A/N:  His first time on Earth, Spock wanders away from the group.  Kid Spock and kid Jim Kirk, Star Trek AOS, ~735 words (I hope kid fic is okay with you, nonny - thank you for the prompt of oh so long ago!).

Fields of Gold

Approximatelytwo minutes after he quietly slips away from the Vulcan delegation, Spock stumblesand lurches forward.  

Hehad only wished to walk about and observe this agricultural area of Earth by himself.  Surely his father’s injunction to remain closeby and his mother’s more cheerful reminder not to “wander away” didnot prohibit him from purposeful exploring within reasonable range of theirgroup.  After all, his parents would nothave allowed him to accompany them anywhere unsafe.

Butnow, unable to free his foot from the furrow in which it has stuck, he decides thestrange terrain is in fact hazardous to a young Vulcan.  Case in point: he tips headfirst, observingwith alarm the ground rushing up to meet him.

Suddenly,however, a skinny arm shoots out into view, a small hand clasps Spock’s wrist,and to his surprise he has been stabilized and pulled upright.

“Youokay?”  The boy, for it is a boy whohas caught him, has not let Spock go.  Hetakes Spock’s other hand as well, perhaps to lend further balance; he squeezes Spock’spalms, peering up into his face curiously.

“Iam quite well.”  Spock is a memberof a diplomatic party, and he knows to appear ungrateful for timely help wouldbe rude indeed.  So he does not immediatelysnatch his hands back and jerk away as his instinct dictates.   But after a moment he manages to extract hishands from the boy’s grip and takes a careful step to the side.  He opens his mouth again, this time to utteran appropriate greeting, but instead the words that pass his lips are,“Where did you come from?”

Forthe boy has appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and though his appearance isstrange to Spock – light blond hair, tanned cheeks freckled from the sunlight,bright blue eyes that match the vast cloudless sky above – he looks organic tothis place, as bright and golden as the fine silk peeking out of the tips ofcorn growing in rows all around them, as if he too sprang from the soil attheir feet.

“Icome from right here, silly,” the boy says.

Spocknods upon receiving confirmation of his initial theory, though of course he nowhas many related questions.  

“Well,first I was born in space,” the boy adds importantly before Spock can inquirefurther.  His chest puffs out with pride,so Spock nods again to show he understands the significance of this fact.  "But now I live here.  This is our farm: mine, and Mom’s, and Sam’stoo.“  He spreads his arms wide toindicate their locale.  

"Indeed.”  Spock looks about him with renewed interest.

“Mymom said if I didn’t bother anyone during the tour, I could come inside andhave cookies after.”  The boy sighsand nudges a clump of dirt with his toe. “But I got bored running around the barn and jumping off the loftinto the hay and Sam said he wasn’t going to stick around so he took Cody –that’s our dog, Cody, he’s real nice and you can pet him later if you want –down to the stream.  So I startedsneaking after everyone and listening in, like a spy.  But I was real quiet so I wouldn’t botheranyone.  I bet you didn’t even know I wasthere.”

“Idid not,” Spock admits.

Theboy beams at him.  "I’m Jimmy.  Who’re you?“

"Iam Spock, of Vulcan.”  Spock holdshis hand out in the ta'al.  

Jimmysquints at the gesture for a moment before he mimics it passably.  "Let’s go play,“ he declares assoon as he drops his hand.  

"Thoughyour invitation is appreciated, I should make my parents aware of myplans,” Spock says reluctantly.  Thoughthey are very recent acquaintances, Spock realizes he does not wish to losesight of the other boy.  If he turnsaway, Jimmy might disappear as quickly as he came.

“They’llfigure it out,” Jimmy assures him. He reaches out and tugs at Spock’s hand, already starting to back awaywhile still facing Spock, as though his steps on this uneven ground are as sureand certain as the sun rising. “Come on!  I’ll show you ourhorses!”