New Fic: Bearly Remembered

[jackwabbit]

Bearly Remembered

Fandom: Star Trek Discovery
Rated: G
Category: Culmets. RickyVerse. Family. Fluff. (Very Slight) Angst with a Happy Ending. Bad Puns. Fandom Tropes. Literal Fluff.
Word Count: 915
Time Frame: Three or After (Adira is Present).
Spoilers: General Series Knowledge Only – Through Season Three.
Summary: Barely remembered is still remembered. Also, sometimes things just work out.
Note: Another Ricky story, because I just can’t help myself. Thanks to potterfan2006 for the prompt idea.

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Hugh had been kidding about Adira having a sleepover.

But when the thing actually happened; when two younger members of the Betazoid diplomatic delegation actually stayed the night, for reasons Hugh still didn’t completely understand, he was not even remotely prepared for the colossal mess that followed.

He sighed as he picked up a blanket that had been discarded on the floor only to discover Ricky lying face down beneath it.

“I’m sorry, buddy,” he murmured, carefully inspecting Ricky’s condition.

“What?” asked Paul, sweeping bits of popcorn from the table into a trash receptacle.

Hugh shook his head. “Nothing. Just talking to Ricky.”

“Oh, my God,” said Paul. “Is he okay?”

“Yeah,” answered Hugh. “Probably got more than he bargained for, though.”

Paul came up behind Hugh, wrapped his arms around his waist, and rested his head on Hugh’s shoulder.

“Kind of like us, huh?”

Hugh snorted. “No doubt. Why are we cleaning this up again? Why isn’t Adira doing this?”

“Because they had to see their new friends off? Some sort of diplomatic thing?”

“Uh huh,” said Hugh, rolling his eyes and turning in Paul’s arms to face him.

Paul shrugged and offered another explanation. “Because we’re softies?”

“More of that, I think,” Hugh said.

Paul laughed. “Yeah, well, you are holding a teddy bear, so…”

Hugh looked down at his hands, sandwiched  between Paul’s chest and his own and still holding Ricky.

He shrugged. “Guilty as charged.”

“And I love you for it,” said Paul, pecking Hugh on the lips and letting go of him to continue cleaning up.

As he did so, Hugh’s head tilted to one side and he looked thoughtful as he examined Ricky more closely. Hugh picked a bit of lint off Ricky’s coat, then called out to his partner.

“Paul?”

“Yeah?” answered Paul, not looking up from what he was doing.

“You’ve gone along with the whole Ricky thing since the day we found him. Like, all in. And I know you talk to your mushrooms, but…”

“But what?” asked Paul, giving Hugh his attention as he trailed off.

Hugh shrugged again. “But I’ve always kind of wondered… why?”

“Why what?”

“Why you went along with it. I mean, you’ve pretended to feed him and you talk to him and treat him like he’s real and…”

Paul marched over to Hugh and took Ricky out of his hands, effectively ending Hugh’s speech.

“First of all,” he said, “Ricky is real.” Paul started cuddling the bear as if trying to soothe hurt feelings as he spoke, and Hugh smiled softly at him.

“And second,” continued Paul, “I do those things because they’re fun. And contrary to popular belief, I’m a fun guy.”

Hugh gave Paul a look. “Paul.”

“Yes?” asked Paul, grinning.

“Fun guy? Really? That’s terrible, even for you.”

Paul’s grin grew into a full smile. “Oh, come on, can you blame me?”

“Yes,” said Hugh, exasperated.

“You know you love it.”

Hugh sighed. “I do. God help me, but I do.”

“Love you too, honey,” said Paul, smirking.

Then he walked over to the bookcase and set Ricky carefully on the top shelf in his usual resting place.

Hugh smiled as he watched, then tilted his head sideways again just as Paul turned around.

“What?” asked Paul.

“Nothing,” said Hugh, “just thinking.”

“And?”

“You know all about Ricky and me. And I was just wondering – I can’t believe I’ve never asked before, actually – did you have a Ricky when you were little?”

Paul laughed. “Did I have a toy bear with a seriously flamboyant personal style? Uh… no.”

“You know what I meant,” said Hugh, sitting down on the couch and patting it in an invitation for Paul to join him. “Did you have a special toy?”

Paul sobered, then half shrugged and shook his head as he sat down.

“I don’t think so.”

Hugh just gave him a questioning look, so Paul elaborated.

“I think when I was really little, there was something, but… I don’t remember. When I was older, my father wouldn’t really…”

Paul trailed off, and Hugh didn’t push. He knew that Paul’s relations with his father had been strained. That schoolwork and excellence had been all that mattered. And he could guess that childish pursuits were frowned upon. After a moment, Paul continued.

“I think it was an octopus. A purple one, maybe? I don’t know that happened to it.”

Hugh noticed the choice of pronouns. Paul had never called Ricky anything but “he”, and “it” was jarring.

“I’m sorry, babe,” said Hugh, gently pulling Paul into a hug.

Paul shrugged. “It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”

“True,” agreed Hugh, nodding. “And hey, you’ve got Ricky now, so…”

Paul grinned and hugged Hugh tighter. “Yeah, and he’s a package deal, so I think I’m good.”

Hugh pulled back and gave Paul another confused look.

Paul chuckled in response.

“There’s not a Ricky without a Hugh,” said Paul, giving Hugh the softest of looks.

Hugh smiled back at Paul and then hugged him again.

A moment later, they maneuvered to lay down on the couch, still holding on to each other.

That’s where Adira found them when they came home an hour later.

The men were fast asleep, and Adira couldn’t resist snapping a quick image.

It was a sweet picture, with Paul and Hugh up front and a very colorful bear watching over them from above in the background.

And somewhere out there in the ether, a purple octopus smiled.