Changes
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in relation to Star Trek.
AN: This is the first chapter in a series I'm planning on doing on the changing lives of Spock and Kirk and how they try to adapt to the new situations they find themselves in. It's not always death defying adventures but small minor details that are the hardest to deal with, especially the repetitive ones. I thought I would just try to explore them a bit. Hope you enjoy!
It had become increasingly evident to Spock that resisting adaptation to his new surroundings was highly illogical.
While Vulcan's had strict, designated policies on public behaviour and communication, in the present circumstances, his once immovable traits had become flexible. It was the small traits that he allowed himself to modify.
Working with Captain Kirk, while presenting undeniable advantages, also presented sufficient disadvantages. He did not regret or deny his behaviour towards the man in the past and he offered no apologies for it. It had been necessary to display such adamant negativity towards James T. Kirk and if he had not, he was sure that events would have turned out, if not exponentially different, but exceptionally worse. Ejecting the Captain from the Enterprise had been a necessary action and had set into motion the meeting of Spock Prime, the Vulcan that would prove vital towards the Captains growth and the restoration of Vulcan communities.
While Captain Kirk provided many opportunities of exploration and innovation, he was stubborn in his human traits and resistant to outside efforts of change. Therefore, Spock had reasoned that since there was smaller then the preferred percentage of further personal evolution in the Captain, it was logical that he himself would adapt to compliment him. He was curious as to the level of change that he would have to endure to meet the level of intensity that Captain Kirk demanded. While Admiral Pike had commanded in a predictable, logical manner, Captain Kirk relied upon surprise tactics and emotional reasoning. Subtle efforts of persuasion would have to be employed in order to insist upon the Captain the importance of statistical analysis and logical research.
More so then having to adapt to his command, it was vital that he adapted to his personality. It was the minor details that internally eluded him and that he felt were unlikely, statistically, to change for his preference.
Once such detail was Captain Kirk's eating habits.
Within the Vulcan society, it was deemed unnecessary and illogical to feast upon the flesh of another living animal. While not only inconveniencing the life of the animal, the act of slaughtering, preparing and delivering the flesh presented structural and financial demands that were of a decidedly higher level then those from herbivorous behaviour. It had been a long tradition of the Vulcan society to remain neutral towards those that could present nutritional value and instead reap the benefits of the soil.
While Spock was unable to forego his beliefs and principles on vegetarian or vegan lifestyles, he found himself weakening his resolve upon the actions of others. Especially the Captain.
Journeying to Earth and residing upon its surface had been, while not immensely difficult, a challenge. He had researched the lifestyle of humans and evaluated that while there was certainly a significant portion of the population that adopted vegetarian views on nutrition, there was still a larger portion of the population that maintained a wide variety of carnivorous behaviours. Although he had taken into account the restrictions this would place of his dinning venues, he had not prepared himself mentally for the personal view of meat eating.
It had seemed illogical to him that such humans that were educated, worldly and intelligent would partake in such primitive behaviour as meat feasting when other resources were readily available. When questioning a fellow professor at the Starfleet Academy, he had received a response of, "…because it is delicious." Although this provided for him an analysis of a humans response to the meats taste, it had still avoided the original question. While taste proved to be important for humans in the feasting sense, it was only a small factor in relation to the overall illogical act of eating meat.
As his communication with the Captain was not overly extended in its length, he had not been presented the opportune moment to present his argument of terrans illogical mannerisms in relation to nutritional intake.
However, lunching with the Captain was presently presenting that opportunity.
"Captain Kirk, may I inquire as to the eating habits of the common human?" Asked Spock.
Kirk looked up from his replicated steak and salad with a startled expression, as if not expecting Spock to make a comment without having asked his own question first. True, his question had been highly unlikely to have occurred in the present situation and Spock reflected that the Captain spontaneity must be, as the humans say, 'rubbing off,' on him .
"Um… I guess…" said the Captain cautiously.
Spock presented his argument flawlessly, "Since my arrival to Earth, I have attempted to immerse and understand the common mannerisms of the human. While there are many unpredictable and highly illogical behaviours continuously presented in the average day of a human, none have alluded my reasoning as those of 'normal' eating habits," Spock could see that Kirk was watching him closely, a sign that he was interested in his inquiry, "Vulcan society has long since deemed carnivorous behaviour as unnecessary, elaborating that the satisfaction of its taste is outweighed by the considerable negative factors that it presents. I have researched many human reports on this subject and found many of the same arguments to have been presented by educated members of Earth's society. If such logical arguments have been presented with acknowledged benefits to society, how is it that carnivorous behaviour is still indulged as being acceptable?"
The Captain set down his steak knife as he heard the argument, a look of guilt overwhelming his face as he stared at the lump of flesh lying stationary on his white plate. The Captain had avoided eye contact for the latter of the conversation, a trait that Spock found increasingly repetitive when discussing the negativity of meat eating.
"Well… Spock. I guess I hadn't really thought about it before," The Captain quickly gave him a pointed look at the expression on his first officers face, "I know, I know. To be honest, it's just something that's always been there."
Spock frowned, "surely the consequence to the living beings life has been considered before?"
"Yes… but… it's hard to explain. I know that a living being has given its life to give me this delicious steak. However, I wasn't there for it's death and surely it would be a waste to just let it die in vain?"
"Your response is flawed," answered Spock with an intensely raised eyebrow.
"I know. Besides that, it's replicated meat I'm eating anyway."
"Then do you commit yourself to herbivorous eating patterns when outside the range of a replicator?"
"Well… no… but… can I phone a friend?"
Unfamiliar with the expression, Spock only surveyed the Captain intently, trying to understand what was running through his mind. The Captain's unsure grin dissolved at the neutral expression on Spock's face.
"Anyway, I thought I told you to call me Jim."
"Your attempts at diverting the current topic are most unsuccessful."
"Can't blame me for trying…"
"There seems to be a continuous aversion to discussing this issue."
Jim shifted uncomfortably, "I think it's because… we know that it is illogical to eat meat. We have the resources to make the switch but, it's just something that we do, well not everyone but a lot of us. It's something we've done since before we could speak and it's something we'll probably continue to do until the end of our species."
Spock paused before speaking, "Humans are most… illogical."
"I'll take that as both a compliment and an insult."
Thinking upon the subject, Spock decided to remain silent. He had not explored the topic in the depth that he would have preferred but he sensed that the Captain had grown uncomfortable with it.
"Look, if seeing me eat meat disturbs you, I'll stop."
"That will not be necessary," he answered after a moment, "while humans are illogical in their actions, it is not appropriate for myself to enforce Vulcan ideals upon someone who does not adhere to them."
The Captain frowned, "Really, I mean, I would have thought you'd be glad to have me give up meat."
"As a Vulcan I do not experience enjoyment from such an event."
"Don't even start –"
"Though I do acknowledge that such a change in behaviour could be seen as an improvement."
A silence descended and he watched as Kirk picked at his salad with his fork.
"Vegetables are just so boring."
Spock allowed an eyebrow to rise.
"There nutritional benefits far outweigh negative consequences regarding taste."
"So you hate them to?"
"I did not indicate that."
Kirk's grin grew, "Only implied it right?"
"Indeed."
Over the next few weeks, Spock, when occasionally eating with the Captain, found the level of meat on the plate to be slowly decreasing. He did not question the Captain's behaviour and Kirk didn't acknowledge it.
He decided that while the sight of humans chewing upon the flesh of another being was both illogical and abhorrent, he could allow such behaviour in his presence… at least, for the Captain.
Hope you enjoyed. I'm planning on doing more chapters on the changing life of Spock and Kirk as they try to adjust to each other.
Thanks for reading!
