timed to Dec 31

[chasedthestars]

It’s not that Jim doesn’t have socks. He has plenty. They just...don’t match, not even here in New York, where he can go out and buy some, rather than beg the clothesbox for something not in neon plaid.

But there’s no time. He’s only half-dressed, shirt untucked and tie loose, his jacket hanging over the chair, his shoes...somewhere. He’ll worry about those when he finds some socks, and it really should have occurred to him to raid Bones’ sock drawer earlier.

Jim yanks open the topmost dresser drawer with gusto, worried that Bones will return soon that yell at him for not being ready yet, which usually Jim enjoys, but he actually wants to party tonight. If what everyone says is to be believed, they won’t be in the city much longer, and Jim means to enjoy the combustion engine cars while he can.

He’s digging past a row of neatly folded socks (in black descending to shades of gray, navy, and blue, obviously) when he fingers hit something solid.

Something solid and box-shaped.

Curious, Jim pulls the lump past the socks and stares at it, uncomprehending. The box is red velvet, small enough to fit in his palm, with a shiny metal hinge. Distracted by his still bare feet, Jim opens it just enough to see what’s inside, and even after a full minute of staring at the two gold rings, he’s not quite ready to believe what he’s seeing.

He’s just about to pull the more adorned ring out when he hears the front door slam. Jim does the only thing he can think of - he grabs wildly for a pair of socks, throws the box onto the bed and sits on top of it, somehow managing to look innocent when Bones enters the bedroom.

“Almost ready, babe.”

Comments

[leftwithmybones]

McCoy's busy with the cufflinks of his suit. He's opted out of the tie and has instead let the white button down go a few less buttoned up than usual. It's a party and it's not like he's trying to dress up to attract attention, so he can do what he likes. He arches a brow as he looks at Jim and the way he's sitting. "Did you forget your goddamn socks again?" he complains. "Jim, for a man who can keep his entire roster memorized, how can you not remember your socks?"

[chasedthestars]

"Remembering them is not the same as having ones that match," says Jim, rearranging himself so that the box is squarely under his thigh at Bones' strange look.

"I can't go around with you looking like that with odd socks on, someone more handsome than me will make off with you for a life of sex and better fashion."

[leftwithmybones]

"Why is it always a life of sex?" he wonders aloud, shaking his head as he gives Jim a confused look and tries to make sense of the way he's sitting on the bed. "I don't care about what socks you wear, Jim. It's possibly the least important thing to me. Of anything."

[chasedthestars]

"Even if they had jingle bells on them?" Jim grins up at him from the bed, pointing to Bones' reflection in the mirror. "You're wearing that, and you're asking me why it's always a life of sex? You're not even wearing a tie, Bones! It's all..." Jim waves a hand over his own chest. "Sexy collarbone."

[leftwithmybones]

"Sexy collarbone," he echoes bemusedly as he leans down in order to brush a kiss against Jim's cheeks, prying the socks out of Jim's hand so he can get down on his knees in front of his Captain, slowly unwinding them out of the ball and easing onto one knee so he can rest Jim's foot against it, sliding the sock on. "Jim, I'd sleep with you even if they had jingle bells on them. You're that damn appealing."

[chasedthestars]

Jim has a smart remark for that, something about the bells jingling while Bones has his ankles bent back behind his ears, but he loses it. Loses all of it, in fact, for the sight of Bones on one knee in front of him.

Jim's face goes hot, expression raw like somebody cracked him open, but there's a smile around the edges of his mouth. "Think I'll always be that way to you?" he asks.

[leftwithmybones]

McCoy shifts down to both knees once he gets the socks on, settling back on his haunches when his calves start screaming murder at him. "What, appealing?" he echoes, leaning up and closer to the bed to slide his fingers over Jim's cheek and kiss him hard. "Yeah, Jim. You're constant, that way."

"Come on, there's a cab outside. Are we going or what?"

[chasedthestars]

"Yeah, we're going," Jim breathes, hanging onto the lapels of Bones' jacket to keep him close. "Just gotta get my jacket on. What about you?"

He leans back far enough to card his fingers through Bones' hair, hopelessly tender. "You got everything?"

[leftwithmybones]

It's strange behavior. In fact, McCoy's starting to worry slightly because something seems off. It's not glaring and it's not worrying, but something doesn't feel right and he can't put his finger on it. He leans into Jim's touch, brushing a slow, slow kiss against his lips. "Darlin', you okay?"

[chasedthestars]

"Fine," Jim replies, smiling for him, determined suddenly to pull himself together. He squirms enough that the box stays hidden beneath his thigh, tucked quickly into his pocket when he stands. "Just excited to be going out for a night in a real city again. You got big plans for us, country boy?"

[leftwithmybones]

"You're only saying that because you've seen the farm I grew up in, now," he retorts, leaning forward to grope Jim's ass slightly when he's standing, stealing a sucking kiss and giving Jim the hint of a hickey before he heads for the closet to pick out a better pair of shoes. "I figure we'll head on over to that party and then, I don't know. Maybe Empire State Building?" he suggests. "I'll have a panic attack by the edges while you marvel at the view?"

[chasedthestars]

"Sounds good," Jim laughs, groaning a little as Bones peels his mouth away, his skin hot and flushed, blood rising to fill a pale and already fading mark he hides with a flourish of scarf.

"I always wanted to make out up there. We can party, drink, go up to the tallest building and neck like teens."

[leftwithmybones]

"Away from the ledge," McCoy clarifies, since it's too damn high and he's bound to have a panic attack, so he needs to mitigate the danger somehow. "And yeah, but I want to be up there for midnight. Away from the crowd," he clarifies.

He gives Jim a kiss and squeezes his ass once more. "I just need something," he says, heading for the sock drawer just in case he ends up deciding to go through with this tonight.

[chasedthestars]

Bones turns. Jim understands his trajectory at once, and does the only thing he can think of to do. He hightails it for front of the apartment where his coat is waiting for him on the hook. He grabs it and pulls the collar high over his pink cheeks, and shit, shit, shit, Bones is going to think he lost the rings or something, or think Jim found them and hid them, and there really is no way out of this with any grace.

Feeling a little sick, Jim tugs the rings from his pants and into his coat pocket, busying himself with his gloves when he hears Bones coming down the hall.

[leftwithmybones]

They're not there.

The're not there. Suddenly, he feels sick with the overwhelming need to run away and hide somehow, like maybe he can make this panic go away. He swallows hard and heads back to the front hall, wondering about fake crime in this fake city. Fuck. He must be pale by the time he gets back to Jim and he wonders if he can get a refund or a spare copy or...or, hell, something. Anything, just in case he decides tonight's it.

[chasedthestars]

Bones looks so wrecked when he emerges that Jim nearly confesses everything on the spot, but he's not sure if that will make things better or worse. Surely Bones didn't mean for Jim to discover the rings early - maybe he's not even sure he's going to propose at all, and if Jim confesses, he'll feel obligated to so as not to disappoint him. Jim's been patient, with his own fears and with Bones', and he'd hate to feel like he forced Bones into anything.

"Hey," he says, lifting a hand to Bones' pale cheek, and tries not to feel like a total ass when he asks, "Are you okay?"

[leftwithmybones]

He tries to shake himself out of it, but it's harder than he expects. He tries to manage a smile, but it feels like it's false and tinged with disappointment. "Were you in my room?" he asks, even though they spend the majority of their time in Jim's room nowadays. "I was looking for something and I can't find it. Did you go rummaging?"

[chasedthestars]

"You know I was," says Jim, helpless, "You found me there. I needed some socks, Bones. All mine were mismatched."

Fighting an urge to hug him, he adds, "I had to dig for some black ones. Maybe I knocked something into the wrong compartment?"

[leftwithmybones]

"Maybe," he says and he can't help it. He can't breathe and he needs to look again until he finds the damn things. Maybe the rings fell behind or maybe they're in a sock. "I'll just...I'll be back, I'm going to look a little while longer. Maybe you ought to head to the party without me," he suggests helplessly.

[chasedthestars]

"No, I don't want to," says Jim, hanging on to Bones' wrist. "Let's just go, babe. We'll worry about it later. Let's just go out tonight and have a good time."

Taking Bones' face in his hands, Jim rubs careful circles with his thumbs, trying to restore some bloodflow into that awful pallor. "Let's just go."

[leftwithmybones]

He can't.

If he doesn't have the rings and they're up on the Empire State Building and everything is perfect beneath them and he doesn't have the rings, then what the hell is he going to do? "Jim," he murmurs, slightly broken. "Five more minutes. Please? It's important."

[chasedthestars]

"But the meter's running," says Jim in a last ditch attempt, as if money matters to either of them now. "It's going to get expensive. Why don't I come help you look?"

He could jam them into the drawer below, maybe, or under the dresser. "Four eyes are better than two."

[leftwithmybones]

McCoy waves a hand as he acknowledges Jim's presence and heads back upstairs, taking in a deep breath as he pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to stem away the panic and the worry that this is a sign that he shouldn't be asking. "Jim, you didn't...find anything, did you?" he asks on the way. He has to know, just in case he's making a fool of himself.

[chasedthestars]

"I needed socks!" Jim calls back, refusing to confirm or deny. As they pass down the hall, he grabs the paper bag he'd brought his oranges home in, holding it behind his back while he detours into the bathroom, gently depressing one puff of the hypospray he knows Bones keeps next to his toothpaste, for what sadistic purpose, Jim doesn't know.

"Breathe, babe," he says, racing to meet Bones in the bedroom. "You're hyperventilating. Here." Crowding into his space, Jim hands him the bag. "Breathe into this a moment and calm down."

[leftwithmybones]

He takes the bag out of Jim's hands and doesn't give it much of a second thought before he takes a deep inhalation of the bag, but something doesn't...feel...right. He blinks and eases the bag away, looking at Jim with a confused look. "Jim, s'ring...socks?" he mumbles, but that's all he gets out before he starts making a damn good attempt at collapsing on the ground, on his way to hitting it like a sack of bricks.