His lips nearly tingled from that soft almost touch. He didn't expect such a tiny touch to feel so amazing or have such an impact. Breathing in slowly, he let his eyes move to watch Jim walk slightly ahead of him. Leonard always liked watching Jim. Walking just slightly behind him and trying to carefully keep his eyes on his shoulders or the back of his head. Sometimes he didn't succeed and they drifted lower. He could remember a few of those times and almost getting caught too easily by Spock or someone else that might look at him at some point.

Now he felt like he could look. But at the same time, he found his gaze lingering on the dark gold hair and the collar of Jim's uniform. Little details he knew he looked at before, but his mind was a bit awed now. He could reach out and touch him. Be content to be close and actually have him. It brought a whole new feeling to his chest that was tight and fluttering all at once. And the moment they entered Jim's quarters, he let go of his hand and slid both hands up to grip Jim's shoulders, one arm circling around him as Leonard lowered his head down against the curve of his neck.