@trekkele : Can we get uhhh first away mission that went wrong with a side order of extra tears competent jim?
Sorry this took FOREVER I’ve had zero motivation.
All things considered, Sulu wasn’t nearly as surprised as some of the others. But hey, when a man is willing to jump headfirst off of a sky-high mechanical drill and plummet towards almost certain death on the off chance of saving a guy he barely knows? It stops being surprising that Jim Kirk is as reckless as he is smart, and twice as dangerous.
So it really doesn’t surprise Sulu that Kirk kept a knife in his boot, or extra ration bar in hidden pockets.
(It does surprise him a little when Uhura lets them know that the unconscious Doctor McCoy needs stitches for a gash on his arm and the Captain’s face goes oddly blank and determined while he roots around in the doc’s medical bag for some gloves and a suture kit, dousing the wound liberally with antiseptic before stitching neat, precise seams with a practiced hand.)
And Sulu’s worked with Kirk on a few missions before, a tad awkward as they each learned their way around their newly commissioned posts, so it doesn’t surprise him that the guy pauses only for a second before issuing out their orders--
“Uhura, see if you can get the comms functional and let the Enterprise know what’s going on. Mr. Spock, can you make sure we’re not going to run into any atmospheric interference? If it’s going to storm I want to know about it. The last thing we need are fried circuits and temperature drops. Mr. Chekov, can you keep an eye on Bones? He’ll be out for a while I think, but monitor for any changes and if he wakes up try to get him to drink something, ok? Mr. Sulu, scout out the area and see what we’re dealing with-- any edible plants or foliage to avoid, let us know.”--
before he rises and starts using the wreckage of their shuttle to create a shelter large enough for all of them, but somewhat camouflaged by the terrain.
(It does surprise Sulu that in the three and a half days they end up marooned down there, Kirk doesn’t sleep at all and doesn’t eat a thing. He suspects Uhura realizes it as well from her frequent insistence that “you should eat something, Captain” but with Kirk cheerfully denying and claiming he’d eaten a ration bar, they just weren’t looking, well… there wasn’t much they could do.)
Maybe Sulu doesn’t quite understand why the captain refuses to let them build a fire, but when he sees the distant look that comes over Kirk’s face, he loses his nerve to ask.
When they’re finally beamed back aboard the Enterprise, all a little tired and in need of a shower, but none the worse for wear, McCoy is recovered enough to wave off the nursing staff and guide Kirk off to MedBay. Sulu’s a little surprised that the captain doesn’t argue until he wanders there himself later and finds Kirk hunched over on a biobed and puking his guts out while McCoy rubbed a hand between his shoulder blades, deep circles under the captain’s eyes and his every limb trembling with exhaustion and stress.
Sulu excuses himself without drawing any attention to his presence and never speaks of it again.
And if he started carrying extra ration bars on away missions, remembering the tightness of the captain’s smile every time he insisted that he’d eaten and they knew that he had not, well.... he wasn’t surprised.
