A/N: A little while ago I had to write a letter for an English A-level homework piece and the letter featured in this fanfic is the one I wrote. I got an Enterprise drawn around my grade and loads of stars. Anyway, I wanted to expand on this so, here it is!
Insignificant
The wind blew a cool and harsh breeze through the open window in Spock's quarters. He did not flinch. The cold air would never reach him with the personal heating of his own room turned up as high as it was. The constant battle to keep his room as hot as he wished kept the cold at bay. The cooler air simply fluttered and lifted the curtain a little each time a particularly violent gust emerged.
However, Spock would probably not have noticed even if did reach him. He was concentrating; hard. Such effort it took him to convey even a hint of his human nature when he was so sure that his Vulcan logic was sound. Of course it was, it had never failed him yet. Captain Kirk hadn't thought of it this way though. He'd been angry. Angrier than Spock had ever seen him and to make matters worse, Captain Kirk had been angry at him.
This wasn't to say that the Captain had not been angry at him before. They often had their arguments when Spock was determined he was doing the right thing and the Captain had other desires. Always desires to break the rules was what Spock thought every time the general dispute occurred. None of these arguments had ended in such a heightened state of tension before.
The Captain would often refer to Spock in various, slightly insulting, nicknames during such episodes of arguing but normally it was in good jest. Spock was sure that his derogatory references were designed to hurt him this time. They were designed to shut him up and make him see that he had done wrong. They had worked.
Spock clutched a ball point pen in his hand. He scribbled quickly, his brow furrowed as he thought of the best way to project his emotion. Eventually Spock chose a way that did not sound full of forced feelings yet he was sure that his Captain would understand the meaning. That was of course as long Captain Kirk was willing to try to decipher.
As he continued to write he remembered recent happenings. Admiral Pike had, unfortunately, died at the hands of John Harrison. Captain Kirk continued to put up his hard wall that evening, shutting out Spock from his mind and refusing to speak to him but Spock could see. He was better at reading emotion than most people first thought. He just wasn't as good at displaying it. Or maybe he was too good at hiding it? Either way Spock was viewing the Captain's emotions in a way he had not seen before. The Captain pined for his father figure, he pined for his best friend. Spock struggled to see the latter but that was really no surprise. Spock himself had never really seen how the Captain had put up with his attitudes and tendencies to abide by every rule for so long. He refused to acknowledge that the Captain needed exactly him but he was willing to be a shoulder to cry on.
As he folded up the letter and slipped it into a new envelope he wrote the Captain's full title on the back and rose from his chair. He became suddenly aware of the coldness of the bitter winter air and went to shut the window quickly. Soon after he left his quarters and took the incredibly short journey to Captain Kirk's room. He knocked once on the locked door and was met with a disgruntled shout.
"Not right now." Captain Kirk's voice called out into the corridor. Spock thought it would not be the best idea to return a reply or ask to be let in. He simply crouched in the hallway and pushed the envelope under the small gap between the door and the carpet. Momentarily Spock stood outside before allowing himself to return to his own room.
Kirk heard the rustling of paper enter his room and with a frown he turned to look at the source of the noise. A small white envelope sat just inside his bedroom door. The name on the front was in a handwriting that he could not mistake. It was neat, legible and not extravagant; the hand writing of a certain Mr Spock.
He sighed and turned the envelope over in his hand. Did he really want to read this? He was angry enough already. Surely a letter where the half-Vulcan was probably trying to convey why he was right was not going to make his day any better. He had lot his best friend, his ship and now Admiral Pike. Emotions were rather overwhelming and he was almost considering taking the Vulcan approach. He could try to repress them, lock them all away until he felt ready to deal with them calmly. Instead he sat alone in his room, silent and a mess of grey uniform while constantly sending away the doctors that were trying to check him over. Bones had yet to make an appearance, Kirk realised, but he was sure that it would not be long.
Captain Kirk slipped one finger into the envelope and pried it open slowly, letting the letter fall on his bed. He sat down and picked it up, unfolding the paper carefully. Inside it read:
Dear Mr Kirk,
I am now aware that I should have informed you that I submitted a report with the honest happenings of our mission and the true outcome. I can only offer my greatest apologies. It was not my intention to have the USS Enterprise taken away from you; however it was fortunate, as I stated in our previous conversation, that the punishment was not more severe.
I understand that you are angry with my actions but I had incorrectly assumed that you would be truthful in your captain's log. These are all things that I have mentioned beforehand yet I do not believe that you were listening. I would be saddened to lose as you as a friend over this most insignificant of problems so I will hope that you have taken the time to read this and not just discarded it in a corner.
I have faith that you will be re-assigned as the captain of the USS Enterprise in a very short time. It would be irrational and most illogical of Starfleet to keep one of their most prized and successful captain's in the demoted position of First Officer. I myself will look to my re-assignment aboard the USS Bradbury as a new experience and inevitably something that I can learn from and I believe that you should do so as well.
Good luck in your new position and I look forward to our next encounter, despite the frosty tension that may be evident between us.
Yours faithfully,
Mr Spock.
"Insignificant my ass..." Muttered Kirk to himself as he finished the letter. He understood Spock, he truly did. However sometimes he was just so hard to reason with. It seemed impossible for another view of the problem to get through that Vulcan skull of his. A small smile passed over his lips though. Spock had evidently tried hard with his words and maybe just this once he would accept that Kirk was right.
Captain Kirk quickly arose from the bed, sprinting out into the hall and down the corridor in order to catch up with Spock. Luckily for the Captain, Spock had been stopped by Lieutenant Uhura half way to his room and was only just reaching his door.
"Hey! Spock!" He called out, hoping for the Vulcan to turn around.
"Captain." Spock replied simply, his hands taking the usual clasp behind his back. The Captain paused for a moment and chose his words carefully.
"We're good, 'kay?"
