Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: In which I shamelessly process my birthday feelings via one Leonard Horatio McCoy. this one is a fluffy McKirk first kiss/getting together birthday fic, with just a tiny spoonful of angst at the beginning

Chapter Text

The dim lighting of the bar glinted off of the clock face as the hands changed to midnight. McCoy’s shoulders slumped. He raised a glass to himself and took a drink. “Happy birthday to me,” he muttered.

Once, he had enjoyed his birthdays. They’d been moments of hope, renewal— for a few years he kept a tradition of doing all the things on his birthday that he’d been putting off before— asking someone out, having a hard conversation with a loved one. That was before his entire life had disintegrated. Now he mostly tried to find the dingiest bar where his grubby soul no longer felt out of place and drank until he couldn’t think about how massively he’d fucked everything up.

The door of the bar opened. He turned, and when the blond caught sight of his face, it split into a grin. “Bones! I found you!”

He hurried across the bar then glanced up at the clock. “Shit— I didn’t make it in time. I checked all your usual spots, but I couldn’t find you. But uh…. Happy birthday.”

He pulled out a bouquet of gorgeous sunflowers. McCoy’s heart skipped a beat.

“Where the hell did you get those?” He snarled.

For a second, Jim’s eyes dulled. “I uh… grew them myself. It was a special project in my botany course. We could choose a plant to grow and keep, and I chose these. I know I could’ve gone with something more alien and interesting but I didn’t really think you’d want that… these are, you know, from here. Very earthy. And!” His eyes lit up again. “They’re heliotropic! They follow the sun as it moves in the sky. Which, well, kind of reminded me of you.”

The kid had… grown him sunflowers. Because he thought he’d like them and because they’d reminded him of him.

“You grew me flowers.”

Hesitantly, Jim nodded. “Do you like them?”

“I…” McCoy stopped staring at them. “Yeah, I do, Jim. But how did you know—“

“About your birthday?” Kirk scuffed a shoe along the floor. Why was he being so weird? Even when he was devious he was never this shy about it. “When it never came up last year, I uh, may have hacked into your school files.”

“My school files— damnit Jim, those are private!”

“I don’t look at anything else, I swear! I just wanted to… have a day to celebrate you.” He blushed as soon as the words came out of his mouth and he retracted the flowers. “I’m sorry. This is so cheesy—“

Leonard rolled his eyes and put a hand on Jim’s forearm. “You’re here already, kid. Might as well stay.”

Jim smiled and he moved to slide into the seat next to Leonard, but Leonard stood up. Now that he had company, drinking away his sorrows at the bar felt unnecessary. “Wanna get out of here?”

For a moment, Jim froze, his eyes growing wide, and Leonard realized what he’d said. He blushed, then clarified: “I mean. D’you want to go to another bar.” He looked around the place, partially to avoid having to look at Jim. “This place is pretty dismal.”

“Oh! Sure.” Jim nodded hurriedly, hand scratching at the back of his neck.

Leonard kicked himself at the slip up. Just ‘cause he had a giant, fool of a crush on the kid didn’t mean he had to let it slip through like that. At this rate, the kid would figure him out. “Let’s go then.”

Slapping a bill on the counter, the two of them left. The night was cool and surprisingly quiet. Usually when the two of them went out things were rambunctious enough around them to take Leonard’s mind off of the two of them… but now there were only distant yells, whoops, and laughter, making it feel like they were cocooned in their own world.

“So,” McCoy said finally. “Heliotropic?”

Jim nodded. “It means—“

“I know what it means, kid. What I don’t know is why the hell that reminds you of me.”

Jim stopped walking for a moment. McCoy turned to face him. “Because you reach for things. Even when things seem to be complete shit, you look for the good parts.”

Leonard stared at him. “Have you met me? No, really, are you living in some alternate reality where I’m not the most relentless grump you know?”

Jim took a step closer. “Bones. Your entire life fell apart. And instead of shutting down, you reached out. You went to the one thing you still could, and you dove into it with everything you had. Now look at what you have. A career, a group of friends who love and care about you. A more stable relationship with your daughter and ex-wife. And those things didn’t just fall into your lap. Or, well, sometimes they did, but only because you made it possible for them to. Because you pushed through all your sorrow in order to find the barest hint of warmth and when you found it you turned toward it.”

Leonard shook his head, wordless, as emotion bloomed in his chest. No one had seen him that way, ever. His entire life, people had only seen his failures, his less-thans. No one— sometimes not even him— had bothered to see all the ways that he still tried in the midst of despair. He moved a step closer to Jim. “Jim, I—“

Jim held up a hand and continued walking. “I’m just saying.”

After a moment, Leonard started walking again too, having to jog a few paces to catch up. His mind was whirring a hundred miles a minute. “You… really see me like that?” His voice was vulnerable, but he had to know.

Jim just nodded.

“No one’s ever… I mean, that’s one of the nicest things anyone’s ever said to me.” Leonard was blushing. And for one clear moment, he realized what a fool he was being to not tell Jim about his feelings. Even if he didn’t reciprocate, it wasn’t like this man was going to kick him out of his life.

Jim looked over at him, streetlight glinting off his eyes, which were kind and genuine. “That’s a shame.”

Maybe it was time to revive his birthday tradition. In a few more paces, he’d made up his mind. He stopped walking, holding out a hand to press against Kirk’s arm to indicate he should stop walking too.

“Jim.”

“Bones?” He turned to face him.

“I… don’t really want to go to another bar with you.”

Jim swallowed, shrinking away from his touch. “O-oh. I mean, that’s okay. I can go back to my dorm—“

Leonard rolled his eyes, tightening his grip, making Jim stay right where he was. “No, I mean. I want to do. Something else with you.”

Jim’s eyes grew big. “What— what does that mean?”

It had been so long since Leonard had done anything like this, a wave of anxiety crashed over him. Then he looked at the man in front of him, who was looking at him with nervous and maybe— if Leonard wasn’t projecting— hopeful eyes. He couldn’t quite swoop in and kiss him, but—

“It means I want to kiss you right now.” He said in a quiet voice, watching the way Jim’s mouth dropped open. “And then I want to take you back to my room and show you the real reason they call my hands legendary. If you want that too.”

Jim’s mouth worked around invisible words for a moment. Leonard couldn’t decipher his facial expression— all he could do was wait it out.

“Bones?” Jim finally managed. His voice was small and fragile. Leonard swallowed.

“Yeah, Jim?”

And then Jim was leaning forward and pressing his lips against Leonard’s. A soft groan escaped him at the contact, and Jim moved the arm that Leonard had kept in a vice grip to clutch at Bones’ shirt, whimpering as he deepened the kiss. Fire flooded through him at the whimpers, and he backed Kirk up until his back hit the brick wall of the nearest building, bringing both his hands up to cradle Jim’s face.

The broke apart, breath coming in harsh pants as they stared at each other, Bones still cupping Jim’s face.

“Please tell me I’m not the only one who’s wondering what took us so damned long to do that.”

Jim grinned. “D’you really have to ask?” He swatted Bones’ ass lightly with the sunflowers, then guided him back in for another kiss. “Get back here.”

When they broke apart this time, Jim smiled up at him shyly. “Happy birthday, Bones.”

Bones smiled. “Not gonna lie, kid. It’s less than an hour into it, and it might be my best birthday yet.”

Jim grinned. “Shall we see if he can make it any better?” Linking their hands together, he brushed the sunflowers against Bones’ face before starting a light jog toward their dorms, Bones running and laughing behind him.

Chapter Text

Perfection.

It was an idea that Seven had contemplated at length during her first year on Voyager. Even when the strongest clutches of Borg ideology had left her and she’d begun to find comfort in her new collective, the lure of perfection clawed at her mind. She no longer wanted to achieve perfection as a collective— she wanted to achieve it within herself. Be a kind of perfect human— even though she had no idea what that looked like.

As she slowly pulled Janeway’s uniform off of her body, her chest heaving beneath Seven’s hands, she thought that she might have been wrong about what perfection meant.

Lowering her head to mouth at Kathryn’s breast through the last layer of fabric, something pulsed through her that was so much stronger than perfection.

“Seven. Please.”

Seven tore off the last barrier, and paused to take in the endless expanse of skin before her.  She met Janeway’s eyes for a moment before she lowered her head to lick around her nipple, which was already hard and pebbled. Kathryn gasped and arched beneath her.

“Oh, f-fuck.”

Seven arched a brow. “Is that not what we are doing?”

Kathryn let out a breathy chuckle. “That is more or less the hope.” She paused, looking up at Seven. “Is it ok if I…” placing a soft but firm hand on Seven’s shoulder, she turned them around, until Seven’s back was against the bed, Janeway on all fours above her.

At her probing look, Seven realized she was waiting for an answer, and she nodded, swallowing. Kathryn cupped her hand gently around Seven’s groin, causing her to moan and thrust her hips into the touch. Kathryn grinned, gently pushing Seven’s shoulders down to hold her in place as she began rubbing her in circles, still over her suit. Seven’s breath was coming fast and hot, hips grinding helplessly against Janeway’s slow ministrations.

“K-Kathryn,” she said, bucking into a slightly firmer circle. “P-please, I—“

“Yes, Seven? What is it? What do you need?”

“I-I do not know. I’ve never—“

“Do you need to come?”

Instinctually, Seven nodded.

“We can make that happen. Can I take your suit off now?”

Seven nodded, and with little help from her, Janeway stripped her until she was completely naked. After an appreciative look, she immediately slotted their bodies together, skin against skin, and both women groaned at the sensation. Rubbing a thumb lightly over Seven’s nipple and eliciting a gasp, she sat back up and moved down Seven’s body.

“Captain. What are you—?”

“This is called ‘going down’ on someone, Seven. Or more directly, oral sex. There are many other euphemisms for it as well, but what it entails is—“ Janeway put her mouth against the top of Seven’s vulva. Pleasure crested almost to a breaking point in Seven at the combination of the sight and sensation. Blinking away stars, she refocused as Janeway smiled up at her. “Do you like it?”

Wordlessly, Seven nodded, and Janeway resumed her task. Pleasure coursed through her, building as Janeway buried her face in her, pressing her mouth against her whole using her tongue to stimulate specific areas. Soon, Seven was panting and struggling to see straight, her fingers gripping the sheets. As she bucked into Janeway’s mouth, the captain moved both hands to her hips, holding her down and caressing her, using the added leverage to press more firmly into her.

“Oh… Kathryn… Captain… I’m… I’m…”

Janeway hummed against her, and before she had a chance to say more, the pleasure that had been building in her groin exploded, making her tense and gasp, her toes curling, eyes closing. She tried pushing herself up on one arm, even as pleasure that she had never in her life as a Borg drone, nor in her short life as a recovered one, known was possible coursed over her. As the waves subsided, Kathryn pulled back, a small smile on her face. Seven gave up on lifting herself up and collapsed back down on the bed as tremors raced through her body.

A few seconds or minutes later, Seven wasn’t sure which, Janeway crawled up beside her, reaching out to tuck a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

“Seven? Are you okay?”

Seven nodded. “I’m. More than okay. I’m…” She sought for the right word.

Janeway arched a brow, and in a joking tone asked, “Perfect?”

Seven shook her head, before turning her head to look at Janeway. “No. No. This… is something better than perfection.”

Chapter Text

Every morning, Jim had a few moments of peace. His mind drifted in a haze of sleepy bliss, cushioned by a soft eagerness to start a new day and curiosity about what it would bring. Then his brain jumped to high gear and returned to all of the bad thoughts that were constantly crowding him, that plagued him all day and sometimes throughout the night. It was exhausting. But he had no choice but to hear it.

This morning, as his brain shifted from haziness into painful awareness, he curled onto his side, trying to see if he could steal a few more moments of contentment.

“Mmmmf what you doin,’” came the sleepy response beside him. Jim froze, realizing there was an arm draped over his body, and a warmth at his back. The events of last night came crashing back.

He turned over to find Leonard H. McCoy in his bed, currently trying to cuddle his head into Jim’s ribs.

“Will ya quit moving?” He grumbled, tightening his arm around Jim’s middle.

“Bones…” Jim said, quiet like he didn’t want to disturb a sacred moment. Bones opened his eyes blearily, blinking up at Jim.

“Whasup Jim?” When Jim didn’t answer, Bones blinked himself awake and propped himself up. “Are you okay?”

“You stayed.”

Bones nodded, a guarded look coming over his face. “Was I not supposed to?”

It was then that Jim realized that leaving had never even occurred to him. He breathed out, soft and slow. He reached down a hand to card through his hair, parting it through his fingers. Bones made a contented little noise and something lit up inside Jim.

“I’m so glad you did.”

“Mm,” Bones said, nuzzling into his hand. “And I’m glad all of this happened.” He moved to kiss Jim’s hand, then looked up at him. There was a bit of dried drool at one corner of his mouth, crusties in the inner corner of his eyes, and his hair was a disaster. Jim had never seen a more beautiful sight. “You still… okay with everything that happened?”

Jim smiled. “More than okay.” He reached down to thread his fingers through Bones’s, resting their entwined hands on his chest. For once, his mind was at ease.

Chapter Text

Jim Kirk had always liked snow storms. Even when he was little, snow storms were the one respite in an otherwise awful life. They were the one time his mom would stay home with him and his brother, while they made chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate together. Then his mom would turn on a movie for him and Sam while she watched from the kitchen while cooking some kind of delicious soup. Snow storms meant safety. They meant coziness. They meant a reprieve from all of the hard, impossible things in life.

But today, this snow storm was really throwing off his vibe. Today, his best friend from college was supposed to be arriving, marking the first time in a year that he’d seen him. When he’d woken up from his afternoon nap to see the snow pouring down from the sky— snow that had not been on any weather radar— his heart leapt into his throat.

He checked his phone for any missed voice messages or texts, but there was nothing, just the last text from a couple of hours ago that Bones had sent that said I’m about an hour out, I’ll see you soon kid.

Shit.

Swearing, Jim went to the front hall closet and started throwing on his winter gear. Bones wasn’t from the Midwest, he wasn’t used to the snow. If he was in a car out there…

Unthinkingly, Jim threw open the door and started hiking up to the end of his driveway. He didn’t have a car, only a motorcycle which usually served him just fine, except in weather conditions like this. He had no transportation but he couldn’t just sit there. He was sure by this point that Bones had no service, which is why he hadn’t texted again. He hoped that he’d found a motel or something to crash at but what if he hadn’t? What if he was out there stranded in the cold somewhere? The air was already a crisp 5 degrees, and the sun was still up— it’d likely fall to below freezing overnight.

“Shit, shit, shit.”

He’d just made it to the end of his driveway that wound for almost a quarter mile through pine, birch, and oak trees, and was turning onto the main road, when he saw headlights in the distance. His heart leapt into his throat and for a moment he stood like a deer in headlights before he began stumbling towards the vehicle.

For several strides, he couldn’t tell if the vehicle was moving or not, until he got close enough to realize it was too far off to one side to still be on the road. Jim started running. Even if that wasn’t Bones, it was someone who badly needed some help.

When he grew closer, he heard loud, familiar swearing, and he broke into a grin, slowing to a jog as his breath came in fast pants. Then he heard a choked, broken sound and his heart jumped. “Bones? Bones!” He shouted, pushing the words out through his breathlessness. He jogged up to the side of the car and banged his fist on it, causing the person inside to start. And suddenly through the glass he was face to face with the surprised, tear-streaked face of his best friend in the whole world.

Jim immediately pulled on the handle of the door. When it didn’t budge, Bones fumbled inside for a moment before the door swung open and Bones nearly toppled out of the truck.

“Bones!” Jim rushed forward to steady him.

“Jim?” Bones said, staring down at him as he swayed a little. “That really you?”

Jim grinned, shifting their position a little as Bones seemed more capable of standing on two feet. “It’s me.”

“How the hell did you find me here?” He sounded breathless and wrecked.

Jim shook his head. “Never mind that. Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“Mm fine.”

“Let’s get you inside. It’s freezing out here.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Bones said, and they set off down the road toward Jim’s house, Jim holding Bones’ arm around his neck and looping another arm around his torso.

Chapter Text

“You know,” Jim huffed, as they finally made it to the start of his driveway, his arm still wrapped firmly around Bones. He isn’t hurt in any obvious way as far as Jim can tell, but he is weak and trembling. “This kind of brings me back.”

Bones snorted. “Please. You and me both know I was the one carrying you home most nights.”

Jim gasped indignantly. “Don’t sell yourself short, Bones. There were plenty of times you were piss drunk too.”

Bones inclined his head, smiling slightly, conceding the point.

Jim cast him a fond look that Bones couldn’t see, as he was just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other on the icy ground. “That said… yeah. It was mostly you. Thanks for that, by the way.”

“Always knew I’d collect my debt some day.”

They make the rest of the way in silence, broken only by their heavy breathing, the sliding of their jackets against each other, a sound sometimes nearly indistinguishable from the whistling wind, and the crunch of their feet in the still falling snow.

When they finally stumble through the front door, Jim immediately gets Leonard seated before kneeling before him and beginning to unlace his boots. Leonard makes a funny noise and Jim glances up at him. There’s a small frown line between his eyes and his lips are parted. “What’re you doing?”

“Getting you warm.”

“I can do that—“

“Oh yeah?” Jim says, eyebrows raised, moving back. “Try it.”

Leonard harrumphs and leans forward, his fingers comically twitching in the air over his laces as he tries to get his frozen digits to do the dexterous work of untying a knot.

“Uh huh.”

“Shut up,” Bones says, leaning back, tucking his hands underneath his armpits and shivering. “These fingers are usually quite capable I’ll have you know.”

“You shut up. You’re the one who just drove halfway across the country for me. Er, to see me.” He leans forward again and places his hands lightly on Leonard’s boots. “Let me take care of you.”

Bones says nothing, but stops protesting which Jim takes as a win. In a few moments he’s untied and taken off Leonard’s boots. Underneath, his socks are wet. “Did ya go swimming or something?”

Leonard shakes his head. “I was trying to dig the car out. Got snow in my shoes.”

No wonder he’d been in such bad shape when he’d found him. Jim shakes his head, trying to ignore the anxiety coursing through him. If he’d broken down farther away, somewhere Jim couldn’t walk to… In a quiet voice he says, “I’m so glad I found you.”

His feet now bare, Jim starts stripping the rest of his friend, manhandling him on the couch to remove his damp jacket. When he goes for the button on his jeans, Leonard jerks back. Jim pauses and looks up at him. “Bones?”

His friend’s face is flushed, which he guesses is at least a good sign of the heat returning to him. “Sorry. Just took me by surprise is all.”

Jim’s own cheeks warm. “Guess I could’ve given you a heads up. But uh… still, I think I better do this for you unless you think your hands will fair better on this button then on the laces.”

Bones shakes his head and closes his eyes, thrusting his hips slightly forward. “Go ahead.”

Jim absentmindedly licks his lips before working his fingers around the button. It’s tight, and while he’s maneuvering it out, he’s pretty sure his hand bumps against something it shouldn’t. Blushing furiously and refusing to look up at Bones in case he noticed, he gets the button popped and unzips the jeans. Getting them off his legs is a challenge since the denim is also wet, and Jim tries to focus on the task at hand, and not the long, toned legs he’s currently revealing inch by inch. Unthinkingly, Jim blurts out, “you work out?”

Bones blinks his eyes open. “What?”

Now Jim is really blushing. “I just… uh. I don’t remember your legs being this nice. I mean, they were always nice, don’t get me wrong! But damn.” In an attempt to recover this awkward moment, Jim reaches out and thwacks his palm against one of Bones’ thighs. “These are impressive.”

For several moments, Bones just stares at him, mouth slightly parted. Then he doubles over in laughter.

God, Jim had forgotten what it was like to hear Bones laugh. His smiles were rare, his true laughter even rarer. And it always made the entire room light up.

“Jesus, Jim. In what world is that an okay thing to say?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, okay!” Jim says, chuckling too. “I’m just worried about you and I don’t really know what I’m doing and it’s making me—“

“Horny?”

“—goofy, WHAT?” Jim splutters, staring up at him in horror. “That wasn’t… I wasn’t trying to be…”

“Relax, Jim, I’m just teasing ya.” Leonard says with a small smile.

Jim blinks up at him for a few moments before relaxing and going back to his work. “Okay.” He wiggles his eyebrows, in an effort to restore ease to the situation. “Besides, I’m pretty sure your wife would have something to say about that.” It would do them both some good— well, at least Jim— to remember that his best friend was very, very unavailable.

Bones, however, won’t meet his eyes. When he speaks, Jim almost doesn’t hear him. Almost.

“Ex-wife.”

Jim stills where he almost has Bones’ pants completely off. “What?” He says. But by his tone it’s clear that he heard Bones. “Bones… when…?”

Bones grimaces. “Kind of a long story. I—“ but he gets cut off when a massive shiver wracks his body. Jim kicks back into full gear, pulling of his jeans and quickly unbuttoning and pulling off his shirt, exposing a large, broad chest with dark hair. He doesn’t have any time to appreciate it, as he stands up and looks around for Bones’ bag.

“Shit. We left it in the car, didn’t we.” Jim eyes Bones, nearly naked on his couch, purely trying to assess his size. “I think I have a few things that might fit you. One second.” He throws a couch blanket over Bones, then dashes upstairs to search through his clothing. He finds a few warm things that have always been a bit too big for him and brings them back down. “Here you go!”

Bones eyes the offered clothing skeptically. “That is the most hideous thing I’ve ever seen.”

Jim gasps, pulling the fluffy sweater toward him. “This nearly saved my life last year I’ll have you know! I went sailing with Scotty and most of my clothes ended up soaked. The only marina nearby only had this for sale. It is in fact hideous, but it is also the warmest thing I have literally ever worn.” He triumphantly holds them out, and Bones takes them with a slight frown.

“Alright.”

While he pulls on the new clothes, Jim gets busy heating up some water for tea, and trying not to watch his best friend get dressed. It’s just all the extra movement in his house, he tells himself. He’s just not used to it. Of course his eye would be drawn to the long arms stretching above his broad shoulders as he shrugs on the sweater.

With a sigh, Jim gives it up. It’s no good. The fact is, Bones is a lot hotter than he remembers him being. Not that he wasn’t hot before, but it had just never really been like that between them. Of course he’d thought about it— he thought about it with practically every person he stumbled across— but not with any serious intent. And Bones had certainly never been so distracting before.

Maybe the situation was to blame. He had just stripped the man of all his wet clothing in the middle of a snowstorm after what could’ve been a life-threatening event. That was a highly erotic situation! Especially when big, muscly Bones was practically helpless underneath his touch and had such a gorgeous body. Just because Jim suddenly wanted to sink his teeth into his bicep didn’t mean that Jim was actually into him. Bones was his best friend and he wasn’t going to ruin that because of some aberrant lust. Situation effectively rationalized out, Jim started selecting tea bags.

“Peppermint with honey?” He called over his shoulder.

“Sure,” came the gruff response.

It was all a moot point anyways because Bones is probably straight. Jim knows he should probably know what his best friend’s sexuality is, but it just never really came up. Jim had always been open about being queer and trans—not that he didn’t have much choice about that early in his transition— but although Bones was happy to hear about or discuss Jim’s experience, he never really offered his own. Then he met Jocelyn and Jim just kind of assumed that was it for him.

Picking up the two mugs of tea, Jim shoved the whole situation firmly out of his mind. He still had to establish that Bones was okay. He could deal with his own loneliness later.

Chapter Text

Once he finished stirring in the honey, he returned to Bones with two steaming cups of peppermint tea. Bones was looking far too adorable on the couch, a small frown on his face as he warmed up in the fuzzy sweater and sweatpants. Jim hid a smile behind his mug of tea as he settled into the couch and handed Bones his own mug.

Taking the steaming cup of liquid, Bones laughed softly. “I haven’t seen these since… well since we packed up our dorms.” His eyes sparkled with warmth as he took in the ridiculous sexual puns displayed on the mugs. Jim grinned. 

A few moments later, after they’d both sipped at their tea, Jim spoke again. “So…” Jim started.

Bones sighed. “Can we not do the whole you interrogate me about the ex-wife thing yet? It’s just… It’s been a shitty year, Jim.”

“I wasn’t actually going to interrogate you on that— not yet. I thought I’d let you get settled after your near death experience first.”

Bones snorted. “It wasn’t near death. I would’ve been fine.”

Jim raised his eyebrows. “Uh huh. In wet clothes and—“ he checked his weather app, “-7 degrees out. You would’ve been in bad shape.”

“Yeah, well.” Bones said quietly, sipping his tea. It took him a moment to say the next part. “There was a reason I was crying when ya found me.”

“Bones…” Jim said, not really knowing where he was going with it.

“It’s just typical of my life, isn’t it? The one time in this whole year I have something good to look forward to and I end up getting stuck god knows how far away from the person I’m trying to see, with no cell service and not one goddamned clue how to deal with a snowstorm.” He shook his head. “I’m damned lucky you came along Jim.” Then a funny look crosses his face. “What was your plan, anyways? Walk until you found me? I could’ve been miles away.”

Jim shrugged. “I, uh, may not have been thinking that far ahead. I just knew you were probably in distress, and I couldn’t just sit there knowing that. I had to try and help.”

A soft look crossed Bones’ face as he looked at Jim. “I’ve really missed you.”

Jim’s heart warmed and he took a sip to hide how happy it made him to hear Bones say that. They were best friends— nothing would change that— but they hadn’t seen each other in ages, and he hadn’t known if Bones had missed him as much as he missed Bones. Sometimes college friends grew up and grew apart.

He tried to hide the emotion in his voice as he replied. “Missed you too.”

The silence between them grew long and Jim cleared this throat. “So. You feeling any warmer?”

Leonard took a moment to check in with himself, then nodded, a bit surprised. “These things have no right to be this warm,” he said, flapping one overly long fluffy sleeve toward Jim.

“I know, right? They’re so cozy.” He paused. “I have to say, you do look fetching in them.”

Bones’ cheeks colored as he scowled. “Fetching? Shut up,” he said, but there was no heat behind it. Jim pushed his shoulder playfully, hand resting just a little too long on him.

Just then, Bones’ stomach growled. Jim yanked his arm back and leapt up. “Oh my god, I totally forgot about food! What do you want? I got a bunch of your favorites plus some new stuff…” he started pulling open cupboards and the fridge and taking out the many supplies he’d purchased.

Bones’ eyes grew large as he made his way over to the kitchen. “Goodness gracious, Jim.”

Jim bit back a smile at the ridiculous exclamation, knowing it would make his friend self conscious. “So? What’re you feeling? Might be hard to fire up the grill in this weather, but I could whip up some seared steak and roasted yams… chili… I make a badass salad, now.” He held up a tub of spinach and wiggled his eyebrows.

Bones’ eyes almost bugged out of his head. “You? Eating salad on purpose?”

“I’m a changed man, Bones,” Jim said, grinning and spreading out his arms. Then he shrugged and dropped his hands. “There’s not much to do here, sometimes. So I started learning how to make all sorts of things. Usually I don’t have quite so many ingredients at once but I’m… kind of excited to get to share them with another person for once.” He tried not to let the abject loneliness that sometimes permeated his existence here shine through.

Bones watched him for a moment before shaking his head. “I look forward to trying some of your concoctions. But honestly…” his gaze slid to a packet of ramen noodles. “I could use some real comfort food right now.”

Jim grinned. Before Bones had been around to nag him about eating more vegetables, he’d practically survived off of packets of ramen. Many of Bones’ healthier eating habits had rubbed off on Jim, but it had worked the other way as well, and soon Jim had introduced him to the many joys of instant food. Eventually they’d settled on a happy medium of ramen with eggs and— after Jim had stopped grimacing at the very sight of it— kale mixed in. He’d been surprised to find that it made a pretty delicious culinary experience.

Jim grinned as he held up the two bunches of kale he’d bought, as well as a carton of eggs. “McKirk Supreme, coming right up.”

Bones raised an eyebrow at the name, then shook his head and chuckled, once again making Jim’s heart soar.

It took only about ten minutes to boil the water and cook the ingredients, and then Jim was putting two steaming bowls onto the countertop. He slid onto the stool next to Bones and the two chowed down. After a few minutes punctuated only by slurping and chewing, Jim glanced over at Bones.

“So. I’m the one good thing you’ve had to look forward to this year?”

Bones blushed. Jim was delighted.

“That uh. May have been a slight overstatement. I’ve got to seen Joanna a fair amount. And I’ve even made a couple decent work friends. Christine, M’Benga.”

Jim nodded, recognizing the names from the few video calls he and Bones had managed to squeeze in over the past year.

“But… it’s been pretty bleak, kid. I’m not gonna lie to ya.”

The thought that he already kind of had, by not telling him that he was getting a divorce, pinged in his head, but Jim ignored it. That was a can of worms to unpack another time.

“I’m sorry. I wish… I wish I could make it better for you.”

Bones smiled over at him. “This,” he said, lifting a forkful of ramen, egg, and kale. Then he nodded at Jim, too. “And this. Is already making it better.”

Jim smiled back at him, and the two finished their dinner in content silence