College AU (for damnitman)

Unlike most college students, he had to take classes spread thin some semesters and packed others. The fact remained he needed to work as well. He took multiple shifts at at least two jobs at a time. It pretty much killed any time he didn't spend with his studies or in class itself. Sleeping was a pretty valuable commodity that he really didn't have time for, sleep was for the weak anyway, right? Snorting softly, he walked into the yoga class that day with the full intent of sleeping through the positions so to speak.

In reality, he would have preferred something a little faster paced, but with his current lifestyle, he gave in to his counselor's advice and signed up for this one instead. He still preferred more activity, but he found the class rather relaxing especially when he was sure he likely had ulcers on top of lack of sleep. So he didn't complain and showed up on time. At first he'd been more amused and pleased by the pretty girls in the class. No harm in looking, right? And flirting, given the chance (which came up often). Then he found that all that lost it's fare. Instead his eyes kept slipping back to the med student he'd met a few times in the school clinic.

He'd be lying if he said his eyes always tracked their way to him when they were in the same room or even passing in the halls of the university or out on campus. In fact, he wasn't too proud to admit that the one time he sprung his ankle was cause he stopped watching where he was going while out jogging because he'd seen the brunette walking with a pretty grad student that he didn't care to know her name. The fact remained, he knew what a 'couple' looked like and it made something feel like it crumpled in his chest.

That's when his lull in flirting picked back up and he no longer tried to make himself just say something to him. What was the point now?

It didn't stop him from looking when he was certain the guy wouldn't notice. It certainly didn't stop him from finding a spot when he could behind him so he could study the way he moved or just... enjoy the view. Which was why he noticed today was just... different. Jim couldn't put his finger on it, but he just knew something was bothering the other man.

A line furrowed his brow as he fought that long time struggle internally to just... say something. Ask what was wrong or something. He just didn't think he'd sound so lame when he walked up next to his mat after class. "What's up, doc? Catch something from one of your patients?" If Jim were a lesser person, he would have instantly put a hand over his face in shame over that greeting.

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Leonard blinked, he looked tired, and maybe a little or a lot sad... it was hard to tell on the over worked under paid Med Students. But in Leo's case, Joc had tossed the ring back in his face when she found out he planned on working in rural areas to meet health care needs of those with limited access to care.

She wanted to be a doctor's wife, not a health care providers wife. It broke his heart, mostly because he thought she actually loved him...

He lets out a dry laugh at the blond's words, hurt evident in it. "Nah, just lost somethin'..." He shrugs his drawl thicker because of how tired he is. Happy it's Friday, and happy he actually has a day off of clinic duty the next day. He rolls up his mat, and shoves his feet back into his chucks. "That noticeable?"

Angling his head a little, he gripped the strap of his bag a little tighter at that comment. He could tell the posture was off, it looked more defeated and resigned than his normal bearing. "I don't know, to be honest. I just pick up on things like that." Especially when he'd caught himself staring enough to get an idea of what seemed 'normal' for the other than was likely kosher.

Sighing a little, he fidgeted a bit with his bag before trying again. "I hope you find it, then?" What else could he say? He didn't know what was lost, but he could guess it was a figure of speech and not literal. He started to dredge up a little courage and just... ask him to coffee or something, when he felt a soft tap on his shoulder.

Looking back at one of the girls in the class, he put on the brilliant grin he wore any time he started to flirt and really didn't mean any of it. She asked him what he was doing after class and he carefully evaded an answer and implied it was busy before winking at her. "Maybe next time." She giggled at that before nodding her head and hurrying off after one of her friends. He waited till she was out of ear shot before looking back at the other man and giving him a smaller apologetic smile that was probably more genuine than any of his typical sunny smiles.

"Don't guess there is anything I could do to help you out?"

"You know a good place to sell an engagement ring?" He deadpans letting out a slow breath and shaking his head. "Nah kid, I think this is one of those things, where you just gotta let time do it's thing." He shrugs a little dejectedly. "Lucky now before she could take half the damn planet tho, her daddy's a hell of a lawyer..." He snorts shaking his head and moving out of the yoga studio.

Jim's breath caught at that and his eyes widened. He'd known they were a couple, but he'd never thought about it being more than that. Wincing internally, he bounced back and forth on anything helpful he could say.. anything to break the ice, but came up empty in time to see him start for the door.

Frowning a little, he hesitated, the slight sting of being called kid burned a bit to say the least. Still... he jogged to catch up, his jaw set a little. "You know, if it's any consolation, it's her loss." He really knew nothing about relationships, but he knew that this guy wasn't someone you'd want to lose. "Look, it's not much, but if you ever want to.. I don't know.. get coffee or a drink, I'm up for it. I mean, I guess you're right about it taking time, but company can't be too bad to have at the same time, right?"

"Beer might be good, I have to stop by the clinic for a couple hours, but I'm off at 7 we could meet at Mac's?" He shrugs, he needed friends who weren't in the med program, and who weren't part of the same circle as Joc... plus even with all the energy he got a good feeling from the guy.

"I'm Leonard by the way..." He laughs a little tossing out his hand.

Something fluttered in his chest at that, a real and genuine smile spreading over his face in such a way it lit up his eyes making them seem bluer than even usual. "Perfect, sounds like a plan." Well, sort of. He could probably get that side work done real quick and beg to get off early. He wasn't going to pass this up. Not when it took this damn long just to talk to the guy outside of 'I think I tore something' when he got injured.

"Right... so Dr. Leonard McCoy then. Guess you don't remember that time I got sick, well... allergies... then when I ended up going to the clinic with a sprained ankle. Probably not the best impressions on my part, so maybe I got lucky you don't remember. The names Jim. Jim Kirk." He reached out and shook his hand firmly, still smiling if laughing a little nervously after managing to embarrass himself again. "Nice to finally meet you properly, doc."

Leo rolls his eyes but laughs and it seems a little warmer this time, "I remember you, just not your name... and I'm not a doctor yet... not until the end of next semester." He shrugs, "Then two years of residency." He snorts.

"But yeah it's good to meet you, and see you in one piece and not covered in hives... this is a better look." He teases a little. "I'll see you in a couple hours?"

"Close enough. Takes a lot of diligence to do that whole doctor thing, but you're good at it. Far as I'm concerned you're a doctor." Winking at him, he angled his head. "Least you're almost there. I mean hey, sign me up, I hate doctors, but I don't mind it so much when you're saving me from my own allergic reactions."

He instantly laughed, a slightly loud but bright gust of sound as he looked away. "Yeah. Hives just don't add to my good looks." Rubbing the back of his head, he ended up shrugging as he bounced on his toes. "But yeah, I'll see you later. I got the tab tonight, so don't worry about it. It's on me."

Walking backward a few steps, he smiled at Leonard almost lopsidedly and he'd forever groan when he missed a step off the curb and nearly fell over. Instead, he flushed red, laughed and waved before turning to walk off toward his part time job. Nope. That wasn't awkward at all. Not even a little bit. God, he sucked.

Without looking back, he took off at a run to go get the work done. Tonight he did some deliveries for a small food restaurant, and with enough finesse and a history of reliable work, they let him off earlier than usual. He'd turned up the charm more as well, if only to get bigger tips in order to keep that promise about paying. Even with the discount he got for being a bartender there some nights didn't quite make up for the price of alcohol.

Stopping by his small apartment, he quickly cleaned up, changed then headed for Mac's, proudly waltzing in the door at just two minutes past seven. He said hello to the regulars that he knew by name all while looking for the future doctor.

Bones managed to grab them a table, he's weirdly punctual sue him. He's already got a bourbon in front of him and an ipad, flipping through a text book on it stopping once in awhile to drag a stylist across the screen to highlight something.

He looks like he's feeling a little better, but still down. He looks up at Jim and gives the other student a half smile and nods him over.

When he caught sight of Leonard, he grinned and waved. With a nod, he acknowledged the beckoning and only put it off to lean over and talk to the bartender. No matter how many people might have come here 'with', he rarely said put everything on his tab. The words got him a curious look and he just shrugged with a smile.

Moving through the small groups of people with a bottle of beer for himself, he slid into the seat across from the brunette. He looked better. Less strained and like death warmed over. Setting the bottle on the table, he crossed his arms on the edge and leaned closer to be heard over the noise. "Do you always do homework when you go out to relax?" His tone was teasing, blue eyes sparking with curiosity before he went on. "Are you one of those too serious types?" His voice stayed mildly playful as he leaned in to see what the textbook was that he was reading.

Leonard turns the screen, and the text is gone, and in it's place is angry birds. He smirks and takes a sip of bourbon.

"I have a test next week, in anatomy..." He says with a slight shrug, "On the cadaver." He adds after a moment, "Kind of important to know where all the bits and pieces are." He smirks again taking another sip before he sets the glass down.

Jim instantly rolled his eyes at the show of the angry birds app. He could tell the motions of someone playing a game and someone taking notes. And you didn't play angry birds with a stylus, just saying. Not that he said anything, he just looked amused as he leaned back and picked up his own bottle to take a sip.

"Yeah, that might be important. You don't get a second chance to do an operation and the nose isn't going to light up when you pull it out wrong." Smirking just a little, he gave his face a quick scan. "You look better. More alert. Hopefully I didn't ruin your evening dragging you out with me."

"I hawked the ring, it was kinda cathartic." He shrugs frowning a little, but then he smirks a little. He puts the iPad away, and stretches his arms above his head, making his shoulders pop. "At least she gave it back... we'll through it in my face, but so eh... better now, then divorce court." He says easily.

"I was going to sit in my apartment, alone." He answers honestly, "You better company then myself, made my night better." He flags down the server and orders them the stuffed pretzels appetizer for them to share.

"Huh... I certainly didn't see this turn around coming." He laughed to himself, ducking his head. "Sounds nastier than you let on before. She must've said or did something pretty low." He looked thoughtful a moment. "But can't imagine you getting a ring thrown in your face. Isn't that behavior reserved for liars and cheaters?"

Hopefully he was neither of those things. Jim hated people that lied. And where he would have pictured himself as a cheater, the thought turned his stomach a little now. Seriously, this guy didn't deserve to be treated in a way that was poor like that. "Glad to be of service. I have no other plans, so no worrying about taking up my time." He sunk into his seat and smiled warmly with content. "So, by your accent you're from a southern state... where abouts?"

"Georgia." He smiles taking a sip from his glass and shrugging, "'bout three hours outside Atlanta." He say warmly thinking of home. "Gotta get my train ticket home for Christmas, soon." He says laugh loosening up a little more.

"What about you, where you from?"

"Sounds about right. So, not only a Georgia boy, but a country boy also?" He started to comment that the idea of it was well.. cute. Cause yeah, the accent and the idea of the doctor being a country boy was just that. Cute and attractive. But then, he didn't want to push his luck. Not when he'd finally gotten Leonard to spend time with him for some reason other than sickness or injury. "So do you do that country Christmas thing that's always in movies or something simple?"

He smiled a little and shrugged his shoulders. "Iowa." He stated it simply, like it might have had a bad taste in his mouth on top of it. "Middle of nowhere lost in a cornfield Riverside, Iowa." He picked up his drink and tipped it to the doctor before taking a drink.

"It's just me and my mom now..." He says shrugging, "So nothing too crazy, my mom's siblings and their kid's and grand kids will be their, the day of... I'll go out and get the tree when I get down there, and she'll cook way to much food..." He laughs a little, biting his lower lip and shrugs.

He picks up one of the mac and cheese bites and pops it into his mouth. "You do the middle of nowhere christmas where everyone comes from miles around?"

"Sounds fun. Cozy? Is that the right word for it?" He could imagine it. Kind of like those holiday tv shows he hates but ends up watching anyway without thinking about it. Closest he's been to a Christmas tree in years is at shopping centers or when the bar owner wanted to be festive. Turning the glass on the table, he found it easier not to look at the doctor on his next answer.

"Nah. It's the go home to an empty dark house and silence kind of Christmas. So I save my money on the travel expenses and work." He finally looks up with an empty half grin. "Time and a half is nicer you could say."

The soon to be doctor looks over the blond for a moment, and something kicks inside him, and maybe it's just how his mama raised him, but the words are leaving his mouth, before he can even stop them.

"Should come with me, prove to my Ma... I've got friends." He snorts grinning a little.

The first reaction is like a warm wave of excitement. For a multitude of reasons, Jim starts to grin, blue eyes lighting up at the prospect of what a real Christmas must look like. Having someone around for a change and hell... the good doctor actually invited him. But then he closed it down, putting a firm thumb on that outpouring of emotion into his face and casually laughs it off looking down.

"Don't joke around. Bet you've got a bunch of friends and you don't need to feel like you need to take a lost puppy home for Christmas." He offered Leonard a mild smile before downing the rest of his drink. "I don't like imposing on people." Not on their lives or their good will. As great as it sounded, well... he knew it was just an offering out of pity.

"Not really, I mean there is Spock, and Christine... but uh... since they got together... awkward..." He laughs brightly smiling at Jim a little. "But most of the people I hung out with where Joc's friends, trying to keep her happy." He shrugs.

"I'm serious, and you're no puppy, full grown dog at the very least." He laughs some more as another round comes to the table. "Consider yourself invited, if you don't want to, just say so... but not say no because you think it'll be a burden."

"That's pretty lame." He scrunched his nose at the thought of a girl dictating who he could spend time with. And well, no. Just no. That was a red flag in his book. Not that he did relationships. He hadn't bothered with one of those since middle school. And honestly, he didn't have friends he kept around all the time. Though he had some he hung out with... like Scotty when he wanted to build things and just be.. a mechanic of sorts. "Does suck when your friends hook up. The third wheel thing isn't much fun."

Leaning back, he smiled at the waitress that brought him the next round. She mouthed something to him and winked before walking away. He knew what she meant. She thought Leonard was hot and she was not wrong. There was a little policy with him not to sleep with his co-workers at the bar... it helped that he just wasn't interested in the last few months. He was sure he'd hear about it later from her.

Angling his head to look back at the soon to be doctor, he snorted softly. "At least a full grown golden retriever then?" He teased lightly before picking up his drink. "You sure about that? I mean, you just met me so to speak. Unless you count the hives, sprained ankle and the allergy attacks... wait, didn't I also go to you when I dislocated my shoulder?"

"Yep, that was all me Jim... Allergic to Shell Fish, Dust, Pollen, prone to hitting your head, rolling your ankle, and getting in fights, and trying to tell me, it wasn't a fight..." He says sounding like he's reading off a chart, but their is a smirk on his face.

Sue him, he had eyes, and he had a heart, he also might have been squishing a crush on the blond that fluttered in and out of his life. Because he was going to be a doctor, marry Joc, have a family... it was the plan, he liked plans...

But Joc had different ideas about the kind of life they should live, and again he reminds himself, even with the slightly busted heart, it's better for both of them they called it off now.

He stands and stretches, "I'll be back, gonna hit the bathroom." He says taking a sip before he moves off leaving his stuff at the table.

"Look at that, already my preferred physician and not even out of medical school yet. Thanks, doc." He teased warmly, winking at the other man as he tilted his head. "Not all of it was a fight you know." It wasn't. That shoulder and ankle were not from a fight and you certainly didn't get an allergic reaction from them. He felt like that was a good thing. Right?

Inclining his head to watch the doctor get up, he smiled at him a little brighter. "I'll be here." Like hell he'd leave when he finally got what he wanted. He hated himself a little bit for being vaguely relieved the fiance was out of the picture. But at the same time, he knew he'd be this thrilled to finally make friends with the guy as well. Maybe that made him a masochist.

Regardless, he looked over at Leonard's stuff and smiled a little dopily to himself. So maybe that was a guarantee he was coming back. Jim... had more issues than he wanted to admit with people sticking around. He just started to finish his drink when he felt more than saw the looming presence at the edge of the table just behind his shoulder. Turning his head slowly, he gave a lazy smile at the three guys. "Can I help you gentleman?"

In retrospect, he likely had it coming. But how was he supposed to know that two weeks ago, the girl he made out with behind the bar out of boredom had a boyfriend? It wasn't like she told him that, because obviously she wasn't too content with said boyfriend. And sadly, he made sure to say that out loud as well. That got him into this mess all starting with a swing and him barely dodging by sliding under the table and out of the way. The part he messed up on was when he stopped to shove Leonard's stuff into the chair before the first guy fell on the table. It got him just distracted enough to take a hit to the stomach first.

Oh, he could hold his own in a fight. And maybe he did knock one guy out, but the other two got him in the face pretty good and if his boss and one of the other guys that worked there hadn't drug them off of him? Well... he preferred not to think about it. Sinking to the floor, he leaned his head back against the chair and idly reached back to check on McCoy's tablet before closing his eyes. He knew he was going to have a black eye and he could feel the blood running down over his lip. His boss gave him that look that told him he'd be getting a stern talking to later and he sighed closing his eyes. "Fuck my life."

The waitress snorted as she dropped a towel with ice in it onto his lap. "You asked for it, Jim Kirk." She craned her neck to look at the items on the chair. "Those belong to the hot guy you brought tonight?"

For a moment, he left the ice on his stomach before arching a brow at her. "Maybe."

"Oooh... You got it bad Kirk. Better get out soon before boss starts yelling at you for bleeding on things again. He also said..."

"Yeah, yeah... I know. Docking the pay. It's not like I was going to actually get in a fight tonight." He groaned lightly and moved to put the bundle of towel and ice over his face so he didn't have to look at her. "Should probably apologize to him first before I get kicked out... And I don't mean the boss. I'll let him yell at me later then apologize."

Leonard comes out of the bathroom right as the guys are getting dragged off Jim, and tossed out. He watches for a moment, before his inner doctor kicks in and he lets out a slow breath shoving his stuff into his back pack and pulling it on.

He takes the towel with ice and rebundles it pressing it to the blonds face. "Jesus, Jim." He mumbles... "Come on lets get you outta here, let me get you patched up he huffs a little." Feeling the drink kick in.

"Only a couple of blocks from mine, got first aid kit there."

College AU (for damnitman)

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