universal_charm | Jim and Leonard's Excellent Adventure

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Jim and Leonard's Excellent Adventure

"It's only five miles. Not that far at all."

Ordinarily, a true statement. Out in the middle of what could generously be considered a desert on a tiny two-lane highway? A lie. A terrible, terrible lie, but one that Kirk was going to keep to out of sheer stubbornness and just to see how many times he could make Leonard McCoy scowl at him and come up with some new Southern colloquialism to mutter.

At the least, it was keeping him distracted from the ten bucks he now owed Bones. It had taken all of his charm and baiting skill to get the other man to join him on this cross-country adventure as part of their much deserved shore leave while the Enterprise was build anew. It had felt so strange to be back on Earth, and honestly he wasn't sure he would have been able to keep sane just sitting around in San Francisco, occasionally teaching a class or two. A getaway sounded like the perfect way to reacquaint himself with his home country on his home planet, a chance to show each other the places they'd both been shaped by.

Add in the chance to air out the classic car he'd bought and been storing in San Francisco and who could resist?

Leonard McCoy that's who.

Kirk had to wonder if the other regretted agreeing now, though Leonard should have known something would go wrong, even on so mundane an adventure as this because he was, after all, Captain James Tiberius Kirk. At least they were not being chased by something with more teeth than rightly belonged in any creature's mouth or being hunted down by pirate ships or having to stop some sort of nuclear holocaust. Silver linings.

"If you pushed, it'll go that much faster. Besides, every gas station in these parts has a diner attached. We'll get you some waffles and turn that frown upside down."

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"True." He'd lived out from the city, but not so much that he could call his home rural. Kirk would know more about that kinda dusty BS than he would. And it probably (knowing the kid's story about how he ended up in the fleet in the first place) isn't BS at all. Might as well go along with it, stretch out between getting rattled around like a pea in a can. "Remind this nut he needs to get his suspension checked."

Even cars with wheels don't rattle this much unless they're neglected.

"You never tell a man how to take care of his car unless he asks. That's a way to get into a brawl," he warned him, but he had enough in him to smile at Bones, sure that he was at least partially forgiven.

The ride was not to much longer after that, dropping the two of them at the nicest (and only) hotel in town and giving them the name of the shop where the car would be. With little else to do, Kirk led them inside and paid for a two night stay. He felt it the least he could do, given the troubles. He murmured something to the desk agent while he paid, hoping Leonard thought nothing amiss as he turned back with keys in hand.

"Twin beds," he declared, heading down the hall. "With a view, she says. Not a bad way to spend two days, right?"

"Of what?" There's not much to the town but hell, he hasn't seen much. Maybe there's something to see, maybe a hidden lake? Hell if he knows, he's not all that familiar with this part of the states. Give him the familiar roads of Georgia than this stretch of highway and small town any day.

Doesn't keep him from slinging his hands in his jeans and following Kirk to their rooms. "Guess we can grab the bags from the car whenever it shows up. How long do you think it'll take?"

At least a day or two at his guess, depending on what all went on. Sounded like-

Actually no he's got no goddamn idea.

"Well, the guy went back out to get it, and it took about twenty minutes to get here, so about an hour?" he shrugged, opening up the room and stepping inside.

Fancy it was not, but serviceable and clean it was. Two twin beds, as promised, with clean white sheets and the to soft pillows that required four stacked together for proper support. He spotted the connecting bathroom right to the left of the TV display, and as for the view - well, the view was on open plains and quiet farm land off in the distance. Kirk found it lovely, himself, soothing even. He had always enjoyed watching the fields as a kid.

"You want the shower first?" he made as a peace offering, tossing his jacket on one of the beds and flopping into the sheets with a grateful groan.

"God, yes." He stalks his way through the room (not bad, not the ritz, but not bad), toeing off his boots as he goes. His belt, coat, and shirt are peeled off before he hits the door. As soon as he's in the bathroom the door's kicked shut behind him and the jeans follow. A long, hot shower does plenty to soothe him. To ease the tension from his muscles and get him back in good spirits.

He's damn near whistling by the time he swings out, towel around his shoulders, jeans slung low on his hips. Now with a mind to appreciate the view he flops down on the twin bed. "Awright. Room with a view it is."

Downright settling, honestly. Like a painting.

Jim couldn't help but watch as Leonard undressed, enjoying the way his muscles shifted beneath the skin. Even the way he stalked was attractive. He often wondered why it was more women (and men) didn't chase after him, but he wasn't going to complain at getting to enjoy the new view all by himself either.

Impatiently he tapped his foot while Bones showered, hoping the man took quite a long time in there. Considering the way he had complained of the heat and the dirt, he was fairly sure he'd have enough time to pull his surprise off. He jumped when the knock came, hurrying over and making sure to dig out a few bills to pass to the hotel worker on the other side for their trouble.

When Bones emerged (and oh yes, he did like that view too - there was definitely a once over taken), Jim was sitting on the bed, a bottle of bourbon balanced on his knee paired with a smug grin. "And you say I don't treat you right."

Towel over his eyes he misses the once over- but doesn't miss the bottle when he peers at Jim. He's got that 'pleased with himself' lightness to his voice that bears investigation. It only ever happens when he's particularly pleased with himself. Usually that comes before a crackling idea or bit of trouble that spells a headache. Considering the bourbon and the grin?

Probably a fun headache. One he doesn't all that mind earning, especially considering the label. "Sometimes you don't. Today? You do."

He makes a gimmie gesture with his hand, not bothering with his shirt for the moment. "We got any glasses or are we giving up the illusion that we're at all that kinda classy?"

Oh this could go wrong. Very wrong. But maybe not so much given their inability to go very far in their current condition. The car would be at the shop by now, and those extra bills had ensured they would be delivered for them. A captain's salary came with a lot of benefits when you didn't have much use for it aside for some odd bills for a few years at a time.

Kirk held out the bottle without complaint, pushing himself off the bed as he did so. He made little secret of the fact he looked Bones over once more, but could you blame him? It was rare he saw the man so exposed and there wasn't harm in enjoying a nice view was there?

"I'll leave that up to you while I clean up," he said, releasing the bottle into Leonard's care. "The bags should be coming soon. I already tipped the worker."

His shirt went first, tossed onto his bed, then shoes and socks before laying his claim on the bathroom. God, that felt good. You never quite realized how much you missed real water showers until you had been on a star ship for three years with nothing but sans showers. They just weren't the same at all. He lingered, but eventually got out, opening the door with a towel around his hips.

"Did the bags come yet?"

"Yeup." He pops the P as he speaks, voice a whiskey warm drawl from behind the bottle. New shirt on, feet bare, he's as comfortable here as he wasn't in the car and truck. You can't live in the south and the heat without air conditioning and a little bourbon. Maybe it isn't so different from the desert. Still it's nice to have somewhere to lounge, somewhere to drink-

And something that reminds him, just a little, of home.

Having Jim here only helps the notion. Jim's always been home for him since his father passed, not that his mind is going in that particularly maudlin direction. Life's good for the moment. His mood is high despite the mishap of this afternoon. Maybe Jim was right- he needed to relax. Time away from any kind of work from anything that would remind them of work. Just small towns and the open road, and his best friend. That is kinda naked.

Not that unfamiliar, honestly. "Yours is on your bed."

Only kind of. Not that Bones hadn't seen him fully naked before. That was the privilege of being his doctor. Or the burden, depending on how you looked at it, but Kirk liked to go with the former. And honestly, what pair of friends hadn't seen each other naked at some point?

Kirk grabbed his things and retreated back to the bathroom, reemerging in a loose t-shirt and a pair of shorts. He doubted they planned on going anywhere else tonight - he surely didn't want to anyways. He flopped on the end of Bones' bed, holding out his hand for the bottle.

"I wonder what movies they have," he mused aloud into the quiet. "We're so behind on the Enterprise. Might as well catch up since we'll be here a couple nights, right?"

Bones took one more swig before passing the bottle along like a gentleman, his general cantankerousness taking a back seat in favor of the fact that Jim had, in fact, managed to find them somewhere to stay that had air conditioning and a functioning shower. Since he hadn't planned on the car breaking down, well.

He couldn't hold onto his ire for the kid too well. Didn't much feel like it now that he was clean, cool, and lazily gett'n liquored up. "We can probably line some up, order pizza from a local place probably full of snot nosed pimply teenagers that care more about gett'n laid than healthcode, and make a night of it."

Like they used to back in the Academy, on the odd night they were both in and not studying so damn hard their heads spun.

"Probably for the best, otherwise you'd spend an hour on each of them lecturing them on how to cure said acne and safe sex, and also the food and safety code," he teased, even as he was twisting around to pick his phone and look up the nearest pizza joint. As Bones had guessed, there was approximately one in town and they did have delivery. He just didn't mention it was also attached to the gas station.

He tossed the phone down when the order was made, spinning over to Leonard's bed and thumping down, reaching for the bottle again.

"Feels like the old days, doesn't it?" he laughed. "You studying, me trying to get you to go out and enjoy a second chance at student life." He nudged him with his elbow, clearly not at all sorry for those particular nights.

"Not my fault their fool parents don't care enough to make sure they know how to wrap up before they stick their dick in anyone, or make sure whoever they're hopp'n on is covered." Kids these days just banging willy nilly, without a care to their own health. It drove him nuts but there was slightly less of that on the Enterprise.

Slightly.

Jim slumped down, Bones offered over the bottle as he brought up a list of the 'newest releases'. A whole lotta fantasy and comic book remakes, some comedies, one or two action movies he flipped right past because they got more than enough in their line of work. "A little less drunken Co-eds out in these parts, but yep."

All Kirk had in reply to that was to grin like a (possible sheepish) fool, since more than once he had received the talk himself. Given his reputation and his proclivities, he wasn't at all surprised. He found it touching, really, that Bones cared enough to give him that sort of talk on the occasions he could finally force and/or trick Kirk into taking his physical.

He knocked his knee against Leonard's as he sipped from the bottle, watching the titles fly by and recognizing practically none of them. Hard to keep up with the latest entertainment trends when you were a few thousand light years away from the source.

"Comedy," he said. "Figure we could use some laughs after today, right? Ones that don't involve me striking out with said co-eds." He squinted at the screen, reading the actors involved and frankly didn't recognize a one so motioned for Bones to pick.

None of this was familiar. Not a lick. Five years out and the whole pop culture scene changed drastically, leaving him scowling at the screen while he contemplated pulling up an older movie- but. They were supposed to be catching up. So.

He flipped to the proper category, squinted through reviews and scrolled past anything resembling a marriage based or 'fish out of water' based comedy- no Klingon Co-eds or Vulcan neighbors, thank you. He settled on some kind of buddy cop movie that had solid reviews- more hijinks than explosions, before settling back and looping an arm around Kirk's shoulders.

There. His job was done. "Probably won't end with me holding your hair back over the toilet, or gett'n shoved at some poor girl that don't know better."

Hell, who knew, maybe the recent movies had managed to put on something decent. He approved of Bones flashing past anything with a Klingon or a Vulcan. God knew he adored Spock, he was one of his best friends, but he did not need to be reminded of the daily dance that was living next door and practically with one.

A tiny smile curled his lips then, pressing himself a little closer to Bones and tucking his head against the older man's shoulder, passing him back the bottle as he did. This. This was what he missed when they were on the Enterprise, when the walls came up, even if they were thinner between them than the rest of the crew. Despite the mishaps of the day, this moment he didn't regret.

"That was one time when I wore a wig for a Halloween costume," he defended himself. "I will apologize for the girl shoving, though." His foot tapped against the sheets as the opening theme came on. Not to bad. Upbeat. Catchy. He would have preferred a classic song, of course, but that fad seemed to have gone out of the movie scene while they were off saving some planets warring over a fruit (no, really, a fruit).

There was an understanding while they were working. A frustrating one, but one nonetheless. They needed to be able to be friends and hold their positions first and foremost in their minds. Jim needed to be able to make the tougher calls and Bones needed to be able to take risks he might not have otherwise; and they needed to be able to argue without it gett'n personal. Keep'n that distance was difficult but required. After Khan? He needed that wall while they were working.

Off the clock and once they'd docked? It came down, Jim was just...Jim again. His bright, brilliant friend. His lifeline.

It made settling close easy enough. Made tipp'n his head till it rested against his hair the most natural thing in the world next to gravity. "Thank you kindly. A fella's got a right to pick his own dance partner and I still haven't much been up for danc'n."

He understood it. He understood the need for the wall as much as anyone, especially since he was the one who helped to raise them. It could make being on that ship torture sometimes, so close and yet so far. But it made moments like this all the more sacred, all the more important to be savored. He took a deep breath, eyes half closed as he got the scent of his friend, that something that would linger with him when the walls came back up.

"Oh? Maybe we should practice then. So you're not to rusty when you do feel up to it," he teased, looking up through his lashes at his companion.

"Enjoy the moment, kid. Watch the movie." He huffed softly, thumb swiping back and forth across Jim's shoulder, an idle tick that wasn't at all in time with his lazy pulse. It wasn't at all a reminder that Jim was here, whole, and well; he'd gotten over the maniac need to be certain a few months ago. Now it only cropped up after his worst nights and during leave? Those were remarkably absent. Not being on the ship helped. Having Jim around helped more.

Still.

It'd been awhile since he danced last. Since he'd wanted to. Avoiding the scene hadn't been possible with how damn social his new crew, his friends were; let alone how damn determined Jim was for him to find something. But lately the thought had been less repulsive to him, the wounds less sore. "Maybe later."

Better to concede the point now rather than try to ignore it.

Moments like this he cherished. These quiet spans with his head tucked into Bones' neck, hearing the steady drum of his heart in his ear. He even enjoyed the way kid dropped off Bones' tongue - he was the only one he enjoyed that word from, actually. After everything, he knew he needed to collect these moments as they came, hold them close and tight. He needed to memorize the sound Bones' heart and the way he drawled his words and the feel of his thumb on his shoulder.

They were the only thing that kept him sane sometimes.

"No, no," Kirk shook his head, pushing up and reaching for the remote. "You say that, and then you keep saying that, and then you never do it." Like Kirk and his physical exams, which he had been better about in the past few months, but honestly Bones shouldn't expect that to last.

Pointing vigorously, Kirk changed from the movie channels to the channels that played nothing but music, an audio visualizer dreamily drifting in the back. He went through several of them to buy himself time as he considered what music, exactly, to put on, but who was he kidding? Bones was a southern boy, a Georgia gentleman. Surely he would have grown up on the proud musical legacy of the South - country.

Stopping on a station playing warm guitar sounds and a deep, drawling baritone voice he stood up from the bed and took Bones' hand in the process. He tugged on him, a bit like a willful child, face flushed like he was about to beam down to a new planet surface.

"You aren't getting to put this one off," he insisted, smile turning just a touch impish at the corners. "Captain's orders."

"Because things keep com'n up that are more important than my dancecard." Like... keeping everyone alive, like working on new and exciting vaccines, like keeping in touch with what scraps of family he's got left on the ground and the new one he's got branching across the Fleet. Trying to keep up with Jim takes more time and effort than most might wanna offer, but Leonard? Kept right on. Made having any kind of social life difficult and yeah, he might wanna try it some time.

But now wasn't the time. He kept saying that, kept meaning that and kept putting it off for anything and everything under the sun. It was easier to close that chapter of his life.

Leave that ghost on the ground.

And then here was Jim, trying to pull him right back into it, cutting into the quiet of watching the film with a thought and a smile and the damn music that got him into so much damn trouble as a kid. For a long moment he sat back, eyes wary and weary on the screen; the song wasn't familiar but the intent was. Get up. Dance. Find company- but the only company here was Jim and they'd been fine with the movie.

Hand on his and Jim tugged- and he followed. He always followed. "We're on vacation."

But he stood. Sighed and shook his head and waited for the next bit of instruction. Cuz clearly, Jim had a plan.

For a fraction of a moment, Kirk thought about letting his hand go. Letting Bones sit down and turning back to the movie and cuddling up to him. He thought for just a moment about abandoning his current course and just letting them be. Not for the first time he considered that he might be pushing Bones a bit much, just that fraction to far. He harbored the secret belief that it would be the smallest thing that finally pushed Bones over the edge.

He considered all of this, and then remember Bones had agreed to go on a road trip with him, and the concerns vanished.

The song on the channel switched and slowed, the voice crooning now, the tune wavering and slow. Kirk brought Bones into the clear space between the beds and the tv, stepping in and directing Bones to wrap his arms around Kirk's waist. Kirk returned the favor by wrapping his own arms around his shoulders.

"I'm not going to ask you to dance the jive right out the gate," he chuckled, starting to sway. "We are on vacation, as you said."

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Jim and Leonard's Excellent Adventure

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