A/N: This fic is inspired by the songs Clarity by Zedd and Come & Get It by Selena Gomez; I was listening to the radio one day when it hit me how Clarity is a perfect Spock song and Come & Get It is a perfect Kirk song, so a singer AU was born. Eventual K/S slash. Supported and edited by the lovely sherlockian-of-the-shire over on tumblr!
The apartment feels empty, Jim Kirk muses, as he idly picks out a melody on the piano with his right and the harmony with his left. He's wrapped in a blanket from his closet, because the heat's gone out again and San Francisco is cold when it wants to be, at 7 am, and he has nothing better to do than self-destruct. His career is going well, he has plenty of friends, but the cramped look of the space he's living in- books piled on tables and falling off shelves, sheet music crammed into every available cranny, dirty dishes in the sink- only serves to remind him of how alone he is. Jim laughs without humor. At least Bones hasn't given up on him yet.
"Dammit, man, don't you ever do anything besides play that infernal instrument?" Bones hollers from the front door. Jim smiles in spite of himself.
"Good morning to you too, Bones!" he calls cheerfully from his perch on the piano bench. "Did you bring caffeine?" Bones passes him a steaming cup, grumbling about early birds and Jim's "annoying predilection for music at ungodly hours".
"If you're awake enough to use words like predilection, you have no reason to be so grumpy," Kirk fake-whines into his coffee. At Bones's grunt, he looks back up to where his friend has seated himself on the sofa across the room and smirks; it doesn't look like Bones slept at all last night.
"Alright, kid, enough." Bones, also known as Leonard McCoy, leans back and puts an arm along the back of the sofa. "You're getting out of this hole you call an apartment tonight and coming to karaoke with me, Nyota, and a bunch of her friends."
Jim's shoulders had visibly straightened at the mention of karaoke, but now he's staring at the floor. "I don't know, Bones. Nyota and I didn't exactly hit it off when we met."
"You never hit it off with anyone, kid; that's why you have me. Besides, it's going to be a couple of us. Sulu, Chekov, and Scotty are gonna be there, plus some guy named Spock. Supposedly an amazing singer but I've never heard the guy."
Jim's interest is piqued by the mention of Spock, and he scrunches up his nose as he thinks. "Wait, I think I've heard of that Spock guy..." Suddenly he grins and jumps to his feet. "Ok, Bones, I'll go. Just promise me you'll let me do karaoke."
"Fine, fine, fine," Leonard acquiesces, with a bluster that's obviously hiding relief. "I'll pick you up at 5." He stands up and starts to walk out the door before turning and firing one last verbal shot. "And I want to see you dressed in something other than ratty jeans and a Nirvana t-shirt!"
Jim just laughs, for real this time, and begins to clean up his apartment. He has to find some way to spend the day until 5, after all. He might as well be productive.
"Nyota, I am unsure of whether or not spending my evening at a bar with people I do not know well is a good use of my time." Spock shifts the phone closer to his ear with his shoulder as he grabs and pays for his lunch. "It does not sound like an amenable suggestion." He can hear a sigh from across the connection as Nyota rustles through what sounds suspiciously like her closet.
"Spock, honey, I know you aren't big on social events, but I'm dragging you to this one whether you like it or not. Sulu and Chekov will be there, and so will Scotty, and Bones is bringing his friend Jim. Jim Kirk. He's an up-and-coming singer too; you might have heard of him."
Spock raises an eyebrow in contemplation as he walks back to his apartment. "I believe I have heard of him, but I fail to see why that is motivation for my attendance at karaoke tonight."
Nyota's inevitable eye roll is almost audible. "5 pm. I'll pick you up at 4:45. Oh, and wear something besides a suit, okay?" Spock hears a click as Nyota hangs up, and he puts his phone down on his counter as he moves towards his bedroom. It seems as though he has a social event tonight, and he has no idea what to wear.
Jim, dressed in a pair of dark jeans that hit in all the right places, a slim white V-neck, and his favorite dark brown leather jacket, looks around the bar before spotting Chekov's wild mess of curls at a far table, and he heads over dragging Bones behind him. Nyota sees him first and waves.
"Hello, Nyota!" he calls, grinning and waving in return. He gets a nod of acknowledgement before her attention switches to his friend and her eyes light up.
Hey, Bones!" She gets up to give Leonard a quick hug before stepping back and doing a quick introduction. "Everyone, James Tiberius Kirk; Jim, everyone. I think you know everyone here but Spock." She gestures to the tall, thin male sitting at the edge of the circle, wearing dark jeans and a plaid button-down with the first two buttons open, and the man looks up at the sound of his name before standing and shaking Kirk's hand.
"Pleased to meet you," Spock intones, voice deep and smooth. The voice of a singer, and a damn good one too, if his talking voice is any indication. Jim smiles and returns the handshake.
"The pleasure is all mine," he says, watching Spock's eyes widen marginally as he talks. "I heard you're a singer too?"
"Indeed. I also play the guitar." Spock inches forward slightly on the second sentence, looking like he is trying to memorize the layout of Kirk's mouth and eyes. Jim just smirks slightly before leaning forward- hey, the guy's attractive and a singer; he can't help himself- and licking his lips.
"I play the piano," he rumbles, and Spock's tongue darts out to wet his lips. Before either of them can say anything else, though, Sulu slaps Kirk on the back, exclaiming about how long it's been since he's seen him and how's the career going, and Kirk pulls away from Spock to join in the group's conversation, taking a seat between Sulu, who is attached at the hip to Chekov as usual, and Bones, who is bickering with Scotty about the pros and cons of space exploration. The next couple hours or so passes in a parade of drinks, food, and friendly chatter that Kirk sometimes participates in but sometimes just listens to. Spock does much the same, occasionally debating with Chekov about some math concept that Kirk has never heard of but mostly observing. Then, around 8, karaoke begins.
"I do not-"
"Oh come on, Spock! You have to do it!" Nyota pleads as everyone murmurs their assent. "Just one song!"
Spock relents and nods his agreement. "Very well. One song." Everyone at the table cheers, a few more drunk than not, and Spock makes his way up to the stage to choose a song.
After listening to a few very obviously non-singers blunder their way through, Kirk is relieved to see Spock get on stage with the mic. If this guy was as good as he'd heard, he might have to get him up there for another song. The song Spock had picked earlier is Tiptoe by Imagine Dragons (good band, Kirk thinks) and Jim is expecting good, but halfway through the first stanza he's already spellbound by Spock's voice, the way he glides seamlessly between notes, the raw emotion hiding just underneath the surface of his performance, how he grips the mic, and the song ends before Jim can school his brain back into some semblance of cognitive thoughts other than "Wow."
Spock gets back to the table after the crowd stops jostling and clapping and Nyota gives him a high-five and a small "I told you so!", Scotty nods, and Sulu grins at him. Kirk walks up to him, gives him a firm handshake and a pat in the back before leaning in and saying, "Spock, that was the best karaoke I've heard in my life," then sauntering towards the stage, but not without seeing the slight blush that spread across Spock's cheeks. Good, Jim thought. Spock deserves all the praise he gets. Right now, however, he needs to choose a song. Hm, Capital Cities or Pink Floyd...
He decides on Safe and Sound by Capital Cities, which isn't as upbeat as some of the stuff he usually sings but he loves anyway, and right before he starts he makes eye contact with Bones, who nods and gives him a thumbs-up. Jim smiles, and begins to perform.
At some point he becomes aware of the expressive silence hanging over the room, but by then he's too lost in the music to really care. He spots Spock towards the end of the song, and the look on the other man's face- shock, but the good kind- pushes him to pour everything into the last handful of seconds, only pulling away from the mic once the last note has died. The bar is full of people clapping and cheering, and his friends are going nuts at their table, but it's Spock's reaction that really leaves an impact. Spock looks stunned, but he has the barest hint of a smile on his face and he's clapping and right then Jim decides this is someone he wants to be friends with no matter what.
He returns to the table and everyone tells him how amazing he sounded, and Spock leans forward to whisper, "I'm impressed. You're very good," which doesn't help his already inflated ego. Nyota silences everyone with a wave of her hand.
"You two should battle sometime," she says, pointing at Jim and and then at Spock, her hand slightly shaky from the beers she just had. "You're both really, really good."
When Jim turns to look at Spock, there's a dangerous glint in his eyes that wasn't there earlier, but Jim recognizes it as competition. "Why not now?" he asks, before his brain catches up with his body and he cringes. Surprisingly, though, Spock nods.
"I concur. Now is as good a time as any," he concludes, and stands up to go pick another song.
The rest of the night passes with the Spock and Kirk singing song after song, sometimes classic rock, sometimes indie, sometimes pop, until they're the only two still on their feet, and they sing a few more numbers each before deciding, upon mutual agreement, that it's time to head home. When they get back to their table and Jim pulls Bones to his feet, he feels a warm, callused hand slide into his own for a fraction of a second, leaving behind a small slip of paper that he shoves in his back pocket before waving goodbye to everyone and thanking Spock for the first real karaoke battle he's had since high school. Spock merely smiles with his eyes and thanks him likewise before leaving with Nyota and Scotty, who are hanging onto each other and giggling, in tow.
When Jim finally gets back to his apartment, he remembers the slip of paper and pulls it out of his jeans. It's Spock's name and number, along a note. "I would be interested in meeting for coffee sometime to discuss music. Call me when you are free." He smiles, a real smile that takes its time developing, before grabbing his phone and programming Spock into his contacts.
The next time he has an afternoon to spare, he's planning on taking Spock up on his offer.