i need to be youthfully felt 'cause god i've never felt young

[masc4masc]

[ the trip to vulcan had been on a whim. dirk is getting better at doing things on a whim from his time with dave, so it had been easy to find out they had shore leave nearby and to suggest they make a stop so dirk could show dave around. it helps that dave's told him time and time again just how much he's going to make sure everyone see just what they lost when they fucked up and dirk left for starfleet.

it's a long leave: their captain is on a sabbatical after some life events and they like him enough to wait for him to come back to head out again. so they've been on vulcan for a while now and things are... steady in a way that dirk finds he likes.

dave is popular in a way dirk has never been, at least insomuch as he manages to both infuriate and fascinate people who'd known dirk so long as practically his father's clone that he'd been of little more interest than as someone to try and rile up. but when dave shows up, perfect dave with his human charm and his vulcan intelligence and he outsmarts and outwits vsa cadets and graduates as easily as dirk ever has and he does it with a smile, he's a hit.

dirk's not jealous. at least usually not in a way that matters, because dave only has eyes for him at the end of the day. it's more like he wants to be as cool as his twin and knows he never will be but it doesn't actually matter because dave's opinion is the one that matters anyway.

there are some unfortunate fights, mostly when people make moves on dave and then dirk gets actively jealous and punches them not because he thinks dave will like them, but for the sheer audacity. starfleet's made dirk more human than ever, but dave unravels the council with logic and follows it up with the most beautiful, glorious dressing-down that even more people have a thing for dave. it eventually just makes dirk more smug than anything because none of them can have him like dirk does.

like now, when they're settled in the space they're sharing on their visit, laying on the beds they shoved together to save the same space, looking into each other's unshielded eyes. dirk's been thinking about something for a while and his hand is settled on dave's arm. it's not skin-to-skin due to dave's sleeve, but it doesn't matter. he can't stop thinking about something and it's so incredibly intimate that he's almost wary to ask for it but he shifts instead, free hand finding dave's to hook their index and middle fingers without thought. ]

There was something I wanted to try. We could do it anywhere but I deemed it prudent and topical while we are here to pursue it. It is... Well, we are already so well-connected in so many ways but I think there are gaps in our shared consciousness that could be filled and built over with a single meld. If it is amenable to you, of course. I will, as always, adhere to your comfort levels.

[ there's a little hunger there though, a sense of want. ]

gotta keep things cool with the apex predator

[negativechill]

[ working under his dead father's shadow is one thing. working under his dead father's shadow alongside the half-blooded heir of a (thankfully) neutral clan of vampires is another thing entirely.

well, 'another thing entirely,' 'a much larger source of stress in some ways and a huge stress relief in others,' it depends on the time of day. whether it's day or night, essentially. that said, it works as well as it ever will, which is surprisingly so.

jim and spock had started out on the wrong foot, to be sure. cats and dogs. but now? now, they're a well-oiled machine and jim trusts him implicitly. the rest of the team does too. spock takes care of everything he needs behind the scenes, not that anyone they work with would hold it against him since spock is so fully ethical on all counts when it comes to how he feeds.

there have been some issues in the past, but not because of spock: some new recruits seem to take a shine to him and try to offer, but spock never accepts and if they leave well enough alone, they can stay. if they press the matter, jim dismisses them. problems solved before they even become problems.

spock has a supplier that can get him fresh (or frozen, in a pinch) humanoid blood almost anywhere they are, ethically sourced, willing donors, and they have a chunk of the budget set aside for it. less of it these days, after they'd cleared out some problem vampires for one of the guy's operations and earned a permanent discount.

all of this is to say spock is always well-fed and his somehow becoming a loose cannon due to hunger never has been and never will be an issue, barring extenuating circumstances. which have never happened.

before now.

because the others won't know it on sight, but jim takes one look at spock as he steps out into where they're all getting their gear ready for the job they're going on the next evening and knows he hasn't fed when he was scheduled to. which is very not normal. he hops to his feet, setting aside the notes he'd been poring over and walks over to clap a hand on spock's shoulder and wheel him around to lead him back out of the room. ]

Spock, I wanted your opinion on something in my office. It won't take long. Let's go.

[ before he can hear a single protest it's off into the office and he shuts the door, only letting spock go when he's standing between him and the exit. ]

What happened? Spill. Your skin tone is two shades paler than normal and when I got close to you, your ambient temperature felt at least four degrees colder. [ it must suck (no pun intended) to have a boss so observant when you don't want anyone to notice you're a day off from your feeding time. ] Did something happen with the shipment?