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The party wasn't quite winding down yet, but it had come to a sort of a lull, where it had passed through the stages of sober and cheerful, buzzed loud and frenetic, and finally to a quieter stage of drunken weariness. Leonard rubbed his eyes, it was getting late and nearly crashing to one's death and having to pilot a tiny flying deathtrap took a toll on a person. He knew there was a reason space travel was a bad idea, but he also knew why he would be going back out. His life and family were here now. There was nothing for him back on Earth save for Jo Jo whom he was rarely allowed to see. A depressing thought. He took another sip of his drink despite knowing he'd regret it in the morning. Actually, considering the taste, he regretted it now. He didn't even know where he had gotten the awful stuff. That part of the evening was a little fuzzy.
The couch he was sitting on suddenly shifted as the weight of another was added to the end. He turned somewhat blearily to see Spock seated next to him looking thoughtful.
“Hey, there.” Leonard said after a moment once he remembered how his tongue worked.
“Doctor.”
“I saw you and Uhura earlier – you seem on friendly terms.” He thought for a moment that perhaps he was inserting himself where he didn't belong, but it was the first topic of conversation to pop into his head.
“Yes, we respect and enjoy each others' company too much to not remain friends. I am glad to see her well after what transpired.”
“That's good that you can respect each other and be friends.” Lord knows it didn't work out that way in my case “Are you still wanting to go back to New Vulcan?”
Spock was silent for a moment, looking straight ahead. “No. My place is here.”
Leonard felt a wash of relief at that. “Good. You belong here, you green blooded fool.” He clumsily patted Spock's arm. The thing was, he meant it utterly and sincerely. He would've been sorry to see him go in any case, he could at least respect Spock's talents and sense of duty if nothing else. But now it was as if something had shifted. It wasn't about professional respect anymore.
“I thought you would be disappointed. I have robbed you of that party you were threatening to throw.” Spock said in his stoic way, though his eyes were warm.
“Oh my god, is that a joke, Spock?” Leonard laughed, nearly spilling the rest of the travesty masquerading as a drink. He felt a cooler hand brush against his own as the glass was removed from his hand and set down where it wouldn't do any damage.
“I assure you, Doctor, Vulcan's do not joke.”
“And you don't lie either, or so I've heard. Not so sure about half Vulcans, though.” he teased turning towards Spock, the dark thoughts of a moment before suddenly dissipating. “Or maybe the multiple near death experiences of the past few days scrambled your brain.”
“I disagree. There was only one time my condition could have been considered 'near death', and even then death was not so imminent.”
The sight of Spock half impaled was one that Leonard never wanted to see again, and he inwardly shuddered. “You,” he waved a forefinger in Spock's face while his other hand rested against the Vulcan's cheek in a gesture he never would have engaged in while sober. “Do not ever do that again, do you hear?”
Spock tilted his head slightly and continued to regard Leonard with a curious expression. He didn't pull away from his touch, however, despite his usual avoidance of unnecessary skin to skin contact. “I will endeavor not to, though considering the nature of our professions, I can make no guarantees.”
Leonard harrumphed. “I guess that will have to do then.” The skin under his hand was smooth and cool to the touch. Spock reached up and gently took him by the wrist and removed his friend's wayward appendage from his face, though he held his hand for a long moment before releasing it. Leonard's skin tingled pleasantly at the contact.
Spock continued to regard Leonard with a curious intensity. “Are you feeling well?”
“Oh, I'm just fine. As fine as anyone can be after that nightmare.”
Spock continued to look at him with concern, so Leonard did the only sensible thing his drunken brain could think of, he leaned in with one hand cupping the back of Spock's neck and kissed the Vulcan on the mouth. Thoroughly. Spock's mouth felt good, and he dimly couldn't seem to remember why he hadn't just done this before. Spock gently disengaged from him, and he let his head come to rest on the other man's chest.
“Leonard, I think it would be wise for you to return to your quarters and sleep.” Spock said, helping him to sit up.
“I s'ppose you're right.” Leonard blinked at him sleepily.
“Are we losing Bones?” A voice asked. The voice belonged to Jim himself who sounded amazingly chipper considering the late hour.
“He has over indulged.” Spock replied. “I was going to help him back to his quarters.”
“Need a hand?”
“That would be appreciated.”
Leonard ended up with one arm slung over Spock's shoulders and the other slung over Jim's. “This is a change.” Jim laughed. “Usually it's the other way around.”
“See, I'm, getting you back.” Leonard grumbled, pleased to be in the company of friends and to feel Spock's body pressed against his side.
When they arrived at Leonard's temporary quarters he staggered over to the bed and promptly collapsed on to it. He felt a tugging at his foot and realized that someone was removing his boots, and soon there was a tugging on his upper body to remove the jacket. He tried his best to be of assistance, but his limbs were feeling a bit clumsy. “Sorry.” he mumbled into the pillow. “Shouldn't 've drunk so much.”
“There is no need for concern on our behalf.” Spock said, and then there was a brief hand on his shoulder and he was alone.
* * *
Leonard woke the next morning with a splitting headache, which wasn't really a surprise. However, some kind soul had left a glass of water and a hypo next to his bed. He clumsily grabbed the hypo while keeping his face half buried in the pillow and stabbed it into his neck. After a few minutes he breathed a sigh of relief as his throbbing headache faded. He drank some water and lay back down intending to doze for awhile. Judging by the light, it was still relatively early.
He smiled to himself. The party had been a good idea – Jim got to have a birthday that wasn't utterly depressing, and it was nice to see the crew be able to come together after what they had all endured. He did feel a little guilty about having to be drug back to his room by Jim and Spock, well not so much Jim, but Spock who probably wasn't accustomed to dealing with drunken friends.
He snuggled a little deeper under the blankets. Spock. His eyes suddenly opened, his entire body going rigid. Spock, oh for the love of – what did I do!
Jim found him a few hours later in a state of extreme agitation. Leonard wasn't sure what was worse, that he had to tell Jim what had happened or that Jim thought the whole mess was great.
“Are you completely out of your mind, Jim! Good! How the hell is this good!” Leonard shouted as Jim tried and failed to conceal his mirth.
“No, no, but it is! Two of my closest friends, together!”
“Look, here kid,” he began, taking a deep breath.
“You can't tell me there hasn't been any pent up sexual frustration underneath all that bickering. You've two have been at it for years. Everybody else sees it.” Jim thought for a moment while the doctor sputtered incoherently. “Well not, everybody, Scotty's going to owe me a bottle of scotch.” He quickly held up his hands in a placating gesture at the sight of his friend's face. “I'll split it with you! You know it will be the good stuff.”
“I don't even know what to say to this. Are you sure you Krall didn't hit you over the head? Or maybe it was all those other times, or just the radiation from space.” he growled. Of all the possible reactions, Jim's was completely unexpected and Leonard had no idea what to think of it.
Jim took pity on his friend. “Bones, sit down. It'll be ok, really.” he directed Bones to the nearest chair, steering him with a firm hand on his shoulder. “Do you like Spock? I mean, I know you were drunk and all, but you must have kissed him for a reason.”
“Do I like Spock. I don't have time for this high school bullshit.” He buried his head in his hands and took a deep breath. “Yes, yes, I... like Spock, as bizarre as that is.”
“No it's not.” Jim patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. “You're both intelligent, very compassionate people.”
“Oh yeah, we're so much a like.” Leonard responded sarcastically.
“You can balance each other out.”
“Are you just making stuff up now?” Though the worst part of the whole thing was that Jim was probably right. “It was having to pull that chunk of metal out of Spock. That's what did it.” Now that he admitted to himself what had been going on, his heart ached to think of how easily he could have lost the Vulcan.
Jim squeezed his shoulder comfortingly.“You just need to talk to him.”
“Jim, what if he thinks I completely crossed the line? That I behaved inappropriately?”
“He didn't seem upset last night when we hauled your ass up here. Just concerned for you.”
Leonard snorted. “He probably thinks I lost my mind. Maybe I have.”
“I doubt that, I mean, he didn't push you away or anything, did he? When you kissed him?” Jim had taken on a patient tone.
“Honestly, I tried not to think about it too hard. Um,” he gripped a fistful of hair fretfully. No, it had been a nice kiss – warm and soft and comforting. He was blurry on some particulars of that evening, but he remembered his conversation with Spock. He flushed at the way he had completely invaded the Vulcan's space. He remembered the way Spock's skin had felt under his hand.“No, he didn't.”
“See, then. Just put yourself out of you misery and go talk to him. I have to be at a meeting.”
Leonard made a movement with his hand and grunted in response. Jim patted his shoulder one last time and was gone.
Leonard replicated himself some food and ate it without really tasting any of it. He knew he was being silly, that Jim was right, that he needed to be a god damned adult and go find the hobgoblin and explain himself, or at least apologize. He stared out the window for awhile. As fragile as Yorktown looked from space, it was attractive. Granted he couldn't see the damage that had been wreaked by Krall and their own pursuit from this angle.
The door chime interrupted his brooding. “Come on in.” he called out, getting to his feet and then found it was Spock standing on the other side of the door.
“I'm not interrupting anything, am I?” The Vulcan asked, his face difficult to read. Which really wasn't unusual for Spock.
Leonard gestured to himself. “Does it look like I've got anywhere important to go?” At least I'm wearing clean clothes. he thought to himself, starting to run a hand through his hair, but changing his mind at the last minute and attempted to smooth it instead.
“I wanted to ascertain your well being.” For a moment he looked like he wanted to say more, but didn't.
Leonard sighed and gestured to the sofa that came with the temporary quarters. “I'm ok, Spock. Nothing that a hangover hypo and some food couldn't fix.” Spock seated himself carefully and after a slight pause, Leonard joined him. “Look, I hope I didn't offend you last night, I know you don't like to be touched...” his voice trailed off into chagrined silence.
“Your affection does not offend me.” He thought for a moment. “Your actions took me by surprise, that is all. You are Human, and it is in your nature to be emotionally expressive.”
“You're taking this awfully well.” Leonard stated bluntly trying to read him, but was thwarted by his still posture and stoic face. His eyes though held the same warmth he dimly remembered from the night before. “I really was afraid you were going to die on that planet.” he suddenly blurted out.
Something about Spock's demeanor softened slightly, though damned if Leonard could tell exactly what it was. “I did not die there. I am right here.” He hesitated and then took Leonard's hand and pressed it to his side over his heart. He could feel it beating steady and strong beneath his palm. He rubbed gently over the spot and swallowed hard.
“I know, I know, I'm being illogical.”
“Perhaps, but when my mother died, I found there were many things I wished I had said and done. If I could go back and change that, I would. You are braver than I was. Hopefully you will have less to regret.”
“I don't know about that, darlin'.” Spock raised an eyebrow at the endearment but otherwise said nothing. “I have a mountain of regrets.”
“However, this will not be one.” Strong arms curved about Leonard, pulling him into a close embrace. Leonard slid the hand that had been covering the Vulcan's heart around his back.
“Is this you, are you reciprocating?”
“Does this surprise you?” Spock asked, amusement faintly coloring his voice.
“You and Uhura just broke things off, you just decided to stay with Starfleet.” There was that expression about gift horses and mouths, but Leonard couldn't quite believe his luck was this good.
Spock was silent for a moment. “There might have been more to the ending of my relationship with Nyota than I told you.”
“Oh, that sounds an awful like an admission of guilt. Don't tell me you lied, Spock.” Leonard gleefully replied, pulling back slightly so he could look at the other man. This ground felt much firmer under his feet.
“On the contrary, I did not lie. I merely did not share all of the facts with you.” Upon seeing Leonard's raised eyebrow he continued, “it was not relevant at the time.”
“But it is now?”
“As it concerns you, yes.” Spock finally admitted. “Nyota was always very perceptive. As much as I cared for her, it became apparent that I also cared for you. My concerns regarding my role in the continuation of my species, was -”
“The last straw?” Leonard's voice softened, and he gently brought a hand up to stroke Spock's cheek.
“That is an...interesting expression, but apt.”
They looked at each other for a moment before Leonard dropped his gaze to the curve of Spock's lips. The sight of that tempting mouth so close to his own caused a quiver of pleasure to run through his belly. His hands gently cupped the Vulcan's face as he nuzzled their lips together, his tongue lapping over their surface and then dipping inside when Spock opened to him. He sighed into Spock's mouth and felt the tension born of anxiety leave him to be replaced by a pleasant uncoiling warmth. The weight of Spock's hands came to rest on his hips, gently rubbing and squeezing his waist and lower back.
They finally broke a part in order to catch their breath. He rested his forehead against Spock's, pleased to see the green of a blush tinting his cheeks. “Did you like that?” He asked low voiced and smiling.
“I found it very pleasing, though you must have already realized that.”
Leonard chuckled. “Of course, I just wanted to hear you say it.”
“How illogical.” But his lips curved into slight smile as he said it. Spock took his two forefingers and rubbed them against Leonard's. “That is how Vulcan's kiss.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, our hands are more sensitive than a Human's.”
“Heh, I'll have to remember that.” He settled back into Spock with his cheek resting against the other man's shoulder. He felt at peace for the first time since the beginning of their supposed rescue mission.
The quiet moment was shattered when his door suddenly swished open. “Hey, I'm back, did you ever – oops! Guess you did!”
“Jim! What the hell!” He glared at Jim over Spock's shoulder. He was comfortable and wasn't about to give it up because some people couldn't be bothered to knock. Leonard felt Spock's body stiffen, and he absently ran a soothing hand up and down the length of his back.
Jim was unrepentant however, his face alight with glee. “Ha ha, gotta go collect from Scotty!”
Spock looked confused. “I do not understand? Scotty?”
“Ah, don't worry about it. You probably don't want to know.”