He has arrived early.

Thirty-five minutes early, in fact. He recalls the details of his meeting with James, the one-hundred and ten different details which all pertain to the human's physical appearance and personality. He can recall James' light-hearted laughter, the deep and rich quality of his voice as he spoke and yet he cannot remember any of the actual words being spoken when they met. He recalls the way the breeze blew strands of hair onto James' forehead, an attractive curl forming and the restraint it took for him to not push it back with shaking fingers.

He recalls the freckles scattered along his forearms, the blonde hair dusting the surface of skin in swirls and the spark of curiosity that had flared in him as he thought about what patterns they would make should he trace them with his finger.

''Excuse me Sir? Are you ready to order?''

He declines the waitress's offer and sighs quietly as he stares out the restaurants windows.

It irks him to no end that he has developed these feelings when he has lived the last twenty-eight years of his life without them. He has not - nor has he ever been - attracted to T'Pring. Yes, he thought that she had the appropriate aesthetic qualities that others would deem beautiful, but whenever his eyes had fallen upon her all he had managed to observe, was her ice cold exterior and the disdain in her eyes whenever she had taken the time to afford him any attention.

A shiver crept down his spine as he sat waiting in the restaurant that James had recommend they convene in; the customers were all conversing animatedly about their daily lives and Spock wonders briefly what his life would have been like had he been born fully human, before dismissing the thought as irrelevant. This was his life; if he had not been born by the human Lady Amanda he would not now have his daughter.

Spock looks down at his clothes and a small frown creases his mouth. Why is he so concerned about his state of dress? These are merely pieces of fabric to cover his body and protect it from the environment and yet he has this illogical urge to appear appealing to the human he is about to meet.

Logically, James would not have invited him out for a 'date' as the humans say, if he did not find something appealing about his person and yet he has another feeling that is plaguing him. Doubt.

His self-confidence was a matter which he had long thought had never existed. Having never been praised or looked upon as worthy by anyone other than his mother, he had long ago stopped seeking the approval of others.

And yet here he sits, doubting and over-thinking every aspect and detail of his very existence, all merely because he wishes to gain the approval of a single human being. If he were more human he would laugh at himself derisively, instead all he does is continue to swirl his thumbs together beneath the table and eagerly anticipate James' arrival.

A bell sounds off in the distance above the restaurants door and he turns his head so quickly in that direction that he may have to seek medical attention after this encounter. He grimaces slightly as he performs a light version of a Vulcan neck pinch on himself, forcing the muscles to relax.

Impatience.

He is not accustomed to dealing with these emotions and for some highly unusual reason and with no logic to fall back on he finds himself becoming more and more angry as the minutes seemed to pass. Why? He questions and the absurdity of the whole situation prompts him to stand, gather his belongings and make for the exit before he can make a fool of himself.

The bell sounds again and Spock's stomach proceeds to land somewhere round the region of his knees. He will not look in that direction, disappointment at the lack of James' appearance settles heavily in his gut and with a resigned sigh at the failure of his first ever date, he turns.

''Spock? Going somewhere?'' a low, confused voice questions him and he lifts his head to face the direction of the voice.

''I…'' he starts but the man smiles and his thoughts derail, his mouth falling open slightly at the sight.

''Look, I'm so sorry I'm a bit late. I teach classes on campus down the road and the students just wouldn't let me leave today.'' He chuckles and Spock just simply nods his head.

''You weren't gonna bail on me, were you?'' he asks and confoundingly Spock pictures them in together in a small boat, sinking but laughing as they bail out water using wooden buckets. He stifles a snort and closes his eyes for a brief second as he tries to compose himself. His irrational anger from earlier having dissipated the moment James had appeared.

''I cannot tell a lie. I was indeed about to leave.''

''Why? Cause I was a few minutes late?'' he hears and is surprised to find a haughty tone to the man's voice.

''It is of no matter. You are here now.''

''Ok then. But I must warn you I may not be able to always be on time in the future.'' James says as he puts a hand on Spock's lower back and guides him back his seat. Spock for all his eloquence and literary knowledge, all the vast information his mind can absorb, cannot think of a single thing to say to this human seated across from him now. Was he perhaps intellectually inferior to this man or is it a case of at this moment simply not having anything common.

Were dates between humans always this awkward in the beginning?

''Spock!''

He snaps his head up and blushes a light green as he realizes James has been speaking to him and he has essentially blanked out every word.

''My apologies James, I am…. ''

''Are you nervous?'' he queries and Spock's mind flicks back to his research on the creation of black holes and wonders how to create one that would only singularly suck him up and out of existence whilst leaving the rest of the vicinity unscathed.

''No.'' he replies seriously.

''It's OK you know. I am too.'' The human smirks, the dusting of light freckles on his cheeks turning a darker colour as the blush he is trying to conceal pushes through regardless.

''I see. I will alter my statement from earlier. I am simply unfamiliar with the protocols of how a ''date'' is meant to be carried out and find myself…''

''You're nervous.''

''I am not.''

James begins to laugh, his hand coming up under his chin, the stubble on his face making a rasping sound against the smooth skin on his palm and it finally dawns on Spock that he is being teased, affectionately so.

''Very well. Lest I wish to continue to be teased I will agree to your statement simply because I do not know how to reciprocate your behaviour.''

''You're surprisingly honest and straightforward for a Vulcan, Spock. I like it.'' James grins and Spock bizarrely breathes a sigh of relief at this man's acceptance of him.

''T'Lera says that they make a mean vegetarian pizza here.'' James mumbles from behind his menu and Spock's eyebrows raise in confusion.

''I was unaware that you had had the time to discuss culinary options with my daughter the last time we encountered one another.''

''You've got a smart girl there, Spock. Somehow, she managed to track down my comm details. I hope you don't mind me speaking to her.'' He asks hesitantly, an anxious tone to his voice as if though he were afraid that he had crossed some Vulcan taboo.

''I shall have to speak to her again about maintaining values and codes of privacy and personal space. Please accept my apologies for her behaviour.''

''No, no it's fine. I'm glad she tracked me down, it gave me a chance to suss out where I wanted to meet with you. Plus, if she had maintained those codes and values you keeping going on about we wouldn't be here in the first place and I'm very, very happy she broke them.''

A warm feeling situates itself inside Spock's chest cavity as he interprets James statement.

He is happy that he is here. With Spock.

''Anyway, she reminds me a lot of my son.'' He says and Spock chokes on the minuscule amount of water that he has just started sipping from his glass.

''You have a child?''

''His name is David.''