Down and Out and Under the Table
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Down and Out and Under the Table |
| Author(s): | Jenna Hilary Sinclair |
| Date(s): | 1998 |
| Length: | |
| Genre(s): | slash |
| Fandom(s): | Star Trek: TOS |
| Relationship(s): | Kirk/Spock |
| External Links: | Down and Out and Under the Table |
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Down and Out and Under the Table is a K/S story by Jenna Hilary Sinclair.
It was published in the print zine First Time #48 and online.
Summary
"After a party on board ship, a drunken McCoy sees Kirk and Spock kiss and almost make love as he lies under the table."
Reactions and Reviews
1998
So unusual for this terrific author to write a "first time' story, but boy! Am I glad she did. I just loved this funny, clever story of McCoy under a table, drunk and trying not to think of Kirk and Spock having sex. Therein lies the delightful humor as poor Bones remembers when Kirk first took command of the Enterprise and K and S's growing relationship through his eyes. We see Kirk keep getting testy with McCoy about Spock and anything even related to Spock. This is written so well — we can really feel McCoy's inebriation as he tells the story. But it's told with all the loose attitude and mixed-up words of his drunkenness along with all the vibrancy and immediacy of the events. Truly excellent. And such a fine characterization of McCoy—gruff and sarcastic, yet really tender and feeling underneath. This kind of writing is deceptively simple. Writing in the first person is hard enough, but being able to capture exactly the character as drunk is not an easy feat. And what a wonderfully crafted story as McCoy goes under the table in the observation room which is where we see him in the beginning. And there's more to love, admire and be surprised by.... What a perfectly wonderful story. [1]
This is a very funny story of a drunken McCoy, lying under a table, trying not to imagine Kirk and Spock having sex. And not too sucessfully, I might add. It is a wonderful charaterization of McCoy. Ilike McCoy and enjoy seeing the Kirk and Spock relationship develop through his eyes. And McCoy's drunken, rambling speeh is perfectly captured. I could actually see and hear him in my head, which is no easy task, but this author makes it seen so effortless. I especially loved the scene where he watches the "boys" have sex. All right, call me a pervert, a peeping Terri or what have you, but I loved it. And when McCoy got turned too, it just made it perfect. A wonderfully crafted story and a very enjoyable read. How about some more first time stories, Jenna? You do it so well. [2]
An inebriated McCoy inadvertently witnesses a sexual encounter between Kirk and Spock in what they think is a deserted rec room. Not our usual view of McCoy, to say the least, but Jenna brings it off wonderfully. Her delicious sense of humor is displayed to perfection here as well as her skill. It’s hard to write someone telling a coherent story while he is drunk, and make him compassionate, funny, and totally endearing all while he’s experiencing a hard-on of massive proportions! A delicious scenario! I chuckled my way through this story. I love this established author’s attempts to venture into the new and different. She’s been experimenting lately with first person point of view, and boy, has she produced a gem! [3]
This story is just absolutely hilarious, perfect, superb and wonderful. Can you tell I loved it? An absolute charmer. Two thumbs up. Okay, I’ve run out of superlatives. Jenna, this is one of your best stories. Congrats! And readers, this is one of the top five humorous K/S stories I’ve ever read. If I had a memory, which I don’t, I would list the others. I know Devery Helm did some cute things, but now I can’t remember if they were K/S or not. [4]
1999
A totally fun and sexy story of a drunken McCoy during the aftermath of a party, watching Kirk and Spock make out. We get wonderful detailed descriptions, oh boy. This is written as well as is possible I think — how do you really write inside an inebriated person's head? My question is: is he talking to himself, or thinking? Because if he's just thinking, he wouldn't stumble over words. But then the story wouldn't be so amusing. Whatever, it was just fun. And sexy, did I say that? [5]
2000
That is, McCoy was down and out and under the table in an erstwhile private room of the observation deck. Where he accidentally happened to witness Kirk and Spock up and at ‘em and on the floor, in the middle of the room, and, in one memorable scene, plastered against the observation window. After reading the story I was pretty much on the floor, too. If I didn’t live so far away, I’d have been thrashing on Shelley’s carpet. But seriously, this wonderful story drew me right in immediately, and soon had me both laughing and sighing. Laughing, because the perfectly rendered drunken McCoy under the table was both in character and refreshingly original. Sighing because the K/S portions were beautiful, poignant, and so exactly drawn that I could see the events as well as McCoy. Probably better, as I wasn’t drunk. Let me emphasize how perfectly this drunken voyeuristic scene was handled. Drawn by a less skilled craftsman, McCoy in this situation might certainly have been ludicrous, silly, out of character, and downright embarrassing to read. He might have been a cliché, and a bad one at that—I’ve seen a number of authors portray our good doctor as a person with a serious alcohol problem. But this McCoy is nothing of the sort. That’s probably why a night of festivity aboard the Enterprise, which he and Uhura engineered for the crew’s benefit after a particularly grueling tour of duty, had him under that table in the first place—he can’t really hold his liquor all that well.
Jenna starts the story perfectly, not only pulling the reader right in with an excellent opening sentence, but also drawing McCoy’s character in bold strokes that both put him in these straits and let us know that he’s not a borderline alcoholic as some have cast him: “Do not lecture me about the evils of alcohol. I am fully aware of the damage the evil elixir does to your body, specif--, specif--, I mean, mainly to your liver, not to mention your brain.”
And there’s more where that came from. Next, Jenna’s McCoy sets the scene for K/S as he reminisces about the time when Kirk assumed command of the Enterprise. He takes the time to point out Kirk’s penchant for eliciting excellence from his crew—an important point, and something often overlooked in our rather romantic genre. But the passages that really got to me were the ones about Kirk and Spock together, of course, and here McCoy’s razor-sharp perceptions cast the beginning of that legendary relationship in stark relief. I just adore believable depictions of Spock as loving Kirk at first sight; they are not that easy to do. In many stories, it’s portrayed as lust at first sight, and I don’t buy that. Witness the difference here: ....
[much snipped due to length]
.... There were a few other touches I loved that I want to make sure to mention. Jenna used the fan-canon name “Penda” (love) for Uhura, and I enjoyed that so much. Yes, Nyota is a lovely name, but I do dislike seeing fans treat the “pro novels” as though they are canon, when they aren’t. Go, Penda! I enjoyed McCoy’s observation of which parts of Kirk’s and Spock’s bodies give away their true feelings, and Kirk’s and Spock’s observation of McCoy’s bouncing on his toes. I loved the sweetness of Kirk’s and Spock’s friendship for McCoy, and how McCoy got to witness that. Contributing to the verisimilitude was Kirk’s maturity and directness, coupled with the implication that he and Spock have not been overly hasty in moving to this level of sexual activity: “I’m through fooling around. I’m not a kid and neither are you, and it’s about time we did something.” Yes! They are really believable as men in this story. Best of all was the thrilling climactic scene where a fully clothed Kirk is backed up against the observation window by a fully aroused, refreshingly direct, not fully clothed Spock. (Only one specific part isn’t clothed, and is that scene ever sexy!) “We will retire to your quarters now,” says this Spock, who is, er, pressing the issue with Kirk. And what they say after that...well, go read it for yourself if you haven’t yet! It’s sexy and touching and sweet. Dang beautiful, as McCoy put it.
I love to see any K/S author try new things, take chances she hasn’t taken before, apply her skills to a new style. Done by an author of Jenna’s caliber, it’s a gift. [6]
2008
As one might imagine from the title, this is a story meant to be humorous, but it is also touching in its own way. OK, disagree if you must, but seeing Kirk and Spock together through the eyes of a snockered Dr. McCoy is more than just a story to make you laugh. It makes you realize, as does McCoy, what a special love these two share.It‘s been around for awhile in zine form, but has recently been posted to the K/S Archive by the talented Ms. Sinclair. There‘s something about observing Kirk and Spock as they fall in love, or in this case, as they express that love, that is very satisfying. McCoy is always a good subject for this sort of discovery. In this case he is 100% okay with the whole idea, but more than a little flustered with seeing them and hearing them as they speak soft, endearing words to each other, and as they kiss with a tender intensity. McCoy has no choice but to stay for the duration. After all, one can‘t just pop out from underneath a banquet table while one‘s commanding officers are in the midst of declaring their love for one another, can one?
Like most of us, McCoy can‘t quite bring himself to close his eyes, guaranteeing we get to see every gesture, hear every word and feel the passion in the air. What a fun story! [7]