[NVC Day 20] -- [Questions and Answers] -- [Jim, Bones, Healer]

[kirktastic]

Jim was both looking forward to it and nervous about it. They had agreed to meet the healer at a smaller hotel somewhere away from both the medical centers as well as the Federation guest quarters. It felt almost like trying to buy some back alley off-world drugs or deliver information of a disclosed nature, to the point Jim almost wanted to call

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[npc_aliens]

Tyvek, for all his years' experience, had encountered more humans in these past few months on New Vulcan than he had ever expected to meet in the whole of his life. These two, as expected, carried all their feelings in their faces. On one level, it was obscene, but there was such evident anxiety there that Tyvek could not find it in himself to judge them.

Having opened the door for them, he stood a little back so that they could enter without difficulty, inclining his head slightly in greeting. His hands were folded together, politely out of view, within the voluminous sleeves of his robe.

"You must be Captain Kirk," he said. "And Dr McCoy."

He withdrew one hand, and held it up in salute.

[dctr_mccoy]

Bones' emotions were more than just evident on his face- they practically radiated out of his pores, and he still didn't look as irritatedannoyedworried as Jim.

He nodded at the Healer, who had come highly recommended to him from a trusted collegue. "Thank you for seeing us on such short notice."

[kirktastic]

Jim gave a salute in return, trying to be polite no matter how he felt about the situation. He sat down with a flop on the one of one of the beds, looking to the healer. How could they even start with this? So my first officer went into pon farr and well, that's a hell of a story that ends up with the four of us hooked together...

He rubbed his brow, already getting a headache. Damn Vulcans.

[npc_aliens]

"It is in the nature of my work," Tyvek acknowledged McCoy gravely, "to be available."

He gestured towards the sleeping area, indicating that the doctor should join his companion, and, when it became clear that his intentions had been correctly interpreted, moved to seat himself on the opposite bed.

"So." He interlaced his fingers once again, hands clasped in front of him, half-concealed by his sleeves. "Perhaps you might describe to me the difficulties that have led you to seek out my services."

[dctr_mccoy]

Bones looked over at Jim. They'd discussed, a little, about what they had to do here. Couldn't get the whole truth without giving all the information, but - fuck, not only was it humiliating, it involved someone belonging to a highly regarded Vulcan family, their co-worker and fellow officer, and someone Bones had thought was becoming their friend.

Still, knowing this didn't make it easier to talk about. "We need to find out about severing a Vulcan bond."

[kirktastic]

"...We need to know what it entails, what'd happen to everyone involved, how dangerous is it... everything." He looked to the healer silently, his eyes a little cold. He really, really didn't want to end up dealing with a lot of Vulcan secrecy bullshit, not now, not about this.

[npc_aliens]

Strange though their ways might be, there was certainly something - helpful - about the way humans' emotions writ themselves so clearly in their eyes. The young captain's cold demeanour did not escape Tyvek. There was a front of secrecy here; something being concealed. Tyvek's eyes narrowed.

"You do not mean to imply," he queried, brow furrowing slightly in something like a frown, "that this is a problem facing the two of you?"

Humans were psi-null, in almost all cases, Tyvek was sure. But something about the men's behavior suggested a degree of investment that did not seem in accordance with people making enquiries for a friend. Besides, what Vulcan would send two humans to do his bidding?

[dctr_mccoy]

Silence hung in the room for a long moment before it was broken. Bones cleared his throat, looking down at the sofa. Fuck it, he knew this had to get out. Shit or get off the pot, his granddad used to say, which made him laugh as a kid. Wasn't as funny right now.

"Yeah, it's got to do with us." This time he couldn't look at Jim, feeling him stiffening next to him. His foot slid minutely and touched Jim' boot. "Can you detect the presence of a Pon Farr bond in someone?" Looking up at the Healer, Bones caught his gaze. "In us. We've been bonded to a Vulcan."

[npc_aliens]

"A mating bond," Tyvek said, slowly. He considered for a moment.

"I see. I have heard of at least one Vulcan-Human bond previously recorded, and I do believe that the healers who came into contact with it pronounced it to be almost indistinguishable from an ordinary mating bond between Vulcans."

He raised a hand, not pressing, but offering. "I see no reason why I would be unable to sense the bond. However, from what you say, it seems that you are in no doubt that it is there. A Vulcan in his time enacted the mating ritual with both of you?" His voice was cool, his tone one of scientific enquiry. "That is most irregular."

[kirktastic]

"It's there, trust me," Jim rumbled, hand flexing in his lap. "It's there." Mating ritual? Was there a ritual to it, or was that just their name for fucking during pon farr? "Whatever a Vulcan's gotta do during pon farr? That happened." He wasn't going to let on exactly what happened unless they had no other choice.

[npc_aliens]

"The two of you were both bonded to the same Vulcan, during the same pon farr cycle?"

Tyvek thought he understood, but he wished to be clear. This was a highly unusual situation, if it was indeed as they described it.

"And you wish to break the bond? It was formed inadvertently?"

[kirktastic]

Jim held up a hand, letting out a breath. "We wanna know how one gets broken. What'd happen if we did it." Attempting to avoid that second question.

[npc_aliens]

Tyvek's brow did not clear. Not that he was frowning precisely. Vulcans did not frown. But he was deep in thought.

"Bonds have been broken in the past," he said. "Sometimes, when a Vulcan is forced to mate with an unsuitable person due to circumstantial constraint, for example, healers will disentangle them. However, the procedure is very risky."

Tyvek paused, gathering his thoughts. "As the Vulcan in question has two bonded mates, it would require him to suffer the disintegration of two bonds. The two of you would suffer some considerable discomfort, mental and physiological." Tyvek broke off. "As for your Vulcan, he could, potentially, could be driven mad. There is some risk, even, that it would be fatal."

He shrugged slightly. "If he were to survive, over time, there is hope of recovery, but it would take time. For all of you."

[dctr_mccoy]

That lined up with what Bones had read, what he'd known about it. The Vulcans who were left alive after the planet exploded, but mentally injured - his patients on board after the planet's destruction. He'd wondered aloud once about them, asked other Healers and the hospital and got only shocked silence and quickly changed subjects.

Still... it didn't make hearing what this guy had to say any better.

"Can you determine ahead of time how bad the suffering would be? The bond isn't very old." Another thought crossed his head. "There - there is a third person. Another th'y'la," he said in broken Vulcan, demonstrating his rudimentary knowledge of the situation. "She's human too. How would this affect her, should she choose to remain bonded to him." Maybe she would be a calming influence on his mind. Or maybe, he feared, she'd be drawn into the madness with them all.

[npc_aliens]

Both Tyvek's eyebrows shot up at this further revelation. "A Vulcan forging three bonds - particularly in one session - is almost unheard-of," he said. He could not even begin to imagine what circumstances could have led to such a state of affairs.

But they had not volunteered anything further. He addressed himself to the doctor's question.

"The newness of the bonds might certainly lessen the severity of any aftereffects of severance. The fact that there is a third person should also help. The two of you - " he nodded towards them " - would still suffer considerable pain, as I have mentioned, but this third t'hy'la's own bond would be unbroken, so she should not suffer, except what might be referred through the bond. Your Vulcan, I am afraid, would still suffer severe mental and physical pain after two bonds had been severed, but madness would be far less likely if there were a bond remaining."

[kirktastic]

Jim nodded once, closing his eyes. There would still be danger, but it would be as minimal as possible with Nyota at his side. It would hurt (seemed to be a theme in his life), but it could be lived through. He wondered if having Spock, the oldest of the Spocks, would help or hurt their chances as well. He was still bonded to Prime, however strange it was and how minimal.

"What would happen if we decide to do this? How's it done?" Jim leaned forward, his hands folding together in his lap.