Title: Permission
Author: and_i_am_undone
Prompt:alien intoxicants
Warnings & rating:PG rated pre-slash. First time.
Fandom/characters: Star Trek TOS. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura
Pairings: Kirk/Spock
Summary/notes: Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Uhura on shore leave. Spock behaves unexpectedly. Fill for trek_crackbingo prompt "alien intoxicants"

A/N: Happy Spirk Day!
Disclaimer: Star Trek and all its wonderment is owned by really nice people who don't go 'round suing little people like me who like to play with their toys. Thanks, really nice people! We appreciate the not-being-sued. Written for love, not for money. Really now, if I made money from this, I wouldn't be posting it on free websites, would I?

/&/&/&/&/&/

Jim Kirk realized he was staring, open-mouthed, at his First Officer. He then closed his mouth, and smiled instead, but the staring continued. Next to him, Leonard McCoy was recovering from choking on the drink that had been served to him instead of the mint julep he had tried to obtain. It almost, but not quite, entirely failed to resemble anything minty or julep-y. However, when Spock had accepted Uhura's invitation to dance, the drink served just as well as a mint julep for the doctor to choke on in his surprise.

"Dr. McCoy, are you having difficulty with your beverage?" Spock inquired, looking innocent as a tribble, elevated eyebrow notwithstanding. McCoy merely glared.

"Spock…you're going to dance? You…know how?" Kirk did not say aloud: and you're dancing with Uhura?

"Of course. After all, Captain, my father is an ambassador. Certain things are …expected. Familiarity with customs of various worlds were a part of my early education." He looked directly at his Captain. "Yes, Jim. I know how to dance. I have simply never chosen to do so. Until now." He turned to look at their female table companion. "Shall we, Miss Uhura?"

Graceful as ever, Spock stood, and held his hand out to the Lieutenant. She took the proffered hand and got to her feet, pleasant surprise evident on her face. Uhura let the Vulcan lead her away as she threw an I don't believe this, either look over her shoulder at the two men left at the table.

They were a striking pair – Uhura in a deep blue calf-length gown strewn with silver threads, and Spock in charcoal trousers, dark grey shirt and black cape. A cape. On anybody else in the room it would have looked ridiculous. Spock looked as if it would have been ridiculous for him to wear anything else. As if he dressed like that every day.

"Bones, you look like I could knock you over with a proverbial feather. You're always on Spock to loosen up, so you should be thrilled." He watched his bridge officers, engaged in a slow dance. Spock might very well be dancing, but he was still quite Vulcan in his manner, and the pair were barely touching as they moved amongst the merrymakers.

"I'm just surprised that the incense seems to have as much of an effect on Spock as it does on the rest of us." Jim did not fail to notice that Spock looked directly at him every time their dance had him facing their table. Of course Jim noticed that – he'd been watching Spock ever since the pair got up from the table. Perhaps even before then…

"So'm I, Jim." Leonard McCoy had a ghost of a smile and one eyebrow lifted, ever so slightly, in a perfect imitation of the Vulcan he was observing on the dance floor. "So am I."

This was the Enterprise crew's first visit to Placebus. Years ago, when the first landing party from a Federation vessel had beamed down to the planet, they had immediately noticed an intoxicating fragrance that seemed to permeate everything. Rather than becoming suspicious or concerned about the scent, the crewmembers had gotten somewhat mellow. They did, however, eventually think to ask about the irresistible perfume in the air, and learned that it was an incense that was constantly burned throughout the planet.

Traditionally, the incense had been an offering to their gods, but that had been long ago. Now, it was simply burned because the people were accustomed to the fragrance as well as the feelings of well-being and relaxation that came with inhaling the scent. What needed to be done eventually got done, but the people of Placebus weren't in as much of a hurry as their counterparts elsewhere in the galaxy, and nobody got bent out of shape if things took a while to get done. It was a refreshing change of pace, and a perfect port for shore leave. Although the planet had the Federation seal of approval, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Leonard H. McCoy still insisted on analyzing the incense himself before any leave was granted. When his curiosity about the true effect of the incense on the crew was satisfied, shore leave rotations began.

"Too bad Scotty couldn't get away. I'm sure Uhura would have rather taken her leave with him," Kirk began. "But I'm glad she talked me into coming here. Would you look at them? Uhura still looks surprised. She didn't really expect Spock to agree to a dance."

"Neither did I, and I was gonna offer myself as a consolation prize when Spock turned her down." McCoy took another cautious sip of his drink, eyeing it suspiciously. "Never dreamed that hobgoblin would put me to shame on the dance floor." He glared at his glass.

"Now, if this is the closest they can come to a mint julep, I'm just gonna get it over with and get some straight up bourbon. At least they know what THAT is on this planet." He downed the contents of the glass. "You want anything?" Jim asked for another beer, and the doctor headed off in search of the bar.

Kirk hadn't been planning on taking part in this shore leave, but his communications officer could be as much of a mother hen as Bones. Uhura and the doctor had joined forces to nag Jim into taking leave. When he balked, they got Spock to join the conspiracy, and Jim immediately gave in, provided Spock went along as well. Not that Jim was complaining, now that he was here, enjoying the ambiance. As he watched the dance floor, he noted that the view from the table wasn't too bad, either.

As the music finished, Spock looked toward the table and locked with the eyes of his Captain. Jim's breath caught in his chest – the smile that his first officer sometimes allowed to show in his eyes had this time managed to include his mouth. Spock had been grinning at Jim, just for a moment, and then it was gone. Nobody else had noticed – Uhura had been looking elsewhere, and Bones was still hot on the trail of some bourbon.

Jim kept his eyes on Spock, looking a question at the Vulcan as the pair returned to the table. Did I really just see you grin at me? His gaze was returned, unwavering. Though his mouth was no longer smiling, Spock's eyes were most definitely laughing. Instead of the chair across the table where he'd sat previously, Spock took the seat that had been vacated by Dr. McCoy. The one right next to Kirk. As he scooted his chair closer to the table, Spock also moved to the right, closer to his Captain, with Jim watching him the whole time. He raised an eyebrow at his First Officer, and got one in return. Uhura was watching them, and raised an eyebrow of her own, chuckling to herself. Well, it's about damn time, she thought.

"Will you gentlemen excuse me? I need to find the little officer's room," and Uhura was off in a whirl of blue and silver, leaving her commanding officers alone at the table.

McCoy eventually found his way back to the table, tray of assorted drinks for his companions in his left hand – he'd been feeling generous – and his bourbon in the right. Uhura showed up shortly after him. Neither of them commented on the change in seating arrangements when they saw Jim and Spock, heads bent close together. They appeared to be talking, but no sound could be heard. Spock's hand was resting on Jim's arm.

"Spock, they had Vulcan port, so I got you a snort," the doctor rhymed, looking pleased with himself. Spock glanced up and acknowledged McCoy with a nod, but immediately returned his attention to the Captain. Leonard slid Jim's beer across to him, and placed a snifter of brandy in front of Uhura, then took a sip of his own drink.

"Not bad. At least it tastes like bourbon, but I highly doubt it's imported from Earth, let alone Kentucky. No matter; it goes down smooth – "

He was interrupted by the sound of Spock chuckling quietly, apparently at something Jim said.

McCoy had heard Spock's laugh before, but never when Spock was fully himself.

Jim finally looked up as if just noticing that their table companions had returned. Spock pointedly did not look at anyone.

"Hi, Bones. Thanks for the beer." Jim nodded at Uhura in greeting. "Sorry. We were…discussing…ship's business."

"Uh-huh," Leonard smirked, looking directly at Spock, who suddenly was very interested in his glass of Vulcan port.

"Spock says the incense is affecting him more than he'd expected, and he needs to go back to the ship," Jim announced. He watched Spock down his port in one long drink, then raised his glass to do the same with his beer. "Bottoms up!" He drained it.

Jim grinned mischievously at McCoy, then stood up.

"We're gonna beam up. But first…" Wearing a boyish, lopsided grin, he held his hand out to Spock.

"First, a dance. Shall we?"

Spock finally looked at something other than his now-empty glass: he turned his head toward Dr. McCoy as he took Jim's hand and rose. "Of course," he replied, the twinkle in his eyes daring the doctor to comment.

McCoy snorted and shook his head. "Oh, why don't the two of you just go get a room, already."

"A most excellent suggestion," Spock intoned. "Thank you, doctor." McCoy's jaw dropped, and Nyota did not quite manage to suppress a titter. Spock nodded her way. "Miss Uhura. If you will excuse us."

They watched as their Captain led his First Officer by the hand to the dance floor. They stopped in the midst of the crowd and turned to face each other, assuming the same position Spock had taken earlier when dancing with Nyota.

"Well," began Uhura, "I never thought I'd see them admit it to each other, let alone anyone else. I guess the incense really is affecting Spock. You don't think they really will, do you? Get a room, I mean."

As they watched their COs move to the music, McCoy sighed. "Nothing would surprise me less, at this point, Nyota."

Jim now had his arms up around Spock's neck. The doctor and the lieutenant observed as their logical, half-Vulcan science officer put his arms fully around their captain and drew him close. They seemed to be continuing in conversation as they had been at the table, each of them fully focused on the other.

"Lieutenant Uhura, I'm gonna tell you something that I haven't told anyone else, because I know you can keep a secret." McCoy took a long drink of bourbon, and continued. "I thoroughly analyzed that incense, and it's bunk. Not only is it entirely benign and harmless, it's also completely inert," McCoy explained.

"The effect it has is real, but it's partly psychosomatic – you feel it because you expect to and want to, but it's also enhanced by the deeper breathing that one tends to do when smelling an extremely pleasing fragrance. You want more of the smell, so you breathe more deeply to inhale it. The increased oxygen to the brain gives a sense of euphoria, well-being and relaxation. Combine that with consumption of alcohol and other substances – legal or otherwise – as well the atmosphere and attitudes of everyone on the planet, and you get a loosening of inhibitions. So, the incense is a catalyst for the effect, but primarily, it's all up to the individual."

Uhura's dark eyes widened as what the doctor was saying sunk in.

"We get to be who we want and do what we want," she said. "And we can blame it on the supposedly intoxicating effects of this exotic incense, if we feel we need to have permission." She looked back to her commanding officers on the dance floor. "Are you going to tell them?"

"Some of us need permission more than others, Lieutenant. No matter what Spock thinks of me, this is what I've been pushing and prodding him toward all these years: to give himself permission to show his human side once in a while."

The music hadn't ended, but McCoy saw that Spock was leading Jim off the dance floor toward the stairs that lead from the club area back up to the hotel proper.

"If this is what Spock needs to allow himself that permission, so be it. I will not be the one to take this away from them."

Doctor McCoy saw Spock look back toward the table. McCoy raised his glass at the Vulcan, and tilted his head in acknowledgment.

The club was dark, so Leonard was never quite certain, but he was pretty sure Spock had winked at him on his way out the door.