黑暗中的歌声

st_xi_kink request filled: Flower!eating Spock. Trust me to turn into a perfectly charming prompt into angst. Uh, I blame the other prompt for which this was written: "home" from spock100.

Title: The Lotus Eater
Character: Spock (+Kirk)
Fandom: Star Trek XI
Rating: G
Word Count: 500
Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue.

The Lotus Eater
by Renata Lord (snowlight)

*

There was nothing logical about it, or even remotely rational. He was propelled, as some might say, by a mere physical memory.

A splendidly deep-rooted memory, one that slept for two decades undisturbed since Narada. Yet the moment he saw those flowers on the banquet table, his hands extended out before his mind could compute the impossibility of miracles.

White flower the size of an adult female's palm. Eight petals, curved at the edge. Blue pollen with a faintly sweet scent. Ashurik lotus, his mind breathed to his heart. It was a flower Vulcan children routinely ate when they played outside during the summer, as Terran children would eat wild berries.

Like those children, the species Ashurik lotus had died with the planet Vulcan.

His mind told him this, but not fast enough to stop his hand from taking the flower directly into his mouth. From the corner of his eye he saw his Drovian host's horror-drenched face, and his captain looking more amused than shocked.

"Spock—" someone uttered a sweet, heartbroken sound. Did it come from here and now, or was it an echo from days long past? But his consciousness was already sliding into the gentle dark.

...Spock. Spock. I love you baby honey sweetheart darling. Loveyouloveyouloveyouloveyou...

Mother…

.......

He slowly opened his eyes and found himself lying in a medical facility. The captain was by his side, as was the Drovian official who looked on with obvious relief.

"Mr. Spock!"

"Yes, captain," he answered softly. He was back now, on Drova IV. Diplomatic mission. Trade treaty. Federation. Jim.

"Very unlike you to pull something like that! You slept for twenty hours."

"Indeed. My sincere apologies," he nodded at the Drovian official. "I hope the treaty talk was not affected by my rudeness." A most likely futile hope, however, because Kirk probably stopped everything cold and demanded to know what happened to his first officer before anything else.

The Drovian gave a rueful little smile. "Now that you've recovered, Commander, I believe we may resume the negotiations."

He heard the accusation in that statement and bowed his head slightly.

"Forgive me, Sir P'lekan. My judgment was...momentarily confused by a memory. The flower that I assume caused this, is it native to your planet?"

"The ka'tryae? Yes, but it's not meant to be eaten!"

"Of course." He looked down at his hand, recalling the physical feel of the flower. "Again, my apologies. By a most fascinating coincidence, your ka'tryae looks exactly like the one we called ashurik on Vulcan. It was customary of Vulcan children to eat it. I haven't seen it in twenty-three years."

Two months, and seven days. His mind added silently.

The Drovian opened his mouth but apparently thought the better of it. Kirk, however, leaned over and patted him gently.

"Spock."

He gave Jim what was hopefully a smile. "Rest assured, captain. I'll refrain from any future ingestion."

The Ashurik lotus was a bittersweet flower, but in its hallucinogenic Drovian incarnation, only the bitterness remained.

*

Finis