[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

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[dctr_mccoy]

It was a long day, and Bones was tired, grumpy, and hungry. Dropping off his bag at the door, he headed to the door and found Jim, watching the sun set.

It was a minute before he said anything. "Hey," he finally muttered, rubbing at his eyes. Jim was sitting on the deck, surrounded by padds, paper with notes scribbled all over them, and a few empty glasses. A little smile flit across his face. "You been out here for a while?"

The last thing Bones wanted to do with deal with this mess from earth.

[dctr_mccoy]

The slow smile that crept on his face was his answer.

"Should be one of the observation decks," he thought aloud after a few minutes. "Some place people can sit and look out into the stars if they want." Bones wasn't as find of gazing out into the void as others, but he could see the inherent beauty of it even if it terrified him still a little.

Jim was close now, close enough for him to reach up and take one of his hands in his. "You look relaxed. Sit down, tell me who else showed up."

The stuff he had to do, the mess back in Georgia - it got pushed back again to the back of his head, like it always did. He could deal with it tomorrow.

[kirktastic]

The observation deck was an excellent idea, and Jim said so. With his hand in Bones', he moved over and sat beside him. He told Bones about the day, about the newbies on board and Jim and Spock's visit with Spock acting perhaps in a Vulcan sulk, about seeing Tina (avoiding mention of his discussion with her about the future and children)...

"They're giving me a yeoman. She's nice, her name's Janice Rand but... hell, I still don't know how I feel about it. No idea if she'll actually take care of things I'd need her to."

[dctr_mccoy]

"I think its a good idea. You need someone to handle that little shit," Bones told him. "You can't imagine how much Sam's cleaned up the loose ends and put out the fires that I leave behind and forget about."

Sam was still a weird topic between them, despite their attempt at making sense of what happened during the sex-pop intoxication... but it was one that wasn't likely to go away. And it didn't take away from the fact that he was a damned good yeoman. But Bones pulled Jim a little closer to him when he finished talking, wrapping his arms tight.

He knew from personal experience that a little reassurance sometimes went a long way.

[kirktastic]

Jim twitched visibly when Bones brought up Sam's name. It had taken some convincing from Bones to keep Jim from refusing to allow Sam to return to the ship at all. It was one of the little things that was haunting him. What he had done with his brother, sex-pop or not. It just wasn't right. He shivered a little and nodded, refusing to mention Sam.

"I hope she's decent at it. More hoping it isn't Starfleet deciding I'm slacking and need the help or something twisted like that." He was far from putting it past them.

[dctr_mccoy]

"Starfleet's got enough to worry about right now with this whole trial. I think if they wanted to get you, they could find another way than plant a yeoman on you." Bones didn't miss the avoidance of the S-word, but this wasn't the time or the place to try and mend that fence.

[kirktastic]

"...I still can't... can't believe that they would ever even consider parole." Jim breathed out a growl, letting Bones keep him close. "126 years old. I'll most likely be dead, fuck. Nero will still be fucking young..." It was all a reiteration from the night of the sentencing, what little he could remember of it.

[dctr_mccoy]

"Jim, he's a nutcase who's this close to completely losing it. Didn't you see him after the trial? I'll be surprised if he makes it another ten years, much less a hundred." A hundred years... fuck, Bones didn't want to think that far ahead. It was hard enough thinking about next year sometimes, much less that far in the future. "And no one is going to forget what happened." Rubbing Jim's head with his fingers, they sat quiet for a few minutes. It was something they were learning, about the touching, their own bond, that made these moments even more precious to him.

Not that he could vocalize that without sounding like an idiot, so he just sat there and scratched lightly, scraping his nails a little harder into Jim's scalp. "How long until we're back in space?"

[kirktastic]

It was a motion that was slowly melting Jim like a dog, until he was leaning into Bones with his head slightly tilted, eyes closed, breathing slow. "Trust me..." Voice a little slower, "he's lost it already. He's a madman..."

Bones didn't need to vocalize it. It was just that they both had the knowledge of something that had been in place for a long time. For years, Bones had been the only one who brought him a real comfort with his touch, who could touch him when he slept... who knew how long the little fledgling link had been between them. Jim wanted to imagine it was there from the day they met, there in the shuttle.

"Two days..." Jim murmured. "111." The end of the stardate of they day they were going. One month on planet.

[dctr_mccoy]

Two days... Bones had never been so glad to get into space.

"Hey, before I forget," he began, pressing a quick kiss into Jim's temple, "it looks like those medical supplies weren't just misplaced after all. Who do I need to talk to about requisitioning the things I need that weren't on the original list of things I needed?" He waited a moment, then chuckled.

"Did that make sense?"

[kirktastic]

"Umm..." Jim had to think about it with Bones rubbing his fingers over his hair. "New quartermaster... Robert's wife's ill, had to take leave... name's Aurelan... told her about the supplies." He pulled his head back, and suddenly remembered.

"Oh... Oh..."

He stood up all of a sudden, eyes bright. "Boots, get 'em on. I have something to show you."

[dctr_mccoy]

One the one hand, Bones was laying back on his sofa, arms full (or had been) of Jim, and he didn't really want to get up.

On the other hand... Jim's surprises never failed to amaze him, so even though he rolled his eyes and made all sorts of groaning noises as he reached down to tug his boots on, Bones did what he was told. Standing, he stepped close to Jim. "What's goin' on?"

[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.