Inell's Fanfiction Archive

“Stop laughing.” Leonard is trying to sound threatening but is worried that he really just sounds like he’s whining. Judging from how red Jim’s face is as he attempts to stop the ridiculous giggling, his concerns are justified. “Damn it, Jim. This isn’t funny.”

“I’m not laughing, Bones.” Jim’s denial would have been more effective if he hadn’t started snickering midway through.

“Asshole.” He glares at Jim and deliberately bumps him with his shoulder as he walks by him. As he leaves the transporter room, Leonard keeps his head down so no one can see the dark purple spots that cover his skin. When he reaches the turbolift, he frowns at his hands while waiting.

“Hey,” Jim says quietly from beside him.

“I’m pissed at you,” Leonard reminds him, flexing his fingers as he notices that the spots even cover those.

Jim is silent until they’re on the turbolift. “Okay, so, I get that you’re angry, but this isn’t my fault. I don’t mind being a convenient target if that’s what you need, though.”

“You were laughing.” Leonard is aware that he sounds like he’s channeling Joanna right now, but he’s tired and covered in purple spots, so he’s earned the right to sound like a sullen ten year old.

“This is probably one of those times when it’d just piss you off more if I start mentioning the various times when you’ve laughed at me, huh?” Jim is shifting beside him, moving from foot to foot. “Nevermind. That growl is answer enough.”

“I’ve never laughed at you when you’ve been suffering from some unknown medical ailment,” Leonard points out.

“I laugh when I get worried sometimes,” Jim admits. Leonard can’t even debate that because it’s true. Jim has the bad habit of snickering when he’s nervous, even if he’s gotten better at dealing with it over the years. “You’re covered in purple spots and it seems like you’re losing energy since we left the planet, so, yeah, I started laughing.”

“That’s what you should have said in the first place,” he says, leaning against the wall as it seems to take forever for the turbolift to arrive.

“I don’t like acknowledging weaknesses,” Jim says. “Besides, I didn’t really know if it was the laughing or just a general anger at the entire situation.”

“This is me, Jim. I know all of your weaknesses already.” He rolls his eyes and glances at Jim, surprised to find him staring.

“Not all of them.” Jim smiles wryly and reaches out to touch Leonard’s cheek.

“You shouldn’t touch me. I might be contagious.” Leonard pulls back before Jim’s fingers can make contact with his skin. He frowns at the floor and wonders what secrets Jim has been keeping from him. They’ve been friends for five years, and Leonard thought he knew almost everything about Jim, even the bad stuff from his childhood that he never wants to talk about. It bothers him to realize there’re things he doesn’t know, probably more than it should.

“If it was, I’d already have spots. I went the same places down there that you did, after all.” Jim’s fingers gently touch Leonard’s cheek, causing him to look up. “Do they hurt?”

“No.” Leonard clears his throat and blinks at Jim when he feels the rough pad of Jim’s thumb press against his skin. The doors to the turbolift open, providing a much needed interruption from whatever’s been happening because it feels like something has been, even if he has no idea what it is. Any ideas he has are completely wrong and shouldn’t even be occurring to him.

“Let me help,” Jim says. Leonard can feel his hand press against the small of his back, guiding him down the corridor towards medical. “You can lean on me if you need to.”

“I’m a doctor, not an invalid.” He closes his eyes briefly when a shiver spreads over his body. Maybe he’s got the chills? That makes sense when he’s feeling almost feverish, so it has to be that. Jim’s breath is warm against his neck as Leonard leans into him, and he shivers again when he feels Jim’s hand stroking his back. “I need to get to medical.”

“We’re almost there.” Jim is walking faster, practically dragging Leonard with him.

Instead of bitching at him to slow down, Leonard just quickens his pace. He needs to figure out what’s infected him so he can cure it, hopefully before he does something stupid involving Jim and those thoughts he knows he shouldn’t have about his best friend. They reach medical, and he ignores Chapel and the other staff as he heads directly to his office. “I can handle this from here, Jim,” he says.

“Nope. I’m Captain and I’m pulling rank, Bones. I’m not going anywhere until we know what’s wrong.” Jim gives him that stubborn look when Leonard tries to glare him out of the room.

“Fine. Shut the damn door then.” He grimaces as he pulls his uniform shirt over his head. The spots cover his arms, and he removes his black undershirt to discover that the spots are also spread over his chest and abdomen. “I suppose they’re on my back, too?”

“Yeah.” Jim is standing near the door watching him, which is disconcerting. “Purple spots, varying sizes.”

Leonard shakes his head and walks around his desk, getting his tricorder. He hears footsteps before he feels Jim’s hand on his shoulderblade. The touch makes him shiver, which is more noticeable when he’s half-naked, and he closes his eyes briefly at the odd sense of vulnerability that he’s feeling right now. After taking a moment to collect himself, he focuses on the tricorder and tries to ignore the sensations that Jim’s hand is causing.

“They’re covering up your freckles,” Jim murmurs, moving his thumb lightly across Leonard’s skin, which is incredibly sensitive at the moment. He wonders why Jim is talking about freckles, but he’s trying to focus on the tricorder and diagnosing whatever the hell is wrong with him, so he doesn’t ask.

After he moves the tricorder over his body, he checks the analysis and frowns. He does a couple of different tests and comes up with the same results. “It’s an allergy.”

“Really?” Jim’s voice is low and much too close for Leonard’s comfort. He’s still touching, too, which is making it difficult to concentrate. “I didn’t even know that you had any allergies.”

“Neither did I,” he mutters. He puts the tricorder down and runs his fingers through his hair. “There must have been something on the planet’s surface that caused the reaction. I’ll do some more testing so that I can properly document my record.”

“Are you going to be able to heal it?” Jim is tracing his spine now, idly moving his thumb up and down in what’s probably supposed to be a soothing way but is mostly distracting for various reasons.

He has to finally take a step away from Jim’s damn insistent hand. While he knows that Jim’s trying to be helpful with the soothing, it’s not helping at all. It’s making things worse, if anything. There are lines that best friends don’t cross, and getting hard while having an allergic reaction because his best friend keeps touching him is one of them. “I’ll try a hypospray and monitor the condition,” he says. It’s really all he can do until he knows if the allergy reacts well to treatment.

“I can’t believe we went to a newly discovered planet and you’re the one who had an allergy attack,” Jim says, sounding more relaxed now that Leonard’s diagnosed himself. “That’s certainly a switch for us.”

“If you laugh about this, I’ll kick your ass,” Leonard warns, sounding a lot more threatening than he did earlier. He gets a hypospray and turns to face Jim, who is biting his lip and still staring.

“I’m not laughing.” Jim steps closer and puts his hand over Leonard’s, tugging gently on the hypospray. “Let me? I’ll be gentle.” His lips quirk slightly even as the air around becomes tense like it did in the turbolift.

Leonard licks his lips and frowns. “You just want to get me back for all the times I’ve used one of these on you.”

“Nah, I just want to take care of you like you’re always taking care of me.” He shrugs and ducks his head slightly. “It isn’t like I have this kind of opportunity often, you know?”

“Oh.” Leonard slowly releases his grip on the hypospray, which makes Jim look at him in surprise. “What? You’re my best friend. Besides, I trust you.”

“Right. Best friends,” Jim says with a wry smile. He takes the hypospray and moves closer, if that’s even possible. “Ready?”

Leonard watches Jim’s tongue as he wets his lips, looking up quickly when he realizes that he’s staring. “Yeah, I’m ready.” His voice is too low and husky, and he can hear his accent thickening his words as it slips through. “Damn it, Jim. Just do it already.”

“Don’t growl at me.” Jim stares at him. “Besides, I already did it.”

“You did?” He normally doesn’t feel hyposprays, which is one reason he doesn’t understand why Jim seems to hate them since few people ever complain, but he’s been so busy trying not to think about kissing Jim, of all damn things, that he didn’t even realize he’d been treated.

“Do you have any of that lotion that you gave me after I broke out in the rash when we visited Uubos VI?” Jim asks. He’s still staring, but Leonard notices him stroking the hypospray with his fingers in a way that doesn’t help with the growing tension. Or other growing things that should not be stirring.

“Yes. I keep it stocked because of your allergic tendencies,” he says, reaching out to snatch the hypospray from Jim. The last thing he needs right now is for Jim to be practically jerking off the damn hypospray container.

“Where’s it at?” Jim taps his fingers against his thigh. “I think it’d help you with all those purple spots.”

Leonard arches a brow. “The spots don’t itch like your rash did. I rubbed the lotion on you then because you were scratchin’ so hard that you nearly made yourself bleed.”

“They might not itch now, but they could. Consider it a preemptive measure,” Jim says. “It’ll feel nice, and you’ll be able to relax while you get better.”

“I’m thinkin’ that’s not a good idea, Jim.” He knows that there’s no way he’d be relaxed if Jim is rubbing lotion on him. He’s mixed up enough right now when it comes to Jim that he doesn’t need to make it even worse by agreeing to something as crazy as what Jim’s suggesting.

“Really? I think it’s one of the best ideas that I’ve ever had.” Jim grins and there’s something mischievous about his expression as he leans closer to Leonard. “You look tired, Bones. We should get you to your room so you can lie down. The hypospray will probably make you a little loopy soon, too, if it works on you like it does on me.”

“So says the expert on allergenic hyposprays,” Leonard mutters before he considers the situation as a professional instead of a whiny allergic victim. “Damn it, I should go rest. This the last time that I’m ever going dirtside, Captain. I hate using that damn transporter, and I hate not being able to work because of stupid unknown allergies that turn me purple. I hate being purple, too, and feeling weak from the damn medication.”

“Not purple, just spots. Also, you’ve told me more times than I can even count that you’re not joining another landing party. You know that you can’t resist me when I ask, so it’s such a pointless threat.” Jim is staring again. “Also, I think the medication is already starting on the loopy thing because you just said damn like a half dozen times.”

“If you start scolding me for cursing, I’m going to--“

“Kick my ass. Yes, I know, and I’m properly scared,” Jim says dryly. “However, you need to feel better before you can carry through on that threat, so there’s incentive for you to let me take care of you and get you into bed.”

Leonard is pretty sure that Jim has no idea where his mind goes at hearing the words ‘get you into bed’, but he gulps anyway because the images are too vivid to ignore. He rubs the back of his neck and decides that it’s safer for him to just go to his room and remain there until the spots are gone. There has to be some odd side effect to the allergy that is making him unable to ignore the attraction he feels for his best friend because he’s usually really good at resisting these urges.

“Bones?” Jim is touching his face, lightly stroking his cheek and jaw in a manner that Leonard just can’t classify as appropriate for best friends. Not platonic ones, at least. That and the staring and constant touching for any excuse he can find and that frustrating little smirk are becoming too much.

“Damn it, Jim,” he growls before he leans forward and kisses Jim. He feels Jim tense before he’s suddenly returning the kiss eagerly. Leonard parts his lips when Jim licks at them, deepening the kiss as he leans into Jim. Hands move over his back, pulling him closer to Jim, who is rubbing up against him.

When they break apart, Jim’s lips are swollen and wet, and his face is flushed. “What was that?” he asks, panting as he looks at Leonard with wide eyes.

“A kiss.” Leonard looks away, unable to believe that he’s actually just initiated a kiss with his best friend. “A mistake. It’s the medication. Should go lie down now.”

“No, it’s not a mistake,” Jim says firmly. He grips Leonard’s chin and forces him to look at him. “The medication never has made me kiss you, despite the fact that I’ve wanted to for a while, so don’t blame it for this. Why can’t you just admit that you kissed me because you wanted to?”

“Because it crosses lines, Jim,” he says, not sure why Jim doesn’t seem to understand that. “Lines we shouldn’t cross. I know better, have known better, and I’m just too tired right now to argue about this.”

“Who says we shouldn’t? If we both want to cross them, it must mean something. We already have an amazing relationship, so maybe crossing lines will make it even better.” Jim reaches up to brush hair back from Leonard’s forehead. “But you’re right. You’re in no shape to really discuss this right now. We are going to talk about it, though. You kissed me, and that’s not something I’m going to forget or just ignore.”

“You kissed me back.” Leonard studies Jim, who doesn’t look away or stop touching his face. Had Jim really said that he’s wanted to kiss him for a while? How had he missed that, if it’s true? Well, of course it’s true because Jim’s not going to lie to him, especially about something like that, but Leonard isn’t sure what it means. “Alright, we’ll talk about it, preferably when I’m not purple.”

“I dunno. You look good purple,” Jim says, smiling as he leans over to brush his lips against Bones’ mouth. “Where’s the lotion, Bones?”

“I don’t look good covered in spots.” He looks at Jim when he pulls back from the chaste kiss. “Top shelf of my cabinet, but I don’t itch.”

“Preemptive, remember?” Jim goes over to the cabinet and gets the lotion, putting it into his pocket before he walks back over to Leonard. He watches him pull his uniform shirt back on, and Leonard doesn’t really understand how Jim can make his gaze feel like a caress but he does it somehow. Jim smiles, looking just a little vulnerable as he says, “Will you let me take care of you, Bones?”

Leonard steps closer to him and slowly nods. “Of course, Jim. You never have to ask that. We’re best friends, regardless of anything else,” he says. “Just a warning, though. I’m not a very good patient.”

Jim snorts. “I remember second year at the academy when you got the flu, Bones. I know how terrible you are when you’re sick.” He smiles and takes Leonard’s hand, stroking his thumb over the purple spots. “Don’t worry, though. I can handle you.”

Leonard has to laugh, shaking his head as he leans against Jim and squeezes his hand. There’s really no need to worry about everything right now, especially when he feels like hell and really just wants to lie down and let Jim take care of him, not that he’s likely to admit the latter bit. Besides, they’ve already crossed the line, and he’s confident that they’ll figure this out. They always do.

End