Chapter Text
On a normal day, mornings aboard the Enterprise were calm and orderly. Everyone made their way to their posts as those who’d been on with Gamma shift made their way back to their quarters to rest. Jim wasn’t much of a morning person and rarely made it out of his room before 07:30. He pondered if he should start setting his alarm earlier as he stood and stretched his arms above his head. Kirk shrugged it off, he wasn’t getting in or staying out of anyone’s way no matter what he did. Spock was always long gone by the time he woke so he wasn’t bothering him with the times that he used their shared bathroom to get ready.
Jim was more than grateful to be neighbors with Spock, mostly because he was neat. He listened to Scotty and Keenser bicker with each other nearly every day about who left what out and who was messing with the sink and now it won’t run, so on and so forth. Spock on the other hand was nearly imperceptible. If Jim didn’t know that Spock lived next to him, he’d believe that the room was empty.
Every now and then, he’d started wondering what he would do if Spock had chosen to leave Starfleet, and how different it would feel living beside whoever would become his new First Officer. He imagined the other things that would be in the bathroom, and for some reason, it made him feel uneasy. Even when they’d all been grounded in between Krall’s attack and the Enterprise’s reconstruction, walking into the bathroom in his apartment, knowing Spock wasn’t there always put a damper on his mood. To think they’d started out hating each other and now James hated every moment they were apart.
Jim stopped himself between his door and putting on his boots. Why…? Why was he think about Spock? He’d woken up 30 minutes ago and spent 30 minutes contemplating how being away from him makes him feel lonely. God, he hadn’t talked to enough people while they were getting the ship rebuilt.
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Walking down the hallway was nothing if not comforting. Jim had missed the crew more than he could ever express and he was endlessly grateful that they were safe after all that had gone down.
“Capitan?”
The soft, measured voice went through Jim’s head like a drug. His whole body felt warm.
Kirk looked to his right, “Spock. Good morning.”
Spock gave him a gentle nod, “Good morning to you as well, Capitan.”
Jim smiled at his First Officer. His eyes were wide as always, and his hair neat. Jim had come to realize that the new uniforms were ever so slightly too big for Spock’s lithe frame and that the cuffs of his sleeves just barely touch his fingers as a result.
The turbo-lift doors slid open. The 2 Ensigns that had been onboard giving their greetings and graces as they swapped places with the Capitan and Commander. It was quiet once more after the exchange. Jim didn’t mind it though, somehow, silence with Spock was different. No matter who it was with, quiet had always been like a blanket to Jim, but rather than being heavily thrown over him, it was wrapped around him. It was soft and gentle, comforting like nothing else.
James glanced over, smiling softly at the light dusting of freckles on Spock’s ivory skin.
“ He looks nice today, ” Jim thought.
---
You see, it hadn’t actually hit Jim that the words “ he looks nice today ” had crossed his mind until he was already in the Captain's chair, and had been for nearly 5 minutes. The only reason he’d even noticed was due to the fact that the thought crossed his mind once more as he found his gaze drifting off to look at Spock.
Jim was well aware that he wasn’t straight, he had known since he was a young teen. However, he certainly never expected to get a crush on his First Officer of all people, why would he- okay, okay, okay. Wait. Just wait. There was no way he had a crush on Spock. Not Spock, he was his best friend, his First Officer . And he was, in fact, very good-looking. It was just a compliment. It was just a compliment. It was just a compliment. It was just a compli-