Casual Contact
A/N: Obviously a prologue doesn't consist of much so the weekly update thing starts from this chapter, I hope you enjoy it :)
The Enterprise had only left docks following two weeks of repair from the Nero incident three weeks prior when the Captain failed to subtly wait for Spock to finish his last analysis as Alpha shift switched off; the Vulcan had made a clear habit of being the single remainder of the prime team with desire to leave no work incomplete before retiring – which was a gratifying treat for the Beta Science Officer as it meant he could arrive fifteen minutes later than the rota.
However this day, instead of being one of the first to leave per usual – the Captain was lingering by the opposite station appearing to be reading information on his PADD, although the twenty-six glances he had taken of his First Officer giving the sign that he was in fact waiting for the Vulcan.
He and the Captain were not what was considered friends; it would be illogical to choose to presume so after only a few weeks, with the first of those involving stranding, being emotionally compromised by and strangling the man.
The sudden switch to not attend New Vulcan was purely based on where his skills would be best equipped, the unneeded presence of two forms of himself and perhaps a hint of personal preference.
However as a Vulcan he could not lie and say his elder self's parting words along with the teamwork and actions shown during the world's crisis didn't drive a hint of curiosity about Captain James T. Kirk that would be interesting to observe.
Spock was aware of the gaze on his back but he was not one to allow actions such as clear facts of being waited for derail him from his work…
Signing out and leaving a half completed report he walked to the lift – not needing to turn around to know that the Captain had hurriedly dropped his PADD at the movement and slid through the closing doors.
"Spock, good you're finished," The man grinned, holding onto the bar, "Deck 5."
The Vulcan decided to not correct the statement by admitting his work was in fact not completed, or add his own voice command for a destination as it was obvious the Captain required something of him, "Was there a purpose for you awaiting my conclusion of work sir?"
Jim raised a hand to rub the back of his neck, "I thought I was doing well at being subtle."
"I believe the failing factor was multiple directions of your gaze to my station rather than the possessed PADD."
"Well I didn't want you to ninja off when I wasn't looking."
Spock raised an eyebrow at the remark, "Vulcans do not practice the occupation of a 'ninja' in our culture therefore it would not be possible for me to leave in such a manner."
Laughing Jim shook his head, "And Bones calls you a humourless robot – anyway, yes I did want to talk to you, mind if we go to my quarters?"
The Vulcan titled his head as an agreement and followed his Captain from the lift; he was actually trying to quell his surprise at the man's response to his statement – since arriving on Earth he had been trying to cultivate the use of sarcasm and humour which seemed to be strongly intertwined in the Humans mannerisms and despite having assumed he'd grasped it would always have any attempts responded to by the recipient re-explaining what they had meant.
Nobody had ever distinguished his jokes before.
Spock was aware of the position of his superior's quarters since they were placed directly next to his own with a shared bathroom; not that he would ever use this door to enter the room as that would be highly disrespectful – however he had yet to visit the Captain's domain.
"Sorry about the mess," Jim began, indicating to the boxes of various personal items stacked throughout the space, "I haven't had a chance to properly move in yet."
"I believed it to be your Yeoman's duty to situate your belongings," He hadn't done this but he was a being who required significantly less sleep than his colleague meaning he'd had the time to organise his effects during the period a human would use to rest – currently there wasn't any other available time to spend on such a task due to the extent of work being sent to the Starship with a new Captain under scrutinising eyes.
Lifting a box off his desk to clear space for them to sit, Jim collapsed into his chair and gave a small shrug, "I know – but I'm not sure how I feel about a stranger rifling through my stuff, I mean collectively these things make up my entire life since I didn't want to risk leaving something behind that I would suddenly realise I wanted while we're out in space for a year; so I just told her to leave it."
"I – believe I understand," Spock admitted, he too would not be comfortable with the thought of an unknown acquaintance handling some of his belongings – the few possessions of his mother's especially.
A soft smile breezed Jim's face as if he knew along what lines his First Officer had been thinking but he didn't comment; with an indication to the chair opposite the Vulcan took the offered seat as the man leant back to reach for a bottle of his personal wine, "Drink?"
Spock had opened his mouth to decline the alcoholic beverage as he was not partial to the sharp taste when the Captain pre-interrupted him, "Don't worry I know you're not one for my kind of drink – but I have some mighty fine tea available," Bringing out a jar of tea leaves to prove so, which was a surprising item for someone to have managed to get their hands on.
"Vulcans do not worry," He replied with a quirk of his eyebrow.
Once again Jim chuckled at the comment and took it for a yes, which correctly it was and prepared the two drinks, "Vulcans seem to not do a lot of things."
"Yet our species still manage to accomplish more than yours," The reply slipped before Spock could control it; teasing was another human trait he had observed over the years however his practices of this one had often ended in near physical assault as his monotone speech pattern would never correctly portray his intent.
But instead of a defensive outburst which he had come to expect, the Captain simply smirked, "Hey you guys have double the life span to get stuff done."
"Indeed, I admit there may be a slight imbalance of circumstance," He returned, having to supress an upwards twitch of his lip; he could not remember being in an atmosphere that had relaxed him to this extent before – it was rather disconcerting.
Vying back to the original purpose of being here Spock continued, "Although Captain, I must divulge I am curious as to what you required of me that could not be inquired during our shift."
"Curiosity Commander?"
"A term raised from scientific principles therefore not related to emotions."
"But of course," Jim nodded, not attempting to hide the humour in his eyes, however this glint quickly shut off as the man placed down his glass and re-adjusted to lean forward in his chair, "Anyway – I waited to speak here because my question, well more of a general topic, is of a more personal nature."
The Vulcan stiffened by a minuscule at the revelation but unlike usual cases of hearing those two words, he did not make to leave the room, but simply inclined his head as a sign for the Captain to proceed with his thoughts.
"The thing is – I'm well aware that Vulcans have a big no-go on touch," He paused as if to check that he wasn't about to get punched for his topic, "But even though I know you let people casually touch you, whether because you're doing that thing of accommodating other people's needs above your own or you just generally don't mind I don't know – I wanted to… well I'm not sure if permissions the word, but in a way I guess ask permission to touch you."
Spock's eyebrow shot up at the question and Jim was quick to hold his hands up in defence.
"Not like that! Man that didn't sound so wrong in my head – it's just as you've gathered I'm a very tactile person and however hard I may try there's no way I'd always be able to catch myself before clapping you on the shoulder or taking your elbow to lead you somewhere," He shrugged with that innocent boyish grin that often got him into trouble, "I just don't want to make you feel uncomfortable – so if you're really not cool with the whole touch thing I will try doubly as hard to keep tabs on my actions for you."
The Vulcan found he could not take his gaze from his Captain's as he could not quite believe the sincerity of the man's words – or the casualness in which he spoke them, a tone suggesting he assumed that his First Officer had sat through many a conversation such as this with people requesting where his personal boundaries lay.
And this was why Spock was struck with such… surprise; this sudden question opened the realisation that since arriving on Earth many years prior nobody he'd become acquainted with had ever expression a query in his opinion or desire on the issue of touch.
Landing on the planet the Half Vulcan had come to the conclusion that as he was a guest of Earth, he should allow adjustment to the peoples culture – he had not been fully disposed to touch as it had been a common occurrence as a very young child and though he wouldn't have admitted it, a small section of him was perhaps mildly excited about the opportunity of regaining that norm of physical contact since judgement from his fellow peers would not be subjected in Starfleet since they were not present and it would simply be him mingling with human culture.
However within a few hours he had discovered that diverting to his Vulcan heritage after that first negative experience with his classmates had left its mark.
Spock was not adverse to the idea of participating in casual touch as was usual between acquaintances and peers, yet each time a hand clasped his arm or a student bumped a leg against his own a sharp tension would jolt in his muscles and he could not resist the response of flinching.
Clearly although his mind may have human qualities, his body was fully Vulcan and he could not feel comfortable sharing contact.
Throughout the years at the Academy he progressed in controlling his reaction – no longer did he flinch, or even show any sign of discomfort at being touched; but that didn't stop the crawling sensation with each small incident.
This thought process caused a fifth of a second hesitation in answering the Captain's question, logically it was an opportunity to have one less person causing him discomfort in his interactions – but also it would cause much distraction and extra effort on his colleagues part to control his tactile nature; he dealt with contact every day, it would only be a little more.
"You need not concern yourself Captain – my years on your planet have adjusted me to the physical culture of humans so I have adapted to these circumstances."
The grin and dismissal Spock had been expecting from his reply did not arrive, instead a light dip shaped Jim's eyebrows and he shuffled forward to rest his arms on the table, "See that sounded like you telling me you weren't comfortable with all the casual touching."
Spock gave a returning tilt of his head, "I assure you those were not the words I spoke."
"But they were the ones you were thinking," Jim nipped, ignoring the barely visible hint of shock in the Vulcan's eyes, "Look – I know we're not really friends, I mean a couple of weeks ago you had me in a choke hold against the helm – but we do make a good team, which I know you agree with since you came back to join the crew so I think that's a good basis for a friendship in the future."
"However that's beside the point – the point is that as my First Officer we're going to be working very closely together and I'm probably going to be the person you see the most; so I don't want you feeling weird or uncomfortable by my actions – so no touching, that's fine, I can do that."
Now sporting the grin Jim chugged the remainder of his drink and slammed it down with a loud sigh of satisfaction, "Cool, see our communications getting better by the minute – anyway this is where I'm going to have to kick you out sorry, unless you want to stay here without me, which is actually fine by the way – with the shared bathroom its basically one giant room."
Hovering a hand over Spock's barely drunken tea the Vulcan nodded to the unasked question and Jim picked it up to place it with his empty glass in the washing chute; responding to the man's request he rose from his chair in preparation to leave – however he suddenly found his mouth moving with unplanned words.
"Captain?"
Jim turned back, raising his own eyebrow.
"In contradiction to your theory," The Vulcan seemed to take a small portion of extra effort to add, "Which was correct – I… would not be adverse to your casual contact."
There was a small pause, which Spock was just about to fill with an apology and hasty exit when the man's face broke out a staggering grin, "Really? Man that's great – I mean, you know it's…"
Shaking his head he chuckled at himself and reconnected their gaze with a soft quality, "Thanks."
The Vulcan gave a light nod to the gratitude although he thought it highly illogical for the Captain to be expressing such sentiments when the original question had been to accommodate the Vulcan's heritage – although on further analysis it was evident that his acceptance of touch put less pressure on the man as he need not watch his own actions as strictly.
Spock's answer had not been planned, a very rare occurrence – but in retrospect it had been the most logical path… his subconscious must have seen this; as of course he wasn't capable of emotional responses.
"Well I said I'd meet Bones in the rec," Jim announced, ending the topic, "You want to come?"
"I believe there are more beneficial activities I could partake in than acquainting with Doctor McCoy."
He laughed at the dead-panned tone, "You know your expression manages to become even more judgmental when referring to the good doctor."
"I assure you my facial muscles take no such effort."
"You're cold Mr Spock – besides I guess your muscles are too busy dealing with those eyebrows."
In response the Vulcan raised one of the said brows whilst being unable to regress the slight twitch of the corner of his mouth.
"Just watch the wind doesn't change direction," Jim replied still laughing "We don't need you stuck in a constant demeaning look."
"I do not see how the position of the wind would have an impact on my expression," Spock tilted his head; he had not come across that phrase before.
Jim smirked at the Vulcan's subtle confusion, "Don't worry about it – luckily there's no wind on a Starship." And he slapped a hand on his First Officer's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze before disappearing through the 'swoosh' of the door.
Spock had seen the hand coming, he had known what the intended contact was going to be – his many years on Earth had taught him that it was a common gesture between acquaintances as well as a personal favourite of the Captains; but although he had been a recipient of such contact large quantities of times the tension of muscles signalling unease even if he wanted to welcome the touch was always present.
Which was why a spurt of shock ran through him when the man's hand made contact and it felt entirely comfortable – it was the first time since his mother that he had been touched and his body had not rejected the action.
Turning his head to where his colleague had just exited a brief flash of curiosity lit in his eyes; had he finally overcome his heritage to accept contact?
A beep of the Captain's conn interrupted his contemplation and he reflexively straightened, returning to his neutral professional mannerism to walk forward and respond to the message since it would be more efficient than the caller having to continue conning the many other areas the man could be accommodating to find him.
Lt. Andrews, the acting Captain during the Beta shift appeared on the screen, "Captain we… oh, Commander," The confusion evident, "Um, is the Captain there sir?"
"He is not, however he is also presently unavailable – perhaps I could be of assistance instead Lieutenant."
It was clear the man wanted to enquire as to why the Vulcan was hanging out in the Captain's room on his own but Spock's tone never left room for crew to brave asking such questions, "Of course sir, the plant we picked up from that brief stop on Tandar Prime seems to be having a reaction to our artificial chemicals in the air – apparently its destroying the lab."
"I will see to it Lieutenant, Spock out," He ended the stream preventing the man from further comment.
The Vulcan exited the quarters immediately, heading for the Botany Lab; he had planned to have some time of meditation or perhaps find Nyota, however the Captain had hardly rested since forcibly boarding the ship before the Narada incident – it was only logical as his First Officer that he handled this situation to allow the man a break.
Jim took a second to glare at the colourful cubes on his plate, wondering if the intensity of his gaze could turn them into an actual steak rather than a replication of taste alone – he wanted the texture, the smell and the force you had to put behind each cut.
Alas no change occurred so he sighed in defeat and made his way to the table Bones and Scotty occupied.
"Man I feel like I haven't eaten in days," He groaned through the mouthful he attacked even before fully touching the chair.
"That better be a turn of phrase" Bones gruffed as his hand unconsciously twitched to the medi-scanner on his waist, "Cause if you're doing that already I'm going to attach a permanent IV to your arm with all the liquid nutrients."
"That'd be very impractical with my particular job and all."
"I'd find a way so you'd still be able to gallivant around your ship."
"What if I need to sort something out in one of the Jefferies tubes?"
"I don't give a damn about your tubes."
Jim chuffed and paused mid-bite, pointing his fork towards the glaring Scotsman, "You just fell onto thin ice Bones."
"Yeah but those things aren't technically engineering," The doctor argued.
At this Jim choked back a laugh, causing a coughing fit as some food went down his air tunnel and he ducked his head; not wanting to get caught in the coming rant.
"Not part of engineering!" Scotty launched, slamming his utensils on the table to have use of his hands for dramatic emphasis, "Now see here laddie– those tubes are the main par' of this whole here ship! Yer want to go sayin' they're not important is an outrage – hows bout I come to yer bay and take away all the devices, would yer say those aren't technically part of the place? Yer ain't got the equipment then all yer got is an empty room! Yer could be owing those tubes yer life, yer stupid –"
"Okay! I think he gets it," Jim quickly interceded by placing an arm across the table before the man started burning the room's ears with his colourful language, "He is right though – most of the controls lie in those things."
"Says the guy who uses them as his personal playground," Bones returned with a pointed look to draw the Scotsman's attention from himself; everyone loved Scotty with his easy-going attitude and bubbly face but although they'd only been aboard a few weeks people had quickly learnt you didn't want to stick around if you mistakenly insulted the ship.
"I don't," Came the muffled reply which sprayed a bit of half-chewed food on the table; seeing the engineer switched his glare he gulped down the bite and repeated in a slightly higher pitch, "I don't!"
"Aye - Capt'n or not I'd set yer quarters temperature at full heat for a week if yer did."
"Why does everyone keep threatening me – do you people not understand I'm a Starship Captain? I could have you thrown in the brig!" Waiting for Scotty to take a bite of his meal leaving him unable to speak, Jim leant over to the doctor and loudly whispered, "That said, I've been thinking about using the wiring room to create an acrobatic practice area."
He narrowly ducked to miss the cup that flew at his head, although that didn't mean that the liquid within also cleanly passed over and he was left with a fresh 'just been swimming' hairstyle.
The roars of his two friends did not help his dignity levels which may have already been lowered by the child-like pout settled on his features.
"Why's he here again? I thought this was our dinner date," Jim grumbled as he threw a steak cube at the engineer with little effect since the man just allowed it to hit him before proceeding to eat it with a smug wink.
"Because StarKid, you now have even worse time management issues than in the Academy," Bones replied, "I'm not going to eat by myself like the old grandpa outcast because you're running around doing jobs that aren't yours."
Shaking his wet locks in a dog imitation Jim argued, "I had to talk to Spock about something," He snatched the jumper on the back of the doctor's seat and scrubbed his hair, "And that is not your nickname for me."
"You're still planning on trying to make friends with that hobgoblin? And you never listened to my year worth of complaints about the name Bones so the fact that you don't want it means you're definitely having it."
"Yer don't need to worry Capt'n – I won't be callin' yer that," Scotty cut in with a lovely view of his chewed food.
"Your accent makes his title a nickname in itself," The doctor exclaimed, then he dropped his tone, "But really – that robot doesn't do friends, who knows how Nyota puts up with him and even if he did have friends, why on earth would you think that the two guys who tried to kill each other would have any potential?"
Jim leant back with his trade-mark grin and stretched out his arms, "One can't predict the paths of the universe," He snapped a finger in Scotty's direction, "And I change my earlier statement – what are you doing here Bones? Clearly this should be mine and the engineers date."
"I ain't no rebound," The Scotsman drawled, enjoying par-taking in the dual topic conversation; it was a tactic some of the crew had begun to notice to ensure that other people who were with the old friends wouldn't feel excluded or as if they didn't have the right to join in with the flow.
This had been arising as an issue from quite early on for some crew members as most people had close friends or groups from the Academy so were in that place where they would subconsciously leave strangers on the fringes during recreational periods, so the portion of the crew who hadn't had friends assigned to the Enterprise or in some tragic cases had lost all friends during the battle with Nero were left feeling like outsiders.
Hence why Jim made sure that if he was ever discussing a topic with Bones or another of his close friends that another colleague may not feel comfortable commenting on – he would attach it to something of pointless humour so they could involve in that bit instead.
Not that this applied to Scotty, he would insert himself into a classified conference between the Admirals if he had something to say – but a tactic kind of becomes a constant after excessive practice.
"McCoy's gotta point though – Mr Spock's great and all but his pa's not gonna be 'round all the time to call off the choke hold."
"See it's not only me coming at you with sensible thinking," The doctor added, gesturing the engineer as if ensuring that his friend noticed that someone had agreed with him "And sprouting off a Chinese fortune cookie is not an answer."
Jim rolled his eyes at the man's persistence, "Spock isn't a creature with only a kill or be clever setting; he jokes for goodness sake! I even had proof today."
He'd actually been more excited about the Vulcan's joking mannerism than he had let on earlier – not wanting to make the Commander think about what he was participating with human banter and suddenly close off.
Since their first couple of interactions Jim had been ninety-nine percent positive that a large amount of Spock's replies to peoples topics and queries had been either sarcastic quips or openings to a round of non-spiting insults and jokes – so it was gratifying to take a moment to have a proper look; he should have pulled the Vulcan aside earlier.
"No he doesn't," Bones interceded, shifting to a more profile view of his friend, "He says a normal sentence in that high-and-mighty tone and then you chuckle for no reason."
"One day you'll notice his jokes," Jim continued with a disregard for the man's words, "And from that day I will hold this conversation over your head – along with collecting the fifty credits you will have lost."
"What are you – I haven't made any bet."
"So you're saying you think Spock does have humour?"
"That hobgoblin has nothing of the sort!"
"Then you're prepared to put money on that."
"Fine!" Bones snapped, glaring at the young man's cocky grin, "I'll take your stupid bet – but if I'm getting dragged into this then so should Scotty!"
"Nay I'm simply an innocent bystander," The engineer snorted, nobody could get McCoy as riled as the Captain – he was the epitome of a pestering little brother, "Also I'd be savin' me creds for the next case of whiskey when this un runs out."
This broke the topic as the two men laughed at their friend's failure to break away from the Scottish stereotype and began teasing him for his liquor obsession.
Jim slumped into his quarters a few hours later, scowling at the irritating 'swosh' of the doors – he bet the programmed noise was a product of some technician's love-brawl with a partner who'd left them to go and explore space; so he didn't see why the rest of them had to suffer as well.
Collapsing on the box hidden bed he risked a glance at the clock and groaned at the sight; he only had four of his nine hour break left – it was the main curse of being a young and sociable Captain, everyone wanted to chat with you.
Still he forced himself off the bed to stumble into the bathroom; though sleeping in your uniform made for beautiful convenience in an exhausted state it only made your body hate you in the morning.
As he grabbed his tooth-cleansing tablet his eyes flicked past the opposite door which led to his First Officer's room but they quickly slid back, I didn't see him in the rec, has he actually eaten anything?
Jim's eyebrows tilted in a slight dent, although they'd only been on the ship for three weeks the Vulcan's workaholic tendency had been established in the first shift – and the whole our people can survive extended lengths of time with no food or sleep didn't cut as an excuse in his book.
Despite the fact Spock would probably rather he used the main door than the adjoining bathroom even after the whole casual contact conversation, he punched in the code which they both had to know for health regulations – he really didn't see any big deal with using the door, it was much simpler; plus if the Vulcan had accepted the touch thing he really couldn't complain.
"Hey Spock?" He whispered, wary that the half-human may be in meditation state.
No answer came – so he stepped into the room and glanced around; it was very much as expected, all prim and pristine with every article correctly situated on an appropriate shelf and all most likely precisely the same width from each other, however it was definitely quite lacking of one First Officer.
"Well let's hope you're where I think you are," Jim sighed with a light side smirk, hoping the absence was due to taking some overdue time with Uhura rather than because he was holed up working somewhere.
Shaking his head he made a move to leave, but something caught his eye on the shelf which was in eye-line to the bed – moving closer he saw it was a picture frame holding a photo of a beautiful human woman laughing, her happiness seeming to be intensified by the burning red sky behind, resting her chin on top of a small Vulcan child's head secure in her arms whose large brown eyes were pulled upwards trying to watch her face.
"No way," He whispered as his brain kicked into who he must be looking at; it was a young Spock, maybe five or six, but what was surprising to see was that he was actually smiling! Not one of those lip quirks he sometimes couldn't hold back but an actual smile – guaranteed it was only a small one, nothing ranging to a beam or grin but still it was quite something to see that at one point the half-human seemed to accept the fact he was half-human.
Even though he knew nobody was in the room, Jim still did the whole guilty check over the shoulder before he reached out a hand to pick up the photo for a closer look.
However the second his finger brushed the glass a sharp beeping burst through the silence causing the man to leap back as he he'd been burnt – swinging his gaze around like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
The conn continued beeping and Jim let out a breath as he realised what had startled him; but then he paused for a second – really he should leave it, whatever it was would be Spock's business and he didn't want to intrude on the Vulcan's work – yet also he didn't like the idea of the Commander getting conned elsewhere and being dragged away from his recreational time when he only had four hours left.
Jim hit the answer button.
"Sorry Commander, didn't know if you'd be finished but –" Lt. Andrews looked up from his PADD to the screen and faltered on seeing someone without pointed ears, "Um, hello Captain."
"Hey Jack, what can I help you with?" Jim asked, not addressing why he was in Spock's room at such a random hour.
The Lieutenant frowned, opened his mouth and paused, and then asked, "Have you and the Commander switched rooms?"
"No," Jim replied, "But Spock's not here right now – can I help you with something?"
Andrews simply blinked at him, then shook his head and Jim thought he heard a mutter of 'talk about déjà vu' but suddenly the man was giving a request, "Well a commands just come in from Starfleet asking for a full report on the ship's schedule – as in shifts, hours for breaks, numbers of crew in sections at one time, that kind of thing… and they want it by tomorrow."
Jim groaned at the news, he knew the Admirals were going to be checking up on him more because of his age but really – did they think he would just change the formatted schedule every Starship has used for decades just for the sake of it?
He ran a hand through his hair, crew time-tabling was normally down to the First Officer and then just signed off by the Captain but he and Spock seemed to have more of a partnership way about things without even discussing it – the Vulcan had simply sat by him in the conference room and they'd planned out the whole thing together, it really was a more sensible way about doing things.
Plus it meant Spock got a lucky day since yes Jim could write up the needed report because unlike other Captains he did know all the details, "Yeah I can do that – always the bringer of good news Jack."
The man smirked, "Sorry, I would say you could call me and give me a mundane task when you're back on shift but I want sleep – so don't."
"Lazy as they get, enjoy the chair while it lasts – the King's coming to reclaim it in a few," He winked, "Kirk out."
Once again left in silence his shoulders sagged, guess I won't be getting any sleep then.
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