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Even after firm and direct instructions from Bones not to touch the ball of fur happily living in the tank on his desk, Jim just couldn't resist picking up the little critter to get a good look at it.
It was soft, warm, toffee coloured and slightly larger than the palm of his hand and as he held it, it made a sound that reverberated through his entire body and plastered a grin to his face; if he'd ever bothered to listen to Bones talk about the thing, he'd know that that the ball of fur was having a reaction on his nervous system.
It quivered and trembled in his hand and he scratched at what he assumed was its back with two fingers before he carried it from Bones' desk into the small kitchenette.
Once more if he'd ever bothered to listen to Bones when he studied out loud, he'd know that feeding the furball was a terrible idea and yet he did it anyway.
Or at least he assumed he had.
There was food in his hand and then there wasn't; he wasn't even sure the thing had a mouth to begin with.
Or eyes.
It purred some more and warranted a childish grin from him before he placed it safely back into the tank; Bones would obviously be none the wiser and Jim could be smug about the fact he'd never touched a damn thing.
Or at least he could had the furball not multiplied in the time it had taken him to shower. After he'd dried off and dressed he counted twelve of them in total as he frowned into the tank of multicoloured fur.
There was no way he could hide the eleven others, hell he wasn't even sure which one was the original one anymore and he tried not to imagine the scenario that'd take place when Bones got back from his shift at medical.
Jim only hoped it'd not been a hellish day.
He picked them out one by one, placing them on the desk but they clambered onto him, clinging to his shirt and his arms, each and every one of them making the same noise that seemed to soothe the thought at the forefront of Jim's brain - Bones is going to kill me.
Maybe Jim could latch them onto Bones before he roared a string of expletives at him; maybe they'd even make him smile.
Imagine that.
But Jim didn't really have the time to imagine it since he was too happy playing with the furred beings, and when Bones finally did make it back to dorm he found him sitting in the middle of the floor with the furballs all around and over him; one was even nestled comfortably in his mop of dirty blonde hair.
Bones felt a twinge of annoyance but he knew better than to trust Jim's lopsided 'I promise' smile. He'd have been a whole lot angrier if he didn't find the sight of Jim and the tribbles just a little bit sweet.
"I'm sorry?" Jim looked up at Bones unsurely from where he sat on the floor, offering him a handful of dark, purring fur. "I know you said don't touch but I was curious..."
"You said you'd promise not to touch," Bones threw his doctors bag to the bed and sat cross legged in front of Jim before he took the tribble from his hands. "Don't mean I ever believed you."
"You're not mad?" Jim dared to meet Bones' hazel eyes but found instead that he was smiling at the purring being in his tanned hands.
"No," he answered as he reached forwards and removed the tribble that had happily nestled in Kirk's hair. "But medical might be when I catalogue several more tribbles."