Jim could understand if it was a few days. Some time to relax, analyze the situation, and plan out the approach. What he didn't like was how it was approaching two and a half weeks and Spock still hadn't so much as looked at Leonard. It was really grinding Jim's gears to say the least. So, naturally, he formulated a plan that would force them to at least communicate with each other.
That bond needed to grow, after all.
Sitting in his Captain's Chair, Jim tried to look as authoritative as possible as he looked over at his First Officer. "Spock, as a respectable member of the science department, you should accompany the away team down to the planet. Just for some extra analyzations and security for the team." Spock raised an annoyed eyebrow, but Jim knew that the Vulcan would be interested.
The thing is, that planet was teeming with several edible herbs and fruits even though it was a desert planet. Jim knew that Spock would be interested in collecting some samples to see if such plants could grow on New Vulcan. He smirked when Spock nodded and exited on the turbolift. In his peripheral, he saw Uhura looking at him curiously, but he didn't acknowledge her. He didn't want to give her any ideas.
Although, Spock and Uhura HAVE seemed to have made up, or at least Jim thought. He knew they weren't together again, but he often saw them engaging in conversation together in the mess. She actually laughed when they talked too. Jim never understood how Spock managed to make her laugh, but he wouldn't pry. It was good for them. He wondered if Spock would tell her the news any time soon...
"Keptin..." Chekov turned to face Jim, looking extremely embarrassed. Sulu gave the Russian an exasperated look, but didn't say anything.
"Yes, Chekov?" Jim smiled, appreciating how the young one could still be so easily flustered.
"Vell... Ze word around is gaining height, and vell..." Chekov stammered, looking uncomfortable. Uhura snickered, though, which seemed to give him a bit of courage somehow. "Are you end Spock dating?" Chekov choked out, and Jim gaped at him.
"Is..." Jim tried not to burst out laughing. "Is that what people are saying these days?" He let himself laugh for a bit, and Chekov looked considerably less red (thank God). "No, God no. If I could have, I would have tapped that a very long time ago. No, I'm not the one he's after."
"So he's after someone?" Uhura piped in, and Jim froze.
"Did I say that?" Jim laughed nervously, cursing his big mouth. He was really in deep this time. "You must be mistaken, Uhura. You know Spock. He's never after people. Don't think that." He got serious, and pointed at Sulu's mischievous look. "Don't even start betting on it, okay? That's an order. And all of you, stop this gossip." Jim sat up straighter in his chair, and sighed in relief when everyone returned to their work. Hopefully they'd all keep quiet about that little slip up. Thank high heaven Spock didn't hear that.
Spock joined the away team on the transporter pad, subconsciously choosing to stand next to McCoy, who was holding a bag of emergency medical equipment. "So Jim sent you over to make sure we didn't get into any trouble on the vacant planet?" McCoy said, half jokingly and half accusatory. Spock glanced at him, trying not to feel nervous.
"I found it in my own interest to accompany you planet-side." Spock said, and hoped that McCoy wouldn't catch any double meaning there.
"Ah, yeah, these plants would be great for New Vulcan, right?" McCoy said as he put his bag down and crossed his arms. Spock looked at him and nodded.
"Affirmative. It is my hope that I will find a suitable strain of herbs that might be beneficial when used as a tea. New Vulcan, unfortunately, is lacking in variety." Spock said, and McCoy nodded in understanding. The rest of the scientists arrived, and they beamed down.
Spock was immediately pleased to find how hot the planet's atmosphere was. Looking around, he saw that despite the endless sandy planes, there were many plants that seemed to be thriving under the harsh weather. There was a slight breeze every now and then, and the planet's two suns beaded down on them. Spock felt at home. It was a nice feeling. He watched as the science team went to work, analyzing and taking samples. McCoy seemed to have taken interest in a cactus-like plant. Deciding all was well, Spock ventured off to find what he was looking for.
Before long, Spock had trekked to a cluster of leafy plants that he could smell from a few meters away. It was a sweet, minty, spicy smell that would have been hard to describe for a human. Spock found himself further reminded of Vulcan, but he decided that there was no point in reminiscing now. Vulcan was destroyed, and now he needed to help further the development of New Vulcan. He took some scans, decided it was safe, and took more than enough samples for him to experiment with. He only hoped that his experiment would be successful.
Spock started feeling a burning on his left forearm, but there was nothing there when he looked. Suddenly, the revelation came, making him almost drop his samples. He ran the long way back to the group, and saw McCoy sitting on the ground, scowling. He was rubbing something on his arm, and had a hypo between his teeth. He was alone, the rest of the team having went off on their own. Spock knelt down, and saw that McCoy had a blue-looking rash all over his forearm. "Hey," McCoy said through the hypo. Spock offered his hand, and he dropped the hypo in it. Spock tried not to think about how it was moist with traces of McCoy's saliva. "Don't touch the cactuses. Bad idea." He snickered a bit, but Spock glared at him.
"Why would you touch a such a plant on a foreign planet?" Spock demanded, and McCoy raised his eyebrows at him.
"Look, Spock, I get it. We're all just dumb humans to you. Now hand me that hypo." McCoy practically snatched the hypo from him and jabbed it onto his own neck. "For your information, I didn't touch it on purpose. I just accidentally rubbed against it when I turned around." He continued rubbing the bluish rash, frowning. "Burns like a son of a bitch, though." Spock looked around, not seeing anyone near them.
"Would you like me to accompany you back to the ship?" Spock asked, and McCoy glared at him.
"Why'n the hell would we go back? I still wanna look around. Medicine will kick in soon." McCoy rolled his eyes and stood up, brushing himself off as he looked around. "You find your magical herbs?"
"I did find some herbs, however they possess no magical properties." Spock said, holding up his samples.
"Good, good." McCoy said, nodding and looking around. "Maybe you could go find some more, eh? Stop you from fussin'. I'm gonna go and see what the others are up to." With that, the doctor walked off. Spock could only take that statement as a "I don't want you around, go play somewhere else," so he walked away in the opposite direction. If he was being honest with himself, he guessed that it was somewhat normal for that to be the case. After all, they hardly ever conversed without Jim's company.
Spock could see now why Jim was encouraging them to be stuck together. As if he knew he was being thought of, Jim contacted him. "Hey, Spock, how's it going down there?"
"I have gathered several samples of herbs that may prove useful for the citizens of New Vulcan." Spock said, walking over to a pond that he hadn't noticed before.
"Uh-huh, cool. We've been watching your little dot things on-screen." Jim said, and Spock wondered how the man ever passed as a captain with statements like those. "You and Bones were together for a while before parting ways. What happened?"
"McCoy suffers a rash on his left forearm, due to a poisonous cactus-like plant." Spock said, hesitating. He wondered if the rest of the crew could hear their conversation. "After he treated himself, he suggested that I continue my endeavor in finding more herbs." He sat down on a rock, looking at his watch. They all had to be at certain coordinates in twenty minutes, so Spock thought he'd relax a while.
"Alright, well, keep up the good work, Spock. Kirk out."
During dinner, Jim sat next to Spock. So that they could talk. He put his mouth next to the Vulcan's pointed air and breathed, "You mad 'cause Bones made you go away?" Spock thought about that for a while. Was he angry? No. Disappointed? Possibly. He wouldn't admit to that, though. He sat up straight and finished chewing his salad before leaning to whisper in Jim's ear.
"I am not. However, I cannot reveal the truth soon if he does not prove compliant." Spock whispered, then took another bite of his food. Jim snorted, and Spock rose an eyebrow.
"Never compliant..." Jim muttered under his breath, eating his own food. Spock saw Scotty looking between the two of them.
"Ah thought you said you weren' datin'." Scotty said, eyeing them. Jim rolled his eyes.
"We're not. Trust me." Jim said, then turned to Spock again. "Chess tonight. We gotta talk about my baby." Spock rose both eyebrows.
"'Baby', Jim?" Spock asked, and Jim smiled and tapped his head. He was referring to the bond. Spock resisted the urge the glare at him. It was uncomfortable having his bond with McCoy be considered as Jim's baby. Nonetheless, Spock only nodded, which earned several suspicious looks from the table.
"I'm getting tired of waiting, Spock!" Jim groaned as they restarted another match. He had already lost twice.
"Jim, your complaining has been decreasing the quality of your performance." Spock said smartly, and Jim rolled his eyes.
"Seriously, Spock. You gotta say something. Anything." Jim said for the thousandth time, and Spock just ignored him. "If you don't tell him within the next two weeks, then I will. It's illogical to keep it from him." Honestly, Spock was getting tired of hearing all of this from Jim. He knew he had to tell McCoy eventually. He knew it was illogical to wait for so long. Why WAS he waiting?
"If I tell him tonight, will you stop bothering me about it?" Spock reasoned, and Jim brightened up immediately.
"This is all so sudden!" Jim said dramatically putting a hand over his heart. "But seriously, impulse decisions are like you, Spock. What's gotten into you?" Suddenly Jim grinned and snapped his fingers, making Spock raise an eyebrow. "I know what got into you. Bones did." Jim tried to stop himself from laughing, and Spock all but glared at him. Between laughs, Jim said, "Bones boned you!" Spock thought about replying that in that case, they both would have gotten into each other (that night was a long night- Jim still marveled at the 63 minutes of "sexy stamina"), but he decided against it. He only stood up and walked out of the room.
Spock was going to tell him.