Long con spones where they each realised they have a crush on the other AND it's mutual on like week three of the five year mission. But through some veiled words managed to vaguely communicate that they don't wanna do anything while working together
So they just have these sexually charged, knowingly mutual moments every now and again and do nothing about it
Scenes that I think would rule
Canon additions, like when they nearly kiss in the cell when Kirk's missing but like they both know it, they know the other wanted it, they just didn't do it
And the cave where Spock's going off his nut, I think they have an interaction afterwards where Spock's like, "if that woman hadn't been there, doctor..." And McCoys just like, "yeah, that was lucky. This is easier to walk back."
Flirting on the bridge that occasionally goes too far and one quietly whispers a warning to the other to pull back
I love a forced confession and this is like the lowest stake confessions ever. McCoy's like "Im into Spock" everyone on the away mission is flabbergasted. Spock is just like "ugh 🙄 did you have to say it tho?"
McCoy's "at least I lived long enough to hear that" dig in Galileo 7 is a bit of a reminder that Spock never said it back and there's shit unsaid between them
Their mind melds are so explicit it's unreal but they just shrug it off
Whenever one gets his flirt on with a love interest of the week the other gets unreasonable but they both know why. Sometimes they're kind about it, sometimes they're an asshole, depends on the week
People thinking Spock is so cruel for not letting McCoy down gently enough after that forced confession and he gets like cold shouldered by some crew, meanwhile Spock and McCoy are having a laugh about something else entirely cos that's just normal for them by now
Minor courting rituals just to keep the awareness of the mutual interest alive. Spock dropping by with tea in the evenings. McCoy falling asleep on Spock's couch after a meeting. Just small things
Writing papers together and McCoy makes a crack about how if Spock doesn't include his first name it'll read like they share a surname 'Spock and Leonard McCoy.' and Spock's little "would that be so objectionable?"
When one of them slips and asks for more the other always refuses. Spock giving McCoy a love letter and McCoy not reading beyond the first line once he realised what it was. McCoy whispering his room number to Spock at a conference, then sitting up late while Spock doesn't invite himself over. That kinda thing
The occasional hard on when they pressed together for some Plot reason that they don't even bother to pretend to ignore
The nearly kisses that take longer and longer to pull back from as the years pass and the interest doesn't wane
The sheer anxiety as the mission is wrapping up and neither of them died and neither of them married someone else and they both still want each other but it's been building for five years can anything match that expectation?
The looks of confliction as they sign onto five more years. Why fix what ain't broke? It worked before, just keep ignoring it
They hook up three weeks into the second five year mission
2087
yousharknotpass
tangentwithtanner
