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Jim was chewing on his fingernails. Again.
It used to be something he only did when he was stressed. Now it was something he only did when he was trying to figure out how to beat Spock at chess.
"Captain." Spock cut into his thoughts. "You have been thinking of your next move for approximately six minutes and twenty-seven seconds. Are you going to—“
"Yeah, yeah," Jim waved him off. "I'm thinking."
"At this point in the game, you have forty-one options for your next move. As only ten would be advisable, you have already spent a considerable amount of time—“
Jim's gaze snapped up. "I'm thinking . If you're so bored, go do some paperwork or something. Just because your Vulcan brain has already thought through..." He trailed off.
It was true that he was a little off of his game tonight. A little distracted. But lately he and Spock had been spending so much time together and Jim was finding it hard to focus on the task at hand when all he wanted to focus on was Spock.
So he had a crush. It was fine. He had known for a long while now that he liked Spock. And they were two years into this mission! You'd think he would have learned how to deal with it by now. But it had just been worse lately.
Jim focused his attention back on the chess game. Ten advisable moves. He had only seen eight that were of any actual consideration! Jim narrowed his eyes, determined to find and think through the other two.
As Jim had jokingly suggested, Spock began working on paperwork that the two had to file. Jim's gaze kept jumping over to him every now and again and he noticed Spock was continually rubbing his eyes.
"Spock," he said. "Don't strain your eyes from looking at screens too much."
Nodding, Spock said, "You are right, Captain. All day, my work has consisted of looking at things far too close to me."
Standing, Spock crossed the room while Jim squinted at the chess board. He thought he had just found another one of the moves Spock mentioned and started to play it out in his head when something caught his eye in his peripherals.
Jim did a double take.
Spock had put on glasses .
And immediately Jim wanted to open an airlock and let himself be sucked into the freezing vacuum of space because he felt like an asshole because the sight of Spock with glasses went straight to his....
Fuck, he was a bad friend, wasn't he?
"Uh..." Jim said, standing suddenly. He should go. He should really...go. "You know what, Spock, I'm...distracted tonight. Maybe we should...finish this game later?"
"Of course," Spock responded. "Jim, are you alright? You are looking a little pale."
Walking away—quickly—Jim figured, yeah, there wasn't much blood up there. "I'm fine, Spock. Don't worry." And then the door was closed behind him.
And Jim decided to go take a cold shower. A very cold shower because he felt like a very very bad friend. Like a total asshole.
__________
Turns out, over the next few days, Jim was not able to stop thinking about Spock in those glasses. He didn't even know it was possible for Vulcans to need glasses. Spock was just so...
Jim sighed, laying his head down on his desk. He had been trying to get some reports done for the last hour now and it just wasn't working. Because he just kept thinking of Spock in those black, rectangle, half-rim glasses. And most of the heat had died away—but definitely not all—and now Jim was just caught up in thinking how cute it was. Very cute. So cute he couldn't even come up with any other way to describe it even after thinking about it for days.
He needed to see Spock in his glasses again. That, he was sure of.
Which meant he needed some sort of plan. Cause it wasn't like he could just be like "Hey, Spock, you should put your glasses on."
But he would figure it out. Oh, Jim would make sure it happened.
__________
He ended up inviting Spock to work on reports with him a few days later. They settled down in Spock's room after their respective dinners. Jim had figured the best way to get Spock to wear his glasses was to pick a day with similar situations: Spock had been on the bridge all day at the science station, unable to work in the labs, and as a result had been staring at a screen all day again. And now it was fairly late at night.
Turns out, Jim was really good at plans. People might not think it, but this one worked out incredibly because he didn't even have to meddle! After working for about twenty minutes, Spock causally stood and crossed the room and came back wearing his glasses.
Jim swore his heart stopped.
He was definitely much better at controlling himself this second time. All he felt was a crushing wave of overwhelming, "Fuck, I am so in love."
Without looking up, Spock said, "Captain, you have been staring at me for approximately 3.8 minutes."
Still mesmerized, Jim whispered, "I like your glasses."
Now Spock looked up at him. "I noticed."
Immediately, Jim paled. He supposed if he had had any previous confirmation that Spock could possibly be into him, he would have blushed, but instead all he felt was a cold fear settle in his stomach. His conduct had been unprofessional and unfitting for the relationship between a Captain and his First Officer and Jim was going to be formally reprimanded and one of them was going to be sent to a different ship—
"Jim, I..." Spock began, his voice quiet. "I don't want to seem...improper, but I must admit I find it difficult to concentrate when you are staring at me."
"I am so sorry, Spock, I—“ Jim rushed out. But then he paused because, looking a little closer, he could see a faint blush on Spock's cheeks. Jim calmed down a little. "I apologize if my staring made you uncomfortable."
"It did not," Spock whispered.
"Spock, I—“
"Me too."
Scared out of his mind, Jim slowly reached his hand across the table. Spock mirrored him for a tense moment. Slowly, their fingertips touched and Jim felt warmth flood through him. And Spock smiled.