Spock watched as the young yeoman walked out of the captain's quarters, a smile threatening to appear on her face, before returning his gaze to the captain. Jim was staring at the PADD's on his desk with a smile on his face. Without having to look, Spock would guess that he was reading a request from Commander Scott, although guessing would be illogical. The commander always had strange request such as peanut butter to 'increase efficiency' and scotch to 'help motivate' the engineers. Usually Spock would intercept those request and decline before passing it on to Jim because he knew that Jim would approve the request simply to annoy the Admiralty. Spock guessed was proven correct as Jim sat down on his desk chair and let out a bellow of laughter, holding up the PADD for Spock to see.
"Scottie wants to some bottles of Romulan ale and non-replicated strawberry jelly to 'conduct an experiment regarding-"
"-the state of an engineers mind under the influence," Spock finished reading. If he wasn't Vulcan he would've rolled his eyes at the engineers lame attempt at getting an illegal substance.
The strawberry jelly was just another one of his strange request, one of which Spock felt bad for declining. He knew strawberry jelly was an earth delicacy, and he used that word lightly, and, according to Doctor McCoy, it helped the engineer miss home just a bit less. Spock could understand, he himself had brought on board many Vulcan candles that reminded him of his now destroyed planet and a few vanilla smelling candles that reminded him of his mother who was also now gone, thanks to the maniac known as Nero.
When he meditated, the burning candles helped him to, in someway, feel connected to his deceased mother, and destroyed planet. His shattered bonds with both had left him feeling empty and alone but during those few hours a day he spent meditating, organizing his mind, he felt them with him. Sometimes he blamed his half human heritage for giving him emotions that would surface quicker than any Vulcan's. He hated coming out of a session because he'd been crying too much. He hated the feeling as he pulled out of a session and blew out the candle because that meant that for the next few hours that gaping hole in his chest would reappear.
However, Commander Scott had no such reasons for requesting familiar things from his home planet. Spock had overheard the engineer talking to Ensign Chekov about making a 'good old fashion' peanut butter and jelly sandwich 'by hand, like it was meant to be made'. And so that is why he kept on declining his requests week after week.
"Let him have it," Jim said, snapping Spock out of his thoughts. "We're on shore leave and he never leaves the ship. Let him have his jelly and ale, not Romulan though, so he can have his own shore leave later."
"Why does engineer Scott refuse to leave the ship?" Spock asked returning the PADD, after signing off on the request and changing the type of alcohol, to the captain. "And why do you not pressure him into leaving like you have done with me?"
"First off, I didn't pressure you into taking shore leave," Jim said standing up. "I just changed your mind. Secondly, Scottie doesn't leave the ship because the Enterprise is his baby. And third, I have tried to get him to leave but he just grumbles about being away the entire time."
"You would rather have me along than Mr Scott, captain?" Spock asked with a tinge of confusion. If he understood correctly, Commander Scott and Captain Kirk were very good friends. They ate lunch together, along with Doctor McCoy, and spoke as if they'd known each other for years even though he knew they'd met only a few months ago after Spock had stranded Jim on Delta Vega.
"Spock," Jim said exasperated as he walked around his desk to Spock. "You are my First Officer, the best First Officer in the whole fleet and you deserve a rest just like the rest of us. I need you rested and happy to keep making me look good to the admiralty."
"Indeed," was all Spock said, taking a step back from Jim.
The Vulcan walked next to Captain Kirk, his hands behind his back in a traditional at ease position, as they made their way to the transporter room. Jim wanted to make sure the planet was safe for everyone and being the only person allergic to 10 different things, he volunteered to beam down and scout the planet's surface. Illogical as it sounded, Spock found himself – after providing a few regulations that advised against Jim's actions – giving in the moment Jim's hand landed on his arm.
"I'll be fine," the human said rubbing Spock's arm in what he could only guess was a calming gesture. "Besides, I'll have my very sexy First Officer there to protect me!"
Spock raised an eyebrow but said nothing. They beamed down the planet and immediately; Jim started to sneeze, causing Spock to almost have them beamed back up. But the human told him it was just the new planet saying 'hello, earthlings." A few minutes later, he began to feel dizzy but he assured Spock it was from all the walking. An hour on the planet and Jim was wheezing and breathing irregularly. But he was determined to stay and explore the planet and so, Spock remained.
Nearly two hours later and Spock was beginning to feel different. He stopped walking, letting Jim wander off on his own as he tried to find out what was wrong. He found nothing wrong with his internal temperature, his body functions were normal and nothing seemed out of the normal - except he was getting drowsy.
Two hours later they sat down and tried to report back to the Enterprise but couldn't. As Spock tried and failed to return communication to order, Captain Kirk fell asleep and so, strangely, so did Spock. He felt his eyes grow heavy and his mind cloud with sleep. Soon they were both asleep on the green grass together. They didn't even stir when a shadow approached them, standing over them with a grin on its face.