spaaaammm
He was late, about a day or two late if time passed by the way it should. It never did, not in their warped, upside down dimension away from home dimension. For all he knew he'd be back early, late, somewhere in between. Never on time though, because really, that would be too easy.
It didn't strike McCoy until he walked the Enterprise again how much he'd missed it, and how hard it would be to come back to the Barge's dark metal walls. It was momentarily suffocating, a lot like stepping onto the shuttle to San Fransisco that first time. The feeling came and went quickly enough, and he walked down the hall with an increasing feeling of belonging, or at least general acceptance. It must have been late if the empty halls were any indication, and he decided to stop by his own room before anything else, maybe enjoy a few more hours of peace before returning fully to the mayhem that was usually lying in wait around the ship.
When his door slipped open he paused, brow furrowing at the figure moving about his room. It took a split second to realize it was Kirk and another split second to realize something was very off. His stomach seemed to tighten at the immediate impression that beard and general air gave but he walked forward without thinking of it, expression drawn in concern.
"Jim-" He started, letting the door close behind him.