logic is not the end of wisdom.

       ( he squeezes Spock’s hand gently and laces their fingers together - the gesture sending a little thrill through him.

           Oh, he’s in such trouble if Spock finds out he knows exactly what he’s doing. )

                “You’re sweet.                      But you’ve gotta remember I didn’t get to plan this one.                            The next one will be much better.” 

[ Spock is unable to keep his breath from hitching. No one has ever touched him like this before -- not even Nyota, with whom intimacy had been strictly Human in nature. He had not minded it, for it had allowed a measure of distance. Distance he finds he does not desire with Jim. ]

                     "You speak as though you are preparing me for disappointment."

           [ He squeezes Jim's fingers very lightly. ]

        “Come on then, Spock.” 

( he physically cannot stop smiling. It’s starting to hurt his face.        Jim holds out a hand to Spock with a crooked grin ) 

[ Spock tries not to stare at the outstretched hand. Jim cannot possibly know what it means -- it is simply a Human gesture of casual affection. Yes, that must be it. He takes his hand anyway ---- ]

     [ ---- and immediately feels the shame and thrill of public indecency wash over him. ]

"I will not. You require medical attention, and as your First Officer, it is my duty to see that you receive it."

       "I do not understand. What is 'not working'? Have I misinterpreted your question?"

[ Spock pauses, brow slightly furrowed. ]

                ” —- Indeed. To what end?”

          “Both, then.            Come on, I’m sure I can find something to cook.” 

                   "Very well."

                ” —- Indeed. To what end?”

      ( oh, Spock wants a date now?           and Jim is tempted. Very, very tempted. ) 

                       ”I could…                         you want me to cook for you now?

              "I am amenable to whatever you would prefer. As I am the less-experienced party where these matters are concerned, I defer to your expertise."

[ No, but he definitely wants a date now. And a date later. ]

                ” —- Indeed. To what end?”

       ”Oi, watch it.         Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to sass your commanding officer?

                   I’m kidding, Spock.

                        "Barring the fact that we are currently both off-duty -- "

[ Perhaps there's a little suggestion in his tone, but of course he won't admit it. ]

                ” —- Indeed. To what end?”

               "I was unaware that you possessed any culinary ability."

[ He gives a minute smirk, almost teasing. ]

                ” —- Indeed. To what end?”

      “Oh, yeah I…        …we don’t have to, I mean if you didn’t want—

                ” —- Indeed. To what end?”

"As I am unfamiliar with the Human behaviour known as ‘flirting’, I cannot say with any certainty whether or not it is ‘okay’."

8. My muse has poisoned themselves (accident or purposeful, up to the mun.) and become very ill while alone with your muse.

It was fortunate for Spock that Jim had a lot to say, so that his own silence was not noted. He had hoped that the Captain would have forgotten about their weekly chess match — or else have been too busy for it — but as the saying went, he had no such luck. The poison Spock had formulated and ingested (created thanks to one of Sulu’s beloved exotic plants) mere minutes before Jim’s arrival had yet to take effect. He wondered if it would be considered indecisive of him to hope that it would not do so until after the game. He willed his hand not to shake as he moved his queen to take one of Jim’s rooks. 

"Please…excuse me a moment, Jim," he half-muttered as he stood with none of his usual grace, knees bumping the table and sending chess pieces toppling. He barely made it to their shared bathroom before he was heaving. Cramps rippled painfully through his abdomen as he vomited a terrible combination of bile and blood into the toilet. He knew that his body was attempting to expel the toxins — Vulcan biology was efficient in that way — but he had also done his best to ensure that the poison would be effective despite this fact.

It was dark, and lonely, and Jim felt full of compassion for the hybrid. He took a breath he hadn’t known he had been avoiding and then went into his own mind, dredging up old pains and memories for Spock to see, to understand.

The line of men in and out of Winona’s life. The endless threat of disease for a boy not born on Terran soil. The look in Winona’s face every anniversary of his father’s death, and the way she would cry to Sam, but never to him. The introduction of Frank into his life, and the many times he had hit Sam, and Jim, and told them both how worthless they were.

The looks on the schoolchildren’s faces when Jim was first introduced, awe,and then disgusted when he did better than all of them. The first time one of the older boys pushes him around and Sam is nowhere to be found to save his skin. 

Flashes of faces, of broken bones and bruises littering his body. The day Frank decided that he no longer wanted them around, and with Winona offplanet again, it was perfectly acceptable to ship them off to their uncle on Tarsus IV.