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WHO: Yuuri Katsuki & Leonard McCoy
WHERE: Med Bay
WHEN: 1/8
WHAT: Friendship! And hopefully picking up new skill sets conducive to surviving in space
WARNINGS: None yet

The location of the med bay had stuck with him since his arrival, accompanied by memories of the swift, impersonal examination and blood tests that had followed decompression. As an athlete, Yuuri dislikes being at the doctor's office on principle; it means sickness that could take precious time out of his training, or even injuries that spell the end of a career. Yuuri tries not to keep any of those things in mind as he retraces his steps to this part of the ship.

Everything is as he remembers from his last trip here, from the brisk pace of the workers, to the shelves of medication. There's a face he doesn't remember, though. The man standing just in front of him seems more interested in studying the medication on display than getting assistance from one of the workers... but Yuuri's manners won't let him jump past without checking first.

"Excuse me," Yuuri says, when the man just happens to look his way. "Are you waiting for someone to help you?"

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Yuuri shook his head. "Didn't think I needed to back home. I'm an athelete--they usually have medics on standby at the rink in case anyone gets injured during practice."

The more McCoy talked about plans, the more at ease Yuuri felt about learning from him. He nodded along, curiosity in his eyes. The doctor had been gruff at first, making Yuuri initially wary, but he was already starting to see glimpses of the kind person he actually was. No one would offer to teach a complete beginner like this unless he cared.

Yuuri grinned, shaking his head at that jab at Jim. "We should ask him if he's okay with that first. Does Jim really get into trouble that often?"

"Athlete?" He gave that clinical look one more time in curiosity trying to place what sport his physiology would put him in. "What sport? If ya don't mind me askin'." He played basketball back in grade school, but that was about it really. Other than horse riding back at the farm.

Arching a brow at the question about Jim, he hazarded a smile at the grin on Yuuri's face. "I'm sure he'll protest a little." Finally ducking his head, he chuckled to himself. "Jim is that crazy hero type." He looked straight ahead, his gaze shifting to something fonder. "Hasn't got much self-preservation to his name... but more desire to save people than anyone I have ever met."

Guess that's why he worked so damn hard to care for Jim in his place. Cause someone had to keep a man like Jim Kirk alive if he wouldn't do it himself. "So long story short? Yeah. He is a magnet for injury."

"Figure skating," Yuuri answered, eyes lighting up with obvious love for the sport. It had been a long time since he'd taken such a long break from training, and he missed it something fierce. Still, he knew that the rink was already under construction and he only had to wait just a little longer to be back on the ice. Speaking of which...

"Oh, I invited Jim to join us at the rink whenever it's done. Viktor asked for one to be built on the Eluvio." Yuuri eyed McCoy, smile friendly. "You should come along with him."

And then a mischievous look crossed his face for a second. "Jim might need patching up a little sooner than we thought, though. Unless bruises don't really count?" He laughed quietly, knowing exactly how often new skaters tended to fall. "He sounds like a great person, though."

"Yeah? I haven't seen that done in a long time. Well, aside from kids on the pond in winter tryin' to pull it off." It wasn't easy to see it professionally anymore. But being in Starfleet and in space made seein' everyday things a bit harder. "So you're professional?"

Blinking at that, he suddenly chuckled at that. "I bet Jim loved that." Guy loved getting int he middle of everything and doing stuff just to prove he could. "I wouldn't mind visiting. I can skate sure, but in circles at best."

Arching a brow, he ducked his head with a soft low laugh. "Don't get your hopes up. Jim has a knack of doing things and doin' them well." Pausing at that last comment, he couldn't stop that nervous habit of running a hand through his hair and making it stand up more. "The best. Not everyone can make someone that hates space as much as I do... go willingly into it." Just so he could keep the blonde idiot in his life and keep him alive.

“Yeah. We were at a competition when the anomaly got us, too.” It was just as well that the doctor moved on to talk about the rink. It was easier to grin in response. Even if he couldn’t compete any longer, there was something incredibly enjoyable about introducing people to the sport itself. Or reintroducing, in some cases like this one.

“That’s okay,” he said, shrugging for good measure. “We’re not expecting people to do jumps or step sequences, you know? Even if Viktor and I will be trying to keep our skill intact here, the rink is going to be for public use most of the day.”

McCoy’s last comment was a surprise, though, and Yuuri’s expression reflected it. “You hate space?” He never would have guessed if he hadn’t been told just now.

"That must've been hard." He said it reflexively even if he meant it. Where he wasn't pulled from a moment he didn't want to miss, it was more what he'd been forced to leave behind. Pressing his lips together, he finally let out a sigh. "None of this is good for the lot of us, I'll tell you that."

Pausing, he looked over at him and smiled a little. "It's not that I'm not athletic. Just cautious. Hate risking my hands for anything. What if I need to do surgery and I'm injured? It makes me timid and not want to risk anything. Jim is the total opposite, but I think he pulls it off just fine."

Arching a brow at that sudden question, he snorted under his breath and looked straight ahead. "Space is unending silence full of danger and disease. The unknown and all it's horrifying possibilities wrapped up in nothing but darkness and silence." It made him think about that first day he met Jim. Similar words, but not the same. In fact, he couldn't get too excited about even the prettier views of space knowing anything could just kill them. But then there was how much Jim lit up like a damn Christmas tree for all that stuff.

And he needed to stop that thought right there.

"Also scared to death of flying. Doesn't mean I can't do it. Courage isn't being fearless, right? it's just being able and willin' to overcome your fear."

"Wow," Yuuri said softly. "You really take your job as a doctor really seriously. Anyone who goes to you for help will be in good hands."

Though he looked a bit stunned at that harsh description of space, Yuuri didn't exactly argue. For one, McCoy was much more familiar with space and its dangers than he was. "It's a little strange hearing you say all that," he admitted after a second or two. "Um, not that you're wrong! It's just space travel back home is still very new compared to... all this" Here, Yuuri waved a hand, indicating the Eluvio. "And it's supposed to be this exciting, mysterious thing."

Angling his head at that, he smirked just a little. "Wouldn't you say you would do similar things to be sure you didn't lose your abilities on the ice? I think if somethin' is a passion, you do what it takes to do your best. I want to save people. Make them whole again. It's what I think I was born to do."

Pausing, he glanced at Yuuri and read the confusion in his face and eyes along with his words. "So basically what you're sayin' is you can't understand why someone like me, a Starfleet Officer, would hate space or say things like that?" On top of the idea of the glamorized space race of the past, Leonard could see why the younger man would be confused. "I had no where else to go after I got divorced. And I actually planned to go into science and medical research and be stationed somewhere. Not go up into that airless void." Cause that's what it was. A void of darkness that had tried to kill him and the crew again and again.

Then his demeanor softened just a little. "Ever met a person that just... drew you in like a moth to the flame? And you cared so damn much that they stayed alive, you'd follow them anywhere? Even to the one place you swore he'd never go willingly? That's why I went up on a ship."

The comparison was so startling to him that it actually made Yuuri pause in his steps for a moment. "That's... you're not wrong that we try to avoid injury if we can, but you're helping people. I think there's a difference in what you're doing, and what I do for a living."

Even if figure skating made people happy, it wasn't anywhere near as noble as doing a doctor's work, in Yuuri's opinion. Passion or otherwise.

He listened to the doctor, riveted by this slightly softer side of him. Then, he nodded, a slight flush on his cheeks. "I think I understand a little of...of what you said. We don't face danger like you and Jim do, but I'd follow him anywhere, if he'd let me."

It was something he'd hoped would happen once the Grand Prix Final was over, something he'd kept so close to his heart that he hadn't really mentioned it to anyone before until now. The flush on Yuuri's cheek deepened and he was forced to duck his head, letting his bang hide his eyes. "I haven't really told anyone that before."

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