New Fic: Bearing Witness - Again

[jackwabbit]

Bearing Witness - Again

Fandom: Star Trek Discovery
Rated: G
Category: Culmets. RickyVerse. Fluff. Very Slight Angst. But Paul Fixes It.
Word Count: 482.
Time Frame: FutureFic. Some time after the series ends, most likely.
Spoilers: General series knowledge only.
Summary: The more things change, the more they stay the same. An encore of sorts for Paul and Hugh.
Note: Another Ricky story, because I just can’t help myself. Written for the random word prompt of “discovery.” (No, really.) References the first of this series, “Bearing Witness”, but can stand alone.

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It was so silly, really.

After all, they were grown men.

Such things really shouldn’t matter.

But every time Paul held that ancient bear in his hands, he smiled. The reasons for the smiles varied, and sometimes he couldn’t pin down exactly what they were. But tonight, that wasn’t the case. Tonight, as he unpacked a storage case to find Ricky waiting there patiently for him, Paul smiled at a very specific memory.

Just then, Hugh came up behind Paul and put his arms around Paul’s waist.

“He make the trip alright?” asked Hugh, resting his head on Paul’s shoulder.

Paul nodded, turning his head to kiss Hugh’s cheek.

“Yeah,” answered Paul, smiling wider.

Hugh narrowed his eyes at Paul, a slight look of suspicion on his face. “What are you grinning about?”

Paul chuckled. “Just remembering the day we discovered Ricky in your Mom’s attic.”

Hugh snorted back. “That was a long time ago.”

Paul nodded. “A lifetime, really.”

“Yeah,” agreed Hugh, sadness creeping into his voice.

Paul turned in Hugh’s embrace and lowered his head to look into Hugh’s downcast eyes.

“Yeah, but you know what?”

“What?”

“Some things don’t change.”

Hugh gave Paul a confused look. “What?”

“Being in a box still makes him hungry.”

Hugh blinked, clearly more confused.

“And I’m hungry too. Let’s go eat. We can finish this later,” said Paul, gesturing to the other cases and containers around them.

Hugh laughed. “Yeah, some things definitely don’t change. Fine. Let’s go.”

Hugh let go of Paul and turned to leave the room.

He didn’t see Paul following behind him, and he didn’t realize Paul wasn’t alone – not until they were seated at the table with their food and Paul tucked Ricky into the chair next to his.

“What are you doing?” asked Hugh.

Paul gave Hugh a completely innocent look. “I told you, being boxed up makes him hungry.”

Hugh shook his head and laughed. “You’re ridiculous.”

Paul half-stood and leaned over the table to peck Hugh on the lips.

“And you love me for it.”

Hugh laughed again. “I do. God help me, but I do.”

Paul grinned, sat back down, and started to eat – but only after “giving Ricky a bite.”

It was their first meal in their new home on Ni’Var – the first meal of their mostly-retirement.

Later that night, Paul would realize that it was only fitting that Ricky had shared it.

After all, that day at Hugh’s mom’s had been a milestone for Hugh and Paul. It was the first step of their journey from “boyfriends” to “partners”, which later became so much more – a lifetime indeed.

And if all went according to plan (and Paul refused to think otherwise, thank you very much), lunch had been the first meal of what would be another lifetime.

A quieter, more sedate lifetime, but a lifetime nonetheless – one Paul wouldn’t trade for anything.