This was written for a music prompt, in which I turned on the radio and wrote a story for the first song that played. That happened to be Colbie Caillat's Falling for You—so I thought to myself "how can I do this in a creative way?" This was what I came up with. Sorta schmoopy, and it shall also serve as a fill for our 100-prompt table. Enjoy!
Falling for You
It was three weeks ago to the day that Jim Kirk fell for Leonard McCoy.
On that day, three weeks ago, the summer sun had been beating down on Leonard's third floor apartment, and he'd opted to leave the door to the balcony in an attempt to dispel the stifling heat. He'd settled at the kitchen table with a pitcher of ice water—quickly melted and growing steadily warmer in the heat—and an ungodly stack of paperwork left undone by the man whom McCoy was replacing at the hospital he had just started at, who was obviously incompetent, lazy, or both.
The apartment's air conditioning was rattling pathetically but otherwise refusing to spout anything but hot air (surprise! Leonard sure could pick 'em, not that he could afford a better apartment anyway, having to by alimony for a daughter he never got to see was a dramatic drain on his income). The breeze that ruffled the stack of papers as it drifted in through the open door was a welcome relief from the humidity in the room.
The noise on the other hand…
"Thomas, stop!" A panicked woman pleaded.
"You stay out of this Courtney!" Was the angry response that was immediately followed by a laughably relaxed third party.
"Hey…I really should be going…"
Leonard tried to ignore the scene that was no doubt unfolding on one of the floors above. However, when the sound of something shattering (probably a flowerpot, judging by the shower of dirt sent past and finding a home on Leonard's balcony) drew his attention, his curiosity got the best of him. He padded out onto the balcony, leaving his reports at the table, and leaned over the railing to look up.
"Nononono, Thomas, what're you—?" The woman shrieked, this time in unison with a startled 'Hey!' Leonard's eyes widened as he saw the torso appear over the edge of the fifth floor balcony.
Leonard wouldn't say that it was a smart idea, but the moment he saw the figure flipping backwards over the railing, reeling as the woman grabbed for him and missed, his common sense, his self-preservation, and everything that told him what a dumbass move it would likely be stopped working. Leonard reached out to him.
"Hey!" He shouted, leaning as far as he could without compromising his grip on the rail. The man saw him, heard him, or maybe he didn't (maybe he was just lucky as hell) but his hand landed perfectly in Leonard's. They latched onto each other's forearms, and McCoy marveled at how perfectly they'd connected, as though scripted from some Hollywood movie.
For a moment.
And then gravity took over, and Leonard found himself pulled halfway over the railing in an instant. He gritted his teeth, biting back a shout, as the man wrenched his arm painfully (probably dislocated, and Jesus Christ, he's not fucking letting go, though he can't help but feel a little better about his own sonofabitchthathurt injury when the man, no longer falling, swung forward and face-first into side of the balcony. Misery loves company.) The two dangled there for a moment, with Leonard hanging over the edge of the railing and the other man holding on with an iron grip. McCoy thought he might have heard the woman chattering above him—"oh my god, good, good, thank god, are you okay?"—but he couldn't be pressed to answer her as he started the painstaking task of righting himself.
Thankfully, when he'd pulled him up far enough that he could reach the rail, the man took to climbing up on his own. The moment he released his hold on Leonard's arm, the doctor leaned back against the railing, willing his heart to stop beating a mile a minute and holding his arm loosely to his chest. The man—kid, really, he looked like he was barely out of high school—was blonde, well-muscled, with shockingly blue eyes, and for the first time Leonard noticed that he was clad in nothing but a pair of boxers. Of all the irrational, adrenaline-induced reactions he could have had, the man still managed to catch Leonard off guard.
The kid laughed (not nervously, but almost ecstatically), as though he hadn't just narrowly avoided an untimely demise, let out a low whistle at the ground, and then turned back to the balcony above.
"Can I get my clothes back?" There was a pause before a pair of jeans and a t-shirt was unceremoniously thrown over the rail. He caught the jeans, made a grab for his shirt, which was thrown a tad too far out of his reach, and missed. The shirt dropped down to hook the rail of the second floor balcony. The kid shrugged nonchalantly as he eyed it before turning his attention to Leonard.
"My hero. Hey man, thanks for…" he started with a bright smile, pausing mid-sentence as he assessed the man in front of him (and the pained grimace that was no doubt on his face), "Are you all right?" His demeanor flipped from laid-back to concerned in an instant, which would have been much easier to find endearing if Leonard wasn't focusing on the fact that he'd just tried to tear his arm out of its socket.
"No." Leonard hissed, and yeah, it came out a little more accusatory than he'd intended, but the other man didn't seem to notice, or if he did he didn't mind. McCoy switched topics, "What the hell was that?" McCoy closed his eyes for a moment, before pushing himself unsteadily to his feet, attempting to not move his arm. The other man gave him a steadying hand as he rose. After a moment's pause in which Leonard was trying to decide whether he was going to be reacquainted with the floor or not, he reentered the apartment, the other man hovering not far behind.
McCoy gingerly released his hold on his arm to grab the phone off the counter and toss it to him, "You should call the cops." The man blinked, looking between the phone and Leonard before replacing it on the counter.
"Nah. I don't blame the guy…though I didn't actually know there was a guy until he was dragging me out of his bed…I suppose I should have known that she was lying when she said that it was her brother's shirt handing on the chair, but I wasn't really too concerned with that at the time—hey, where are you going?"
"To get my shoulder reset, thanks to your friend." Leonard replied dryly—or attempted to, though the effectiveness of his sarcasm was weakened considerably by how pitiful he no doubt looked, supporting his dislocated shoulder with his good arm as he wrangled a pair of tennis shoes from the doorstep.
"Well, I could—" The man started, gesturing toward Leonard.
"No, you'd end up setting it wrong."
"I was going to offer to drive you, actually." Leonard gave him a skeptical look, to which the kid shrugged, "It's the least I can do. I know it's not that far, but…"
"Yeah, okay." Leonard relented. He was really in no mood for arguing with the kid anyway, and he had a feeling that even if he was, he would probably lose, "You planning on going in your boxers?" He raised an eyebrow as the kid started as though realizing for the first time that he wasn't wearing anything beyond his underwear and began to hastily pull on his jeans, fishing in his pockets and withdrawing a set of keys to jingle triumphantly in front of Leonard. Then he glanced back toward the balcony for a moment before deciding to steal the pair of McCoy's sandals still resting next to the door. Leonard snorted in amusement but said nothing as he opened the door for him and they started for the stairwell.
"So, Bones, how did you…? I mean, why were you on the balcony… Like, right there, to catch me? You know, not that I'm complaining." He added after a beat. McCoy attempted to process the question, but failed to get past the nickname.
"…What did you just call me?"
"Oh, Bones? Well, I just figured since you never told me your name, and we kind of met by my attempting to break your arm…? It seemed fitting."
"You could have asked for my name, kid." The man grinned.
"So could you, Bones." He extended a hand, then quickly thought better of it when he realized that Bones wouldn't be returning the gesture with a dislocated shoulder, "Jim Kirk."
Leonard was in no mood for smiling either, yet he found himself smirking at Jim's enthusiastic (expectant) look,
"Leonard McCoy." He'd supplied, and the two had shifted into companionable silence as they headed down the hall. When they'd arrived at the hospital, Leonard might have laughed at the looks he was getting from his new co-workers as he walked inside sporting a dislocated shoulder, leading a shirtless Jim, who was following rather closely behind him. Jim did laugh. So did Chapel, as she set the joint.
And so, three weeks later (to the day), Leonard's arm was still in a sling, and ached whenever he tried to use it too much. Jim was still dropping by every day (or waking up in the morning) because, according to him "It's my fault you're a cripple. I might as well help you out, at least until you're better." Jim still avoided the fifth floor like the plague. The first and second floor's residents had entered into a war of tossing the unknown shirt back-and-forth between them (Jim just didn't have the heart to claim it, they were having too much fun pissing each other off). Jim's shoes were still in the fifth floor apartment (or perhaps in their trash), so Leonard's sandals were still on Jim's feet. Jim still refused to call the cops, and though Leonard knew that it was damn foolish (because adulterous girlfriend or no, throwing someone off a balcony was still attempted murder in his mind), he couldn't really bring himself to care.
Because it was three weeks ago, to the day, that Jim Kirk fell for Leonard McCoy, and three weeks, to the day, since Leonard McCoy fell for Jim Kirk.
There will probably be more one-shots for this 'verse in the future, as it is fun to write and will make for a great way to get rid of writers block. Reviews are always appreciated, especially since I haven't practiced writing for this fandom much yet. Also, if you have suggestions/requests for more from this 'verse, let me know!