Twice Shy: Part 4 of 4 (Epilogue)
Title: Twice Shy
Fandom: Star Trek XI
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Masterpost || One || Two || Three || Epilogue
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Twice Shy: Epilogue
It's not easy.
Jim seems to exist in a permanent state of lust-filled glee, occasionally interspersed with somewhat frightening ruthless efficiency whenever the shit hits the fan. Bones can't figure out which he finds more distracting: the random bouts of ohGodwantitnow during normal operations, or the fact that he rarely feels fear from Jim, even in the diciest of situations. (Of course, it is much, much easier to resolve the sudden fits of passion. And a great deal more enjoyable, besides.)
Jim, on the other hand, complains that Bones's natural grouchiness feels like 'angry bees at the back of his skull'. So far, it mostly seems to manifest in a truly impressive level of sarcasm.
Distance seems to mute the bond somewhat, though not the sort of distance that might be achieved aboard the Enterprise; ship-to-planet-surface makes a difference, bridge-to-Engineering does not. The worst part of one of them staying behind on-ship, though, is not the distance dampening the connection; it's the split second of absolute quiet during transport, and Bones did not need another reason to hate the fucking transporters, thankyouverymuch, but there you have it.
Sex helps, not that they needed any excuses to have a lot of it, but they also find themselves spending a surprising amount of time not having sex. Jim likes to sleep with him, no matter which form he happens to be in, (even if he grouses that the fur and the fangs put him off morning sex) and they get into the habit of resting together, which is rather nice, especially as their sex life is anything but habitual.
Another thing that helps, surprisingly, is fighting, even if Bones discovers firsthand why sparring with your mate is, to borrow Spock's word, disconcerting.
For the first, he knows exactly how rough he can be with Jim, because he feels the echoes of his own hits reverberate through the bond. Second, it's… been a while since Jim managed to take him down in a fight. Of course, the kid did teach hand-to-hand, so he's damn quick to pick up on the fact that he now doesn't even have to look at Bones to see his tells.
Jim strikes with his right, which Bones parries easily with his right arm, then steps into range, right side first, using the swing to bring his left elbow into Jim's solar plexus. Jim steps back but not far enough to be out of the range of a roundhouse kick… which Bones realizes too late was deliberate; he grabs Bones's leg, stepping to the side still holding it, unbalancing him and bringing him face down onto the practice mat, thumping down onto the small of his back and still pulling his leg so that he can't get up.
"Ow," he says, tapping the mat. "Damnit Jim, getoff, I'm a doctor, not a fucking chair."
Jim laughs from where he's sitting and rolls off, landing on the mat beside him. There's a spike of lust through the bond and Bones groans. "Are you always horny, Jim?"
Uhura snickers from where she's stretching, ruining her otherwise picture-perfect pose by looking up. "I don't suppose you noticed, considering the denial you were in, but Jim either smells of lust or sex. It's his default state."
Jim smirks and leans in to whisper in his ear, "I just can't help it; you have that effect on me."
Uhura waggles her eyebrows at him from across the room and Bones laughs. "Jim, for the record? The reason your communications officer is the best in the damn fleet is because she's got ears like a bat. You might as well say these things out loud."
"Fine," Jim says, grinning. "You said it, not me. I need a shower before shift, come with me and I'll go down on my knees for you." There's smoldering heat in his eyes and the desire is coming through the bond in waves, and Bones doesn't even consider saying no to him, just winks at Uhura and gets up.
Uhura's laughter follows them out of the room.
+++
"Jim?" Bones asks, finally, after trying to nerve himself up to ask the question for most of the evening. Hell, for most of the past few weeks, ever since a mission where Jim managed to forge a peace agreement on a planet suffering from longstanding war, mostly by flirting outrageously with the warring factions.
"Finally," Jim sighs from where he's sitting at the desk, poring over requisition forms. "Tell me you're going to ask about whatever it is that has you so worried."
"Do you ever get… are you bored?"
There is absolute quiet from Jim's side of the room, and from his side of their connection; Jim is much better at not broadcasting his feelings, annoyingly enough, considering that it's Bones who's been the werewolf for most of his life.
"You said once that being bonded and sticking to one person had to suck, and I just…"
"See," Jim says, finally, cutting in, "I know that you know you're being exactly the same sort of asshole right now that I was being back when I said that, but you can't stop yourself, can you?"
He throws the PADD down and stands up, coming across the room to sit on the edge of the bed, not looking at Bones. "I know I have a reputation," he says, and shrugs. "But I happen to like the fact that we're stuck with each other, no matter what happens. And Christ, Bones," he says, and looks up to look him in the eye, "you're not boring. This," he says, and clearly lets down his emotional guard, because suddenly there's a maelstrom of feeling at the back of Bones's mind, "this is not boring."
There's a long silence while he tries to sort through Jim's emotions, burning at the back of his mind; there's a lot of anger and hurt, but it's not really aimed at him, or anyone for that matter.
"I know where you're coming from," Jim adds, kicking off his shoes and scooting up into the bed, sitting next to Bones with his back to the headboard. "It's the old adage of once bitten, twice shy. Someone you loved left you." He's shoving his arm behind the small of Bones's back and pulling, until Bones relents and puts his head on his shoulder, hoping he doesn't have to say anything, because what is there to say?
"You don't have to say anything," Jim says, and he's getting scarily good at this, if Bones didn't know any better he'd think Jim is half Vulcan or Betazoid or something. "Just… somebody left me, too."
There's no grief coming from him, just resigned acceptance, and it hits him suddenly that Jim is probably at least as scared as he is of this thing that they have, going to hell, and fast. "I'll try to be less of an idiot," he sighs and lets himself relax into the arm Jim has around him.
"No worries. Just remember this the next time I'm an idiot," Jim replies, and then pulls him closer to kiss him, deep and hard and fast, until they forget all about the argument because the only thing that's important is the taste of the other's skin.
+++
"The Leysingarvit have taken sixteen members of the science team hostage, many of whom have suffered wounds and need medical attention," Spock says, sounding impassive, though Bones has the practice to know he's really fucking furious - or the Vulcan version thereof, at any rate. "They have, however, consented to trade their hostages for the captain, provided we procure him in the next twenty-seven minutes."
There's a long silence.
"Seems familiar," Jim finally says, looking over at Bones. "Can Medical do without you?"
"Captain," Uhura says, "if you intend to try that again, I should be the one with you, Bones is needed in sickbay."
"No offense, Lieutenant," Jim says, taking off down the hall towards the transporter pad and forcing them all to scramble after him, "but with the bond between me and Bones, we'll work better together in a hostage situation than me and you, particularly with you in wolf form."
"Besides," Bones adds, "splitting up the two of you when we need you both at your best would be… illogical." Spock raises an eyebrow.
"Scotty," Jim says, striding through the transporter room and up onto the pad, "two to beam down. Commander Spock, you have the ship."
Bones shifts, and Jim looks down at him, smelling like excitement and determination. "Try not to get shot in the head this time," he says.
The wolf looks back at his mate and wags his tail in response.
Jim smirks back at him. "Energize," he says, and the world disappears in a flash.
+++
Masterpost || One || Two || Three || Epilogue
Links with the ?format=light tag included:
Masterpost || One || Two || Three || Epilogue
Fandom: Star Trek XI
More details in the Masterpost.
Masterpost || One || Two || Three || Epilogue
Links with the ?format=light tag included:
Masterpost || One || Two || Three || Epilogue
Twice Shy: Epilogue
It's not easy.
Jim seems to exist in a permanent state of lust-filled glee, occasionally interspersed with somewhat frightening ruthless efficiency whenever the shit hits the fan. Bones can't figure out which he finds more distracting: the random bouts of ohGodwantitnow during normal operations, or the fact that he rarely feels fear from Jim, even in the diciest of situations. (Of course, it is much, much easier to resolve the sudden fits of passion. And a great deal more enjoyable, besides.)
Jim, on the other hand, complains that Bones's natural grouchiness feels like 'angry bees at the back of his skull'. So far, it mostly seems to manifest in a truly impressive level of sarcasm.
Distance seems to mute the bond somewhat, though not the sort of distance that might be achieved aboard the Enterprise; ship-to-planet-surface makes a difference, bridge-to-Engineering does not. The worst part of one of them staying behind on-ship, though, is not the distance dampening the connection; it's the split second of absolute quiet during transport, and Bones did not need another reason to hate the fucking transporters, thankyouverymuch, but there you have it.
Sex helps, not that they needed any excuses to have a lot of it, but they also find themselves spending a surprising amount of time not having sex. Jim likes to sleep with him, no matter which form he happens to be in, (even if he grouses that the fur and the fangs put him off morning sex) and they get into the habit of resting together, which is rather nice, especially as their sex life is anything but habitual.
Another thing that helps, surprisingly, is fighting, even if Bones discovers firsthand why sparring with your mate is, to borrow Spock's word, disconcerting.
For the first, he knows exactly how rough he can be with Jim, because he feels the echoes of his own hits reverberate through the bond. Second, it's… been a while since Jim managed to take him down in a fight. Of course, the kid did teach hand-to-hand, so he's damn quick to pick up on the fact that he now doesn't even have to look at Bones to see his tells.
Jim strikes with his right, which Bones parries easily with his right arm, then steps into range, right side first, using the swing to bring his left elbow into Jim's solar plexus. Jim steps back but not far enough to be out of the range of a roundhouse kick… which Bones realizes too late was deliberate; he grabs Bones's leg, stepping to the side still holding it, unbalancing him and bringing him face down onto the practice mat, thumping down onto the small of his back and still pulling his leg so that he can't get up.
"Ow," he says, tapping the mat. "Damnit Jim, getoff, I'm a doctor, not a fucking chair."
Jim laughs from where he's sitting and rolls off, landing on the mat beside him. There's a spike of lust through the bond and Bones groans. "Are you always horny, Jim?"
Uhura snickers from where she's stretching, ruining her otherwise picture-perfect pose by looking up. "I don't suppose you noticed, considering the denial you were in, but Jim either smells of lust or sex. It's his default state."
Jim smirks and leans in to whisper in his ear, "I just can't help it; you have that effect on me."
Uhura waggles her eyebrows at him from across the room and Bones laughs. "Jim, for the record? The reason your communications officer is the best in the damn fleet is because she's got ears like a bat. You might as well say these things out loud."
"Fine," Jim says, grinning. "You said it, not me. I need a shower before shift, come with me and I'll go down on my knees for you." There's smoldering heat in his eyes and the desire is coming through the bond in waves, and Bones doesn't even consider saying no to him, just winks at Uhura and gets up.
Uhura's laughter follows them out of the room.
+++
"Jim?" Bones asks, finally, after trying to nerve himself up to ask the question for most of the evening. Hell, for most of the past few weeks, ever since a mission where Jim managed to forge a peace agreement on a planet suffering from longstanding war, mostly by flirting outrageously with the warring factions.
"Finally," Jim sighs from where he's sitting at the desk, poring over requisition forms. "Tell me you're going to ask about whatever it is that has you so worried."
"Do you ever get… are you bored?"
There is absolute quiet from Jim's side of the room, and from his side of their connection; Jim is much better at not broadcasting his feelings, annoyingly enough, considering that it's Bones who's been the werewolf for most of his life.
"You said once that being bonded and sticking to one person had to suck, and I just…"
"See," Jim says, finally, cutting in, "I know that you know you're being exactly the same sort of asshole right now that I was being back when I said that, but you can't stop yourself, can you?"
He throws the PADD down and stands up, coming across the room to sit on the edge of the bed, not looking at Bones. "I know I have a reputation," he says, and shrugs. "But I happen to like the fact that we're stuck with each other, no matter what happens. And Christ, Bones," he says, and looks up to look him in the eye, "you're not boring. This," he says, and clearly lets down his emotional guard, because suddenly there's a maelstrom of feeling at the back of Bones's mind, "this is not boring."
There's a long silence while he tries to sort through Jim's emotions, burning at the back of his mind; there's a lot of anger and hurt, but it's not really aimed at him, or anyone for that matter.
"I know where you're coming from," Jim adds, kicking off his shoes and scooting up into the bed, sitting next to Bones with his back to the headboard. "It's the old adage of once bitten, twice shy. Someone you loved left you." He's shoving his arm behind the small of Bones's back and pulling, until Bones relents and puts his head on his shoulder, hoping he doesn't have to say anything, because what is there to say?
"You don't have to say anything," Jim says, and he's getting scarily good at this, if Bones didn't know any better he'd think Jim is half Vulcan or Betazoid or something. "Just… somebody left me, too."
There's no grief coming from him, just resigned acceptance, and it hits him suddenly that Jim is probably at least as scared as he is of this thing that they have, going to hell, and fast. "I'll try to be less of an idiot," he sighs and lets himself relax into the arm Jim has around him.
"No worries. Just remember this the next time I'm an idiot," Jim replies, and then pulls him closer to kiss him, deep and hard and fast, until they forget all about the argument because the only thing that's important is the taste of the other's skin.
+++
"The Leysingarvit have taken sixteen members of the science team hostage, many of whom have suffered wounds and need medical attention," Spock says, sounding impassive, though Bones has the practice to know he's really fucking furious - or the Vulcan version thereof, at any rate. "They have, however, consented to trade their hostages for the captain, provided we procure him in the next twenty-seven minutes."
There's a long silence.
"Seems familiar," Jim finally says, looking over at Bones. "Can Medical do without you?"
"Captain," Uhura says, "if you intend to try that again, I should be the one with you, Bones is needed in sickbay."
"No offense, Lieutenant," Jim says, taking off down the hall towards the transporter pad and forcing them all to scramble after him, "but with the bond between me and Bones, we'll work better together in a hostage situation than me and you, particularly with you in wolf form."
"Besides," Bones adds, "splitting up the two of you when we need you both at your best would be… illogical." Spock raises an eyebrow.
"Scotty," Jim says, striding through the transporter room and up onto the pad, "two to beam down. Commander Spock, you have the ship."
Bones shifts, and Jim looks down at him, smelling like excitement and determination. "Try not to get shot in the head this time," he says.
The wolf looks back at his mate and wags his tail in response.
Jim smirks back at him. "Energize," he says, and the world disappears in a flash.
+++
Masterpost || One || Two || Three || Epilogue
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Masterpost || One || Two || Three || Epilogue