Mirrors - [Spock's Quarters] - [Jim and Spock]

[original_fine]

No matter the emergency, at some point most beings needed to attend to certain needs. Food. Elimination. Rest.

Curiosity.

Jim knew that Spock knew where he'd gone when he'd left the bridge, because he'd told him. And he knew that Spock would be intensely curious. And for his part, Jim needed Spock, too. There was a lot to think about, and try to

Comments

[sehlatbear]

Spock had meditated through most of the night. Jim had slept, on the edges of Spock's awareness.

It was early, before dawn if they had been on either one of their home planets, when he approached their bed.

Jim, t'hy'la, it is time to wake up.

[sehlatbear]

He would deny the label of romantic but there was something, perhaps inherited from watching his mother tend roses every day on a desert planet with the full knowledge and consent of his father that had nudged Spock in that direction after all.

Like this.

And Spock, the mental manifestation of him, seemed to blur into the thread.

[original_fine]

Jim watched avidly, his mind's eye following Spock's mental manifestation until he was gone, vanished into the link. The figurative nature of all of this would, perhaps, be interesting at a later date.

He approached the thread, extending his hand towards it, wondering how Spock had done it. Of course his hand was an illusion. He had to remember that--this was all Spock's mind, his own "body" his own projection. It could be anything, right?

He thought about Jim, thought about the thread, and slowly, as he leaned into it he felt the tug of Jim, his mental projection gasping a little reflexively at the thrumming tension of it.

[sehlatbear]

Follow it.

[original_fine]

Jim did not nod--his acknowledgment was in his actions, letting that tug (it spoke to an answering part of him, he felt, as yet inaccessible, like an itch under the skin) pull him along the thread, no longer quite so solidly Jim as he sought Spock's James.

[sehlatbear]

Spock lead Jim as far as the thread stretched, into the fog.

It was all theory from this point.

What does your connection with him tell you?

There was a possibility that mental proximity would aid them. Spock had declined to calculate the odds.

[original_fine]

Jim was silent a moment, thinking. Trying to feel James, trying to distinguish what was his.

There's... something. It was hard to put into words, even mentally. Like an itch, something tugging under my skin. Or whatever that counts for here. I knew which one was him, and there's a tug in that direction. Only I don't know how to... I can't grab it.

Those weren't the right words. He lacked the context for this.

[sehlatbear]

Do not attempt to grab it.

There was a clear sense of Spock's almost-exasperation.

There are few creatures in all the worlds, Jim, who respond well to such tactics. Ease yourself beside it.

[original_fine]

That's not what I meant, Jim said, also frustrated but at his own inability to express himself. I mean I can't comprehend where it is, what I'm sensing.

But he did as instructed, trusting Spock's voice in his head and his own intuition. The thread still tugged at him, as if caught or knotted on something inside himself that he could not untangle.

[sehlatbear]

There was little Spock could do except acknowledge that this was not a simple taste, particularly for one with no training.

Move as close as it is possible and relax your mind.

[original_fine]

It was probably not something he could have done, without his recent experiences inside Spock's head, inside the meld. It required a particular discipline Jim had never needed. Luckily, he had the basic components of quick study and determination to serve him, though relaxing his mind was like using a muscle you didn't realize you had. Or not using it, at the case may be.

But he moved closer, the buzzing/tugging getting stronger both with proximity and as he relaxed. He recalled the sensation of "falling" into the meld, but he held back, fairly certain that was not what this called for even if it was possible for him to recreate that feeling.

It... he's stronger.

[sehlatbear]

Very good, Jim.

Spock spares a moment for pride, both that his mate can do this, with his aid, and that his mate has chosen this - as much as Spock illogically wishes he would not.

Can you make a funnel?

Spock imagines a whirling spiral of energy, tightly controlled, moving out of Jim - shows him this concept.

You must connect it to him, to his place inside of you. And you must... not give too much.

[original_fine]

Jim focused on Spock instantly, the equivalent of a head jerking in his direction to study him. Too much. Yes, that would be a danger, if the thing he wanted to do was possible. Jim had always had trouble with those limits, however, though he had no particular wish to sacrifice himself for no reason.

So there is a connection. Obvious, perhaps. But interesting. The confirmation meant something, meant that the thing that existed between himself and Jim wasn't merely narcissistic. He hadn't imagined it. But how would he know how much was too much?

Spock's Kirk was in that thread, and Jim's Kirk answered its call like a magnet. It allowed Jim to pinpoint the link, at least while he was here. And to follow Spock's example, faltering several times as the small yet unwieldy spiral dissolved before he could do anything with it. A hurricane, not a tornado. But he got it at last, not so steady at Spock's example, but focused and bright.

[sehlatbear]

Can you maintain it without thinking on it?

[original_fine]

The funnel flickered, twisted slightly, waxing and waning as Jim tried not thinking about it, stumbled back into thinking about it, then eased back again. His body was sweating, unbeknownst to him. But with effort, he was able to tear his attention away from that spiral of focused energy and "face" Spock, not wishing to say anything lest it disturb the careful not-thinking he was doing.

[sehlatbear]

Will it hold? Follow me.

Spock lead him back a little ways, a calculated retreat along the thread of their connection and then stopped.

Can you feel it?