starlogs | ( closed ) and I'm floating in the most peculiar way

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( closed ) and I'm floating in the most peculiar way

WHO: James T. Kirk & Leonard McCoy
WHERE: Enterprise
WHEN: February 14th (+ another thread later on)
WHAT: Waking up with no power and zero gravity isn't their idea of fun.
WARNINGS: Nothing aside from Bones panicking and Jim hating himself a little later on. Possible mentions of death too.

When things actually started going down, Jim was too fast asleep to realize. Even the faint glow filtering through the windows as the nearest ship blew up wasn't enough to wake him, eyes shut for a while longer. The fifteen minutes of peace that followed would be the last bit of decent and unhindered rest he'd likely get in a while.

It started with a strange tingling sensation, at first. As the systems started malfunctioning, it was the engines shutting down completely and the whole ship going dead silent that had him waking up. His heart thrummed to the beat of the engines and the warp core, and suddenly everything felt... misaligned.

He nearly startled awake at that, shoving the blankets off of him in one sudden move as he got to his feet. Except his feet touched the ground for about a second or two before his whole body started to float, as if weightless, and the more he struggled to reach the ground, the farther away he got from it.

"What the fuck—" he looked over sharply, seeing Bones's silhouette starting to lift from the bed even in the dark of the room. Despite the evident lack of gravity, he tried to glide over to him. "Bones. Wake up, wake up— Bones!"

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Jim looked down and away for a moment, not even disappointed by the answer when he'd known from the start that there was very little chance Bones would have a solution to offer. Well, the furniture suggestion wasn't bad per se, but it would be more doable if they had gravity, at the very least. As it was, it was unmanageable.

"Alright," he took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts. Shoving the panel back into the wall so it didn't just float around, he moved so he slotted himself under the door frame next to Bones, reaching for his hand and holding it tightly in his own. As much for Leonard's sake as for his own, honestly.

"Okay. Good thing right now is we don't have to worry about air. There's enough for us to last a few days, if not over a week if we keep ourselves calm. So that's good." They were much likelier to suffer the effects of the cold or to feel thirst or hunger long before they ran out of air, though Jim wasn't about to point that out to Bones right now.

The lack of light he could live with. Although... now he had the time to, he looked out the window to spot where the faint glow from outside came from. Not any nearby planet or a distant sun somewhere, no— looking more attentively, he realized it was one of the ships on the fleet. Or it had been... before it blew up.

"That's a ship," he blurted out before he thought twice of it. "Shit. What the hell is happening?"

"Guess that panel is no use?" He offered quieter, watching Jim as still as he could be. When Jim went to take his hand, he had to unclench it from his palm and curl his fingers about Jim's. He didn't even realize when he slipped his fingers through Jim's and closed his eyes again.

"The rooms are just as air tight, Jim. They're made that way for a reason." For hull breaches and the like. And where the vent would not have shut off from loss of power. But with no circulation, there was no guarantee that oxygen would move this way. But he decided he didn't want to think about that.

He was content to sit there with his eyes closed and fight his own thoughts until Jim's outburst had him looking up. Staring at the window, he blinked a few times and thought that maybe he should be thankful they didn't blow up like that. Just a split second of thought before he frowned. "I hope no one was on it..."

His back stiffened as he turned his head to look at Jim. "You don't think whatever happened to those ships will happen here, do ya?"

"Yeah, but this room is huge. Plenty of air in here, trust me." Jim was already going through the math in his head, and he'd already figured that air wasn't their most immediate concern. All he had to do was make sure he kept Bones calm so he didn't start sucking up air and burning through what oxygen they did have that much faster.

His fingers weaved through Bones's without hesitation, finding that touch particularly soothing, which at this point was something they both needed. Especially as he saw the faint glow of the explosion filtering through the windows.

He looked towards Bones at the first remark, not saying anything to it. He did know some of those ships were empty, but he still couldn't tell Bones that was the case right now. And as much as he wanted the doctor to keep calm, he wasn't going to treat him like he was stupid.

The question, however, got an all too sure answer out of him. "No. Our girl's tough. She'll keep us safe." He patted the door frame with his free hand distractedly, eventually looking over to the bed. "Guess all we can do for now is wait. I think I've got a few belts... we can strap ourselves down to the bed or the couch."

Of course Jim felt safe on the Enterprise. They may die of dehydration or suffocation, but Jim’s faith in the Enterprise was unfailing. Well, he had to admit, she got through a lot of hell even if she had to be rebuilt more than once. Sighing softly, his eyes tracked Jim’s to the bed and stayed on it as Jim made that comment about belts and being tied down. A small sardonic smile pulled at his lips.

“Yeah? Have to say, when I considered my first go at being tied to a bed, I never pictured it in a zero gravity scenario. It kind of takes the edge off of the whole thing, I think.” Joking was better than serious. If he thought too hard and focused on all that was wrong, they would get nowhere. And here he was just wanting to not think about the possible negative outcomes.

“Honestly Jim, I don’t care where you put us.” He didn’t. Squeezing Jim’s hand, he decided to be a little brave even. God help him. “Next time you tie me to the bed, make sure the gravity is working and we have life support. Promise it sets a better mood. Granted I’d rather start with dinner if that’s all right by you.” One brow rose as he turned to look at Jim in the dark. The sarcasm is light, and at least it sounded far more like him than he did moments earlier.

Jim's mind was pulled away from worries related to their current situation by Bones's words. His eyebrows shot up his forehead as he looked back at the doctor, lips stretching to a grin. It was enough to distract him, but luckily not enough to distract him so bad that he'd actually picture Bones tied down to a bed in that sense. Which was probably for the best right now, all things considered.

However, Bones wasn't so lucky that Jim would just let the opportunity to tease him back go by. And really, he'd placed himself in a prime position there. As they say, you reap what you sow.

"Really now? Well, then..." He hummed with a faint lilt to his tone, turning to the side and floating just a hint closer to Bones. "I'll be your first, if you want to. Promise I'll be real gentle on you."

Smirking, he winked at Bones, eyes flickering up and down briefly before he finally pulled away and started to move them back to the bed.

Good thing it was dark, cause the moment Jim said that a rush of heat flooded into his cheeks. Clearing his throat, he arched a brow and snorted at him. "Ass." Then he thought better of it and decided why the hell not and dug his grave a little deeper. "Think you bein' gentle is the stipulation. Hardly." Cause he knew damn well Jim wasn't serious right now.

Not that he expected any seriousness involved with this conversation when they were in a dangerous situation. "You can get me to do that shit, but I'm a one person kinda guy." Take it as he would, Leonard just knew if he didn't continue this he would end up setting on fire from being embarrassed and oxygen was scarce enough.

A shudder ran through him as Jim pulled him through the air back toward the bed. And where it might have been a lot better to think about how it felt to have Jim that close and hint things like that, he chose to let himself be freaked a little by the zero gravity rather than get his hopes up.

Raising his eyebrows, he let out a faint surprised hum. "So you like it a little rougher, hm? Well, good to know, doc." Because teasing made all this so much easier to deal with. Not just the fact they were stuck in that room, completely helpless while power was down, but the fact that he didn't really want to think about whether he meant that or not. This was hardly the time or place for that, anyway.

Which was why he said nothing else, not even when Bones added the last few words. Maybe a talk for some other time— maybe not. Hell, he didn't even know if they'd make it out of this alive. He could only hope someone was working to get the power back online.

With a soft push from the door, Jim managed to move them slowly enough that he could hook one of his feet to the edge of the bed. Slowly he guided Bones towards the mattress, gesturing towards the frame around the side. "Hold on there, will you? I'll go get us something to keep us in place."

"Wouldn't know till I tried." He pointed out without hesitating. Cause if he hesitated, he'd stumble over his words and fidget his way through the mind burning embarrassment of talkin' like that. Instead he went with impulse reaction to Jim's words. Cause hell, why not? Maybe he could blow off some of that ridiculous steam he'd been repressing for god knows how long in regards to one Jim Kirk.

In any case, he caught the bed frame as directed and sighed lightly. Yeah. Good thing the furniture was all basically nailed down. Cause being smacked by an unattached mattress would not constitute as fun. Though he may end up with the blankets coiling about him if he moved too much for the time being.

And honestly, he was more fighting to keep his expression in check when Jim moved away. It was like losing a damn security blanket. Breathing in slowly with a measured breath, he closed his eyes and tried not to think about it. "Being stationary might help, so yeah.. hope you find what ya need."

The longer they were stuck like this, the easier it was for Jim to move around. He'd always been a natural during zero G training and right now that proved to be an asset, even if they couldn't seem to get out of the room just yet. Once he reached the dresser, he pulled a drawer open (carefully so his underwear wouldn't go floating off through the room), then dug into it for a few belts.

Thankfully he'd gotten himself a decent number of them, which would prove useful right now. Closing the drawer again, he moved back towards Bones, holding onto his arm with his free hand first, then unceremoniously wrapping his legs around the doctor's waist.

"Sorry," he offered honestly, devoid of any teasing this time around. "I need my hands free for this. Think you can just hold me in place?" He was already working on hooking the belts together into a longer strap that would hopefully encompass the whole bed. It was a little weird but honestly it wasn't like they had that many options right now.

When Jim came back in his direction, he automatically caught his arm. What he hadn’t expected as he hauled the blonde closer was to have those legs instantly curl around his waist. And maybe he let a gasp escape him that he hoped Jim didn’t hear. Brow furrowing instantly, all he did was nod in reply to Jim’s statement. It was necessity, sure…

Just didn’t account for Leonard not expecting Jim to attach himself so… inelegantly and maybe more suggestively than he expected. Breathing in slowly, he reflexively gripped Jim’s hip while his other hand stayed attached to the bed frame to hold them steady. “Yeah. I’ve got you.”

Offhandedly, he knew that phrase was something he said a lot to Jim. And quite honestly, he made an extreme point to keep that true. He’d cut his own hand off before letting Jim down. A reality he should likely wonder about. But he never saw it as misplaced loyalty. Jim never let him down either. Not really. Not in moments like this and surviving. “How do you always look in your element no matter what the situation is?”

If Jim heard that gasp, he figured he'd just collided a little too hard with Bones, but right now there was nothing that could be done about that. At least he'd managed to hold onto the doctor tightly enough, if somewhat unorthodoxly, and while the hand on his hip was a little distracting, it also did a pretty good job of keeping him in place. Sort of.

What mattered was that he had his hands free to put all the belts together, something he did with growing ease as he went along. He paused only to look down at Bones at his comment, huffing out a breath and shooting a small smile at him as he shrugged. "Natural talent, I guess."

He did not feel in his element right now, though, not even a little bit. But if he managed to work well under this kind of pressure (or complete lack thereof) and making it look like it was somehow easy for him, then all the better. At least he took comfort from the knowledge that it might be keeping Bones calm.

Finishing with the last belt, he nodded to the frame where Bones was holding onto. "Think you can tie one end there? Or just pull me closer."

"You've got a lot of that." He rarely fed the actual ego. He figured a long time ago that doing that would make Jim unbearable. But right now, he couldn't help but appreciate the man for keeping so... calm. Even if he knew damn well neither of them had it together, Jim made sure to look like he did.

Tipping his head to look at where Jim indicated, he arched a brow slowly. Well, if Jim had no issues manhandling him, why not return the favor? "I'll do my best to get you over there." Slipping his hand over from Jim's hip to simply around his waist, he turned them shifting his hold on the frame. Granted this put Jim's back closer to the mattress and more with his back to what he needed. "You're gonna have to stop clinging to me like a spider monkey and turn over. "It's alright. I'll keep you in place from above. I'd try what you want, but I'm not sure where you're goin' with this."

Uncurling his arm from Jim's waist, he didn't even think about it as his hand drifted to his thigh and patted it slightly. "Mean it though. I got you. You do what you gotta do and I'll be your anchor."

"Yeah, well," he let out a huff as he struggled with the belts a little, lifting his shoulders at Bones. "Comes in handy at times, doesn't it?"

He wasn't bragging, not this time around. Not like their current situation was very conductive to his ego getting blown out of proportion by Bones's words, but he did appreciated them. They reassured him, grounded him (though not literally), and Jim could very well use that right now.

Huffing a little as his back brushed against the mattress, he uncurled his legs from around Bones, then promptly turned himself around so he was facing the frame too, his weight kept down between Bones and the bed. It was by no means a secure hold, but it was enough for him to loop the belt around the side of the frame, while sure that he wouldn't just float away.

And if nothing else, their situation meant Jim was focused on a whole lot, more than enough to stop himself from thinking about how close they were, or how he could feel Bones's presence brushing lightly against his back.

His hand moved to grip Jim's hip firmly as much to hold him in place as it was to reassure him. Furrowing his brow a little, he turned that thought over along with the current situation. "Hey, Jim... you know there is no one else in the universe I trust half as much as you. Sure as hell don't believe in any half as much as I believe in you. It's not just 'natural talent' as you put it."

He paused a moment, his eyes following the motions of Jim's hands as he attached the belts to the bed. "Figure I'm bias as well, but you have never let me down when it counted the most." Anything he did let him down in really was a personal problem and he had no right to even be remotely irritated by it. So just having the man close by doing something that may or may not be important, made Leonard feel ten times better.

"Got faith in you. And if our luck ever does run out, just hope I'm there with you." Cause god help him, he hoped he could 'have Jim's back' so neither of them would have to face that circumstance alone.

Jim listened to Bones in silence as he talked, his hands not slowing down as he tied the belts tight to the bed frame. Eventually he glanced over his shoulder when Bones fell silent, eyebrow raised just barely before he was looking away again. "Can you stop saying things like that? Makes me want to hug you and our current situation isn't very conductive to that."

He did appreciate Bones saying those things, even though he knew them already. He'd always known he had Bones on his side, that the doctor trusted and believed in him in ways that no one else really did. And honestly, he wouldn't have pulled half the crazy stunts he did if he hadn't had Bones standing by his side— figuratively or literally.

Tugging on the belts to make sure they were secured to the bed, Jim turned slightly to look at Bones, nudging him a little. "Okay, can you— hold onto the sheets and crawl us over to the other side of the bed?"

Rolling his eyes a little at Jim, he arched a brow at him. "Gee. Says the guy that thinks I never say anything positive." Snorting at that, he purposely ignored the hug comment cause well, obviously Jim was just givin' him hell as always.

Which was why he shrugged a bit at the request and slid one arm about Jim's waist and used his other to pull them both over the width of the bed so Jim could get to the other side. Once they reached that point, he switched arms to catch hold of the blonde while he grabbed onto something more solid to keep them in place. "Better?"

Honestly, having a task made things... easier. Not that he liked this feeling. He still felt stick to his stomach and he didn't want to function in zero-g even if he had no choice. Still, Leonard put his focus into keeping Jim in place while moving his hand from it's spot on his stomach to carefully return it to his hip. It was more to keep him in place than anything else... and certainly kept him from accidentally holding on to him too tight. Well, for many reasons.

"Well, you picked one hell of a time to say something positive." Clearly Bones had to work a lot on his sense of timing. And see, if these were other circumstances Jim would definitely hug him, but sure. The doctor could keep thinking he wouldn't, if that made things easier for him.

One hand held onto the loose end of the belts and Bones's shoulder both, while the other gripped at the sheets, helping the doctor as they slowly crawled over to the other end of the bed. It was especially difficult to stop on top of the bed and not just keep floating mid-air, but with Bones's help he managed fairly well, clinging to the frame for a little while until he was sure they were still.

Once he was sure Bones was holding him down, he let go, turning to face the edge of the bed, his now free hands working quickly to fasten the belt there. It wasn't perfect, but he managed to loop the edge of the belt into one of the other buckles, definitely firm enough that it wouldn't come loose. Just to make sure, he tugged hard, sighing in relief when it didn't budge.

"Done." If he didn't sound especially accomplished it was only because... well, it wasn't like this made much of a difference. It only meant they wouldn't be floating around while the room got colder and they burned through what amount of air they had available. Still, he said nothing about that, turning towards Bones while he held onto the belts. "Let's get under the belts. Come on."

Mumbling something unintelligible under his breath, he waited till Jim finished rigging up the bed while keeping him in place. When he finished, he let go of Jim's hip and placed his hand on the bed under them. He was getting ready to move away from the blonde when Jim turned over to face him. Blinking down at him, he ended up staring silently at his best friend a moment before he nodded slowly.

"Yeah. Okay." Moving to grab belt harness of sort, he paused as his body pressed closer to Jim. After a moment, he felt his mind kick back in gear. "It's going to get colder. We should... probably stay close. I don't know how well the blankets will stay down on us and well, I'm the best heat source you got right now."

The logic was sound. Truth even. But at the same time, he found he liked the idea of just holding on to Jim this time. Shaking his head as though physically throwing out his strange thoughts before pressing his hand into Jim's chest to put him closer to the bed. "You crawl in first."

Jim actually stared up at Bones with a raised eyebrow as he waited for the doctor to work through whatever train of thought he'd gotten himself lost in. Once he spoke, Jim nodded, moving around to help Bones as he tugged them closer to the center of the bed, this time his tone taking on an amused edge when he answered.

"The lengths you go to just to get me all wrapped up around you. Honestly, Bones." The last few syllables dissolved into a chuckle, and he shook his head playfully. Still, he did as Bones told him and got under the belts first, tugging the covers up so they'd also be trapped underneath the belts. It couldn't cover much but at least it'd help.

Reaching out to get a hold of Bones's waist, he pulled him closer so he could follow suit and join him. "I've got you. Come on."

Of course, the moment Jim said shit like that, his face reddened. He felt like the skin got set on fire and he couldn't get it to cool even in the progressive cooling of the room. Biting into his lip, he refused to answer that and just helped Jim slip under the belts. Then when it came time to get him in there, he actually hesitated a bit.

And quite honestly, Jim's grabbing him by the waist really didn't help matters at all with getting that blush to go away. Closing his eyes a moment, he finally nodded his head. "Yeah, alright." He answered almost in a gruff whisper before working his way under the makeshift tether. Once he was mostly strapped in place, he managed to curl the other side of the blankets about him so they would mostly stay over him.

Except now... after Jim's comment, he didn't feel inclined to just latch on to him. They should be fine a little longer. No point doing exactly like Jim said and looking.. what? Desperate to be close to him? Was that what it was? All he knew was his hands were coiled in a death grip on the covers and he still worked at fighting down the heat in his face and neck while staring into the darkness that was the ceiling overhead.

Well then. Good job, McCoy. You've made yourself look like a right idiot. Closing his eyes, he let out a soft sigh of resignation.

Jim was teasing Bones with that remark anyway, so he didn't really expect to get an answer to it, not anything more than possibly the doctor telling him to shut up or go to hell. So the lack of answer didn't surprise him, and considering the darkness and the fact they were otherwise preoccupied, he didn't notice the blush spreading across Bones's face either.

He helped the best he could as Bones slipped into the bed, mimicking the doctor by tucking the covers here and there so they wouldn't float off as easily. Once he was mostly settled down, he turned to face Bones, starting to reach towards him only to stop once he had already shifted closer.

"What, don't tell me you changed your mind already," he said a little lightly, eyebrow raised and arms reaching out towards Bones almost expectantly.

Staying still in that position still felt strange. The weightlessness being the biggest part of that, but feeling like a real heel added right on to that. And maybe he sank a little lower in the covers when he felt Jim move to face him. Biting at his lower lip, he finally let out the breath he was holding.

Logic told him to just shut up and accept the offer to be close. But well, that just made his face heat up more. At this rate he might burst into flames and Jim would have plenty of heat to survive by, assuming it didn't eat the oxygen up first. Turning his head toward Jim finally, his brow furrowed.

He wanted to snap at him with a sarcastic remark and tell him to figure out warmth on his own, but he couldn't even formulate the words right then without looking well, stupid. "You're a real ass sometimes." He pointed that out finally not finding anything better to work with at that point so he just settled with simple.

Too bad he knew the current situation wasn't likely a good one to get in a fight with Jim. For all they knew they'd suffocate in there or die of dehydration. And he really didn't want that time spent growling at each other. "Look, if it irritates you, I'll be fine. Just... let me know if you start getting cold." Cause he didn't need Jim getting hypothermia or anything else of the sort. He'd figure something out for getting Jim warmer.

It was definitely not the answer he was expecting to get. Granted, he had poked some fun at Bones, but it hadn't even crossed his mind that the doctor would take it to heart. It had just been some light teasing anyway, mostly with the intent to distract Bones and pull his thoughts away from the current situation.

Certainly nothing that he thought warranted being called an ass for. Raising his eyebrow even higher, he looked confusedly at the doctor. "What the hell, Bones? What did I do now?"

But evidently Bones had no interest in making sense now, apparently. Maybe he was already suffering from low oxygen levels. Fuck if he knew why the doctor sometimes acted the way he did. (Jim did some pretty crazy shit, granted, but at least he was consistent.)

Letting out a faint, if somewhat exasperated, huff, he rolled his eyes, turning on the bed and away from Bones so he was lying on his back instead, arms crossed over his chest. "You know what? Fine. Be that way. See if I give a shit."

Really, that was a good question. Other than being himself, Jim really hadn't done much different than usual. It wasn't his fault Leonard felt like the butt of the jokes cause of all the confusing feelings going on. Cause really, facing down those feelings wouldn't do him a damn bit of good. Especially now that Jim was angry.

Staying silent at first he let his fingers fidget with the covers a moment and much to his dismay, the more he thought about the whole damn thing, the hotter his skin felt. And it was not helping with making him feel warmer. It just made it feel colder. Still, after a moment he reached out across the space between them and curled his fingers over Jim's shoulder.

"'M sorry." He mumbled the words softer this time, before shrugging a little pointlessly. Pulling his hand away just as slow, he started to turn away onto his opposite side. "Just... feel stupid cause maybe you're right and I do like finding reasons to be close to you right now. Probably just bein' an idiot. Over sentimental or whatever." He frowned to himself and pressed his face against the bed to maybe smother himself or something. But the mumble he made into it was still intelligible. "I know I'm useless right now."

Need a doctor, he was your guy. But this stuff? Jim would be better off with Spock. Or even Scotty. Hell, probably even Chekov.

"Whatever," Jim shrugged off the hand, the reaction more immediate and thoughtless than he meant it to be. He didn't want to be upset at Bones, even less so in the situation they'd gotten themselves stuck in, but he couldn't help bursting out in a way almost rough and callous in response to an all too familiar pain.

But that was stupid. Bones was his best friend, not some arrogant Academy thug, and Jim wasn't a kid in his early twenties anymore. If nothing else, what Bones said next eased some of that immediate hurt, and he sighed audibly as he closed his eyes a moment.

"You don't need reasons to be close to me, Bones," Jim muttered, opening his eyes again and turning his head to the side just enough to look at Bones's back. Even if there was no need for it, Jim would always welcome Bones closer if he wanted a hug, or just... hold hands or sit close to each other. And at least then he didn't have to worry about explaining why he liked that so much.

Reaching a hand out, he pressed it lightly between Bones's shoulder blades, thumb drawing slow circles there. "You're not useless. There's no one else I'd rather be stuck here with," he said, then added after a pause. "In this universe, I mean. Not this particular situation. But only because I'd rather you be safe elsewhere."

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