?" Upon successfully completing the transaction with a sympathetic patron aware of Vulcan tendencies toward vegetarianism, he grinned sheepishly at his friend. "Now you can't yell at me."
The eyebrow rose once again, but humor twinkled within the dark eyes. "I've found that castigating you on this matter would have no foreseeable benefits. To do so would therefore be illogical."
Jim laughed. "Of course."
Spock was hardly the stereotypical, emotionless, purely logical Vulcan that was the claim of the species. No, the largesse he had given was worth infinitely more than those traits; he had given friendship. Why, he was comparable to a stipend, consistently there when Jim needed him.
However, if he were to say that, his one-time First Officer would give him a look that was anything but subservient. Yes, some things had really never changed...
Jim Kirk winced as his mind suddenly began to play its rendition of events long past:
The section of Engineering permeated by radiation...
Spock's hand, blood the shade of virdigris giving it the appearance of having been lacerated, pressing against the glass in the traditional salute, glass that protected everyone else while condemning the half-Vulcan himself...
"'I have been...and always shall be...your friend.'"
The exodus of all joy from Jim's heart as he slumped against the glass, the life that had once been on the other side having finally fled...
The shipwide obituary that hardly registered in his memory...
His own words at the funeral, sounding hollow to his ears and yet seeming so right as an epitaph; "'Of my friend I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most...human.'"
The variant of interment as the black capsule was launched from the Enterprise to finally come to rest on the newly life-endowed Genesis planet...
...And all that followed, the pain, the loss, the struggle, the sleeplessness...until...
The resurgence--.
"Jim?"
He blinked and realized Spock was gazing at him in concern. "Hm?"
"Are you well?"
"Yes, why?"
"You looked..." Spock paused, mulling over the correct colloquialism. "Out of it."
Jim chuckled, and the weight that had so quickly pressed down upon him evaporated. "Just...happy, Spock. Happy."