Spirk (with a small dose of Pinto)

This one almost applies to the November theme, but anyway….

“Are you sure I should be going with you, Spock?”

Jim had asked this of Spock twice before. Spock understood that Jim was likely nervous at the prospect of meeting Spock’s father so he allowed allowances for those nerves.

They were already preparing to step onto the transporter pad when Jim asked this latest time.

“I wish for him to know my mate, Jim,” Spock said, simply, also for the third time.

“Yeah. Well. About that.”

Spock arched a brow.

“Are you absolutely sure—”

“Yes,” Spock interrupted, not allowing him to finish.

Jim blew out a breath, then reached for Spock to give him a quick kiss.

“On Vulcan, that will not…”

“Yeah. I know. No open affection. I know, I know.”

Spock knew Jim was irritated by the reminder, but there wasn’t time to apologize or explain his own apprehension before they were told the transport was ready.

Unbeknownst to Jim, Spock had yet to tell Sarek that Jim was his mate. This brief trip to New Vulcan was to accomplish that.

“Energize,” Jim called to the transporter technician.

On New Vulcan, they were greeted by Vulcan attendants, before making their way to a tram that would take them to the neighborhood where his father’s house was located in mere seconds.

Jim had fallen silent. His color was already high from the heat, though New Vulcan did not have quite the same temperatures as Vulcan Prime had.

His uneasiness was affecting Spock as they approached the door to Sarek’s home. He’d been advised by his father that he could simply use his own code to enter the house in case Sarek was otherwise occupied when Spock arrived. Spock did so.

The inside of the house was mildly cooler and he could see the quick relief in Jim’s gaze.

Sarek came from within the deeper part of the house at that moment.

“Ah, Spock, you have…” His gaze flicked to Jim. “Captain Kirk.”

“Ambassador.”

Sarek looked to Spock, his expression carefully blank. “I was unaware you were bringing your superior officer, Spock. I thought this was a personal family visit.”

Spock could feel Jim’s shock through their link and he struggled not to shrink in on what was clearly a rebuke from his father.

He doesn’t even know?

“Father—”

“Excuse me,” Jim spoke up. “I’ll be outside.”

“Jim…”

But Jim practically ran from Sarek’s house.

“Explain,” Sarek demanded. “Why have you brought your superior here?”

Spock clenched his jaw. “Because I came here to introduce you to my mate.”

“Your…”

“Yes. Jim is my bondmate.”

“Why was I not made aware of this? To choose a bondmate who is both Human and male while our species is in danger of extinction is illogical and clearly made with emotional considerations that should not—”

“Kroykah!”

Sarek blinked.

“We are T’hy’la. It is not a simple choice.”

“I…see. No Vulcan has had such a bond for many hundreds of years.”

“Since I am only half Vulcan, that record still applies,” Spock said, stiffly. “I must seek out Jim.”

Spock turned away from his father but paused at the door. “If we were not T’hy’la, I would still choose Jim.”

Once outside, Spock did not see Jim. He feared Jim had gone back to the Enterprise.

“Jim? Jim? T’hy’la?”

“Here, Spock.” Jim appeared from around the back of the house. He looked red and overheated.

“We must get you to some place cooler,” Spock said quickly. “I apologize for my father’s unkindness.”

“I can apologize for my own failings, Spock,” Sarek said from the porch of the house. “Captain Kirk. Jim. Please accept my apology for my rudeness. It was illogical to act that way and I can only admit to being a somewhat foolish old man. Will you come into my home where I assure you, you are most welcome.”

Jim looked to Spock.

I am sorry, Jim. I should have told my father we were bonded before we arrived.

You were nervous too.

Yes.

It’s all right, Spock. I get it. This is all…strange to you, too.   

Jim looked back to Sarek. “I accept your welcome, Ambassador.”

Sarek stood aside while Spock and Jim reentered the house.

“Call me Sarek, Jim. And let me prepare a meal of welcome to honor my son and his bondmate.”

Jim smiled. “Great. Thank you. Sarek.”

Sarek nodded. “Even old dogs can be taught new tricks.” He paused. “I got that from my wife.”

And Jim burst out laughing.

Sarek turned to Spock. “Sometimes I foolishly forget her, only for a moment, of course, as I have done just now. She would feel shame for me. I believe she would say if she were here, Spock, ‘you will always have a proud mother’. And you will always have a proud father, also. Come, let us settle and become acquainted as a family.”   

“Captain! Jim!”

Jim jumped awake, his heart thundering hard. A feminine hand rested against his chest as he sucked in a breath.

“Easy, easy,” Uhura said, soothingly. “You just had a bad dream.”

Jim blinked and shifted, his back meeting the hard rock wall behind him. Right. Stranded on this planet during an ion storm.

“Status?” he asked automatically.

“Nothing has changed. It’s still…we can’t leave this cave. And there’s no getting in touch with the Enterprise. Or the other members of our landing party.”

He and Uhura got separated from the others. Fortunately neither of them were injured.

Uhura handed him a container of water. “Must have been bad that dream.”

He took a sip of the water and shrugged noncommittedly. He didn’t want to talk about it, not with her. Not with anyone.

But of course she wouldn’t let it go.

“You spoke. You said, ‘he can’t marry her’.” She took the water canteen he handed back to her.

“I don’t remember,” he lied.

Uhura sighed and tucked the canteen back into their survival bag. “You want a nutrition bar?”

He shook his head.

She took one out for herself, unwrapped it and took a bite. “I didn’t know you still thought about that.”

“I don’t.”

She moved to sit beside him, her back against the wall like his was. “Come on, Captain. You were dreaming about Spock marrying me.” She paused. “Weren’t you?”

“Not exactly,” Jim admitted. “It was your…wedding shower.”

“Oh. Which I didn’t have. Because we were never getting married,” she pointed out needlessly.

“The subconscious mind plays tricks on us.”

“Mm. But why are you still thinking about that? Spock is in a relationship with you.”

“You were in a relationship for a long time,” Jim said softly.

“Yeah, we were. But long-term relationships end too. Just ask all the divorced couples. My own parents were married ten years before it ended. People grow apart, Jim.”

“Yeah. I just think…I’m Human too. If it didn’t work out with you, and you were together for as long as you were, hell he gave you his mom’s necklace, he might just grow apart from me too.”

“So you think because we’re both Human, Spock can’t stay in a relationship with a Human.”

“Well.” He shrugged.

She shook her head. “Sometimes.”

“What?”

“When you first met us, our relationship was pretty new. He was so different from every other guy I’d met. So brilliant and so incredibly interesting.”

Jim had to agree with that.

“We had a lot in common and I was able to practice my Vulcan language skills. It was young love for both of us.”

He tried not to flinch but judging by the glare she shot him he hadn’t been successful.

“The point is, at some point the first blush of young love begins to fade and you get…I don’t want to say comfortable, but it kind of is. We got comfortable with each other. The affection was there, but a lot of the passion that existed in the beginning faded fast.”

“I guess that’s pretty natural.”

“It happened pretty fast for us and it took me quite a while to admit why that was,” she told him as she took another bite of her bar. “Spock still loved me, but he wasn’t in love with me. Physical intimacy became a-a chore. Maybe that’s too harsh an assessment. But the sex between us became less and less. I thought it was me. He didn’t want me anymore. But it was less to do with me then to do with…” She paused and sighed. “You.”

“Me?”

“From the time you beat his test, by cheating I might add, Spock couldn’t get you out of his head. I don’t want to use the word obsessed but I think it applied. He couldn’t move forward more than he had with me because of you. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t want me, but that he wanted you.”

“Uhura—”

“We didn’t break up because I’m Human, Captain, but because Spock is in love with you. And has been for a long time. Neither of us wanted to admit it.  Until there was no way to deny it any longer.”

Jim thought about that. “But what about…”

“Don’t look for trouble where there is none. Spock loves you, you love Spock. End of story. And really, this is the last time we’re going to discuss this.”

Jim’s communicator chirped and he jumped at the unexpected sound. He flipped it open. “Kirk here.”

“Captain,” Spock’s voice. “The storm is breaking up. We are preparing to beam you up within thirty minutes.”

Jim exchanged a smile with Uhura. “That’s great news, Mister Spock. See you then. Kirk out.”

And later when they were once more aboard the Enterprise and he was alone with Spock, together lying side by side in their bed, Jim whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you as well, t’hy’la.”

“Can you believe they’re finally doing it?”

Jim frowned at his PADD, not looking up from it as he read the latest mission details. “Mm.”

“Well, didn’t you think they’d never get married?” Bones demanded.

“None of my business,” Jim murmured. “I’m just officiating.”

“Surprised you agreed.”

Jim flicked his gaze to his disgruntled friend. “Was there a reason I should have refused?”

Bones looked vaguely uncomfortable and shrugged. “You know. With the history and all.”

Jim shook his head. “What’s done is done. I have no problem with it.”

“I suppose. Do you plan to be at the beach reception afterward?”

Jim smiled. “Only for a short time. It’s a pleasure planet. I intend to spend some of my shore leave doing stuff I’d like to do.”

“What’s got your attention anyway?”

“Orders for after shore leave.”

They were seated at a table in the mess. Jim had a chicken sandwich and Bones had egg salad.

Jim looked up and smiled when Spock approached carrying his tray of vegetable stir fry.

“That smells better than it probably is.”

Spock arched a brow as he took his seat. “It is actually tasty for being replicated.”

“We were talking about the upcoming nuptials,” Bones told Spock.

“He was talking, I was listening.”

“Barely,” Bones cracked.

“He’s surprised the wedding is happening after all this time.” Jim looked at Spock pointedly.

“Is it unusual to have an extended courtship on Earth?” Spock asked politely.

“Well, the days of childhood betrothals has been over for a long time,” Jim said, smiling.

Bones sighed and pushed his plate away with only about half his egg salad sandwich finished. “What’s your plan after the wedding, Spock?”

Spock shrugged slightly. “I do not believe there are any particular planned activities save for playing it by ear.” He glanced at Jim.

“Yep. He’s right. I’ve booked a house close to the beach with spectacular views for three nights. You’re welcome to join us, Bones.”

He moved his leg away when Spock’s foot came toward it. He smiled serenely.

“Threes a crowd. I’ve already had enough of you two lovebirds joined at the hip to last me for the rest of my life. And I gotta go.”

Spock watched McCoy depart. “Does the doctor have some particular concern about Carol Marcus’ wedding?”

“He wonders if my widdle heart is broken seeing her get married. And actually performing the ceremony. She asked. I had no issue with it. We haven’t been…anything…for years and she’s been with Lucas for a long time. They wanted to get married when the Enterprise happened to have shore leave here anyway.”

Spock nodded.

“And it gives me a chance to see David. It’s all good.” Jim covered Spock’s hand with his. “Fun in the sun.”

“It does beat the snow from the last shore leave.”

Jim laughed. “Yep. We can take surf lessons.”

“Or not.”

He laughed again. “Or not.”