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Spock was going to murder James Tiberius Kirk for getting him into this situation. He didn't care if he was married to him or if it was almost Christmas/Hanukkah. He was a dead man.
It had all began when he and two other science officers beamed down to Alpha Foxti, the people there were supposedly peaceful and the world was supposedly very safe. Supposedly. When he woke up in a tent with a concussion and no one else around, Spock had gotten his whole murdering James Kirk idea. Mostly because according to his internal clock, it had been 8 days since he beamed down.
… perhaps Jim would be murdering him for scaring him instead of Spock murdering him for this situation.
With a light sigh, he shook his head and got out of the bed. His head was aching, and with a start he realized he was nude and had bandages wrapped around his chest. The last thing he remembered, he had been on a cliff with his people and…
Nothing.
He swept his eyes over the tent again and saw a pile of blue and black fabric in a corner. He went over and saw that it was indeed his uniform, hurriedly tossed there and now wrinkled, much to his distaste. With a sigh, he crouched. He winced at the pain in his chest but put on his pants. He held up his shirt- and felt admittedly surprised when he saw the green blood soaked into the front of it. Well, that explained the bandages. He put it on and looked around for his boots, his phaser, his communicator, anything really. When he found nothing, he straightened and held his head high and went out.
There were trees everywhere, and soft orange grass was under his feet there must have been 50 tents around- a village. Children were running and playing. Adults were tending to furs and meats. Men were sharpening weapons. Someone was playing a drum. Spock recalled that there were two types of people on this planet- the city dwellers who knew of warp and space and accepted it, and the hill people who knew all the same things but didn't accept it. Clearly, the hill people had saved him.
“Hey!”
He turned to see a fat, tanned man with a big bushy mustache and bald head. He was very tall, taller than Spock. “Hey! You're awake! What's your name? We’ve just been calling you pointy! How do you feel?” He called.
Spock blinked at the barrage of questions “Spock.” He said “t’nesh veh ahm Spock.” And then he blinked, and his brow furrowed. That wasn’t standard. My name is Spock. “t’nesh veh ahm Spock.” He repeated.
He felt panic rise in his chest, eyes widening. “Do you not speak standard?” The man asked “my name is Rihn. What's yours?”
“T’nesh veh ahm Spock!” Spock shouted, panic rising thick in his chest. Why couldn't he speak standard? He’d spoken standard his whole life! “Nesh veh Yel-Halitra! ” He cried I am starfleet! He was a commander, a scientist, he could speak Standard!
“Hey hey, calm down pointy!” Rihn tried to placate him. “It's okay if you don’t speak standard! We can teach you.”
I do speak standard! “Nesh veh tor stariben gotavu! ”
The man helped him sit down “Wait here, I’ll get you some water.”
Spock took a deep breath, wrapping his arms around himself. Be rational. Access. He was concussed, which meant that his emotional control was shot. His concussion had also, apparently, affected his language center and prevented him from speaking standard. He didn't have his communicator, so he couldn't call the ship. And either the concussion had impacted his bond or Jim was far enough away that he couldn't feel him. He didn't know if his two other science officers were dead or alive-
“Hey! Pointy is awake!”
Oh yes, and no one knew his name and he was being called pointy.
When he got back up there, he was going to kiss his husband until he couldn't breathe because he really kind of missed him-
And then he was going to punch him in the face.
“E’tsis. ” Spock said for the 49th time in the past hour. City . He had drawn pictures, he had made gestures. God, he had never hated being a Vulcan as much as he did in that moment. The city had many many technological advancements. Surely, someone there would have a universal translator. Or at least a way for him to communicate with the ship.
Assuming the ship was still in orbit.
Spock fought that thought back into the recesses of his mind. He knew after over a week it was unlikely that the Enterprise had stayed behind. But if he could get there surely he could figure out a way to get back to them. A deep space call to Starfleet, or hitchhiking to the nearest star base. Something.
“Oh, oh! I got it! Music! You're telling us you're a musician!” Rihn guessed. Spock knew he was trying, but the human urge to smack Rihn in the face came anyway. “Ri.” He said, shaking his head. They had established that as no.
“No? Okay… um…”
He tried to say city in standard again, but it once again came out, for the fiftieth time, as “E’tsis."
Rihn sighed “I really don't know. I wish I could help you pointy.”
“Spock.” He corrected again.
“I dunno if you're telling me “it's okay” or if you're telling me to go fuck myself.” Rhin grinned “I hope it's the first one.”
“Rim.” Spock sighed, shaking his head. None. Neither. He sighed again, tugging at his Starfleet pin. “Yel-halitra.” He said, pointing.
“Does that mean pin? Or is it whatever the pin represents?” Spock held up two fingers to indicate the second one. “So your pin represents… what was it? Yell-haletra?” Spock grimaced at the pronunciation but nodded “Ha.” Yes. He ran his fingers over the pin, enjoying the comforting feeling of the metal. “Enterprise.” He whispered, and then smiled when he realized that the name came out in English. “Hey I understood that!” Rihn smiled “you do know some standard! What's Enterprise though?”
“T’nesh veh yel-hall. ” Spock said. My starship. Then he went quiet “... t’nesh veh ha-kel.” His home. His family.
“Sounds important, from how expressive your voice is. What species are you anyway? Your blood was green- the healer told everyone. Your chest got crushed in that rockslide- your spine was broken, we all thought you would die. Two days later, it was fixed on its own! We were shocked.” Rihn said
“V’tosh ” he said. Vulcan. Half Vulcan technically, but indicating he was half of anything required a prefix and he was going for as basic vulcan as he could right now. Apparently, he had gone into a healing trance since he had been here. If his back had been broken, it explained why everything hurt so much. He had likely been close to death. He sighed, he missed Jim. His head was pounding, and he felt dizzy. His ribs ached. If Jim were here, he would rub his back and work all the tightness from his muscles, no problem. He would kiss his head and sit with him while Doctor McCoy worked on him. He sighed again, bowing his head.
“Man, maybe I should take you to the city. They could probably-” Spock shot to his feet. “Ha! Ha!” He shouted, sounding like he was laughing. He probably looked like a fool, waving his arms around like Rihn had just given him the answer to the universe “E’tsis! Ha!”
“The city? That's what you’ve been asking for?” Rihn asked. Spock nodded frantically. “Ha! E’tsis!” he repeated, releif flooding his chest that they were getting somewhere now. Rihn grinned “the city it is! We’ll go tomorrow!”
“ Lesek.” Spock said. Thank you.
“You’re welcome.” Rihn said, guessing what that meant. Then he smacked his thighs, standing up “you’d better rest. It's a 4 day trek and your heart stopped a few days ago. I’ll start gathering things.” He left with a wave of his hand, and Spock looked around the tent for a moment more before he stepped out.
There was a clearing in the trees, showing just a section of stars. Spock stared up at it, trying to see if he could figure out where he was on the planet by them. Then he closed his eyes for a brief moment.
“T’hy’la …” he whispered, closing his eyes.
Jim was probably at dinner, sitting with Doctor McCoy. Christmas was in a week. There was mistletoe hanging all over the ship- an image filled Spock’s mind of Jim grabbing him by the collar for a kiss each time they passed under one. He would also insist on giving him a present for each day of Hanukkah, despite the fact that he had never practiced the holiday outside of lighting the menorah with his mother each year. It was their compromise- if Jim could get him one gift a day for Hanukkah, he could get Jim several presents for Christmas. He swallowed thickly as he thought of the colorfully wrapped presents sitting in Nyota’s closet to hide them from Jim. He hoped that she would give them to him if he couldn't. He opened his eyes again, his mind reaching for the bond to Jim once more, and once again finding… not quite nothing. The bond was still there, it hadn't broken- which was good, because hopefully Jim knew he was still alive- but he couldn't feel anything from it.
‘Jim. T’hy’la. Can you hear me vashurik? I'm rather upset with you. I tried to warn you that this mission required a bit more delicacy and scans. I wish to see you more than I am mad with you though, k’diwa. My love.’
With a sigh, Spock turned and went back inside the tent.
Spock felt like shit the next morning. His head was spinning, and he was well aware that he likely required medical attention. But...
Medical attention could wait. He needed to get off this planet. The hill people had clearly never seen a Vulcan before, and the city people likely wouldn't know how to properly treat him.
Rihn approached him with an animal that looked like a mix between a spider and a large horse. There were bags on either side. “We’ll need Talo here to scale the cliffs until we get to the city limits and can use the grav shifts.” Rihn said, then frowned. “Are you sure you wanna start traveling today? You don't look so good. Maybe you should rest-”
“Nesh-veh tok-ti. ” Spock responded, waving him off. I am fine.
“I dunno what that means but I can tell from the look on your face that you're not gonna be kept here.” Rihn said, shaking his head “Ha.” Spock agreed.
“Yeah, I figured.” Rihn climbed on Talo’s back and patted the area behind him “hop on up pointy.”
“Spock.” Spock corrects, climbing onto the animal’s back.
“Alright, just give her a little tap on the flank. It's very sensitive- a poke sends her into a run. Then hold on, I’ll steer.”
Spock blinked, then gently taps the animal’s flank. And they take off towards the city. It isn't a particularly rough ride- it's a bit like riding I-Chaya was.
“Hey, maybe I can guess your name!”
Oh sweet Surak.
“Let's see is it… Harold?”
Sigh. “Ri. Spock. ”
“Gary?”
“Ri. ”
“Louis?”
“Spock. ”
“I feel like that's a curse word.”
He sighed again. This would be a long 4 days.
Spock hated concussions. He hated them. They compromised everything about him in a way only a few other certain things (namely humans with strange smiles who cared about him more than anyone else had on a ship that was more of a home than the place he had spent his whole life and especially one man who’s name oddly rhymed with grim serious jerk even though he was none of those things) could. Spock found himself being unable to control his reactions- smiles and scowls slipped out unbidden onto his face. He had used more Vulcan curse words in the past three days than he had in twenty years. He was irritated beyond belief, and he couldn't control that irritation.
And it frightened him.
After three days on the road with Rihn, he found himself longing for Jim more than ever. Jim would calm him- he would be there with gentle fingers and sweet kisses and kind words and it’s okay. It’ll all be okay my darling. I know you’re frightened, I have you. I’m right here baby I got you nothing’s gonna get you and no one’s gonna mock you for this. No one’s gonna say shit, so it’s okay. Cry, scream, do whatever. It’s okay to be irritated and frightened- you have a good reason. No one’s gonna give you shit baby if they do I'll punch them in their faces.
But that was all a pipe dream. Jim could be on the other side of the quadrant by now.
“Hey, you’re doing it again.”
He looked over at Rihn, who was sitting on the other side of the small fire he had started. They’d had to stop for the night- Talo was exhausted, and Spock had thrown up everything he had eaten in what Rihn assumed was motion sickness.
“You stare at the sky a lot. Is it cause you’re from space?” Rihn asked, voice gentle so he wouldn't offend.
“Ha.” Spock said. It was close enough to the truth.
“You miss it.” The fat man said. “I wonder if you have a family, I never got one.”
“Nesh veh tor. ” He did. “ Nyota. McCoy. Scott. Chekov. Sulu. ” Spock said before he could stop himself. “Are those names? Or words?” Rihn asked. Spock held up one finger to indicate the first one, and Rihn smiled. “Sounds nice. That first one sounded like a lady- your wife?”
“Ri. ” Spock said. He looked to the stars again “ Nyota qual t’nesh veh t’hai’la. ” Nyota was his friend- a life-long friend, a blood sibling almost. Not t’hy’la. There wasas the subtlest of differences in pronunciations between the two, but T'hai'la and T'hy'la were very different. Not the other half of his soul. He paused, and then, quietly “Jim qual t’nesh veh adun.”
Adun, and K’hat’n’dlawa, and ashayam, ashaya, T’hy’la. Jim was everything.
“Jim huh? Whats an adun?” Rihn asked.
“ Adun. Ashaya, ” Spock faltered, trying to think about how he could explain something as undefinable as love without being able to say a word he could understand.
“Ashaya?” Rihn echoed, the word coming out wrong. Spock frowned, and then went over to him. He took Rihn’s hand by the wrist, lifting it and reaching it across Rhin’s body so it was cupped over his shoulder- he remembered from the anatomy report, that the best place to feel the Foxti heartbeat was to press one's hand to the back of the right shoulder, just behind the collarbone. He could feel the steady heartbeat against his wrist.
“ Ashaya.” Spock repeated.
“My heart… love?” Rihn guessed. Spock sat back on his heels, nodding “ Ha. Jim, Ashaya.”
“You want to get back to him.”
Spock nodded again, sighing and once more debating the benefits of simply melding with Rihn.
One one hand, He could show Rihn everything. He could make him see what he wanted and that he wasn’t an idiot and what starfleet was and tell him his name so he could stop being called pointy- it was logical.
But no.
There were too many risks. Spock’s controls were shot, and it was too risky to have anyone in his mind at this moment. In addition, no one had ever done a study on the telepathic capabilities the Foxti may or may not have had- who knew how Rihn would react? And besides- ever since the existence of telepaths had been discovered on a grand scale there had been rules- spoken and unspoken- about what was expected of them. There were laws on his world about telepathy and what it could or could not be used for. And the very first rule- spoken, unspoken, and law- was consent. There were few things more intimate than sharing a mind. It was not something to be taken lightly. A mind probe was one thing- it was a one sided peek into someone’s mind, and it was easy to hide things. Mind melds? Very very different.
He sincerely hoped that he would get home soon though- he even longed for Doctor McCoy and all his idioms and idiosyncrasies and attitude and emotionalism. His head was pounding, and with a start he jumped to his feet and got sick in the bushes again.
“Jeez, you really can’t keep anything down can you?” Rihn said “Maybe we should stop-”
“ Ri! ” Spock shouted suddenly, whirling around. He felt anger and fear swelling up unbidden- it felt almost like pon farr, but there was no way that was what was happening. No way.
He sincerely hoped not anyway.
“Okay, okay-!” Rihn’s voice was placating “We’ll keep moving. I get it.”
Spock took a deep breath, nodding stiffly.
“You really want to get back to this Jim guy, huh?” Rihn muttered. Spock swallowed and nodded again, sinking to the ground.
There weren’t words in Vulcan or Standard for how bad he wanted that.
The city is called Jix, and it starts very suddenly. One moment you're in the woods, the next you're in the city. Jix is built right into the cliffs and ravines and mountains this planet is covered in (Alpha Foxti is well known for having no flat smooth ground anywhere) and the way to travel are grav streams that can send you upside down and sideways and all ways.
Talo is tied to a tree at the city limits, and Rihn and Spock enter the city. Its large, and there are a lot of people. Spock feels himself being shoved and pulled in all different directions as Rihn holds him by the wrist like a child so he doesn’t lose him.
It takes them a few minutes to realize that the people are panicking.
Spock stops walking, and immediately- despite the concussion and the fact that he’s been out of service for over a week and no one expected him to do shit - he is in the mindset of a commander. He shifts his grip so his fingers are wrapped around Rihn’s wrist and pulls him back.
“What are you-” The man tries to ask. Spock doesn’t respond, dragging him in a different direction than he was going in- towards the center of the city. He hops into a grav stream, taking his companion with him. It typically takes practice to master these, but Spock has always been agile.
Rihn… not so much.
When they land, Spock lands on his feet, and Rihn lands on his face.
Spock doesn't care- there are ships in the clear sky.
There are six- no, seven klingon vessels in the air. Seven klingon vessels, and four federation ships. Four ships including-
“Enterprise.” He whispers.
“What the hell!? ” Rihn shouts “What is this- what are we- holy shit we have to get out of here!” He stands and starts pulling on Spock’s wrist, but Spock doesn't move. He calls up the map of Jix from his memory- the central command tower, that was where they would be.
Spock had to get there.
“Why aren’t you moving!” Rihn sounds panicked, and Spock turns to him.
“ Lesek na’gol’tor.” Spock said. thank you for the help. He released Rihn and pulled his arm away in one quick movement.
“Hey-! Wait-! Where are you- oh dammit!”
He is aware that Rihn is following him, and calling after him, but there isn’t the time.
He starts running, ignoring the way it makes his chest ache. He can pick out Rihn’s footsteps after listening to them for four days- he’s still following him.
And then, he stops. His heart constricts.
“What are we doing-” Rihn starts to ask, but Spock isn’t listening. His eyes are fixed on a point exactly 68.4579033 feet above from him.
“Jim!”
Somehow, amidst all the chaos, it works. Jim looks, but Spock has already taken off again. He jumps into another grav stream- Rihn is still behind him. Spock slides out of the grav stream easily once more, and he and Jim collide.
Jim had seen him coming in the grav, and he was wrapped around him tightly- arms looped around his back and clutching his head and legs locked around Spock’s, sending them both to the ground.
“ohmygodSPOCK!”
The words come out in a rush by Spock’s ear before their kissing. Their kissing long and deep and passionate and Spock could stay here for hours-
Rihn crashes screaming to the ground next to him, and Spock pulls away from Jim to breathe.
Jim has tears swimming in his eyes. “Oh my god oh my god I thought you were dead baby I can't feel you where have you been oh my god-” He is a babbling, beautiful mess and all Spock can do is stare for a moment at him. His features are haggard- he has bags under his eyes and he's lost weight and his hair is a mess. He probably has barely slept since Spock went missing- which was almost two weeks ago at this point. He is still beautiful though, and Spock presses a kiss to his meld point. The bond is still muted- likely the concussion- but Spock tries to project as much loveyou/loveyou/missedyou/loveyou/itsokay/imokay/here/here/yours/missedyou/loveyou as he can through the contact
“Okay- I need an explanation now! Pointy please tell me why we aren’t gone yet!?” Rihn shouts, grabbing Spock by the shoulder and shaking him and ruining the moment. Jim looks up at him and frowns. “I’m sorry- A. Who are you, B. did you just call my husband pointy? And C. take your hand off him before I remove it for you.”
“Husband?! Your married? Awesome! Can you please tell him that we need to leave?!”
“Tell him yourself! He speaks standard!”
“Um- no he does not .”
Jim shoots to his feet to get angry, but Spock beats him to it, placing a hand over both their mouths.
"Lkap’uh t’du ru’lut! ” Spock shouts. Shut your mouths!
Jim blinks. “... sweetie, why are you speaking vulcan?”
“Is that what it is?” Rihn mutters.
Spock sighs, and then grabs them both by their wrists and heading towards the central tower.
Spock is staunchly ignoring the questions that are being asked as he drags his husband and his… friend? Yes, he supposes that’s what Rihn is.
God, everything hurts.
The tower door is surrounded by klingons, and Spock hides them in an alley “Okay- okay. The general is probably in there. If we can take the tower we can end this.” Jim says, slipping into captain mode easily. “Tor du ma wek-zelek? ” Spock asks, and Jim blinks helplessly. “Yeah… I got nothing.” Rihn says.
Spock exhales. It's not a sigh- more of a sound of resignation. He exhales so deeply that something in his chest either pops or cracks- The pain is so acute it sends Spock to his knees, gasping. His vision tunnels, a roar begins in his ears, and when he comes back to himself he’s on the ground.
Rihn is shouting again. “Jeez, take it easy! You were dead a week ago!”
“You were what?! ” Jim shouts “and you’re running around like you're on full duty?!”
"Lkap’uh t’du ru’lut-” Spock coughs again, and wipes his mouth before they can see the green blood that comes up with it. He stands shakily, looking around and forming a plan in his mind.
He looks back at the others “wek-zelek. ” He said. Then he makes a finger gun “ pew pew.”
“Pew pew?” Jim blinked “... phaser?” Spock nods “ha!”, and bless Jim for knowing where his mind went. “I have mine, but not yours.” Jim frowned “seriously why can't you speak standard?”
Spock shook his head, waving him off before rising and looking at the grav stream. He pointed to it “The grav stream?” Jim asked, and Spock nodded. It ran next to the tower. He next pointed to the windows at the top of the tower Jim followed his line of sight, and Spock’s plan came together in his mind. “You're a genius! Jim pressed a happy kiss to his cheek, and Spock smiled before he could stop it. “How did you two-” Rihn asked, blinking. “Years of practice.” Jim answered, smirking. “And a very intimate knowledge of how he thinks.”
Spock stared at Jim for a moment, looked at how proud he was that he really truly knew Spock and how he worked.
He held out his two fingers, and Jim met them with a beam.
“Merry Christmas, lover.” Jim whispered, and Spock inclined his throbbing head in agreement.
“Uh, guys. We really really need to go-” Rihn said.
Jim hummed in agreement “you break the window and I shoot the Klingons?”
“Ha.” Spock said.
They grasped one another's hands, and as always they ran right towards the danger.
Jumping out of the grav stream and through a window was actually the easy part.
It was simple mathematics- the forces and the time needed.The actual going through the window part almost made him collapse. God he was seeing spots when he landed, and he felt as though he couldn’t get enough air in. When the spots cleared, a phaser was pointed at his head. Spock dove.
“Hey! Let my husband alone! ”
Jim was there, firing at the Klingons with a fury. Spock attempted to rise, but the moment he tried the world tilted approximately 57 degrees and turned an odd shade of pink.
“Pointy!”
A warm hand was on his shoulder, straightening him and then tugging him behind a counsel. Rihn had demanded they let him follow, claiming he wasn’t leaving pointy until I get him back to that ha-kel Enterprise place!
Spock felt… touched. And annoyed because no one could understand him still where dammit was Nyota when he needed her.
Spock squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them again. He rose to his feet and rushed over to Jim’s side, dragging Rihn with him.
“Jesus how many Klingons are here?!” Jim shouted.
“Where's central?” Rihn asked. “He leads the city-!”
“We took him to make the treaty!” One of the Klingons roared, firing at Jim. He jumped, moving Spock with him.
“Wait- treaty?” Jim shouted. The Klingons roared again, and Spock tugged on his sleeve.
If the Klingons were making a treaty, they couldn’t be here.
“Jim.” He hissed “ Enterprise-!”
Jim pulled out his communicator as they dodged again. Over the sound of roaring Klingons and phasers, he heard Jim shouting about beam up beam up dammit Scotty beam us up! Spock grabbed Rihn by the wrist and pulled him close so he was clutching at him-
And then all three of them were gone.
They landed on the transporter pad only seconds later- Rihn was clinging to him and screaming in Spock’s left ear.
Spock grabbed him by the chin and shut his mouth for him, and he did fall silent.
“Cap’n- commander!” Scotty was beaming at him “I must say it's a pleasure ta see yer face sir!”
“Call Bones,” Jim said hurriedly “he needs medical attention.”
“ Nyota.” Spock said, looking between Jim and Scotty.
“Call Uhura too- he apparently forgot standard.”
Spock scowled at him, smacking his arm and making him jump. He didn't forget standard, a cliff collapsed and he had his head get almost crushed and he couldn't speak standard there was a difference. And besides “Nash du lafot! ” This is Jim’s fault.
“Um… sorry?” Jim says, blinking, confused
“Ha.” Spock huffed.
Uhura arrived first, and Spock was certain he had never been so happy to see her. Before she could even open her mouth, Spock was speaking. "Nash veh ri kup-tor stariben gotavu! Nash veh kup-ken-tor hi kup-goh stariben vuhlkansu- ” he stopped speaking to cough into his fist. Uhura blinked, processing. “Oh wow. No wonder it took you so long to get back.
“What did he say?”
“He can't speak standard. He can understand it, but he can only speak Vulcan.” Uhura translated.
“So pointy does speak standard?”
“Spock.” Spock groaned.
“What does that mean? He says it all the time!” Rihn asked. “It's his name.” Jim said, looking guilty now. Spock pressed his hand to Jim's trying to wipe his guilt away. The door opened again, and Doctor McCoy came in. “Well shit, it's good to see you again.” He said, coming over and crouching in front of Spock. “Pointy’s name is Spock?” Rihn asked, and Spock actually thought about punching him. Again. McCoy laughed “I don't know who you brought home, but I like him!” He said, running his scanner over Spock. “
“Pointy’s name is Spock?” Rihn asked, and Spock actually thought about punching him. Again. McCoy laughed “I don't know who you brought home, but I like him!” He said, running his scanner over Spock. “ Kroykah. ” Spock grumbled.
“He says stop.” Uhura said helpfully, and McCoy frowned “what's with the Vulcan?”
“Can’t speak standard, only understand.”
“Shit.” His tricorder beeped, and McCoy whistled lowly “no wonder. Look at those cracks in his skull. I count 6 broken ribs- one of his lungs is pricked but not collapsing. His back is only half healed- probably in quite a bit of pain.” A warm hand rested on his back, and Spock leaned into Jim’s touch. He felt so tired and really really in pain. “What happened to you?"
“A cliff collapsed. Two other bodies were crushed and his back snapped and his chest got crushed- I guess he hit his head too.” Rihn shrugged “he healed himself. Woke up eight days later and started babbling in that language of his and demanded to go to Jix.”
“That language of his is Vulcan. One of the most regal languages in-” Nyota began angrily.
“ Nyota .” Spock pressed, stopping her rant. As much as he appreciates her ranting about how amazing his first language is, he really would rather she didn't because he kinda hates it at the moment. He coughed into his arm again, tasting copper.
“He needs to go to sickbay. Another healing trance and some time with the bone-knitter should do the trick.” McCoy said, and Spock couldn't agree more.
As a matter of fact, he was pretty sure that now that he was safe and home he was slipping off right now-
“Shit wait Spock-! ”
He woke up in sickbay, and he never thought he would be more grateful to see the ugly greenish white lights on the ceiling above him. He sat up very slowly- no pain. He could breathe easy and the world stayed blissfully on it’s axis.
A grand improvement, really.
“Hey!”
He turned his head- Rihn was sitting next to him with a beaming smile on his face. “Morning Pointy!” He cheered. “My name is
“My name is Spock.” Spock said, and then he blinked. “Yeah, you spoke standard.” Rihn laughed a little. “Congrats. You’re all better. I’m just sitting with you because I have nothing else to do until you all drop me off at the next starbase.
“We are dropping you off at…?”
“Yeah!” Rihn’s smile turned proud “I'm going to apply for the starfleet academy.”
Spock stared at him, and then nodded slowly.
“What? Don't think I can handle it?”
“On the contrary.” Spock said “I am merely outlining the letter of recommendation I am going to write you.”
Rihn beamed, and Spock sat up fully.
“Rihn, I wish to thank you for all that you did for me in the past several days. You-”
“Aw there's no need pointy.” Rihn smiled warmly at him “I can never turn away from someone who needs me.”
“I thank you anyway.”
“No problem-” Rihn grinned “commander.”
Spock fought a smile, and then he heard the swish of a door, and he looked up-
Just in time to get a lap full of Jim.
“Spock!” Jim crowed in his ear, wrapping his arms around him and nuzzling his nose into Spock’s neck
“Jim…” Spock said softly, reaching up to press a hand to the back of his neck. “Jim.” He buried his nose in Jim's hair. The smell of his husband was bliss after two weeks. His internal clock said that christmas was only a few hours away, which meant it was the first day of Hanukkah.
'I have your first present for as soon as you get to come back home sweetheart.' came the voice in his mind, and Spock felt awash with delight
'Jim. It is pleasing to feel you again t'hy'la.'
'Yeah, for me too. You scared me-' memories of Jim calling down to Spock and getting no response, of wanting to beam down but getting the order not to, of arguing with the admiralty, of demanding the klingons let him beam down because his husband was down there, of getting into a firefight because he pissed the klingons off, of the other ships coming as back up, of beaming down anyway because he wasn't leaving Spock down there, of seeing and holding Spock for that first time in the street and of recalling his attack on the klingons after Spock had been safely returned- Memories of Jim being unable to sleep because the bed was too big, too cold, too empty, of being unable to eat because the chair next to him was empty and that felt so wrong, of not being able to feel the bond, of actually trying to meditate because he thought it might help, of the fear of hesgone/hesgone/hesgone/ilostmyotherhalf-
It all flashes across Spock's mind. In return, Spock shows him flashes of his time on Alpha Foxti- gazing at the stars and longing for Jim-
“I missed you too.” Jim laughed, aloud now. He pressed his face tighter against Spock's chest and Spock placed a reverant kiss to the crown of his head.
“Hey-” Jim pulled away just enough to grin at him. “Happy Hanukkah.”
“Merry Christmas, ashayam. ” Spock said softly, kissing Jim on the nose.
Doctor McCoy eventually came in, and months later Rihn would rejoin their crew as an ensign.
But at that moment, sitting there, kissing and holding one another-
They were in their own world.
“Love doesn't need to be expressed through words, sentences, or phrases, because Lovers understand each other with their looks, their smiles, their minds, their hearts and with their souls…”
- Aarti Khurana