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Vulcan did not have Meteor Showers.
Dust clouds and a thick atmosphere kept the residents of Spock's home planet from experiencing a light show like the one the Captain was describing. Even on earth, Spock had not found the time away from the academy to do any sight seeing. He had hardly even left the grounds save for a few occasions, never venturing further than a few miles.
"I do not understand. Why not ask Doctor McCoy?" Spock responded. It was not as if he did not want to go, he was just confused that the caption had thought to ask him of all people, especially considering the point of this trip seemed to be nostalgia based.
"Bones would be a downer the whole time, trust me." Kirk responded, waving his hand as if shooing away the suggestion.
"That assumption does not require trust."
Kirk only laughed in response. Spock stayed quiet a few moments, mentally checking if he had anything left to do that night, or anything he needed to get done while docked at Earth, and he found that nothing would keep him from this.
"Very well. I'll observe the perseids with you, Captain." Spock spoke with a nod. And if he could not get the image of his Captain's smile that broke out afterwards out of his head, then he would take it to his grave.
"Then meet at the docks in an hour. It'll be its brightest at 0200 and I want to have time to get up the canyon" he said, still visibly beaming. Spock hoped he didn't turn green simply from the sight of that smile.
It was currently 2200, and Spock was waiting by the door to the docking hanger. The USS Enterprise was large and nearly took up the entire hangar and Spock would have trusted no one but lieutenant Sulu to park it without nicking any edges. The wide open space was lit up by overhead lights that ran in rows across the top of the curved hangar. Several large fuel tubes and maintenance bridges with white tubes of light that matched the ceiling underneath them extended, connected to several points on the outer edge of the ship. Engineers in dull navy blue jumpsuits navigated the bridges, working on one thing or another, making sure The Enterprise was in perfect condition when it took off once again. All the work being done caused a constant hum to be audible.
He spotted his Captain a few moments later, carrying a large black woolly blanket in his hands, and wearing a small metallic grey backpack that had a Starfleet patch ironed onto the back. He nodded to him as he stopped in front of the door.
“You ready for this, mister Spock?” Kirk asked him, a smirk playing on his lips, as if there was something Spock would not be prepared for.
“I cannot think of a reason I would not be” he asked, phrasing it as a question. Kirk just shook his head in response, and opened the door to the outer areas of the hangars.
The whole place acted as an airport would, and Spock had spotted several commercial Ship-Lines stationed in this particular ground base while landing. The Enterprise, of course, was in the separate, academy run areas of the base. As they walked the length of the starfleet terminal, academy students exited training and patrol ships. They all donned the classic red jumpsuit, with various emblems of the ships they were stationed on. Some with keen eyes recognized the captain’s emblem and saluted him.
The garage was near the commercial front of the groundbase. It was split into sections, one of which being the Starfleet associated party region, which housed somewhere near 1200 hovercrafts. Spock stood back as the captain spoke to the tall human in the booth to check out one of the vehicles, the woolly blanket now tucked under his shoulder. He studied his captain as he spoke. He was much more relaxed than normal. Perhaps it had something to do with being off duty, or back on his home planet, but his stance was completely different. He didn’t hold his shoulders as high, or stand as straight, opting to lean against the side of the booth while cracking stupid jokes with the obviously underpaid worker, who was seemingly relieved that the captain was not another student.
As soon as he was handed the keys, Kirk turned back to face Spock, spinning the keyring around on his finger with a grin. Spock soon learned why as they approached the smaller cars.
In terms of appearance, transportation vehicles on earth had not changed much in the past 2000 years. The only real difference was how they functioned, for humans must have fallen in love with the look of their current automobiles, because you could compare the hovercraft Spock’s captain had rented out for them to a vintage advertisement he had seen for a ‘convert-able’ describing the way the mechanical roof would turn the car into one that would expose humans to the elements.
Spock questioned the captain’s choices, up until it came time to drive it. They sat in mostly silence, opting for whatever tune the nearest station was playing at a low volume. Spock was able to recline his seat and look up at the stars. It really was something else, seeing it all from earth. Seeing everything from a new angle put a filter on Spock's perspective. He found himself recalling journeys he had with the captain as he recognized several solar systems in the sky above him.
The car was quite small, and as the terrain became steeper, the ride became bumpier, and Spock felt his shoulder brush Kirk's every few seconds. He couldn't help but turn his head, hiding the green that flushed his face as he gave the illusion he was simply looking out the window.
The view from the window itself was stunning, though. The trees bent in a way that the few living plants on Vulcan did not due to the difference in gravity. Spock remembered how easy it was to stand tall in the halls of the academy, without double the weight pulling him to the planet's surface. Having come to Earth quite young, his bones weren't as strong as those who stayed on Vulcan their whole lives. He hardly knew how his mother survived, as Spock now found the weight of his home planet at the very least uncomfortable.
The wind was fast due to which the speed they were moving, and Spock felt the chill, likely more than his captain did due to his lower body temperatures. He did not think to bring one of the regulators he kept with him on the ship. Foolish. Before he could realize he was shivering, he felt the nice blowing of warm air on his face. Perhaps Kirk did notice the chill more than Spock had thought, he mused.
He caught himself staring at Kirk more than once. His captain would be humming the tune of any song he recognized, a content smile painted across his face, keeping his eyes on the cracked asphalt road, tuffs of air from beneath the hovercraft attempting to keep them level and stable. Spock found it was difficult to tear his eyes away, even as the scenery expanded around them.
It wasn't long before they reached the wide valley in the mountain range. They weren't too high up, and the valley wasn't that big. It was just the right size where they could stare up at the sky in the middle of it and not have any trees or mountains in their peripherals.
The captain laid out the blanket, the wind helping undo the folds in the air before it was placed on the grass floor. Spock didn't have a watch, and didn't dare check his communicator as his eyes had just adjusted to the dark, but gazing at the stars, he estimated it was around 0130.
He looked down and saw that Kirk was laying on his back on the blanket, backpack discarded and placed on the grass.
"You gonna stand there all night, mister Spock?" His captain mused, showing off that winning smile. Spock did not let his eyes linger on Kirk's lips, fighting off distant thoughts. Instead he laid down next to Kirk. He tensed for a moment when their shoulders touched, but made no move to correct it.
The stars were still in the sky. Spock knew, of course, that was simply the illusion of distance and size, for each and every star was travelling faster than the earth itself around its star. The name was torn between Sun and Sol. Both variations of 'star' in human dialect. Having spent his time in the Copernican system on earth alone, he leaned more towards the Earth resident term, 'Sun' but he appreciated the simple beauty of Sol, which had become popular after Mars had a boom in population, and the name of a Martian day was adopted as a full reference to their star.
Spock enjoyed watching humanity travel to the limits of their solar system. Vulcan moons were hardly habitable, so the pointy-eared species was confined solely to their planet.
The first meteor pulled Spock from his thoughts. It was fast, a blink and you’d miss its occurrence, but it was an unmistakable dash of white in the dark night sky. He considered that Kirk may have blinked, if it wasn’t for the gasp he let out after the dazzling rock was burnt up in the atmosphere.
“Did you see that Spock?” He inquired, and Spock turned to face Kirk, his face against the wool blanket. Kirk’s eyes did not leave the sky, but spock couldn’t help but feel the statement was ever so slightly more intimate. Perhaps it was the lack of title.
“Yes, Captain, I believe I did.” He said, turning his head back up to the sky, right in time to catch the second ‘shooting star.’ This one was much brighter than the last, leaving almost double the streak in the sky, and Spock could be mistaken, but it was almost as if the meteor left a red trail indicating the struggle of breaching Earth. Realistically, Spock understood that these meteors were moving slower, and therefore did not reach as high of temperature, causing them to burn slower, but it seemed much more intense nonetheless.
Spock turned once again to look at his captain, missing the third meteor of the night. However, Spock would argue that seeing the reflecting stroke of light in his captain’s eyes was better than the sky itself. He stared until he missed yet another star, near basking in the light that was practically radiating off of the man next to him.
Tearing his eyes away from the captain, and back to the dark expanse above him, nearly three meteors soared through the sky at once.
And then,
The sky became aflame. It was as if every star was fighting to find a new destination in the sky, some staggering across Spock’s vision til they degraded into dust, other’s flying for seconds before blinking out. It was impossible to keep track of it all, and Spock didn’t try. For once, he let his shields down and basked in the beauty that was in front of him, feeling much more human than he ever had before.
Minutes passed, and the sky did not darken. His captain however, sat up. Spock followed suit, never taking his eyes off the sky. The two sat in tandem, knees brushing, Spock leaning back against his hands.
“Spock, have you ever seen anything more extraordinary?” He spoke quietly, gently, as if thinking if he spoke rough enough, he would scare the beautiful lights above him away.
You
Spock thought, but did not dare utter it. He simply shifted his gaze to find the captain's alluring eyes staring right into his. He hoped the darkness was enough to hide the green dusting his face.
“I have” He spoke simply, refusing to elaborate, and not breaking eye contact. Meteors from behind Spock reflected again and again in Kirk’s whiskey coloured eyes, and Spock could not help but get lost in them.
Suddenly, Kirk’s index finger brushed against the side of Spock’s, and his breath caught in his throat. Kirk kept his eyes trained on Spock as he gently flipped the Vulcan’s hand, and connected their middle and index fingers gently. A gesture that Spock was sure Kirk knew. He was sure because he could feel. All of Kirk’s emotions, telepathically, surrounded Spock. Admiration. Beauty. Satisfaction. Contentedness. Affection. For Spock. As Kirk cautiously added pressure to their linked fingers, Spock couldn’t help but shiver.
And then, in an impulsive moment that Spock could not bring himself to regret, he leaned forward, and placed his lips on his Captain’s. Suddenly every meteor was like a firework in the sky that remained in Spock’s vision even as he closed his eyes, burnt into his mind. He could feel Kirk gently press closer to him. Spock slid his fingers down to Kirk’s palm and traced circles.
He regret that his body reminded him he had to breathe, and he pulled away, his eyes opening slowly, only to be met by that beautiful, enchanting, wonderful smile. He would dedicate every action just to simply see that smile light up his world again. His captain linked their hands together, and while their eyes were focused on the sky, Spock knew that their minds only knew each other.