Work Text:
Okay, so Leonard had a little crush on Spock.
It wasn’t that bad. He could deal with it. He told himself so, daily, usually over a stiff drink.
The truth was it hadn’t been that bad, but now it was getting worse. At first it had just been a passing fancy. The occasional thought that Spock looked good today, or the idea that he should bring something nice to Spock just to try and make him happy. But it had grown, and morphed, until he could barely stop thinking of Spock. Of his eyes and his mouth and clever wit and boundless intellect, and his sharp tongue and his sturdy hands and brilliant mind–just everything about Spock, basically, which all somehow added up to greater than the sum of his parts. Which was amazing, because the sum of his parts was still an awful lot.
It would have been a hell of a lot easier if he didn’t have to interact with Spock on a daily basis, which just fueled the fire. He kept getting reminded that Spock was really kind under all that Vulcan bluster. That he was gentle. That he was smart. That he was beautiful and a joy to be around. That he was utterly logical and would never cotton to a romantic relationship with a backwards doctor like him.
The reminders were damned annoying.
He thought of this as he stood sweating and tugging at his scarf in the transporter room, frowning at Spock who didn’t look at all perturbed even though he was bundled from head-to-toe in winter gear. In fact, he looked cute, of all the damned things, in his little black beanie pulled low over his ears and his coat collar turned up like he was already anticipating high winds. He looked stoic and reserved as always, and was gazing into middle space with his usual calm beauty.
Leonard swore internally and sweated some more.
“How long does it take to grab one power cell?”
Spock turned to look at him. “Assuming they did not attempt to move more quickly or slowly that average, approximately three-point-four minutes.”
Leonard grumbled and cursed those mathematically perfect brainwaves. “And how long has it been?” he asked, stressed already to the limits of his patience.
Spock opened his mouth but before he could answer, Jim did it for him, stepping through the doors with Scotty and Uhura at his heels.
“Alright, let’s get this show on the road,” Jim said, hopping up onto the transporter bad. He twinkled at Leonard. “Bones, you’ve got a sour look about you.”
“I’m sweet as sugar,” he deadpanned, glaring.
The five of them got settled and the transporter chief set them down in the middle of a snow drift. Leonard nearly fell as the snow shifted beneath him, but Spock shot out a hand and steadied him.
“Thanks,” he said gruffly, and tried to calm his hammering heart. Dammit, he was too old for this.
Spock merely blinked slowly at him.
It was actually a pretty nice day, other than the knee-deep snow. They hiked up the side of a big hill that seemed put there specifically to annoy Leonard and found the power station, which was sad and had only two blinking lights instead of three. Leonard assumed that was bad.
Scotty and Uhura set to work on the station while Jim stared out over the horizon. Leonard wondered if he did that heroic shtick on purpose.
“Spock.”
“Yes, Captain?”
“I’d like a survey of the surrounding area. Just to double check the readings from the probe. Bones, give him a hand?”
Leonard stared at him, annoyed, but Jim only grinned hugely back. Of course Jim would stick them together. He hadn’t shut up about Leonard’s little crush since he’d drunkly confessed it to him a month ago. Now he was taking every opportunity he could to get them to be alone together. What he thought he would accomplish, Leonard didn’t know. It wasn’t like a little alone time would change Spock’s utter disregard for anything as illogical as romance.
Still, he followed Spock back down the hill and into the little everglade-looking forest. It smelled sweet and sort of piney, and even he had to begrudgingly admit that it was peaceful.
If only it weren’t so cold.
They walked around for a bit gathering data. Leonard had a little trouble operating his tricorder with his gloved hands, and he wondered how Spock was faring without any gloves at all. He’d have to examine him when they got back to the ship. Just to check for frostbite, of course. He kept his nose in his tricorder so as not to get caught staring at Spock. The data was pretty interesting, actually, almost interesting enough to keep him distracted from—
He jumped as a wad of snow hit him.
Leonard look up to the sky, confused. He figured the snow must have fallen from a nearby tree and so he shook out his hair and wished he had worn a hat, just this once. Thankfully his scarf had protected his neck from—
Another one!
He whipped around but all he saw was Spock about a dozen yards off, facing away and looking at his tricorder with vested interest. Leonard frowned and brushed off his hair again and tried to focus on his work until—
Oh, three was just too much.
Leonard spun around, mad and dripping, just in time to catch Spock with a handful of snow and an utterly innocent look plastered to his face.
“You—!” he spluttered.
“Doctor?” Spock inquired, his hat wriggling in a way that implied there was some heavy eyebrow action going on underneath.
“You threw snow at me!”
Spock furrowed his brow. “Doctor, snowball fights are a childish human indulgence.”
“Then what do you call that!” Leonard pointed at the ball of snow in Spock’s green-flushed hand.
Spock eyed it studiously. “This?” He hefted it as if testing its weight. “Is a snowball.” He threw it!
Leonard managed to duck that one, eyes wide. He had two hands full of the sticky, wet snow almost before he knew it, and then he bull rushed Spock. Spock side-stepped him easily, but it wasn’t enough to avoid the smack! of wet snow to the face.
“Bones!”
They both stopped, about ten feet apart, and stared at each other. As one, they turned to look at Jim, who was frowning incredulously at them.
“Just what’s going on here?”
Leonard watched as Scotty and Uhura, standing behind Jim, exchanged significant looks. They knelt down and started gathering snow.
“Not a damned thing, Jim,” Leonard said easily. “Just collected data.”
“Then why–Ah! Cold!”
Jim danced away from Scotty and Uhura’s joint attack, tripped over his feet, and went tumbling. They went after him, concerned, only to find it was a trick as Jim threw snow directly back.
Leonard whooped with laughter and got a mouthful of Spock’s next snowball for his trouble. He wiped of his face and grinned, growling, “Oh, that’s it.”
Laughter from the humans wrang out through the woods as they indulged in an impromptu snowball fight. Jim and Leonard teamed up against Spock, who was only barely capable of defending himself from both of them at once. They just about had the edge on him when Uhura and Scotty both tackled Jim spectacularly, landing with a whump in the snow bank.
Jim was laughing until he looked up, and Leonard saw his eyes go wide. “Bones!”
Leonard spun and saw Spock advancing, more snow than he had any right to carry clutched in his hands. His flight instinct gripped him. He twirled back around and took off for the trees.
He could hear Uhura’s twinkling laugh following him. “Run, Doctor!”
He could hear Spock hot on his heels as he ran, laughing, through the trees. He managed to duck behind a tree and he had barely a second to gather up a handful of snow before Spock rounded the trunk.
They both threw simultaneously, each getting a face full of ice and powder, and Spock–apparently blinded–tripped and fell right into him. Leonard tried to keep them both upright but he was laughing so hard he was wheezing. They fell to the ground and Leonard lay his head back in the snow to cool off and laughed and laughed and laughed.
“Jesus, Spock,” he managed between gasps for breath. “That…wasn’t…very logical.”
“No, it was not.”
Something in Spock’s tone stopped Leonard in his tracks. He looked up and he realized Spock was over him, arms on either side of his head. “Uh.” He blinked up at Spock, who was looking down at him very seriously. “Why did you…?”
“I wished to demonstrate to you that I am capable of performing illogical acts. Was I successful?” Spock’s beanie wiggled as he raised his eyebrow.
“I mean.” Leonard felt oddly breathless. He could feel Spock’s body pressed against him and it was way, way too distracting. “Yes?”
“Good.” Spock–amazingly–almost seemed to smile. “Now perhaps you will believe me when I say that I wish to be illogical with you on a regular basis.”
Leonard was utterly breathless now, foggy brain trying to parse Spock’s words as his adrenaline pumped even faster. “Spock, what are you saying?” As Spock opened his mouth Leonard shook his head. “No, I need you to be clear with me.”
Spock’s beanie wiggled some more. “I always try to be, Leonard,” he murmured. “But I shall be especially clear now. I find you attractive and I wish to be with you, romantically.”
“Oh.”
They stared at each other for a moment. Spock looked deeply amused. “Do you require time to contemplate my proposal?”
“No! Uh, no, no time. I’ve, uh, been thinking about that, too.”
“I am aware.”
Leonard frowned. “If you’re so damned aware why did you even ask?”
“A formality. Please, continue.” Spock looked expectant.
Suddenly, Leonard remembered Spock’s gloveless hands, currently buried in the snow by his head. “Shit, Spock, your hands. Here, sit up.”
Spock obeyed, sitting back on his heels as Leonard took his hands. He sat up as well to inspect them, not liking the green flush they had.
“They have to be cold.”
“Yes,” Spock agreed.
Leonard stripped off gloves and pressed Spock’s hands between his, but it hardly did any good. He couldn’t feel much but stinging cold, either. He remembered something his grandfather had shown him once once, when he was just a boy on the verge of frostbite, and rucked up his jacket enough to press Spock’s cold hands to his warm stomach.
“Better?”
Spock stared at him. “…Yes.”
Leonard let out an explosive sigh. “Look, I know it’s not dignified, but—”
Spock silenced him with a kiss.
Leonard melted under the touch, feeling warm infuse him despite Spock’s icy hands on his body. He tugged Spock a little closer and Spock sighed against him. Gradually, and with clear reluctance, Spock pulled away.
“My apologies, Doctor. I had intended to wait for your answer before indulging myself, however—”
“How’s this for an answer?” Leonard asked rhetorically, and kissed him.
Things were simple and sweet until Leonard’s back started hurting and he realized his butt was half-frozen. Spock’s hands had warmed nicely, though, after robbing Leonard of his much needed heat. He made sure to snipe at Spock over this as they stood up and checked to make sure their tricorders hadn’t been damaged in the fall.
“I apologize,” Spock said, eyes twinkling. There was a flake of snow caught on one dark eyelash, and it made Leonard shiver in delight to see it. “Perhaps I can make it up to you by warming you in a different manner…later?”
Leonard shivered for an entirely different reason. “I could make myself amenable to that.”
Spock bowed his head and together they walked back to where the rest of the landing party was trying to help Scotty shake snow out from under his jacket. Jim grinned at Leonard, almost suspiciously happy.
“Good fight, Bones? Spock?” At Leonard’s grumble and Spock’s nonplussed eyebrow raise, Jim laughed. “Who won?”
“Call it draw,” Leonard drawled and pulled out his communicator. “McCoy to Enterprise, five to beam up. And have someone bring a mop to the transporter room.”
As the beam took them Leonard caught Spock looking at him, and his heart skipped a beat at the sight. Spock’s brown eyes were warm and gentle, and somehow that was made it real.
He was pleased as punch to confirm that Spock had a crush on him, too.