now i am craving heartbreak [open]

[goldn_boy]

WHO Jim Kirk and OPEN
WHAT Jim is reasserting himself in all the wrong ways
WHERE CGM, the station, a police action, bars, or anyplace you can think of
WHEN After the breakup with Raylan Monday afternoon, and let's say any night this week
NOTES Find Jim anywhere and feel free to find his behavior strange. If you have questions about things you want

Comments

CGM Kitchen, whatever evening works best for you

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

There was a dragon running through the mansion's corridors. Not loose; he was still leashed, though it was a longer leash than he was used to. And he was chasing a tennis ball, with Scott at the other end of the leash following along behind him. For the first time in a while, Scott looked content. Relaxed. He even smiled once or twice as he watched Laphroaig, and eventually the two of them made their way into the kitchen.

[goldn_boy]

It was, Jim reflected, beginning to form a pattern. Who was in the kitchen first changed, but it seemed to him he and Scott were always meeting there. Which might have been due to the fact that Jim did spend a significant portion of his off-duty hours procuring food--not just for himself but, now, making sure the stores that he had were distributed as efficiently as possible. Though just at the moment he was making pancakes.

Laphroaig seemed recovered, and maybe a bit bigger, and Jim watched the dragon for a moment before looking up and nodding at Scott.

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

Laphroaig hopped up on the counter, looking expectantly at the fridge, and Scott got him his food before doing anything else. As soon as Laphroaig was preoccupied, he turned, taking a few steps toward Jim. "Didn't know you could cook." He couldn't cook. Hadn't ever had any reason to learn how. Without really realizing what it was exactly that he was doing, he took a few more steps closer, until he was very nearly touching Jim, looking over his shoulder at the pancakes.

[goldn_boy]

"I can't," Jim said. Had he been his counterpart, in Scott's version of the Empire or his own, the man's closeness would have been alarming. That it wasn't only made Jim slow to realize the oddness of it. "It's just pancakes--see, the recipe only has a few things and you just mix them together and try not to burn anything. Not as fluffy as Dad used to make, though."

In fact, his first few ventures had only been edible because of Jim's great hunger and his unwillingness to waste.

"Want some?"

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

He'd not been eating much the past few weeks. The minute he was aware of the food shortage in the city, he'd bought every last scrap of meat he possibly could, for Laphroaig, and had cut his own rations back, eating only when the choice was eat or pass out. And now that he was back to a relatively stable emotional state... "Yes," he said, decisively, inching closer to get a better look, and even going so far as to put a hand on Jim's shoulder. Distantly, he was aware in a vague sort of way that this wasn't how he should be acting, but the city's influence on him was strong this week.

[goldn_boy]

Jim, gazing down at the pan in front of him, blinked at the touch, and turned his head without dislodging Scott's hand. Maybe the man really liked pancakes, he thought. Food did weird things to people. He knew better than most.

He also knew better than to think this was normal, but at the same time, hadn't he been trying to the Scott to come out of his shell?

"Flipping it is tricky," he heard himself saying, a way to make this sort of make sense. "You have to slid the spatula under and make sure you turn it all at once without dripping." He demonstrated, making only a little mess.

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

He leaned in a little, resting his chin partly on his hand and partly on Jim's shoulder, watching intently as Jim flipped the pancakes over. And it was nice, standing there like that. Comfortable. Which was still distantly worrying, because he shouldn't be comfortable like this. But he wasn't really in any mood to fight it.

[goldn_boy]

Was this really the ISS Enterprise's Commander Scott, all but spooning him now as he made pancakes? Jim thought he might be dreaming, but it was too weird, and anyway he feared sudden movements might upset the man who was clearly already not feeling himself.

Not that it was bad. Under other circumstances, standing here at the stove with someone leaning up behind him--even maybe putting their arms around his middle--sounded pretty nice, actually. But this was just plain weird.

Maybe he had gotten through to him, Jim thought. But this wasn't exactly the form he'd thought it would take. Rough sex, maybe, if Scott swung that way and was still having issues with himself, but not comfortable domestic kitchen cuddling. But Jim wasn't really in the mood to fight it, either--it was comforting, and unexpected, and lately there'd been an emphasis on the latter without the former.

Eventually, however, he had to lean over to set the pancake on the waiting plate. "So, ah," he said. "See how I did that?"

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

He shifted, letting Jim lean over, though he kept his hand on the other man's shoulder. "I'm no' blind, y'know," he answered, with his usual sort of sarcasm, a sharp contrast to the almost gentle way he was sticking close to Jim. He curled his fingers into the fabric of Jim's shirt, just a little. Jim was right; had he been himself, and acting on attraction, it wouldn't have been half so comfortable and easy-going. But it wasn't just physical attraction that had a grip on him right now, but an attraction to the idea of showing it in this manner as well.

[goldn_boy]

Jim probably understood physical closeness better than Scott realized--he'd always been tactile, separate from his sexual impulses, though they blurred fairly often. But now he had an engineer clinging to him and pancakes to eat. If he thought it would help, he'd have reciprocated more actively--he did have a healthy view of hugs--but he thought that, too, might upset whatever was going on here.

"I know," he said. "Syrup?"

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

"Plain's fine." He let go of Jim then, reluctantly, because he couldn't very well hold onto him and eat at the same time. Laphroaig, finished with his own meal, jumped off the counter and bounded across the floor to jump onto Scott's shoulder, eying the pancakes suspiciously. And then he headbutted Jim, turned right around and headbutted Scott, and whined loudly right in Scott's ear. Rolling his eyes a bit, Scott undid the top few buttons of his shirt and let Laphroaig slip down to curl up against his chest.

[goldn_boy]

Jim was less surprised by the dragon's apparent show of rough affection than Scott's, but that left a lot of room for surprise. He couldn't help watching it curl into his shirt, but he handed over a plate and opened the silverware drawer. They were, luckily not out of syrup, because it wasn't exactly a staple, though he kept his serving moderate. For him. And then he settled against the counter, hip leaning on it and close enough to Scott that under normal circumstances, the man would move away. Jim was curious.

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

It took Scott a moment to figure out how best to stand so he could eat and keep an arm on Laphroaig, but other than a bit of shifting to get comfortable with Laphroaig down his shirt, he didn't move away. In fact, it was entirely possible that he'd moved just a tiny bit closer to Jim. Once again, he had the vague sense that something wasn't right - Laphroaig never showed affection to anyone other than him - but that hardly seemed important.

[goldn_boy]

Jim ate a few bites in silence before he couldn't resist being Jim again. After all, Scott was being so... well, sociable. It was nice. Jim thought he might actually like the man, if he kept it up, rather that just not not-liking him loudly and often.

"He seems better adjusted," he observed, nodding towards Scott's shirt. "You've done really well with him."

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

"He's still a pain in the arse," Scott said, though there was a very definite hint of fondness in his tone as he said it. Laphroaig snaked his head up out of Scott's shirt, and as if to prove Scott's point, tried to steal the piece of pancake Scott was currently trying to maneuver toward his mouth. "You won't like it," Scott told him, rolling his eyes, letting Laphroaig have a taste anyway. The little dragon snorted and spat the pancake out, and Scott reached over to pick it up, leaving it on the edge of his plate to be thrown away when he was done. "Idiot dragon." There was a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth as he said that.

[goldn_boy]

Jim didn't mention the fondness--it was obvious, and it was likely to be a sore point, like the closeness Scott was demonstrating.

"Doesn't he know there's a shortage on?" Jim asked lightly, instead. He nodded towards Scott's plate. "Is it okay?"