THE CAPTAIN SO EASILY shifts that statement he thinks, twisting Spock’s words to his benefit just as naturally as breathing. It is illogical, confusing occasionally, often or always unpredictable where once, Spock had mistaken this for arrogance. Now, brandishing a flexed move of his brow, he finds that he expects nothing else, nothing less, his own lips twitching briefly — like a trick of the light — and traitorously, in that unexpected expectation.
He could say something then, make a comment that on this planet, there are no such thing as horses, and certainly no gifts.
“ As you say, ” he counters instead, as if the smile Kirk fashions to that mouth wasn’t a cut of brightness, a cast of warmth in all this dark. It burns something loose around them. James Kirk has tendency to this, too, contrasting the cold precision of Spock’s hands. But catching his nail on the amplifier to pull it free, he discards it; he has no name for whatever it might have been.
The tiny thing glints when Spock brings it upward, and to his satisfaction, it appears intact. He extends to drop it in Kirk’s palm, “ Your hand, Captain? ”
james holds out a hand and watches the tiny thing drop against his palm. while his hands are tanned, his knuckles a sort of rosy pink, spock’s hands are tinged with green. his knuckles are darker, his palms lighter. jim has made a study of him before : it is interesting to look at him. interesting might not be the right word. jim had met many aliens before, sure, but spock had always been... different. perhaps he merely knows spock better than most. after all, the bridge made family of them all.
“ my hands are entirely at your service, mr. spock. ” there is a casualness to all he says. though he could crumble under intense pressure, though he has been pushed to the edge before, he likes to think of himself as relatively long - tempered. though their situation verges on disastrous, he does not yet have drive to react negatively. indeed, he is all smiles. one could begin to think this was something of a vacation for him. he does not comment on the twitch of spock’s lips : it could have been a smile. he has seen a few from spock, all pulled out like a hook from the skin, painfully and with great triumphant. a shame that they were so infrequent, but perhaps more treasured for their rarity. “ there’s no reason we couldn’t put a rather shoddy satellite together, to contact the crew, from the scrap around us. unless you’re already one step ahead of me. ”
