Just Be a Friend

Fanfiction
Title:	Just Be a Friend
Author(s):	Liz Ellington
Date(s):	2003
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Just Be a Friend is a Kirk/Spock story by Liz Ellington.

It was published in the print zine Cyberdreams #1.

Summary

"Kirk discovers that Spock has been intimate with a crewmember after the woman dies and Kirk must go through her affects."

Reactions and Reviews

I have to admit to this being my least favorite story in the zine. I find it hard to accept that Kirk would be so blind to his own character. And during much of the story his relationship with Spock sounds superficial, as though the only reason he’s interested now is because of what he hears on a tape. I guess there isn’t enough there for me to “see” the love Kirk has for Spock as a friend, much less as a lover. Again, there is no sex scene. But, in this story, I wish there had been. Maybe then I could have seen what was between the two men that I didn’t in the rest of the story.

This one certainly gets full marks for originality, if nothing else. As a matter of fact it is a very enjoyable and well written story in which the death of a crew member while on a landing party leads to some very surprising revelations for Kirk, which act as a catalyst to him reviewing how he really feels about Spock.

The character of Margaret Ballard is very sympathetically described, as are her hidden motivations for being on the ship at that particular time. Kirk’s initial quandary, over whether or not he should listen to the contents of a mysterious disk he finds in her quarters, which turns out to be her personal log, is very nicely portrayed, especially when he realises what it is and exactly who she is which brings back some painful memories for him as well.

However, what he learns in her personal log has a profound impact on the way in which he views his first officer, especially when she implies that her relationship with Spock was based on his need to experiment with human relationships before approaching the person he really cares about. This sets him wondering about who it is Spock wants to have a relationship with, especially when she firstly states in her log that she thinks it is Kirk and then she later contradicts this, leaving him without any clues as to who it is she does think Spock wants to be with. This is a very enjoyable and well written piece, which perfectly conveys Kirk’s initial reluctance to review the log entries and how, almost in spite of himself, he is unable to resist the temptation to do so, because he is desperate to find out what Margaret is going to reveal about how Spock feels, who it is that he desires and his reactions to this.