The Box

[captainawesome1701]

 [[Because I can't remember my LJ password, so my fics are just gonna be imported manually. -SIGH-]]

This was stupid.

Really really fucking stupid.

What the HELL had made him think this was a good idea? 

Oh yeah. Lots of alcohol. Jim silently swore he'd never drink again, then immediately laughed at the ridiculousness of the idea. Okay, he'd just never let himself get all soppy and sentimental while drunk again. That led to awkward situations.

Like the one he was in now, holding a small white box that he had special ordered on their last shore leave. It had been brilliant at the time, caught up in the perpetual sunsets and the free-flowing champagne fountains of the pleasure planet.

Now, though, where he could feel its weight in his hand and soberly contemplate everything it meant... this was a monumentally bad idea. He should just throw it out before he humiliated himself even more.

Which is what he turned to do. Halfway to the garbage chute, his door swished open.

"Whatcha got?" Bones asked innocently as he made himself at home on the couch.

Shit.

"This? Ah, it's nothing."

"Nothing?"

Damn that eyebrow, far too suspicious and sexy for its own good...

"Well, it's a gift, actually."

Bones snorted. "From one of your thousands of secret admirers?"

Jim heard that little hint of jealousy in Bones' tone. And he had a funny feeling that that was exactly why his feet were leading him to the couch and his hands were shoving the box in Bones' hands.

"It's for you, actually." Jim cleared his throat. "I know you already have one, but you know, I figured you might want a new one, and if you don't like it, it's not a big deal, it was just a stupid little joke anyway, so I won't be upset or anything. I just saw it and thought 'Hey! Bones would like this!' So I got it for you, and I was probably drunk out of my mind when I got it, too, so it's not like some huge declaration or anything, just a little thing, and feel free to chuck it at me if you don't like it and-"

He was rambling, he realized. Shit. That probably meant he was bright red. Yep, now that he had paused long enough to think, he could feel his cheeks burning. ShitshitshitshitSHIT.

Bones looked at him for a long, hard minute. "If this is a ring, I'm going to strangle you with it."

"Just open it." Jim tried to stamp out that foolish nervousness that never seemed to come out unless Bones was around.

Cautiously, almost like it held a bomb, Bones opened the white cardboard box. Inside was another box, square and gray and velvet this time, and inside that lay his gift.

A flask.

Small and silver, just like his old one, but this one had three lines etched into it. He carefully lifted it out to read it better.

To Bones,
Because you didn't throw up on me.
Love, Jim