Title: Odd Friendship

Fandom: Star Trek: Enterprise

Rating: PG

Prompt: 338. "Growing fonder." With Shran and Archer from 500 prompts for "hearts_blood"

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I gaining any money for this work. I'm just trying to enjoy myself.

Summary: Jonathon Archer contemplates the moment when association gives way to friendship and whether or not you can spot it.

Odd Friendship

Jon had never really given it much thought, beyond the fact that it existed, until Admiral Forrest made the comment.

"I'm sure you'll handle Shran fine. Whatever about your odd friendship with him, it obviously works for you."

Jon had not commented, but as he closed the channel he had frowned thoughtfully. Was his friendship with Shran really so odd? The Admiral would not have just meant that Shran was an alien, he was not so ignorant. The question nagged at Jon as he ordered Enterprise to head to Andoria and then explained to the senior staff that Shran would be joining the crew.

Trip let out a burst of laughter before he could stop himself, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Sorry cap'n. Just… that'll be interesting."

"You think so?" asked Jon neutrally. Trip shrugged,

"Well, yeah. If nothing else you and Shran have always dealt with each other on equal ranks. Now he'll be your subordinate. Certainly a spanner in the works for how you two get on."

The others made gestures or noises of agreement. Jon had not thought about that, being mostly preoccupied with the idea of having the aggressively xenophobic Shran on board 24/7. He was fairly sure Shran could compartmentalise his hate during high pressure situations, but that could not possibly work in the long term. But Trip had a point, how would Shran handle being Jon's subordinate?

By the time he had given Porthos his dinner and got into bed, Jon's head was beginning to hurt.

What was bugging him was that everyone, including himself, saw him and Shran as friends, but he had no idea when the hell that had happened. After all, Shran had tortured him for hours the first time they met. Jon had no slept well for three weeks after the fact, bothered by nightmares and worrying if he had made a grave mistake giving Shran the sensor data.

It had turned out ok, with Shran, driven by a hatred of owing debts, saving his ass. Still Jon had not exactly felt endeared to the thaan, more vindicated in his decision. Once Shran's debt had been cleared, Jon had even less reason to trust him.

Jon hated to admit it but their shard disdain for Vulcans had probably gone a long way to them getting along. If he had been more on the side of the Vulcans, Shran would never have trusted him to help with the negotiations. Jon had always though Shran's method of breaking the long-standing between Andorians and Vulcans by invading Weytahn/Paan Mokar as very, well, ballsy. Maybe rather risky, but one could not deny the results.

Rolling onto his side, Jon looked out his window and wondered if that was when he started thinking of Shran as a friend. Maybe, but then again, maybe not.

Had it been when Shran had sent them the data on the Xindi weapon? No, that had been an act of redemption, which had earned Jon's forgiveness, not his friendship.

When, like a big damn hero, Shran had appeared out of nowhere and helped him save Earth? Actually, Jon recalled it as the one and only time he had ever wanted to kiss Shran. Out of sheer gratitude of course.

Certainly Jon called Shran friend by the time the Kumari was destroyed. When he had seen Shran alive and as cantankerous as ever, he had been almost as relieved as he was later, when Trip and Malcolm were rescued alive and more or less well from the Marauder. That had been the time Shran had called him friend aloud, in the quiet of his room as he sharpened his Ushaan-tor. And then he had proceeded to try and kill him.

Simple Shran was not.

Jon scratched at Porthos' ears and wondered if it really mattered when he started thinking of Shran as a friend. What mattered was that he was his friend, but now he was also going to be his subordinate.

How would they manage? Shran was prideful, arrogant, with almost twice Jon's life worth of experience in space. Not alone that, Jon was used to dealing with Shran as an equal. He honestly did not want to work with Shran that way. They worked well because they could not pull rank on each other. Neither of them could snap, 'I outrank you, you have to do what I say!', so they had to argue and vent the issue out until they were done. It was a precarious balance between them.

Now that might be lost.

Jon sat up and sighed. It was odd, he decided at last. He had encountered Shran only a handful of times, just once a year really. And yet the insufferable Andorian had somehow become something of a fixture in Jon's life, like his crew and his ship.

So, Jon supposed, it made sense that way that Shran would join Enterprise.

And, despite everything, despite the punches, the fights, the bigotry, the sheer pig-headedness on both sides… he realised he was rather looking forward to this. If nothing else, it would undoubtedly shake things up around here, and be a new challenge for everyone.

Jon was never one to back down from that.

Short, I know, but I'm trying to get into Archer's head a bit because… although it makes emotional sense, when you actually think about it, their friendship is… weird. But that's part of the fun of it. XD

Night's Darkness