Title: New Beginnings
Author:
heavenlyxbodiesPairing: Jim/Bones (AOS)
Rating: PG
Spoilers: nope
Feedback: Makes me happy, just play nice.
Beta:
lanalucy, who made time for me even though r/l is being a bitch, and
caera1996, who came to my aid at short notice. Thank you both! ♥
Disclaimer(s) can be found here (see Fandom(s) I’m Going To Hell For)
Summary: Leave is coming to an end, but it’s just the beginning for Jim and Bones.
AN1: comment fic in response to
j-flattermann’s lovely
pic set (i.e. the one where they were too adorable not to!). FYI-
jim-and-bones is a locked comm.
AN2: So, in the comments to the aforementioned pic set I said I thought the scene it inspired would be put into the road trip fic, but it didn’t make it. This is however a (hopefully) stand-alone one-off from the road trip fic (New Memories, link forthcoming). It takes place a couple weeks after the road trip fic ends.
…still going to special Trekker Hell.
~~~~~~~~
Jim sat at a small table outside a coffee shop in downtown Atlanta waiting for his… Bones. He still wasn’t sure what to call their relationship. He supposed technically they were boyfriends, but they were both too old to be introducing each other as “my boyfriend.” Lovers was what they were, in every sense of the word, but you didn’t go to Starfleet functions introducing your “lover,” and while Jim was sure there were still several people in the Admiralty who would expect something that brazen from him, he wasn’t that kid anymore and even if he was, Bones deserved better. He liked the sound of partners, but it held a sense of promise and permanence he wouldn’t force on Bones. He sighed, cursing himself, and wondering when he became such a sap. He looked up just in time to see the answer to his question waiting to cross the street. Bones looked so relaxed, moreso than Jim had ever seen him- he seemed to relax more and more every day they were here and Jim couldn’t help but wonder if this was the Bones he’d be taking back to the Enterprise with him, or if Bones’ severe scowl and acerbic nature would return the moment they stepped foot on the ship. Part of him didn’t care; he loved Bones whether he was as carefree as he was now or as venomous and fire-spitting as he was in his worst, darkest moods. It was more curiosity than anything.
Jim was getting so distracted by his own thoughts he almost missed the sight of his boyfriend/lover/partner/Bones crossing the street. And what a sight to have nearly missed. Bones in his element, in Sickbay, being a doctor, was a sight to behold, confident, in charge, a force to be reckoned with- a sight which never ceased to strike awe into Jim. Watching Bones sauntering towards him now was all that plus the proud, sensual energy of a tiger lying calmly in the sun.
Bones smiled down at Jim, whipping his dark sunglasses off to reveal twinkling green eyes as he sat across the small table from him. He knocked their ankles together under the table in a masculine form of ‘footsie’ eliciting one of Jim’s face-breaking laughs. Chuckling merrily, Bones shook his head at how such a simple act could send Jim into childlike amusement and how easily Jim’s amusement could trigger his own. Leaning back in his chair, he insinuated a leg between Jim’s so their ankles were all but hugging each other.
“Miss me?” Bones asked playfully.
“Maybe a little,” Jim replied with equal ease.
Bones raised a cynical eyebrow. “Just a little? Hmm, come t’ think of it, I do have a few more errands to run.” Bones semi-serious tone threw Jim for a moment.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” Jim countered, gripping the ankle between his own. “I’ve let you run around alone enough for today.” He reached across the table to lightly stroke Bones’ fingers. “I did miss you. I always miss you.” He laced their fingers together, letting the moment linger. But he was Jim Kirk and he could never refrain from being insolent for long, so he leaned forward and not so quietly whispered, “Take me home and I’ll show you how much.”
To Jim’s delight Bones laughed, shaking his head fondly as he brought their hands up to kiss Jim’s knuckles. “Later,” he promised. “Right now, I’m famished.”
The next hour or more went by in a flow of food, conversation, and coffee. Jim was so excited to be getting back to his ship, Bones hardly got a word in edgewise, but that was fine with him. He was content to let Jim’s excitement wash over the both of them and carry them along in its wake.
“What’s wrong, Bones?” Jim asked after the waitress brought over their third cups of coffee.
“What makes you think there’s something wrong?” he replied with gruff indignation.
Jim inclined his head in a universal gesture of incredulity. Taking Bones’ hand, he laced their fingers together, and leaned forward across the table. “Because even without this,” he squeezed their interlaced fingers, “you are my best-friend and I know when something’s bothering you.”
Bones shook his head with a small chuckle, but didn’t answer right away. He disentangled their fingers and reached down for the small deep blue box he’d been fondling on and off through lunch. “I got you something,” he said finally, and pushed the three inch square box towards Jim.
Jim looked at the box critically. It was a shiny, dark blue with silver ribbon wrapped around it, but otherwise unassuming. Watching Bones intently, Jim opened the box; he wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but what he found was a necklace, a simple dark chain looped through a pinkie-sized ring of similarly dark material. Carefully, he lifted the dark chain off its soft cushion to examine the ring. “Bones?”
“Give it here,” the doctor ordered, giving Jim a small smile when he handed it over. Bones quickly removed the ring from its chain and placed it on the table in front of them. He swallowed nervously as he stood the ring on its edge and set it spinning.
Jim let out a miniscule gasp as the nature of the ring hit home. It was a holo-ring- specially weighted to insure it continuously spun until something or someone physically stopped it and cut off its projection. There, a few inches above the table, was an image of him and Bones, obviously taken during the last three weeks; Jim was sure he could even pinpoint the exact day. He and Bones had been lazing around under the large willow Bones favoured; Jim was lying down, leaning on one elbow with his back against the tree’s trunk, while Bones stretched out perpendicular to him, reading, his head resting against Jim’s stomach as their hands danced together idly and they cast what should have been embarrassingly sappy looks at each other.
Jim was quiet for so long Bones began to get fidgety and self-conscious. He reached out to stop the ring, only to have his hand grabbed and held fast.
“Don’t,” Jim said, though it almost sounded like a plea in Bones’ ears.
“Listen, Jim. It doesn’t have to mean anythin’,” Bones told him.
“It means everything,” Jim corrected, then blurted out, “Move in with me.”
“What? Jim? We already live together in a starship.”
Jim waved him away. “No. Together- on the ship, in San Francisco, here. I want to get off shift and go to our quarters, sleep in our bed; I want to get our clothes mixed up, have you accuse me of stealing your socks, whatever.”
“Jim, do you realize what you’re asking?”
“Obviously not, but I still want it.”
Bones’ laughter started slowly, rich and warm, without a trace of mockery. Never in a million years had he expected that, but it was so Jim, Hell, it was so them. “You’re insane, you know that?”
“Is that a yes?” Jim asked hopefully.
“Yes, you insufferable brat, it’s a yes.”
Leaning over the table they kissed slowly, not minding when they jostled the ring, causing the it to flicker and fall. The ring could be righted just like their worlds had been.