Spock and Kirk had beamed down to an unnamed planet, one at the far reaches of the galaxy. It was very warm and humid. It smelled of a thousand flowers, luring Kirk further in. Spock studied and recorded the cell structure of various flora on his tricorder. He was enjoying being a scientist, and exploring a new place that no human had spoiled. This world was almost intoxicating, even for Spock. Spock felt happy, but suppressed it. He didn't want to let anyone see him smile. Especially not a human, including Kirk. McCoy had embarrassed him the last time he had smiled, imagine if McCoy heard that he had smiled a second time... Spock shuddered slightly.

"SPOCK! Where are you?"
He looked behind him only to see some kind of brown, shiny creature trying to strangle his captain. He ran over to Kirk, and Vulcan nerve pinched the creature. He helped Kirk up.
"Are you alright?"
"Fine, Spock. Thanks."
"Captain!"
Seemingly hundreds more of the creatures emerged from the forest. Spock aimed his phaser, making sure it was on heavy stun, then fired at the creatures closest to him and the captain.

A few hundred shots later, Spock found that both his and the captain's phasers were nearly drained. He stunned a few creatures nearby and got out his communicator.
"Spock to Enterprise, emergency beam-out."
"Spock to Enterprise do you read?"
"Jim, my communicator isn't working. There must be some sort of communications barrier. It seems that we have no choice but to fight."
Kirk pulled his communicator out to find that all it was now was plastic, metal and other components.
"The situation appears quite gloomy, to use a human expression."
"Yes, and it seems that shining a light on that gloom is both seemingly impossible and our goal, no matter how illogical that sounds."
"I understand, Captain," Spock said slowly.
More creatures approached. Spock easily disabled about twenty of them in several minutes, using both hands to administer the pinch.
"Spock, can you try to teach me the Vulcan nerve pinch?"
"Captain, I have already tried..."
"I know, I remember, and I know I still don't understand the technique, and I know it seems illogical to try to teach someone who never could comprehend before. But, try. I don't want to make it an order."
Spock raised his right eye-brow.
"Very well, captain, I will try to teach you."
Spock tried to demonstrate the technique, exactly where to pinch someone, and how hard to squeeze. He saw no light of understanding in Kirk's eyes, even after demonstrating. When Spock was finished trying to teach Kirk, he hoped Kirk understood. Spock invited him to attempt to use the technique on himself to determine whether he had mastered the technique. The end result was Kirk inflicting pain on Spock and nearly causing unconsciousness merely by strangulation, several times. After about the fiftieth time, Spock raised his hand in protest.
"Perhaps, I can 'teach' you using a different method; a mind meld."
"Brilliant idea, Spock !"
"You consent, then?"
"Yes, I consent, in fact I welcome it."
Spock placed his fingers on the side of Kirk's face, adeptly finding the katra points, almost instinctively. Spock thought about executing the Vulcan nerve pinch, slowed down the mental image so that Kirk's mind could interpret the data and use it. Of course, Spock had to lower his mental barriers so that Kirk could enter, but Spock didn't mind in that Kirk thought basically like himself, except more emotionally, he hoped. He couldn't avoid seeing some of Kirk's personal life in the process, his farm in Iowa where he grew up, his brother who only Kirk called Sam, Kirk's father, getting into the Academy, and other memories that involved considerable amounts of emotion for Kirk. He wasn't surprised not to see any of the women that Kirk manipulated over the years, but figured that Kirk had probably hidden them away back into where Spock didn't need or want to go. Spock merely transmitted the information to Kirk's cerebellum and began to break the mental link. Then he closed the link entirely by pulling his hand away.
"Can I try it again?"
"Certainly, Captain."
This time, Kirk executed the pinch on Spock, who passed out in about three seconds. Kirk lowered him to the ground as gently as he could, but ended up dropping him. Kirk stood around for a few minutes, waiting for Spock to regain consciousness, and performing the pinch on any creature that neared.
Finally, Spock's eyes fluttered a few times and he regained consciousness. He almost smiled in triumph.
"Are you alright, Spock?"
"I am undamaged, Captain."
"Good."
"Has the situation changed?"
"No, Spock, I don't think that it has. Since we seem to be trapped on the planet's surface, we must construct shelter, find food, and find water."
"What type of structure do you plan on creating? We only have a few hours before sunset."
"I suppose we should create a sort of hut, with maybe a leaf roof. Short, for now, to save time. Let's collect materials. Leave all materials in this general area. Report back to this spot in about twenty minutes."
Captain Kirk found a plant with huge leaves resembling those of the Earth banana. He wondered if the plant may also provide food, but for then, he merely gathered about twenty leaves and brought them back to the gathering area.
Spock found several small logs. He gathered them up and brought them to the gathering area. He then set off to find more logs.
Captain Kirk found a small log and brought it back to the gathering area.

After twenty minutes, Spock and Kirk met up at their rendezvous point and found that they had sufficient supplies to build a short hut. Building a partition would just waste resources, so the two officers merely built a one-room hut in a relatively rough hexagonal shape [being rough because Spock had required Kirk's help in order to finish the hut more efficiently]. Kirk then placed some sticks on top of where the roof would be, placed some leaves carefully on top of those, and then sat some long sticks over the leaves and sticks.

In several hours, a hut had been constructed. It was relatively small, but it would do.
"Spock, will this be sufficiently warm for you or should we phaser some rocks and bring them in to warm it up?"
"I believe that would make it more comfortable for myself, but I believe you would merely become too hot, sweat, and become dehydrated. Additionally, we have little phaser power left, and we should reserve it for absolute emergencies."
"Oh."
Kirk went out to find some more banana leaves to soften his sleeping area and to create a sort of pillow. He brought enough leaves back to soften both his and Spock's sleeping areas.
"If you wish, you can also add some padding to your sleeping area . Mine feels much more comfortable since I did so."
Spock shrugged and put some leaves on his sleeping area.
"Captain, tomorrow we must prioritize finding water and perhaps some food. I believe my tricorder is still functional..."
Spock scanned himself. It registered half-human and half-Vulcan.
"Yes, it is perfectly functional."
"Spock, the plant from which I gathered these leaves; it looked like a banana plant, it even seemed to have a fake stem, like a banana. Could it be related to the banana?"
Spock nodded.
"Quite possibly. If it does bear fruit, I will sample some to see if it is poisonous."
"Good night, Spock."
"Captain, I have formed a hypothesis as to how the plant could have.."
"Not now, Spock. The phrase 'good night' in the English language can either be meant as a nighttime parting greeting, a sort of blessing for good sleep, or as a way of saying that you are falling asleep and want the other person to be quiet so that you can do so. I meant it as the latter. Shut up, Spock."
Spock raised an eyebrow and laid down to meditate.
"Thank you."

Spock began to enter deep meditation, analyzing the information he had gained with his tricorder that he, as a Vulcan, remembered. He pictured bodily functions occurring within his body, and cranked down his metabolism so he didn't expend as much energy and could go without food longer. He also shut his inner eyelids to prevent any insects or other debris from entering his eyes.
Spock kept himself in meditation, but soon reverted to the most minimal level of meditation.
Spock heard a buzzing, almost rumbling sound. He used his tricorder to determine if anything out of the ordinary was in the vicinity. He found nothing. Kirk didn't wake. If he had, Spock might've just executed the Vulcan nerve pinch. The captain needed to sleep. He wasn't a Vulcan. Spock could function, if under stress, for days without sleep. Unfortunately, his human DNA affected this ability, but he was still quite capable of working for an extended amount of time without feeling affected. Spock was, and would be for some time, the "perfect" Starfleet officer, due to his physiology.
Spock looked down at Kirk, realizing that in sixty, maybe eighty or so years from now, he would die. Spock knew he himself had about two hundred and ten or more years left, unless his physiology was affected by his human half more than he thought. He also knew that those numbers would mean nothing if he couldn't help his captain survive being stranded on the planet. He hoped that nothing had happened on board the Enterprise, because although they had checked in and said that they would stay for a day and a night, with no further check-ins, they wouldn't be able to be beamed up easily unless their physiologies were much different from those of the creatures. Spock's blood temperature was about 91 degrees Fahrenheit, while Kirk's was about 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. But what were the creature's blood temperatures? What if they surrounded them by morning and their blood temperatures were very close to either 91 or 98.6 degrees? He couldn't fight off hundreds or thousands of creatures, and neither could any human. Could the Enterprise bridge crew figure it out then? They would have to beam down a rescue team, and risk more lives for the lives of two people who were somewhat valuable yes, Spock valuable for his unique perspective, scientific knowledge, and his A-7 computer certification, while Kirk was valuable for his piloting and leadership skills. They could, however, be replaced. Spock didn't want people to die for just him and one other. It was illogical.
Unless he didn't have to have anyone come down to the surface. If he found the communications barrier generator, he could disable it long enough to get beamed out, or destroy it. That may take days to find, however, and he didn't have days, he had hours. By the time the rescue team would find him if he ventured out to attempt that... No, that wasn't a viable option either.
If the Enterprise's sensors would detect their structure, which they had built on almost exactly the spot where they had beamed in, and the two very different life signs within, the logical conclusion would be that the life signs were Kirk and Spock. Could they make it more obvious? Even to humans, Spock thought that that would be quite apparent.

The buzzing sound started again, and Spock realized that it was coming from inside the hut. He searched his side of the hut, then went over to Kirk's side. The buzzing sound was coming from Kirk. Kirk was snoring. Spock just realized he had spent several minutes wasting time.

It was nearly dawn, bright enough to see. Spock was awake; he had never fallen asleep in the first place. He attempted to wake the captain. He shook him gently and called his name.
"Jim, wake up."
The captain rubbed his eyes and groaned.
"Spock, do you have any idea what time it is?"
Spock raised an eyebrow at the implication that he didn't know what time it was.
"It's approximately 0530 hours, ship's time. You fell asleep at approximately 2000 are sufficiently rested, in fact more than sufficiently for a human male of your age and..."
"Wait, wait, wait, you know when I fell asleep...? Alright now I'm awake."
Kirk got up slowly, still about half asleep. Spock offered a steadying hand, but Kirk pushed it away and got up on his own. He put his hand on his back. Sleeping on dirt wasn't ideal. Spock pretended not to notice. He wanted to give his captain some dignity.
"Captain, I will need your assistance in finding the plant you saw yesterday."
"Certainly, Spock, but don't you think it would be more logical to stay here, should the rescue team come looking for us, or if they are attempting to find our life signs? The communicators obviously don't work, so staying here seems to be our only reasonable chance of rescue. Spock, are you feeling alright? Your logic seems to be faltering. The goal is getting out of here and bringing a team down with better equipment to further explore after we have left. Of course, you will be included in that team, however, I order you to take a day of rest when we get back to the ship. You are to report to sickbay for a complete physical, including a psychological profile. I'm concerned about you. This isn't like you, you seem healthy, yes, but a little vacant for you. You are, without doubt, under normal circumstances, my most logical and competent officer. I need that, especially down here. We don't know what's out there. We haven't explored the whole planet, we don't know specifics. I order you to stay here, unless circumstances put you in a situation where your life could be endangered by staying. In those cases, your judgement, although currently seemingly somewhat impaired, takes precedence. We both could survive for several days without food or water, so unless the rescue team doesn't beam down today, food and water are not top priorities. Survival in general and return to the ship are our current objectives."
"I understand, Captain."
Spock stared into space, not meditating exactly, just absent. He didn't know what exactly to do. He was ordered to stay and wait for rescue, what could he do?