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the_water_clockAuthor: Clio
Title: Killing That Envious Moon
Pairing: Star Trek: James T. Kirk/Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Rating: PG
Summary: Leonard wants to propose, has the ring and everything; he just needs to screw his courage to that sticking-place. When the Enterprise receives the final order of the five year mission, to head home, he resolves to make an honest man out of JIm before they reach Earth.
Length: 855 words
Notes: Leonard's POV on "The Sun Rising." Pretty much just a schmoopy engagement fic, written for a flashfic challenge at![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
jim_and_bones. Title from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Act II Scene 2: Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon …
He’s been thinking about it, okay?
Been thinking about it for quite a while, actually. Jim will never do it, but that’s part of Jim’s own fucked-up past, the way old wounds don’t heal right without someone there to clean ‘em out—they scab over, but there’s still a spec of poison in them or a bone that didn’t set right. Leonard has them, too, so he understands that Jim can’t quite ask Leonard to come along, can only make space for him to come if he wants to.
And oh, he wants to.
There’ve been some false starts, some moments when he almost did it and then lost his nerve right at the end. You can never tell with Jim; he may not be in favor of marriage for himself (though he always loves presiding over weddings onboard ship) or he may wonder if Leonard will stick to it the second time or he may wonder if he’ll be able to stick with Leonard. Leonard doesn’t wonder at all.
But now they’re finally on the long trip back, after five years. They’re all free to go, now; Academy grads have all worked off their obligations and can quit Starfleet altogether if they like, or at least try for posts that are well within Federation safety zones. Jim won’t, of course, nor will most of the bridge crew. Leonard won’t, either, but he knows that as sure as he is of that, Jim isn’t sure of him. So when that final order comes, that they’ll be home in two short months, Leonard resolves to pop the question before they reach Earth. And to keep himself honest, he enlists some help.
First he talks to Jo, who’s all for it. It had taken her and Jim a little while to get used to each other; Jim was jealous of Leonard’s past, and Jo was wary that Jim would take her daddy even further away. He didn’t, not really; that was all Leonard needing to make a place for himself, to become his own person again, to be a man who could be a good daddy for her. Nowadays, though, Jim and Jo talked when Leonard wasn’t even there, and Jo was old enough to just want her daddy to be happy.
“Do something romantic,” she says. “He deserves it.”
They put their heads together and come up with a plan. The theme is the easy part; putting together the abilities of the main bridge crew with expressions of it takes some thinking. Christine has the idea of finally using up all the favors Leonard’s acquired in five years of patching people up and not always putting every circumstance into the official log, and while it takes some triangulation they manage to get all of the bridge crew something they’ve been wanting. As he meets with them and tells them his plans—no going back now; too many people know—he begins to suspect that they may have helped just for the fun of it. And all of them assure Leonard that it is certain that Jim will say yes. (Chekov actually says that Jim turning him down would be “inconceivable”; Spock goes further and flatly pronounces it “illogical.”)
Once Leonard sets his plan into motion, with an antique book of John Donne love poems he found at the Starfleet virtual auction database, he sits back and watches Jim try to figure out what secret admirer keeps sending him gifts—poetry, a sunflower, songs, vodka, pie, a new chess set, a painting of his childhood home—and why Leonard doesn’t seem either jealous or concerned. Leonard doesn’t anticipate how entertaining it will be to watch Jim struggle with a puzzle that Leonard himself already knows the answer to, watch that big brain of Jim’s whirr and click. There’s a moment, partway through the week, when Jim stops wondering and relaxes, and Leonard figures the game is up, but Jim seems happy to keep playing along.
On the final day, Christine helps to make the dinner table pretty—never Leonard’s strong point, but the food is good. When Jim walks into the room, it’s like he already knows, the cocky little shit. Leonard almost loses his nerve, but then there’s a moment, when he’s talking to Jim about the sunshine-gold theme of the gifts, that Jim falters. He runs his hands through his hair and his eyes dart away, always a tell.
Leonard takes a breath. "Actually," he says, "I was wondering if you'd like some more gold."
Jim’s head pops back up. "Oh? What kind?"
"The kind you wear on your finger.”
Their eyes lock, and Leonard can see that Jim doesn’t quite believe what he’s hearing. "Forever?" he asks.
"If you're willing," Leonard replies, nodding.
Jim doesn’t answer right away, but he gasps a bit and smiles, and Leonard knows what the answer will be. Then Jim quotes a poem that Leonard had given him—”Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime, nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time”—and that’s better than a yes, anyway.
Title: Killing That Envious Moon
Pairing: Star Trek: James T. Kirk/Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Rating: PG
Summary: Leonard wants to propose, has the ring and everything; he just needs to screw his courage to that sticking-place. When the Enterprise receives the final order of the five year mission, to head home, he resolves to make an honest man out of JIm before they reach Earth.
Length: 855 words
Notes: Leonard's POV on "The Sun Rising." Pretty much just a schmoopy engagement fic, written for a flashfic challenge at
jim_and_bones. Title from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Act II Scene 2: Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon …He’s been thinking about it, okay?
Been thinking about it for quite a while, actually. Jim will never do it, but that’s part of Jim’s own fucked-up past, the way old wounds don’t heal right without someone there to clean ‘em out—they scab over, but there’s still a spec of poison in them or a bone that didn’t set right. Leonard has them, too, so he understands that Jim can’t quite ask Leonard to come along, can only make space for him to come if he wants to.
And oh, he wants to.
There’ve been some false starts, some moments when he almost did it and then lost his nerve right at the end. You can never tell with Jim; he may not be in favor of marriage for himself (though he always loves presiding over weddings onboard ship) or he may wonder if Leonard will stick to it the second time or he may wonder if he’ll be able to stick with Leonard. Leonard doesn’t wonder at all.
But now they’re finally on the long trip back, after five years. They’re all free to go, now; Academy grads have all worked off their obligations and can quit Starfleet altogether if they like, or at least try for posts that are well within Federation safety zones. Jim won’t, of course, nor will most of the bridge crew. Leonard won’t, either, but he knows that as sure as he is of that, Jim isn’t sure of him. So when that final order comes, that they’ll be home in two short months, Leonard resolves to pop the question before they reach Earth. And to keep himself honest, he enlists some help.
First he talks to Jo, who’s all for it. It had taken her and Jim a little while to get used to each other; Jim was jealous of Leonard’s past, and Jo was wary that Jim would take her daddy even further away. He didn’t, not really; that was all Leonard needing to make a place for himself, to become his own person again, to be a man who could be a good daddy for her. Nowadays, though, Jim and Jo talked when Leonard wasn’t even there, and Jo was old enough to just want her daddy to be happy.
“Do something romantic,” she says. “He deserves it.”
They put their heads together and come up with a plan. The theme is the easy part; putting together the abilities of the main bridge crew with expressions of it takes some thinking. Christine has the idea of finally using up all the favors Leonard’s acquired in five years of patching people up and not always putting every circumstance into the official log, and while it takes some triangulation they manage to get all of the bridge crew something they’ve been wanting. As he meets with them and tells them his plans—no going back now; too many people know—he begins to suspect that they may have helped just for the fun of it. And all of them assure Leonard that it is certain that Jim will say yes. (Chekov actually says that Jim turning him down would be “inconceivable”; Spock goes further and flatly pronounces it “illogical.”)
Once Leonard sets his plan into motion, with an antique book of John Donne love poems he found at the Starfleet virtual auction database, he sits back and watches Jim try to figure out what secret admirer keeps sending him gifts—poetry, a sunflower, songs, vodka, pie, a new chess set, a painting of his childhood home—and why Leonard doesn’t seem either jealous or concerned. Leonard doesn’t anticipate how entertaining it will be to watch Jim struggle with a puzzle that Leonard himself already knows the answer to, watch that big brain of Jim’s whirr and click. There’s a moment, partway through the week, when Jim stops wondering and relaxes, and Leonard figures the game is up, but Jim seems happy to keep playing along.
On the final day, Christine helps to make the dinner table pretty—never Leonard’s strong point, but the food is good. When Jim walks into the room, it’s like he already knows, the cocky little shit. Leonard almost loses his nerve, but then there’s a moment, when he’s talking to Jim about the sunshine-gold theme of the gifts, that Jim falters. He runs his hands through his hair and his eyes dart away, always a tell.
Leonard takes a breath. "Actually," he says, "I was wondering if you'd like some more gold."
Jim’s head pops back up. "Oh? What kind?"
"The kind you wear on your finger.”
Their eyes lock, and Leonard can see that Jim doesn’t quite believe what he’s hearing. "Forever?" he asks.
"If you're willing," Leonard replies, nodding.
Jim doesn’t answer right away, but he gasps a bit and smiles, and Leonard knows what the answer will be. Then Jim quotes a poem that Leonard had given him—”Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime, nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time”—and that’s better than a yes, anyway.
