"Why does this kind of thing always happen when I'm on a mission with you?"

"This kind of thing?" Kirk tilted his head a little, looking curious. "I think this is the second, okay, fourth tentacle creature we've met so far, and definitely the first that was this frisky."

This.
I love your Kirk, how he handles everything in stride and how Sulu's very... put out by the indignity of it. I generally have a weirdness about Kirk and anyone who's a Lieutenant or below, but the characterization is very good here.