[NVC Day 27] -- [Open Office] -- [Open to All]

[kirktastic]

With the sentencing over, the Enterprise would soon be leaving Sha'Kwai and returning to its original mission. By this point, Jim was ready for it. He wanted off the planet, his wanderlust getting the better of it. It was the longest stretch of time he had spent in once place minus his years at the Academy - always moving, always traveling, wanting

Comments

[kirktastic]

"Grumpy bastard," Jim said cheerfully. "You trust me?" He met Bones' eyes. "Trust me enough to blindfold you and let me lead you around? Promise when all's said and done we'll come back here and you can use me like a giant teddy bear." It was teasing, but Bones knew Jim would love it just as much. Only Bones had that privilege.

[dctr_mccoy]

"'Giant teddy bear' isn't exactly what leaps to mind, but I'll think of something to do with you," he retorted, face animated as he saw the look on Jim's face. A blindfold... shit, this must be big. "Yeah, I trust you."

Trusted him with a fuckton more than this. Trusted him with everything. "Do I gotta put it on here?" Maybe it was something on the planet?

[kirktastic]

"Kinky," Jim quipped, waggling his eyebrows. "Yes you do. Hold on." Jim had something in mind - he grabbed a tie for one of the robes and came back, holding it up before he gently tied it over Bones' eyes, knotting it behind his head.

"Can't see, can you? You have to promise me you can't see!" He didn't want it being spoiled. Already he grabbed his comm and was punching in information to the people still up on the Enterprise for transport.

[dctr_mccoy]

"No, can't see a damn thing." And he couldn't. He could hear Jim messing with something, heard "Two to energize" and then all of a sudden it was cold. Colder, at any rate, the temperature of the ship much lower than the planet they'd be on for the past month.

They were walking down the hallways of the Enterprise, Jim's excitement evident even blindfolded.

[kirktastic]

Jim was already thinking about how they would need to up the gravity more - he felt lighter, a spring in his step. Also, the temperature needed to go up ship wide for a while and slowly decreased until they were used to regulation gravity and temperature again. He held Bones' hands, leading him carefully (much to the amusement of the ensign who had beamed them up) through the ship.

Carefully he led Bones through up to a turbolift, knowing Bones would have no clue. It wasn't the route that the doctor knew from the transporter room to sickbay, not at all. They were headed almost in the opposite direction. "Almost there."

Finally, Jim positioned Bones in the clear, cool sickbay. "Letting go, don't move." He turned and punched up the new schematics of the Enterprise, focusing it in slightly on sickbay's new location

[dctr_mccoy]

Bones opened his eyes to the screen and squinted in the familiar bright light of his Sickbay... except this wasn't his Sickbay. Larger, brighter if it were possible, things not in the same place.

Eyes back to the screen, he tried to assess where they were, what had happened. "...Jim?" he asked. "Is this- did you move Sickbay?"

[kirktastic]

"Was here," Jim pointed on the screen, "here, now. Safe and sound in as center of the saucer as I could get it, like it damn well should have been. They ship will have to be blown apart before another incident like what happened that day ever happens again. Plus, as a bonus, it's half again as large and closer to some of the science labs."

[dctr_mccoy]

Bones knew it wasn't for him... didn't matter who the CMO was, he would have made the changes because it was the right thing to do. But still, Bones felt something twist inside him, a warmth spreading. "Shoulda told me," he said, his voice cracking a little as he touched Jim's shoulder. "Coulda helped you with this."

He looked around. It was bigger, clean and shiny and- "Is that my office?" he asked, pointing at a door off to the side.

[kirktastic]

Jim felt a matching warmth with that tiny crack in Bones' voice. He nodded at the question, gesturing with his head. "Go check it out." This was where it stopped mattering that it was just to protect sickbay better from a poor design choice... and it mattered that it was Bones.

It still had most of Bones' things in it, but there was now a nice couch there instead of just a cot, long enough to stretch out and sleep for one and it pulled out for more room and some arranging of the chairs in the room.

It was more dimly lit to save Bones' eyes as well, remembering Bones bitching about headaches from the light in sickbay sometimes.

[dctr_mccoy]

His old-fashioned wooden desk was there, too. Sitting down, he noticed that the chair was nicer, more cushiony. Bookshelf behind him had his most recent photo of Joanna,smiling in her spring dress.

Opening the drawers, he saw his things still in their spots. Flask in the bottom drawer, next to his 'secret' bottle.

Top drawer had his old, worn picture of Jim, from their Academy days. He barely noticed the sofa, the other little changes, so lost he was in his thoughts. Rubbing his face with one hand, he looked up at Jim. This was needed, yes. Made his Sickbay better. He imagined the labs were upgraded, all the equipment ready to go, stocks and supplies filled. All of a sudden he wanted to come back and really get to work.

"It's perfect." What else could he say, other than, "Thank you, Jim."

[kirktastic]

It made him smile. "We had a month of nothing to do at a properly outfitted space dock, and the Vulcans were happy to help out, even if they raised an eyebrow at some of my illogical choices." He jerked a thumb at the couch. "Pulls out. No more shitty naps on a cot in here where you come back and bitch about your back." Or when he was almost dead and Bones wouldn't leave sickbay. Happened too much.

"Also, not letting some new Starbase have the best equipment." There was some pride in his voice.

[dctr_mccoy]

"Not letting anyone get anything past you," Bones said, standing and walking to Jim. His arms found their way around Jim's waist as they walked out back into Sickbay. He wanted to look at everything, go touch it and play with the new equipment but that would mean leaving Jim's arms, and he wasn't ready to do that yet.

Still couldn't think of anything to say, other than, "It's perfect." Yeah, it was going to be different. New personnel, new challenges, new missions. But they were ready. He was ready. "Anything else changed I should know about?" he asked, brushing his lips against the side of Jim's head. "You haven't moved our bed to the bridge, have you?" he joked.

[kirktastic]

A quiet laugh. "Nah, not yet. I'd rather have sex in my chair, anyway." He grinned, leaning into Bones' solid weight. Fuck... when had it gotten so easy to be like this? To not have to think twice, to let someone.. cradle him. He wasn't sure when, or how, but... it was good.

"Spock'll have the Vulcan equivalent of an aneurysm when he sees his new office."

[dctr_mccoy]

"You fix his room up too?" Bones asked, smiling. Maybe they were going to get past all of this. Wouldn't ever be like it was, probably never be like the other set of bondmates, but... they could exist together, and for right now, it was enough.

Jim was warm next to him, a contrast to the cooler temperatures that he was getting used to. "You feel the difference in the breathing?" he asked. "Being on the planet, we've acclimated to their lower oxygen levels."

[kirktastic]

"You'll need to see it. There's beanbags in there now," Jim was laughing, leaning in close. "Yea... I feel light. And light headed. We'll need to talk to Scotty about making things closer to the planet before we have people passing out at their stations." He nosed the side of Bones' head.

[dctr_mccoy]

"There's gonna be some muscle fatigue as well, the gravity down there is different." He sighed, nuzzling his hair. "I can give people something to make things better for them once they get back on board."

His hands rested on the small of Jim's back, and his fingers found there way under Jim's shirt. Warm skin, warm under his fingertips, and Bones kissed him again, gentler this time.