"Fascinating." McCoy drawled in an almost sarcastic whisper as he lay on his side, letting one finger trace the contours of Spock's ear.
Kirk who was propped up with his back against the head board, looked down at his two lovers, one sleeping and the other getting a hands on crash course in Vulcan anatomy, and gave a warning, "He'll be cranky if you wake him." Nothing was worse than a cranky Vulcan. Not that the rest of the crew would notice or have anything to worry about, but Kirk didn't look forward to a duty shift with almost a constant low level irritating hum coming through their shared mental link that indicated despite all outward physical appearances of normalcy and calm, that Spock was not a happy camper.
McCoy pulled his finger back with a disturbed sigh. He would gladly spend a shift on duty with the buzz of irritation in the core of his being, taking a bit of pleasure in the fact that he had managed to aggravate Spock to that level, but he knew it would bother Jim until reparations had been made and Spock's irritation soothed. He had once, like most unfamiliar with them, thought Vulcans did not have any emotions. Being bonded to one had quickly disabused him of that notion. He still needled Spock about it though, just to keep up appearances. That and the fact it would prompt Spock to launch into a Vulcan version of a tirade of McCoy's obvious ignorance, complete with raised eyebrow. McCoy loved to goad to him but for Jim's sake he found himself being more selective with his many opportunities.
He looked up over at Kirk, squinting his eyes with great exaggeration. "Not all of us have double eyelids and can manage to fall asleep with that bright light blazing down on us." He grumbled. He shared Jim's love of old fashion paperbound books. Reading from their electronic counterparts gave him a headache, but he was still sore over his fun playing with Spock's ears being cut short.
Kirk rolled his eyes, not even bothering to look up. He knew McCoy was just complaining because he told him to leave Spock alone. The link he shared with McCoy wasn't quite as strong as the one they both shared with Spock, but a combination of knowing each other for so long and the common bond with Spock had manifested itself into a link that was becoming stronger as they explored it. As Spock's ears were to McCoy, their link was a source of fascination for Spock. He set his book down anyway and softly ordered the computer to dim the lights as he eased himself under the covers, resting his head on Spock's shoulder, he draped his arm across Spock's belly with his hand coming to rest on McCoy's hip.
"Careful, you'll wake him and he'll be cranky." McCoy couldn't resist tossing Jim's warning back to him as he watched Jim settle himself against Spock's frame.
"Playing with my ears does not usually upset me, nor does the Captain snuggling make me upset. So why are you both so worried I will be 'cranky' as you call it?" Spock spoke up a few minutes later, just as both men had begun to drift off.