Come Sail Away

Summary: After crashing on an alien planet, half-vulcan Nick Valentine is trapped with the one person he wanted to forever avoid. As the days go by, things start to look genuinely friendly between the two before a strange onset of symptoms overwhelm Nick.

Rating: M - strong language, sexual themes


"Tell me again why you have to go on such a weird little adventure?" M'Rani inquired, sitting across the table in the mess hall. It was fairly crowded that morning, and M'Rani tried her very hardest not to raise her voice above what was needed, though she felt as if she needed to shout. They had planned for several weeks to finally find time to get off work and reserve the same holodeck for a couple hours, as they both were getting notably stressed and needed a little vacation on some snowy andorian moon. But this little trip was going to tear that time into little bits and M'Rani wasn't the least bit happy. "And what's with only having ensigns? I thought that most away missions were led by someone pretty far up - sometimes even the captain!" The end of her sentence came to a slight screech of annoyance, but she let out a breath and forced herself to calm down.

"The mission isn't nearly as important as the ones where the captain goes," Nick smirked, watching his friend as she desperately tried to breathe steadily. "As for just ensigns, I'm not quite sure of that myself. It's hardly dangerous, but you're right - a CO usually comes with us. Maybe it's just coincidence," he shrugged, taking a sip of water.

"Coincidence? You imply that the only reason they pick people higher up is because of their expertise?" M'Rani snorted, glancing away from her friend as she rolled her eyes. "I mean, if that were true, then there would be a lot more ensigns going on away missions all the time."

Nick smirked, looking around the room. "It sure would serve to get some more promotions," he said quietly before turning back to her. "Maybe they send the COs on missions that are important for the safety of the crew, or a specific mission. Like they have to have someone more reliable, or experienced for the mission." He paused, taking a deep breath and playing with the rings of water on the table left from his drink. "This mission is neither important nor dangerous. We simply need some data from a previously crashed ship. We've scanned the wreckage. We know it's old - very old - and we are pretty sure they crashed because of personal reasons. Going to the planet shouldn't be risky at all. We're only going down for a few hours then coming right back up with the data. It shouldn't be difficult, and it's a fairly small mission."

M'Rani crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, scoffing. "And those few hours just happen to be right at the same time and day that we planned our vacation," she muttered angrily, not meeting his eyes. A few moments passed as Nick allowed her time to fume. Finally, she looked back up at Nick with her bright green cat-like eyes, and the sudden contact took Nick slightly unawares. He recovered quickly, however, and she continued. "Who all's going with you anyhow? I mean, there are tons of ensigns on board. Who'd they deem necessary to accompany you?"

Nick shifted in his seat, the question reminding him of who exactly he had to contend with for a few hours. "Well, Ensign Braal is coming to pilot since none of the rest of us have been very successful in that field," he trailed off the end, blushing a slight green. "Ensign Dunham has requested to come and study the actual planet since he's never seen plant life like the ones down there." He paused, and looked more than a little irritated at the next, "And Ensign Vorik has been called down to take a look at the systems of the ship and see if they could be any use to us. And I'm just there to study the rest. Where it came from, how old it is, what type it is, and so on."

M'Rani looked almost sympathetic. "I can see why you aren't as excited as you should be. Poor little guy doesn't want to spend time with his own kind," she half teased, making a pouty face at him. He grunted disapprovingly before looked away from her and out the window. "Oh, come on, I was just kidding. You know that." When there was no reaction, she grabbed onto the sleeve of his wrist, careful not to touch skin and especially not to touch his hand. She learned very early on what kind of awkward situations that could get her into. She squeezed his arm, making him turn back to her. "I'm sorry. You know I was just playing with you. I know you haven't had the best of luck with your heritage. I shouldn't've poked fun."

His eyes warmed ever so slightly at her apology. "They are not my heritage. I was born and raised on Earth. I'm human, despite what others may think. Just because my mother was another species does not mean that I am as well. Her death made sure that I was to never be anything close to what a vulcan would be like, and I'm perfectly content with that," he nodded, seeming to put an end to the conversation like that. But then he went on, "I know what you're thinking, and I promise I won't be unfair to the guy. I just won't be... happy about it."

M'Rani smirked, taking her hand from his arm and leaning in the chair once again. "I doubt he'll be happy either," she purred, that twinkle of subtle wit in her eyes.

It took a minute before Nick was able to figure his friend out, but when he did, he gave a short laugh and turned towards the rest of the mess hall. "Oh, funny. Very witty indeed," he said sarcastically, getting up and heading towards the doors before turning back to her and raising his eyebrow in a very vulcan way. He probably didn't realize this, but he was completely vulcan in more ways than one.

M'Rani sat quietly, thinking on this. "I thought so," she murmured before getting up and leaving as well.


Day 1

You know, come to think of it, a lot of Voyager's crew make pretty shitty predictions. It's as if every time they need to go on an away mission, they say that nothing bad should happen - and yet that very thing usually does. Take this mission, for example. Fact number one: There was a slight distortion field in the planet's atmosphere, so they had to take a shuttle because the transporter wouldn't work. Fact number two: The crew reasoned that the field was what caused the other ship to crash. But of course that shouldn't happen to their own shuttle because it was far more advanced. Fact number three: Due to the strange field around the planet, their shuttle crashed. Go figure.

The smell of smoke and hot metal was overpowering. Nick glanced around, his head heavy, trying to remember why he was there. Oh, right. Voyager screwed up again and let yet another shuttle crash to an alien planet. He scrambled to get up from his seat, which had fallen over quite gracefully onto the floor of the ship, and felt a staggering pain shoot up his right leg. "Shit!" he whispered harshly, squeezing his eyes shut. He then gathered his strength and pulled himself up more expertly this time, allowing most of his weight to focus on his left leg.

When he took another look around, the smoke had cleared somewhat through the opened hatch. Nick wondered for a moment who had opened it and why they didn't wake him up earlier, until he saw out of the corner of his eye a whole rainbow of blood. His eyebrows drew together as he leaned over to look at who it all belonged to. Obviously the blue was Braal's, as she was bolian, and the only blue-blooded humanoid there. And there was specks of red here and there, which must have belonged to Dunham, the human. There was also green, but the only source he could see was from himself, some on the floor from his leg, and some on the chair from what must have been a cut on his head. The only other body he found was Braal's, and she seemed... quite dead. "Damn it," he whispered, shaking his head. He turned around the idea of bringing her out of the shuttle with him, but he was in no state to lift anything heavy, and he was curious to see who else had gotten out.

Wearily, he limped over to the hatch and walked out, instantly noticing the fire pit and covered cave entrance. How long had they been on the surface?

As he took the last step off of the hatch door, he stumbled a bit and fell onto the red dirt covering the area. Dust flew up around him and he cried out, having landed on his injured leg. Suddenly there was curly orange hair dangling above him, almost tauntingly. Groaning, he threw his arm over his eyes and waiting to fall asleep again. This was too much. He wasn't trained for this shit.

"Oh, you'll be fine, Valentine." There was a pause. "Heh. That rhymed."

Instantly, his face pulled into a frown and he slowly took the arm off his face. "Dunham?"

The ginger smiled at him, glancing away from his injury for a moment. "Yep. Now hold still, I've gotta try and fix you up a bit more."

Nick huffed out a sigh, easing into the ground more and letting his muscles relax. He heard the familiar sound of a tricorder, then a dermal regenerator. Nick scoffed quietly, rolling his eyes. "Dunham, you're a botanist. What makes you think you're qualified to be the doctor?"

Dunham scowled. "'Cause all we had was a pilot, who's dead by the way, an engineer, and an archeologist. At least I deal with life of some sort."

Laughing softly, Nick pulled up, albeit with some difficulty, to sit up on his elbows. "You can hardly call a plant anywhere close to a human, much less a human/vulcan hybrid." When he got no response, he softened his tone and lolled his head to the side in a small show of levity. "Anyways, there's not much a dermal regenerator can do for my leg. It's pretty deep."

"Uh, yeah. There's also thousands of cuts all over your leg, if you haven't noticed. Plus, there's some major swelling. So yeah, the regenerator can do some help. Now just hold still and let me do my job."

"I gotta hand it to you, Dunham, with that attitude, you'd make a fantastic doctor."

Dunham didn't say anything, but he allowed a small grin. Nick took it as a sign of peace and took a look around their supposed camp. It looked fairly well-tended and set up nicely. Nick couldn't help but think that Dunham didn't do this all on his own. "So was I out for a couple days or did you get the computer to help you set all this up?"

At that precise moment, a pair of uniform black legs walked out from behind the shuttle to stand right next to Dunham, who was grinning like an idiot. "I did indeed help Ensign Dunham with preparing the campsite. Unlike yourself, who was still unconscious. In fact, I seem to recall you being in the same state for approximately eleven point three hours," came the monotonous tone of the vulcan ensign.

Dunham, of course, was giggling lightly at that point. Nick sat there, a bit flabbergasted. "I, uh... I didn't mean to imply..."

"He's trying to apologize, Vorik." Dunham: always the little helper.

Vorik raised an eyebrow. "Indeed? Thank you, Ensign Dunham, I would not have known otherwise." Dunham, of course, was still trying to contain his laughter. "If you two would excuse me, I will return to repairing the ship."

"Of course," said Dunham instantly, still grinning. Nick only looked at the vulcan in shock as he walked gracefully back behind the shuttle once again.

Nick glared at his newly acquired doctor. "You're a dick."

Dunham mockingly raised an eyebrow. "Indeed?"


Day 6

Ensign Dunham was gone.

On the second day, after helping to bandage up Nick's leg and bury Ensign Braal, Dunham couldn't help but start looking into the plant life. It had started by just seeing if the fruits were edible, but as he got farther and farther away from the campsite, he got into more and more bizarre plant life. Being in an alien jungle was apparently a huge thing for a botanist. But, after a couple hours stuck in the jungle, Dunham went too far, and Nick and Vorik hadn't seen him since.

In the following days, the camp got tense. Dunham had basically been Nick's comic relief and, well, really anything social. Nick usually avoided talking with Vorik. When he had to, it was very short and to the point. But now, being alone with no one else but the vulcan to talk to, Nick was getting antsy. And when he got antsy, he hovered. Around whoever was nearby. And, awkwardly, that just happened to be Vorik.

"Ensign Valentine, it is imperative that I get the food replicators online. With Ensign Dunham missing, we have no way of knowing if the local plant life is edible," Vorik deadpanned, looking almost irritated. He turned to grab another tool from the seat beside him and continued his work beneath the food replicator. "As such, I would like to request your presence cease for the time being while I endeavor to concentrate on the task at hand."

Nick boiled. Four days he's had to put up with this - four days! And it wasn't as if hovering was bothering Vorik, right? It wasn't as if Nick had been babbling his ear off or something, like some other people do! He was just watching. Grumbling to himself, Nick shoved the seat with the tools on it as he got up furiously, the blood rushing to his head. He ignored it, stomping angrily out of the shuttle and into the campsite. He contemplated going into the cave, but decided against it. It was damn hot in there during the day.

That had immediately become fascinating to all three of the ensigns, even. But while Dunham went to look at the plantlife, and Vorik repair the shuttle, Nick was the one to go in and check out just why. Almost instantly he found a small, geyser-like hole far in the back of the cave. It seemed that during the day, it would roll out small amounts of steam that heated the cave up pretty good, then it would stop at night. Which was perfect, as the normal outside temperature during the day was very warm, much like Vulcan - while the nights were at least below freezing. The cave, while not producing steam at night, was still much warmer than the open area, and therefore comfortable to sleep in.

Nick decided to sit on one of their makeshift chairs, comprised of a few larger rocks that looked somewhat flat on the top. After a few moments, Nick was dragged out of his train of thought with the sound of Vorik walking quite briskly out of the shuttle and towards him. He sighed, getting ready for another speech about how illogical he was being. Vorik didn't sit beside him, but stood a good distance away, as if he didn't want to get any closer than necessary. "I seem to have upset you," he said calmly, as if it was a normal thing for him to say. But Nick was dumbstruck. Even with the large display he had been given recently, Vorik had not acknowledged Nick's emotions, as though he disapproved of them. Come to think of it, he probably did. Disapproval wasn't an emotion, was it?

Nick sighed, shaking off the feeling of unease. It was weird, to say the least. "No..." he started, running his hands over his eyes in a show of frustration. He tried desperately to find the right words. "I just... I'm not very good at dealing with vulcans," he admitted, locking his eyes onto the floor.

There was a moment of what he could only guess was confusion. "But you are vulcan." Nick was right - he sounded utterly lost.

"No, I'm not actually." There was a moment of silence, prompting him to explain himself further. Nick looked up into the vulcan's dark brown eyes before dragging them back toward the fire pit. "My mother was a vulcan and lived on Earth with my dad. She died giving birth to me, though, and my dad raised me all himself. I was around a lot of his family growing up. Y'know, close cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents... But I never went to Vulcan. My dad offered to take me, to meet my mother's family and maybe even learn some of that creepy emotional suppression shit. I told him that I never wanted to go there. Vulcans were the reason why none of the kids at school wanted to play with me. Why I couldn't get a date to the prom. Why I was the laughing stalk of the whole school. Oh, look, it's the space elf!" Nick seethed, getting lost in memory. But then he remembered where he was and just who he was talking to. He cleared his throat, his cheeks turning a bit green. "Ehm. Sorry. I know you're just doing your job, I shouldn't blame you for my bad childhood," he said softly, not meeting the vulcan's eyes.

There was a moment of silence before a soft, "You did not offend me. I was merely... intrigued by your story. I apologize if I have made you more frustrated than necessary," he said slowly, as if finding each appropriate word individually before speaking them. His eyebrow returned to its normal position before he turned around and headed back towards the shuttle to continue his repairs.


Day 14

It's been two weeks now. Nick's noticed over time that Vorik is becoming less and less condescending, which is always good. But while the vulcan is working on repairing the ship, all Nick's been doing is sitting around, waiting for nothing to happen. He's restless, and he seriously needs something to do other than hover over his colleague and bother him to death.

"I'm gonna try and find the other ship," he says abruptly from across the camp. A small amount of silence ensues in which Vorik gets up and walks to the hatch of the shuttle. The look tells Nick that he needs to explain a little further. "The alien ship? The one that we actually came down here to investigate in the first place? Yeah, I'd like to go check it out. See if I can still do my job."

Vorik walked fully out of the ship then, striding towards Nick. "I do not believe that's a logical course of action. We know nothing of this planet or its possible residents. Nor do we know where the location of that vessel is."

Nick's brows drew together. "Yeah, well, I can go look for it. Just try and check out the area." At Vorik's still present look of disapproval, he went on. "I mean, even if I don't find the damn thing, at least I've had a good look at the woods around us. We've got no idea what lives in those trees. I may even find Dunham!" he almost yelled, trying to get his point across. He didn't know why, but he really wanted Vorik to agree with him.

"I disagree. You are still heavily injured, and you are correct in the assumption that we do not know the surrounding area. It is far more likely that you will be lost, not unlike Ensign Dunham." He took a moment, closing his eyes for a split second. "And I do not wish to be left alone for the duration of our visit."

This caught Nick a little bit off guard. He didn't want to be left alone? It was almost too easy to pick that up and bait him with it, and Nick felt that he had been given a piece of valuable information, so he didn't throw it back at him. "I guess you're right," he said finally. "We can't split up anymore. And..." he paused, trying to lift his leg and felt the throb of the wound pick up again, wincing. "My leg does still hurt." He let out a soft chuckle.

Vorik's brow dropped to a more serious level. "Indeed? I suppose it is time to redo the bandaging." He immediately dropped to the ground in front of Nick and reached around to the back of his calf, latching onto the cloth and unwrapping it.

Nick's eyes bulged. He had been doing the wrapping himself just fine, why the heck was Vorik suddenly volunteering? He almost spoke up, but he noticed with slight disdain that Vorik was doing a much better job than he normally would have done. Sighing, he allowed Vorik to continue. It was a relief, he noticed after a while, that because Vorik was vulcan as well, he was doing everything without actually touching Nick's skin. He was about to thank the vulcan for it, but he was done unwrapping it before he could say anything.

Vorik stood up suddenly and looked around for a moment before walking back to the shuttle and grabbing the first aid kit. He came back with a gel and proper wraps. "I, uh... I didn't notice we had those..." Nick said sheepishly, glancing at the ripped pant leg of his uniform.

"I noticed that earlier, though I neglected to say anything to you about it. I apologize." He started to wrap the gelled bandages around the wound.

Wincing, Nick nodded. "Not your problem. I just feel like an idiot for not thinking about it."

Vorik didn't say anything back. Gently, he wrapped the bandages tight, but not too tight, without touching bare skin. Nick was extremely grateful for this, but it still felt weird. Having the vulcan on his knees in front of you, with bare skin out in the open no less. He didn't know why that should feel so strange to him, but it did. Really strange.

Suddenly, a sort of angry embarrassment bubbled up inside him. Why did Vorik have to do this, when he most likely knew it would make him uncomfortable? Why was he so close? Nick just wanted the vulcan away from him - which, not surprisingly, wasn't a very uncommon feeling. But lately it had gotten to the point where it was almost volatile.

When Vorik was done, Nick stood up almost instantly, and only a few seconds later, sat back down due to the sharp pain the sudden move caused. "What is the problem?" asked the vulcan almost nonchalantly.

Nick shook his head, refusing to say anything. He knew he was angry for absolutely no reason. It was happening a lot lately, and it had caused far more friction between him and Vorik than needed to be there right now. "Nothing," he grated out after the silence.

Vorik seemed to study him. "Your temper is becoming increasingly strong. Perhaps something is affecting you negatively?"

That one suggestion snapped Nick out of his mood. His eyes wide, he looked up at the now standing vulcan. "What? You mean like some sort of alien virus or something? You think I caught a disease from the planet?"

"It is a possibility. However, I would advise you not to think about it. It will cause unnecessary emotions." He started walking back to the shuttle, then paused, turning around. "Come with me and help with the repairs, if it will get you to stop thinking about it."

Nick nodded, got up, and limped with him towards the shuttle.


Day 23

Nick slowly unwrapped the white bandage from his leg, feeling no need to wince. Finally. The damn thing was finally starting to close up. It was definitely going to scar, but to be honest, right now Nick didn't care all that much. He was just glad to have the itchy thing off, once and for all.

"I see your injury has finally healed?" Inquired Vorik from the other side of the camp. He seemed in a much better mood lately, given the circumstances. Nick grinned, standing up and walking around experimentally. After feeling little to no pain, he looked up at his companion and grinned. "I will perceive that as a 'yes'."

Nick couldn't help but strut around on his now painless leg. "Perceive it all you want, honey, I'm just glad it's off!"

Vorik's eyebrow rose. "I do not understand. I am a vulcan, not a sweet liquid produced by bees."

Laughing out loud, Nick didn't reply and walked over to the shuttle and threw the bandage in their 'waste dispenser', as Vorik dubbed it. He then strutted back towards Vorik and plopped down on the ground next to the rock he was sitting on. Then he reached over Vorik's feet to the little bag and grabbed a replicated sandwich. "So. You miss Voyager?" he asked after a while.

The vulcan seemed to take a minute before answering. "Perhaps. I find myself wishing to be able to sleep in my quarters once again."

Nick raised one of his eyebrows, a vulcan trait he seemed to never be able to get rid of. "You know, I'm not going to deny it; I though you were going to say, 'vulcans to not miss things', or 'missing something is an emotion'. I didn't actually think you'd give me a straight answer."

Vorik thought about it for a moment before turning towards Nick. "Longing is indeed an emotion, however I find that in these circumstances, indulging in the mind's wants is not such a bad thing. Obviously I would not do so in any other situation, however there is nothing much else to do besides repair. Why not think?"

"Ahh, a very logical way to excuse emotions, Ensign Vorik, I applaud you," Nick said sarcastically, his eyes squinting up at his almost-friend. They'd sort of gotten into this routine now, where they would sit down at lunch and go on about whatever they felt like. It was a good way to relieve stress and get used to putting up with each other, which neither of them will admit to needing. Their relationship was rocky at best when they started, but now conversations seemed to flow quite easily, and they even managed to piss each other off less, which was awesome.

A moment of silence filled the air as they each took their time munching on lunch. Nick had a slight headache again, which had been on and off for the past week or so. But he decided to ignore it, and try to think of things he missed about Voyager. It usually helped to get the ball rolling on a conversation. "I miss having a full uniform," he grumbled, looking down at his grey undershirt that was now untucked and dirty, as well as his uniform pants that were ripped from his earlier bandaging.

He looked up at Vorik to see a slight twitch of his eyebrow, which usually meant he was amused. "Understandable, Ensign."

Nick chuckled at his tone, shaking his head. "Dude, how many times do I have to tell you? It's Nick."

"I am aware of your first name. I simply do not think it appropriate that I use it to address you."

"And why not? I call you Vorik."

"Vorik is not my first name."

Nick's brows drew in tight, which did not help the headache. Neither did this brainteaser that apparently Vorik was intent on putting him through right now. "Really? Then what is your first name? And don't tell me it isn't pronounceable."

"Very well. I will not."

When silence fell over the two, Nick got a little frustrated again. Why was Vorik always teasing him like this? He knew that Nick wasn't full vulcan, so why make it seem like he expected him to know everything that vulcans did? Or maybe he didn't, and that was why he was always teasing Nick. Damn, all this brain twisting nonesense was not helping the headache. Again.

Nick reached up and placed the palms of his hands against his temples, rubbing in slow circles. He swore under his breath, and it brought Vorik's attention downwards. "Is something that matter?"

Letting out a tiny groan, Nick nodded reluctantly. "Yeah. My damn headache came back. Again. It's getting worse. And the temper isn't much better, man. I'm not sure how much longer this is going to last on me." Lowering his hands in defeat, he leaned against the edge of another rock, feeling the cool surface working wonders on his forehead. "I think you're right - I've got an alien virus or something. Jeez."


Day 31

It was really quiet.

Like, uncomfortably quiet. Vorik was working on the shuttle again. Nick was laying on the hatch door, which was still wide open and at an angle to the ground. The only sound that Nick could hear was Vorik's tool, which was uber quiet anyway, and the occasional insect or whatever - which he never saw, by the way. The quiet was unnerving, and it was making Nick real uneasy. So he did the only think he could think of.

"I'm sailing away," he burst out suddenly, making Vorik jump a tiny bit, which of course Nick didn't see. Vorik started to ask him what the hell he was going on about, until Nick started belting again. "Set an open coarse for the Virgin Sea. I've got to be free. Free to face the life that's ahead of me. On board, I'm the captain, so climb aboard. We'll search for tomorrow on every shore. And I'll try. Oh Lord, I'll try... to carry on!"

"I do not understand, why are you saying you're the Captain-"

"I look to the sea. Reflections in the waves spark my memories. Some happy, some sad. I think of childhood friends, and the dream we had. We lived happily forever, so the story goes. But somehow we missed out on the pot of gold. But we'll try the best that we can... to carry on!" Nick sits up then, waving his arms up and down as if he's playing the guitar, and he starts bobbing his head. "A gathering of angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said. They said, 'come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me, lads'. Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me. Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me baby. Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me!"

He started doing strange noises with his mouth then, in tune with the synthetics of the song. "I thought that they were angels, but to my surprise we climbed aboard their starship, and headed for the skies! Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me, lads. Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me. Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me. Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me..."

And when the song ended, Nick jumped up from the hatch door and strutted over to Vorik, whose face looked slightly contorted. "Whassup? Don't like my singing?" he laughed.

Vorik raised his eyebrow even higher, though the rest of his face seemed to relax a bit. "Is that what you call that display? It seemed rather... odd."

"What are you talking about, man! No such thing as odd to a vulcan." He took the seat next to Vorik's - the only other one that was still standing at least upright.

"I believe I may have to disagree with you." He turned back to his console that he was working on and started making noises with it again. Nick felt that odd uneasiness creeping back into him with the silence, but he ignored it. No need to break into another song. Vorik looked up at him, then, and glanced at the toolbox that just happened to be behind the chair he was sitting in. "Give me the hyperspanner."

Nick nodded and turned the chair towards the box, but he had no idea what the hell a hyperspanner was. Glancing quickly over the tools, he grabbed what looked to be a... thing... and handed it to Vorik. "There ya go."

Vorik looked the tool over. "This is not a hyperspanner."

"Oh." He grabbed the tool back out of Vorik's hands and went back into rummaging again. After a moment, he turned back to Vorik with a grim look. "I gotta be honest with you - I don't know what a hyperspanner looks like."

The look he then received was a mix between vulcan exasperation and vulcan annoyance. Which meant a raised brow. "Excuse me," he said as he suddenly stood up and leaned over Nick in order to reach the toolbox himself.

The proximity to Vorik seemed to make Nick a little more uneasy than usual. His breath tightened in what he first thought was shock, but he soon realized that he actually liked the warmth and comfort that seemed to come from being close to Vorik. It had been at least a month out there in the woods, and he hadn't gotten any for a while back on the ship either, so he just thought it was a natural reaction to body heat. But still.

He didn't swing that way.


Day 39

After the whole accidentally-got-horny-on-my-not-so-friendly-friend thing, Nick's temper skyrocketed.

And so has his temperature, according to Vorik. After a few more heated arguments and a lot of Nick shouting at the poor vulcan, Vorik had decided that he was indeed being affected by something. While he didn't know Nick that well from before, he knew enough now to notice when his behavior has changed dramatically. And so, with that in mind, Vorik has started to monitor Nick's status on a daily basis - sometimes even more than once a day when he's in a particularly venomous mood. But so far, none of the readings have been consistent enough to draw any conclusions.

It's as if he has some sort of chemical imbalance that's messing with his head and, well, just generally his whole body.

"What are your current symptoms?" asked Vorik as he came walking out of the shuttle with a PADD in hand. He had made sure that Nick wasn't in the mood to thrash him before going in, so he was safe for now.

Nick looked at the vulcan through squinted eyes. His headache was worse again. "Uh... bad headache. Hot. And a bit queasy."

Vorik hummed, nodding. It was almost too human to have happened, and Nick was sure that he had imagined it. Maybe he should add delusional to the list. It wouldn't be all that surprising. "Have you felt much anger today?"

"Nah, not really. I'm a little ticked that the damn headache won't go away, but I'm not in the mood to get up and throw the shuttle on its side, no."

Vorik nodded again, slower. He typed something into his PADD and then looked down at Nick. He didn't look so good. Maybe it was just the heat. It was particularly warm today. "Thank you. I shall return to my repairs." And he headed back into the ship.


Day 50

Running his tongue over the delicately curved shell of an ear, Nick reached down and grasped a waist that was covered by thin fabric. A gasp echoed through his mind and be began massaging the muscle. He trailed his lips down the ear again, slowly, deliberately, placing kisses on the skin just below. The neck opened wider for him and he lapped at the now exposed juncture.

Slowly, he began pushing the thin fabric below his hands up, feeling the smooth skin beneath his sensitive fingers. His hands moved in slow circles around the rise of each new area of skin, up, up, until he reached the pectorals. A shiver racked the body beneath him as he played with its sensitive nubs.

Another gasp was released as Nick readjusted himself to straddling the other completely before moving his head down to kiss where his hands had just been. He pushed the shirt up more, bringing his lips to tease at that same nub. He gently kissed it, watching as he worked it until it grew harder. Playfully, he ran his tongue over it quickly, which earned him an arch of its owner's back. He lowered himself to it again, smiling, as he pushed harder with his tongue. Once or twice he would allow a swipe of his teeth across the skin.

Goosebumps littered the skin wherever he touched, as he dragged his palms up and down the length of the torso. He gently plucked at the opposite nipple, watching as it hardened as well. Then he started trailing even more kisses down the torso's abdomen, watching as the body beneath him squirmed and gasped. It was surprisingly responsive.

Eagerly, Nick started fumbling with the waistband of a uniform. He kissed as he slid the thicker fabric down. Strong thighs clenched around him but never pushed, waiting as the cloth created unbearable friction. Nick grinned. This body was pretty responsive, and he was enjoying it. Still no moans, however. Nick decided to change that.

Glancing back up at the toned abdomen of the body, he pulled the pants down and kissed around the belly button again. He pulled the pants down to the knees, then brought his hand back up to gently massage at a thigh. The muscle squirmed underneath his touch, but he ignored it, trailing his touches higher. He dove his tongue into the dip of the naval, earning yet another loud gasp, but still no moan. Frustrated with the lack of vocals, Nick decided to abandon subtlety.

As he reached between the body's legs, however, he was met with not a soft, warm dampness of what he thought was there, but a hot hardness. The organ throbbed in his touch, and Nick was on the edge of panicking as he realized just what gender he was with. But even as his hand settled uncomfortably on the erection, that loud moan he had been waiting for reached his ears, and the undeniably male and, quite arousing, sound of Vorik's voice reverberated through him.

Nick sat up instantly, gasping for air, blinking his eyes in the sudden darkness that was the cave. Panting, he noticed that his skin was far hotter than normal, and he was still, quite painfully, hard.

The mental image of what his subconscious had just come up with was still searing itself into his brain as the real Vorik, who had been left on watch, was stalking towards him. "Ensign Valentine? Are you alright?" The phrase sounded quite human to Nick, but he couldn't bring himself to focus on it at the moment. His heart was still beating quite hard in his side, and the sounds of Vorik moaning still echoed through him. "I believe you were speaking in your sleep," Nick's eyes bugged at the implication, but Vorik went on. "It was indiscernible, however. Were you experiencing a 'nightmare', has humans call it?"

Nick let out a lough huff of air. "You could say that, yeah," he whispered meekly, almost to himself. Shaking his head vigorously, as if trying to physically fling the images out of his head, he stood up. He thanked whatever Heavens existed that his undershirt was long and untucked, otherwise Vorik was sure to notice his... reaction... to the dream. Nick refused to meet Vorik's eyes as he walked past him and toward the entrance to the cave. "I think it's my shift," he said simply.

If Vorik was confused about Nick's actions, he didn't show it. "Indeed."

And that was that.


Day 57

After that night, Nick was exceptionally awkward.

Not even a cute kind of clumsy awkward, just an all around can't-talk-because-I'm-thinking-of-the-dream-where-I-was-gonna-suck-you-off kind of awkward. Which was, all in all, not fun. Or productive, really. Though to be honest Nick wasn't about to say he was generally productive anyway, lying around and randomly talking to Vorik as the vulcan tried to concentrate on repairs, but now he was far more aware of his uselessness.

And awkwardness.

Yay.

"What are your current symptoms, Ensign?" Vorik's deadpan brought Nick out of his daydream.

"Uh..." he trailed, finding it difficult to concentrate on what the vulcan was talking about. Surely he could have figured it out by now. Surely he knows about Nick's apparent attraction to him. Well, Nick didn't even know at first, but now he did. He wasn't even gay! Why was he thinking about Vorik like that? And even if he was suddenly into dudes, which by the way is completely crazy, why the fuck did it have to be Vorik?!

"Ensign Valentine?"

Once again Nick had to be snapped out of his thoughts. "What?"

Vorik seemed a little miffed. "What are your current symptoms?"

"Oh, uh... headache. Dizziness. Nausea. Fever, I'm pretty sure. Like, a really bad one." He contemplated the repercussions of telling Vorik that he was unusually horny. Sure, Vorik's a vulcan and all so he should treat the situation logically and without judgement, right? That's how vulcans dealt with everything. But what if there wasn't a reason for it at all, besides him just being horny? Then he just would have given personal information with absolutely no need, not to mention it being embarrassing. Oh, fuck it. He's been there for a month and a half and probably has a couple more to go, so why not? "And I'm kinda... horny."

Vorik's eyebrows - both, mind you - shot right up, even below his fringe. Instantly, Nick felt the set of dread building up inside him. He should never had said anything. This whole confession was a mistake. This symptom-checking, even, was a mistake! Nothing was wrong with him! But even Nick knew that was a lie. He was just angry, damn it. "Explain."

What the fuck do you mean 'explain', Vorik?! I'm horny! Ain't nothing else to it! Nick thought, anger washing over him again. But he couldn't let Vorik know his temper was getting a hellova lot worse. So, instead, he gritted his teeth and took a deep breath. "What don't you understand?" he asked coolly.

"The phrase 'horny'. What does it mean?"

Dear God, he didn't know what horny meant?! Sighing, Nick shifted uncomfortably in Vorik's proximity and the thoughts that constantly flitted through his head. "Sexually aroused. Or, in my case; extremely, frustratingly, aroused."

There was another awkward silence as Vorik's eyebrows rose to new heights, lifting off his head and into the murky green sky. Then they settled again, moments later, as a look of comprehension seemed to flash over his face. Then he stood up, straightening his filthy uniform, and taking a few paces back. "I see."

Anger and confusion clashed across Nick's face and he tried to stand up to face Vorik. His now prominent erection, however, refused to let him stand without loosing at least some amount of dignity, so he opted for staying put. But he looked straight into Vorik's eyes, making sure that he looked at least a little bit threatening. Somehow, he knew that Vorik knew what he was sick with. "The hell do you mean 'I see', Vorik? What is it? Do you know?"

Vorik actually looked conflicted for a moment before turning from Nick and walking back towards the shuttle.


Day 65

Almost a week passed before Nick talked to Vorik again.

He was pissed, there was no doubt about it. Vorik knew what was wrong with him and he was refusing to tell him. Like, what kind of screwed up logic allowed him to do that? How was he justifying keeping the information from his 'patient'? Or had he finally given up all forms of logic and just gone with whatever suited him the most - even if that let Nick stay uber sick? Maybe even die? 'Cause Nick knew his condition was getting worse.

The queasiness had gone, thank fuck. But the headaches? They were murder. And the washing of heat over his body every minute of every day was getting extremely difficult to ignore. Like why was he so fucking hot? And horny? God, his dick would just not go down. He was in constant pain. If at some point his headache would finally lessen, his arousal would increase - and the other way around. But the heat? It was always there.

On the 65th day of their lovely vacation, Nick had had enough. He couldn't deal with this anymore without at least knowing what it is. So, he stood up, if somewhat wobbly, and strode over and into their shuttle where Vorik was still trying to repair. Don't know why he never seemed to give up on that thing. It's been a full two months - if he hadn't fixed it up completely by then, then what chance did he have of getting it running - ever?

Nick made his way over to Vorik, grabbed his elbow and swung him around in his seat. The vulcan looked absolutely shocked, but Nick ignored it. "What the fuck is wrong with me? Why won't you tell me? Why can't I know why I'm going to die?!" he shrieked.

Vorik looked completely and utterly at a loss. Whether on what was happening or what to say, Nick didn't know. "I..." he started, but the thought was never finished. He looked away from Nick and closed his eyes, as if trying to concentrate on the subject.

"What?! What?" Nick's voice was softening with every word, and he felt the anger draining out of him. He was too tired for this shit. "What..."

An uneasy silence settled between the two. The only sounds were the insects outside, buzzing quietly, even though they had never been seen. After this silence, however, Vorik took a quiet breath and tilted his head to look Nick in the eye. "It is called the pon farr."

Nick was just surprised to hear Vorik actually answering him, let alone finally telling him what the illness was. Or, at least, that's what he guessed it was. Otherwise, what the heck was it? "Uh... come again?"

"Pon farr." Vorik almost seemed to blush green, which would have been adorable and kind of sexy if Nick wasn't still struggling with his attraction to him. And, y'know, the fact that they were talking about the thing that could potentially kill him. "It is the Time of Mating. When a vulcan reaches his adulthood, the first onset of pon farr will begin. I am assuming, given your age and your reaction to the condition, that you have not experienced it before."

Nick's eyes were wide and that curved brow was raised once again. "I, uh... I see. I mean. Uh. I've... mated, before, if that's what you mean," he stammered, finding it extremely difficult to talk about this to Vorik.

The green still dotted his cheeks and the tips of those curved ears. Flashbacks of Nick licking those ears surfaced in his mind, but he pushed them back. Now was not the time. "It is not what I meant. However, given your human nature, I am not surprised." He paused, looking down almost bashfully. "I must admit, I find your condition fascinating. I had not realized that the mating cycle would affect a half-vulcan."

Nick's nose wrinkled and he flashed a poorly mimicked crooked grin. "Uh... cycle? You mean this happens regularly? I've, uh, never dealt with this before..."

"So I have noticed. And yes, it is a cycle. Every seven years, vulcans experience an undeniable desire to return to the homeworld and... take a mate. Because of this, vulcan children are given bonds to those whom the house leader believes would be a logical match. I am somewhat confused why you have not exhibited signs of this."

Nick grimaced. "Maybe it's 'cause my homeworld is Earth? I never knew any vulcan children, let alone had a... bond with one. Whatever that means."

Vorik took a moment to think, or so it seemed. He took a few steadying breaths before turning his eyes back on Nick. "I have gone through a similar process, quite recently. It was... not pleasant. A very private matter became... quite public. I am surprised you had not heard of it."

Nick grinned at him. "They keep a lot of things hush-hush for us little people. You're an ensign, sure, but you work closely with a lot of the COs. Especially Chief Engineer B'Elanna. And even if you weren't close with the head honchos, they like to make sure barely anyone knows anything about engineering. What happens in the engine room stays in the engine room, I suppose."

"I find myself unable to suppress gratitude in that."

At the tone in Vorik's voice, Nick couldn't help but laugh at that. "Really? Well I'll be damned." His grin faded a moment later, however. "I don't suppose you'd like to tell me how that all panned out? How'd you resolve it?" He paused. "You didn't... mate, or whatever, did you?"

Vorik looked like he was about to admit that he killed a man. "I... attempted to take a mate, yes. I am sure you respect my decision not to name who. It... did not turn out well."

"You're alive, though, aren't you?"

"Yes, though it was no small feat. After my attempt to mate failed, I began deep meditation. However, it only served to dampen the side effects for a short amount of time. The need to mate was still there. However, my... attempted mate was out of my reach. The doctor prescribed a holographic mate."

"How'd that work for you? Did it help?"

Vorik's lips tightened and he closed his eyes. "I was illogical at the time. I was unwilling to participate. I used the time to meditate and called the doctor later, and lied about my experience. He believed be, for a time. It gave me enough time to plot a way to reach my mate. When I did, however, she still refused me. We fought."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Like a fight fight? A physical, kick, punch, throw a chair fight?"

An eyebrow lifted, but Vorik nodded minutely. "Yes. The physical exertion was enough to knock me out of the pon farr. However, that exertion was extreme, and I would not recommend it."

"What? Why not?" Nick deflated. If all he needed to do was trow a few punches at a tree...

"The only reason why the fight worked was because my mate was... also experiencing the pon farr. And she was klingon. The shock of such actions is the most prominent reason why I was able to rid of the condition."

Nick took in the information for a moment. He wanted to ask so many questions, he just didn't know which ones to do first, which ones would be invasive or crossing the line, or which ones were just too plain stupid. "Oh," he finally said, sagging into the chair, and allowing Vorik to get back to work.


Day 78

"I don't understand, how can I get it to stop?" Nick whined from across the camp. They had to sit farther apart now, because by proximity alone, Nick was tempted.

Vorik looked up from his soup in his lap and raised an eyebrow at Nick. They hadn't talked much about the pon farr since the discussion in the shuttle, and Nick was especially quiet lately. The sudden outburst surprised him. "The heat?" he asked innocently.

"Yes!" Nicked yelled, rolling his head back and letting it rest on the rock behind him in exasperation. "It's burning me up from the inside out!"

Vorik took a moment to contemplate his answer. "As far as I know, there are three ways to resolve it. Taking a mate, which is the more obvious choice. Meditating, which I am not sure you are able to achieve, given your lack of training. And combat, however I believe we should view it as a last resort."

Nick groaned loudly. "What do you expect me to do then?"

"Endure. We have been on this planet for 78 days, and for the majority of that time, you have been afflicted. It stands to reason that Voyager cannot take many more days, and you will be able to choose your mate then." He paused, looking sheepish. "If I may inquire, who do you believe you will choose?"

"Fuck, man, I dunno!" Nick groaned again. "I guess I'd try and do the holodeck thing you talked about, since apparently you didn't even try."

"And if it does not work?"

Nick rolled is head forwards again, glaring at the vulcan across the campsite. "I don't know, I told you! I'm not one to settle down - or really get down at all. I mean, yeah I've done it before, but this is kind of a bit deal, and I don't know anyone who'll want me... like that. Getting a girl is easy - getting a woman, who wants to stick around - especially for someone who is practically deranged that she doesn't even know - is hard. Really hard." He paused. "...Like me. Damn it!"

Vorik's face contorted at that remark. "Am I wrong in assuming you have friends?"

Nick tried to ignore the obvious insult. "Well, not really. I got a couple, but not that many. The only one I think that would care enough to stick with me on it is M'Rani. But... uh... We're not..."

"I understand. You are not attracted to her."

"It's not that. I'm just... she's like a sister, y'know? You don't bang your sisters."

That damn eyebrow lifted again. "Indeed. I believe my own sister might agree."

"Really? You have a sister?"

Vorik looked a bit confused. "I do. However, I don't see how it is relevant - "

"I need something to take my mind off of this. Please."

Vorik seemed to consider this for a moment, before nodding slowly. "I see." He paused, wondering where to begin. "She is not full vulcan, either."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. My mother died shortly after my birth, and my father remarried a betazoid woman. My sister is approximately six years younger than I." He paused, to see if Nick was still paying attention, which he was. The need for a distraction seemed genuine, surprisingly. "As you may imagine, my sister's telepathic powers are immense. However, with those powers come great emotional outbursts, and she was never able to suppress them. However, she was inclined towards vulcan culture, and learned to adapt in any way, even when she could not be one of us. She found enjoyment in singing, and brought a new meaning to theater on Vulcan. Many enjoyed her ability..."

The conversation dragged on, and Nick reveled in the distraction Vorik was offering him. At least the burning was in the back of his mind, for now.


Day 82

The headaches and the arousal were becoming one and the same.

Pain from both started to become just one big ball of heat being thrown back and forth across Nick's body, throwing him into fits and making him cry out. The dreams were heavier and he just didn't seem to care anymore that he thought of Vorik as a sexy meal. He needed something to grip onto, to sink into. There was no other way around it, but because he still (thankfully) had his own mind, he wasn't going to give in to it.

All Nick could think about lately was Vorik. The way Vorik moved around in his sleep while Nick was still on watch. The way Vorik would walk across camp, his uniform reduced to the undershirt and ripped pants. The way he would bend over to pick up a tool from the kit next to him. The way he would eat. The way his face moved when he talked, the plumpness of his lips and the tips of his ears...

There was no escaping it anymore. Nick couldn't handle this type of stress, he wasn't built for it. He needed to do something.

"Vorik," he said quietly, stepping into the cave. It was nearing the end of his watch, around this planet's midnight, and the only light source were the two moons - though small - and the small geyser-thing that heated up the cave. They didn't know what did it, but it always produced a small glowing light. When the vulcan didn't move, Nick walked closer and placed his hand on Vorik's shoulder. It took everything in him not to pounce the poor man then. No, he had to at least ask first. "Dude, wake up."

Finally, Vorik shuffled in his hold, turning slowly towards the sound. His eyes blinked slowly away, and Nick was sure it was the cutest thing he had ever laid his eyes on. "Mm?" mumbled the vulcan, yawning slightly. Nick gushed.

"Aren't you just the cutest thing to ever exist?" Nick laughed, his fever put out of his mind for the moment.

Vorik glared at him and sat up, looking around the cave. "I assume... that it is my watch."

Nick nodded, trying to act like everything was perfectly fine. "Yep. I think I'm going to stay up a little longer though. Maybe we can talk?"

Vorik looked incredibly suspicious and no longer sleepy. The cuteness was gone. Well, at least the sleepy cuteness. The normal type was still there, obviously. "I suppose so, if you wish."

They made their way over to the entrance of the cave. Vorik chose to stand for the time being, so Nick did as well. The awkward tension was building again. "So... the, uh... the fever's still pretty bad," he started, trying to keep the normalcy in his voice still. It was slipping fast.

"Indeed? I am not surprised. The Time does not simply pass," he said, looking almost annoyed.

Nick sighed, looking out into the dark alien forest before turning back to Vorik's profile. He was handsome, Nick knew. He wasn't used to being able to pick up on a guy's attractiveness, but it seemed like Vorik was the easiest thing to look at since a chocolate cake in his chubby days. He wasn't sure if it was just the fever making everybody look good, or just the fact that Vorik in himself was attractive to Nick. There was no way of telling. "I'm sorry for bringing it up, it's just that it's kind of... the first thing on my mind at the moment."

"Understandable. It has been a while since it started, has it not? Pon farr is slow in its beginning, but it leaves no logic left in its wake," he said coolly, as if condemning a murderer. Then he looked over at Nick, his eyes questioning. "It seems to have left you more... unaffected than most."

Nick couldn't help but laugh. "If this is unaffected, I'm scared of what others get."

Vorik scoffed. "As you should be." Then he paused, looking over Nick again. If he kept looking at him like that, Nick might just have to go over there and ravish him. "I must admit my curiosity to your reaction to the affliction, however. It seems much lesser than any other vulcan I've met. Certainly less than what I endured."

Despite being slightly offended at being dismissed so easily, Nick was curious. "How so?"

"I was illogical and crazed. I would not listen to any of what my peers had to say. I directly disobeyed orders and outright lied many times," he whispered, ashamed. "However your outward appearance seems minimally changed. I have to wonder if it is because you do not repress these urges outside of the Time, like many."

That got an eyebrow to twitch. "Whaddya mean? Vulcans don't have sex outside of the pon farr?"

Vorik almost looked sheepish. "Correct."

"Wait, wait, wait. You telling me you're a virgin?"

The vulcan looked extremely taken aback by the accusation, but also by the question itself. "That is an extremely personal question, Ensign."

Nick shot him an incredulous look. "Yeah?"

Vorik sighed, shifting in his spot. "If you are so blatantly unaware of the uncomfort you cause, I see no need to humor you with an answer."

Nick grinned, taking a step towards the vulcan. "Ahh, that's all okay, Vorik. You've given me the answer already just by saying that." Vorik looked completely confused by that, so Nick decided to enlighten him. "By avoiding the question, I can already tell that you are. It's nothing to be ashamed of, dude. The way you tell it, that's really common for vulcans."

"I am not ashamed. I am merely explaining to you the unprofessional nature of your question."

Nick laughed. "Yeah, well, it's been like three months. I think we've been away from the ship enough to act a little unprofessional. Besides, we're friends now. Right?" he asked then, suddenly shy. If Vorik didn't even like him, then how was he supposed to ask...?

Vorik raised an eyebrow again, finally looking back at Nick again, who was now closer. "I suppose we have established a fairly pleasant social relationship."

Nick nodded, taking another step towards the vulcan. "Good. So we're friends then. That's awesome. Say, how long to you think it will be before Voyager finally comes and gets us back from this hellhole?"

"One can never be certain, Ensign, but I estimate between 15 to 45 days. Why do you ask?"

"Because." Nick stepped closer again. "I'm really hot, Vorik. I honestly don't know how much longer I can last."

Vorik's brows drew together and he took a step back. "I am sure, with the progression rate you've shown, that you have at least another week."

Nick sighed, letting his head sag a little as he took a minuscule step forward. "I don't think I will, Vorik. I might not act like it, but fuck, I need to do something." With that last sentence hanging between them, Nick placed his hands on Vorik's shoulders and gently pushed him until his back hit the wall of the cave. Careful not to push too hard because of the uneven jutting out of a few random rocks, Nick stepped into the now empty space in front of Vorik. He placed his hands on either side of Vorik, leaning against the cave wall and pinning the vulcan there. His breath ghosted over Vorik's face as he tried to reign in his heavy breathing, but it didn't do much. The proximity alone was doing wonders to the heat.

But Vorik looked shocked, for a vulcan. "You intend to mate with me?" He was shaking slightly in Nick's grasp, though he had no idea why.

"Not if you tell me I can't, no. But... I would really, really like to..." he drawled, angling his head closer and leaning his nose ever-so-softly on the juncture between Vorik's neck and shoulder, breathing in his sent. "Please, Vorik. I need to."

Vorik shivered, closing his eyes for a moment. "I do not believe this is appropriate, Ensign Valentine, I - "

Nick took the opportunity to let his right hand fall down onto Vorik's wrist, then slowly slide its way across his skin to his palm. He nestled his fist there for a second before opening his hand again and tracing his fingers along Vorik's. The vulcan shivered, instinctively leaning his hand into the touch. Nick smiled and wrapped his index and thumb around Vorik's and stroked downwards slowly, applying the barest of pressure. Vorik couldn't help but let out a small sound at the feeling. Already, Nick knew this would be better than his dream. "You haven't even kissed before, have you?" he asked, comprehension flickering in his eyes.

Vorik swallowed, then opened hie eyes and flickered them towards his hand then back to Nick's. "There have been incidents where crewmates brush against me, but... no. I have not."

"Then, do you enjoy it? When I kiss you?" He asks as he slides his fingers across Vorik's again.

Vorik nods. "It's a simple physical reaction, of course I will enjoy it. I still do not believe this to be appropriate." But his voice was so small that it hardly carried any weight.

"I know it's inappropriate, Vorik, but I can't help it. I'm dying." He strokes his hand and leans back into Vorik's neck again. "Now I don't know if it's just the fever, or the fact that you're vulcan too, or just because I freaking turned gay all of a sudden, but I find you so incredibly fucking sexy. I just..." He cuts off his sentence and gently pecks the skin of Vorik's neck, causing him to tense even more. "Even when you're all the way on the other side of the camp, I can smell you... Hear your voice... I just - I can't, Vorik. I fucking can't."

Vorik sighed, leaning into Nick's caresses. "You have no idea what you are asking of me, Ensign. You are not vulcan, you cannot know what will happen, what will - "

"Then it would be good if you were the one to be there with me, right? If I was with someone else, then no one would know what would happen. Just fucking tell me what you're so afraid of, Vorik. I'll fix it." He leaves a small trail of wet kisses up Vorik's neck, to his jaw and suckles. Vorik shivers.

"To alleviate the pon farr, the mates must bond. I am unsure if I am willing to do so. We do not know what the outcome will be. If our minds are compatible enough."

"Is there a way to check?"

"No."

"Then we'll just have to find out, won't we?" He nibbles the lobe of Vorik's ear, earning a sigh.

Vorik shakes his head, the silky black hair tickling Nick's nose as he moves. "If we start now, you will not be able to stop for days."

This makes Nick stop. "Can I injure you?"

Vorik nods, but then avoids his gaze. "It is possible, yes. However because I'm a vulcan, my body would react accordingly. However, that is not justification for allowing this fever to control your actions."

"It's not controlling me! I want this, Vorik! I want you." He drops Vorik's hand then and reaches both of his to lift the edge of his undershirt out from his pants and pulls it up slightly, allowing his hands to mold against the hot skin underneath. He massages his hips before running his hands around to his back, one hand running higher than the other and pulling Vorik towards him. Nick kisses Vorik's chin, then, the proximity of their faces making it unable to resist. His human side takes over and he trails his lips to Vorik's, molding the soft skin to his own.

Vorik is completely still, like a statue. He is confused as to what Nick is doing. Obviously he'd seen other crewmembers do such a thing, but he'd never given much thought to it. He finds Nick's lips moving gently against his, and he has to admit it is... pleasant. Tingly. Slowly, he starts to move against the halfling.

Nick sees this as an open invitation and an end to their argument. He pushes Vorik back against the cave wall again, this time not caring if he bruises his back. He runs his tongue over Vorik's lower lips, causing a surprised moan out of the other man. Nick takes the opportunity to push his tongue in, running it over the roof of Vorik's mouth before tangling it with the vulcan's. Vorik is at somewhat of a loss as to how to proceed, but what is happening already feels pretty good to him, so he keeps on with battling Nick's tongue with his own. Such a strange action should not have such a pleasant reaction, he thinks.

He doesn't have much time to think on it, however, as Nick's hands start to pull his shirt up once again. This time, though, it seems the intent is to pull the clothing off. Vorik is somewhat reluctant to do so, but Nick is adamant. They break their kiss as Nick pulls it off completely, then he slams his mouth back into Vorik's sloppily.

Nick reaches around to Vorik's now naked back, then lowers his hands to his ass and squeezes. Vorik mumbles something, but it is smothered by the kiss. Nick drops his mouth to Vorik's neck again, though, thinking back to the dream he had before. He kisses lower and lower until he reaches his collarbone, nibbling softly on the prominent feature. Then he is on his journey downwards again, nibbling here and there on his pectorals until he finds the nipple he had dreamed of that first night.

"Hnn - That is... quite sensitive," mumbled Vorik between gasps. He arched his back as Nick's tongue lapped at the sensitive bud, grinning. Vorik's fumbling hands wrap around Nick's head, running his fingers through the dark, wavy hair.

"I'm well aware, Vorik," Nick growled into the skin, biting down experimentally. Vorik arched into the nip, letting out a small sound - though not what Nick was going for. His dreams were turning out to be somewhat accurate.

Nick was done playing. He pulled away, throwing his shirt off and guiding Vorik down onto the dirt floor of the cave. He crawled on top of the man, the heat being pulled out from inside him once again. It was building, and Nick was feeling the every-present headache once again.

He leaned over Vorik, kissing him gently before devouring the opened mouth. He lined up his hips, then, and without warning, ground down hard into Vorik's own erection. "Aaah," moaned the young vulcan, loudly and without restraint. It was so beautiful, that sound. Nick ground down again and again, feeling that amazing pressure building up.

Kissing the side of his neck wasn't enough anymore. Nick needed to make sure the vulcan was enjoying this just as much as him. He grabbed Vorik's left hand, dragging it up to his mouth and placing small kisses on the tips of two fingers. Vorik moaned at him, feeling that pleasure that only vulcans could. Nick sucked the digits in, then, without warning. "Oh, oh... Nicholas, yes...!" he groaned, arching into Nick in any way he could.

Hearing his name, spoken for the first time, and in such a way made Nick suddenly impatient. He let Vorik's fingers out of his mouth with a 'pop' and started yanking down his uniform pants. He kissed the skin as it was revealed, relishing in the delicious sounds the man above him was making. When the vulcan's regulation underpants were revealed, he palmed the prominent bulge, feeling the heaviness resting in his hands. It was hot - oh so hot. He leaned down to kiss it softly, letting his tongue peek out and brush it. "Nicholas, my - my - ohh..." Vorik mumbled unintelligibly. Nick couldn't believe how proud he was that he could do that to a man - let alone an ever-stoic vulcan.

As he wiggled out of his own pants, he continued running his mouth over the clothed member, reveling in the sounds it was earning him. He couldn't wait to bury himself in the beauty before him.

Fully unclothed, Nick settled himself above the vulcan once again, the decided it was time to let the poor man out of his confinement. He slowly pulled the underpants down, letting the cloth run along his erection painstakingly slow-like. Vorik, however, had another idea. He sat up suddenly, growling as he yanked the offending clothes off and grabbed Nick's neck and dragged him into another human kiss. It was strange how much he enjoyed the action. He pulled the halfling towards him with every muscle he had, crashing their bodies as close as he could get. He ground his now naked lower half up, feeling the glorious skin there sliding against his own and moaned with relief.

Nick pushed him back down, growling back just as viciously, and grinding into him again. He bit at the vulcan's lips, then his neck, hard. Vorik cried out in pain and pleasure, as Nick made sure to leave his mark there. And then on his shoulder, then his chest, and waist, then thigh...

But Vorik was done playing. He dragged Nick up to his eye level, then started kissing down Nick's neck, surprising the halfling. He ground up again as he did so, and wound his fingers through Nick's, stroking them. "F-fuck, Vorik. Oooh, God, don't stop..." he wheezed, finding it hard to keep his weight propped up on his arms. He didn't feel like collapsing into the vulcan would do much good.

Suddenly, Vorik yanked Nick's hand up to his mouth, almost knocking the halfling to the ground. Thankfully Nick found his balance, but Vorik was kissing his fingers reverently, not leaving an inch of skin untouched. Apparently he found the grounding above him very encouraging, as he then sucked the fingers into his own mouth, much like Nick had done for him earlier. "Jesus fuck, ooh...!" Nick almost collapsed in ecstasy, the throbbing pleasure shooting up his arm and into his stomach, making him curl his toes. If he wasn't careful, the sight of Vorik alone would have him coming undone.

Pulling his fingers out of the vulcan's mouth, he nudged Vorik's legs open with his knee, and immediately brought his fingers down to the tight muscle. He ran them up and down the hole, teasing the entrance. He looked to Vorik's face - and only then did he pause. "Vorik? What's wrong? I can't... I don't think I can sto- "

"Nothing is wrong. I just am... unused to this type of contact. I... am not sure what the end result will be," he rasped, his voice totally wrecked with lust. Hearing that alone almost had Nick coming.

Nick took a deep breath and forced his fever to calm down enough for him to form coherency. "I have to... p-prepare you..." he mumbled weakly.

Vorik's eyes widened. "For what? To what end"

Nick had to try and not laugh. "Jesus, you really don't know? I h-have to make sure you are st-stretched enough... so that I can enter you."

"You are speaking of... of penetration?" he sounded almost scared.

Nick leaned down to kiss the tender skin around Vorik's naval. "Yes."

"Will it... be... painful?"

Nick kissed the area right above Vorik's still erect member. "Maybe. I've n-never actually... done it. But I'll be as... gentle as I can. I h-hear it's really nice," he stammered out, trying to stop himself from just doing it already.

Vorik took another moment, but as soon as he felt Nick running his tongue over the head of his erection, he cried out and nodded quickly. Nick kissed the member again, getting a little lost on what he was actually supposed to be doing. He ran his tongue around the base before going back up again and taking the tip in his mouth. "N-Nicholas! A-ah... aggh!" With that lovely sound, Nick raised his head and kissed the tip once more. It really was such a pretty green... and very distracting.

Nick brought his fingers back to the main muscle, running the slick digits around gently, pushing harder on every revolution until he finally pushed in. Vorik hissed, not accustomed to the intrusion. Nick, panting heavily, waited for a moment before moving the fingers, pushing them in and out slowly and carefully. The pressure on his sensitive digits, however, had him straining to keep it steady. "Ah - Nicholas, please - "

Normally, Nick would have taken that as begging for more, but given the previous worry that Vorik had displayed, he worried. "What d-do you want, Vorik? Babe?" he asked, almost whined, as he strained to still his fingers.

Vorik surprised the halfling by back himself down on the fingers, whining. "Move, more - please..."

Nick groaned appreciatively, pushing a third finger in and wiggling it softly inside the vulcan. Experimentally, he curled his fingers upward and thrust, brushing against something. Vorik cried out, arching off of the dirt floor. Nick couldn't help but moan at the sight before him, the vulcan surrounding him, straining against the floor.

As he pulled his fingers out, Vorik whined at the loss and Nick consumed the sound, latching on to the vulcan's lips once again and angling himself properly against the muscle. He pulled his mouth away from Vorik's, bringing his palm up to his mouth and spiting on it before dragging it to his own member and finally allowing pressure on it. The throbbing increased tenfold and Nick was afraid he'd come before he even entered.

He angled himself properly and pushed himself inside Vorik as gently as he could, grimacing at the amount of restraint he put on himself. Vorik's whimpering, however, spurred him to be even gentler. As he pushed all the way inside, he rested his weight on his arms finally, taking the moment to relax his muscles a small amount. He waited for Vorik to adjust to the size of him, aching. "Hng - Vorik, babe, you feel so fucking good..." he groaned, settling his face in Vorik's neck.

Vorik sighed, relaxing into the embrace of the halfling above him. "As do you," he said quietly, waiting for the pain to ebb away. "Nicholas... p-please move," he said after a beat, pushing lightly upwards with his hips.

"Fuck," swore Nick as he started moving inside Vorik. The pace was slow, excruciating. But Nick forced himself to be gentle with Vorik.

Vorik had other ideas, however. He grabbed a hold of Nick's ass and pulled him down harshly as he thrust upwards. Pain shot through him, along with an even greater pleasure, and he moaned loudly. "Nicholas, you are s-so... Oh, f-ff - " he shouted wantonly, throwing his head back as the rhythm grew slowly faster.

"Shit. V-Vorik, did you a-ah-almost swear?!" Nick groaned, pumping faster.

Vorik didn't respond but with another couple gasps and a moan. He thrust upwards faster than Nick thought he would, but he met him all the same. Nick reached forward and grasped onto the vulcan's member, pumping it to the rhythm of their thrusting. "C-come on, babe! S-swear f-f-for me!" he yelled at the vulcan below him, still getting no reply. "Holy shit, I'm gonna c-come!"

Vorik still didn't respond, not until he felt the throbbing of the member inside him increase and a hot liquid bursting within him as Nick cried out above him. "F-fuck, Nick!" he shouted at last, finishing.


Day 94

When Nick finally came to, he was sprawled out on the cave's floor, his head propped up on a rock in an uncomfortable angle and a heavy weight over his stomach. He couldn't remember a blasted thing about what had happened last - the only clear thing coming to his mind was taking his bandages off.

He shuffled awkwardly, moving his neck and rolling it this way and that to try and get the stiffness out. As he moved up to lean on his elbows, however, he was shocked to find Vorik, completely nude, sprawled over his stomach. His legs straddled Nick's waist, and his upper body was laying crookedly off to the side, off of Nick.

The flashes of memory came back to him - nights and days of unending heat and blurred pleasure. Moans of ecstasy and swearing. Nick's jaw went slack as Vorik readjusted himself and he felt layers upon layers of semen between them, in varying degrees of hardness. He felt like he was going to be sick.

Vorik stirred, then, groaning quietly as he was forcibly wakened. Nick couldn't help but be taken by the cuteness once again - which only served to confuse him. The fever was gone. Shouldn't the attraction be gone too?

"Nicholas? Ensign Valentine? Where are you?" he groggily mumbled, yawning. Fucking vulcan and his adorable awakening habits.

"Um... right here, Vorik," he said meekly, his ultimately shy personality reasserting itself.

Vorik shot up then, but doubled over in pain as the crusted semen was ripped from their skin. "Ensign Valentine? What are we - o-oh." Remembrance flashed across his face and he turned green. Nick took the moment to survey the damage. There were green flesh wounds all over Vorik, from scratches, to bruises, to bite marks. He figured he fared no better.

"What... why are you calling me 'Ensign' again? Why didn't you remember?" Nick asked wearily, not sure if he actually wanted to know.

There was a moment of silence as Nick guessed the vulcan needed to compose his answer. "I informed you of the mental bond that might occur?" Nick nodded. "It did. When a vulcan creates a bond with another vulcan, emotions are transferred. The pon farr was transferred. It makes the mating go smoother," he finished, blushing a bright green.

"Oh. Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I never would have done that if I - You know I wouldn't intentionally put you through that, I..." he fumbled not able to find the words. But Vorik didn't look forgiving, nor angry. He was simply... impassive. Damn vulcans. "I mean, I - "

Just then, a loud beeping came from somewhere outside the cave, accompanied by a raspy, feminine voice. It didn't take long for Nick to recognize who it was.

Captain Janeway.


The first week back on Voyager was hardly the worst time in the world. Getting back to the normal routine and working his hours away undoubtedly helped keep Nick's mind off things. He allowed himself some time to relax and think about what really happened down on the planet. It wasn't as if he had much of a choice. It was a natural biological function, human mindset or not. And if you really thought about it, if Vorik hadn't been there to... help him through it, Nick would most likely be dead. So really, the actions they had took were logical, right?

The consequences, however, were not so easily brushed off. First of all, there was the bond. There was no getting over the pon farr without it, and Nick was sure he had melded at some point with the vulcan. And the fact that they both horned out only meant that that's what happened. Second of all, there was the problem that seemed to hold more power over Nick - why was he still attracted to the damn vulcan?

"What're you thinking about?"

The shock of M'Rani's purred voice brought Nick out of his reverie. Had had completely forgotten where he was and what he was doing. Looking around at his surroundings, he instantly remembered that he was on the holodeck with his favorite cat lady. The soft lapping of water on the shore was what had initially taken his mind away from the present. Shaking his head softly and glancing at his friend's curious look, he chuckled softly. "Oh, it's nothing important. Just stuff that happened on the planet."

M'Rani scoffed playfully, nudging his arm with her own. "Oh, right. The place you got stuck on for months."

He turned to look at her sharply. "You know I was telling the truth. Tuvok proved the time distortion!"

His friend looked slightly shocked for a moment before turning back to the sea again. "I know that, silly. I was just joking. You really need to lighten up." She paused, giving him a slow once-over. Concern showed in her eyes as she laid her hand on his shoulder. "Is there something going on? What exactly happened down there that's got you all riled up all the time?" Her voice was full of curiosity, but there was a significant undertone of worry. Had he really been so out of it lately?

Nick shook his head and gave her a reassuring smile. It didn't seem to help much. "It's nothing, really. Just..." he paused. "The death of Braal and Dunham, and then being trapped in a small area alone with Vorik for so long..." he trailed of, giving her a smirk as she realized he was avoiding the true subject.

She giggled and punched him lightly on the arm. "Valentine, if you can't tell me, who can you tell?" she said softly, her tone dropping again. She wasn't going to let him get away with this.

Nick groaned, flopping down hard into the sand of the beach, letting it cushion his back as he laid in it. "I... I'm vulcan. Whether or not I like it, I'm physically vulcan," he started, looking up into the sky. M'Rani leaned down next to him, her head propped up on her elbow as she looked at him. "There are some... things that vulcans go through that aren't discussed with outsiders. Luckily for you I'm not vulcan in any other way and could care less who knew about it." He stopped.

"Well?"

He sighed. "It's a mating drive. Apparently vulcans go through it every seven years. I got it for the first time down on that planet," he said slowly, not daring to look at her face. But she was silent. "And... the thing is... you either get it on, or you die. Chemical imbalance or whatever. Physical stuff." He paused again, waiting for a reply. There was none. "Your brain goes crazy and you feel like you're on fire. Like... You're cooking from the inside out. Your emotions go haywire, as if you're literally about to explode," he ended, trailing off uncertainly.

There was another long pause. He got slightly worried at her lack of response and turned towards her, only to find her eyes wide and her jaw gone slack. He raised a very vulcan eyebrow at her, his earlier embarrassment forgotten. What was going on with her? And then... "You fucked Vorik!" Then she burst into loud, evil cackles.

Nick's face flushed bright green and he groaned again, letting his head fall back into the sand. "Shut up!" he shouted, feeling even more exposed than he did down on the planet. Then, at her incessant cackling, he started to giggle too. Soon, they were both laughing hysterically at the sheer ridiculousness of it all.

"So what?" she gasped through her laughter. "Did you like..." she laughed. "tackle him or something? He can't have been too willing!" she said as she nearly rolled over him in her attempt to calm her own laughter. He looked at her a moment, taken aback at her question before laughing again.

"No!" He paused, his ears still dipped in green. "Well, sort of at first..."

Her eyes went wide. "What do you mean 'at first'? He got into it? Like, he liked it?" it was almost as if she thought it was the most preposterous thing she had ever heard. Though, she was always a bit of a drama queen. She sat up, her eyes still wide as she tried to repress another fit of giggles.

Without his knowing it, his eyes turned slightly dreamy as his own laughter turned into a stray chuckle or two. "Yeah, I guess. It was... intense."

"Gods, was it that good?" she grinned wickedly. "I mean, I know he's pretty good-looking, but... You look like your in love or something." She paused, her grin turning into a sly smirk.

"Pssh! As if! It was more of a nightmare than anything." he laughed uneasily.

She looked a little put off, though not enough to quiet her giggles. "Tsk. As if you can fool me, Mr. Valentine. I know you more than you know yourself. I bet you fuckin' enjoyed every moment o' it!" she mimicked in the heavy Scottish accent of his uncle's, pursing her lips and puffing out her chest. Another fit of giggles and the original subject was almost forgotten. Almost. "So... You guys are, like, married now, right?"

At this, Nick jumped up and eyed her suspiciously. "I don't freaking think so. We might have a bond, but that doesn't mean we have to start picking out names for our adopted ocampans."

M'Rani snorted. "Ocampan? I would have picked something a little longer-lasting."

"Oh, you know what I mean. We're not married. Just because vulcans mate for life doesn't mean that I'm going to." He shrugged, looking back into the sky again.

She was quiet for a while before leaning back and doing the same as him. "You might not, but Vorik's vulcan too, if you hadn't noticed. And he's got the emotional disciplines to prove it." At Nick's silent, confused expression, she continued on. "Nick, you might not follow the ways of vulcan mating, but Vorik does. You'll have to think about what Vorik wants too. He might feel the same as you, but you never know, he might just want to take you up on that 'mating for life' thing."

This was not something Nick wanted to think about. He was trying to forget those days of amazing passion, not raise his hopes up for something that would never happen. It was only going to make him feel worse when Vorik let him down. But, he supposed M'Rani was right. He at least needed to talk to the vulcan.

Later that evening, after Nick knew both of their shifts had ended, he headed towards Vorik's quarters. He wasn't sure what exactly he was going to say, or what his decision on how to proceed actually was, he just knew he had to talk about it. Somehow. He pressed the keypad next to the door, like a doorbell. Suddenly he was filled with anxiety. What if Vorik was angry with him? What if he was asleep? Meditating? Was Nick interrupting something extremely important? But then the door opened.

Vorik looked quite assembled, much to the relief of Nick. His uniform was either patched up or completely new, as Nick's own was, and his hair was tidy and washed, something neither or them had seen for quite some time since on the planet. His brown eyes looked almost completely steeled, though there was a small spark of questioning... of... hope? Or was it worry? Nick decided not to waste time on it. "Ensign Valentine?" questioned the vulcan as Nick stood, dumbfounded, in the doorway.

Nick tried to assemble himself quickly, scrambling around in his brain for something to say. "Um... Vorik, I think we need to talk."

There was a long pause, and Nick started to think Vorik might just disagree and kick in out, but instead he said, "Indeed," before stepping aside and allowing Nick to walk in. Nick had never seen the inside of anyone's quarters than M'Rani's, and that was only a couple of times. Instantly, the scientific side of his mind got completely engulfed in curiosity, and he started looking around the space frantically, trying to take in the young vulcan's belongings before he had to leave. "Are you... comfortable?" Vorik asked politely, noticing Nick's frantic movements.

Suddenly Nick got embarrassed, taking another glance before moving his eyes to Vorik's. "Ehm, sorry, I was just checking the place out. I barely get to see other peoples' quarters." If you can't be honest with him about that, how could you be honest with him about the other things? Nick sat in a chair that Vorik motioned to, and cleared his throat after determining that Vorik obviously wasn't going to say anything. "I... wanted to ask you some things. About our time on the planet." Still no answer. Might as well dive right in. "Well, I know that I sort of... forced myself on you. And though I would have died if you had... rejected me... I wanted to say that I am deeply sorry for my actions and hope that you might forgive me. Over the months before my... affliction... we had grown closer, and even been friendly towards each other. I ask that we might forget about this whole episode and try to pick up from where we left off. Because, to be honest, I really do enjoy your company and I would like us to be friends," he said awkwardly, trying to get whatever he had to say out of the way and into the open air between them. The tension seemed only to rise, however.

Vorik still didn't say anything, only furrowing his brow slightly and looking away from Nick as if he was actually uncomfortable. Was he experiencing different emotions? Even Nick, half vulcan, could never tell. Finally, he started to speak. "It is true that your advances were unexpected," Nick cringed. "However, I see no reason to apologize for them." He paused, looking Nick in the eye, though restlessly. "You have made it clear that you do not want it, and so we will endeavor to break it. However, that will also rid you of your desire to remain friends, though I see little relevance in that now." His deep voice seem to vibrate in Nick's brain, making it difficult to concentrate on what he was actually saying.

"I thought that you wouldn't want it," he said softly, averting his gaze and reaching up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. "I thought that you wouldn't want to have a bond with me, since it was illogical."

At this Vorik seemed genuinely surprised. Then recognition settled in his eyes. "It is indeed illogical for two men to bond. Especially on Voyager, which is likely to become a generational ship. However, neither the vulcan people nor myself are oppose such bonds, especially when the bond was so easily formed," he explained. "I find myself not wanting to disintegrate it. And perhaps... developing it further. If that is also what you wish."

Nick's heart seemed to leap in his side. Had he really wanted to bond with Vorik this much? "I..." he breathed, trying to steady his mind. "I'd like that. If that's what you wanna do."

Vorik's eyes closed as if he was relieved as well, which only made Nick more excited. "Yes... Nicholas." In his expression, however unchanging, happiness shown through in his eyes. He extended two fingers toward Nick, offering a small vulcan kiss. Nick reached out as well, touching his own to Vorik's and sensing that small tingling run up his arm and into his heart. "I'll never get tired of that," he breathed, locking eyes with Vorik. "You'll have to teach me more about vulcan stuff, now that we've got this bond."

Vorik lifted an eyebrow. "Indeed."


A/N - Well! That was certainly something, wasn't it? It was definitely longer than what I normally write, that's for sure. I really wanted to write something about Vorik, but I didn't have the patience to a whole plot and such, so... voilĂ ! A long M/M oneshot. It was my very first time writing actual sexytimes, so I hope I did alright. ^^; I worked on it quite a bit, though, so... Review? I don't usually ask, but it would be nice. ANYWAYS, hope you enjoyed this, and... Thanks for reading!