#aanimagi

“Action.” Spock motioned for the two on camera to start. He was met with awkward silence. Len shifted again and rubbed the back of his neck. His partner seemed much more at ease.

“I’m Jim.” He held out his hand to shake and gave Len a crooked grin. Len took it carefully and shook his hand.

“Len.” He dropped Jim’s hand and glanced at the camera uncertainly. “So do we just…”

“No time like the present, right?” Jim shrugged and stepped forward into Len’s space. It took all he had not to back away from the blond, but he stood his ground and even managed to keep from flinching when Jim put his hands on his shoulders. He was frozen, completely unable to move as Jim’s hand slid up his neck, broad fingers brushing against his jaw and pulling him forward. Jim hesitated just before their lips met, his eyes smiling when Len’s breath hitched between them. The touch of Jim’s lips caused a shiver to break out across Len’s skin and he felt like the floor had fallen out from under him. It was a gentle press that Len was suddenly eager to push further. His hands found Jim’s waist and pulled him closer as he nipped softly at Jim’ lip. They were pliant under his, warm and soft, catching sweetly on Len’s top lip with every new movement. He could feel Jim’s smile for half a moment before he pulled back.

It was more than a little pleasing to see Jim’s face a little flushed and his eyes bright and dazed.

“Well, that was fun,” Len laughed and rubbed at his face, trying to get his own blush to go away.

“It was,” Jim said, his tone a little cockier than before.

“Cut.” Spock’s voice made them both jump. The camera’s had been completely forgotten.

“Thank you Jim, Leonard, that was all we needed. I’ll make sure to send you an e-mail once the video is complete.”

Len tried to make his escape quietly, but found Jim falling in step with him easily. “So how did you get dragged into this? You don’t really seem like the kind of guy to sign up to kiss a stranger.”

Len groaned. “One of my co-workers is good friends with the human robot that set all this up. You?”

“The human robot is my best friend.”

That brought Len to an abrupt and horrified halt. “Oh god, I’m sorry I–” He stopped when he realized Jim was laughing.

“Nah, man,” he chuckled, “Spock isn’t the warmest seeming person, I get it. He’s a great guy though.”  He continued to laugh as Len dragged a hand down his face with a sigh.

“Trust me to put my foot in my mouth like that.”

“No worries, lots of people get flustered after I kiss them.” Jim seemed to regret the joke as soon as Len aimed an expertly raised eyebrow at him. “Not that I go around kissing a lot of people, or, you know, kiss strangers all the–wow. Can we just call this even and start over?”

Len eyed him uncertainly, but Jim went on undeterred.

“So, any chance I can get your number? I mean we’ve already kissed after all.” Jim grinned at him and Len had to admit he had a point. He didn’t know a thing about this guy other than he was a truly fantastic kisser and was best friends with the project’s director and yet…

“How about we start with a coffee. You doing anything right now?”

Jim’s grin widened. “Nope! There’s a great cafe about a block away.” He offered his arm to Len with a sweeping bow. Len snorted and ignored it starting off towards the door. Jim huffed and jogged to catch up with him, poking Len in the side once he did. “Alright, so you know someone who’s working on the project?”

“Yeah,” Len nodded. “Christine Chapel? She’s the head nurse at the hospital I work at. The woman is practically the only reason I made it through my first year of residency.”

“Oh? First year that rough?”

Len shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Any topic too personal for a first date when you’ve already kissed the person?”

Jim seemed to consider it for a minute before shrugging. “I mean, anything your uncomfortable with I guess, but I can’t think of anything that you could scare me off with right away.”

“I was going through a divorce and I probably would have washed out if Christine hadn’t been such a good friend and dragged my ass through it.” Len gave half a shrug.

“Ah, see that just let’s me know I just have to do better than your ex-husband.”

“Ex-wife,” he corrected. “And if you’re planning to stick around that long it shouldn’t be too hard, just don’ t leave me for my best friend.” Instantly he regretted saying it, but luckily Jim didn’t let it get awkward.

“I like where this is going, I’m learning so much about you. You’re a doctor, you’re ex-wife was obviously an idiot for leaving you, and you’re bi. Imagine what I could know about you by the time we finish coffee.”

He stared at Jim for a moment before shaking his head. “Does the crazy run all the way down to the bone with you or are you just really that nice of a guy?”

Jim grinned. “A little bit of both. You seem awfully nervous about a coffee date for someone who is okay with kissing a stranger.”

“Yeah, well, I haven’t dated in awhile.” He kicked out at Jim playfully. It was almost unreal how easy it was to talk to Jim, how easy Jim made talking. “What about you? You always this easy going with people you kiss in front of a camera?”

“Well, I mean, you have to be when you work in the porn industry.”

“...Seriously?”

“Nah, I’m an engineer. But kissing and sex don’t really freak me out.” Jim shrugged. They had finally gotten to the cafe and Jim stepped ahead to hold the door open for him. “That’s why Spock asked me to do the video. He knows that a kiss would be easy for me.”

Len bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. Jim noticed right away.

“What?”

“Kissing is no big deal? Were you planning to ask out whoever you kissed today?” Len laughed at the deer-in-headlights look on Jim’s face. “Order a coffee, Jim.”

Jim hesitated, but he ordered and waited for Len to do so before they went to find a table. “I wasn’t, you know.”

“Oh?”

“No. I thought I was going to kiss someone, convince Spock to buy me a beer later and go home. You were...a surprising plus.”

“Infatuation at first kiss?”

“Better.” Jim knocked his foot against Len’s under the table. “Interest at first kiss. So far you haven’t disappointed, Bones.”

Len raised a questioning eyebrow. “Bones?”

“Well, you asked if the crazy went all the way down to the bone so…” Jim shrugged with a small smile as the waiter placed their orders in front of them. “So what kind of doctor are you?”

“Neurosurgeon.” He took a sip of his coffee as a lull in the conversation took over. Jim seemed to be taking a moment to consider Len. As Jim’s eyes raked over him he found himself suddenly shy. “What?”

Jim shook his head with a grin. “You’re just...nice. I like it. I’m used to people being a little more intense.”

“Yeah, well, you haven’t seen me when someone’s being an idiot.” Jim laughed and Len couldn’t fight back a smile at the sound. “I have to admit, I didn’t expect to be swept off my feet by kissing a stranger.” He bit back another laugh at Jim’s cocky smile.

“Swept off your feet, huh? I think I can work with that.”

Their coffee date wound down about three hours later when Jim offered to walk Len home. They decided that the walk to his car was probably more reasonable than walking across town.

“Did you need a ride home?” Len gestured to his sedan awkwardly. Both were reluctant to leave, but no matter how well they had clicked they were essentially still strangers and didn’t want to overstep bounds. Biting his lip Jim shook his head.

“Nah, I’ll catch the bus.” He hesitated before stepping forward. Reaching out he tugged gently at Len’s wrist and pulled him in, sliding their lips together easily. Len sighed into the kiss and set his hands on Jim’s hips. Their second kiss was no less heart-poundingly sweet than the first one and it left Len breathless and grinning like a fool.

“I think I could get used to that…” He kissed the side of Jim’s mouth. “I’ll talk to you later, Jim.”

Jim backed up with an equally pleased grin as Len got into his car. He stole another glance at the blond as he started up and began pull the car onto the street. Jim suddenly looked panicked and was nearly running the few steps to the car window. He knocked on it frantically before Len could pull away.

“What?” He rolled down the window quickly. “What’s wrong?”

“You never gave me your number!”

Laughing Len took the phone Jim was all but shoving through the open window. He typed his number into the contacts and handed it back. He waved as Jim stepped back onto the curb, grinning down at his phone.

By the time he got home there was already two texts waiting for him. One from Christine asking where the hell he had disappeared to and one from Jim.

So, tomorrow good for you?

Len bit back a smile as he typed back.