"No." Jim Kirk stood with his feet planted firmly apart, fury blazing. "Absolutely not. I refuse."
"Captain, be logical." Spock attempted to reason with him, but the flush in his captain's cheeks conveyed his fury, even to the inexperienced Vulcan.
"No, Spock," Jim snapped, his fists clenching by his sides. "You are not coming with me and that's final!"
"Jim, for God's sake man, see sense," Bones growled from his chair. "You were dead a week ago, now you want to go down to a potentially hostile planet alone? Spock is the best bet to come with you, if something happens-"
"Nothing will happen!" Jim whined, wanting to punch something and just resisting the urge to stamp his foot like a child. Spock raised one eyebrow and Jim fell silent, knowing that he could never argue against both of them.
"Goddammit," he swore. "I'll take Spock if it'll keep you guys happy."
"We do not accompany you for our happiness," Spock said dryly. "It is for your own safety that we-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever Spock," Kirk grumbled. "Let's just get going, okay?" Spock inclined his head and silently fell into step behind his captain as Jim stormed out of the room. Despite the fight Kirk had put up about bringing his first in command along with him, Spock was glad to spend time again with his friend, and he knew Kirk would warm to the idea. Since the incident with Khan, Spock had been reluctant to let Jim out of his sight for too long.
"Spock, you're gonna enjoy this weekend," Jim said over his shoulder, beginning to rethink his plans. "There's so much I wanna show you."
"My job is to make sure you are healthy," Spock repeated, but Jim cut him off.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun doing it!" His blue eyes gleamed as he began his planning and Spock felt a warm rush as he watched Kirk's face light up. "I'll take you to all my favourite places, it'll be a blast." Spock's lips twitched and Jim smiled, feeling rather than seeing the not-quite-smile on his friend's face.
"Are we leaving immediately, Captain?" Spock asked, keeping his voice a cool neutral. "I'll call the transport room and have them-"
"No, we'll take a shuttle." Jim was practically bouncing on his heels in mounting excitement. "We'll do it the old-fashioned way." Spock looked uncertain, his hand hovering over his communicator.
"Captain, I am not sure you are fit to fly in your present condition."
"Spock, I'm fine." Jim spun around and started when he found that Spock was much closer behind him than he thought, bringing them almost nose to nose. "Trust me." His voice was lower and he looked into Spock's eyes, bright blue and dancing with life. Spock swallowed hard, his breathing suddenly restricted by an unknown force.
"You are the Captain," he conceded after a moment, unwilling to admit that he wanted to see more of that fire in Jim's eyes.
"Damn right." Kirk grinned and spun away, giving Spock a split second to catch his breath before chasing after him towards the shuttle bay. Jim took off at a run, skidding around corners and bumping into yeomans, so that Spock was forced to run after him, his long limbs easily making up the ground on Jim.
"Captain, this is not advisable," he said as Jim tried to speed up and overtake him. "Your body may not be capable yet of this physical exertion, remember that-"
"Yeah Spock, I haven't forgotten," Jim snapped, abruptly drawing to a halt so that Spock skidded on the floor in a most inelegant way. "It's all anyone talks to me about now."
"My apologies." Spock inclined his head slightly. "Let us commence our journey then."
"Thanks." Jim flashed him a quick smile, looking almost shy. Spock kept his face carefully expressionless but he felt like he might burst.
"Jim, I-"
"Later Spock." Jim was off again, darting around the next corner. "We have a long shuttle ride ahead of us!" Spock ground his teeth but gave chase, secretly thanking the universe for throwing the two of them together.