Work Text:
“Yo, Palmer,” Nick strides across autopsy, “do you know Knight’s password?”
Jimmy looks up from his stack of paperwork, his smile of greeting quickly turning curious, “Uh, why?”
Holding out the offending phone, he explains impatiently, “I need to get some files off it.”
“Is this a prank?” his eyes narrow suspiciously, “because I will not be involved in any-“
“Jimmy, no,” Nick cuts him off with a chuckle, holding up his hands in surrender, “I swear, she left her phone on her desk by accident. She called me from Parker’s phone, said you’d be able to help.”
“Oh, alright then,” he shrugs easily and presses his thumb to the bottom centre of the screen, “there you go.”
Nick watches it light up and unlock to Jess’ home screen – one of the many photos her dad has sent her of Japanese scenery – feeling slightly dumbfounded.
“Nick?” Jimmy asks.
Looking up, he ignores the ME’s concerned frown in favour of asking, “You have a fingerprint to get into Knight’s phone?”
“Uh huh, set it up a couple of weeks ago.”
“Jimmy, that’s a big deal man!”
“I know-“ the dopey look that appears on his face might well have made Nick feel slightly nauseous at literally any other time- “she just kind of pushed her phone at me one night, all ready to add it in,” he begins to shuffle papers around his desk, sorting everything into neat piles, “quite honestly, I’m honoured.”
“No, no, it’s more than that,” Nick insists, “Palmer, back when I first met Jess, she told me she wouldn’t even let her soulmate know her computer password. And now she’s letting someone have their fingerprint on her phone?!”
Jimmy pauses in his movement, slowly turning back to him, “She said that to you?”
“Uh huh,” he nods vehemently, “said it was way too intimate.”
“I suppose it is intimate,” Palmer agrees, adjusting his glasses, “it’s never been a big deal to me if my friends and family can get into my phone. I’m not sure if I’m too trusting or if I just know there’s no point when half of you could get into my phone anyway,” chuckling, he shakes his head, “I knew it was different for Jess but I never considered how big of a deal it was.”
“I told her she had trust issues.”
Shooting him a confused look, he asks, “When?”
“About her hypothetical husband.”
“Oh.”
By the general expression on his face, Nick would guess that he hadn’t actually cleared anything up but past conversations with Jess about her hypothetical soulmate (he’s not sure any of them really believe in soulmates anyway) aren’t exactly his point.
“You’ve been good for her, man,” he states simply, in lieu of an explanation.
“Well,” he blusters, sheepishly “I don’t know about-“
“No, Jimmy, I mean it,” he cuts him off, suddenly feeling like this conversation needs some raw (although perhaps a little uncomfortable) honesty, “Jess pushes people away and it’s hard for me to get her to open up because well, I do the same thing-“ definitely a little uncomfortable- “but you’re open, you’re trusting, you’re the person she’s let in. And that’s amazing.”
But also, very honest.
He’s delighted for his friends. Both of them deserve this; they deserve each other.
“It’s a privilege,” Jimmy answers sincerely, “I don’t know anyone quite like Jess.”
Smirking to dispel some of the heaviness, Nick holds out his hand for a fist bump, “And clearly, Jess doesn’t know anyone quite like you.”