Author's note: Yeah, so I found at least three different Florence + The Machine songs as soundtrack for Kirk/Spock videos and then I downloaded their entire album Lungs and loved it.

And so I figured I'd make one hell of a long songfic about Kirk and Spock based on this album. And then I did. Ergo: The songs do not belong to me and I make no profit off of this!

All right: This will be ten chapters long, so I won't use all songs on the album. As of now I've written four chapters which I will update with one per week; I'd love feedback, and I'll keep writing as soon as I can.

Uh, enjoy some angsty Kirk and cute Spock?

-Lungs-

Dog Days Are Over

Happiness hit her like a train on a track
Coming towards her, stuck still no turning back
She hid around corners and she hid under beds
She killed it with kisses and from it she fled
With every bubble she sank with a drink
And washed it away down the kitchen sink

"Four years? I'll do it in three!"

The memory of his brave words, masking the insecurity of his big choice, made James T. Kirk smile.

Even though it was in the shadow of the massive tragedy that was the Nero incident, Kirk had met his goal: something he'd never actually thought he'd manage, because even though was a brilliant student, always working and learning and pushing himself, his path was always littered with trouble.

Kirk still felt a happy grin brighten his features as he was awarded a commendation for original thinking and a Captaincy.

And not just any Captaincy.

The Captaincy of the Enterprise.

Her sleek surfaces and the quiet hum of power that continually surged through her shiny hull had made Kirk fall in love with the ship as soon as he set foot on it – no, as soon as he had laid eyes upon her in Spacedock. And now she was his.

Without Kirk even noticing it himself, his smile faded a bit as he let his eyes roam over the cheering and applauding crowd that was his remaining classmates and instructors.

There was no sight of shiny black hair and pointy ears in the audience.

A sudden impatience gripped Kirk and all he wanted was to sit in the Captain's chair and watch stars stream by, his eyes locked on a faraway, unexplored galaxy and a stoic, stone-faced Vulcan by his side.

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming so you better run

Run fast for your mother run fast for your father
Run for your children for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind you
Can't carry it with you if you want to survive

It was with a gasp that Kirk awoke in the middle of what the chronometer said was the night, bare chest and high forehead covered with sweat.

He sat up in his bed in his own rooms aboard the Enterprise, all thoughts on sleep abandoned as he put his arms around his legs and buried his face in his knees.

Kirk had thought the memories of screaming, of pain, of running, would leave him alone out here in the vast blackness of space, but he was wrong. All it took was a disjointed fragment of a dream.

He could still remember the way Frank had made his life hell and he could remember his mother's inability to ever notice that something was wrong with her darling little Jimmy. But that was OK, those bruises had long since faded and even though his soul had taken a few turns, time really did seem to heal everything.

Or, at least most things.

A quiet moan escaped Kirk's full lips as he ground his face deeper into his knees and tightened his grip around his legs. He wanted to push the memories away, but it was already too late.

He'd gone to Tarsus IV after Sam had left for good, just to get away.

Just to see all of his new friends- [die] -just to fight for survival, just to run.

And, Kirk realized, he'd never stopped running.

He was out here, just running from… what? His past? His restraints?

Throat raw, cold, hungry, tears drying on his face, knowing there was no going back

Kirk got to his feet. He would try to wash the memories away, but he knew it wouldn't work.

God, it's a wonder I ever passed the Starfleet psych evals, he thought drily to himself as he tossed his boxers on his bed and headed for the shower.

Another unbidden thought entered his mind as the stream of hot water hit his face.

What do I do when someone under my command dies?

Angry with himself for dwelling on things he could do nothing about, Kirk sat down at his desk, clad only in a towel, and tried to get through some of the paperwork that had already accumulated despite his best efforts.

But there was not nearly enough of it, and when Kirk had sent his last signed report to Starfleet, the chronometer showed no more than 0412 hours. Four hours until his shift began.

With a sigh, Kirk got dressed in his uniform and left his quarters, which, despite being the biggest onboard, felt incredibly cramped.

And I never wanted anything from you
Except everything you had
And what was left after that too. Oh.

He really shouldn't have been surprised to find Spock in the otherwise empty mess hall.

His First Officer sat at a table close to the replicators, solemnly eating breakfast.

The sheer innocence of the scene almost made Kirk utter a sound best described as a squee. He restrained himself however, but the sight of Spock munching on a vegetable, stiff and serious as ever, was still indescribably adorable.

Without himself even noticing, Kirk's gloomy mood left him and it was with a slight smile he approached the replicators, and greeted the half-Vulcan with a cheery:

"Hiya Spock, fancy seeing you here at this early hour."

Spock eyed him and acknowledged his existence with a curt nod.

"Vulcans do not need as much sleep as humans," he offered as an explanation as Kirk tapped in the order for some black coffee and toast.

"Really?" Kirk said, his smile turning into a full-blown grin. "So you tend to sneak about the Enterprise when everyone else is asleep?"

"If I may point out, Captain", Spock said in his characteristic dry, lecturing voice. "You are awake as well."

"Fair enough," Kirk nodded and put down his tray beside his second in command and slumped down, hunching over his meal as opposed to Spock's almost rigid posture. "I thought you were going to say that Vulcans don't sneak, or something."

"Vulcans do not sneak, Captain."

It was rather unfortunate, Spock thought, that Kirk had chosen that moment to take a sip of his coffee, as his remark, for some inexplicable reason, made Kirk choke on the fluid.

And as Kirk tried to get rid of the coffee in his nose, he couldn't help but think: Oh god, what would I do without Spock?

Happiness hit her like a bullet in the back
Struck from a great height
By someone who should know better than that

It was an uneventful day on the bridge. Usually, Kirk would have been sitting at the edge of his seat, tapping a finger at the armrest, demanding updates, paperwork, to know if anybody wanted to play "Spot the star", but this time, Kirk was rather content with just having to sit there and look Captain-y.

The lack of proper sleep made it a little hard to concentrate, and Kirk noted his attention drifting, from the beeps of various consoles, to the murmured conversation between Sulu and Chekov and then to the sound of Spock's voice.

Kirk blinked, automatically tuning in to what his First Officer was saying. He wasn't talking to him, he was addressing the Communications Officer.

"I would be amenable to a musical session, but I am afraid I have a previous engagement."

"Oh?" Uhura did not sound cross, merely curious.

Everyone knew that the kisses Commander Spock and Lieutenant Uhura had exchanged during the Nero mission was a circumstantial thing. They had both agreed not to let things develop further, as they were serving aboard the same vessel, and seeing as Spock was Uhura's commanding officer.

Of course, it was popular gossip that Spock and Uhura still maintained a romantic relationship. People liked forbidden love. But Kirk knew that both Spock and Uhura were too intelligent for something like that.

It couldn't work, and so they remained good friends instead, something that both seemed happier about, if Kirk had to be completely honest. Spock was a person who needed friends, not lovers, and someone as full of life as Uhura needed to go out with someone less stiff than Spock – say, like Scotty.

Kirk grinned at the thought and then returned to "overhearing" the discussion.

"I have already agreed to play chess with the Captain after the shift."

Kirk smiled and tried to hide it behind a broad hand. Suddenly he longed for the shift to be over.

Then Spock called that his sensors were picking up a curious signal. In hindsight, Kirk thought that this was the point where everything went to hell.

The dog days are over
The dog days are gone
Can you hear the horses
'Cos here they come