starlogs | ( closed ) sometimes your best isn't good enough

Jughead didn’t sign up to help on Oros before the whole planet-wide disaster thing started happening. It’s not like it was hard to justify, either. He’s not qualified to lead stealth teams or do botanical research or shoot hostile aliens that aren’t made of pixels! He’s not even qualified to shoot the ones made of pixels, come to think of it. There’s a reason the bulk of his gaming collection is medieval fantasy adventures. But then the rescue thing got announced, asking for crews, and the voice of his stupid great dumb selfless friend started playing on loop in his brain. Save the aliens, Juggie! Make a difference! If you don’t, I’ll know, and I’ll haunt you forever with one million petitions. Where other people have consciences, Jughead has the disembodied essence of Betty Cooper.

So here he is, third wheeling along in a rescue mission with two guys who are at least one hundred thousand percent more competent than he is. And they seem to know each other, which is cool— he’d be kind of bummed that other people apparently showed up on the Eluvio with friends from home, except that their teamwork skills are probably going to keep him from dying horribly. Which he’s doing his absolute best to pretend isn’t at the very front of his mind during the descent to the planet. Jughead has an image, and Jughead plays it cool and detached.

Jughead’s about to say something about how he’s fine, thanks in response to Jim’s question— with an appropriate amount of sarcasm, obviously— when he stops to process the whole radiation thing. It’s the way Bones says it that throws him. Matter-of-fact, helpful, professional as hell. That rattles him a little bit. Just slightly.

“I’ll— I’ll keep an eye out for that radiation, yeah, thanks. That’s not how my origin story goes and I don’t feel like revising it,” he replies, with barely any snark at all. “How fast are we talking? This is my first planet death rodeo, I’m not ashamed to admit it.”

Jim hadn't even given much thought on who to bring along with them for the rescue mission. What mattered was that they needed someone willing to help, and he'd take just about anyone over the weird crew of the Eluvio— even a kid with no experience in space travel or planet missions of this kind.

Granted, he knows it's not ideal to have to constantly make sure a team member isn't going to screw up the whole thing by accident, but this is fairly straightforward. Get down to the planet, get some aliens into the shuttle, and get out of there. Provided those aliens cooperate. But considering the state of the planet, he figures that won't be all that hard.

"Long enough," he says before Bones gets a chance to delve in far too graphic details. Kid doesn't need to get the whole speech about how space is death and disease wrapped up in darkness and silence or whatever. "It'll be fine," he turns away from the console to offer Jughead a reassuring smile. "We'll know if it gets too dangerous and rush back to the shuttle, but it probably won't get to that. Bones is just being overly cautious, is all."

He ends that as he stares pointedly at Bones. You better agree with him and not make things worse.

Leonard's hands hover for a moment over the controls as the reality sets in. This guy doesn't know what's going on, or rather, hasn't done this kind of thing before. His jaw tightens in a fine line as he turned his head to look at Jim. And he knows damn well that Jim get's that expression of 'Damn it, Jim' the instant he gives it to him. It felt a little like that day he asked Chekov how old he was only to pretty much blame Jim for his being only seventeen.

Not that it was actually Jim's fault. But in his mind, Jim was in command, he should have warned him about this earlier. Not that it was fair. The doctor was just damn paranoid and hated draggin' people into this shit that had no business being there.

Finally looking back at the other guy, he paused and sighed. He wanted to go off about the importance of radiation protocol, but he got that look from Jim and he let it go for once. "Just don't go slow, got it, kid? And not that we got to do that whole introduction thing, but the name's McCoy. Dr. McCoy. Got a name you want to be called by?"

Hell. Maybe if he tried to not focus on the lack of knowledge, he could just... get this done and over with. Hopefully.

"Call me Jughead! But for the purposes of this exercise I'll also respond to hey you or basically any other word yelled loudly in my direction."

The reassurances are, Jughead's pretty sure, mostly hollow. But it's reassuring that they're trying to be reassuring, and Jughead shifts slightly in his seat before looking back up at the two men steering the shuttle. Ship. Thing.

"Nice to meet you, gotta ask-- are you a medical doctor or is Bones an ironic nickname?" He shrugs, pointedly avoiding looking out that front window. He'll deal with reality in a few minutes when they land, and not a second before. "No judgment either way! All doctors are great."

Just, you know. Some are greater than others in situations like this.

Jim chuckles faintly, clearly a lot more at ease with the whole situation than Jughead is. Not that he's that big of a fan of seeing a whole planet burning up, but he's definitely used to this kind of risky mission. It's pretty much his life, after all.

"Right, Jughead. Good to know." Though Jughead's a pretty funny name, so he'll probably stick to that.

"Bones is... somewhere between an inside joke and a term of endearment. Kind of our thing." Which Jim isn't going to explain because no one else besides Jim really calls him Bones and that's how he wants to keep it.

Jughead. Well, that was interesting. Not that he'd not heard those kinds of nicknames back home, it just seemed so odd out here in space. Yeah, pot meet kettle. But he didn't give himself the nickname Jim stuck him with. Rolling his eyes slightly at Jim's answer, he turned his attention to Jughead and offered a small almost smile. "Nice t'meet ya." He prided himself on his old fashioned mannerisms and he wasn't about to stop now.

Returning his attention to the controls, he still answered the other's question regardless. "Medical doctor and surgeon." He gave the answer precisely before snorting a little. "More like his thing. He's the only one that calls me that." And he really didn't want to talk about why Jim called him that. Because he'd rolled the thoughts over in his head before... and well, some things just needed to be left alone. Jim liked assigning nicknames, his just happened to pretty much replace his real name.

Granted, it was kind of adorable that Jim liked being the only one to call him that. "Jim, looks like we're coming up on that area we were in before. Might find our friends that tried to give you a concussion earlier. Mind that hard head of yours and don't go and get hit again if you don't mind."

Jughead shrugs. No skin off his nose, though he briefly wonders what good it does anyone to have a nickname for limited use. Is this what life is like, for the people without horrendously embarrassing first names? Amazing.

"Doctor McCoy, sure. Guess that makes you super qualified to lecture about radiation poisoning." And also soon to be the victim of at least one what's up, docs? Jughead turns to Jim after McCoy makes his request, bracing himself for the landing. He just sort of assumes it's going to be rough.

"These guys gave you a concussion? Was this a diplomatic screw up oooor--?" Or are they literally seconds away from rescuing really hostile jerks.

Bones still probably would call the reason behind the nickname somewhat embarrassing, Jim on the other hand liked that it was something just between the two of them. Not that he was so childish as to get petty or jealous over it, but still.

He huffed in amusement at the remark, shooting Jughead a lopsided grin. "Trust me, he's qualified to lecture people on far too many things." And he still lectured them on things he was not in fact qualified to lecture about. Never stopped him before.

When Bones mentioned his earlier incident with the Trilks, Jim had to stop himself from letting out a groan as he closed his eyes so he wouldn't just roll them. It shouldn't surprise him the doctor would just keep bringing up Bad Things that Should Not Be Mentioned in front of a kid who might be on the verge of panicking in the middle of a dangerous mission, and yet it did.

"Nothing like that. We found a wounded youngling. He was caught in a trap and pretty scared, lashed out when we tried to get close and help him," he paused a moment, then added. "Actually, I got too close. I should've been more careful. But I'm fine, and we did help him out in the end."

As they came up on the area, Jim slowed down the engines, activating the landing gear and smoothly lowering the ship onto the ground. "Alright, sensors say we should have about... twelve minutes before we have to be back in the shuttle. Sixteen at best." Unbuckling his seatbelt and turning to Jughead, he nodded for him to grab his helmet. "The suit will let you know if there's any danger for you before then. Stick close to me and I'll get you back in here before anything happens, though. Got it?"

At Jim's remark, he sent him a mild glare. Where he was prone to giving the 'lectures' as he put it, he did it cause he cared. Not that Jim got that through his damn skull and paid it any mind. Damn brat that he could be, always gettin' hurt and the like. Still, he said nothing and let Jim deal with the kid.

He knew he was a little too blunt and outspoken to be calmin' Jughead down. He could do it in surgery, but they were currently flying. Into radiation. To save hostile aliens. He was just damn peachy about it all. Not that he planned to say anything. For the kid's sake as well as Jim's.

"Do as he says, kid. Jim's good at this sort of thing." He said it mildly with that hint of 'don't argue' all at the same time. Looking back at Jim, he gave him a very stern look, but bit his tongue. Finally he settled on a simple, "Be careful, alright?" At least try, is what his eyes said after that before setting up the computer to let them go out.

"If you get injured, that's what I'm here for."

"Got it." Time really is relative-- twelve minutes sounds like nothing right now. But if he's worried about following behind a guy who got injured picking up a lost kid, essentially, Jughead doesn't show it. He nods at Jim, grabbing the helmet and double checking that he's got everything he needs to survive and save some aliens. Mostly survive. Then McCoy gets a quick grin.

"I'm gonna remember that. Broken legs, paper cuts, injured pride-- you're the guy. The pact is sealed! There's no escape." If he makes it out of this, at least he'll be able to say he found a GP all on his own.

After a few minutes he takes position near Jim, not quite hovering because that's annoying as hell no matter what the circumstances, but in perfect follow the leader stance.

"Okay, so-- grab aliens, don't die, back in twelve-ish minutes. Easy!" Not easy. Whatever, they're doing this. "Ready to follow like a well-meaning duck in a space suit whenever you say so."

Hey, it was a really big kid, alright. You try going toe to toe against something as large as a baby elephant, yet stronger and more aggressive than one. Also with really big... average-sized teeth and claws. Yep, okay, for the best that Jim's not saying any of that out loud. And lucky him that Bones didn't either.

"Not sure about injured pride," Jim huffs in amusement. Bones likely would just smack him (figuratively) and tell him to get the hell over it, what are you, an overgrown child. Although that can often be what people with a serious case of injured pride need to hear, so. Might just work out fine.

Putting on his helmet, he seals it shut and makes sure everything with the suit is in order, glancing at the two of them, especially Jughead so he knows he's put it on properly. Nodding, he grins far too confidently at the kid. "Yeah! Easy. You'll see."

He's gone through far more dangerous missions and far worse odds than this, so all in all, he's feeling pretty good about their chances. Hitting the controls to open the door, he steps outside slowly, greeted immediately by the sight of complete wreck and destruction, the ground shaking underneath their feet, dust clouding the air around them. It's not going to be easy finding anything in this mess, but Jim's determined to try, so he turns on the flashlights on his helmet. If he can't find any Trilks or Feks, he can hope they'll see the lights and find them instead.

"Don't get so ahead of yourself, kid. Where I'll patch ya up, best not get yourself in situations you'll need a doctor." He alwys believed the best treatment was not needin' treatment to begin with. Not that he'd turn the kid away ever. "And don't worry none, Jim's pride is damn hard to deflate."

Pulling his own helmet on, he methodically checked for it for safety reasons before glancing over Jughead's just to be sure. Once he finished that once over, he turned to Jim. He knew Jim could put any space suit on with quick and easy efficiency, but he always checked. He just had to be sure the man took care of himself. Once he reassured himself of his best friend's safety, he took a deep breath and moved to stand at Jim's side just behind him as he always did.

Setting his jaw, he looked out over the desolate landscape and bit at the inside of his cheek. This wasn't what he signed up for. He was a goddamn doctor. But well... who else would watch Jim's ass? "Let's just get this over with. Are we staying together?" He sure as hell hoped so.

Edited 2017-02-25 02:38 (UTC)

( closed ) sometimes your best isn't good enough

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