#Neelix how much did you talk about Tuvok bc this guy's really into it

[bumblingbabooshka]

Live Fast & Prosper

[bumblingbabooshka]

What if right after Tuvok woke up from his lil coma in “Riddles” he saw all the flowers and what to him must seem like gifts? adornments? around him and heard from the doctor how Neelix had been by his side every day he was unconscious and immediately assumed Neelix was his husband? What then?

Picturing that Tuvok’s wife guy instincts never go away so he remembers vaguely that he loves someone very much and this man is kind and cares for him and has given him all these beautiful things which Tuvok likes .... this must be the person he loves! Good v_v Also if you wanna really get into it - what if Tuvix factors into this in that Tuvok can remember (after touching Neelix in some way which he seems eager to do in ‘Riddles’, touching things in general I mean) Neelix’s crush on him which he definitely has and just assumes he must feel the same way since he does love someone quite fiercely and it doesn’t seem like anyone else is paying quite so much attention to him. I imagine that after ‘Tuvix’ Tuvok knows Neelix had/has a crush on him (it’s on and off but also constant) but they never talk about it because Tuvok would never want to talk about it and if Neelix coyly asked if he knew he’d avoid the question and if Neelix asked outright he’d straight up lie. So I’m picturing in ‘Riddles’ Tuvok talks about Neelix a lot while being treated and the doctor is amused, saying he never used to speak so highly of him and Tuvok’s horrified...he’s like !? What kind of husband was I??? And the doctor would spit out a drink if he had one.  Then he helps Tuvok access his personnel file bc he won’t believe he and Neelix aren’t married. He has a /wife/?? Where is she?? Why isn’t she on the ship?? Huh?? (the horrors, the unending horrors. He has to be sedated because of the horrors, sorrow, etc.) Neelix chuckles when Tuvok tells him the anecdote (minus the horrors) and is like why did you think we were married?? And Tuvok points out the flowers, how kind he is, how he was his only visitor, how he played his favorite music and gave him gifts and stayed/stays by his side always and knows so much about him and - ( “O K ay that’s enough~!” ) - and the fact that Neelix harbors romantic feelings towards him. Neelix stares in absolute shock. “I’m sorry. Was that secret?” “H ow....why do you think that?” Tuvok explains that he can sometimes...feel things when he touches people. And sometimes even...see, things? And when he touched Neelix he remembered seeing...himself! For the first time and thinking he was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen. (Which is my personal Neelix-has-a-Tuvok-crush headcanon. He saw him and IMMEDIATELY got a crush on him. Handsome alien who gives him water!) Neelix kind of wants to throw himself into a hole but he’s like “o ohh...haha. yes w ell. Me and you aren’t even...friends...so.” Tuvok frowns and gently pats Neelix’s hands and says it...hurts, when you cannot be with the one you love. He says he cannot even remember who T’Pel was, and yet he yearns for her. He doesn’t know which is worse - a love agonizingly close or a love unfathomably far away - both, for all intents and purposes, unrequited. Neelix says that T’Pel still loves him! And Neelix’s little crush isn’t even half as important as the love between Tuvok and T’pel. Tuvok blinks at him sadly and says there are many different types of love. Then he kisses Neelix’s forehead (not the Vulcan way) and thanks him for being so attentive and kind despite how it isn’t returned by the other Tuvok. The favor or his feelings. Also to be so real with you someone left a comment to the effect of ‘What if Tuvok thought Neelix was his husband in riddles’ but what REALLY spurned this on???? If we can be SO painfully real for a second??? Was hearing the song “Once Upon a Dream” which I’d NEVER heard before and my dumb ass’s first thought was wooow just like Tuvok @ Neelix in that riddles episode. SO THERE. “But if I know you, I know what you’ll do...you’ll love me at once! The way you did once upon a dream...” <- Tuvok remembering Neelix’s big stupid crush on him that he found out about when they were Tuvix and subsequently buried