Title: Inexplicable

Author: Qzeebrella

Fandom: Star Trek the Original Series

Disclaimer: the characters and show are not mine, no profit being made from the story below

Note: mention of Spock liking Cranberry Chutney within. Recipe: 1 can whole cranberries;

1 can cubed or chopped dried apricots/fresh pineapple; 1 cup orange juice; 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts; 1/4 cup finely chopped celery; 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger; 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan simmer over a low heat lid slightly ajar until liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes or so. Let chutney cool to room temperature, store in a sterilized jar, tightly covered but not sealed. Serve at room temperature.

I have never tried this recipe and can not guarantee it being any good. It does read like something Spock might like though.

***

For some reason Jim had been trying to insist that Spock eat an apple a day. Spock could not quite understand why his friend kept trying to have him eat apples. After all, even though he preferred other fruit, he had occasionally had apples.

Spock had puzzled over the odd request for days, had made it a part of his meditation routine in an effort to understand, and finally had decided to just ask Jim why he wanted him to eat an apple a day.

The next time he had met Jim was at their weekly chess game; Spock had looked at his friend and contemplated his next move. “Jim, why do you want me to eat an apple a day?”

His friend had started at the question, knocked over a chess piece in the process, and managed to look vaguely guilty at the question. This puzzled Spock, as he had seen no reason for the captain to display guilt at being asked to explain his request. “No special reason, I just thought you might want to start eating more apples.” Jim had said.

Jim’s answer did not make any sense to the Vulcan. In fact, it was not an answer at all but an evasion. Though he had not been sure why his friend would avoid answering his question, he had chosen not to pursue the topic. He had been certain that any further question would also be avoided and he did not want to waste his time with Jim futilely pursuing the matter.

When the chess game was over, Spock had done what he could to forget the illogical conversation entirely. To instead look forward to the hours he would spend in Leonard’s company. For he knew that Leonard had always been willing to answer any question he had about the doctor’s behaviour or the behaviour of human’s in general. The answers had generally relied heavily on how emotions effected behaviour, but Leonard did everything he could to answer all questions. Though his lover’s behaviour had sometimes been illogical and contradictory, Leonard had a “knack” of explaining the inexplicable that the Vulcan had always been prized highly.

In fact, Leonard had always been willing to go to great lengths in order to explain the inexplicable to him. As he did one day, not that long ago when the science officer had overheard two crewmen as they talked about the use of chocolate during foreplay. How they had spread it on each other and then licked it off of each other.

The overheard conversation had confused Spock on several counts. The first thing that had puzzled him was why two such disparate crewmen such as Sipowich and Wood were involved with each other. The second thing that had baffled him, had been why one would spread a sticky substance all over ones lover, as all that would result in was a very sticky partner. The third thing that had been perplexing was the use the crewmen had put limited resources to. After all, not only was real chocolate in limited supply, but by having spread it on each other before sex they had likely gotten some of the chocolate on the bedding and then would have had an extra load of laundry to do. It would have taken a considerable amount of time to have obtained the chocolate, spread it on each other, lick it off and then change the bed and wash the sheets, time which could have been used to do something more productive.

Added to all of that was the fact that Spock had never particularly liked chocolate of any kind. He knew that his lover liked chocolate though so he had gone to Leonard and explained why he was so confused and then asked, “Why would two crewmen use a food substance in such a way?

“Don’t know what you have never tried. If you haven’t tried using food in such a way, you should, just to see if by doing so you could come to understand why others might.” Leonard answered.

“Perhaps, but I do not like chocolate and would prefer not to spread it on you and then lick it off.”

“True, but you don’t need to use chocolate; you can use something you do like. Maybe we could use that cranberry chutney you dip carrots into. Would you be willing to spread a little bit of that on me and then lick it off me to see if you can figure out why two lovers might want to spread food on each other?” Leonard had asked him.

“As it may help me understand such illogical behaviour, I would be willing to spread the chutney on you and lick it off, purely for the sake of experimenting.” Spock had told his lover.

The experiment had proven to be a great success, had indeed worked so well that Spock had insisted on repeating the experiment occasionally in order to see whether the results were consistent over time. The science officer had not been sure why the experiment had worked and hoped that by repeating it often enough and changing the variables occasionally he might come to understand why it had worked.

There were various reasons why it might have worked the first time, such as the time and effort Leonard had taken to obtain the freshest ingredients available to make the cranberry chutney. It could have been the fact that Leonard had chosen to make the chutney himself as Spock watched and had prepared it with much care, even adding a bit more cinnamon than the recipe called for as he knew the Vulcan liked cinnamon. Perhaps it had been the sight of a naked Leonard lying on top of the sheets, his expression having shown so much trust and love.

It could even be that though Spock had always savoured the taste of his lover’s skin, that the addition of a little bit of his favourite chutney to Leonard’s skin had been a special treat. Though Spock would never admit to it, he had found that using food in that way had seemed daring. Whatever it had been, it had demonstrated to the Vulcan just why humans might use chocolate or some other substance with each other.

Each time they had tried the experiment so far, it had been successful to a greater or lesser extent. Spock had learned or experienced something new with each attempt. Due to that sense of newness with each attempt, the Vulcan was certain he would never tire of the experiment.

All in all Spock valued his lover’s ability to explain things very highly indeed. The Vulcan greatly admired the lengths Leonard would go to in order to explain the inexplicable. However, though Jim’s advice to him to “have an apple a day” confused him, he would not ask Leonard to try to explain the request. Spock was content to set aside wondering why Jim had requested that of him and to never know.

Besides, Spock knew he would never follow the advice to have “an apple a day”, after all he did not want to keep the doctor away. Quite the opposite, he wanted to keep Leonard close, so he always kept peaches available to eat. After all for “every day in which you eat a peach, you keep your doctor within your reach.” He definitely wanted to keep his doctor within reach, preferably for a lifetime and if he could do so by eating peaches, he would always eat them.

The end