Jim snuggled in under the blankets, shifting closer as Bones tugged at his hip. Slipping one arm underneath Bones's head, his other hand slid up his back to cradle his neck, fingers sifting slowly through the short strands of hair.

"I just..." he started, trailing off for a moment until finally he shrugged and sighed. "I missed you, is all. Wanted to see how you were doing."

He hadn't been planning for anything like this, not even remotely. But as much as it hurt being close to Bones when he though something like this was well beyond his reach, he was still Jim's best friend and the one person he felt like he could really talk to about anything. He'd just been searching for that, then. That comfort, that safe spot that Bones somehow always was to him.

Yes, even when he was griping about death and darkness and the endless void of space.