Fic: Somewhere Between Thirty Seconds and All Night (Prologue)
Okay, so this is the beginning of my Jim/Bones take on "When Harry Met Sally" for jim_and_bones's Reel Love challenge. I wanted to post the whole opening sequence of the first time they meet, but I've rewritten the "men and women can't be friends" conversation twice and it's still not ready to go. This movie sets some high dialogue standards. So right now I just have a teaser. But it WILL be finished! Because otherwise I would've dropped out instead of taking advantage of the WIP allowance.
Title: Somewhere Between Thirty Seconds and All Night (Prologue)
Leonard McCoy and Jim Kirk drive to San Francisco together the summer after they graduate from med school/college, argue about love, relationships, and pretty much everything, and figure they'll never see each other again. They're wrong, of course. (A modern-day AU remix of "When Harry Met Sally.")
Author: Dala
Pairings: Kirk/McCoy, Spock/Uhura, McCoy/Jocelyn, Kirk/Gaila, Kirk/Gary Mitchell
Rating: PG (this part)
Disclaimer: standard applies
Written for: the Reel Love rom com challene on jim_and_bones
The first time Leonard McCoy meets Jim Kirk, he can’t help rolling his eyes. Jim’s got his arms wrapped around a leggy redhead, his tongue stuck so far down her throat that he might as well be angling for a DDS rather than an MBA. Leonard sighs, lays on the horn, and thinks sourly that this is about to turn into a helluva long drive. Sam is going to owe him big time, especially given that he’s cutting his visit with Jocelyn short by a day (and he thinks he actually got some small, grudging measure respect from her mother this time, even if he still has to sleep in the spare room).
The kid doesn’t budge but the girl ducks back, laughing as she swats at him. He gives her a last messy kiss and wanders backwards down the front walkway of the little brick house. Leonard keeps expecting him to trip, but he seems to know where the steps are. The girl tugs at her short satin robe, gives Leonard a wave and a slightly abashed smile, and heads back inside.
“You wanna hurry it up, Romeo?” Leonard calls through the open window as Jim shoves his duffel bags in the trunk. “I’d like to get to San Francisco by sunrise tomorrow.”
“No prob,” Jim replies, sliding into the passenger seat and offering his hand. Leonard huffs but shakes it, looking up in surprise at the firm, easy grip. That’s when he gets his first good look at the kid’s face. He’s handsome in that corn-fed Midwestern way, like his brother, but there’s something a bit sharper in his gaze, a willful set to his mouth. His eyes are shockingly blue against the backdrop of Denver’s late summer sky.
“I’m Jim, Sam’s little brother,” he says, squeezing Leonard’s hand before turning it loose. “And you’re Leonard, uh, McCann?”
“McCoy,” Leonard mutters. It’s hot and it’s early and he hasn’t had enough coffee to deal with this bright-eyed kid and the hickey peeking out from beneath the collar of his t-shirt.
“Right, sorry.” Jim reclines his seat about halfway, making McCoy’s trapezius twinge in sympathy. “Thanks again for picking me up. Otherwise I would’ve had to hitchhike to California.”
Leonard eyes him and realizes he’s not actually joking. A rant about the dangers of getting into any old stranger’s car rises to his lips, but he bites down on it -- he’s just met this kid and they’re stuck in a Civic together for the next day or so. He can learn to pick his battles, no matter what his father says to the contrary.
He flexes his fingers on the wheel. “Okay, well, I’ll take the first shift driving. We can stop for lunch around two and switch out, then back again when we’re halfway there. It should take about twenty-one, twenty-two hours if we keep our pit stops short.”
“Not the way I drive,” Jim assures him with a grin, folding his arms behind his head.
Feeling a muscle in his jaw start to twitch, Leonard grits out, “Seatbelt.”
Jim quirks an eyebrow. “Okay, Mom.” He complies, making a big show out of patting the seatbelt when it clicks into place.
Leonard grinds his teeth and turns the key savagely in the ignition. A smirk lingers on Jim’s mouth even after he closes his eyes.
His nap lasts twenty sweet, blessed moments. Then he’s awake again -- propping his sandal-ed feet on the dashboard (“You mess this car up, you can explain it to Enterprise”); digging a can of Bud out of his bag and pulling a face when Leonard slams on the brakes; rifling through Leonard’s CD collection (“The Spin Doctors? Seriously, Bones? I know you’re an old fogey but that’s just sad”).
And yeah, that goddamned nickname. Leonard figured med school and his upcoming residency was a safe topic of conversation, but he was dead wrong. Jim hears “doctor” one time and it’s “Sawbones” this and “Sawbones” that and “Sawbones, you drive like my nana” for the next half hour until Leonard gets him to amend it to just “Bones.” Still fucking heinous, but he figures it’s the best he’s going to get from here to the Bay.
Jim’s still running his mouth off when they switch out, but at least Leonard can close his eyes, drop a sweatshirt over his face, and pretend he can sleep through painfully off-key renditions of the Beastie Boys and Rage Against the Machine. By some miracle he’s actually managed to nod off by the time Jim shakes his shoulder, stage-whispering, “Wake up, man, I found us a great place for dinner.”
To Be Continued...
Title: Somewhere Between Thirty Seconds and All Night (Prologue)
Leonard McCoy and Jim Kirk drive to San Francisco together the summer after they graduate from med school/college, argue about love, relationships, and pretty much everything, and figure they'll never see each other again. They're wrong, of course. (A modern-day AU remix of "When Harry Met Sally.")
Author: Dala
Pairings: Kirk/McCoy, Spock/Uhura, McCoy/Jocelyn, Kirk/Gaila, Kirk/Gary Mitchell
Rating: PG (this part)
Disclaimer: standard applies
Written for: the Reel Love rom com challene on jim_and_bones
The first time Leonard McCoy meets Jim Kirk, he can’t help rolling his eyes. Jim’s got his arms wrapped around a leggy redhead, his tongue stuck so far down her throat that he might as well be angling for a DDS rather than an MBA. Leonard sighs, lays on the horn, and thinks sourly that this is about to turn into a helluva long drive. Sam is going to owe him big time, especially given that he’s cutting his visit with Jocelyn short by a day (and he thinks he actually got some small, grudging measure respect from her mother this time, even if he still has to sleep in the spare room).
The kid doesn’t budge but the girl ducks back, laughing as she swats at him. He gives her a last messy kiss and wanders backwards down the front walkway of the little brick house. Leonard keeps expecting him to trip, but he seems to know where the steps are. The girl tugs at her short satin robe, gives Leonard a wave and a slightly abashed smile, and heads back inside.
“You wanna hurry it up, Romeo?” Leonard calls through the open window as Jim shoves his duffel bags in the trunk. “I’d like to get to San Francisco by sunrise tomorrow.”
“No prob,” Jim replies, sliding into the passenger seat and offering his hand. Leonard huffs but shakes it, looking up in surprise at the firm, easy grip. That’s when he gets his first good look at the kid’s face. He’s handsome in that corn-fed Midwestern way, like his brother, but there’s something a bit sharper in his gaze, a willful set to his mouth. His eyes are shockingly blue against the backdrop of Denver’s late summer sky.
“I’m Jim, Sam’s little brother,” he says, squeezing Leonard’s hand before turning it loose. “And you’re Leonard, uh, McCann?”
“McCoy,” Leonard mutters. It’s hot and it’s early and he hasn’t had enough coffee to deal with this bright-eyed kid and the hickey peeking out from beneath the collar of his t-shirt.
“Right, sorry.” Jim reclines his seat about halfway, making McCoy’s trapezius twinge in sympathy. “Thanks again for picking me up. Otherwise I would’ve had to hitchhike to California.”
Leonard eyes him and realizes he’s not actually joking. A rant about the dangers of getting into any old stranger’s car rises to his lips, but he bites down on it -- he’s just met this kid and they’re stuck in a Civic together for the next day or so. He can learn to pick his battles, no matter what his father says to the contrary.
He flexes his fingers on the wheel. “Okay, well, I’ll take the first shift driving. We can stop for lunch around two and switch out, then back again when we’re halfway there. It should take about twenty-one, twenty-two hours if we keep our pit stops short.”
“Not the way I drive,” Jim assures him with a grin, folding his arms behind his head.
Feeling a muscle in his jaw start to twitch, Leonard grits out, “Seatbelt.”
Jim quirks an eyebrow. “Okay, Mom.” He complies, making a big show out of patting the seatbelt when it clicks into place.
Leonard grinds his teeth and turns the key savagely in the ignition. A smirk lingers on Jim’s mouth even after he closes his eyes.
His nap lasts twenty sweet, blessed moments. Then he’s awake again -- propping his sandal-ed feet on the dashboard (“You mess this car up, you can explain it to Enterprise”); digging a can of Bud out of his bag and pulling a face when Leonard slams on the brakes; rifling through Leonard’s CD collection (“The Spin Doctors? Seriously, Bones? I know you’re an old fogey but that’s just sad”).
And yeah, that goddamned nickname. Leonard figured med school and his upcoming residency was a safe topic of conversation, but he was dead wrong. Jim hears “doctor” one time and it’s “Sawbones” this and “Sawbones” that and “Sawbones, you drive like my nana” for the next half hour until Leonard gets him to amend it to just “Bones.” Still fucking heinous, but he figures it’s the best he’s going to get from here to the Bay.
Jim’s still running his mouth off when they switch out, but at least Leonard can close his eyes, drop a sweatshirt over his face, and pretend he can sleep through painfully off-key renditions of the Beastie Boys and Rage Against the Machine. By some miracle he’s actually managed to nod off by the time Jim shakes his shoulder, stage-whispering, “Wake up, man, I found us a great place for dinner.”
To Be Continued...