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"Oh my god, I'm so bored."
"Jim, we just got here."
"And I'm bored."
"Oh, Lord have mercy."
Leo turned around and gave Jim a trademark disgruntled look. They had just been cleared of their duties aboard the Enterprise and Leo had somehow managed to get Jim to come down to Georgia with him. It wasn't easy though; Jim complained the entire shuttle ride there and now he was pulling this. Leonard couldn't fathom how he was bored, though, what with the southern spring air filling his lungs and the blue sky stretched over them, going for miles and miles.
"Well," Leo said, "We could always just, go for a ride or something." He waved his hand towards his beat up pickup, which was ancient, and had been in the family for years.
"If that's anything better than the shutt- are those antlers? What the hell, Bones?"
"It was a twelve point, Jim! I wasn't just gonna throw it away!"
"Jesus, that's disgusting."
"Just ignore it; it's not gonna bite you or anythin'."
He walked around and opened the passenger side door, and gestured for Jim to get in. Grumbling, the captain did just that.
Leo opens his own door and climbs in, while saying conversationally, "You ever been to Paris, Tennessee? It's really not that far from here, and they have this water tower that's pretty awesome to climb, and the view is somethin' you'd kill for, especially around sunset. And we have just enough time to make it."
"You. Climbed a water tower. Is that even legal?"
"Well, no, not really. But since when are you concerned about the law, Mr. Kirk?"
"Good point," Jim said, looking out the window. With a grin, Leo started up the pickup, and they drove off.
The ride, as Leo said, wasn't really that long at all, and they scaled the water tower within minutes, and in just enough time to see the sky be suddenly bathed in several different variations of red, orange, and pink, all streaked together in a colorful mess. The sunset washed over Jim's golden hair, and Leo could swear it was the color of heaven. They sat atop the tower, feet dangling off the edge. Jim was so surprised that a guy like Bones, what with his raging aviphobia, could be so okay with being so far off the ground. "Heights don't bother me," Leo said, almost like he was reading Jim's mind. "Just space. And aircraft."
"Yet, you're in Starfleet."
"Yep. Bad thinking on my part, although I'm thankful I did it."
Jim turned and looked at him. "Why?"
"Well, for one," he said, reaching across and grabbing Jim's hand. "I wouldn't have met you, kid."
Jim smiled.
"Look, I know you don't like the South, or anything like that, but will you just give me a chance? To change your mind?"
Jim exhaled softly.
"Yeah, Bones, I will."
Leo felt a smile pulling at his lips as he leaned in, and soon enough he felt Jim's smile pressed against his own, and he decided this was definitely going to be a shore leave to remember.