Unintended (Star Trek: TOS story)

Fanfiction
Title:	Unintended
Author(s):	Cimorene
Date(s):	2001, 2003
Length:
Genre(s):	slash, m/m
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:	Unintended
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Unintended is a Kirk/Spock story by cimorene.

It was published online at ASCEM in 2001, and then in 2003 in the print zine Cyberdreams #1.

Summary:

"Spock discovers he and Kirk have inadvertantly bonded when he is forced to break the bond in order to save a crewwomanʼs life with a mind meld."

Reactions and Reviews

Kirk and Spock are accidentally bonded, which Spock realises only after he starts to suffer the effects of its severence. Luckily they've been unrequiting all over the place so it's all good.

This was the only story I didn’t remember reading before, though it came back to me as I went along. It’s a delightful story, with just the right amount of angst. I really liked how their friendship, their love, is so apparent from the very beginning. When unforeseen circumstances force them to confront what is truly between them, both men react with grace and an unwavering courage to accept that they may not be how they previously saw themselves. Step by step, what has happened to them draws them together. The love scene at the end completes their journey beautifully.

One of the favorite stories of that year [2001] was “Unintended” by Cimorene, a story of Kirk and Spock’s unplanned psychic bond, a concept never once mentioned on screen, yet portrayed over and over again in fan fiction from even before the beginnings of published K/S. Says Cimorene, “I started writing ‘Unintended’ after a few months of avidly reading as much K/S as I could find. I think of it as a kind of love letter from me to fanon—or perhaps a rhapsody about that fanon, its themes and ideas and its spirit. (Of course, that doesn’t entirely account for it. You might, with careful attention, also discover some traces of my mushy streak and my fetish for telepathy.) Finishing took several months of labor, during which I believe I read the last scrap of pairing material the Internet would give me, and this is how I digested all that and formed my perspective on it. The story became a lot more popular than I could have expected, and I like to believe that’s because people get out of it some of the perspective that I poured in, during that first heady stage of boundless new-fandom enthusiasm and love.”

This is a rather unusual story which takes place sometime after the events in Amok Time and The Menagerie, while Kirk is still trying to come to terms with those events and Spock’s actions when he kept secret his intention to take Captain Pike to Talos IV. Told initially from Spock’s point of view, his realisation that he finds the sensation of Kirk’s breath on his ear tips erotic and his pondering whether this is a deliberate act on Kirk’s part is very well described, as is Kirk’s own gradually dawning realisation that he is attracted to Spock, and that he now understands and can forgive Spock’s actions during the journey to Talos IV with Christopher Pike. Things come to a head however, when Spock invites Kirk to participate in a particular Vulcan exercise routine, which requires them to meld and they are interrupted when one of the crew is injured and her only chance of recovery lies in melding with Spock –a meld which has far reaching consequences for both of them. This particular author puts forward some very interesting ideas relating to melds and bonding, which are woven into the plot in a very satisfying way, along with a slightly more light hearted note, as they both try to avoid having to explain what is happening to McCoy who is also well described. The fact that it is Kirk who takes the initiative should come as no surprise to anyone, except Spock who is flabbergasted to say the least, with his solution, but Kirk’s persuasive skills should not be underestimated either and of course, in the end he convinces Spock of the logic of what he is proposing and is of course, successful in persuading Spock that they both want the same thing which is as well the logical course of action to take.

Bonding fics are a staple of the Kirk/Spock pairing and thus it is not surprising that most of them are extremely clichéd in the most negative sense of the word. There are, however, some great bonding fics and this is one of them.

In “Unintended” there are no mawkish declarations of eternal devotion or a perfect sexual encounter preceding the formation of the bond. The link that forms between Kirk and Spock occurs unexpectedly (resulting from a combination of a casual meld and the feelings that unconsciously exist between them) and its eventual demise has serious consequences for Spock’s mental well being, something both of them have to deal with. Eventually, things are set to rights and a happy ending follows, accompanied by great sex (proving that not all clichés are necessarily bad).

There are two things that make me really enjoy this fic: the way the characters are portrayed and the writing style, which manages to convey the depth and impact of the mental connection without having to resort to purple prose. All in all, this is a great example of how a bonding fic should be done.