(This takes place after they got back from the V'Ger mission)
Spock had asked Kirk to join him in his quarters.
Spock had asked Kirk…Spock had been different since his mind meld with V'Ger, but even so Kirk hardly dared to hope.
***
Spock's mind meld with V'Ger had been enlightening, to say the least. V'Ger, a perfectly logical being, was somehow very different from what Spock had been striving for all these years. It had none of the respect for life forms that Spock had always fervently held on to. Spock had always found the human tendency to react more strongly to the death of one than to the death of a thousand appalling. V'Ger, however, simply did not recognize the difference between life and death. It had no motivation to do anything. From a perfectly logical perspective, Spock supposed, nothing really matters. The universe does not care if we live or die. Thus, a perfectly logical being would not either, nor would it understand why it should.
Spock cared.
His first encounter with Jim had been, after more than two years of separation, hard to remain composed during. It made Spock was sure of one thing, however—he cared. Very much. He had heard the hurt in Jim's voice when Spock ignored his greetings, and it had torn him up inside. Perhaps this had been the "something more" he had been looking for all along.
After so many years of denial, Spock was about to be honest with himself and, more importantly, Jim. He had seen the urgency in Kirk's face, heard it in his voice in the sickbay. Spock had tried to make it clear in that moment exactly what he had been feeling, but logically it was still important to confirm things. Spock was not shameless enough to allow himself to do so in front of McCoy. He would have been so smug. The man had known all along, and wasn't ever going to let either Kirk or Spock forget it. What's more, he was not heartless enough to declare his love for Jim in front of Chapel. Poor woman. She did everything except choose who to fall in love with so intelligently.
It is illogical to think in absolutes when one can think freely. The more options, the wider the perspective, the better. If he had been human, Spock would have said "Screw those damn Vulcans."
If he was human, that was.
Kirk knocked on Spock's door five minutes early.
Spock composed himself. "Enter."
***
Kirk had forgiven Spock the moment Spock had appeared on the bridge. He hadn't intended to; it had just happened. He always had a hard time dealing with it when the Vulcan snuck up on him like that, but after so long…if the rest of the bridge crew hadn't been too shocked to notice their captain's reaction, Kirk would have been utterly embarrassed.
His mouth had fallen open. He had rushed forwards. He had gawked.
Kirk banished the memory. Only one thing mattered right now.
He knocked. He was five minutes early, he noted. He hadn't wanted to wait. He suspected, however, that if he was right about the nature of the reunion he was about to experience, Spock wouldn't mind.
***
Kirk walked into Spock's quarters.
Spock stood up.
Kirk opened his mouth slightly but could say nothing through the lump in his throat.
Spock stepped forwards. "I believe," he said, "that I owe you an apology. I'm sorry, Jim."
Kirk managed to speak. "Apology accepted."
"Now," said Spock, "in…conventional Earth terms, I believe the equivalent of the question I would like to pose is 'Will you marry me?'"
Kirk walked forwards and placed his and Spock's hands together in a Vulcan kiss. He looked up into Spock's face.
The two stayed there for a moment or two, simply looking at each other. Then, Kirk grabbed Spock by the front of his shirt and pushed him back into the sofa as he had wanted to do so many years ago in his quarters. He climbed into Spock's lap and started kissing him.
Spock broke away for a moment, but this time he did not remove Kirk's body from his—rather, he held him tighter. "Jim," he said, his expression deadpan but his eyes twinkling, "you haven't answered my question."
Kirk laughed. "Of course I'll marry you. I would die for you. I would kill for you. I would steal for you. I would blow up the Enterprise for you…"
"That won't be necessary, Admiral," said Spock.
"Understood, Mr. Spock," said Kirk.
Every time you post something on the internet you lose a little bit of your soul. By the way.