[Out of Time, Out of Body] -- [Kirk and Kirk]

[kirktastic]

There is a certain moment that people take, where they close their eyes and take a slow, deep breath inwards. For that moment, right at the very peak of the breath, the world around vanishes, thoughts disappear, and the body seems to almost float. Try it. Slow, deep breath with the eyes closed.

Each breath was slow, deep, measured. It filled the lungs, as loud as the rush of the ocean on the beach. Underneath it all was the same slow, deep, measured toll of each heartbeat.

It was on the peak of one of those breaths that his eyes opened. White light spilled between his eyelids, then the world became fuzzy colors, then fuzzy outlines, then solid ones. He was staring at a ceiling. So he remained there, time unknown and unmeasured, staring. It was better then the darkness, at any rate.

Sickbay? Looked like the ceiling, at least. The picture of sickbay built in his mind as he heard the biobed's continuous digital beat, the sound of someone murmuring in the distance, the smell of antiseptic, the hum of something mechanical around him.

So, naturally, he sat up. He took a slow look around him, feeling strangely distant from everything, even himself. Bedsheets covered him, there was something glowing slowly around him, and yes, definitely in sickbay.

It should have been very strange to look back down at himself as he stood up, yet there was nothing. No panic, no terror, just a strange divorced feeling. Kirk shifted away, looking at himself, then finally away. His body still beat, still breathed, wouldn't miss him for now. Why was his skin bright pink like that?

He stepped away, unable to feel the cold floor under his bare feet.

Comments

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

Couldn't do this, if you were me.

Their breathing came evenly, matched. Their heartbeats, likewise. They probably didn't need to do either, here, but the mind remembered. Jim pushed against Kirk's hand, enjoying the feel of his fingers.

It's nice.

Safe. Boring--Jim pushed the thought away. Not yet. Let Kirk have this for now.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

It was a safety. The mind retreated when it couldn't handle everything being forced onto it, and Kirk's mind had retreated to... where, exactly? Maybe just to Jim himself.

Boring was better then terror.

But the mind would die, trapped forever. Eventually, it would need to face the truth.

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

This kiss was slow, complete, given with all his being. Jim wrapped Kirk again in his arms and gave himself over. Safety. Kirk-style, it didn't exclude the scrape of teeth over tongue, the pleasure of touch, bodies pressed together.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

His body responded, as surely as it normally would have. Kirk offered all of himself over in turn, their pleasure matching as they touched, kissed, learned. They knew their own bodies and each others, but here, time felt limitless. Hands seemed to reach beyond skin and touch the nerves themselves.

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

Jim had noticed this before, Out There, wondering if it was just his imagination that made touching Kirk like touching himself, only different. But here it was clear, like the feedback from touching Spock only different yet again. Different, too, in that it was a pleasure of the mind and the mind's perception of the body.

Anything was possible here.

Jim focused on the sensation, on feeling Kirk's reaction as he brushed his hand over an arm, teased his shirt up, sucked lightly on his neck. Could he feel all of it? His lips, his skin? All one? Could Kirk feel the pleasure of his own fingers against Jim's scalp, scraping lightly, pulling just a little closer?

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Just for a single moment, then was a shiver that passed through them both when Jim's mouth touched his neck. Even here, unconsciously, could it remember the feeling of helplessness as a hand crushed around it, the sting of a needle piercing it? But the shiver was gone after a breath as if it had never been, and Kirk pressed closer to Jim's body.

His fingers trickled through hair, down to the back of the neck, stroking across broader shoulders. Jim always felt so good in his arms, so natural. Meant to be.

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

Jim licked a path from Kirk's collarbone to his jaw, up to his ear. Closer. Too many clothes. They didn't need them here. And then he was naked, because he had thought it, because he didn't need not to be. He wanted to give Kirk everything, whatever that was. He wasn't sure anymore, only that it was his to give.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Skin to skin. The idea was perfect in its idea, and so Kirk agreed. His body lost the clothing it had imagined, and they pressed fully together.

Can we be one? A coy tone to his voice. Inside and out.

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

Wasn't that, more or less, what Jim had been thinking? Or was that Kirk? He had enough of his mind left to wonder if this would hurt anything, and he decided not. This wasn't like that mental space of Spock's, where bonds could be manipulated, that link with Kirk formed. No, this was still a dream.

They'd be their own men, still. On the other side.

Closer, Jim's mind whispered, and because he thought it, it happened. They began to merge, and it was much less disturbing than perhaps it ought to have been, fitting together like that.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

The warmth multiplied every second, gathering between them and growing strong and stronger. It never threatened to burn him alive, just warmed him from the inside out. His eyes closed, letting it happen, letting them slide closer and closer together.

It shuddered through him, as strong as sex, as hot as the memory of being pressed up against Spock deep in the mind meld.

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

Like the meld but not, like sex but not, this was something else entirely. Mingling, almost unconsciously, the memories they'd shared earlier flowing through and around them, combined with flashes of skin and lips and shared sensation. No barriers now. Jim didn't know exactly what it meant, would mean. He didn't want to be Kirk. Didn't want his life. But they could share this, here, not a permanent reunion but in its own way a culmination of the putting-back-together they'd been urged to from first meeting. Like magnets, they had circled, sliding against one another time and again.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Jim had no desire to be Kirk, and Kirk had none in return. He liked being himself, but wanted a part of Jim to be with him forever. It complimented the memories in his mind, filling in empty spaces that had bothered him - like a vid missing its beginning and ending, a novel with pages ripped out - and now he was finding those pieces.

They were one. Just for those moments, meant to be together, linked by the universe.

Thank you.

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

Joy enfolded Them, the color of Jim's laughter, of Kirk's smile. Gaining strength from the possibilities They represented, happy to shore up the places They were missing.

And then the feeling receded, the force of their respective personalities too much to remain mingled, and Kirk was in Jim's arms once more.

Always.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Always.

And with a simple thought, they were there again, on the ship. Kirk lifted his head and looked around, blinking. I wanted to find Bones...

There he was, asleep in a chair, leaning against the bed. The image made him smile.

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

He was ready.

Jim's "plans," throughout this, had been more and less than conscious. He merely knew. Perhaps it was his dream-self's interpretation of the link between them, an effort to be what Kirk needed or wanted. And now it was time to bring him back. They were both needed.

You need to wake up, Jim. Jim's voice was quiet, firm. It's going to hurt. But you will be alive, and with Bones, and me, and your ship.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

...I am awake. Kirk looked silently to Jim, blinking. We are here. His voice sounded almost dreamy, distant. I can feel him.

He moved closer to Bones, brushing fingertips over the dark brow.

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

Jim shook his head.

No, Jim. His voice held a tinge of regret, that he had to do this. He's not here. We're dreaming. Do you understand? You cannot touch him. He cannot see you. Don't be alarmed.

Jim turned Kirk slightly, to face the bed.

That's you. He pointed across the room. Me. We're going to be okay. But you need to wake up. Let Bones know.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Kirk just looked... confused. The childish delight was gone. He looked at Jim, a sort of look of sorrow in his eyes. I don't understand. I'm here, talking to you. I can touch him... he must know it's me. He is asleep...

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

Jim felt his own joy plummet. Jim. He's asleep at your side. Waiting for you to wake up. Remember.

He motioned again to the bed where Kirk lay.

We can't stay here. It is safe, but... not forever. We need to wake up, Jim. Need to return to our lives.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Wake up. Waking up...

His fingers came up to the side of his head, gripping at his hair. I can't.. wake up. This will all vanish if I do..! The world started to crack at its edges.

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

Shh.

Jim's arms encircled Kirk from behind, folding him against him.

No. Not gone. Never. The ship is still here. All of it. All that you showed me--you have to wake up, to take care of her. Of them. I'll be there. Bones will be there. And this... this thing we have, that we've shared... that's inside us. Always.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Consciousness was threatening, something Kirk's mind didn't want. He shook in Jim's grasp, not believing, not wanting it. He stared at Bones, asleep there, his body wavering like the view through the heated air over the sidewalk in summer.

I... I can't... let them... not be protected.

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

Jim. He said his name again, like talking to himself, but this self was trembling in his arms and Jim needed to stop it. It's not easy. It never is. But we don't want easy. We've never sought it. They need you. I need you.

I'll be there. We're still connected. Draw on me. And go to them, tell them you're still Jim Kirk. And remember this. Me. Us. Remember what we are.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

It was like speaking with his own conscience, listening to its encouragements. Still Jim Kirk. He had to leave this, and wake up, and possibly lose this because he never took the easy route.

You're right. He finally said, quietly. You'll be there, right?

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

Jim smiled, knowing Kirk would feel it.

Yes. I'll be there.

He turned Kirk around, placing his hand flat against Kirk's chest.

And here.