Fanfic Rec: "Speech Bubbles" (Star Trek XI)

[flowrs4ophelia]

This story's premise is kind of silly and even mundane, but the execution makes it a really hilarious, touching, and meaningful "buddy fic." That's just what this has to be called, as it's totally adorable without ever going anywhere that can only be seen as shippy. In some ways the story is so simple it could be easy to miss the deeper implications of what's really going on in Spock's noggin to make him suddenly have trouble communicating properly, and how unsettling it would be for a Vulcan of all people to realize there's something going wrong with his head, and that the problem could actually be emotional and therefore especially difficult to pin down and address. (All this underlying angst and yet it never goes close to the cheapening territory of hurt/comfort with the ways Kirk is there for him...if that's even possible in a gen fic. I don't know.)

This was written for the st_episodic challenge as a ST universe counterpart to the Boston Legal episode "Word Salad Days," which explains where the silly and odd concept comes from but doesn't mean you need to have seen the episode to understand/enjoy it. Layla does a great job translating the character-oriented drama/comedy tone of a show more like BL to a Trek fic, also giving the Kirk and Spock friendship some shades of the very openly affectionate bromance between BL's Denny and Alan without them getting OOC.

Title: Speech Bubbles
Author: Layla (ninety6tears)
Characters & Pairings: Kirk, Spock, some McCoy
Universe: STXI
Rating: PG-13
Summary: After the Enterprise's first officer starts speaking gibberish at a diplomatic event, McCoy diagnoses the otherwise mentally well Spock with acute anxiety and demands he take some serious R & R.
Link: "So I'm worrying about you. Deal with it."