Title: Can I touch them?
Author: Writers_whim
Warnings: pre-slash, touchy-feely Kirk
Blurb: Kirk really wants to touch. Spock says no.
"Can I touch them?"
"That would be most inappropriate, Captain."
Spock stood, if possible, straighter than normal, his hands clasped behind his back.
Jim gave his blank expression a searching look.
"Not even one?"
"No."
"What if I said please?"
One of Jim's hands fluttered around at chest height, desperate for just one touch. He made himself lower it through sheer will power. To stop it from its wondering he gripped the side of his trousers tightly and gave Spock his best come-on-old-buddy-old-pal look.
Spock's eyes followed the movement of that hand before meeting Jim's eyes again.
"Entreaties shall not change my mind on the matter, Captain. It is both inappropriate of an officer of your rank and an invasion of personal space I am not willing to allow."
"One finger. Just once?"
"This is not a negotiation, Captain."
"It could be if you just went along with it," Jim pointed out, traitorous hand coming up to point accusingly at Spock's chest.
Spock merely raised a single eyebrow and stared at Jim.
"I'll let you touch mine," Jim offered with a smile.
"I have no desire to touch any part of your person, Captain."
"Stop calling me that. It's Jim," he ordered, not at all put out or deterred.
"In these circumstances that would be highly-"
"If you say inappropriate, I'll scream."
Spock didn't try to finish his sentence. He calculated the odds of the Captain following through on his threat to be alarmingly high. 23.4 to 1, to be accurate.
"Why are you so hung up about it?" asked Jim, head inadvertently tilting to the side as he studied his First Officer.
Spock knew they were once again talking about his ears as opposed to his choice of vocabulary. That was a different argument altogether.
"Vulcan's by necessity are opposed to physical contact. As such I request we desist with this line of conversation and return to our original purpose for meeting."
Jim gave the hand holding the padd an airy wave.
"There's plenty of time to talk about the duty rota later. Seriously, not just one little touch? I'll keep my thoughts to myself. Promise."
If Spock were fully human he would have sighed. As it was the eyebrow merely twitched a little higher.
"I sincerely doubt you would be able to, as you say, keep your thoughts to yourself. You are strangely adept and projecting your thought and emotions Captain."
Jim frowned a little.
"Is that supposed to be some kind of Vulcan insult?"
"No, Captain."
Spock was not fond of falsehoods but it would be illogical to draw the Captain into a full on argument over something he had no control over. Amongst Vulcans such lack of mental restraint was frowned upon. It showed that one did not have full control of their emotions, a dangerous position to be in. Humans however were mostly psi-nulls and had no control over how quiet or how loud their thought patterns were. Something Spock quietly lamented before pushing such illogical thoughts aside. What is, is. There was nothing to be done about it.
Jim narrowed his eyes at Spock and hummed doubtfully.
"Is it because you're ticklish?" The light frown was washed away by the eager grin that spread across Jim's face at the very thought.
"Vulcans are not ticklish."
"And cadets don't get to be Captains as soon as they graduate. There are exceptions to every rule. At least one Vulcan has to be ticklish somewhere."
A logical argument, Spock decided, but the Captain clearly hadn't worked out the odds of such an exception occurring in himself.
"I am not ticklish," he clarified.
The smile on Jim's face became sly, devilish.
"Is it something kinky? I know Vulcans have this thing about their hands, is this the same?"
He looked absolutely gleeful at the idea of discovering a Vulcan's erogenous zones.
Spock allowed his eyes to remain closed longer than normal when he blinked. He tried to gather all his reserves of patience and calm to help him keep his cool.
"No, it is not something… kinky. It is merely a matter of maintaining my personal space."
Jim rolled his eyes.
"Uh-huh. Personal space. I think you owe me one of that."
His fingers flittered briefly to touch his throat as he gave Spock a meaningful look.
Spock felt a flash of regret at his loss of control all those months back. His posture stiffened at the memory.
"I have already apologised for my loss of control, if you wish to-"
Jim shook his head and waved a hand as if to waft the whole thing away.
"Shouldn't have brought that up. Sorry man."
There was silence in the briefing room as the two men stared at each other having reached an impasse.
"Why do you find it necessary to pursue this action?"
Jim blinked at him.
"Because I've never done it before. I'm curious. I want to know what they feel like."
Spock allowed himself another long blink. Curiosity was a natural human behaviour. It was what lead them to their current stage of culture and knowledge. It was a part of their nature that Vulcans understood. The curiosity, the need to know, to understand drove them as much as it did humans.
"Very well," he conceded. Jim's face lit up with a dazzling grin. "You may be permitted to touch once."
The pursuit of knowledge was admirable and logical. And if it stopped the Captain from pestering him and allowed them to focus better on their duties then it was only logical to permit this small invasion.
Jim's hand reached up quickly, just in case Spock changed his mind, then hovered close to a finely pointed ear. Now that he was about to get what he wanted Jim's system was flooded with adrenaline. He positively vibrated. Never had he actually thought Spock would give in. Jim flickered a look to Spock's passive face, looked closely at the line of his mouth, the tightness of his eyes.
Finding what he was looking for he finally touched a gentle finger to the curve of Spock's ear and traced it along to the soft point and down to the lobe. He memorized the heat, the texture, the smooth lines of the shell. So familiar, yet so different.
"Fascinating," he breathed with a awed smile.
The harsh line of Spock's mouth softened at the barely audible whisper, at the feeling of wonder and happiness that flowed through from Jim's touch.
Perhaps he had been to quick to deny this small pleasure to the both of them.