Chapter Text
It happened one innocuous night after a long day at work. On Bones' part, the 'exploratory mission' had ended a little more violently than any rightly should, and he'd been swamped with injuries to tend— though none critical, thankfully. And on Scotty's part, it took a lot of work to keep a Warp Core running smoothly over long journeys like this one— particularly if they required sometimes rather speedy getaways. So of course, after they'd finally got everything sorted, they both wanted nothing more than a relaxing drink in the communal dining area. Seeing Scotty enter the room, Bones pulled out a bottle of scotch from who-knows-where, and held it up invitingly.
No need to tempt Scotty twice~
He hurried over, and Bones sat down at a table with two glasses, and poured a measure in each. Then he handed one to Scotty, who readily took the seat across from him.
'Cheers,' Bones toasted, holding up his glass, which Scotty clinked with his own.
'Cheers, mate~'
They drank, and both let the stress of the day drain away in a deep sigh.
'What a day, huh?' Bones grumbled, swishing his drink.
'Y're tellin' me,' Scotty agreed. 'Seriously, Jim just does not appreciate what I do for this ship. It's not easy, y'know!'
Bones huffed a laugh, and sipped his drink again. The truth was, after a day like this, nothing could be more welcome than the sight of this particular Scotsman sitting across from him. They'd never had too much cause to cross paths, but when they had, Bones had found himself inexplicably drawn to the younger man. The two oldest people on the crew (not that that said much), and the two in charge of taking care of the people, and the ship, respectively. He'd never been sure what it was, but something in Scotty's manner had been so... refreshing. Like something inside him was out of balance, and only around Scotty could it level out again.
Meanwhile, Scotty sipped his drink, and let his thoughts wander, too. Not that it was hard, around the stunningly handsome man in front of him. It just figured that he'd have to go and fall for someone who had a history of being attracted to women, and would clearly never look twice at him— or even once— romantically. But even this was nice; sitting, sharing a drink, unwinding after a long, hard day. And unwinding was always so much easier around Bones.
If Scotty were a braver man, he'd kiss those rose-coloured lips... but he's not, and this is enough.
'Nobody injured too badly?' Scotty asked, when he felt like he could talk again.
Bones shook his head, downing the last of his drink. 'Nope~'
He poured himself another and offered Scotty one too— and Scotty was not about to say 'no', not to the drink, nor to spending more time with someone who made him feel truly content whenever he was around.
They sat in silence for the second round of drinks, but it was comfortable— it always was, when they were around each other. Scotty just had this easygoing attitude, totally contrary to Bones' grumpiness and hyperactive worrying. And Bones... Scotty just loved him, and he couldn't explain it.
At length, and loath to suggest it, Scotty said—
'Well, shall we get to sleep, d'ye think?'
Bones started, as if he'd been lost in thought. He didn't answer right away. 'Tomorrow's New Years Eve, you know,' he said, finally.
'Really?' Scotty asked, surprised— it was so much harder to keep track of dates, the longer you were out here.
'Yeah...'
'Er... any significance?' Scotty pursued in a hesitant tone.
Bones shrugged moodily, setting his glass down on the tabletop.
'Is, um... Is something wrong, Leonard?'
And then Scotty bit his tongue, could curse himself for calling him 'Leonard'.
Bones didn't seem to mind, though— on the contrary, it seems to make him look less moody. That's in the single second before he leant in, and his lips met Scotty's.
Oh, those lips... how Scotty has dreamt of them, of a moment just like now, seemingly impossible... and all too soon, before he could even memorise the sensation, it was over. Bones pulled back, and then turned startlingly red. He stood abruptly, his chair screeching against the floor.
'Sorry,' he muttered, looked as if he could say something else, and then hurried out the door.
Back in his quarters, Bones let his face fall flat into his pillow. 'Ugghhhhhh...' he moaned, saying many more explicit things to himself inside his head.
How could he have let this happen? It was unreasonable, illogical, the only times they'd spent together were like this— sharing a drink after work, making very... small talk, and otherwise of that, when their work caused them to be in the same place at the same time, neither of which happened very often. Scotty would think he was crazy, and hadn't he been married to a woman? Didn't he like women? But here, now, he liked Scotty.
~ ~ ~
Bones spent the entire next day deliberately avoiding Scotty, and as they didn't usually see each other, this meant that they just didn't see each other. Even at quick breaks for meals, Bones avoided any area Scotty would possibly be like it was one of those horrifying Space diseases he was always telling Jim about. Not that he'd breathed a word to Jim, by the way, even though they were friends. Jim would never let him live it down. But all day, whilst he made a specific point to never run into Scotty, he could not get that kiss out of his mind. Scotty's warm, soft lips, that tasted just enough like Scotch to be even more enticing than they already were. And beneath that, they tasted like Scotty— and that was even worse.
Scotty hadn't been any better off really, running through every possible reason for that kiss in his head all night long, and finally coming to the conclusion that the most logical and most likely option was that Bones had had a little too much to drink, and kissed him by mistake. But he can't help but wonder who Bones had thought he was kissing.
At the end of the day, both Bones and Scotty were in a bad mood, for very similar reasons— Scotty, because he had been entirely too distracted by thoughts of Bones and Keenser had had to stop him from tripping over things or knocking them over, and after all, Bones had surely been meaning to kiss somebody else; Bones, because he had kept seeing Scotty's bright blue eyes in front of him, feeling the ghost of those lips on his, and knowing that Scotty must think him an absolute fool. And long after dinner, when Bones couldn't stand it anymore, he returned to the dining area just to trace the memories with his hands, and maybe, just maybe, for the hope that Scotty would be there.
Scotty was.
Standing at the table where they'd kissed, looking down at it with an expression Bones couldn't see, and his blood ran cold, but his stomach fluttered like it always did at the sight of the Scotsman. And he didn't have any idea how he was going to explain himself, but suddenly he didn't care. He walked up and stood beside him, and even that felt better, even though it was terrifying.
Scotty turned to look at him, but Bones kept his eyes firmly straight ahead, not wanting to see.
'About last night,' he said, his voice ten degrees rougher than usual, which was rough already.
'Er... yes?' Scotty managed, trying to keep a level head.
'It was a mistake.'
Scotty's shoulders fell ever so slightly.
'I mean, it was accidental.' Good heavens, could he not use words now?
'Er... I figured.'
Was that a trace of disappointment in the Scotsman's tone? But no, he couldn't allow himself to hope.
'I think I'm becoming a lightweight in my old age...' He laughed slightly, very roughly and nervously. 'Anyway. I don't want to have to avoid you all the time, so I thought I'd come and be honest with ya.'
Scotty held his breath, without realising it; Bones took a deep breath.
'Truth is, I like ya, Scotty. For reasons I can never rationalise to myself, I only really feel okay around you. And I realise it sounds crazy, and we don't have to talk about it or do anything different around each other. But... Hell, this is really unorthodox, but... if you're amenable, let's make a deal. To wait— to go on like we always have... but every New Year's, share a kiss— and if one year it feels right to you, we'll talk about it.'
He opened his mouth again, but his throat got stuck on the words for how to ask if that could possibly be okay.
Scotty, however, stared at him... then grinned the hugest grin. 'No wait needed~' he said. And he threw himself in Bones' arms.
This time, he memorised every detail.