Complacent

"Oh my god." Kirk let out a small laugh, suddenly pushing past Spock and into the entryway of the cavern. He spread his arms wide and spun on the spot, looking up at the ceiling and wearing the most peculiar smile Spock had ever seen plastered to his face. "This is beautiful!"

Though Spock agreed, he proceeded more cautiously. "The walls are worn smooth," he noted, hand pressed flat on bare wall. "Perhaps too smooth. This cavern may be artificially engineered."

"Who cares right now, Spock?" Kirk asked, now craning his neck to look in the pool. "We've got shelter."

Syllogistic

"Yes, we have shelter," Spock agreed irritably. "We still have no idea how deep underground we are, whether the away team saw us running, or whether there are other, larger predators within this system. We could easily be killed without any of the crew knowing. "

One of the fish pirouetted out and back into the water, and Jim held in a giggle.

"Are you even remotely listening to me?" Spock demanded heatedly.

Jim nodded. "Heard every word you said." It was the smartest thing to say; he'd never heard his first officer sound so close to being blatantly pissed.

Acerbic

Resisting the urge to gnash his teeth, Spock strode towards one of the ivy-covered walls and began to sever blankets of ivy and lay them down, quite literally by hand. Phaser blasts were too strong and even more wasteful, and in any case physical exertion cleared his mind.

The clarity made it too easy to hear when Kirk spoke up, rather timidly. "Can I help?"

Help, Spock thought bitterly. It was Kirk's "help"that brought them underground, isolated from their crew, and Spock hated him now for it. "I do not require assistance," Spock spat.

There was a pause. "Oh."

Compunction

The next four hours dragged on, and to Jim it felt even longer. The childish joy he'd felt finding the cave had long since dissolved, its loss occasionally compounded by Spock's sharp rebuttals of aid and complete aversion of physical proximity.

So Jim huddled in a back corner of the cave, staring at his shoes. His stomach ached from guilt, worse than when he'd jacked off to Spock's image. What had he been thinking, playing the hero like he'd done at the Academy? All he'd done was fuck things up. Again.

He was a centimeter from breaking down in tears.

Schism

Twenty-two point eight cubic meters precisely, Spock thought, for bedding. His entire upper body, hands in particular, burned with lactic acid and a sense of satisfaction. The two made an oddly appropriate pair.

Hoisting a bundle of ivy into his arms, Spock looked around for Kirk. When he finally spotted him, the captain was curled in a corner of the cave, staring at the floor. Spock unceremoniously tossed the bundle to the floor by Kirk's feet. The human's eyes gave a microscopic flicker of acknowledgment before resuming their original blank stare.

Spock slept on the opposite side of the cave.

Author's Notes: Back! As expected, no internet where I was, so pardon the week-late update. Not sure how much I like "Compunction"; I feel like Jim's misery is only looked at from the surface. Then again, it is a drabble. And we're getting closer to something big, I promise! I can't resist the inevitable anyway.

Thanks to all my readers and to my lovely beta xladyjags...x for putting up with me. (Sorry I had to shorten your name, hon, but honest, it needs to be shorter.) Enjoy!