Of Human Bondage by obstinatrix (PG)

[aprilleigh24.livejournal.com]

Fandom: STAR TREK RPF
Pairing: William Shatner & Leonard Nimoy (also bit of Kirk/Spock)
Length: ~3000
Author on LJ: obstinatrix
Author Website: Fic tag
Why this must be read:

“We are their keepers.” This is an exploration of that space between character and actor and it is amazing. Set during the making of The Motion Picture, it's about Bill and Len finally being friends, even as the Kirk and the Spock inside them are trying to find their way back to each other. It's heartbreaking and hopeful and sweet and just a tad pathetic. Just read.
 

He finds Leonard in his dressing room, three doors down and unlocked. His face is soft, relaxed; Bill notices the telephone pulled towards him on the desk and wonders if this is because he has just been speaking to his wife, to his children, to someone else who loves him. Without warning, he feels Kirk’s heart leap a little in his chest, and notices belatedly that Leonard is still wearing Spock’s ears, Spock’s eyebrows. He feels Kirk glow a little, thinking that half-smile to be Spock’s.

Leonard, he is very glad to note, is in a good mood. He looks up when Bill enters, and lets the smile take proper form. Bill suppresses Jim’s little swell of joy, and says, “Hey. Okay if I come in for a while?”

“Sure,” says Leonard, unfolding himself from the desk chair, leaning over to shift a pile of scripts and other papers from the couch. For months, Bill had been dreading these afterhours moments. Dreading the anticipated awkwardness, the pain that rang the changes. Then, last month, he had called Leonard, and the two of them had grown close again with worrying, meeting for lunch and talking on the phone about how to reignite cast chemistry, until suddenly it occurred to them that the problem had solved itself. It was still a little strange, at first, to work together again, after all these years. But this is only the beginning, and that will fade.

In Bill’s mind, Kirk is reassured, too. Bill takes a moment to feel a little bad for him, knowing his easiness with Leonard, his joy at things creeping towards feeling right again, is not Kirk’s own happiness. He hopes Kirk doesn’t overhear him, thinking this.



Of Human Bondage

Comments

[flywoman.livejournal.com]

Great choice - thanks for drawing my attention to this one! It is everything that you promised.

[obstinatrix.livejournal.com]

:/

I'm always surprised when I see this recced - I never got the impression that it was one of my most read fics. I'm pleased, though, because I personally found it really interesting to write.