I love Bones. Just saying.

Verbosity

One of Bones' biggest pet peeves is verbosity. Medical babble is fine, tall tales are annoying, but otherwise amusing, but so many words just for the sake of it…it just drives him insane.

It's unnecessary.

His wife and her lawyer used it, a whole thick pile of documents that could have been summed up as I don't love you anymore and I don't want you to have Joanna.

People might think it a kindness, but Bones prefers the brutal honesty. That way, there are no mistakes, no uncertainties to brood and rage over.

Verbosity is probably the reason Spock sets Bones' teeth on edge. He knows the Vulcan doesn't use his extensive vocabulary to show off, but because of his formal nature and, perhaps, it's the only way he finds that he can express himself adequately. But something about his speech—and the technicalities and 'logical conclusions' can drive Bones to the brink and back again.

But he's getting better. They both are.

Scotty might be annoying, with his constant, incomprehensible babble, but he's locked up in the transporter room most of the time, and when Bones does actually talk to him, they usually end up completely smashed, with everything the other says wonderfully witty and not too long at all.

Sulu's a quiet guy, and only really talks to Chekov most of the time, so by default he's one of Bones' favorites.

He doesn't talk much to Chekov, though, and thank goodness, the kid scares the shit out of him. And not just because a seventeen-year-old is being given an adult responsibility, he's also a motor mouth and far too idealistic and happy for Bones to be exposed to for any period of time.

Uhura (oddly enough, considering she specializes in language) speaks concisely and cuts straight to the point, and Bones likes her both for that and for never sleeping with Kirk, even if it did turn out that she was sleeping with Spock, instead. And annoying as it is that they coo at each other in Vulcan, it's a lot better than cooing in plain English (though, he has to admit, he would pay dearly to hear someone call Spock something asinine, like 'baby cakes') and he leaves them be.

But Bones' favorite, to no one's surprise, is Kirk. Kirk knows what he wants to do, what he thinks of a situation, and isn't afraid to say anything about it. Bones finds it refreshing, that Kirk cuts through pleasantries like a hot knife through butter and gets straight to the point.

Childish is what they call it. But Bones has always liked children, and in he wonders sometimes if Kirk's direct speech and direct actions speak to his paternal instinct, allow him to play the parent he can't be to his own daughter.

And then there's himself. Plain old Bones. He can be poetic when he wants to be, though it's usually very bad poetry. But in the end, he's a simple man. He's a crotchety old man, without the excess in years. And however much he grumbles, everyone knows it's because he's happy.

So when it's a quiet night in sickbay, he'll go down to the mess, take his spot next to Kirk, and just listen.

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