New Fic: Competence

[jackwabbit]

Competence

Fandom: Star Trek Discovery
Rated: T to light M
Category: Culmets. Hurt/Comfort. Mild Whump. Implied Sex. Medicinal Drug Use. Injury. Traveling the Mycelial Network Ain’t Just For Starships. Yes It’s Shore Leave Fic. I Live in the Tracy and Hugh are BFFs Verse and I Regret Nothing. Competency is sexy.
Word Count: 2726.
Season: Any, though Tracy knows about Cabo Rojo, so I guess post “Sound of Thunder.”
Spoilers: General Series Knowledge Only.
Summary: Shore leave turns into more of an adventure than expected for Hugh and Paul. Fortunately, Paul’s very particular skill set comes in handy – in more ways than one.
Note: Written for the CulmetsSunday prompt of “vacation.”

-----

They’d done it on purpose.

Well, Hugh had at any rate.

He’d set the whole thing up. Five days shore leave, away from everyone and everything Starfleet – including communications.

They’d planned to just spend time with each other, away from incoming comms and other interruptions.

And for three days, they’d done just that. They’d spent most of their time in bed. Paul had gotten some writing done, and Hugh had devoured a trashy detective novel – among other things.

But today, they’d finally decided to leave the small cabin they’d reserved and venture out into the idyllic paradise the planet had to offer. Hugh had insisted a walk would do them good, and Paul had to admit that his legs could use a stretch – never mind the fact that he was always up for exploring new ecosystems.

It had been a lovely hike, really, with Paul enraptured by various fauna and Hugh caught up in the aquamarine atmosphere and the way it gave Paul’s eyes a greenish hue as he bounced about collecting specimens to study once they got back home.

That is, until that very fascination led to Hugh taking a bad step – a very bad step.

One that, along with Hugh’s choices, had resulted in their current predicament.

-----

“Would you hold still?” grumbled Paul, struggling with the knot on a primitive splint.

“I’m trying,” answered Hugh through gritted teeth.

“Well, try harder.”

Hugh didn’t dignify that with a verbal response. He merely glared at the top of Paul’s head as Paul bent over his clearly broken leg. Hugh didn’t need a tricorder to tell him his tibia was broken just above the ankle. He’d heard the snap when he fell, and the way his foot was pointing was anything but natural.

Paul tightened the knot over the injured area, and Hugh hissed.

“Sorry,” said Paul, looking up to meet Hugh’s eyes briefly, worry written all over his face.

Hugh closed his eyes and shook his head minutely, then waved Paul off.

“Not your fault,” he murmured.

“True,” said Paul. “It wasn’t my idea to visit a planet that bars nearly all technology, and I didn’t…”

“Paul,” interrupted Hugh, voice taking on a growl.

Paul had the good grace to look chagrined. “Right,” he muttered. “Not helpful.”

“Not so much,” agreed Hugh.

“Okay. So, do you think you can stand?”

Hugh nodded shakily, so Paul repositioned himself to get an arm around Hugh’s torso. He pressed a kiss to the side of Hugh’s head and spoke into his ear.

“On three?”

Hugh nodded again.

“One. Two. Three,” counted Paul, hefting Hugh upward on the last number.

Hugh made it to his feet – barely.

He leaned heavily on Paul and panted for a moment before being able to speak, and when he did, his one whispered word told Paul everything he needed to know about Hugh’s state.

“Fuck.”

“I know,” soothed Paul, kissing his temple again. “But we have to get back to the cabin. Can you take one step for me?”

Hugh shook his head, pressing his lips together as sweat broke out along his hairline.

Paul took a deep breath.

“Okay. Just rest for a minute,” he said, digging around with his free hand in the satchel at his hip. After a moment, he pulled one of the samples from the bag and looked up at Hugh.

“Hugh?”

Hugh swallowed. “Yeah?”

“Do you trust me?”

The question pulled Hugh out of his own head, and he gave Paul a shocked look.

“With my life,” he stated, voice clear for the first time since he’d fallen.

Paul met his eyes with his own.

“You sure about that?”

Hugh looked offended.

“Yes.”

“Then eat this,” said Paul, holding up the sample he’d dug from his bag.

Hugh stared at Paul for a long moment.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said eventually, extricating himself from Paul just enough to lean on a nearby tree and give Paul’s shoulder a break.

Paul rolled his shoulder and shook his head.

“Not even a little bit,” he said.

“Paul, we’re on an alien planet! We have no idea what…”

Paul cut off Hugh’s protest.

“Ah, but this isn’t an alien species. It’s an invasive species here, in fact – brought in as spores by tourists on their clothes. And that’s a problem, of course, but it’s actually pretty remarkable too. This is one of the most wide-spread organisms in the galaxy. This baby can grow anywhere. And I mean anywhere. But it’s originally from Earth, just like you.” At this, Paul lightly tapped Hugh on the nose, and Hugh wondered if he’d been sampling his samples, but before he could ask, Paul plowed on. “And it’s a natural anti-inflammatory. Plus, well… just… you’ll feel better. Trust me.”

Hugh looked at the mushroom dubiously.

“Trust me,” repeated Paul, with an encouraging look.

Hugh looked at Paul, then at the mushroom, then back at Paul.

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely,” said Paul, and his expression gave no room for argument, so Hugh carefully took the mushroom from him. He brought it close to his face and examined it.

Paul sighed. “Really?”

“What?” asked Hugh.

Paul just gave him a look. It took Hugh a moment to register it, then he blushed in embarrassment.

“Oh. Sorry,” he said, though he still continued to inspect the mushroom.

“Yeah. Because that mushroom is going to tell you what, exactly, that it didn’t tell me?”

“Point taken,” said Hugh. “And you say it’s an anti-inflammatory?”

Paul nodded.

“You’re not just trying to get me high?”

“I swear, if you weren’t injured…”

Hugh actually smiled at Paul’s irritation, which only irked the astromycologist more.

“Alright, alright,” Hugh said, holding up his free hand in a gesture of surrender.

“Just eat it, Hugh.”

Hugh gave Paul an amused look, then popped the mushroom in his mouth – and promptly gagged.

“Oh,” said Paul, with more triumph in his voice than Hugh thought appropriate, “I should’ve told you. It tastes terrible.”

Hugh gave Paul a murderous look as he somehow managed to chew, then swallow, the noxious thing.

Paul took pity on him and helped him wash it down with water from their canteen.

Then he maneuvered Hugh to sit on a nearby log.

“Give it a minute,” he instructed.

It was, in fact, about twenty minutes later when Hugh looked up at Paul with a dopey grin that was as diagnostic to Paul as tricorder readings were for Hugh.

“Alright,” said Paul. “Up you go.”

Hugh stuck out his lower lip in the tiniest pout, but allowed Paul to pull him to his feet.

After that, it was slow going to get back to the cabin, but they managed it. Paul supported most of Hugh’s weight on the journey, but Hugh was able to actually move now, which was a vast improvement from their first attempt. And Paul hadn’t been kidding about the anti-inflammatory effects of the mushroom. Hugh’s leg really did feel better. Either that, or he simply didn’t care about the pain – it was hard to tell.

But that didn’t matter, because either way, they made it back to the cabin and Paul was able to activate the facility’s emergency beacon – the only form of technology allowed on the planet outside of the spaceport.

And soon enough, a rolling transport pulled up outside the cabin.

Paul loaded Hugh, himself, and their belongings (which he’d packed up while waiting for the transport) into the vehicle, and they commenced the hour-long journey to the spaceport. It was a rough ride through varied terrain, but Hugh was still high enough to not notice, and Paul was never more grateful that his husband was an adorable lightweight when it came to drugs.

Hugh was still grinning and occasionally babbling (mostly about how he didn’t want his leg treated planetside, meaning he wasn’t that far gone) when Tracy transported them back to Discovery, in fact.

And once she determined he’d be alright; once she’d reduced his fracture and set the osteogen on it, she turned to Paul. She gestured with her head for him to join her in the doctor’s office.

“I’ll be right back,” Paul said to Hugh.

At his nod, Paul followed Tracy into her office, and she shut the door.

“You want a regen session and a neuroblocker for your shoulder?”

Paul chuckled.

“I wouldn’t turn it down,” he said, rolling his shoulder for about the hundredth time since it had been relieved of Hugh’s weight.

Tracy loaded a hypospray and pressed it to Paul’s neck. Then she picked up a tissue regenerator and passed it over Paul’s shoulder. As she worked, she regarded Paul thoughtfully.

Paul picked up on it.

“What?” he asked.

“I just can’t believe you drugged him.”

“It worked, didn’t it?”

Tracy held up her hands in surrender.

“No judgment here.”

Paul gaped at her. “You’re not mad at me?”

“Are you kidding? I have vid footage of him singing an impromptu anatomy lesson!”

Paul giggled. “Yeah, that might come in handy one day.”

“I particularly liked the part about the shape of a certain someone’s glutes.”

“On second thought,” said Paul, blushing furiously, “maybe we should delete that footage.”

Tracy laughed loudly. “Oh, no. I’m holding on to that forever!”

“You would,” groused Paul, rolling his eyes.

“You know it,” said Tracy, before putting away the tissue regenerator and shifting gears. “Now, last I checked, you two still had a day of leave left, and I’m ordering you to take it. His treatment will be done soon. Go home. Put him to bed, and take the day.”

“I can do that,” said Paul, testing his shoulder again.

“Better?” asked Tracy.

Paul nodded just as an alert beeped outside the office.

“That’ll be the osteogen. Perfect timing,” said Tracy.

Paul and Tracy rejoined Hugh and after strict instructions to actually treat himself like he would one of his patients, advice to maybe avoid hiking in the future since his track record with that particular activity wasn’t great, and orders to definitely take tech with him if he did, Tracy released Hugh to quarters.

The walk didn’t take much longer than usual, even with the stim boot surrounding Hugh’s foot, and Hugh was back to his usual self.

Or so Paul thought – until the door to their quarters closed behind him.

Because as soon as it did, Hugh pushed him against the wall and kissed him like he hadn’t done so in a month. Paul froze for a second, unsure, then pushed Hugh back by his shoulders.

“Hugh?” he asked, confusion wrinkling his forehead.

“Yeah?” breathed Hugh, pushing forward again and peppering Paul’s neck with kisses.

Paul pushed him back slightly harder, forcing Hugh to look at him. When he saw the blown pupils and parted lips, he grinned, but he was still confused.

“What’s gotten into you?”

“Just you,” said Hugh, leaning in again.

Paul tensed his arms and didn’t allow Hugh’s approach.

“How can you still be high?” he marveled.

Hugh’s expression instantly cleared. “I’m not.”

“Then… how… why… I mean, now?” Paul gestured between their bodies vaguely.

“You saved me, Paul.”

Paul shrugged. “Well, I mean, not really. I just…”

“You and your stupidly beautiful, brilliant mushrooms.”

“Now I know you’re still high,” mumbled Paul.

Hugh shook his head. “Nah. Tracy straightened me out.”

Paul just stared at him, so Hugh continued. “This is all me, Paul. And that was all you. No one else could’ve done what you did.”

And suddenly, Paul understood. One corner of his mouth curved upward into a confident smirk. Because he’d learned early on that competency was one of Hugh’s biggest turn-ons. And competency was something Paul had in spades, then and now.

He relaxed his arms, and Hugh leaned into his space again, nuzzling his short beard against Paul’s neck.

Paul leaned his head to one side to give Hugh better access and grunted with pleasure. Hugh took this as permission to expand into kissing again, and he covered Paul’s neck with tiny pecks.

That is, until he shifted his weight and his sudden inhale brought Paul back to his senses.

“Okay,” he said, once again pushing Hugh back. “As enjoyable as this is, Tracy told me to put you to bed.”

Hugh grinned wickedly.

“Put. Take. What’s the difference?”

Paul gave Hugh an exaggerated shocked look.

“Hugh!”

Hugh smirked. “Can’t blame me for trying.”

“I can, and I will,” said Paul. “Now, bed.”

Hugh raised his eyebrows, still trying, but Paul nipped that in the bud.

“To sleep.”

He stepped away from Hugh then, gesturing with one hand for Hugh to follow, and Hugh did.

A moment later, Hugh flopped facedown onto the bed. His action had started out as petulant and pain-filled, but once his head hit the blanket, he realized just how tired he really was.

“Hmmmm,” he slurred into the sheets.

“See?” said Paul, smirking.

“Mmmph.”

“You’re ridiculous. Now, roll over so I can get these clothes off you.”

Hugh did as he was told and it was a testament to his newly discovered exhaustion that he didn’t have a comeback for Paul’s request. He merely picked up his foot to allow Paul to remove the stim boot, then let Paul remove his shirt and trousers without complaint. Paul helped redress him in his pajamas, then put the boot back on his injured foot and pulled back the linens enough for Hugh to shimmy under them.

“Now,” said Paul, placing one hand on Hugh’s chest. “Sleep.”

Hugh nodded drowsily, closing his eyes and rolling partway over to get more comfortable. As Paul stepped away, he cracked one eye back open.

“Paul?”

“Yeah?”

“Stay?”

“Every intention of it,” answered Paul. “I’m tired too. Just let me change, okay?”

Hugh nodded and his eyes closed again. Paul smiled, then went to change.

A moment later, he was in his pajamas, too, and not caring that it was the middle of the ship’s day, he slid between the sheets next to Hugh.

He wasn’t surprised to find Hugh already fast asleep, despite his earlier mood.

And he hadn’t been kidding about being tired himself. Half supporting Hugh back to the cabin and the adrenaline of the day had taken its toll on him. He was asleep within minutes.

-----

He had no idea how long he slept, but he woke to Hugh’s body pressed to his back and Hugh’s arm around his waist.

That was common enough, so he snuggled into it and continued to doze until Hugh’s breath on his neck became more than he could ignore. He moved his head slightly to reduce the tickling sensation, and was surprised when a voice answered his action.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” rumbled Hugh.

“Hey, yourself.”

Paul felt Hugh’s cheek move on his shoulder, and he knew he was smiling, but they were both too sleepy for more just then. It was a long moment later when Hugh spoke again.

“Hey, Paul?”

“Hmm?” answered Paul, clearly not awake enough for more coherent speech.

“My foot hurts.”

Paul’s eyes popped open, and while he wasn’t a hundred percent yet, he was instantly much more awake.

“You need a hypo? Your kit? Should I call Tracy?”

He started to scramble out of bed, but Hugh’s arm tightened around his waist, effectively keeping him in place.

“I was thinking of a more natural solution.”

Paul chuckled. “Well, I don’t have any more shrooms, so…”

Hugh laughed. “No. Something else.”

Paul looked at Hugh over his shoulder.

“What?”

“Endorphins.”

“Hugh, you’re not going for a run on that leg.”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” said Hugh, pulling Paul even closer, so that their bodies were flush to one another. Suddenly, Paul became aware of Hugh’s erection, pushing insistently into his lower back, and his own body started to respond. He rolled over to face Hugh.

“You sure it’s okay?” he asked, indicating Hugh’s foot with his head.

Hugh nodded. “I’m off my feet, and pain delays healing, so…”

Paul kissed him slowly and deeply. “So, we should treat your pain.”

“Uh-huh,” muttered Hugh, as Paul kissed him again.

And in a matter of minutes, Hugh was as out of his mind as he’d been on the planet.

He was also feeling no pain.

Because as far as Hugh Culber was concerned, mushrooms weren’t Paul’s only area of expertise.

He was also an master at endorphins.