( closed ) sometimes your best isn't good enough

[winscenario]

WHO: Jim Kirk, Leonard McCoy, Jughead Jones
WHERE: a shuttle, Oros, and back at the Eluvio
WHEN: February 1st-4th
WHAT: Oros rescue mission
WARNINGS: Aside from the given planet destruction and Jim getting injured again, I don't expect anything else.

Comments

[winscenario]

Jim was prepared for a lot of responses to that, among them Bones actually telling the truth while partly teasing him right back, which would likely end with them making some light joke of it. Him waving it all off with some remark of how the ship's still in one piece and perfectly capable of handling his inflated ego.

He didn't expect the way Bones turned towards him, though, and pushed him back against the wall, that alone enough to drive him to distraction as confusion and surprise took him for a moment. He was about to ask why stop the lift at all, actually, but whatever questions he had at the tip of his tongue got pushed away from his mind when Bones started talking, eyebrows knit as his arms stilled to his sides, nervous for no reason whatsoever.

That wasn't really what he'd asked. It didn't feel like it, even though Bones was answering to the letter, but it was... Jim couldn't explain. He did know the words felt like too much, too heavy, sitting in his chest and making it a little hard to breathe, squeezing his heart so tight that it nearly hurt. Blue eyes never left Bones's face, though, and he was all but glued to the wall even when Bones moved away again and pressed the button on the lift.

His gaze dropped then, down to the floor, lingering there for a moment before looking back up, landing on Bones's nape and staying there. The truth had been what he'd asked for, hadn't it? He couldn't quite tell why it made him feel like this. Honestly he didn't even know how it made him feel, but it was the strangest mix between happy and hurt, lost and grateful, sad, confused and relieved. He was speechless too, and even though he opened his mouth to talk, there was nothing but silence until the lift came to a halt and the doors opened.

He nearly started at the sound, and suddenly snapping back to reality, he stood upright, clearing his throat as he stepped out of the lift, walking past Bones and nodding for him to follow. "Come on."

[legendary_hands]

The silence weighed on him, but he refused to move. If Jim didn't want to react in a way he'd see it, he'd leave him be. He didn't do the whole sappy singin' of praises. Leonard only told the harsh truth if he had to speak out on what he felt. Sometimes it wasn't pretty even if it was utterly and completely heartfelt. He'd done the whole suck up pretty words with Jocelyn. Look how well that worked out for him.

Why he made that comparison in his head, he really didn't know. Probably didn't want to know. He'd dealt with enough of the mixed unexplainable feelings when it came to Jim all the way back from the Academy to now. And god knows, the only other person he cried that much over when they died was his father. But that... that didn't need to be told to anyone. Jim didn't need to know about that length of time he sat on the floor in his hospital room praying to any god that would listen to keep Jim alive. Let it work. No one needed to know about that shit.

Which was why, he simply cupped his hands behind his back and straightened his posture as he felt Jim move around him to leave the lift. Without a word, he fell in behind and moved toward the shuttles. No point in apologizin' for what he said. He wasn't sorry for it. But he was sorry for upsettin' Jim that much.

Letting out a sigh, he followed him all the way to the shuttle and slid into the co-pilot seat and frowned at the controls. "Would it make you feel better if I just said you're pretty?" Okay, joking wasn't the best idea. But he had to try something as he turned his head and arched a brow at Jim. Hell, in for a penny in for a pound. "Cause darlin, when I first saw you I looked for a signature cause every master piece has one."

He managed to keep a straight face for all of a second before he looked away and laughed to himself. Okay. It was lame. But it was meant to be. And he needed Jim to laugh. Anything that looked normal.

[winscenario]

Jim wasn't all that upset, not really. Above all else, he was just a little at a loss of what to do or say to all that, and it wasn't often that he was practically stunned into silence. It never ceased to surprise him how unexpected the doctor could be sometimes, when often he felt like he knew him back and forth like an open book he's read far too many times.

But he wasn't upset, and he wouldn't want to hear apologies over him ever speaking his mind, or his heart. And he'd asked for honesty, hadn't he? Well, that was exactly what he got.

The silence was unusually uncomfortable, though. All the way to the shuttle he couldn't manage to put a single thought to words, and he was still going over everything Bones had said in his head as they settled into their seats and he closed the shuttle door, going over the systems as the engines revved up slowly.

Bones broke the silence before he got to, the sound of his voice almost too sudden for him to catch the first few words. Eyes lifting towards the doctor, he seemed almost surprised to find the doctor talking, his eyebrows raising slightly at what Bones said more than anything.

Then, just as Bones started chuckling, he let out a loud snort and a laugh, smile stretched across his lips as he grinned wide, frame relaxing considerably as the sound filled the air around them.

"My God," he started, a hand propped on the armrest and cupping half his mouth, voice lilting as he kept laughing. "That has got to be the worst pick up line I have ever heard."

And that was saying a lot, coming from him. Still, it amused him immensely, and he was grateful that Bones took the initiative and ended the awkwardness between them. Leaning to the side, he put a hand on Bones's shoulder and planted a quick peck on his cheek, smiling as he pulled away. "Thanks, Bones."

Not for the praise, whether it was true or not, but for lightening up the air around them, in a way making things right again. Buckling up, he turned to the dashboard, going through every step to get the shuttle up in the air.

[legendary_hands]

A complete feeling of relief filtered through him the moment Jim started to laugh. All the tension in his back and shoulders loosened and he grinned at the blonde lightly as he watched him laugh. "What? You expected a good one? You get what ya get till you give me a better line. So don't be picky, prince not-so-charming."

Rolling his eyes affectionately, he turned his head back to the controls only to stop entirely as he felt Jim grab his arm and kiss his cheek. And that? That sent the strangest sensation fluttering through his chest in a rush. Breathing softly, he swallowed down that feeling and snorted lightly. "Sure, sure. But I ain't budgin' on that fact till I get something better than your left over lines."

Leaning back in the seat, he let his mind go thoughtful over it all. Over how it felt for all those strangely close moments that he always did such a damn good job of ignoring and quickly came to the conclusion to ignore it again. Some jars should not be opened.

[winscenario]

"Shut up, you jerk," his tone was warm and affectionate even as he said that, voice lilting as he chuckled faintly, nudging Bones's foot with his own. "You loved that line. Don't you dare lie to me."

Yeah, this was right. This was how things were supposed to be, not that awkward uncomfortable silence that was threatening to weigh on their shoulders all the way back to the Enterprise. Jim for one was very glad that Bones took the initiative and eased things around them again, and if there was anything else lingering underneath the surface, he either accepted it thoughtlessly or he didn't even notice at all.

"But fine, challenge accepted," he raised an eyebrow pointedly as he looked at Bones, lips twitching into a lopsided smile as he shot him a wink, then faced the window, reaching for the controls. "Time to head home."

Or as close to home as they got around here. Certainly was home for Jim, at least.