Chapter Text
The Enterprise is one of the best ships in the galaxy as far as Captain Kirks concerned. Unfortunately, the ship was not made with defenses in mind for smaller creatures. The ship was made for large and faceforward attacks if needed, strong gravitational pulls from other larger or unknown planets; like any other ship in the starfleet, asteroids. Along with other intergalactic space debris.
No one was thinking of anything small getting into the vents that are requird to be on when in a safe environment for oxygen conversation. A few times in the past, it's been an issue for things such as air-borne diseases, or pollen to get in through these vents on different planets. Only a handful inconveniences actualky occurred, and only one Captain has reported it as a major issue, so the vebts have been left untouched by engineers. Some ships have been modified, but those have all been done by an illegal contract, or by the ships own crew. These people don't get any charges pressed because there's no law againsg ship modification for crew safety.
Unfortunately, coming back to a planet that gets used frequently for pitstops has some downsides. One major issue being, other ships that could have been infected by anything could transfer their contamination.
People talk a lot. One thing that Captain Kirk had heard was the unfortunate news to late of a Tribble outbreak rumor.
He was so glad that the got rid of their original Tribble problem ages ago, but after hearing of a rumor here, it just made his skin crawl. He, at first, did like those fuzzy little creatures. He will admit that. They were so cute and tgeir purs just made everyone fall in love with them even more. But after such a large hassle, those little things caused nothing but his face to scrunch with something close to disgust.
When he finally got back inside of the Enterprise, the only thing he wanted to do was to sit down. He quickly found his Captains chair and sat down. He let out a large sigh— more of a big exhale and pressed his first three fingers in a pinch to his temple. All of the crewmates were currently busy refilling any supplies that they need to, or just doing as they please. Sometimes it's very nice to get outside when you get the chance to. Some fresh air, especially after being stuck in a ship for so long, feels like your lungs finally remembered to breath. You forget what certain things seem like. Hearing the birds sing if the planet has any adjacent creatures, or just the wind against your face feels nice. He wishes he could steal some more of the planets time, but as a Captain he can't help himself but stay with his ship. He'd like to explore some more of the planet, but he's already been here a handful of times and he just doesn't have that adventurous bone in him today. He's just too exhuasted right now. He's slumped over himself, leaning against his arms that he brought up to his head. No one else is in the room so it's actually quite comforting. He can hear the faint and occasional beeps and bops of the machines and computers going off. He can hear the hum of the Enterprise, showing its life. He always finds it comforting; it reassures him and tells him that he and his crew are infact alive and well. The quiet vents circulating the air he breathes in just makes him enjoy the moment. He takes a deep breath in, just existing within the moment.
That's until he hears the hiss of the door behind him opening. The large doors that seem impossible to open due to their tons of weight are almost exclusively motion activated due to it being such a high traffic area. He can tell who it is immediately, afterall, he knows his best friend very well. Spock walks with a sort of grace that many others don't. It's like he literally holds himself in a different way; maybe that's why he always seems almost smug in one way or another. Who's even smug when it comes to something as simple as walking?If Jim had to think of anyone who would, it'dhave to be a certain Vulcan…. Spock comes from the planet Vulcan which has a much higher gravitational pull, maybe that's why he seems to walk lighter within the Enterprise. Back on Earth, Spock would probably be jokingly accused of being a wizard or something. Planet Vulcan has a gravitational pull of—well, he actually doesn't know. But since it's close enough to Earth, maybe it's around 1.5 times the mass? Would that seem likely even? You'd mulitply the gravity constant which would be around 6.67… with the mass of Vulcan over the radius of Vulcan… is thr radius squared?… It's all too much mental math that he's doimg right now anyways. He quickly snaps out of his thoughts, lightly shaking his head. He's hardly touched any math since his academy days anyways.
Besides the way he walks, Kirk knows Spock beyound just that… He has just the way his presence is memorized. They've known eachother for almost a decade at this point. They've been through so much together as well. Jim, by this point, even knows how the other man stands! It's absurd. Hell, he even knows the way that the air moves around him. It's something he's found himself leaning into sometimes throughout the years. He'll never admit it, but he does enjoy it very much. That secret won't even come out past his grave though. It's something he's never going to full admit. Coming back to his senses though, he can tell the other man pressume his usual placement slightly to his right, behund him.
"Spock, why aren't you outside enjoying the place while you still can?"
"You make it sound like a threat, Captain."
Spocks statement makes Jim chuckle slightly.
"You know what I mean… everyone's supposed to board in 2 hours."
"…"
Spock doesn't respond for a few seconds wich isn't unordinary for the other man. Jim's used to this already. He actaully likes it, the pauses make their convernsations last longer.
"I seem to have found myself wanting to board sooner."
"Homesick Spock?"
Jim can't help himself to stop a small growing, thin smile. He can tell Spock is going to get quite defensive soon. He'll go on about how illogical he's being. Jim always likes amusing the others defensiveness sometimes. It's like their own little quarrels.
"No, I just don't feel like going out right now."
"You sure, Spock? You miss the ship or your planet?"
"Now why would you say that, Captain?" A rather stern voice coming from Spock.
"Well, we've been stopping by a few planets recently. I know it's only been three, but it's been a lot more than normal. Almost back to back! At this rate, it's only normal for people to miss their home planets."
"Well, you don't seem to be missing Earth at all."
"Well, the last time I was there everything was gone to shit. Be grateful you still have your planet."
"Your's isn't destroyed-"
"Environmentally, it is. People could hardly breath. Even the climates have changed."
The last time Jim heard any news about Earth was from an important meeting with other captains going over their newly updated database of planets they can't visit. Earth was a newly added one. He had received some news of a woman named Eva Stratt who supposedly had to nuke the Antarctic just to keep global warming at a minimum. From what he can tell, Spock would have loved her. She seems like a very "logical person" by his standards. "Loss of life is to be mourned, but only if the life was wasted" or something like that. She seemed to have done a decent job at her job though, keeping people alive and safe.
Nonetheless, Earth got added to the don't visit list. It hurt to hear that Earth got to that point. So dysfunctional that none could visit. Jim doesn't even know if him, himself, or any other starfleet members from Earth are allowed to visit. Likely not.
"Still, it exists." Spock responds in his normal cool tone. Jim can't help but feel slightly ticked by the others comment. He doesn't say anything about it though.
"Yes, that's true.."
"Why not visit Vulcan every once and a while Spock?" A question that just slips out.
"It's something that you have to find out, Captain."
Jim likes the others response. It eludes a sort of mysterious game. The teo often have small banters like this and it feels right. Like the previous disturbance has been fixed and recalibrated. For now, the two sit and stand nearby eachother. They enjoy eachothers presence and chat about the other crewmates for now. Last Captain Kirk heard, Spock saw Sulu try and have a sort of drinking bottle with a mysterious drink against Uhuru for what Spock said was a "great sum of money", however much that's worth.