Honeymoon (Star Trek: TOS story by Shelley Butler)

Fanfiction
Title:	Honeymoon
Author(s):	Shelley Butler
Date(s):	2006
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:
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Honeymoon is a Kirk/Spock story by Shelley Butler.

It was published in the print zine First Time #60.

Summary

"After Kirk persuades Spock to go no vacation with him, the two men are stranded on an uninhabited planet after their small ship encounters an ion storm."

Reactions and Reviews

Shelley, I really enjoyed this! But I do wish it had been longer, about twice as long! I was left feeling a bit as if I’d read a really good plot summery and was looking forward to the full-length version! Although Shelley’s Spock is much stronger mentally and probably physically than my imaginary Spock , her writing is assured enough that I am happy to accept her version of things for the duration. I love the scene of Kirk and Spock trying to put the tent up, that Kirk just watches Spock do the job and then announces ‘what a good team we make’ – as if they worked together on it is just 101% Kirk to me! But this story seems to have one rather odd problem, there is not enough detail about passing time... on the big scale: how long are they on the planet for? And on the small scale: I didn’t realise the dream was on the same night they were drinking together until Spock told me two pages later! This story zips along so fast past interesting ideas that I feel I missed really getting inside the characters psychologies. For instance the idea that Kirk forgot about the ship whilst he was trapped on the planet with Spock. Shelley has Kirk mention this, but I wished I could have had it explored whilst they were on the planet or after... I wanted a bit of agonizing, a bit of angst to linger over! Some lovely images along the way like them falling asleep after shared oral sex to the sound of pouring rain – I love rain in K/S fic – very erotic ...I wished I could have savoured that image for a longer paragraph. A well written scene at the end offers the reader an unusual take on Kirk’s doubts about a relationship with Spock – again an interesting idea. Shelley even manages to make them argue a little and keeps it in character –I find arguments in K/S almost always throw me out of a story and fail to keep in character. But this is good, Spock is hurt but self contained and dignified throughout: ‘you are becoming argumentative. I refuse to participate.’ Spock stepped forward and the doors parted. ‘No! don’t walk out. I need to talk to you.’ Spock came back in and the doors closed.... ‘ I could quote more but I won’t. Anyway I think this section works. Finally despite the fact I keep saying I wished this story had been more drawn out I like the way the issue is left a little unresolved at the end. A night of passion probably but not necessarily happily ever after for this Kirk and Spock – and I like that hint of ambiguity and darkness. Since Shelley is such a great artist I guess my feelings about this story might be summarized as ‘great sketch, I only wish it had as much lush detail as one of your fully rendered pictures’!

The dialogue between Kirk and Spock, especially in the early part of this story is just wonderful. Shelley has Spock’s responses perfect and Kirk’s have exactly the right level of lightheartedness, even when they have crashed their rented star yacht on an unpopulated planet. You can almost hear them as they speak, can see the light in Kirk’s eyes as he gently teases his First Officer, soon to be his lover. They were on their way to shore leave, but now have an unscheduled camping trip in the yacht’s tent. Erecting the tent is fun – made me chuckle aloud when they were reading the directions. “What language is this anyway?” Kirk groaned. “Let’s just inflate the damn thing.” Typical Kirk. “I believe following instructions would be more efficacious.” Typical Spock.

There is the requisite sleeping bag, and ambient temperature just right to promote unplanned cuddling within the requisite sleeping bag, but I sure liked the results! The lovemaking was good, Shelley!

This could have been a simple little rendezvous with a lot of warmth and sexual tension, but when they return to the ship, the tension takes on a different slant. Especially since this is early in Kirk’s command, he is very torn between committing himself fully to his captaincy and committing himself to one very ready to commit Vulcan. It makes for some nice interaction and gives the reader time to consider all the consequences of such a relationship.

When I began reading this story, my first impression was that this was another typical story of Kirk and Spock crash landing on a planet, Spock is cold, Kirk warms him up, first with body heat, then with something guaranteed to REALLY warm Spock up, then comes the timely rescue and return to the ship where they live happily ever after. For the most part, this story tends to follow that often-used plot device much of the time, although the author finds a rather clever way to bring them together that first time - the shuttle turns out to have a very well-stocked bar and one night both men imbibe a little too much. After falling asleep, Spock's subconscious, normally kept under tight rein, is let loose due to the alcohol and he has a very intense, exotic dream about Kirk. With the close physical contact they must maintain while sleeping, Kirk picks up on the dream and confronts Spock about, thus leading to...well, I think you can figure it out. But it is near the end of this particular tale where the author heads off into a quite different and seldom-used direction. Here, as with every relationship, once the "honeymoon" phase wears off, Kirk and Spock find themselves facing difficult decisions as to how to balance their personal and professional lives. For Kirk especially, there are no easy answers - as much as he loves Spock, it is the Enterprise and crew who must remain his first priority, and he just can't seem to find a way to balance them both. For Spock, there is no such conflict - a mistake he made in a past relationship continues to haunt him and he is determined not to make that same mistake with Kirk. Yet at the same time, he will not bully or force Kirk to do anything he doesn't want to do, including continuing their physical relationship. The result is a situation which neither can resolve at the moment and indeed, may not even have a resolution. The end result leaves not only Kirk and Spock, but also the reader, with questions that may never have an answer. It seems that even in the world of K/S, Kirk and Spock don't always live "happily ever after".