Spock tried to control his nervousness with very little success; his decision could very well have been terribly flawed. Nevertheless, he had to allow himself to admit that the situation was very pleasant. Everyone had gathered in the captain's quarters, as Kirk wanted to open all his gifts at once so that everyone could see. Neither the captain nor his first officer had gotten much work done earlier that afternoon; Kirk's excitement, of course, was unbearable, while Spock had been anticipating it with a wide range of nuances.

Kirk's well-practiced hand quickly opened the gift from Scotty- some kind of alcohol; a surprise to no one. Uhura had gotten him a Starfleet captain's rulebook as a joke- to an extent anyway- and Chekov had, to no one's surprise but everyone's confusion, gotten him some kind of Russian trinket. After thorough minutes of observation, Kirk had finally given up on discovering its purpose and simply thanked a beaming Chekov for the thought.

"You're green as a pea, Mr. Spock," Bones whispered to Spock with a simper. Of course, the first officer was more than aware of this, and Bones' pointing it out only made his hue deepen.

"A book on the federation!" Kirk exclaimed, giving Bones a genuine smile. Jim was a smart man, smarter than some gave him credit for.

"Thank you, Bones, and thank you, everyone," Jim said, nodding to each of them individually. McCoy gave Spock a look of concern- he had not yet given the captain his gift. Spock simply waved the doctor away. Bones joined the rest of the crewman as they left the room. Only Spock remained; he was the only exception.

Kirk looked up at Spock, first in confusion, then in some emotion that Spock did not recognize.

"So I suppose you got a gift for me after all?"

"Affirmative."

"And you didn't want the others to see it?"

"I...No, Captain."

"Alright, let's see it."

Spock revealed with a shaky hand a bouquet of flowers that he had been holding behind his back, disguising them with his usual stance of holding his hands behind his back. Kirk's eyes gleamed with zestful avidity. It was not very often that he had the chance to see, touch, care for a real flower- frequently the directives had been to explore deserted planets without this kind of life and beauty.

"I had noticed that you have shown recurrent interests in flowering plants-,"

"They're perfect, Spock. They're perfect."

A tsunami of emotion immersed the first officer. He could not control it; it was too much. Pleasure, joy, happiness. It always happened when Jim was around, and now he knew why.

His eyes were now open, for the first time. He saw Jim in a new way, a brighter way. He didn't know everything about his culture or how to fully commit to it, but he knew Jim- if he knew anything, he knew Jim. It was like seeing a new color. He would not disregard all of his heritage, but Jim was more than that, and if he had to be shunned for his emotion, or not accepted in his homeland, this would be the only reason he would accept it.

"I'm glad you favor the plants, Captain."

Jim's head shot up from the flowers and he grabbed Spock's hand without warning, intertwining his fingers with Spock's.

"Spock, tell me that they're more than just plants. Tell me, Spock."

Spock hesitated. Technically, they were nothing more than plants. That was the only thing that they would be defined as. But that isn't what Jim meant, and he knew it.

"They're more than just plants, Jim."

Jim's smile widened, revealing his teeth. After everything, this only seemed fair; he had waited, and Spock had known- he'd let him wait, hadn't he? But the captain was well-known for his persistence. He always had been. After all, he never did believe in a no-win scenario.