riverviewlogs | ( open ) wear your bruises

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( open ) wear your bruises

who: James T. Kirk & YOU!
what: Butterfly Effect AU, in which Jim is 13 years old; good luck everyone.
when: June 13th to 24th
where: All over the Quarantine, and outside the city walls.
warnings: mayhem, insanity, probably rude and inappropriate behavior, dangerous stunts, stealing— I mean borrowing, what have you. he's a tiny devil, pretty much.

I ▹ LET'S TAKE SOME CANDY

[ To James T. Kirk, this is just another perfectly normal day.

Another perfectly normal day of being stuck in some random city on a moon he's never even heard of, but as far as he's aware, he's been here for months now, so not much is new anymore. Granted, a few people have been acting weirder than usual, but he doesn't pay it all that much mind. He just goes on with his days doing pretty much the same he's been doing so far: whatever he wants, obviously.

Because here, there's no Frank to yell at him, no mom to come from months out in space to try and tell him what he can or can't do. There's no school either (or maybe there is; he's just never bothered to go), and most of the adults can't really keep an eye on him.

Besides, he's almost fourteen. What are they gonna do, send him to his room? Yeah, screw that.

Anyway, today's been peaceful enough, and surprisingly, he's been behaving so far. Strolling through the parks and paying more attention to dogs than he does people, he sits down reading a book on some more secluded corner by a tree, or he gets himself a wrapped sandwich and an ice cream and calls that his lunch.

As he's making his way back to the communal housing, though, he comes by a very colorful and attractive candy shop, and stepping closer, he looks over the various sweets on offer. He has no more money on him, though. Which is a stupid thing to begin with— who even cares about money anymore, what an ancient system.

So really, he's just enlightening the store clerk to a new and modern way of living when he grabs one of the huge lollipops and takes off running, hearing the guy yell 'hey!' behind him, but not coming after him. Anyone else is free to stop him, though. Or take a lollipop too and join him on his great escape. ]

II ▹ LET'S STEAL A CAR

[ It's not difficult for someone like Jim to get easily bored. As many things as he can find to do around here, it gets tiring when most adults try to talk him out of more ~dangerous~ stuff, and Jim sometimes gets frustrated at being denied so much. A little pissed, too.

He's in one of those moods when he comes across this beauty. There are a few people around at first, so he acts perfectly innocently as he walks around the car, and only when the street's a little more deserted does he hop into the driver seat. Now, he's never really hotwired an old car before, but he knows how to do it in theory, so he ducks underneath the steering wheel, effectively hiding himself from view while he fumbles with the wiring, taking a little longer than in those old movies but ultimately succeeding in turning the engine on.

He sits back up, victorious grin on his face. ] Alright! [ Now someone should come join him for a joyride. ]

III ▹ LET'S JUMP OFF CLIFFS

[ Another point of interest for Jim is the wilderness just beyond the city walls. Not because he thinks it's beautiful, mind (even if it kind of is), but because going out there on hikes is fun and exciting, and he might be a little too eager to run into any creatures too. He's managed to find a stun gun back at the apartment, so evidently he's completely safe. He thinks so, anyway.

So while out there in the jungle, maybe he'll be stupid enough to try to do rock climbing; or he'll be idiotic enough to try and hop over a narrow chasm, from one steep rock to the other. He might even be insane enough to make fumbling noises, trying to scare some wild animal he finds out there, only for that to come back and bite him in the ass when said animal turns around and charges towards him.

Either way, he's probably gonna need some help here. ]

IV ▹ LET'S DO WHATEVER

[ Think of another prompt? Feel free to toss it at me! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He didn't do that on purpose, he swears. It was just his instinct reaction, for the flicker of a moment when he forgot they had a massive beast zeroing in on them. Now he was fully aware of how stupid it had been of him. For once he was kicking himself for his own idiocy.

But before he got to apologize, and genuinely for once, Bones was pushing him away and telling him to run, before he promptly went the opposite way, trying to get the creature's attention.

Jim's heart sank in his chest. This was his fault. The animal only seemed angrier as it chased after Bones, and Jim knew that if something happened (and something would happen), it would be his own damn fault.

"Bones!" He called out but he knew it was pointless. But he also couldn't just let it go and run for safety while the doctor sacrificed himself for his sake. Breathing rapidly, he gripped the gun in his hand tighter, then let out a tiny little gasp before he ran off in Bones's direction, aiming and shooting repeatedly at the animal's hind legs. "Leave him alone!"

Not that he expected Jim to do a damn thing he was told, but he hoped he pissed the thing off enough to ignore the kid. Which seemed to be the case as even when he heard Jim yelling after him, it didn't stop chasing him. For all the rapid heart rate and impending doom weighing on his shoulders, he still felt relief for that. But god, it was getting close and he was not finding any good cover or area to throw the thing off either.

It reminded him a little of running from a bull in the pasture back home as a kid. He'd been able to jump the fence with a few bumps and bruises, but got away. That wasn't going to happen this time. Not when he could practically feel it breathing down his back as they ran.

The sound of Jim's gun didn't register. Not right away. Not until he heard the irregular thudding of feet behind him as the back legs started to give on the animal. But the forward momentum was too much and even if it did stop it, the sudden collapse forward and the little bit of space between them gave him little time to get out of the way. It still practically headbutted him in the back which caused him to tumbled forward, the pull in his leg already being ticked off for what sort of injury it would be. Leonard's form did a few rolls over the ground and well, lets just say it hurt bad enough for him to drop his head against the grass with a thud.

Not that he stayed still, he instantly rolled toward the animal to see if it was getting up. The pain in his leg ripped up his spine, but he still forced himself to push away from the animal just in case. A moot point, sure, but it gave him time to process the fact that it seemed to be finally completely stunned now. After a few moments, he fell back on the grass and stared at the sky with a groan. "I'm too damn old for this shit!"

A quick mental check confirmed the bruise that would form on his back, but it wasn't enough for there to be a spinal injury. He got a few more bruises in the fall. Few scrapes, too. But the biggest issue was that leg. He narrowed it down to either a fracture or an injured tendon. Either way, hurt like a bitch. And he couldn't stay down on the ground like that. No telling when that thing was gonna wake up.

Turning his head to catch sight of Jim, he arched a brow and checked him for injury. "You alright, kid?"

Edited 2017-06-20 19:26 (UTC)

Jim saw the creature's hind legs give away from his shots and for a moment he breathed in relief. For a moment only, because this was nothing like those old video games where the monsters just fell over and down a cliff or something. No, this was real life and in real life when you stunned a wild animal that happened to be running, the animal's weight and speed alone would have it lunging forward even as it got knocked out.

That posed as a problem to whatever the animal might've been chasing after. Which, in this case, happened to be Bones.

Jim didn't stop running. Even as panic settled when he couldn't see Bones from his line of sight, his legs kept working of their own accord, carrying him across the field and sprinting right past the creature, all the while begging in his mind for Bones not to be dead.

He spotted the doctor lying on the floor and he let out a whimper, relief not quite settling in even as he saw that Bones was still moving.

"Bones," he said as he pretty much landed on his knees next to him, putting his hands on his shoulder and arm. "You're hurt?"

It was obvious that he was, even if it didn't show necessarily. Before he could stop himself, a knot of emotion went up his throat, and tears welled up in his eyes, falling down his face as he blinked. "I'm— I'm sorry..."

Well, he had to give the kid credit. He was Jim to the core in that he didn't run away from a problem. He just found some other way to fix it. And well, he felt too fond of him as he all but flopped on his knees after a full out sprint to get to him. The doctor in him wanted to chastise Jim about doing that to his knees, but he stopped when he realized just how distraught the kid was.

Blinking a few times, he felt something in his chest twist at the look of tears willing up in those blue eyes. "Nothing I won't live through." He said the words softer now, hand moving up to rest against the side of the blonde's head to lightly sweep the tears again. "It's fine. Just glad you're alright. And hey, you did good. Saved my ass."

He offered a small smile, hoping that took some of the edge off of Jim's guilt. Sure, the kid had been pulling something stupid, but he couldn't take watchin' him look that upset. Pushing himself to sit up, he hissed in pain, barely biting back a yelp from the shock of pain that went down his back and along his leg. Wincing a little, he forwent opening the med kit in favor of reaching out to smooth Jim's hair back. "We need to get out of here 'fore that thing wakes up. Think you can help me get up?"

Jim might be a troublemaker, and he might enjoy causing wreck and mayhem just for kicks, but he wasn't some damn coward. He also wasn't about to let an innocent person get hurt, especially when they were throwing themselves into danger only to save his own reckless ass.

Besides... it was Bones. Jim might not know how close exactly they'd grow to be in the future, but he still felt like he was his friend. Not to mention the one person that actually seemed to genuinely care about him in this place— in years, actually, come to think of it.

It was a relief to know it was nothing serious, but still Jim couldn't stop himself from bursting into tears, though he fought back the urge to actually sob. The tears just ran quietly down his cheeks, and he let out a soft little sniff, his fingers curling tight into the fabric of Bones's shirt. "I did wrong. It's 'cause of me you're— you're hurt—" he choked up on his words as he fought not to let out the sob at the back of his mouth, swallowing down the knot in his throat before he nodded.

"Okay," he breathed shakily, glancing briefly at the creature before he started moving to help Bones up, raising to his feet and putting all his strength into lifting part of his weight up, then letting himself serve as some kind of support once the doctor was on his feet.

Letting out a soft sigh, he paused and shifted while biting back a wince. Both hands moved to softly cup Jim's head in his hands and let his thumbs tenderly sweep away the tears. Last thing he wanted to see was Jim cry no matter what age he was. "We all make mistakes, kid... it's how we bounce back from them that matters. And where I might be a little worse for wear, I won't die from it, promise."

Offering him a small smile, he tried to rely mostly on himself to get up and Jim more for balance. And god, he wanted to yell a long string of profanity when he tried to put weight on that leg. Instead, he clenched his jaw and closed his eyes for a moment. This was going to be a really horrible walk back to civilization.

Pushing that aside, he squeezed Jim's shoulder reassuringly. Looking around, he tipped his head to what should be the direction of the wall. He didn't want to put weight on Jim, so he knew this was gonna hurt. A lot. And if he let on to that, there was a good chance he'd just upset the kid more than he already was.

The first few steps, he hissed a few curses under his breath, but necessity out weighed comfort and he limped along anyway just thankful it wasn't a solid break in the bone. "If we get far enough away," tryin' to talk really didn't help when he was biting back pained reactions, but he also didn't want to worry him. "Probably should--" He made a face as he put his foot down again and had to put weight on it. "Take a break. See what I did to myself." And maybe sometimes his fingers pressed a little bit harder than he meant to into Jim's shoulder when he took a step forward.

Trying to put his short arm around Bones's waist the best he could, he kept close and used his weight and the fact he still had two good legs to support some of Bones's weight. He was too distraught to tell just how much Bones was trying not to lean on him, although even through his own mind spinning and the panicked beating of his heart, he could hear the curses that the doctor hissed out, and feel the way those fingers curled too tight on his shoulder.

He didn't complain, though. He didn't utter a single sound, just muttering a soft and whimpered 'okay' as they kept walking, a few minutes of relative silence stretching out between them. Jim wasn't sure when would be far away enough to be safe again, but after a while of watching Bones limp and hearing him breathe heavily and bite back his own pain and suffering, he just couldn't take it anymore.

"Let's stop," he said, nudging Bones towards a couple of trees near a boulder. Should provide them with some cover, at the very least. Once they got close enough, he tried helping Bones down so he could sit with his back to the rock. "—do you have a medkit with you?"

Logically, he knew they should get further. Put more distance between that thing and them. But when Jim insisted they stop, he didn't argue because it hurt so much it was making it hard to even think. Especially now as the adrenaline was wearing off. Breathing in shakily, the doctor leaned heavily against the rock and clenched his teeth till he could regain some semblance of control of himself.

Finally he took a deep breath and pulled the medkit from across his shoulders and dropped it on the ground beside him. "Yeah-yeah, I did." His voice was breathless as he took a moment to finally pop the box open. Leonard knew he should check the damage before taking a pain killer that would help him ignore it. Cause ignoring it when it could make it worse was just a dumb idea.

Turning his head to look at Jim, he gave him a small smile that looked a little strained about the edges. "Mind draggin' out my tricorder for me, I think I just want to be lazy for a second. Still tryin' to figure out how I'm gonna get a full scan on my leg." When he could barely straighten in out or bend it easily, he knew damn well he would likely get inconclusive scans.

Jim wasn't moving anywhere until they could see what was wrong with Bones's leg, and hopefully find a safe way to alleviate some of that pain. Especially when Bones refused to lean his weight on Jim and just forced himself to walk on an injured leg, which was only going to make it worse in the long run.

Nodding, he dug through he medkit and pulled out the tricorder, which he recognized with ease. He did have to look over the device for a little while before he managed to get it to work, though for now he didn't do anything, instead looked up at Bones.

"I can do it. I can, just... just tell me how to," he took a slow breath, letting out a shaky exhale. He looked down at Bones's injured leg. "Does it work over clothes or do we have to cut them open?"

Watching Jim fumble with the tricorder, he dropped his head back feeling a helluva lot more tired than he expected to be. Granted he should've. Especially when he was forcing himself to move on an injury was bound to mess him up good. But he really felt far more worried about the sandy blonde kid trying to fidget his way through bein' brave.

Sighing softly, he beckoned Jim to come closer before taking the tricorder. Carefully walking Jim through how it worked, he finally smiled and arched a brow at him. "It'll work just fine through the clothes, darlin'. Don't worry about that." He really had tried to stifle all the uses of endearments, but honestly, right then he just wanted to sweep away all of the worry on Jim's face.

Handing the instrument back to him, he slid it back into Jim's hand gently. "Think you can handle that?" Pushing himself up, he tried to sit up in a way that he can help Jim if he needed it. And he's having such a damn hard time bending and extending his leg that it is likely damage to the quadricep or quadricep tendon.

He'd gotten them into this mess to begin with, so the least he could do was try to fix it. Some of it, anyway. His little ventures back home never involved wild beasts or deep forests, and the greatest dangers he'd faced were tall cliffs and the prospect of being grounded until he turned eighteen. Frank likely would've done something like that if his mom had let him get away with it.

He peered into the tricorder and listened to Bones's instructions, then took the device back with a nod and started to get to work. "I can handle it," he said, as he began at the top of Bones's leg, checking along both sides of his thigh, wand hovering as he slowly moved it down towards his knee. The tricorder recorded the data, which he would let Bones take a look at. That was a bit beyond him.

"No one calls me 'darling'," he pointed out with a bit of a twitch to his lips. His mom sometimes would use the word 'honey' or 'angel'— though not quite as often as of late. But this felt different. "Do you also call me that when I'm grown up?"

Hazel eyes followed the motions of Jim's hands, noticing only slight things that made him look as though he didn't know what he was doing. But it was good enough. Jim picked things fast. He always had even back at the Academy. Something he always loved and hated about him. Loved cause well, Jim's intelligence was damn attractive... hated cause he had some courses he had to work a helluva lot harder on than Jim did. Not that the doctor wasn't a quick study, Jim just made everything look so natural.

Stretching out the leg that wasn't injured, he let his eyes fall closed in a trusting manner, letting Jim finish the scan. He only opened his eyes again when Jim responded to that slip of the tongue. Both eyes shifted to lock on the blonde's profile before his head tipped in a curious manner. "Yeah? Guess you never dealt with a southerner then."

Not that they were the only ones to use it, but they used it far more flippantly that others did. Granted, he knew when he called Jim that, it meant a whole lot more than an empty platitude. Though, he considered the question and rolled it over in his head before decidin' it best to just tell the truth. "Yeah, I do. That an' sweetheart and a few others. Includin' things like pain in my ass. Sometimes idiot." And for adding those two negatives, there was something sweeter in the way he drawled them out like rich honey on the tongue. But then, Jim was his idiot and pain in the ass. He looked away from Jim and dropped his head back to stare at the sky with a small smile on his face. "Not that I've said this to him... you... when you're older... yourself." He waved his hand like that didn't matter and sighed, "You're a sky full of stars, kid. Don't let no one take that away from you."

For once, Jim appreciated that Bones didn't point out how quickly he picked up on how to use the tricorder. Most adults in his life either reprimanded him for being reckless and stupid, or tried to tell him how exceptional he was and how he could achieve so much if only he just tried. He hated both equally. His time with Bones so far had been a wonderful respite from all that, from a life he was slowly growing more and more tired of.

"We don't get a lot of those around Riverside," he joked with ease, lips twitching into a lopsided grin. To be fair, they did get a lot of cadets and Starfleet officers coming and going, what with the shipyard being nearby, but it's not like Jim ever wasted much time speaking to them— actually he made it a point to avoid those people when his name elicited only one kind of reaction out of Starfleet personnel. And he was damn tired of it.

"And I call you Bones," he said, a statement rather than anything else. He didn't mind the words Bones picked. They sounded warm and sweet and they carried none of the insult that it did when other people used them. But it was the last statement that threw him off the most, leaving him sitting on his heels and staring at Bones like he didn't know quite what to do with those words, or himself.

The tricorder interrupted the silence with a beeping sound, and sighing in quiet relief, he handed it over to Bones. "I think it's done. What does it say?"

"That's cause Iowa is nothin' but a lot of flat land and seas of corn. Not much worth visitin'." He teased right back, a smirk pulling on his lips. "Not to mention freezin' cold winters and a complete lack of fruit orchards." Somethings were similar, sure, but honestly, there was nothin' about Iowa that drew him in. "But I hear the repeat offenders are pretty interestin' there abouts." After all, that's where he met his repeat offender and became friends.

Glancing at him when he used the nickname, he shrugged his shoulders. "Guess it doesn't mean the same thing since you don't remember why you call me that." And likely that wasn't the kindest thing to point out, but for Leonard, that name's origin meant more to him than he even liked to admit. Cause it meant something to him. Even if his interpretation wasn't nearly the same as Jim's.

Instead, he brushed it all aside and zeroed in on the tricorder. Taking it from Jim, he scrolled through the readings and snorted. "That's just typical." Snapping it shut, he knew damn well he couldn't do anything out here. Granted he did level Jim a look and decided he wasn't going to dumb it down. Jim was too bright for that. "Knee extensor injury. There's an injury to the quadricep near the tendon that needs to be repaired. That requires surgery." Making a face, he started to put the tricorder back in the kit before pulling out the hypo spray along with a painkiller to load into it. Bad idea, sure. But Jim wasn't quite strong enough as he was to help drag him back. "It'll be fine. Just gotta get to the hospital. Can't do anything about it here."

Jim snorted, raising a brow and tipping his head. "Got to agree with you on that." Dead end hole, is what it was. The only thing minimally interesting was the shipyard, and even that Jim avoided when it came with all the unpleasant thoughts and feelings he tried so damn hard to smother. If not for that, though, he knew hardly no one would come by Riverside as it was. Cadets and officers was all they ever got around there, so far as outsiders went.

"Just figured it came from 'sawbones'," he shrugged, pursing his lips. By what Bones said he figured it was for some other reason, but Jim didn't ask. It hardly seemed important right now, anyway.

Taking a breath, he held the air in his lungs for a moment, biting his lips nervously at Bones's reaction. He was glad that the doctor didn't leave him in the dark, though, even if he didn't find a lot of relief in knowing how badly injured Bones was. At least now they knew what it was— and at the very least his leg wasn't broken, so that was something. "Alright," he nodded, exhaling somewhat shakily. "How are we going to make it back? You can barely walk, and I... I can't carry you."

Snorting softly at that agreement, he shook his head and arched a brow. Not that he expected Jim to be a fan of Riverside. Breathing in slowly, he started to return his thoughts to how he was going to manage getting back to the hospital. And really, he was only coming up with one option, and that was likely going to cause more damage. But really, what else could he do at this point?

Pausing as he loaded up the pain killer into the hypo, he gave Jim a curious look. "Archaic term." He didn't like it. But even if that had been Jim's reasoning he was sure that he'd learn to live with it. "Prefer surgery that doesn't require actually opening a body up." Granted, that distaste would've likely driven Jim to use it for that reason even more.

In the end he just sighed. Shaking his head, he snapped the hypo roughly into his own neck before putting it back into his bag. "Gonna just have to tough my way through it." He glanced back at the kid and felt a small hint of a smile pull at his lips. "I'll make it." It was damn cute that Jim even considered something as ludicrous as wanting to carry him. "It's fine. Less you can me something that could be a crutch... but I'd rather you not wander off, I only have one daring rescue in me per year and you just used that up."

Huffing a laugh, he shook his head. "Okay, maybe more than one. But I definitely used up the quota till I get this leg fixed."

"Makes it even funnier," Jim offered with a faint smile, shrugging as he watched Bones load the painkiller onto his hypospray. "It's an old term, and you're... old-fashioned. It suits, in that sense." Didn't mean Bones practiced that kind of ancient medicine, of course.

He hovered somewhat uselessly for a little while there, watching Bones administer himself the drug with a bit of apprehension. Once the hypo was put away, Jim grabbed the bag himself, slinging it across his shoulder. He could carry that, at the very least, and try to help ease a bit of Bones's load.

"I won't go anywhere, I promise," he tipped his head, nodding solemnly, then moved to stand up, hands held out so Bones would take them. "You can lean on me. I can't carry you on my own but I can handle some of your weight."

"Why am I not surprised you think that?" Rolling his eyes heavenward, he rubbed his face with the heels of his hands. God, he kind of hated being called that now. Brat. Whatever. He just needed to figure out how to suck it up and walk back to quarantine. "Old-fashioned doesn't equate to being a butcher." Leonard was already trying to puzzle out getting himself back up as the numbing effect kicked it. God, he hated that stuff. Made everything fuzzy and not just a little bit nauseated.

Though, he stopped to watch Jim pick up his bag and offer him his hands. He couldn't imagine that being the best idea. Still, he slid one hand into Jim's before using the other to push him up off the ground. He worked at not putting that much pressure on that leg until he had to. Breathing in slowly, he closed his eyes for a moment.

"Glad to know you're stickin' around." Smiling at him lightly, he let one hand fall on Jim's shoulder. "We'll see how it works." Not that he wanted to strain Jim with his weight, but he knew he'd need some help. "Thanks, kid." Nudging him forward, he winced with the first step, but bit back the reaction. Least it was easier than earlier. Granted it was a fake easier. "Let's get this over with."

"You know when you get all grumpy about it, it makes me want to use it more," he said with a flickering grin, brow raised at Bones. Of course he knew the doctor wasn't going to go around sawing bones or opening people up to fix whatever was wrong with them, that didn't need saying.

Jim wasn't especially strong, nor particularly tall just yet, but he did his best to handle the weight that Bones leaned against him. At least he offered a decent amount of leverage as they started moving, Jim keeping mostly quiet and focusing his energy on moving through the forest as quickly and quietly as possible.

"Not surprised." Seriously, he knew he'd react that way anyway. Why even bother gettin' upset about it? Shaking his head, he made another face at the meaning and moved forward past it for now. He had more important things to focus on... like getting back to quarantine and the hospital.

He did use Jim, just tried not to put too much weight on him if he could help it. And god, he was hurtin' like hell by the time they did make it through the forest. He knew by the time they could get help from the patrol he was gettin' white as a ghost from moving in spite of the pain.

Luckily they helped them get to the hospital where Beverly was kind enough to help him get that leg fixed and in a brace with crutches till it could fully heal up. He was so extraordinarily tired by the time they got back to the apartment that he had a feeling he might pass out first time he sat down. But, instead, he found himself more worried about Jim to let himself fall asleep even as he sank down in the couch cushions, legged propped up on cushions he'd tossed on the coffee table. "Wanna watch a movie or somethin'?"

He raised his movie enough to be heard, cause honestly, he didn't know what that boy was doin'.

The trek was long and difficult, particularly as the adrenaline wore off, but Jim bit back any complaints and clung to the last of his strength to help rather than hinder any further and put them both even more at risk. He'd landed them in this mess to begin with, so he might as well do his damn best to make it right.

Once past the walls, things moved faster. Jim could practically feel his head spinning, between patrol getting to them and transporting them both to the hospital. Jim had a few scrapes and bruises but was treated quickly enough, and after that he sat around waiting for Bones, dozing off once or twice until finally the doctor was released and they could go back to their apartment.

Making sure Bones sat down and got settled in comfortably, he made his way to the kitchen, the occasional sounds of dishes being picked up and cutlery being dug out of a drawer filtering out through the door, then eventually the microwave being turned on once he managed to get some soup heating up for Bones. "Um... yeah! That'd be nice," he called out from inside the kitchen, head popping out so his voice could be heard more clearly. "You pick whatever you want. I'll be right there."

God what a long messed up day. He was just damn happy there wasn't much wrong with Jim. The kid was a little banged up but no worse for wear. And even if he came out more than banged up, he still rather it be him than Jim. Dropping his head back against the sofa, he sank further into the cushions and let his eyes close. Honestly, he probably should've stayed in the hospital, but he had a feeling Beverly knew he could mind himself and that he was damn worried about the kid.

And Re-L too, just in case she needed a place to stay. May as well cover the bases. Though, he kind of hoped it would just be the two of them, least till he knew Jim was settled down inside and out. And from the ruckus in the kitchen, he had a feeling he was steering himself on a fair amount of guilt.

Something he wasn't all that sure how to deal with to be honest. Jim seemed so void of remorse at this age, he didn't believe it would be any different with him. But well, he'd proved him wrong. "Whatever you're doin' in there, be sure not to start anything on fire." He purposely kept his tone light and teasing, wanting to be sure that Jim didn't take it as an insult and more for the banter he intended it to be.

In the meanwhile, he lazily turned on the TV and found a movie that was comedy but also action enough. Not that he really knew Jim's tastes in movies at that age...

Well, he was a wild reckless idiot, but he wasn't completely heartless, and he never meant for anyone to get hurt. Him getting banged up thanks to his own stunts was one thing, but Bones getting injured because he was trying to save his ass? That was something else entirely.

"I'm not! I can use a microwave," he huffed, sounding almost offended by the implication. It wasn't as if he was trying to actually cook something, because really, he knew his limits, and one trip to the hospital was more than enough for one day.

After a few minutes he came out of the kitchen, carrying a lap tray with a bowl of soup, a piece of bread and a couple glasses of water. Underneath his arms, a sandwich and a bag of chips for himself. Slowly he made his way over to the doctor, then carefully set down the tray on his lap. "Dinner," he clarified succinctly, then rounded the coffee table so he could plop down on the couch next to Bones. "What did you pick?"

Snorting softly, he figured he'd be no different at that age if someone picked on him about burning down the kitchen. Granted, he knew how Jim was in the kitchen so there was a little reason to feel that worry. Not that he was actually truly worried. Maybe he should've been, but it could be the painkillers clouding his judgement.

Either way, both brows rose to watch the younger walk in with the tray, carefully balancing the load. One corner of his lips rose at the sight and he did graciously accept the tray. "Thanks, darlin'." He waited for Jim to get settled before he glanced at the screen. "The Mummy. Dunno if you'll like it." Cause it wasn't old classic, but it was classic. The better of the different movies, of course. To him at least.

Reaching over, he hesitated only a moment before smoothing Jim's hair back affectionately and smiling at him. "You know, I'm really glad you're alright. I know. I'm an old worrier." Yes. He remembered what Re-L said about Jim calling him old.

He let out a happy hum, settling into his seat. "Are you kidding? It's a classic, I love it." Especially as he saw it was the very first one— hands down his favorite. Grabbing the plate with his own sandwich, he picked it up and took a bite while waiting for the movie to start.

He did pause for a moment to glance up at Bones, a brow raising at the touch to his hair. The instinctive reaction was to pull away or brush off the touch, but he just rolled his eyes a little, then shrugged at the doctor. "Guess I'll have to put up with it."

Not that he would lie, it was true that Bones was more often than not a worrier. But right now, he couldn't really fault him for it. After all, if he hadn't shown up when he did... honestly, Jim didn't even want to think about that.

Glancing from the TV and to the doctor for a moment, he offered in a quieter tone. "Glad you're okay too."

( open ) wear your bruises

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Tell me if that works?

perfectly

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