Spock was a very reserved person, something that the crew could instantly figure out when they'd all met the Vulcan, and only Uhura and Kirk had ever dared to look past what met the eye.

Deep down, there was conflict within him, a lifetime of emotions and having to suppress them, years and years of believing that he was inferior to his own race because of the blood that coursed through his veins.

Because of this, he'd always been too afraid to step over the line, too wary of letting logic fall away, too fearful of letting his guard down and getting hurt for it. It was obvious that Nyota had managed, somehow, to coax that side of him from the shadows, and Kirk was trying his hardest to do the same. He hadn't had a true friend in so long, and he figured that, eventually, the three of them (Kirk, Spock, and Bones) could one day find kinship with each other, an easy relationship that lacked distrust, one that was filled with understanding. It would take a while, he knew, but that wasn't going to stop him from attempting it.

And there came a point, really, when you could only know a person so well from your observations, from the tiny insights you'd gotten over the years, until it was up to them how much you knew and how much you didn't.

This point soon came on a lax day at headquarters, when the sun was shining on the hottest day of summer, and the newly installed pool captured the attention of the crew of the Enterprise, among others-but Kirk made sure that they had it all to themselves.

Nyota, in her two-piece swim suit, lounged at the edge of the pool, sitting with her feet dipped into the water, and Spock sat on the nearby bench, watching her but pretending that he wasn't, a book of folklore lying open on his lap. Kirk, Bones, and Scotty were racing, swimming laps up and down the pool and splashing Nyota whenever they got the chance, and her laughter sounded like music as a cool, blessed breeze rolled by.

Kirk called out, smiling, "Want to come in, Spock? It's nice and cold."

Nyota turned to look at the Vulcan, laughing as he sent her a pointed look.

Clearly, I am not going in there.

Kirk read the message in his eyes, too, and sighed, laughing to himself as he went back to racing Bones, since Scotty had given up a few laps ago, panting but refreshed beneath the afternoon sun.

Spock continued to read, but threw his gaze back up every now and then to see Uhura staring at him knowingly, beckoning him with her sweeping, affectionate gestures as she smiled lovingly at him, and he set his book down to walk over to her, brow raised in question.

"Come on, Spock. Swim with me, live a little."

She reached up to circle her slender fingers around his wrist, and he blinked at her, sighing inwardly as her grin widened. Her touch could make him do just about anything. She stood as he tugged his shirt off, smiling at him as warm rays of sunlight touched the pale skin of his exposed chest, and Kirk, pushing off of the wall of the pool to swim another lap, turned just in time to see Spock take his shirt off, and stopped dead, jaw dropping as his eyes took in the countless dark, swirling lines of ink crawling across the expanse of Spock's upper back and snaking around to decorate his chest.

Nyota put a hand against the Vulcan symbol just above his heart, smiling warmly at him as Scotty and Bones floated in the water, still and staring and completely dumbfounded. Spock wrung his shirt around his hands, and Nyota put her other hand on his arm to stop him, eyes flashing with pride as she reached up on her tip toes to press a chaste kiss to his cheek, smiling against his heated skin.

"It's alright. They're beautiful."

She twined her hand with his and lead him to the front of the pool, smiling as they both jumped into the cold, icy water, and the blue sheen of it cast his tattoos in a hazy glow, outlining the many symbols and designs curling across his skin, and when he swam beneath the water's surface, they seemed to dance across his skin, like pen ink scrawled across marble, and Kirk, for all the times he'd glimpsed Spock's second, more carefree life, found himself still able to be taken by surprise, and felt absolutely thrilled by the notion. It was just another day of getting to know his best friend all over again.

Based on a prompt given by consultingonthesideoftheangels over on Tumblr.

Please R&R! Feedback of any kind is always appreciated! ;)

All rights go to their respectful owners.