The Enterprise crew attends a carnival and experiences all the rides (like bumpers cars and mini roller coasters and tilt-a-whirls and ferris wheels) and food. Loaded with McKirk fluffy feels?
“Jim, we don’t have time for this,” Bones starts, but it’s not like Jim usually listens. There is a station nearby York Town that’s just a fun fair and a bar all year around, providing a place to relax and have fun for the York Town citizens without actually having this theme park inside the space station. “So we have a day’s delay, big deal!” Jim says, and he’s pretty sure he can feel Bones rolling his eyes at him, “our crew is stressed out. They deserve a day out.” “Since when is our crew stressed out?” “Between the two of us, Bones, who catches up on their reports the most? You, or me?” Jim argues, but his argument falls short when Bones snorts and replies a quick and truthful: “Me.”
And so the Enterprise docks at York Town’s Sub Station. Never has Jim seen the crew leave the ship as fast as now, and that’s how he knows he’s made the right decision. Even better is when he sees Spock and Uhura walk together hand in hand past the small fair stands. Uhura’s making him try out cotton candy, but Spock looks like he’s dying on the inside at the sugary taste.
Chekov is hanging out with Sulu and Demora for a while. Jim catches them waiting in line for the Ferris wheel. Chekov’s carrying Demora in his arms, and Sulu’s talking to both of them. It’s cute.
Scotty’s carrying Keenser on his back as they walk out of the roller coaster. “I told you, you weren’t tall enough, ya wee prick.” Scotty argues to his friend, greeting Jim with a smile before his attention is on Keenser again. “No, we absolutely aren’t gonna go again. Are you crazy?” Scotty says, and Jim catches both of them just getting back in line for that very same roller coaster.
M'Benga and Chapel both stumble out of the tilt-a-whirl together. Chapel’s holding on to M'Benga’s arm and she throws Jim a smile as they pass. “Are you enjoying your day off?” Jim asks, and M'Benga nods. “It spins faster than we expected.” “He has terrible balance,” Chapel points out, “are you having fun too, Captain?” The question catches Jim off guard a little - because so far, he’s only walked around and watched others. And even after his med crew walks away, Jim almost feels surprisingly lonely in the otherwise crowded, fun-filled place.
After a beer at the local bar, Jim walks outside. He’s just heading back to the Enterprise, because what else is there to do? At least his crew is having fun. “Where d'you think you’re going?” Bones asks, catching Jim by surprise. “Oh, just back to the Enterprise,” Jim explains. He hasn’t seen Bones all day, and judging by the fact that he’s still wearing his uniform, Bones hasn’t even been off the Enterprise at all. “I’m kind of tired.” “The hell you are,” Bones says, grabbing Jim’s arm and dragging him back to the fair.
They wait in line behind Sulu, Demora and Chekov to get on the roller coaster. Jim keeps telling Bones it’s okay, and “You don’t have to do this, old man,” but Bones isn’t budging. They ride it together, and Jim loves the weightless feeling as they plummet down on to the tracks. He’s fairly sure Bones is screaming, but he can’t hear it over his own voice.
Jim’s hand finds Bones’ when they’re in the Haunted Mansion ride. Jump-scares are all around them, and some of them definitely startle Jim. But Bones barely looks affected. That is, until Jim finds out Bones is just keeping his eyes closed the entire ride. “That’s cheating,” Jim laughs, and he’s dragging Bones back to go for another ride. The ride is closed down before they can go a second time however, because apparently Spock’s broken the ride by punching one of the mechanical clowns down.
They share a large slice of pepperoni pizza. It’s greasy and Bones is complaining about how unhealthy it is, but he eats it nonetheless. In fact, Bones even buys them cotton candy afterwards. “It’s a fitting dessert after that train wreck of a pizza,” Bones argues and Jim shrugs it off, reaching out to take a piece of the cotton candy himself. It’s finished by the time they’re on the Ferris Wheel, and Jim slouches back in his seat. In the back of his mind, Jim feels like maybe he should thank Bones for dragging him around after all - who knows how miserable Jim might have been otherwise? But he says nothing, and Bones just looks in his direction with a knowing smile. “Why’d you leave the ship so late?” Jim asks, and Bones shrugs. “I wanted to finish all my deadlines for today,” he replies, “that, and I never really enjoyed fairs without Jo.” “You seem to have a good time now,” Jim points out. “That’s just the sugar rush talkin,” Bones points out with a grin, and Jim’s lips twitch up into a smile, too. “Just the sugar?” He asks, and Bones turns to look at him. Jim doesn’t even give him the chance to reply. He reaches out, fingers cupping Bones’ cheeks, and he pulls himself in for a kiss. Bones seems more than happy to kiss him back, because Jim feels an arm slide around his waist and lips brushing against his own. “Well,” Bones breathes softly, his lips still ever so close against Jim’s, “maybe the company, too.”
