ic contact.

[verification]

"Hi, this is Verity. I can't come to the phone right now, so please leave a message. Thanks!"

Comments

[verification]

[ Squinting down at him, she folds her arms on the windowsill. She could go for a roadtrip, not working until late tomorrow, but. ]

Why aren't you at home, can't you sleep? [ Hmmm. ] Everything's alright, isn't it?

[jirk]

Oh come on! Don't do that to me. If I say something is, then you'll feel obligated to tag along out of pity. And if I say something isn't--

[She'd know it was a lie. It's nothing worse than I'm kind of missing home right now mixed all up with and I like you enough that you were the first person I thought of but instead he heaves an exasperated sigh.]

[verification]

You're a grown man, I wouldn't tag along with you anywhere out of anything if I didn't feel like it. Jim, it's cold.

[ He's not going to say something's bothering him but Verity has no inclination to pry, not when she's just finished a long shift and basked in the shower while her headache tablets kick in. She can't just leave him out there, though.

Instead of agreeing to walk the night, she shoots out other options. ]

Come around the back and I'll let you in.

[jirk]

[It's not that cold, come on. But he grins and tosses her a cheery salute before he goes to do as she says. She'll find him leaning against the wall outside the door, the very picture of laid back.]

[verification]

[ Wrapped in a cozy pink nightrobe when she opens the door and takes his hand, a finger is put on his lips. ]

They're all in their rooms. I don't want Rikki to know you're here at this time of night or I'll never hear the end of it.

[ Teenage gossip about Jim Kirk being in her bedroom is the last thing Verity ever wants to kick off. The door is closed with a quiet click and she tugs him along covertly in her socks, the sound of a television on somewhere else in the house. ]

[jirk]

[Well lucky for her he's had plenty of stealth training. He slips his boots off so he can just carry them up to her room, and sticks close to her like a shadow until they're safely ensconced there.

Then he sets the picnic basket down on her desk, the boots on the floor, and peels out of his jacket.]

How'd your shift go?

[verification]

[ Can't quite believe there's now a fully grown Starfleet captain with a goodie hamper in her room. Okay, regroup. Running a hand through her hair, she takes his jacket to drape over a chair, a curious look sent his way. ]

It was long, I'm thinking of quitting. I used to work from home and the bar's not really my thing. Jim, what's the basket for?

[ Because it's the wee hours, when did he even decide to make that up. ]

[jirk]

[Asking the real questions, Verity, gosh. Jim flips the top open on the basket and pulls out (carefully) a tray of assorted fruits that've all been dipped in chocolate.]

This is what happens when people leave me alone with the cooking channel at way too early in the morning. So.

[Truth is, he likes cooking. Always has. Good way to impress the ladies, and replicator food has this weird metallic taste he can never seem to get away from. Oh, it's edible, sure. And he'll eat it when there's nothing else, but give him half a chance? And he will cook the fuck out of a five course meal.]

Figured I'd share the fruits of my labour.

[That's a pun, because he's terrible.]

[verification]

You're been up cooking? I don't think dipping assorted foods in other melted foods qualifies, but ... Wow.

[ Chuckling as she steps into his side to take a look, she huffs out a quiet laugh. The pun is terrible, he's up at God knows what o'clock, and he just asked her to go on a roadtrip. Verity runs a hand up his arm, concern painting the corners of her smile as he reclaims her attention. ]

Do you want to stay and talk?

[jirk]

[WOW maybe he made the chocolate too did you ever think of that!! Jim is halfway to popping a chocolate strawberry in his mouth when she springs that second part on him, and-- give him a few seconds to chew and swallow before he decides to speak.

He cycles through a few different answers, the flippant to the very obtuse, and then he runs his tongue over his teeth.]

Loaded question.

[He pushes the picnic basket until its edge runs parallel to the desk.]

Really, I just wanted to come check up on you. Talking is-- [a shrug.] incidental.

[Not that he specifically came looking for more. He can get plenty of sex, but he likes her.]

[verification]

[ There are so many ways she could go with his reaction, but she decides to simply fold her arms and give him a Look. Not annoyed, but there all the same. Jim is more naturally open and Verity isn't, but when he reverts to being cagey there are few options left. ]

You wanted to check up on me. Okay, so how do I check out? Am I good?

[ In her fluffy bathrobe, chunky socks and oversized pajama bottoms with printed hammers on them. Mussed and shower-damp, she nudges up her glasses. ]

[jirk]

[He smiles a bit, crooked.]

Always are. And you look great.

[verification]

Mmhm. Did you really bring that food over here because you wanted to make sure I was okay?

[ Here come the questions YOU CANNOT EVADE THEM. ]

[jirk]

[The smile turns a bit helpless.]

Are you seriously interrogating me? Verity, I happen to like your company. Do I need a reason?

[verification]

Not if it was four in the afternoon, no, but you just came to my window in the dead of the night with a fully stocked picnic basket. I'm allowed to ask if you're alright.

[ Because you're worrying me. ]

[jirk]

Hey.

[He reaches out and rests his hand on her shoulder, gives it a gentle little squeeze.]

I'm fine. [True. It's not like he's on the verge of a breakdown, he's just. Lonely. A little. Funny how you can get used to being surrounded by people to the point where you miss them when they're gone.] Besides, this is not the weirdest thing I've ever done, even a little. By a long shot. I just wanted to do something spontaneous. Bit of fun in an otherwise dull day at a time I knew you'd be awake. Not everything has to be some deep, dark secret, you know?

[He meets her gaze, and raises both eyebrows playfully.]

[verification]

You already have deep, dark secrets, Jim, not knowing them doesn't bother me. [ SPACE MAN with all those rules and regs. ] I was asking in case you'd had a bad day.

[ The flatness of her tone is backed up by a (fortunately) amused quirk at the corner of her lips, arms unfolding so she can brush a hand along his cheek. ]

If you ask me to run off with you and you don't know where you want to run to, then that's worth bugging you about. Just in case.

[jirk]

[He is definitely going to just turn his head so he can kiss her palm. And then he reaches up, takes her hand and lands the next kiss on the inside of her wrist.]

I was thinking we could go find something cool. Like a waterfall or something. I mean, there's got to be one somewhere.

[He pauses, and then looks at her as if doing so for the first time in this entire encounter. Realizing something.]

Worried you, huh? Sorry. Wasn't really what I was going for.

[verification]

[ The kisses to her hand and wrist are unexpected and ease her expression into a surprised fondness as she steps forward, idly carding her fingers through his short hair; the sheer contact itself is enlivening, foreign and rare as much as his mouth is soft and warm. A free hand rests against his tshirt, toying with it, and if the house wasn't occupied ... ]

I'm from New York. If anyone knocks on my door past nine, I'd be tempted to answer the door with a bat.

[ Half-joking but also true. Still, she misses her real home. ]

[jirk]

[He chuckles, and takes the opportunity to wrap both arms around her, kissing her cheek as he does, nosing her hair. So he's a bit touchy-feely, sue him.]

You hit me with a bat, you don't get any more strawberries. Just saying.

[verification]

[ That makes her laugh, leaning into him and soaking up the free cuddles, a little ginger with her own before the heat of his neck calls to a nuzzling nose. The sensation of displacement is short-lived and not missed, learning how to stand with him suddenly right there after having planned a quiet evening alone. It feels like recalibrating herself. ]

I also happened to be worried about you, astonishingly. Not in a bat-toting way.

[ So says the kiss planted against his pulse, just under an ear. ]

[jirk]

[She's worried about him. You know, years later, that's still weird to hear. Bones kind of came into it grudgingly, he supposes, a survival mechanism that cropped up after some very aggressive befriending on Jim's behalf, and the rest of the crew-- well, they care, but mostly about him as a captain and not a man. A concept, construct, something like that. His command crew knows him better, but--

Either way. She's a civilian, and it's weird. Not enough for him to peel himself away from her by any means, but--]

Can you 'worry' about me from the bed? You're right, it's freezing. Who's in charge of the heat in this place?

[verification]

[ It's weird to care about him so easily. Knowing he isn't telling her things about his captaincy because he's bound by his own world's rules doesn't go far in making her happy about the secrecy, it's Jim himself that causes her to fret just as easily as he makes her smile. He's honest despite that sort of thing.

Huffing, she rolls her eyes and tugs him over to the bed to settle down, determined to use him as a pillow in the low lamplight. ]

You are not as smooth as you think you are, for the record. Let me warm up too.

[ Because the second that bathrobe is off and despite the duvet, she's shivering. ]

[jirk]

[Well, lucky for her he runs a little hotter than a normal person now. And he's not actually cold, so-- he is definitely going to wrap his arms around her and rub gently at her back for friction's sake.]

I'm exactly as smooth as I think I am, sweetheart.

[Oops, he's definitely teasing. But his expression sobers up a moment later.]

Thanks. For-- [he lifts a hand long enough to accidentally throw the blanket back, whoops let him just fix that, shall he--] asking.

[verification]

[ Glasses are folded out of the way on the bedside table, momentarily faced with a blurrier Jim than usual. To touch he's like a living radiator and she curls up against him mostly on instinct, pressing in from ankle to shoulder and stuffing an arm under a tshirt just to be more of an unrepentful leech about it. His fiddling with the covers doesn't go unnoticed, turning her head to let her lips graze his neck, a knee draping around a thigh to keep him safe in bed, far from anywhere else he might be tempted to go in his own head. ]

You'd ask me if I did the same. Besides, I have to make sure you're firing on all cylinders when your crew comes to pick you up.

[ That's right, she's like a Captain ... Checker. Spot-check. Hm. ]

It's like performing a service to the multiverse.