jamie mccrimmon

Refusing to be talked down to, Jim stood. “My survival doesn’t matter! If I can save them, then I should.”

They were standing so close to each other that Jim could feel Spock’s breath fanning across his cheeks. Jim tilted his head, a stubborn set to his jaw. Spock eyes flickered with something Jim couldn’t name as he reached out to grasp Jim’s hand, “Your survival is paramount.”

Jim rubbed at his cheeks fighting at the pricking behind his eyes. He felt the mud from his hands smear across his skin and into the rough patches of his beard. The dirt smelled foreign—more metallic—and yet still somehow like Earth, reminding Jim of digging in the garden in Riverside and planting beans and potatoes with his dirty hands.

“I know. You’re right. It’s just—she’s right there. It feels like we should be able to do something!”

Once more, Spock laid his hand on Jim’s upper arm and squeezed lightly. It was the first time Spock had initiated contact as a sign of support, of friendship. “As much as you wish to, you cannot save everyone, Jim.”

“Don’t you say that to me,” Jim hissed, ripping his arm away from Spock’s grasp, and pressing his mud covered hand into Spock’s chest, pushing the Vulcan back violently. “I fucking know that. You know I know that!”

Spock collided with a tree at the edge of the clearing as the clouds that had gathered throughout the day finally released their rain. He looked at Jim in reprimand. Cold drops slithered through Jim’s hair and he felt so tired. His legs grew weak beneath him even as Spock’s gaze pinned him where he stood.

-“Metamorphosis” s2 ep9

A rarely seen, highly endangered Andean mountain cat and her kitten in Santiago, Chile. Bottom right: older kittens following their mother through the snow. These small felines have long, thickly ringed tails and plush coats with a striking marbled pattern, handy for traversing the chilly, wind-swept ridges of the Andes.

One of South America's rarest felines, the Andean mountain cat is traditionally considered a sacred animal by indigenous Aymara and Quechua people.