#sometimes you just have to cut 500 words and rearrange some paragraphs if you're stuck lol

[lenievi]

[ficlet] Spock/McCoy #2

I wrote a short continuation to this prompt, but I decided to repost the previous part as well. It’s intended as a part of my McCoy and Spock getting together wip, so I’m sure I’ll rewrite it later to fit with whatever comes later, but I also like this version...

pre-relationship

+++

“Why is it that every time I get into a shuttlecraft with you, something happens?” McCoy asked five hours after they had to make an emergency landing, and after Spock finally admitted he did not have the means to fix the malfunction that had forced them to land.  

“I do not think that twice could be considered every time, Doctor.”

“Maybe not, but last time we got stuck on a planet. This time? We got stuck on a planet. Do you see the pattern?”

Spock could not deny the logic in McCoy’s statement. He sat down next to McCoy.

“It will take the Enterprise four point seven hours before it gets here.”

McCoy leaned his head against the metal shell of the shuttlecraft. After five days spent on this planet breathing fresh air, neither of them wished to sit inside the small craft. The sun and wind, too, were pleasant.

“Let’s hope there are no wild animals around here,” McCoy said.

“Nothing bigger than an Earth’s wolf.”

“That’s not actually comforting, Spock.”

“Doctor Ma said the predators live in the mountains and do not come to the plains.”

“And you said we landed two hundred kilometers away from the village,” McCoy pointed out.

“You can go inside the shuttlecraft, Doctor.”

“I’m not afraid.”

“I did not say you were.”

“Do you always--” McCoy started, but stopped and shook his head. “Five more hours. Then I don’t want to see you for a week.”

“That does not--”

McCoy put his hand over Spock’s mouth. “Shhh.”

The change of McCoy’s position brought their faces close. For five seconds Spock sat completely still, his heart pounding in his side. Then he gripped McCoy’s wrist and pulled the hand away.

McCoy's eyes were flitting around Spock's face, and he was blinking rapidly, his cheeks redder now.

“Sorry,” McCoy said, looking away. He tugged at his hand, and Spock let it go. Neither of them moved.

Spock did not remember the last time McCoy had initiated a touch that was not related to a medical examination. McCoy was tactile with Kirk, but not with Spock, and that realization made him stop.

“Doctor--”

“Spock, I think I’m going to get some shut-eye if you don’t mind,” McCoy said and stood up.

“Very well.” Before McCoy disappeared in the shuttlecraft, Spock asked, “Do you want me to wake you up before the Enterprise gets here?”

“Thanks.” McCoy didn’t look back. 

The sound of the door closing was loud.

*

The weather on P-23 changed fast. Nearly two hours after McCoy had disappeared inside the shuttlecraft, it started to rain, and Spock had no other choice but to join him.

McCoy had taken out a blanket and lay on the ground in between the seats.

“Is it time?” McCoy asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

“No. There are still two point one hours left before the Enterprise gets here.”

McCoy lay down again, throwing an arm over his face. Spock, deciding that talking to McCoy would be counterproductive at this point, grabbed his PADD, and sat down in the pilot’s chair.

The sound of the falling raindrops against the front glass and the top of the shuttlecraft was nostalgic and soothing. It didn't often rain in ShiKahr but when it did, Spock would sit close to the windows in his room, watching the drops splash against the glass, listening to the sounds of the rain, more often than not drawing on his PADD.

When he was a child, drawing was easier than talking. When words would fail him, when his emotions and thoughts would overwhelm him, he would take a stylus and give shape to everything he wasn’t able to name. Would it be helpful now as well?

Spock leaned against the back of the chair and watched the raindrops merge together. Perhaps McCoy had been right, and a short break from each other's company would be beneficial for he could not shake off the sensation of McCoy's palm pressed over his mouth, his heartbeat getting faster, and the image of McCoy’s bright blue eyes and flushed cheeks that were strangely aesthetically appealing at that moment.

“Spock?” McCoy’s voice, despite being quiet, sounded loud in the narrow space. 

"Yes, Doctor?"

"You should take off that wet tunic."

Spock ran his fingers over the sleeve. It should dry soon. “It is not an inconvenience,” he said. He had gone inside before it started to pour.

“Not an inconvenience, he says,” McCoy murmured and stood up. Spock tried to turn around, but a blanket covered his head. “Use this before you catch a cold.”

“Vulcans do not catch colds, Doctor,” Spock said as he pulled the blanket into his lap. He could smell the remnants of McCoy’s unique scent as well as the musty smell of the blanket. Mixed together, they were not pleasant.

“Yeah, it smells,” McCoy said, sitting down in the co-pilot’s seat. “God knows how long it’s been in the storage. Better than nothing, though.”

McCoy’s eyes flickered to the top of Spock’s head, and he smiled. A teasing sort of a smile Spock had learned meant nothing good, and yet there was something in McCoy’s expression that was different this time. New. And McCoy didn’t say anything. Only shook his head and faced the front of the shuttlecraft.

Spock glanced at the screen of his PADD and awkwardly patted down his disheveled hair, ignoring McCoy completely. He kept the blanket in his lap and switched on his PADD.

*

An hour later, Spock inspected his drawings, unsatisfied, and pressed delete.