![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trista_zevkiaTitle: Valens
Part 1 of 2
Author:Trista_zevkia
Beta:http://leandralocke.livejournal.com/
Series: TOS
Rating: R
Length: 7,000
Warnings: explicit sex
Summary:
Reverse kind of AU where St. Valentine's Day does absolutely not exist on Earth; February 14th is a very normal day and there's no other holiday that compensate for it, the concept of a day to celebrate love had simply never occurred to humanity. But on Vulcan St. Valentine's Day (though maybe it should have a more Vulcan name… T'hy'la Day or something maybe?) is one of the most important holidays (because it existed before Surak and is still celebrated or any other excuse you want to come up with). Now all the usual tropes can be used starting on that basis, they just need to be reversed… (OP = lady_kymoon )
Notes Lady_kymoon, I hope I filled your prompt well. I planned on confusion and smut and instead produced a history lesson.
Notes and Translations at the end.
Valens
The shiny green box was very much the worse for wear, having passed through countless spaceports to reach the Enterprise. Kirk saw it when he reached for his own boxes and wondered about who would have bothered with such ostentatious packaging. Well, he was the Captain, even if he’d only held the position seven months.
“Crewman A’paga, what’s in the shiny green box?” Tom A’paga knew exactly which one he was referring to and didn’t even have to look.
“It’s entered as non-foodstuffs, non-living and not breakable, and it’s for Commander Spock. That’s all I can tell you, except we’re all dying to know too! If he opens it in front of us, I’ll let you know, otherwise Captain…” A’paga’s unfinished sentence came with a shrug, so Kirk smiled at him.
“If I see him open it, I’ll let you know.” Jim took his own packages and left, wondering about the Christmas gift from his Mother. It was a month and half late; would she have to mail it a month and a half before Christmas for it to get here on time next year? The smaller box was a bunch of different styles of socks, hopefully he’d be able to find one pair to make these boots fit right!
J<3S
“Mom said she mailed it in mid October this time, so I have no idea how it showed up at the same time as it did last year!” Jim was smiling as he waited for Tom to pull out his overdue gift. Tom turned with a box in his hand and behind him Jim saw the gleam of overlapping pastel circles shining on the outside of a box. “What is that?”
“It’s Commander Spock’s. Non-living, non-perishable foodstuffs, which covers a great deal of things, let me tell you.”
“Strange. He got one about this time last year, shiny green on the outside of the box. It’s not his birthday, nor do I imagine Vulcans doing something as illogical as wrapping gifts, so what’s in it?”
“I wish I knew, Sir.”
“You know, as the captain, I can be trusted to take it to him.”
“Regulations say you have to have a justifiable reason and fill out a bunch of paperwork before you can take anybody else’s personal mail. Privacy laws, Captain.”
“True enough, and wise of you to remind me of that.” Jim grinned at Tom, letting him know he wasn’t mad about the reminder. When he was distracted by his relief, Jim toggled the wall comm. beside Tom. “Kirk to Spock.”
“Spock here, Sir.”
“Please come to cargo bay 1.”
“Is there a situation, Captain?”
“I’ll explain when you get here. Kirk out.” Tom was trying not to look impressed, so Jim felt he had to say something. “One of the many benefits of getting shot at, people come when you call.”
Tom almost succeeded in hiding his amusement, so Jim told him a story he had to laugh at. A compelling story in which the names were changed to protect the guilty, but short enough that Tom was almost done laughing when Spock entered the cargo bay.
“Captain.”
“Spock, you got a package.”
“I am aware of that Sir, having received the notification message. I planned on retrieving it after shift change.”
“Well, it’s an unusual box and it made me curious. Vulcan gift wrap?” Jim tried to sound innocent and only idly curious as Tom passed the box to Spock. He didn’t think Spock believed it, as the man was almost a friend now. It had been a long haul to establish a working relationship, but it was getting better every day.
“Similar, if I understand the term you are using.” Spock only gave the tag a glance before folding his arms around the box to address his Captain. “The heavy duty construction of the boxes allows for them to be reused for a number of years before being recycled. The patterns assist in determining the age of the box, as well as revealing the contents to be a gift.”
“What kind of a gift, since you’ve told me Vulcan’s don’t celebrate birthdays?” Jim decided Spock knew full well what he was curious about, which was why he was so thoroughly answering only the question asked. A direct, impolite question would seem to be Kirk’s only recourse here!
“A personal gift that I will open at the appropriate time, after my shift officially ends, Captain.” A nod of the head and Spock turned to leave, Jim and Tom watching as he walked away. When Jim turned to Tom, he could see the newly promoted Supply Sergeant was embarrassed for him and Jim almost laughed at that.
“That’s an official Vulcan ‘none of your business, Terran’ kiss-off. It’s okay to laugh when it’s not directed at you, Tom.”
“I’ll take your word for it, sir, even as I try to make sure one’s never directed at me.”
“Good plan, Tom. See you soon!” With his box in front of him, Jim headed for his quarters. He wanted to open his present now, while in the down time at a space station. Spock couldn’t do so, but it was Spock’s own fault for assigning himself extra duty during Ensign Withers recovery from the latest round of ‘space flu.’ Very few of the other supervisors would have done so, but that simple act of consideration was part of what made Spock so endearing at the oddest times. Almost friends wasn’t good enough, Jim decided. He’d make sure even Spock considered them friends before this time next year!
J<3S
February 12th, according to the old Earth calendar and Jim was aware of an arbitrary deadline coming up. Tomorrow was the day he’d promised himself he’d get Spock to admit they were friends. Right now, he didn’t know how he was going to do it, and he also knew it wasn’t all he wanted. This year had been eventful, including a Spock who smashed a monitor and smiled like a loon at a living Jim. Getting back to normal after that had been a struggle, not helped by Jim’s dreams of Spock on top of him in a bed of soft sand. It had been a rather sexual moment, by Kirk’s reckoning, once he took the near death experience out of things.
A soft ping at his elbow called for his attention, so Kirk reached over to open the message. An official note saying all supplies had been beamed up and accounted for, followed shortly by another note saying he had two packages. Similar soft beeps could be heard dancing around the bridge, alerting the crew to their mail in alphabetical order. At the beep from Spock’s station, Kirk turned to observe the man. He frowned down at the message in the way he had of frowning without really showing what emotion evoked the frown. More a frown of concentration than emotion, perhaps? Jim wandered over, out of boredom if his body posture was to be believed.
“Some problem, commander?”
“No Sir.”
“Really? You looked distracted by something.”
“I received an unexpected package and was considering the timing of its origin.”
“So you wanted to know when it was mailed. What’d you discover?”
“It was mailed before our last trip to Vulcan.” Spock had seemed hesitant to answer, and now Kirk knew why. A package, most likely from Vulcan, mailed before the Pon Farr debacle. He knew he shouldn’t pry, but he wanted to know more about Spock. Kirk watched as Spock deleted the message and turned back to whatever busy work he found to do while they were restocking at a space station like this.
“Commander, we need to go over the personal evaluations for this term.” It was true but the kind of boring bureaucratic nonsense that Jim avoided like the plague. Spock knew this and gave his Captain a speculative eyebrow. Jim tried for innocence, but the other eyebrow moved, showing he knew Jim too well to fall for that. Jim didn’t move, and Spock didn’t have a good reason to refuse, so he saved his work and stood.
“Very good Captain, where would you like to work?”
“Right, we have to do these somewhere private. We’ll figure it out when we get there.” Jim shrugged and turned, knowing Spock would follow him to the turbolift. Spock went everywhere with him, often keeping him from getting killed and now Jim felt bereft when Spock wasn’t nearby. The doors closed behind them, and Jim sent them toward cargo bay 1. “Might as well pick up our stuff before we hunker down to work on those evals.”
“Hunker, Captain?” The definition and entomology of hunker, as well as colloquial uses kept them occupied until they reached Tom and the mail counter in Cargo Bay 1. Tom grinned at Kirk, digging out his two boxes and setting them next to Spock’s. The third box had to be Spock’s as it was once again the strange combinations of decretive and hardwearing. This time the silver box was overlaid in a pattern of spiky flowers without stems, in green and copper ink. Jim gave Tom a wink; to let him know what followed was an effort to find out what was in these infuriating packages. Jim liked Tom, but the man didn’t need to know Jim was trying to figure out more than fancy boxes.
“Say Spock, what are those things on the outside of your box?” Jim knew better than to play innocent and went with curious, as that was an aspect of himself Spock would know to be truthful. He got even more curious when Spock turned a little green, like a slight blush! Could Vulcan’s even blush or was that too emotional a reaction for them?
“It is an ancient Vulcan design, predating the time of Surak.” Jim waited, but Spock seemed to have finished.
“Interesting, but what does this ancient design represent?” If Vulcans were allowed to roll their eyes, Spock would have done so now, Jim was sure of it.
“It is the origin of the symbol you are familiar with as the I.D.I.C.”
“Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination, that triangular pin with the circle on it that you wear to formal occasions?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Does somebody think you’re not diverse enough?” Jim knew he sounded ignorant, but he was honestly confused as to why Vulcans would decorate boxes.
“Captain, perhaps we could continue with the crew evaluations?”
“Right. Tom, I hear you’re up for Supply Chief. Do you think you’d do a good job?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“I’ll put in a good word with the first officer then. See you later.” Kirk turned and left the cargo bay, Spock just behind him. “There you go, crew evaluated and I’m recommending Tom for promotion.”
“Captain, there are 289 crew members who require properly filed evaluations.” Spock’s emotionless voice managed to chide Kirk for putting off this task. Kirk grinned and got on the turbolift, knowing he wasn’t above a little blackmail.
“Spock, I’ll make you a deal. You explain the package to me, and we’ll spend two hours on paperwork.”
“There is no actual paper involved and I see no need to acquiesce to extortion to get this task done.”
“You’re right, it’s much better to put this off until the night before it’s due. As long as we don’t have an emergency, we can sit up all night and do them.” This was said in a reasonable, even happy tone, but both men knew it for the threat it was as the turbolift came to a stop. If Spock allowed himself to feel hate, he would have despised procrastinating. Pulling an ‘all nighter’ just before something was due was detrimental to the results, something Spock had often told Jim. Spock tried to hide a sigh in the noise of the opening lift doors.
“If we complete the evaluations in the next two days, I will explain it all to you.”
“Sounds like a challenge. What are the odds?”
“Factoring in your human need for eight hours of sleep, time for meals and the likelihood that an emergency situation will require your presence on the bridge, each evaluation will have to be completed in 11.6 minutes.”
“Drop your box and come to my quarters, you’ve got a bet, Mister!” Jim could have whistled as he went into his own quarters. He knew what he wanted to do with his crew, it was just a matter of getting it down on paper. Spock was unlikely to sabotage his efforts, but Jim would watch him anyway, just in case. Vulcans might not lie, but they could be sneaky when logic dictated.
J<3S
With a flourish, Jim tapped the send button. Spock’s eyebrow quirked at this, but he didn’t say anything. A second of silence passed before Jim’s alarm beeped at them, confirming he’d beaten the deadline. He shut it off and stared at Spock, waiting for the other man to speak. It went against his active nature, but Jim could wait him out if he needed to. His foot was bouncing for its own pleasure, not an internal need to be doing something. Spock swallowed but spoke with his emotionless mask in place.
“Captain Kirk, I wish for your presence in my humble home at 1700 tonight. Together, I believe we may honor and remember those who seek and those who found.” Jim blinked in confusion. The formal words almost made sense, but words like ‘wish’ and ‘believe’ didn’t seem very unemotional and Vulcan-like to Jim. He hated it, but Jim fell back onto his diplomatic training.
“I would be delighted, Commander Spock. Should I bring or wear anything special to honor this occasion with you?”
“What you find comfortable for seeking.” Not particularly helpful Jim thought, but Spock was standing. In the formal atmosphere, he had to stand too and escort Spock out. Spock paused at the door to speak. “Dream well, to aid in your search.”
Jim wasn’t sure how to respond to that, since he was sure he’d heard that Vulcan’s didn’t dream. While he thought about it, Spock slipped out into the corridor. Jim went back to his computer to do a quick search before going to bed. When his alarm chimed to tell him to get up for the day, several hours later, Jim looked away from his screen without a single clue to show for his effort. They were still in range of the Starbase and unlikely to encounter trouble, so Kirk mentally rearranged his day. He could do more research while on the bridge, and then return to his quarters for a nap before getting his explanation from Spock. He just wished he knew what to expect!
J<3S
When the alarm woke him from his nap, Jim was glad he had set the thing. Shutting it off, he went into the bathroom. A water shower instead of sonic woke him up so he could complete the rest of his toiletries quickly. With a towel wrapped around him, Jim went to stand in front of his wardrobe. One of the few joys of wearing a uniform every day, was that you didn’t have to worry about what to wear! Spock’s words had been formal, so he could wear his dress uniform. Except the gift box had looked festive and his dress uniform was uncomfortable.
Flipping through his civilian clothes, Jim grinned at the green shirt he found in the bottom. He’d had it almost two years but never worn it and forgotten why. The emerald green material was a lightweight, silky thing, given shape by black edging. When Jim had seen it in the store, it’d made him think of Spock, green skin and black hair, soft under those sharp angles. Jim slid into it and a pair of uniform black pants but balked at putting the boots back on. In his closet was a long neglected pair of black sandals, which made a nice change after spending so much time in his boots. The bottle of champagne had been icing since he returned to the room, so Jim picked up the whole bucket and left for Spock’s quarters.
It wasn’t a long walk, being next door, and Jim had standing permission to simply enter. But tonight was different, so he pressed the chime and waited. Instead of a call for admittance, the door opened to show a very handsome Spock. The green tunic he wore hung down to his thighs, but shifted colors as light played on it. Spock had on grey pants and was barefoot, so very different than he’d been on the bridge earlier that Jim felt his mouth fall open a little. Jim was so startled; he almost missed Spock blinking at his own attire. Spock stepped back and bowed Jim into his quarters.
“Putesha ahmau dorli afer-to dorli psthan.” Jim didn’t know the Vulcan words, so he stepped passed Spock and bowed back.
“Thank you for your hospitality this night.”
Jim watched Spock straighten and lead the way over to his table. A cloth covered the table and whatever was on it, and Jim was unsure as to where to sit. Spock held a chair out to Jim and saved him from having to decide. Handing over the bucket and sitting down, Jim suppressed the laugh that bubbled up. Spock simply didn’t know that was something a gentleman might do for a woman he was trying to impress. Spock walked over to his firepot, so Jim looked at the room instead of this informal version of Spock. The room temperature and gravity had been lowered to Earth standard, so Jim knew Spock was attempting to make him comfortable. Some other effort was involved as the four petal flower had been made from colored paper and affixed to the walls. Pictures of fierce looking silver birds were also stuck on the walls and ceiling, being stared at by a very confused human. What had he invited himself into? Spock stood before him, holding out the box that had started all this.
“Petakov, will you open the ta’an?” Jim still didn’t know the words, but he could figure out the meaning. Grinning, he reached out and pulled the lid off the box. This allowed chemical preservatives to escape, misting out of the box. Spock set the box on the table, on the one spot without a lump under the cloth, and took the lid from Jim. Even not knowing what to expect, Jim was still surprised by Spock sitting on the floor in front of him. Flipping the lid over, Spock set it aside to reach for Jim’s right foot. Jim tried to figure out a polite question even as Spock began to speak.
“When the Sehlat sang is a phrase much like the human ‘once upon a time.’ A time that never existed, or happened before history books could record it properly. What I speak of, what we celebrate tonight, is one such time.” Jim was distracted as Spock began rubbing oil over his right foot. That rubbing soon turned into a massaging that made Jim think his feet might be erogenous zones after all. “Before the reformation of Surak, Vulcan was a wild place, full of passion. One such passion was love. Humans and some religions have sought to suppress love, confusing it with lust. We reveled in it, looking for it to the exclusion of all else. This day was set aside to celebrate those who had found love.”
Spock set the right heel on the lid of the box, which had padding for this purpose, and took the shoe off the left. Jim closed his eyes and tried not to drool at this treatment of his feet and massage of his ears with Spock’s voice. “Those who still sought love soon began to use this day to congregate, hoping to meet their T’hy’la. Surak felt emotion had its uses, but we should control it. After his assassination, this day was outlawed by extremist movements. Children were betrothed for a logical propagation of the species, and love was relegated to the history books.”
Spock set the left foot next to the right, but paused to look up at Jim’s whine of protest. “Sorry Spock, that foot massage just felt really good.”
“It is supposed to, besides which the oil has antiseptic properties.”
“You think my feet are nasty?”
“No, it is tradition to minister to a guest’s feet this way. Water is scarce and this oil cleaned and sanitized, so it was preferred.”
“Logical.”
“Practical, Jim.”
“Do I oil yours?”
“No, I am the host, I do all the work.”
“I like that.” Jim gave Spock a smile, letting him know he’d help if Spock wanted him to. Spock stood and wiped his hands on a towel that had been on his chair. He set the box on his chair, then pulled the cloth off the table to show the covered dishes below. The sheet disappeared while Jim was looking at the table. Spock pulled four large candles out of the box and lit them with the lighter on the table. A command to the computer lowered the lighting, giving everything a glow Jim tried not to think of as romantic. Sitting down at last Spock returned to his lesson plan.
Chapter 2
Part 1 of 2
Author:Trista_zevkia
Beta:http://leandralocke.livejournal.com/
Series: TOS
Rating: R
Length: 7,000
Warnings: explicit sex
Summary:
Reverse kind of AU where St. Valentine's Day does absolutely not exist on Earth; February 14th is a very normal day and there's no other holiday that compensate for it, the concept of a day to celebrate love had simply never occurred to humanity. But on Vulcan St. Valentine's Day (though maybe it should have a more Vulcan name… T'hy'la Day or something maybe?) is one of the most important holidays (because it existed before Surak and is still celebrated or any other excuse you want to come up with). Now all the usual tropes can be used starting on that basis, they just need to be reversed… (OP = lady_kymoon )
Notes Lady_kymoon, I hope I filled your prompt well. I planned on confusion and smut and instead produced a history lesson.
Notes and Translations at the end.
Valens
The shiny green box was very much the worse for wear, having passed through countless spaceports to reach the Enterprise. Kirk saw it when he reached for his own boxes and wondered about who would have bothered with such ostentatious packaging. Well, he was the Captain, even if he’d only held the position seven months.
“Crewman A’paga, what’s in the shiny green box?” Tom A’paga knew exactly which one he was referring to and didn’t even have to look.
“It’s entered as non-foodstuffs, non-living and not breakable, and it’s for Commander Spock. That’s all I can tell you, except we’re all dying to know too! If he opens it in front of us, I’ll let you know, otherwise Captain…” A’paga’s unfinished sentence came with a shrug, so Kirk smiled at him.
“If I see him open it, I’ll let you know.” Jim took his own packages and left, wondering about the Christmas gift from his Mother. It was a month and half late; would she have to mail it a month and a half before Christmas for it to get here on time next year? The smaller box was a bunch of different styles of socks, hopefully he’d be able to find one pair to make these boots fit right!
J<3S
“Mom said she mailed it in mid October this time, so I have no idea how it showed up at the same time as it did last year!” Jim was smiling as he waited for Tom to pull out his overdue gift. Tom turned with a box in his hand and behind him Jim saw the gleam of overlapping pastel circles shining on the outside of a box. “What is that?”
“It’s Commander Spock’s. Non-living, non-perishable foodstuffs, which covers a great deal of things, let me tell you.”
“Strange. He got one about this time last year, shiny green on the outside of the box. It’s not his birthday, nor do I imagine Vulcans doing something as illogical as wrapping gifts, so what’s in it?”
“I wish I knew, Sir.”
“You know, as the captain, I can be trusted to take it to him.”
“Regulations say you have to have a justifiable reason and fill out a bunch of paperwork before you can take anybody else’s personal mail. Privacy laws, Captain.”
“True enough, and wise of you to remind me of that.” Jim grinned at Tom, letting him know he wasn’t mad about the reminder. When he was distracted by his relief, Jim toggled the wall comm. beside Tom. “Kirk to Spock.”
“Spock here, Sir.”
“Please come to cargo bay 1.”
“Is there a situation, Captain?”
“I’ll explain when you get here. Kirk out.” Tom was trying not to look impressed, so Jim felt he had to say something. “One of the many benefits of getting shot at, people come when you call.”
Tom almost succeeded in hiding his amusement, so Jim told him a story he had to laugh at. A compelling story in which the names were changed to protect the guilty, but short enough that Tom was almost done laughing when Spock entered the cargo bay.
“Captain.”
“Spock, you got a package.”
“I am aware of that Sir, having received the notification message. I planned on retrieving it after shift change.”
“Well, it’s an unusual box and it made me curious. Vulcan gift wrap?” Jim tried to sound innocent and only idly curious as Tom passed the box to Spock. He didn’t think Spock believed it, as the man was almost a friend now. It had been a long haul to establish a working relationship, but it was getting better every day.
“Similar, if I understand the term you are using.” Spock only gave the tag a glance before folding his arms around the box to address his Captain. “The heavy duty construction of the boxes allows for them to be reused for a number of years before being recycled. The patterns assist in determining the age of the box, as well as revealing the contents to be a gift.”
“What kind of a gift, since you’ve told me Vulcan’s don’t celebrate birthdays?” Jim decided Spock knew full well what he was curious about, which was why he was so thoroughly answering only the question asked. A direct, impolite question would seem to be Kirk’s only recourse here!
“A personal gift that I will open at the appropriate time, after my shift officially ends, Captain.” A nod of the head and Spock turned to leave, Jim and Tom watching as he walked away. When Jim turned to Tom, he could see the newly promoted Supply Sergeant was embarrassed for him and Jim almost laughed at that.
“That’s an official Vulcan ‘none of your business, Terran’ kiss-off. It’s okay to laugh when it’s not directed at you, Tom.”
“I’ll take your word for it, sir, even as I try to make sure one’s never directed at me.”
“Good plan, Tom. See you soon!” With his box in front of him, Jim headed for his quarters. He wanted to open his present now, while in the down time at a space station. Spock couldn’t do so, but it was Spock’s own fault for assigning himself extra duty during Ensign Withers recovery from the latest round of ‘space flu.’ Very few of the other supervisors would have done so, but that simple act of consideration was part of what made Spock so endearing at the oddest times. Almost friends wasn’t good enough, Jim decided. He’d make sure even Spock considered them friends before this time next year!
J<3S
February 12th, according to the old Earth calendar and Jim was aware of an arbitrary deadline coming up. Tomorrow was the day he’d promised himself he’d get Spock to admit they were friends. Right now, he didn’t know how he was going to do it, and he also knew it wasn’t all he wanted. This year had been eventful, including a Spock who smashed a monitor and smiled like a loon at a living Jim. Getting back to normal after that had been a struggle, not helped by Jim’s dreams of Spock on top of him in a bed of soft sand. It had been a rather sexual moment, by Kirk’s reckoning, once he took the near death experience out of things.
A soft ping at his elbow called for his attention, so Kirk reached over to open the message. An official note saying all supplies had been beamed up and accounted for, followed shortly by another note saying he had two packages. Similar soft beeps could be heard dancing around the bridge, alerting the crew to their mail in alphabetical order. At the beep from Spock’s station, Kirk turned to observe the man. He frowned down at the message in the way he had of frowning without really showing what emotion evoked the frown. More a frown of concentration than emotion, perhaps? Jim wandered over, out of boredom if his body posture was to be believed.
“Some problem, commander?”
“No Sir.”
“Really? You looked distracted by something.”
“I received an unexpected package and was considering the timing of its origin.”
“So you wanted to know when it was mailed. What’d you discover?”
“It was mailed before our last trip to Vulcan.” Spock had seemed hesitant to answer, and now Kirk knew why. A package, most likely from Vulcan, mailed before the Pon Farr debacle. He knew he shouldn’t pry, but he wanted to know more about Spock. Kirk watched as Spock deleted the message and turned back to whatever busy work he found to do while they were restocking at a space station like this.
“Commander, we need to go over the personal evaluations for this term.” It was true but the kind of boring bureaucratic nonsense that Jim avoided like the plague. Spock knew this and gave his Captain a speculative eyebrow. Jim tried for innocence, but the other eyebrow moved, showing he knew Jim too well to fall for that. Jim didn’t move, and Spock didn’t have a good reason to refuse, so he saved his work and stood.
“Very good Captain, where would you like to work?”
“Right, we have to do these somewhere private. We’ll figure it out when we get there.” Jim shrugged and turned, knowing Spock would follow him to the turbolift. Spock went everywhere with him, often keeping him from getting killed and now Jim felt bereft when Spock wasn’t nearby. The doors closed behind them, and Jim sent them toward cargo bay 1. “Might as well pick up our stuff before we hunker down to work on those evals.”
“Hunker, Captain?” The definition and entomology of hunker, as well as colloquial uses kept them occupied until they reached Tom and the mail counter in Cargo Bay 1. Tom grinned at Kirk, digging out his two boxes and setting them next to Spock’s. The third box had to be Spock’s as it was once again the strange combinations of decretive and hardwearing. This time the silver box was overlaid in a pattern of spiky flowers without stems, in green and copper ink. Jim gave Tom a wink; to let him know what followed was an effort to find out what was in these infuriating packages. Jim liked Tom, but the man didn’t need to know Jim was trying to figure out more than fancy boxes.
“Say Spock, what are those things on the outside of your box?” Jim knew better than to play innocent and went with curious, as that was an aspect of himself Spock would know to be truthful. He got even more curious when Spock turned a little green, like a slight blush! Could Vulcan’s even blush or was that too emotional a reaction for them?
“It is an ancient Vulcan design, predating the time of Surak.” Jim waited, but Spock seemed to have finished.
“Interesting, but what does this ancient design represent?” If Vulcans were allowed to roll their eyes, Spock would have done so now, Jim was sure of it.
“It is the origin of the symbol you are familiar with as the I.D.I.C.”
“Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination, that triangular pin with the circle on it that you wear to formal occasions?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Does somebody think you’re not diverse enough?” Jim knew he sounded ignorant, but he was honestly confused as to why Vulcans would decorate boxes.
“Captain, perhaps we could continue with the crew evaluations?”
“Right. Tom, I hear you’re up for Supply Chief. Do you think you’d do a good job?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“I’ll put in a good word with the first officer then. See you later.” Kirk turned and left the cargo bay, Spock just behind him. “There you go, crew evaluated and I’m recommending Tom for promotion.”
“Captain, there are 289 crew members who require properly filed evaluations.” Spock’s emotionless voice managed to chide Kirk for putting off this task. Kirk grinned and got on the turbolift, knowing he wasn’t above a little blackmail.
“Spock, I’ll make you a deal. You explain the package to me, and we’ll spend two hours on paperwork.”
“There is no actual paper involved and I see no need to acquiesce to extortion to get this task done.”
“You’re right, it’s much better to put this off until the night before it’s due. As long as we don’t have an emergency, we can sit up all night and do them.” This was said in a reasonable, even happy tone, but both men knew it for the threat it was as the turbolift came to a stop. If Spock allowed himself to feel hate, he would have despised procrastinating. Pulling an ‘all nighter’ just before something was due was detrimental to the results, something Spock had often told Jim. Spock tried to hide a sigh in the noise of the opening lift doors.
“If we complete the evaluations in the next two days, I will explain it all to you.”
“Sounds like a challenge. What are the odds?”
“Factoring in your human need for eight hours of sleep, time for meals and the likelihood that an emergency situation will require your presence on the bridge, each evaluation will have to be completed in 11.6 minutes.”
“Drop your box and come to my quarters, you’ve got a bet, Mister!” Jim could have whistled as he went into his own quarters. He knew what he wanted to do with his crew, it was just a matter of getting it down on paper. Spock was unlikely to sabotage his efforts, but Jim would watch him anyway, just in case. Vulcans might not lie, but they could be sneaky when logic dictated.
J<3S
With a flourish, Jim tapped the send button. Spock’s eyebrow quirked at this, but he didn’t say anything. A second of silence passed before Jim’s alarm beeped at them, confirming he’d beaten the deadline. He shut it off and stared at Spock, waiting for the other man to speak. It went against his active nature, but Jim could wait him out if he needed to. His foot was bouncing for its own pleasure, not an internal need to be doing something. Spock swallowed but spoke with his emotionless mask in place.
“Captain Kirk, I wish for your presence in my humble home at 1700 tonight. Together, I believe we may honor and remember those who seek and those who found.” Jim blinked in confusion. The formal words almost made sense, but words like ‘wish’ and ‘believe’ didn’t seem very unemotional and Vulcan-like to Jim. He hated it, but Jim fell back onto his diplomatic training.
“I would be delighted, Commander Spock. Should I bring or wear anything special to honor this occasion with you?”
“What you find comfortable for seeking.” Not particularly helpful Jim thought, but Spock was standing. In the formal atmosphere, he had to stand too and escort Spock out. Spock paused at the door to speak. “Dream well, to aid in your search.”
Jim wasn’t sure how to respond to that, since he was sure he’d heard that Vulcan’s didn’t dream. While he thought about it, Spock slipped out into the corridor. Jim went back to his computer to do a quick search before going to bed. When his alarm chimed to tell him to get up for the day, several hours later, Jim looked away from his screen without a single clue to show for his effort. They were still in range of the Starbase and unlikely to encounter trouble, so Kirk mentally rearranged his day. He could do more research while on the bridge, and then return to his quarters for a nap before getting his explanation from Spock. He just wished he knew what to expect!
J<3S
When the alarm woke him from his nap, Jim was glad he had set the thing. Shutting it off, he went into the bathroom. A water shower instead of sonic woke him up so he could complete the rest of his toiletries quickly. With a towel wrapped around him, Jim went to stand in front of his wardrobe. One of the few joys of wearing a uniform every day, was that you didn’t have to worry about what to wear! Spock’s words had been formal, so he could wear his dress uniform. Except the gift box had looked festive and his dress uniform was uncomfortable.
Flipping through his civilian clothes, Jim grinned at the green shirt he found in the bottom. He’d had it almost two years but never worn it and forgotten why. The emerald green material was a lightweight, silky thing, given shape by black edging. When Jim had seen it in the store, it’d made him think of Spock, green skin and black hair, soft under those sharp angles. Jim slid into it and a pair of uniform black pants but balked at putting the boots back on. In his closet was a long neglected pair of black sandals, which made a nice change after spending so much time in his boots. The bottle of champagne had been icing since he returned to the room, so Jim picked up the whole bucket and left for Spock’s quarters.
It wasn’t a long walk, being next door, and Jim had standing permission to simply enter. But tonight was different, so he pressed the chime and waited. Instead of a call for admittance, the door opened to show a very handsome Spock. The green tunic he wore hung down to his thighs, but shifted colors as light played on it. Spock had on grey pants and was barefoot, so very different than he’d been on the bridge earlier that Jim felt his mouth fall open a little. Jim was so startled; he almost missed Spock blinking at his own attire. Spock stepped back and bowed Jim into his quarters.
“Putesha ahmau dorli afer-to dorli psthan.” Jim didn’t know the Vulcan words, so he stepped passed Spock and bowed back.
“Thank you for your hospitality this night.”
Jim watched Spock straighten and lead the way over to his table. A cloth covered the table and whatever was on it, and Jim was unsure as to where to sit. Spock held a chair out to Jim and saved him from having to decide. Handing over the bucket and sitting down, Jim suppressed the laugh that bubbled up. Spock simply didn’t know that was something a gentleman might do for a woman he was trying to impress. Spock walked over to his firepot, so Jim looked at the room instead of this informal version of Spock. The room temperature and gravity had been lowered to Earth standard, so Jim knew Spock was attempting to make him comfortable. Some other effort was involved as the four petal flower had been made from colored paper and affixed to the walls. Pictures of fierce looking silver birds were also stuck on the walls and ceiling, being stared at by a very confused human. What had he invited himself into? Spock stood before him, holding out the box that had started all this.
“Petakov, will you open the ta’an?” Jim still didn’t know the words, but he could figure out the meaning. Grinning, he reached out and pulled the lid off the box. This allowed chemical preservatives to escape, misting out of the box. Spock set the box on the table, on the one spot without a lump under the cloth, and took the lid from Jim. Even not knowing what to expect, Jim was still surprised by Spock sitting on the floor in front of him. Flipping the lid over, Spock set it aside to reach for Jim’s right foot. Jim tried to figure out a polite question even as Spock began to speak.
“When the Sehlat sang is a phrase much like the human ‘once upon a time.’ A time that never existed, or happened before history books could record it properly. What I speak of, what we celebrate tonight, is one such time.” Jim was distracted as Spock began rubbing oil over his right foot. That rubbing soon turned into a massaging that made Jim think his feet might be erogenous zones after all. “Before the reformation of Surak, Vulcan was a wild place, full of passion. One such passion was love. Humans and some religions have sought to suppress love, confusing it with lust. We reveled in it, looking for it to the exclusion of all else. This day was set aside to celebrate those who had found love.”
Spock set the right heel on the lid of the box, which had padding for this purpose, and took the shoe off the left. Jim closed his eyes and tried not to drool at this treatment of his feet and massage of his ears with Spock’s voice. “Those who still sought love soon began to use this day to congregate, hoping to meet their T’hy’la. Surak felt emotion had its uses, but we should control it. After his assassination, this day was outlawed by extremist movements. Children were betrothed for a logical propagation of the species, and love was relegated to the history books.”
Spock set the left foot next to the right, but paused to look up at Jim’s whine of protest. “Sorry Spock, that foot massage just felt really good.”
“It is supposed to, besides which the oil has antiseptic properties.”
“You think my feet are nasty?”
“No, it is tradition to minister to a guest’s feet this way. Water is scarce and this oil cleaned and sanitized, so it was preferred.”
“Logical.”
“Practical, Jim.”
“Do I oil yours?”
“No, I am the host, I do all the work.”
“I like that.” Jim gave Spock a smile, letting him know he’d help if Spock wanted him to. Spock stood and wiped his hands on a towel that had been on his chair. He set the box on his chair, then pulled the cloth off the table to show the covered dishes below. The sheet disappeared while Jim was looking at the table. Spock pulled four large candles out of the box and lit them with the lighter on the table. A command to the computer lowered the lighting, giving everything a glow Jim tried not to think of as romantic. Sitting down at last Spock returned to his lesson plan.
Chapter 2
