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The Enterprise had stopped off at New Vulcan, and Spock and Kirk were visiting his father and his alternate self, who had turned out to be something of a political malcontent. Kirk found this very funny, but Spock did not, and neither did Sarek. They were endeavoring to be civil to each other while deciding on dinner when a transporter beam hummed only a few meters away.
The individual who materialized was a young Vulcan man with a considerable resemblance to Sarek. He crossed to them and studied them gravely for a moment, before turning to the older Spock. "Father looks very young," he said.
"Indeed," said the older Spock.
"Explain," said the younger Spock, and the man's eyebrow shot up, making him look even more like Sarek.
"Brother, did you not tell him?"
"As you know, brother, I rarely explain myself if I can avoid doing so," said the older Spock, with an air of repeating a well-worn argument.
Kirk's eyes had been darting back and forth between the older Spock and the newcomer, and at this point he whispered, delightedly, "oh no."
"Technically, this would be explaining me," said the newcomer.
"Your existence is covered by the Temporal Prime Directive--"
The younger Spock interrupted rather than listen to what promised to be an extremely annoying argument. "One of you -- either one, it matters not -- explain. At once."
The newcomer said, still glaring at the older Spock, "I am Stevek. I am Sarek's child with his third wife, and thus your youngest sibling."
"Hold up," said Kirk, "how many siblings do you have?"
Both Spocks, Stevek, and Sarek ignored that interjection.
Older Spock, not taking his gaze from his brother, said, "Sarek's third wife was also human."
Stevek snapped, "I am not having this fight with you about Father's sexuality, again."
Sarek, visibly startled, said "What about my sexuality?"
The younger Spock said, "Fascinating. I have hypothesized that our father has a neurodivergence having to do with affective orientation, and that this is why he sought a human spouse in the first place. Am I to understand--"
"This is not appropriate," Sarek said.
Kirk had tucked his lips inside his mouth and was turning pink.
Stevek said, with some venom in his tone, "It is more appropriate than how my elder brother here phrases it." The younger Spock raised an enquiring eyebrow, and Stevek glared at the older Spock for several more seconds, before he said, "Father does not have a paraphilia for human women, elder brother!"
Sarek, whose ears had been turning a delicate shade of green, went pale.
"Technically," said the older Spock, "I did not say that." He paused. "I said he had a fetish for earth women." Kirk made a squawking noise and turned away, his shoulders shaking. The older Spock, ignoring this entirely, turned back to Stevek. "Why have you come here?"
Stevek folded his arms and drew himself up to his full height, which was not quite as tall as his brother, and said, waspishly, " Well, my only living sibling was seen disappearing into a rip in spacetime. I may be only a humble xenobotanist and not the last century's second-most prominent astrophysicist--"
"Third," said the older Spock.
"Second-most prominent astrophysicist--"
"Hennan of Andoria--"
"This is not relevant. I do know how to read, brother, and I am capable of rudimentary mathematics, and you were, of course, the original developer of the method and wrote several scientific papers--"
"Those papers are classified."
"No one ever revoked your access and I am more than capable of hacking your padd," said Stevek. "I have come to assist you in returning home."
"Ah," said the older Spock, and he reached out and spread his fingertips. Stevek matched them with his own fingertips. "I am afraid that is impossible, younger brother. I inherited our father's heart defect, and took substantial additional damage from an uncontrolled wormhole transit. My problem cannot be repaired surgically, due to a structural variation cause by my human heritage. A transit home would kill me."
Stevek closed his eyes. "May I stay," he said, eventually, softly. "May I stay here with you?"
Somewhere along the line, Kirk had stopped laughing, and now just looked sad.
The older Spock brushed the back of his free hand against Stevek's face. "Your mother would miss you," he said.
"I will go back after you die," Stevek said. "Do not make me leave you, as Father made me leave him." The older Spock dropped his hands, and Stevek opened his eyes. "I will even let you slander Father all you wish, if only you let me stay."
"An unnecessary concession," the older Spock said. "Come. I will show you where you may sleep."