Your in Uhauras quarters, sitting on her bed as you rested your chin on your fist, gazing out her window into the swirling sea of luminescent stars that slowly drifted past, brows puckered.
"I think I'm in love with Dr. Mccoy."
The words barely escape your lips, and you almost immediately regret letting them escape the safe privacy of your mind. You see Nyota pause slightly as she takes in the new information. You keep your eyes trained on the window, eyes unfocused as you conjure up an image of Leonard that plays in front of your eyes, meticulously working over a little girl that had gotten caught in a cross fire on her home planet, how softly he had looked at her.
"Okay." She says slowly.
"You can't tell anybody. Please." You urge, looking into her eyes. "Not. A .Soul." she purses her lips. "Alright." You look away. "I know its not likely." Your eyes turn glassy, arms crossing, fighting the urge to loose composure. "He is almost ten years my senior. Probably doesn't even know my first name. I know Nyota." You say looking into her eyes, before darting away again.
"I just had to tell someone. It's been threatening to burst out of me all week."
A silent moment passes before she crawls across the bed, wrapping her arms around you, and you fold into her embrace.
"Mabey you should try?" She suggests softly, cradling you to her chest. "He doesn't date, you know that." She falls silent, pressing her cheek to the top of your head. "It will be ok. Any way this turns out. Your absolutely wonderful, Y/N. If its not Leonard, I promise. someone worthy will love you so deeply, your heart will never hurt again." A tear slips down your cheek, landing onto her pink duvet. "You really think so?" "Yes." She says firmly, grabbing your hand and squeezing it tightly.
You both gaze at the swirling balls of light as they drift pass. "You know what I feel like?" She asks suddenly. You look up at her, brow arching. "Ice cream." A grin spreads on your face. "Yes."
Summary: Reader leads a special team on the USS Enterprise. Dr. McCoy and Reader has a push and pull relationship, which often leads to trouble. What they both don’t know, it’s probably because they are fighting their own feelings for each other.
Note: This was something I wrote a long time ago, so it’s written in first person, which is not what I’m used to currently. Please forgive my lack of editing.
Words: 915
Warning: Angst, playfulness, maybe cursing
“What happened to you,” McCoy said from beside me, leaning back to get a glance at my head, “Come on, let’s take a look at -.”
Stomping my foot, pushing him back, “Don’t touch me, I have business with you – in your office,” I said point my spare hand in motion to his office.
“Are you mad, how hard did she hit her head,” he directed his questions towards Scotty.
Yelling over Scotty’s explanation, “It’s just a scratch, office. now.”
Dr. McCoy stood up straight, taking a deep breath in to control his anger, “Let’s just remember I’m pretty much your boss and outranking member of Starfleet.”
Shaking my head, still holding the handkerchief to my head, “Well, I have a real issue with how serious you think my job is?”
He scrunched up his face, looking at me like I was crazy, “What are you on about?”
“I,” I pointed at me with the hand covering my wound, “take my job very seriously. Mental health is a serious field. Counseling can seriously save and can change someone’s life. The sooner you,” I jabbed him with my finger, “you take my team and I seriously, the better this ship will be.”
Dr. McCoy gripped my arm, “Ma’am,” he said slowly in his southern draw, “I can’t take you seriously with blood dripping down the side of your pretty little, pulsing forehead.”
I went to shove him, by Captain Kirk stepped between us, “What the hell is going on here?” We both started yelling at the same time, “Okay, hold on – Charlie, get in one of the examine rooms. You look ridiculous, you got blood literally everywhere.”
“Captain,” I tried to counter his statement.
“The little lady here has problems with taking orders,” McCoy said over his shoulder.
I reached over to grab at the doctor, “Lieutenant Y/L/N, have a seat,” Captain said, grabbing my arm and leading me to an examine room, “Now, you are going to let Dr. McCoy examine your head wound, fix you up, and then we can continue with this conversation.”
Dr. McCoy grabbed some gauze and put it on my wound, “Hold this,” he hands were more rough than I thought a doctor’s hand would be, like he was a carpenter or a ship hand. For a second, it distracted you from your anger.
“It’s not every day you get a call from Medical Bay because I quote, ‘Y/N, the squirrely lass she is, is about to attempt to beat Dr. McCoy with her tiny little fists.’”
“I don’t attempt to beat people up, I succeed,” Dr. McCoy had removed my hand and stuck a needle by my wound, “Ouch.”
“Oops, my apologizes ma’am.” I glared up at him. He was certainly taller than me. My feet didn’t even touch the ground on the table, “Darlin’, if looks could kill, I’d be dead in my grave,” his smirk was driving me nuts.
“Sounds about right,” I mumbled.
“What the hell is the problem,” Kirk said.
I pushed McCoy’s arm away, “This guy doesn’t take my field seriously.”
“I beg your pardon,” he asked. He went to continue his work and I stopped him again, “If she isn’t going to let me do my job, I’m going to recommend sedating her.”
Captain put his hands up in surrender, “Okay, let’s wait to discuss this issue until after you’ve been stitch up and examined.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Dr. McCoy continued wiping the blood from my face and wound. I tried not to stare at him while he gently strokes my face, clearly I was bleeding a lot more than I thought. I closed my eyes again, “Full name.”
“I’m sorry,” I questioned back at him.
He tipped up your chin and looked into your eyes, “You had to bump you head pretty hard, you might have a concussion, just basic questions.”
“I don’t have a concession, believe me I would know. I’ve bumped my head enough,” I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes at him.
“That might explain your rash, illogical reaction to things,” he joked, “Regardless, full, legal name, please,” he said.
My eyes stared at him with a burning passion, “Dr. Y/N Y/L/N,” you emphasized on doctor.
“What month is it?”
“October.”
“Where are you right now?”
“Medical bay, U.S.S Enterprise.”
He used his hand to make me look at him, “Can you focus on my finger?”
“Yes.”
“Follow it.” I did with ease, “Do you feel dizzy or light headed?”
“A little, but that could be because some jackass-.”
“Y/N.”
“Alright, let’s stitch you up.” I leaned back a little, taking a deep breath, “Are you scared of needles or just me,” Dr. McCoy smirked.
I gritted my teeth, “Wait, aren’t you supposed to ask her if she’s been sexually active,” Kirk asked from behind McCoy.
McCoy looked back at him, “Jim, this isn’t a physical, she doesn’t have a rash or anything. She hit her head.” Suddenly he turned to me, “You don’t have a rash, do you,” he grinned. They were teasing me, hoping it’d make me laugh.
“You guys have seriously misjudged the situation, if you’re trying to get me to laugh or you both are choosing to sexual harass a fellow crewman, which is against the code of ethics.”
“Geeze, tough crowd,” Kirk said.
“Alright, let’s just this finished,” McCoy said, “The sooner this is done, the sooner you can get out of my medical bay.”
I was listening to the radio yesterday and was struck with inspiration for fic.
I shared this fic idea with @imoutofmyvulcanmind and she wrote a sister fic that goes along with this fic and features Jim. All About Loving You, found here. It’s beautiful.
So here we go! Lyrics are in italics, sprinkled throughout the story. It might not be the most perfectly matched song, but its what came to mind for it.
Leonard x Female Reader(there really wasnt much getting around this one this time)
3,771 word(s) of pretty much just fluff(kinda got away from me a little)
No warnings - but it is a little different as most of this is from Leonard’s POV. Hopefully it’s okay and you guys like it.
Leonard stood at the small living room window, staring out into the backyard where you lay gazing up at the stars, with two glasses of tea in his hands. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear his mother come up behind him.
“I know that look. What’s on your mind, Leonard?” Elenora asked as she was drying her hands with a small dish towel, coming to stand by her son to see what had captured his attention so completely. Leonard glanced at his mother, her eyes curious and concerned with the way he’s been acting tonight. Leonard almost didn’t want to say, but in the end he decided to spill, hoping to get a second opinion.
“Mom, do you ever take a step back and realize that something has been staring you in the face the whole time and you were too blind to see?” Leonard began cryptically as he walked away from the window and sat down on the edge of the couch. Elenora went to follow, but not before catching a glimpse at what Leonard had been staring at before, a knowing smile crept up on her lips.
I've been a walking heartache, I've made a mess of me
Flashback:
A young girl sitting on the side of the dusty gravel road, clutching her knee tightly and sniffling. Her bike laying haphazardly in the road, next to the big rock she had tumbled over.
“Hey, are you okay?” A small boy called out as he noticed the small girl wipe away a tear and look up at him. The girl whimpered softly and shook her head as he watched her clutch her knee tightly. The boy frowned as he made his way over to her quickly and laid down his bike.
The person that I've been lately, ain't who I wanna be
“Here, let me see it.” The boy asked with his hands on his knees. The girl moved her hands away from her knee and the boy made a small grimace, it looked pretty bad but he wouldn’t admit it out loud to her, instead he jumped up to his feet and made his way to his bike. “You wait here, I’ll be right back, okay? I promise.”
The girl nodded her head with another small sniff and the boy hopped on his bike and peddled as fast as he could through the field and back to his house. He jumped off his bike and dashed inside, running quickly to the bathroom. Thankfully his parents were both out back so there wouldn’t be any questions of injuries.
The boy quickly climbed on the sink to reach the top shelf and grabbed a small bottle of ointment and a few bandaids and quickly made his way back to his bike and sped off the way he had come. The girl was thankfully just where he left her as he hopped off his bike once more, red faced, and almost out of breath at this point.
“I brought you some stuff my mom always uses for me. It burns like the dickens at first but it’ll help, I promise.” The boy said as he pulled out the small bottle of ointment and a couple bandaids.
“Want some help?” The boy added in as the girl made no movement to grab the ointment. The girl nodded slightly as the boy slowly and carefully moved her knee and pulled her ripped jeans away from the scrape.
But you stay here right beside me and watch as the storm blows through and I need you
“This is going to burn okay? But it’ll go away soon. I promise” The boy reminded the girl as he got the ointment ready to put on her knee. She nodded in reply and closed her eyes tight, waiting for the burn. The boy wasn’t lying and it burned like crazy. The girl bit her lip and shut her eyes tighter as she took in a small gasp from the sting, but the boy was right, it soon went away and when she opened her eyes she had a fresh band-aid on her knee.
“Feels better doesn’t it?” The boy asked, standing back up and offering his hand. The girl nodded with a small grin and took his hand as he helped her to her feet.
“I’m Leonard by the way, what’s your name?” Leonard asked when the girl was firmly on her feet, testing out her knee.
“I’m Y/N. Thank you for helping me.” The girl replied as she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes, her smile growing wider and in turn making Leonard sprout a big smile of his own.
:End Flashback
'Cause god gave me you for the ups and downs, god gave me you for the days of doubt
“Ahh yes, I remember that day like it was yesterday. The two of you took to each other like ducks to water after that day. Hardly a day went by that the two of you weren’t off causing trouble.” Elenora remembered fondly as she sat down next to Leonard, patting his knee softly.
“Yeah, we were inseparable.” Leonard smiled at the memories of the two of you out in the field on summer days, the snowball fights in the winter, playing in the leaves in fall, and chasing rabbits in the spring.
“But it’s also got me so confused mom. I don’t even know where to start, or if she even feels the same way? And I’m as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.” Leonard continued, making Elenora pause for a moment and pursed her lips slightly before lifting her head to look at her son, meeting his eyes.
And for when I think I lost my way, there are no words here left to say, it's true, god gave me you
“Son, I don’t claim to be an expert, but this is what I know. You’ve come a long way since you were just a boy and copying your father in his clinic all those years ago. You’ve made some mistakes along the way sure, but you’ve always learned from them and made the best of it and kept going. You’ve been through some extremely tough situations and known more heartache than anyone ever should. Even despite that, you have a wonderful outlook and a heart of gold and a forgiving nature and I couldn’t ask for a better son. Whatever you do, all I know is that you deserve to be happy. You’ve suffered enough Leonard. Y/N has been with you through everything and if this is going to make you happy, then you should seize it with both hands and never let it go.” Elenora finished with a fine sheen glistening in her eyes. Leonard looked back at his mother fondly and lovingly, a sheen of his own almost apparent in his eyes as well before he blinked them back quickly.
“You’re right mom. Here goes nothing.” Leonard said, his mind made up as he got up from the couch slowly and made his way to the door, pausing at the screen door, gazing out across the lawn to you once more, his mind slipping back once again to all those years ago.
There's more here than what we're seeing, a divine conspiracy
Flashback:
“Hello? A tired voice mumbled groggily into the phone. Leonard cringed inwardly, he hated to be a bother, especially with how late he knew you had been working lately.
“Hey Y/N, I’m sorry, did I wake you?” Leonard’s voice was unusually quiet and hollow on the other end of the line. He just couldn’t muster the energy to try and make himself sound anything but empty.
“Its…” There was a pause for a moment and Leonard guessed she was looking at the time. “1am Leonard, of course you woke me up, but what’s going on, are you okay?” Her voice suddenly going from slightly annoyed to concerned, it wasn’t like Leonard to call this late at night.
That you an angel lovely, could somehow fall for me
“Yeah I’m okay, but no I’m not alright. I mean, I don’t know.” Leonard sighed into the phone, before taking a deep breath on the other end. He hated burdening her with this. She had already been a tremendous help with everything else these past couple months, but there was no one else he felt he could turn to right now.
“Its alright Len, you can tell me.” She encouraged softly, otherwise staying quiet until Leonard decided if he really wanted to talk about it or not.
“I think… I think Joce and I are finally done.” Leonard confessed quietly after several seconds, so quiet she almost didn’t hear it. Leonard wasn’t sure what else to do.
“Oh god Leonard, are you sure this time? I mean…” She trailed off quietly. She knew Leonard and Jocelyn had been having problems, and there was talk of divorce but she had always thought that they would work through it and had been nothing but encouraging.
“Yeah, I think it’s for good this time.” Leonard breathed out, as if the words had actual weight attached to them. The stress in his voice just oozing through the phone, it was the first time he had admitted it outloud since him and Joce had finally agreed a couple days ago.
“Oh, Len, I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what you must be going through. If there’s anything at all I can do to help, you know I’ll do it.” Leonard could hear the sincerity behind her words and he breathed out a small sigh of relief, already feeling somewhat better, just by hearing her voice and knowing she was there for him.
You'll always be love's great martyr, and I'll be the flattered fool, and I need you
“That’s kind of why I called Y/N.” Leonard sighed softly into the phone. “I can’t… I can’t stay here anymore. Would it be okay if I maybe came and stayed at your place for a couple days? Just until I can think things through?” Leonard asked hopefully, he hated to ask but he couldn’t stand to be under the same roof as Jocelyn any longer.
“Of course you can, Len. You know I’ve only got that old lumpy couch but you’re welcome to it as long as you need it. Are you coming tonight? I’ll fix it up for you.” She said quickly and Leonard could hear the rustling of sheets in the background, waiting on Leonard’s reply before she fully got out of bed.
“If it’s not too much trouble?” Leonard asked hesitantly. “I can’t be here right now.”
“Sure. Come over and I’ll have it ready for you, okay? No worries.” She replied as she got up out of bed and Leonard could hear her closet opening where he knew she kept a few extra blankets.
God gave me you for the ups and downs, god gave me you for the days of doubt
“Thank you, Y/N, thank you so much. You’re amazing.” Leonard said softly into the phone. “I’ll be there soon.” Leonard finished quietly before hanging up the phone. Leonard breathed out a heavy sigh as he sat his phone back down on the island. If he had nothing left after this divorce was over, at the very least he would still have Y/N by his side, and that thought comforted him.
:End Flashback
Leonard took a deep breath, shaking his head of the memory as he fumbled with the door and the glasses of tea in his hands until Elenora finally came and opened the door for him.
“Thanks mom.” Leonard replied with a sheepish grin. Elenora returned his grin with a wink, and shooed him quietly out of the door. Leonard’s grin turned into a smile with a small eyeroll, he mouthed “wish me luck” to his mom as he walked slowly out the door.
Leonard slowly and quietly walked to the end of the porch, watching you as you put your arms behind your head, pointing and drawing out the star constellations with your fingers. Leonard couldn’t help but grin at the sight, even if his heart was beating faster and his stomach was in knots. Leonard began walking down the steps as his mind wandered once more as he made his way to where you lay.
And for when I think I lost my way, there are no words here left to say, it's true, god gave me you
Flashback:
“Good lord, I didn’t think there would be so much work involved!” She groaned loudly into her pillow as she looked around the floor at all her books scattered around and all her note tabs on her PADD.
“No one forced you to follow me, Y/N.” Leonard said with a smirk as he watched her from his small bed, his own PADD in his hands, going over his notes and homework, laughing to himself. Secretly he was grateful that you decided to follow after him. It made the transition easier and it calmed his nerves and eased his mind knowing you were beside him still, backing him up.
“What? You really thought I was going to let you come alone and have all the fun and adventures? I think not, Leonard! Who else is going to take care of your grumpy ass?” She said, trying to sound offended, but Leonard knew better and gave her a small snort in reply. He’d never admit that she was right, and he probably would have never made it this far without her.
“Then you better get to work, Y/N. That paper isn’t going to write itself.” Jim teased from his small bed on the other side of the room, prying himself away from his own studies to take a jab at her.
On my own I'm only half of what I could be, I can't do without you
“Oh now it’s two against one? I thought you were on my side, Kirk? Who asked you anyway?” She replied with a huff, tossing her pillow at Jim’s head, hitting him square in the face. Leonard always thought that she had a good arm, and she could prove it, he remembered those snowballs to his own face none too fondly. Jim just stared at her pillow in shock. Leonard then rolled his eyes and continued his homework.
She didn’t expect to actually hit him. Her hand quickly went to her mouth as she tried to hold in her laugh, but failed miserably, she cracked up at the incredulous look on Jim’s face. Leonard had to admit to himself that it was pretty funny, and hid his smirk behind his PADD.
“Oh you think that’s funny do you? This means war!” Jim declared, returning fire with his own pillows, but missing and almost knocking over her drink on the table.
“Alright you infants, that’s enough before you break everything in the room.” Leonard glared over his PADD at the two of them, they froze in mid throw as he spoke. The two of them exchanged knowing glances and both quickly turned to look at Leonard, with mischievous grins on both their faces.
We are stitched together and what love has tethered, I pray we never undo
“Oh no, don’t you dare! I will hypo the two of you into next week if you so even…” Leonard warned but he didn’t get very far before the pillows were flying in his direction, he barely had time to block the shots, returning fire in kind. Laughter and squeals filled the room as the three of you battled it out, letting off some much needed steam.
:End Flashback
“Did you get lost?” You teased as you heard Leonard’s footsteps getting closer, leaning your head over in his direction, snapping Leonard out of his thoughts.
“You know how mom is, always needs help with something. In this case, the dishes.” Leonard lied smoothly, covering up his and his moms earlier conversation, he had hoped anyway. He was grateful that it was dark outside, so it hid the fact that he was beginning to sweat.
“You should have hollered, I would have came and helped.” You said as you sat up, taking the tea from Leonard’s outstretched hand, taking a long sip. Leonard’s mom really knew how to make a mean glass of iced tea.
“Nonsense, I didn’t ask you to come with me to visit so you can do dishes.” Leonard laughed slightly out of amusement and slightly to try and hide his nervousness as he sat down close to you in the grass.
“Thanks for the invite by the way. It was nice seeing your mom and dad again, it’s been way too long.” You said, glancing over at Leonard, sitting your tea in your lap. You regarded Leonard closely, it hadn’t escaped you that he had been acting odd tonight.
'Cause god gave me you for the ups and downs, god gave me you for the days of doubt
“No worries, Y/N. My mom loves having you over, sometimes I even think she likes you more than me.” Leonard said with a louder laugh, causing you to laugh as well. Leonard loved to hear you laugh, it was like music to his ears, and always made his heart light as a smile spread across his face for a brief moment.
“Y/N…” Leonard cleared his throat. Might as well jump right in, right? “I have a small confession. I didn’t bring you out here just for a visit.” Leonard continued, not quite looking you in the eye, choosing to half look at the stars.
“Oh?” You said curiously, waiting on him to continue as you quirked an eyebrow in reply, something you had perfected from hanging out with Leonard so much.
“Yeah, I uh, I don’t really know how to say this and you can tell me to shut up anytime and we’ll forget I even said anything, okay?” Leonard rubbed his face nervously before finally looking you in the eyes. There wasn’t any backing out now, it was now or never.
God gave me you for the ups and downs, god gave me you for the days of doubt
“Y/N, we’ve known each other almost our whole lives. Were the best of friends, just don’t tell Jim that okay? We know everything there is to know about each other. We’ve been there through each others high points, and our low points. You’ve always been by my side and never left me and have always been in my corner. And I’ve been an idiot, a real idiot for not being able to see what was right in front of me all along.” Leonard rubbed the back of his neck with his hand nervously. His mouth was so very dry, despite all the tea hes drunk and his hands were so sweaty.
“Leonard, are you asking me if I’ll go out with you?” You said as a smirk began to form on your lips as you gathered where Leonard was going with this, there was no other explanation for his nervousness or his words.
“Well, I mean, yeah? I guess I am. It’s not weird is it? It’s just, after Nero’s attack, and us almost not making it back and the thought of losing you or never seeing you again, I guess it just hit me like a ton of bricks. I care about you Y/N, and up until now, I didn’t realize just how much. I care about you more than a friend and I mean, I get it if you don’t feel the same way, we’ve been friends for so long and…” Leonard rambled on before you brought your fingers to his lips, shushing him.
“Can you stop talking for 3 seconds and let me get a word in edgewise?” You teased, laughing at the look on Leonard’s face. You had never seen him so nervous. Someone who was always calm under pressure, even when someone was bleeding out underneath him, Leonard never lost his cool this badly. You knew he had to be a nervous wreck and had been thinking about this for a while.
And for when I think I lost my way, there are no words here left to say,
“The truth is, I’ve been thinking about this a lot too. I just didn’t know how to bring it up and you just so happened to beat me to it.” You answered with a smile. The look on Leonard’s face was priceless as it lit up slightly with hope.
“You have?” Leonard asked in almost disbelief, his eyes going slightly wide. He never imagined that this would be your reply. He envisioned every possible scenario of you running away, screaming for the hills, or even worse, that this might even ruin your friendship with his confession.
“I think a part of me has always liked you Leonard but the timing had never been right, or one of us had been in another relationship or school or whatever, but now? We’re finally where we both want to be and have nothing to get in the way of us making the future that we want. And I think I like the thought of a future with you and me.” You answered Leonard with a smile, all the fond memories you had of the two of you flashing through your head as you thought back to all the good times the two of you shared.
Leonard couldn’t believe his ears and almost asked you to repeat yourself, but didn’t dare, in case you decided you change your answer, and only put on a huge grin from ear to ear.
“Y/N, you’ve made me the happiest man alive. Where do we go from here?” Leonard asked, the two of you were such great friends, and already knew practically everything there was to know about each other that the typical first date seemed kind of out of place.
“Well, we could start here?” You suggested as you leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Leonard’s lips. Leonard jumped slightly at your touch before melting into your kiss. It wasn’t weird like he thought it might be, it felt right, it felt like home. Warmness crept through him as his heart skipped a beat, and he knew he made the right decision.
You felt equally as happy as you pulled away slightly from the kiss, a smile plastered on your face as you saw the excited gleam in Leonard’s eye.
“I like the way you think, darlin’.” Leonard laughed as he gave you a quick peck and stood up slowly, holding out his hand. You took Leonard’s hand as he helped you off the grass.
“I’m Leonard by the way, what’s your name?” Leonard asked playfully with a big smile on his face as he brought you carefully to your feet.
“I’m Y/N. Thank you for helping me.” You replied with a laugh, poking Leonard in the ribs, causing him to join you, both your laughter mixing and dancing in the warm summer air. You hardly believed that he remembered that day so very long ago. Leonard kept a hold on your hand as he brought you in close to his chest and wrapped his other arm around your waist and began to rock the two of you slowly in small circles.
“You really are beautiful Y/N, you know that?” Leonard said softly as he looked down at you with awe, eyes dancing around your features, as if it was something that had escaped him all these years. He planned to make up for all those lost years, and then some.
“You old romantic, but I think that’s going to take some time to get used to hearing from you.” You giggled softly, burying your head in Leonard’s chest, hardly believing what was happening, it all felt like a dream come true. Everything falling into place. Being with Leonard was as easy as breathing.
“You know me best sweetheart and we have all the time in the world to get used to it.” Leonard replied as he dipped you quickly and bringing you back up to meet his lips. Leonard couldn’t believe you had returned his feelings as his mind wandered to all the possibilities that lie in front of you both. He finally felt happy and hopeful for his future.
“That I do.” You agreed, kissing Leonard back slowly before resting your head on his shoulder as the two of you continued to dance around under the stars, not needing to speak as the two of you enjoyed being together. There was plenty of time to figure out everything later, tonight it was just the two souls that had been destined to be together after all this time, finally becoming one.
Summary: Star Trek AU where Leonard is a single father.
A/N: I'm so excited about this idea, I've been wanting to write a fic about Leonard for so long!!! The interaction between the reader and Leonard's son is based on a conversation I had with a two year old a while back.
Stumbling into his home after an 18 hour shift at the hospital, Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy hung up his keys and flipped the light switch on, only to be welcomed by a disastrous sight.
Scattered across the living room floor were various toys, and all over the walls were splatters of something wet and sticky.
And God only knows where that smell was coming from.
Rubbing his head, Leonard sighed. He knew better than to have expected anything other than this. Especially considering that he left a big kid in charge of his own kid.
The hospital had been drastically shorthanded lately, therefore Leonard had to take odd hours working in the ER. Which made finding a sitter for his rambunctious two year old son, Charlie, a struggle.
When he was called in on such short notice, Jim was the best he could do.
And while Jim was a good friend and a respected Navy captain, he was very lenient when it came to children, letting Leonard’s son pretty much do as he pleased.
He was currently snoozing comfortably on the sofa, his head resting against him arms and his legs crossed. The TV was on, playing some kind of action movie with the volume turned down. There was a half full can of beer on the coffee table accompanied by crumpled fast food wrappers.
Frustrated, Leonard picked up a discarded plastic bag on the floor and started to gather the trash. He had explicitly told him not to over do it on the take out food. Shoving all the pieces of trash into the bag.
Taking the can of warm beer, Leonard poured the remains on Jim’s face. Sputtering and flailing his arms about, Jim shot up from the couch.
“Son of a biscuit eater!” Jim shouted.
Leonard shook his head. So at least Jim listened when he was asked him to watch his language around Charlie. However that only irritated Leonard more, seeing how he struggled to do the same thing; always accidently swearing in front of Charlie.
“What the hell Bones?” Jim asked while yawning. "Why’d you wake me?“
"To help me clean up this mess, I’m not a maid, Jim.”
“It’s not that bad,” Jim stated, scanning the living room. “Cleaner than my place.”
“Of course it is.” Leonard sighed.
Jim stretched his arms above his head, letting out a loud yawn. He then grabbed the toy chest and helped out by picking up all of Charlie’s toys.
“What time is it?”
“2 in the morning,” Leonard replied dryly.
Jim raked a hand through his hair, still feeling sleepy.
“Did Charlie behave?” Leonard asked.
“Oh yeah, he’s a great kid… Reminds me of myself a bit.”
Leonard groaned at the comparison, the last thing he needed was his son to become a menace similar to Kirk. Leonard had heard all the stories about Jim’s rebellious childhood.
He needed to find a better sitter and soon.
“What time did you put Charlie to bed?"
"Around 8 o'clock.”
Jim looked at Leonard and grimaced. “You look tired,” he started, “Why don’t you leave the mess alone for now and gets some sleep.”
Jim patted Leonard on the back, who reluctantly agreed that the mess could wait. It was true that all he wanted to do right now was rest.
“Thanks for watching Charlie.”
“Anytime, Bones.”
Jim put on his jacket and grabbed his keys, “I’ll see you later, buddy.”
Bones grumbled a good bye before heading upstairs.
As quiet as he could be, he peeked into Charlie’s room to see the toddler sleeping peacefully in his twin bed. Charlie’s tiny hands were clutching his blankie, while his chest slowly rose up and then down.
Carefully Bones crept over, maneuvering around the blocks and toy trucks. Sitting on the edge of the bed he ran a hand through Charlie’s hair. It felt like ages since the last time he saw him. He couldn't believe that In a couple of months his little man was going to turn three.
Bones didn’t linger for long, whispering a quick 'sweet dreams’ before heading towards his own bedroom.
—
He kicked off his shoes, stripped down out of his scrubs, and pulled on a pair of pajama pants. Bones flopped on to his bed and released a sigh, it felt so good to be off his feet.
He closed his eyes.
Then rolled over on to his side, then onto his stomach, then onto his other side. He flipped his pillow over, and laid his head back down, maybe that would help. But it didn’t. After tossing and turning, Bones ended up laying on his back staring up at the ceiling.
Physically he was exhausted, but his mind was still racing with thoughts of his career, child, and other things. Being a single parent with a high stress job was starting to take it’s toll.
His mind continued to wander aimlessly until his sleep finally took over.
—–
“Dad?” a high pitched voice whined as two tiny hands started shaking him.
“Dad? Where’s uncle Jim, dad?”
Leonard looked over at the clock on his night stand, in red it displayed 7:08 am. About 4 hours of sleep, that’s probably the most rest he had all week.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes.
“Probably being a menace somewhere else,” he addressed his son’s question.
“Why’d he want to do that?” Charlie questioned.
“I don’t think he can help it.” Leonard replied.
He ruffled Charlie’s hair, “Come on, let’s go make something for breakfast.”
Charlie sat in his chair eating oatmeal in his pj’s, bits of apple and oats sticking to face and shirt. Leonard leaned against the counter sipping on a cup of coffee. He watched as Charlie accidently dropped a spoonful of oatmeal completely missing his mouth.
“Looks like we need to go grocery shopping,” Leonard announced, after taking a quick inventory of the food in the cabinets and fridge.
He was lucky there was oatmeal packets in the pantry, or they would have had to eat breakfast at some fast food joint.
“Errands!” Charlie shouted, thrilled at the prospect of an outing. Charlie was a very social child and enjoyed meeting new people.
Leonard sat his coffee mug and Charlie’s dirty dishes in the sink.
“How about we start getting ready for today, hm?” Leonard asked Charlie, who enthusiastically nodded his head in response.
——
Charlie, wrapped in his white fluffy bath robe, was sitting on double vanity watching his dad finish shaving.
Leonard was starting to look scruffy due to his crazy work schedule. He looked at himself in the mirror making sure he got all the stubble. He frowned noticing the dark circles under his eyes. There wasn’t much he could do about those.
He proceeded to quickly spray himself with cologne over his chest.
“And me?” Charlie asked, lifting his chin up and sticking his chest out.
Leonard smiled to himself and sprayed a tad of cologne on Charlie, who seemed quite pleased about it.
These were the moments that he really loved about being a father.
“I need some of that too,” he said pointing at the bottle of hair gel.
Leonard put a small squirt in his hand, before running his fingers through Charlie’s hair, styling it.
“Oh and that!” Charlie demanded, now pointing at the bottle of aftershave.
“Alright, but watch your old man first and see how its done.”
The aftershave felt cool and refreshing against his smooth skin as he applied it his face.
“Ok, your turn. Hold out your hands,” Leonard instructed putting a couple of drops on Charlie’s hand.
Charlie then rubbed his hands together vigorously, then slapped them against his cheeks.
“Ah!” Charlie sighed over dramatically.
Leonard nodded approvingly, “Think it’s time for us men to get dressed.”
He dressed Charlie in a checkered button up and khaki pants with a pair of green converse. Charlie stood in front of the full length mirror and admired himself in the mirror.
In the meantime, Leonard put on a gray tee shirt and jeans.
“Lookin good dad!” Charlie stated, nodding his head in approval.
Leonard chuckled, “Looking good son.”
—-
At the grocery store, Charlie rode in the cart, while Leonard filled it with necessities.
From previous shopping experiences, he had learned not to let Charlie too close to any of the products, it always led to things either ending up broken or being purchased on accident.
There was even an incident where Charlie stole some small pieces of candy by stuffing them into his little pockets.
Leonard furrowed his eyebrows, why were all the aisles so narrow. He needed something from the end of the aisle but it was packed with other customers and shopping carts.
“Stay put Charlie, daddy just going right over there for some peanut butter and jam, ok?”
“Get honey too!” Charlie added.
—–
You were wearing your favorite sundress, with a grocery basket on your arm. You just needed to grab a few items for a cake recipe you were planning on trying out.
“Hey!” a little boy called out to you. He was happily sitting in a cart kicking his feet up and down.
You smiled and waved at him, “Hello, what’s your name?”
“I’m Charlie,” the toddler introduced himself.
“Hi Charlie, I’m Y/n,” you replied in a sweet voice.
What an adorable kid. He looked so chipper and energetic, with his big curious eyes and chubby cheeks.
You noticed a man nearby, who was probably Charlie’s father, he looked engrossed as he browsed the shelves looking for something specific. There was definitely a resemblance between the boy and the man.
You continued to stare, becoming quite immersed in your thoughts about the gentlemen a little further down the aisle. The stranger was a looker for sure, tall, broad shoulders and a strong jaw.
“Smell me.” Charlie spoke up, catching you off guard.
You blinked a couple of times, maybe you misunderstood.
“Excuse me?” you asked.
“Smell me Y/n.” he repeated, with a big smile on his face.
You giggled to yourself at the odd request, and decided to humor him. Who could refuse such a cutie pie.
You got a tad bit closer to the child, but remained a polite distance away. You leaned your head toward him and inhaled. The toddler smelled clean like citrus with a woodsy note.
“It’s cologne,” Charlie informed you as if you had no idea what it was.
“Oh, well it smells very nice on you.”
“Yup.”
“Can I smell you?” he asked.
“I guess so,” you held out your wrist, Charlie pressed his nose against it and inhaled deeply.
“Well?” you questioned, curious about his opinion on your perfume.
“Smells pretty.”
“Thank you, it’s my perfume.”
“Is that your father over there, Charlie?” you pointed in the man’s general direction.
“Yep.”
“What does your father do, what’s his job?"
"He goes to work and fixes the idiots and makes the monies.” Charlie explained.
“What?”
Charlie shrugged, “that’s all I know.”
The boy turned himself to get a better look at his father, then started waving his arms in the air.
“Dad!? Dad!? Come meet my new friend!"
The man jolted his head up, and looked at Charlie then to you. You felt your heart rate speed up as you made eye contact with him. His facial expression immediately softened and you gave him a shy smile.
"Thanks for keeping him company, he's a real people person. I'm Leonard by the way," he said, setting the food items in the cart.
"Oh it was no problem, he's a real cutie."
"She thinks I'm cute dad!" Charlie shouted happily.
"I heard her Charlie," he turned his attention back to you, "Do you have a name, beautiful?"
"Y/n.
"Nice to meet you Y/n." Leonard smiled. "Would you-"
"Have lunch with us!" Charlie interrupted.
Leonard sighed, where did Charlie learn how to behave like this?
"Sure!" you agreed without hesitation.
"Really?" Leonard asked skeptically.
"Yes really," you giggled.
You felt so excited, who would've thought you'd meet such a handsome man with such a sweet son.
Tag list: @zuni21798 @sleeping-with-the-snakes @scentofpineandhazelnutlattes @daddybuttfleck
Fandom: Star Trek AOS
Pairing: implied Reader x Leonard McCoy/Bones
Prompt: “How could I have known you were allergic to [item/flavor/scent]? If it’s any consolation, you don’t look as bad as you think you do…” For @outside-the-government‘s birthday challenge
Word Count: 5,056
Tag List: @outside-the-government @littlecarowrites @star-trekkin-across-theuniverse @stormsnevercometostay @southernbellestatues @dolamrothianlady @stormsnevercometostay @bkwrm523 @feelmyroarrrr @lurkch @yourtropegirl @answer-the-sirens @alwaysinnarnia @mccoymostly
If you would like to join my main tag list, please let me know!
Author’s Note: Unbeta’d and a bit late, but hopefully you still like, darling! This was pretty fun to write. Happy belated birthday! 😊 ❤
“Okay, what time is it?” you ask in a hushed tone, as you and Christine come to a halt in the corridor a few feet from Leonard’s quarters. Christine glances at her comm and tells you the time; it’s roughly forty minutes since Leonard had gotten off shift, and you know that he’d been planning on crashing the second he was done, that he was exhausted after an extremely busy day.
“That should be enough time,” you whisper slowly, thinking. “I’ll check. If he’s still awake, I can just say I came to say goodnight, or something.” Christine nods and backs away from the door so she won’t be seen as you swipe the key card he’d recently given you and open his door. It’s dark inside, and by the dim sphere of light given off by your comm, you can see him lying in bed as you creep across the room.
“Leonard?” you whisper as you creep closer, but get no response. You repeat his name in a normal speaking voice, and still get nothing. He shifts slightly in his sleep, making you freeze in place, but then he begins to snore, and you know you’re in the clear. You carefully creep out of the room and poke your head out, nodding to Christine, who grins and darts into the nearby supply room. When she returns, she’s carrying a huge bundle of balloons held together loosely by a light plastic tarp. Grinning, you reach for the bundle and together you carefully manage to get it through the doorway without popping any of them. You release this bundle into the corner of the living area, covering his desk and the floor with the balloons. The two of you hurry out of the room and retrieve another bundle, emptying this one too until the balloons cover the desk and floor to waist height. Each time you’re about to scurry from the room, you check to make sure that Leonard is still sleeping soundly, not wanting him to catch you in the act.
“Where did you get all of these, anyway?” Christine asks you quietly as you return for the fifth bundle a little while later, having filled the opposite end of his quarters, near the bathroom.
“I ordered them ahead of time and picked them up last time we were in Yorktown,” you whisper as you open the door again and creep in. “Why?” Christine doesn’t answer as you empty your current bundle, waiting until you’re back outside and heading back to the supply cupboard to reply.
“Just wondering, I haven’t seen balloons in this material before. Is it latex?” she asks poking at one of them, and you nod.
“Yeah, the shop keeper said they’re hard to find on earth nowadays, but the ones they get in on Yorktown are all latex. He said they’re actually one of the best materials for balloons – stretchy but resistant to popping.” Christine nods as you head back into the room, and you giggle silently as you look around. By the tenth bundle, you’ve filled most of the living area and the kitchenette, and with the last two you have left, you manage to fill the entire quarters up to about waist height, including over the edge of Leonard’s bed, covering him in a single layer of the colourful balloons.
“That’s it,” you whisper, as the two of you stand in the doorway, admiring your handiwork and pushing the balloons that try to escape back into the room. “I can’t wait until he wakes up in the morning!” The door to his quarters closes and you and Christine high five, grinning at a job well done and imagining the look on Leonard’s face when he wakes, surrounded by a sea of colourful baubles.
Leonard groaned as he looked in the mirror. His face was covered in bright red spots, and when he lifted his Sciences blue tunic, his stomach and chest were covered in them too. Chicken pox?! How? It had been eradicated for at least fifty years, how could he possibly have contracted it?! He began to scratch at his arms and then at his face, even though the medical side of his brain was telling him to stop, that scratching would just make it worse in the long run, but he couldn’t help it. He was just so damn itchy. He clawed at his face, letting out a yell of frustration, flailing wildly as the itching became unbearable….
Leonard wakes with a start and a gasp, his eyes flying open at his abrupt return to consciousness. He yelps in surprise less than a moment later as he realizes that there’s… things all over him, things that he can barely feel but are nonetheless settled all over him. He flings his arms upwards, sending several of the colourful things flying, when the familiar weight and sound of his hand hitting them makes the word “balloons” pop into his head. Blinking in confusion, Leonard sits up and looks around, his eyebrows raising and his mouth falling open in shock as he takes in the sight of his quarters. He can’t see any of his furniture save the one tall bookshelf across the room. His couch, desk, kitchen table and chairs are simply gone, lost under a sea of colourful balls. Mouthing wordlessly, he shifts sideways in bed and puts his feet to the floor with difficulty, kicking aside balloons with his bare feet, but to no avail; every time he kicks one away, more rush in to replace it.
As he stands there, looking around, still dumbfounded, Leonard realizes that he really is itchy – it hadn’t been just his dream. He frowns as he takes stock of himself, moving his thoughts from the shock of finding his room looking as though a parade had passed through it to what he’s currently feeling, physically. His arms and face are tingling a little, feel warm to the touch, and are itchy. His frown deepening, he looks down at his arms and sees that he had apparently been scratching in his sleep, as there’s long, thin red lines down his forearms.
Shaking his head, he’s trying to figure out what to do when he receives a message on his comm telling him he’s needed in the med bay and he sighs, looking around the room. Gritting his teeth, he wades through the balloons towards his closet, sending bursts of colour into the air as he kicks his way through, popping several and startling himself with the loud noises. He nearly topples over as he stands on one leg to pull a sock on, swearing out loud as several of the balloons he’d kicked away float back and stick to him, attracted by static cling. He dresses as quickly as he can and storms his way through the sea to his doorway. Grumbling, he opens the door and a good dozen of the balloons spill into the hallway, looking particularly colourful against the stark white of the walls and floor.
His comm buzzes again and he glares down at it to see “Happy birthday, Leonard! I hope you liked your surprise!” flash onto it. Oh, right. He’d forgotten it was his birthday. The balloons suddenly made a bit more sense, but how they made their way in there while he was sleeping is still boggling his mind. How had he slept through that?! He stomps off to med bay shaking his head, not even looking back as a loud crack echoes around the corridor as one of the balloons was crushed by the door sliding shut behind him.
You are already in med bay when he turns up, looking a bit surly, but it doesn’t deter you from rushing over to him and throwing your arms around him. You notice that his skin is looking a bit pink but you figure it’s probably just flushed from being warm, or maybe he just really liked your surprise.
“Happy birthday!” you say cheerfully, as he returns the hug, wrapping his arms around your middle for a moment. “Did you like the balloons?”
“Well,” he hesitates at the hopeful look on your face. You can tell he’d been about to grump at you, but now he’s feeling bad because you’re so excited. “It sure was a surprise, alright. How did you get them all in there?” He scratches at his forearms unconsciously as he speaks, trying to ignore how itchy his face is as well.
“Oh, Christine helped me!” you tell him, as you lead him towards bio bed seven, upon which the patient in need lay. “You were dead to the world, I bet I could have popped one and you wouldn’t have noticed!”
Leonard grunts in response, scratching his other arm now, frowning slightly. It probably isn’t a good thing that he’s such a sound sleeper, he muses, as he pulls on some gloves and a gown before entering the curtained off bed.
You giggle a little as you leave him to his patient and flounce off to do your other duties, imagining how happy he’ll be later when you give him the cake you replicated and decorated yourself, and the gift you’d gotten for him.
About an hour later, after finishing up with a couple of patients of your own, you catch Leonard coming out of the back room and stop dead, gaping at him.
“What?” he snaps, wound tight from the intensity of the itching, clenching his fists furiously at his sides in a desperate attempt not to scratch himself.
“Your- your arms… and your face… they’re bright red!” You say, staring at him in horror. His skin is bright red and shiny in blotches all over his arms and cheeks, one over his forehead, and a few on his neck. You can see that he’s twitchy, constantly shuffling his feet, which makes you think that if you took off his shoes and socks, there’d be blotches there, too. “What happened?!”
“I dunno,” he mutters, scratching at his already raw arm. “Obviously an allergic reaction but I’m not sure what to.” You reach out to grab his arm as his nails break his skin and blood starts to slowly bead in the wake of the scratch.
“You gotta stop scratching, look, you’re already bleeding,” you say in soft admonishment, making him scowl. “Come on, let’s get you looked at.” You try to tug him along but he digs in his feet, looking irritated.
“No, I’m fine,” he insists, pulling his arm back from your grip. “I’ll just put some cream on it, I’m sure it’ll be okay. I have things to do.” He frowns as you scowl at him this time, crossing your arms angrily over your chest. “I’m fine.”
“The hell you are,” you snap, shooting one of his own favourite lines at him. He stares at you and you swear you see his lips twitching like he wants to smile, but he manages to keep his frown in place. “Look at you, you’re turning pinker by the minute. You’re getting seen, period.” You pull your comm out of your pocket and shoot a message to M’Benga to meet you at bio bed 3 to meet his newest patient.
“There, it’s done,” you tell him, shaking your comm before pocketing it. “M’Benga will be right over.” Leonard makes a grumpy noise of protest, but allows you to steer him towards the bio bed, muttering under his breath. You ignore this and gesture at the bed when you arrive with him, raising an eyebrow at him and indicate he should sit when he doesn’t move.
With a resigned sigh, Leonard hoists himself up onto the bed, scratching at his hands. You smack the hand that’s doing the scratching, pointing at him warningly.
“Stop,” you say firmly. Leonard grunts, his shoulders sagged as you wait with him, listening to the general chatter and beeping of instruments around you. You can see Leonard out of the corner of your eye, trying to stealthily scratch at his cheek. You turn back to him as he quickly withdraws his hand, looking vaguely guilty.
“Really?!” you say, stepping closer to him. “I look away for literally ten seconds…”
“Do you have any idea how itchy I am right now?!” he exclaims angrily, running the backs of his hands over the fabric of his pants in an attempt to relieve the itch. You grab his hands and hold them still, noticing that the solid red patches of skin are starting to break up into an bright red rash.
“I know, Len,” you say soothingly, trying to reassure him. “Contact dermatitis is a bitch, but you’re going to tear your skin off if you keep scratching.”
“Might be better that way,” he grumbles, and you bite your lip to stop yourself from chuckling a little. You feel absolutely horrible for him, of course, but you can’t help being amused at his surliness.
M’Benga appears a moment later, pausing with an eyebrow raised as he takes in the sight of Leonard on the bed, with you standing there, holding his wrists, him looking cranky and like he has a bad case of the measles.
“Wow, Leonard, what happened?” M’Benga askes calmly, with a hint of surprise, moving closer and examining the angry red rash peppering Leonard’s cheeks.
“Allergic reaction,” Leonard mutters before M’Benga can say anything else, avoiding his colleague’s eyes. “My vitals are fine,” he says, as the other doctor moves to pick up a tricorder. “My throat isn’t closing off, I’m just damn itchy.”
“Will you just let the man do his job?” you ask, exasperated, as M’Benga chuckles lightly.
“I’m just going to check, Leonard. I’ll be quick, I promise.” M’Benga begins to move the tricorder over Leonard’s face and arms and Leonard sighs heavily, staring moodily at the wall. Shaking your head, you pat his leg comfortingly after letting go of his wrists so M’Benga can scan them. Leonard doesn’t twitch as M’Benga takes some blood, though you can tell he’s slowly going insane from the itch by the desperation in his eyes.
“So do you have any known allergies?” M’Benga asks, as he inputs some information on the PADD he’s holding.
“None that I knew of,” Leonard says, in a defeated tone. “I don’t recall being exposed to anything I’ve never touched before either,” he says, sighing.
Your expression falls as you suddenly realized what could have caused it. The balloons. They were made of latex. On earth, most balloons are now made of another material that’s similar, but chemically different. Horror washes over you as you realize that the rash is concentrated over his arms and face – the parts of him that were exposed while he slept.
“Oh no,” you say softly, and they both turn to look at you. “I have a theory on the origin of the allergen, doctor,” you say to M’Benga. “I’ll go get a sample and you can send it in with the bloodwork for analysis.” M’Benga nods as Leonard shoots you a somewhat confused look, but you’ve already turned tail and hurried away, feeling guilt wash over you. If you had caused this, you were going to feel so incredibly bad. What a horrible surprise – Happy birthday Leonard, have some unbearable itching! You groan to yourself as you near Leonard’s quarters and see that there’s a few balloons hanging around in the hallway, clearly having escaped from his room when he’d left it. You scoop one up and rip a tiny hole into the base of it by the knot, squeezing it to deflate it as you walk back to the med bay.
“Here you go,” you say to M’Benga, meeting him before you get back to Leonard’s bed.
“A balloon?” asks M’Benga, taking the wilted purple thing from you and staring at it. “I’m sure he’s touched a balloon before, Y/N.”
“These ones are latex, though. Apparently, Yorktown only has old school balloons.”
“Ahh,” says M’Benga slowly, as though with dawning comprehension. “That would actually explain a lot, latex allergies can be pretty volatile, from what I remember in my training. Okay, thanks. I’ll send this up with his blood right away.”
Nodding glumly, you head back towards Leonard as Christine approaches, smiling brightly at you.
“Hi! How did Leonard like his balloons?” Christine asks cheerfully, as you halt, only a few feet away from Leonard’s bed. You’re unable to stop yourself looking over at him, sitting there trying to ignore everyone around him, and Christine inevitably follows your gaze.
“Woah!” Christine exclaims loudly, her eyes widening. Leonard’s head swivels in her direction glaring at her, and she immediately seems apologetic for how loud she’d been. “Sorry, I mean… wow, Leonard, what- what happened?” You sigh and resist the urge to bury your head in your hands as she approaches the bed with you and Leonard scowls at her.
“I think it was the balloons,” you say miserably, looking up at Leonard with apology swimming in your eyes. “I’m so sorry, Leonard.”
“I can assure you, I’ve touched plenty of balloons over my lifetime,” Leonard says, frowning. “I don’t think-”
“They’re latex, not the same material as the ones you probably touched as a kid,” you explain. “Have you ever touched latex before?” Leonard’s eyebrows raise and then knit as he scratches his neck thoughtfully, clearly wondering. You gently tug his hand away from his neck, and he sighs before he answers.
“Not that I can think of, no,” he says finally, and Christine wrinkles her nose in sympathy as you hang your head, feeling incredibly guilty.
“Well, that probably is it, then,” you sigh, shaking your head. You’re about to apologize again when M’Benga returns, holding his PADD.
“So, you were right,” he says to you. “It was the balloon. What I can’t understand is how touching a single balloon could possibly cause all this,” he says, gesturing to the breadth of the rash over Leonard’s arms, shoulders and face.
“Well, we… um…” you begin, cringing, and Christine finishes your thought, patting you on the arm.
“We filled his room with balloons, thinking it’d be fun for his birthday. We had no idea he was allergic to latex,” she explains, with you nodding morosely behind her. M’Benga smiles, wincing slightly, as he turns the situation around in his head.
“Ah, that explains it,” he says with a nod. “Well, thankfully the reaction is not anaphylactic. Leonard, you should be fine within a couple of hours. I’ve got a shot of corticosteroid here for you.”
Leonard sighs heavily and your eyebrows knit in sympathy as he automatically shifts so he’s lying down with his back to M’Benga. Christine stifles a giggle and Leonard shoots her a dirty look.
“Don’t you have other patients to see, Nurse Chapel?” he asks her grumpily, and she grins.
“Alright, alright, I’ll leave,” she says cheerfully. “I hope you feel better, Leonard.”
As Christine leaves, Leonard reaches down and pulls the waistband of his pants down a bit, exposing the top part of his butt with a sigh. You reach out and stroke his arm, trying to sooth him while averting your own gaze from M’Benga approaching with a lethal looking, corticosteroid-loaded syringe. Leonard winces as M’Benga quickly and skillfully injects the substance into his upper buttock. Thankfully it’s over in only a few seconds and you immediately and gently massage the area to allow the steroid to absorb better into the muscle. When you’re done, he pulls his pants back up, still looking incredibly sullen as he sits up.
“If you’re prepared to monitor his vitals for me, you can take him back to his quarters,” M’Benga says to you, handing you a tricorder. You nod, and Leonard slips off the bed, looking like he would like to sprint out of the room and never return. M’Benga hands you a small bottle of calamine lotion as well, and you start to lead Leonard out of the med bay.
“Y/N… my quarters are full of balloons,” Leonard says suddenly, and you stop short, your mouth falling open as the fact hits you.
“Oh crap, they are, too,” you groan. “There’s no way I can clear that out fast… Okay, you can just come to my quarters instead.” Leonard sighs but doesn’t argue and you lead him away, farther along the corridor. Your quarters aren’t very far from his and you’re there before you know it, opening the door and ushering him inside. Thankfully, you’d already thrown away any remnants of the balloon preparations, so your room is clean as you lead him inside and over to your bed.
“Sit, just let me wipe down the tables and stuff, just in case,” you say, and he sits a little hesitantly, looking down at the bed first, as though he’d be able to spot any lingering traces of the latex on your blanket. You glance over at him as you wipe down the table and counters, watching him stare in disgust at his arms.
“I’m so sorry about all of this,” you say, biting your lip, feeling so bad as he seems to be making an extreme effort not to scratch. “I had no idea you were allergic to latex.”
“It’s fine,” he says, his voice gruff, and you think he’s just humoring you at first, until he looks up and gives you a tight half-smile. “How could you’ve known when I didn’t even know? I don’t blame you.” His voice is strained but you can tell he’s being genuine, which makes you feel at least a little bit better. You still feel horrible, of course, but you’re relieved that he’s not angry with you. You toss the cloth you were using into the sink and sit down beside him on the bed, reaching out and rubbing his back, trying to be soothing.
“If it’s any consolation, you don’t look as bad as you think you do,” you say, with a cheerful lilt to your voice. You know he sees right through you as he glances at you with an eyebrow raised high, and you let out a tiny laugh. “Okay, it does look kind of bad,” you concede, and he snorts.
“I look like I’ve got the worst case of measles this side of galaxy,” he gripes, rubbing the back of his hand on his pants. You take his hand gently and he sighs in frustration.
“I know it’s itchy,” you say softly, stroking his speckled hand. “But you can’t-”
“Can’t scratch, I know, I know,” he grumbles.
“Let’s use this calamine lotion, okay?” you say, getting up to retrieve some cotton pads from your bathroom. “Take your shirt off, and your shoes… it’s on your feet too, isn’t it?” you call to him from the bathroom, and hear him grunt in agreement. When you come back, he’s removed his shirt and is working on his shoes, his fingers clumsy from the swelling and tenderness. You hurry forward, dropping the pads on the bed and untie his shoes for him, pulling them off and removing his socks as well.
“Thanks,” he sighs, eyeing the bottle of calamine lotion as you pick it up. “Can I just pour that all over me?” You laugh, opening the bottle and loading up a cotton pad with the pale pink liquid.
“If we had a lot more of it I would absolutely let you do that,” you tell him, as you begin to slowly move the pad over his nearest shoulder, observing the whiteish pink streak left behind. He sighs, this time in relief, as you cover most of his shoulder and across his upper chest. You work on his arms, dabbing all the large, angry areas thoroughly first before running a thin film over the less inflamed bits.
“Tilt your head back,” you tell him and he obeys without hesitation, allowing you to spread the lotion all over his neck. You scurry to the other side of him on the bed, load up a second cotton pad with the lotion and carefully smooth it over his other shoulder and down his other arm. You take one of his hands in yours and carefully and meticulously dab at all of the dark red spots there, covering them up and watching Leonard sag visibly with relief. You do his other hand, and get him to tip his head back forward to normal again.
“Do you want me to do your face, too?” you ask, a little uncertain as to whether he wants you that close to his eyes and mouth, but he nods without pause so you carefully dab at his cheeks, then over his forehead, then the one big angry patch over his left temple.
By the time you’re done, aside from his hair, he looks as though the top of him has been dipped in paint, but he is also clearly less agitated and seems more relaxed, which makes you happy and hopeful.
“Is it working already?” you ask softly, smiling. He nods, opening his eyes up again to look at you.
“Yeah, the lotion combined with the shot is at least lessening the urge to rip my skin off,” he says, and even his voice sounds less strained. You drag a chair over to the side of the bed and sit in it, then pat your lap.
“Foot,” you say, indicating for him to prop his foot on your legs.
“Oh, you don’t want to smell that…” he says, shaking his head. “They’re fine, they’re not that itchy.” You raise an eyebrow and glance down to see him very suddenly still his feet, clearly trying to convince you that he hadn’t just been rubbing them on the rug at your bedside.
“Uh huh,” you say, unimpressed. “Foot.” Seeing that you’re not to be deterred, his rolls his eyes and lifts one of his feet, resting it in your lap. You wrinkle your nose slightly just to bug him (they really don’t smell that bad) and begin to dab at the rash over his feet and ankles.
By the time you’re done both feet, he looks so relieved that he’s practically limp, his eyes half-closed and his hands relaxed in his lap. You quickly cap the bottle and throw the pads sodden with the lotion away, before returning and gently touching his hair, letting your fingers play with the strands for a moment before you speak, a small smile curling his lips as you stroke his hair.
“I think you need to rest a bit, now,” you say gently, and to your surprise, he doesn’t argue.
“It would probably be best,” he says, opening his eyes and narrowing them as he looks at you. “Don’t look so surprised, I can be perfectly practical,” he says grumpily, and you hold in a giggle. “If I don’t sleep this off, I’m just gonna to try to rip this rash clean off once the lotion stops being effective, so it’s best that I sleep.”
“That’s very reasonable of you,” you tell him, both proud of him for being sensible for once and also deeply amused that he looks very unhappy about it. You think it’s also likely that he doesn’t want to be walking around medbay with an extremely red rash all over his face, attracting far too much attention while he attempts to work. He grunts at you in both agreement and annoyance and you laugh.
“Lie down, then,” you tell him, retrieving another blanket so he can just lay down on top of the one he’s already sitting on.
“If you get a couple of towels, I can sleep on the couch-” he starts, but you frown at him and he stops. He gestures wordlessly to the calamine lotion coating his skin and then your bedding, but you shrug.
“Leonard, please stop trying to be a gentleman. Just lie down,” you say firmly. “It’s not hard for me to change the sheets and blanket later.” Leonard looks like he wants to argue, but after seeing the stubborn look on your face, he seems to think better of it. He lies down and once he’s settled you cover him with the blanket you’re holding, pulling it up to his bare shoulders to keep him warm. You sit back down in the chair and slip your fingers over his wrist, feeling his heart beating steadily beneath your touch. You count in your head as you glance at the timer on your comm. You use a tricorder to take the rest of his vitals. He doesn’t comment on your manual approach, but you think you can detect an air of approval from him, which makes you smile.
“Alright, rest now,” you say, as you read the findings of the tricorder and deem his vitals to be perfectly acceptable for now. He lets out a small noise of sleepy agreement and you smile, stroking his hair a few times as his eyes close and he relaxes.
“Hey Y/N?” he asks a few minutes later, yawning a little, his voice sleepy.
“Yeah?” you reply softly, still gently playing with his hair.
“Next time can you just give me a card or something for my birthday?”
“Of course,” you say, chuckling. “Sleep, now.” He nods and lies still, and within minutes his breath evens out and you can tell that he’s asleep. Letting out a heavy sigh, you quietly rise from the chair and return to the kitchen, where you then retrieve the cake from your small fridge and set it on the table. You take the wrapped present you’d gotten him and set it beside the cake, with a card in front, the enveloped marked “Leonard” with a heart around his name.
You message M’Benga, letting him know that Leonard’s vitals are fine, and ask him if you’re to report back to med bay, but he tells you it’s okay, that you can have the rest of your shift to look after Leonard. Smiling, you thank him and sit back down in the chair beside Leonard, watching his rash- and calamine-covered, yet peaceful, face. You hope he sleeps well, because you really want to make up for this accidental calamity you’d caused, hoping you’ll be able to salvage what’s left of the day and give him an excellent birthday, rash and all.
Inspired by this post, but this got way out of hand, was originally just gonna be like 500 words, now it’s 1923?!?
Unbeta-ed and written really quickly so please excuse any s,p,g errors and general shitty-ness
Clearly gonna be NSFW under the cut
Warnings: angry sex, swearing, unprotected sex, I think that’s it; tell me if not
I blame @bkwrm523 @feelmyroarrrr (damn you guys, I’m supposed to be revising!) and Karl for this:
“You did what?! Leonard, I told you if the Captain needs me on an away mission, that’s my job, I don’t care if you don’t like it, I-I uhhh! I can’t believe you!” you shouted at your boyfriend through the open bathroom door of your shared quarters.
“What did you expect (Y/N)?! Jim said he wanted to take you down to a Klingon prison-planet and I was just gonna be fine with it?” he shouted back, over the sound of the shower.
“Look, I told you when we started dating that I wasn’t gonna let this affect my career, that meant no preferential treatment, no easy promotions, no bonuses I didn’t deserve on my own merit. I didn’t expect that I had to spell out, that it also meant you couldn’t stop me from doing my job either.” You called back, trying to regain some sense of calm as you paced back and forth waiting for him to come out of the bathroom so you could scream in that pretty face of his properly. “I mean what did you even say to him, to make him pull me from the mission so quickly?” you asked as you finally heard the shower turn off.
“I told him you failed your last physical.” he replied calmly, padding out of the bathroom.
“You mother fuc-!” you shouted as you turned to see him; still dripping wet, towel wrapped low on his hips and another towel rubbing through his hair. He didn’t even turn to look at you as he padded over to his wardrobe, not even a flinch as you attempted to swear at him. You felt your mouth go dry as your eyes honed in on those well-toned shoulders of his as he continued to ruffle his hair with the towel, following the line of rippling muscles down his spine to the top of that ridiculously small towel that hid just enough to make your jaw clench. Then as if he knew exactly what he was doing to you, without even a glance, he dropped both towels in a wet heap next to his wardrobe, as he started rifling through it for a comfy shirt to wear, you unconsciously licked your chapped lips at the sight before you.
“See something you like, darlin’?” he drawled out, that asshole, he hadn’t even looked at you since he walked in, but he knew exactly what he was doing! Finally he turned, looking at you over his shoulder, giving you a cocky smirk before going back to perusing his wardrobe, as if he owned more that half a dozen civvy-clothes, you huffed to yourself.
His sudden air of cockiness only re-fueled your anger at him, then before you knew it your legs had carried you over to him, grabbing him roughly by the arm you yanked him round to face you. You fisted your hand into the hair at the nape of his neck forcefully pulling him down into a kiss.
His arms fell onto your shoulders pushing you off him gently. As you drew back, you registered the look of shock and confusion on his face, but there was still a hint of lust in his eyes.
You were sure your eyes were burning with lust and anger as you glared up at him. “I loathe you!” You spat at him before dragging him back into a kiss, your tongue easily dominating his, in his shocked state, but then his arms slowly wound around you, finally coming to rest on your butt, squeezing roughly, pulling your hips against his.
You felt his half-hard cock pressing into your stomach as you sucked at his bottom lip, finally pulling away for air. His eyes on you were fully dilated now and he wasted no time in ripping your shirt off, he brought his mouth down to suck along your neck, placing little bites every now and again, that had you threading your fingers through his damp hair. His skilled hands easily did away with your bra, before coming around to tweak at your nipples, you gasped out, unexpectedly seeing stars behind your eyelids and you must have yanked at his hair, because he let out a primal groan against the damp skin of your neck before leaning down further to take a nipple into his mouth.
After a moment more of teasing you started feeling angry again, so you yanked his head back by his hair, looking down to see his hooded eyes boring into yours as your nipple fell from between his teeth. “Enough teasing! I’m still mad at you.” you spat.
He simply cocked his eyebrow, before returning to his full height; his eyes locked on yours, with a fierce look in his eyes, he walked you back until your back hit the wall, firmly placing his hands either side of your shoulders, trapping you there.
“Is that so?” he queried softly, his fingers lazily stroking up and down the side of your ribs with a feather touch, barely more than a tickle, but enough to have gooseflesh appearing on your skin. His eyes followed the path of his fingers as they slowly followed the top of your jeans round from your hip to painfully, slowly pop open the button of your jeans.
When he paused there you let out an aggravated groan, you slapped at his chest and leaned over to yank your pants clean off, panties and all, eliciting a chuckle from him. You glared up at him again before roughly pulling his head back to yours in a teeth-clattering kiss, you raked your nails through his scalp, feeling him melt into you at that, you shifted onto your toes, pushing your weight onto his shoulders you hauled yourself up onto his chest wrapping your legs around him, his arms reflexively coming down to your arse to support your weight as you shifted easily to give yourself the upper hand, that was until he pressed you back into the wall a little to forcefully, knocking your head against the wall. You glared down at him and he merely glared back at you now, his hands gripping onto your hips, holding you in place, as your legs stayed wound around his waist.
“You still can’t go on that mission.” he quipped. Forcing you to let out an annoyed groan at his cockiness, letting your nails dig into his shoulders before running them down his back. “Fuck!” he hissed out, his forehead falling forward onto your shoulder, putting him at the perfect angle for you to lean forward and suck his earlobe into your mouth, nibbling at it for just long enough to drive him crazy before pulling back.
“Asshole.” You whispered into his ear, you felt him smirk against your shoulder before he gently bit at your flesh there.
Finally you felt his cock nudge against your lips as he ground his hips against yours, forcing you both to let out breathy moans at the contact.
He pulled back a little to look in your eyes again, “So wet for me baby.” He practically whined against your lips as he let his forehead rest against yours as he continued grinding against you, the head of his cock now perfectly rubbing against your clit, forcing a gasp out of your throat, your nails dug into his shoulders again.
“Get on with it you little fucker!” you cursed out, seeing his cocky smirk beaming back at you.
Suddenly he pulled back completely, his strong arms barely holding you up against the wall by your waist as he looked down at you all haughtily, with that exasperating quirked eyebrow. “Little?!” he scoffed.
At that you finally lost all sense of cool, bringing your hands up from his firm biceps to pinch his nipples particularly harshly, causing his eyes to roll back into his skull with a hiss, at the same time as his head lulled back, exposing that long neck to you. You quickly pulled yourself back into his arms to messily lick and suck a path from his earlobe, down his neck, across one collarbone, following his random smattering of freckles to the opposite nipple; teasing around it with the very tip of your tongue before giving it a broad swipe of your tongue, whilst gently scraping your nails against the opposite nipple.
As you finally pulled yourself back up to his eye-level you noted that he had shifted you back against the wall at some point. You tugged lightly at his hair again, before leaning back towards his ear. “You gonna get that big cock inside me, or am I gonna have to finish myself off, Sir?” you asked huskily, sucking on his earlobe again, relishing in the primal groan he let out.
He wasted no time then in lining himself up and sliding home in one swift motion, stilling himself as he was buried to his hilt in you, your foreheads rested against each other, your eyes locked as you both let out a wordless moan.
“You still angry at me?” he asked, his jaw clenched, hands flexing against your hips, using every inch of self-control he had left to hold himself still, having drawn back so only his head was inside you.
You nodded, jaw set.
“Good.” He finally spat, before slamming roughly back into you, your hips suddenly snapping into each other. Then he was setting a rapid pace, his forehead falling to your shoulder so he could look down at the place your bodies met, urging himself on. You were all grunts and groans and slapping flesh, there was no sweet words or tenderness here; you were angry, he refused to admit he was wrong, or even apologise and this was pure, carnal fucking. Gone was your sweet, gentle Leonard, who whispered sweet nothings into your ear as he teased you, this was purely physical; a natural reaction to a fight in the early stages of a relationship, you told yourself now, perhaps not the healthiest way to deal with your conflict, but hell if you gave a damn right now.
His thrusts were becoming disjointed and his jaw clenched shut again as he raised his head back up to yours, pressing a chaste kiss to your lips, a brief moment of tenderness, as he shifted your hips against his, each thrust now hitting a little deeper inside you, you gasped out, reaching forward to suck his bottom lip into your mouth, as you felt the head of his cock brushing against your g-spot with each thrust, his eyes locked on yours again.
A few more thrusts like that and suddenly you feel a wave crashing over you, as you cry out his name you feel his mouth fall back onto yours, his tongue delving in, tasting every inch of you as your walls clamp down around him. With a final thrust of his hips you feel his seed fill you, causing your walls to quiver around him once more as your toes finally uncurled, your legs suddenly going limp, loosely hooked behind his knees and your head fell against the sweaty skin of his shoulder, panting into his neck.
“Now look what you did.” He chided breathlessly, forcing you to look up at him, meeting his eyes with your confused gaze. “Now I’m gonna need another shower.” He explained, his lips quirking up into a smirk again, forcing you to let out a chuckle despite yourself.
“Asshole.” You teased, playfully slapping his back as he unsteadily walked you both back into the bathroom.
Prompt: “Fic where Bones and reader are stranded on a freezing planet and have to use body heat to keep warm ;) Fluff ensues” - Anon
Word Count: 1,306
Author’s Note: Long time no see... again. I polished off another piece and I really hope you all liked it, I’ve been working on it for a few weeks and I finally found my pacing for it. Also, the lovely @fandomheadrush drew something to go along with this piece, which I hope you all like as well! Thanks so much, Ree <3
“Well, shit,” you grunted, snapping your communicator closed.
“What?” Leonard asked. He was bent double with his head in a supply crate.
“Looks like we’re spending the night,” you crouched next to him, looking around your landing zone and judging the escalating weather.
“You’re kidding?” Leonard snapped his head up and stared at you with wide eyes.
“There’s too much interference,” you gestured at the sky. “They can’t beam us up and we can’t get off the ground.”
“You’re sure you can’t fly in this?” Leonard glanced skyward. “You’re absolutely certain?”
“With this kind of storm, I’d be lucky if we get out without hitting anything,” you grumbled. “Can we survive the night?”
“If we can keep the heat on in there, we can last a week,” Leonard said, gesturing to the shuttle.
“We can’t do that, we’ll drain the power cells,” you shook your head. “With the heat off, can we make it through the night?”
Leonard gaped at the shuttle and waved his hands around non-committally.
“I suppose,” he said. “It’s going to get cold.”
“Help me get this stuff back inside,” you said, standing and grabbing hold of one edge of the crate.
Leonard shook his head and grasped the other side, counting down to lift.
--
By the time you had the remainder of the crates back in the shuttle, the wind outside picked up and there was a thick flush of snow swirling in the valley where you touched down only hours ago.
“Goddamnit,” Leonard breathed as he looked out the front window of the shuttle.
You tapped a control on the wall by the hatch and activated the hydraulic system, sealing you in with the doctor.
“I’m about to shut down the main power,” you said as you sidled up next to him at the helm. “Any last words?”
“The hell is that supposed to mean?” he rounded on you while you keyed in the command on your console.
“Nothing, don’t worry about it,” you hit the command and the ambient hum wound down leaving the pair of you in a ringing silence.
Leonard’s shoulders hung limp and his gaze crept to the ceiling of the powerless shuttle.
“We’re gonna die here.”
“We better not, you said we’d be fine,” you quipped, settling yourself into the pilot’s seat and spinning it around and around in circles.
“Would you stop that?” Leonard growled. “I said we’d be fine for the night; what happens when we can’t turn this thing back on?”
“They’ll send another shuttle down when the blizzard dies down and they’ll pick us up. And who said ‘when?’” you said, jamming your toe into the floor to stop the chair. “You just gonna stand there all night, or are you going to settle in?”
“Guess I don’t have much of a choice,” Leonard huffed, striding to the back of the shuttle and flopping down on a mass of tarpaulin.
---
“Y/N? Y/N!”
Leonard’s voice cut deep into your unconsciousness, jarring you awake.
The moment your eyes snapped open you realized that your body was violently shaking.
“Wha-” you stuttered, trying to still your shuddering limbs.
“I’m going to pick you up, alright?” Leonard murmured in his most reassuring doctor’s tone.
“Am I dying?” you asked, dread setting in. Should you have burned the power cells after all?
“No, you’re just cold. Come here,” he said, winding his arms under your knees and around your shoulders. Somehow you ended up on the floor under the console. Slowly, he pulled you out from under the con and lifted you into the air, exhaling with the effort.
“How long have I been out? It’s freezing in here,” you took a deep breath as you spoke to keep your teeth from chattering.
“You’ve been out for about an hour and a half. The temperature dropped drastically about twenty minutes ago,” Leonard grunted as he stooped on the tarp and set you down, your back against a still luke-warm power cell. “How’s that?”
“Better,” you nodded, letting your head loll onto your chest.
“Here,” Leonard stood up and retrieved a blanket from an overhead compartment. “May I?” he crouched next to you and held out an arm, indicating he wanted to put it around you.
“Be my guest.”
Leonard sat down next to you, pushing his hip flush against yours and wrapped his arm tightly around your shoulders before unfolding the blanket and draping it over your bodies.
Your head tipped sideways and settled on his collarbone while he worked. He paused momentarily at the contact before finishing his job and settling back against the power cell. He placed one hand on the back of your head and wrapped his other around you to rub your arms.
“How’s that? Warmer?” he asked.
“Yes, thank you,” you breathed, enjoying the firm feeling of his hands on your body. “If I wasn’t so cold, this would almost be nice.”
“Yeah,” he murmured into your temple, wrapping his arms tighter around you to reach untouched parts of you. One of his hands sank to your legs and started rubbing, trying to reintroduce life into your frozen thighs.
“We are gonna make it, right?” you whispered.
“If they can get to us soon, we’re gonna make it,” he said.
“Should I turn the shuttle back on?” you asked.
“If we need to make an escape, we’re gonna need those power cells,” he reminded you.
“How does the storm look outside?”
“Not great, truth be told,” he mumbled. “It’s as bad as it was before. And anyway, you’re in no right place to fly right now.”
His hands stilled.
“What?” you asked.
Leonard didn’t say anything.
“Hey,” you tipped your head back to look at him. “What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing,” Leonard mumbled as he started rubbing your arms again. “Feels like you’re warming up.”
“I feel better,” you admitted. “Can I tell you something?”
“God help me,” Leonard breathed. “Sure, why not?”
“I’m sorry.”
Leonard’s hands stopped again.
“Sorry about…”
“What happened last month,” you clarified, licking your lips. “I didn’t mean to make things weird.”
Leonard stayed completely silent for a moment before sighing and relaxing back into the wall.
“I don’t know what to say,” he admitted.
“You don’t have to say anything,” you muttered. “I just… I guess now seemed like a good time.”
Leonard snorted.
“First time we’ve been alone since.”
“That’s sort of what I meant,” you shrugged and snuggled into his chest, the cold of the cabin nipping at your face.
Leonard was quiet for a moment before tucking your head under his chin.
“You didn’t make things weird.” You felt his voice rumbling in his throat against your temple. “I just didn’t expect you to be so…”
“Forward?”
“Something like that,” he nodded shallowly. His neck was warm against your face. “It wasn’t unwelcome, I just wasn’t expecting it.”
“Really? I didn’t think I was being subtle.”
“I’m a little out of practice.”
“No kidding,” you snorted softly. “So not unwelcome?”
“Not unwelcome at all,” he pulled back and looked down at you. “I’m kind of surprised that you didn’t try again sooner.”
“Well after the first time -”
“You didn’t strike me as the type to give up after one try.”
“If you’re so disappointed, why didn’t you try instead?” you looked up at him and raised your eyebrows.
“Darlin’,” he recoiled slightly and squeezed his eyes shut.
“What?”
“Oh for God’s sake,” he muttered, leaning in and kissing you quickly, pulling back almost immediately. “Are you happy now?”
“Uh…” you tried to speak, but the abruptness jarred you.
Leonard was smirking at you as you found a few words.
“I’m… yeah.”
“Good,” Leonard nodded, tucking your head back under his chin. “Now let’s focus on making it through the night, and we’ll revisit this when we get back up there.”
