Time stood still. Moments like this, it could be anyone out there, anyone on the other side wanting to come in. It was like Schroedinger�s Cat. The possibilities were infinite until the moment that he turned the doorknob. He never wanted to disrupt that, not least because there was never anyone that he needed to see quite that much.
The knocking came again, more hesitant this time, and all the possibilities coalesced into a single person.
Kirk was dripping like a drowned kitten, dark curls dragged down and plastered to his face. Instinctively, James looked over Kirk�s shoulder for the rain. It was a bright, sunny day out, though, with not a cloud in sight. Kirk noticed the glance and smiled sheepishly.
�Cliff pushed me into the pool. Can I come in?�
Now that he mentioned it, James could smell the chlorine, sharp and acidic. He didn�t want to let Kirk in. Things were still too strange between them, and being alone in a room would only aggravate the tension. In the distance, there was a yelp and a splash, and then Lars�s furious voice berating Cliff. Kirk was telling the truth, at least.
James stepped aside. �I�ll get you a towel.� Kirk nodded his thanks and stood just inside the door, shivering and dripping all over the cheap hotel carpet.
The towels were stowed above the toilet, and James paused in the closet-like bathroom, one hand resting on the thin, white terrycloth. One of two things would happen now. Either Kirk would quietly dry off and leave, casting puppy dog glances at James the entire time, or he would break down and beg to make things better. James wasn�t sure which he would prefer.
It was neither. Schroedinger�s Cat again, all those infinite possibilities that were forced into one reality when he came out of the bathroom. Kirk was naked in the middle of the room, less a pathetic, sodden creature and more the Kirk that James was used to. Silently, he handed over the towel.
�I want to try again,� Kirk murmured, his voice nearly muffled completely by the towel. James pretended that he hadn�t heard. There was no trying again. Trying the first time had been a colossal mistake. Slowly, Kirk lowered the towel, dark eyes wide and vulnerable. �James��
�I don�t think that�s a good idea.�
�Of course it isn�t.� It wasn�t the response he�d been expecting. �It�s the right thing to do, though.� That, too, came out of left field, and James narrowed his eyes at Kirk suspiciously. He wasn�t sure he liked the sound of that.
�The right thing to do,� he repeated slowly. Kirk held the thin towel to his chest and nodded firmly, though his eyes were still open and vulnerable. �And how exactly is it the right thing to do?�
