๏ผ itachi hears him coming from some distance off, and though he had been dozing lightly against the wall, it is enough to stir him to wakefulness. by the time mccoy arrives, he is sitting cross-legged and has produced from some impossible place or another a pot of tea and two cups. ๏ผ
Doctor McCoy.
๏ผ it is said with a sort of ascetic pleasantry, neutral and mild. though their conversation was illuminating, he makes no presumptions. ๏ผ
Likely not. ๏ผ when has danger literally ever stopped him. literally ever. ๏ผ Would you like tea?
( how does he conjure tea? the mystery of the century. it throws him off, and he blinks at it, indecisive. )
Please.
( bones remains standing, biting at his already-red lower lip. itachi presents such a simple tableau, cozy and welcoming with naught but himself and the small tea set, a fleeting moment all the more precious and beautiful because of its transience. tea will happen once more, but not here, not this way ever again, not as bones shivers as he sifts through the memories that led his feet here. they have come so far, itachi most of all, and the joy filling his heart threatens to overwhelm him. )
I remember you, ( he tells him at last, a warning ahead of action, because bones will risk a squeeze for this. )
๏ผ alas the pot is not quite... tea'd up yet, so mccoy is spared from wondering how exactly itachi stores ready-to-drink liquid by the fact he uses a small water jutsu to fill it, and then slaps a warming talisman of wei wuxian's on it to boil.
he is prepared to be polite to a near-stranger, indicated by his placid expression and seamless motion from one act to the next while he makes tea, but the next words out of mccoy's mouth causes a stutter to the movement, and he stills finally with his hands against his thighs.
his jaw works off to one side, and then: ๏ผ
I see.
๏ผ he feels... relief? there is something like bone-deep exhaustion in him, weighted like an anchor, but the breath he exhales is steady. ๏ผ
( the stutter, brief as it is, makes his heart flip. bones finds himself exhaling as well, a release of anxious tension into the station air.
lowering himself to his knees beside him, as if intending to sit seiza in the same fashion, bones gives up any attempt to not be foolishly emotional, and gathers itachi to him in a solid embrace. )
๏ผ oh is he getting hugged, is that happening now.
itachi is pliant beneath the man's embrace, not resisting but not especially participant either. the hug is awkward, pulled over sideways and pressed into mccoy's side under his arm. itachi has to drop his shoulder so he doesn't just bull into the man's ribcage.
for a long moment, it seems that non-reaction is the only response mccoy will get. and then he lifts his arm up, and lets his fingers hook into the fabric at mccoy's opposite shoulder. there is a very faint sense of him leaning into the man's side, letting him take the ghost of his weight. mccoy is solidly built, but more than that there is a sense of... foundation to him in a way most people lack. he may have the skill and knowledge to heal the body, but itachi has never met anyone more aptly able to guard the heart.
he could argue semantics. mccoy couldn't miss what he didn't know. but it is the spirit of the thing, he thinks, that the man is trying to convey. ๏ผ
I —
๏ผ hm. ๏ผ
Would strongly recommend you not attempt any more forays into corrupted files, Doctor.
no subject
Doctor McCoy.
๏ผ it is said with a sort of ascetic pleasantry, neutral and mild. though their conversation was illuminating, he makes no presumptions. ๏ผ
Likely not. ๏ผ when has danger literally ever stopped him. literally ever. ๏ผ Would you like tea?
no subject
Please.
( bones remains standing, biting at his already-red lower lip. itachi presents such a simple tableau, cozy and welcoming with naught but himself and the small tea set, a fleeting moment all the more precious and beautiful because of its transience. tea will happen once more, but not here, not this way ever again, not as bones shivers as he sifts through the memories that led his feet here. they have come so far, itachi most of all, and the joy filling his heart threatens to overwhelm him. )
I remember you, ( he tells him at last, a warning ahead of action, because bones will risk a squeeze for this. )
no subject
he is prepared to be polite to a near-stranger, indicated by his placid expression and seamless motion from one act to the next while he makes tea, but the next words out of mccoy's mouth causes a stutter to the movement, and he stills finally with his hands against his thighs.
his jaw works off to one side, and then: ๏ผ
I see.
๏ผ he feels... relief? there is something like bone-deep exhaustion in him, weighted like an anchor, but the breath he exhales is steady. ๏ผ
I am — grateful to hear it.
no subject
lowering himself to his knees beside him, as if intending to sit seiza in the same fashion, bones gives up any attempt to not be foolishly emotional, and gathers itachi to him in a solid embrace. )
Yeah. I missed you too.
no subject
itachi is pliant beneath the man's embrace, not resisting but not especially participant either. the hug is awkward, pulled over sideways and pressed into mccoy's side under his arm. itachi has to drop his shoulder so he doesn't just bull into the man's ribcage.
for a long moment, it seems that non-reaction is the only response mccoy will get. and then he lifts his arm up, and lets his fingers hook into the fabric at mccoy's opposite shoulder. there is a very faint sense of him leaning into the man's side, letting him take the ghost of his weight. mccoy is solidly built, but more than that there is a sense of... foundation to him in a way most people lack. he may have the skill and knowledge to heal the body, but itachi has never met anyone more aptly able to guard the heart.
he could argue semantics. mccoy couldn't miss what he didn't know. but it is the spirit of the thing, he thinks, that the man is trying to convey. ๏ผ
I —
๏ผ hm. ๏ผ
Would strongly recommend you not attempt any more forays into corrupted files, Doctor.