when you respect your baby’s boundaries, and he meets you half-way.
or, Jim really loves holding hands, always has. He especially loves holding hands with Spock, ‘cause after all Spock’s the love of his life, his ride or die, and his fingers are long and elegant.
Jim knows that it’s a common misconception that all forms of hand-touching are sexual for Vulcans (they’re not – Spock has made very clear to Jim, over the years, the distinction between functionality and sensuality in Vulcan hands), but it’s still a preference of Spock’s to adhere to his people’s customs– his own laws of personal space while under the eternal scrutiny of the public eye.
Spock has had this conversation with Jim exactly once. He knows (very well, by now) that Jim is extraordinarily tactile even by human standards, and yet Jim has never questioned Spock’s wish for the separation of work and home, has never tried to cajole public displays of affection out of Spock that he wasn’t sure wouldn’t be freely given.
Spock loves this about Jim.
But Jim loves holding hands, and always has. And after all, Jim’s the love of his life, his chosen mate, and his affection is warm and steady. So, though they are not as secluded as he would prefer to be, he offers Jim an arm.
