Summary: In Vulcan culture, finger-touching is one way couples might show intimacy in public.
Cisco's learning to be more comfortable with his Vulcan heritage and, along the way, seems to be helping Hartley be more at piece with the schisms in his own nature as well.
Notes: For the Hartmon Bingo Gen card free space, which gets both diagonal lines completed for a double bingo! :D
Continuation of "It's Only Logical". I've got an idea for a third part, which will probably wrap this Star Trek fusion verse up for now.
Touch
"I have pretty weak touch telepathy," Cisco said, voice uncertain even as he awkwardly touched his two fingers to Hartley's in what non-Vulcans often referred to as a 'Vulcan kiss'. Vulcan finger-touching was the correct term, however, and it was supposed to tap into a Vulcan's touch telepathy as a form of passive reassurance or intimacy. "Above human average, yeah, but so far below Vulcan average it's apparently barely worth speaking of."
Hartley looked amused at Cisco's nervous babbling. It took Cisco a while to identify the indicators, but so worth it now to see the spark in Hartley's eyes and the slight twitch of his lips. It makes Cisco feel all giddy.
"And I'm not a touch telepath at all," Hartley reminds him. "But its still... it's an important gesture to me. So thank you for doing this with me." He trails the soft pads of his fingers down the backs of Cisco's and...
Oh. Cisco's mouth goes dry. It's... it... feels good. His lashes flutter closed over his eyes before he quite realizes it and a blush stains his cheeks. He whimpers a little when Hartley's fingers drag back towards his nails then slide around to repeat the gesture down the more sensitive underside of Cisco's fingers. As they switch off so that Cisco can replicate the touch against Hartley's fingers, there's this heat low in Cisco's belly that he's not used to coming from something this... simple.
Hartley's low chuckle is rare and beautiful and Cisco's eyes spring back open in response. "Better than you thought it'd be?"
"I think it's just because it's you," Cisco says, unthinking and honest.
"It's um..." Hartley flushed and stumbled a bit over his words, a telling reaction from the reserved man. "There are different kinds of gestures depending on the, uh, the level of intimacy being displayed and the expected level of privacy between the two and whether, uhm... whether there's a bond between the two."
"Such as a telepathic bond?" Cisco clarified.
"That's right." Hartley seemed to be gaining back some of his equilibrium as he separated their hands. "Most finger touching in public isn't much more than that. In fact, that would... be a little bold for being in public. Something established couples are more likely to do than... those still courting."
"So usually it's something a little more... chaste?" With the warmth from the intimacy of their actions still lapping against his chest, Cisco means the question more seriously than he might've just minutes earlier.
"That's right. Usually one person lays their fingers atop the other's like so," Hartley lightly pressed his fingers to Cisco's. "No movement for this one. It tends to get used in place of how humans use hand holding."
"I've never been a big fan of hand holding," Cisco confesses. "Sweaty palms are kind of..." he scrunches up his nose. "But this is really nice."
"Good." Hartley hesitated a moment and then kissed the corner of Cisco's mouth. "You're adorable," he muttered, ducking his head and blushing. "I can... I can show you some of the more private types of finger touches. If you'd like."
"I would like that very much." Cisco had asked about Vulcan finger touching more because he'd noticed Hartley's fascination with his hands than out of an actual interest in learning about his own Vulcan heritage, but... Cisco had to admit that maybe there was more there than he'd first thought. Maybe it would be worth learning more... assuming Hartley was interested in being his teacher, anyway.
"Okay," Cisco asked, "can you tell me what's up with the massive taboo thing Vulcans have about Pon Farr? Because that's... that's never made any sense to me at all. How is it all logical to pretend this whole mating cycle thing doesn't exist except for when it's actually happening? I mean, you would not believe some of the absolutely ignorant theories I had to put up with from actual physicians when I was a kid." Cisco ducked his head, seeming a little embarrassed to remember some of them. "I was absolutely terrified that I'd wind up going through it."
"They couldn't have been very professional doctors, frightening a child like that," Hartley grumbled, then he turned pensive, setting aside Cisco's childhood trauma to discuss later, as he pondered the actual question at hand. "I guess since I don't have to worry about Pon Farr, I didn't really consider the limited knowledge about it outside of Vulcan families and doctors with Vulcan patients.
"There's actually a lot of information about Pon Farr out there. You could probably access it without question because of your heritage." Hartley hummed, not adding that he'd been barred from a lot of it since he was human and didn't need to know even though he was a sexually active teenager surrounded by Vulcan teens who were also starting to explore their sexuality and he actually probably should have known more about how Pon Farr worked, if nothing else so that he'd known what to look out for when, say, T'Pan tried to chose him as their mate. (His friendship with them recovered eventually. But it was, even now, not what it once was.)
"There's even a successful suppressant in trials for deep space missions, from what I've heard. But I think... honestly, there is embarrassment to some degree. Vulcans are supposed to be reserved and rational at all times, but Pon Farr is loud and messy and irrational. But its also logical to keep it quiet in case potential enemies were to use their knowledge of Pon Farr against them. There are ways to induce Pon Farr artificially and..." he trailed off as Cisco nodded and grimaced.
"They have to choose between how much they tell their allies about Pon Farr and how much they're willing to let fall into the hands of those who might do Vulcans harm. That does makes sense."
"Have you ever..." Hartley blushed and then added, "I mean, you're probably too distant from your Vulcan Great Grandfather to, um..."
"I had a very, very watered down equivalent while I was in grad school," Cisco told him, blushing. "I was ridiculously horny for a week with, like, a distinct ramping up period beforehand. My girlfriend at the time really enjoyed the extra focused attention I gave her... right up until I had my yearly physical during the tail end of it and I learned my hormones were all over the place. She sort of accused me of trapping her in a Vulcan marriage without her consent and broke up with me.
"In retrospect I can say 'good riddance' and mean it, but at the time it still... it hurt a lot." Cisco hesitated a moment and then made a gesture to invite a finger touch.
Hartley immediately reached out to caress his fingers against Cisco's enjoying the way his boyfriend's shoulders visibly relaxed.
"Anyway, it's been about eight years since then and hasn't recurred yet. Probably won't happen again, but if it does it'll be another relatively minor bout of super horniness," Cisco continued.
"Well, I'm rather content with your normal levels of 'horniness'... but I'd... I would very much enjoy helping you cope with a temporary increase in your libido should you ever go through it again," Hartley offered with a blush.
Cisco kissed Hartley's cheek. "I love you," he said and Hartley felt startled but also kind of warm and fuzzy and he wanted... "You don't have to feel pressured to say that back. I just... I wanted to say it, okay? Was that okay? Should I not..."
"Cisco..." Hartley raised his hand away from Cisco's to place his fingers against Cisco's lips, enjoying the sudden, sharp inhalation that action received. There was the briefest touch of warmth against his index finger when Cisco reflexively wet his lips. "I love you too."
"So you've been a wonderful teacher in the face of all my questions about Vulcan culture," Cisco said, tapping the book on his chest idly as he lay in bed beside Hartley. "Any human culture questions you've got that you don't ask 'cause you're worried they're weird or something?"
"Lots. Lots and lots," Hartley told him.
"Well," Cisco set his book aside entirely now and took Hartley's hand, pressing a kiss to his palm. "You can always ask me, you know."
"I don't know where to begin." Hartley leaned against Cisco's shoulder. "Actually... I do. My parents... my birth parents, that is... they were religious. I don't... remember much about their religion, but sometimes I wish I knew more about their faith."
"Do you remember which religion they followed? 'Cause humanity has a lot."
"Christianity. I don't remember the denomination... it is referred to as a denomination and not a sect, correct?"
"Yeah. That's correct." Cisco slipped his arm around Hartley's shoulders.
"Right. Well, I don't remember which one they practiced, but it was in their files. I've read the bible, but I suspect I missing a lot of theological context. A lot of what was in there seemed contradictory or otherwise simply didn't make sense. The morality parables were interesting and the world origin myth was similar to..." Hartley paused. "I'm sorry. I'm rambling."
"Nope, go on," Cisco trailed his fingers up and down Hartley's upper arm soothingly. "Was the story of Genesis similar to something in Vulcan mythology?"
"I went through a anthropology phase as a kid," Hartley told him. "Ancient Vulcan mythology is really quite fascinating..."
Cisco frowned in concern. Hartley looked extra stiff, like he was concentrating harder than normal on not letting his emotions affect his work.
Which meant something was making him feel more emotional than normal.
They had a new mechanical engineer in their department, replacing Charlie Andrews who'd ignored Cisco's warnings about reporting him to HR for disrespecting Hartley with that awful 'Heartless' nickname. Andrews had been fired for creating a hostile work environment and Cisco had hoped that would make things easier on Hartley. But that expression said that either their new hire had made a bad impression or Andrews' cohorts were picking up where their friend had left off.
Sidling over to his boyfriend, Cisco silently offered to do a finger touch and tried to send soothing vibes to Hartley when the other man immediately took the offer. Cisco was never sure how much of his telepathy actually worked in practice, but at the very least the gesture appeared to relax Hartley as he unwound a little and the pinched look to his face evened out into something more genuinely neutral.
"Are you okay?" Cisco asked softly.
"Not... not exactly, but I will be well," Hartley answered, voice stiff but Cisco counted the honest response as a victory. "I received a message from my parents. They'll be visiting in two months. The vessel they work on will be in the vicinity of the STAR Research Station and they have decided to use their leave time to come here."
Hartley's relationship with his adoptive parents was complicated. Cisco had no doubt Hartley loved them dearly, but they'd put pressure on him to conform to Vulcan culture and cut him off from his Human heritage. Pressure that Hartley had capitulated to in his desire to earn their approval and respect. Two things Hartley seemed very certain, as an adult, that he'd never be able to achieve because he was human and could not be perfectly Vulcan.
Honestly, Cisco kind of disliked them already and he'd yet to meet them.
"However you need me to support you, I will," Cisco promised.
"I want to introduce you to them. You're important to me." And there's a warm buzz that Cisco feels from Hartley that tells him that if they were alone in their quarters, Hartley would have said 'I love you' instead.
Cisco wants to say those words himself now, but Hartley wouldn't take them as reassuring. Not when he isn't comfortable saying them in public himself. So instead he tucks some hair behind his ear - something he's become more comfortable in doing since he started dating Hartley, though he's not ready to unpack why just yet - and smiles. "I'd like to meet them. So I guess tonight we can start discussing what to expect from their visit?"
"Yes." And Hartley unwinds a little more. "I should go start Mr. Raymond's orientation."
Their hands parted and Cisco couldn't quite help the way his eyes flicked southward as Hartley walked away. Hated to see him go, but...
Smiling to himself, Cisco headed to his own workstation, snagging a cup of coffee on the way.