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Title: Permanent Fixture
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Jimmy Palmer/Tim McGee
Fandom: NCIS
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1drabble
Prompt: 24, Silence
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Jimmy Palmer or Tim McGee, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.***
Tim looked over at Jimmy, suppressing a sigh as he did so.
The sunset through the window was beautiful. Jimmy was standing there, his forehead against the glass of the sliding door to the balcony, looking at the brilliant colors. He looked so lonely, and Tim wanted to join him, but wasn't sure if he should do so.
He knew that Jimmy wouldn't turn him away; in fact, his love would smile and him and pull him close. But he didn't know what to talk about, what to say.
Tim knew that Jimmy was still dealing with some depression, as well as emotional trauma. The physical part of that was behind him, at least for the most part. But the emotional turmoil that had been roiling within him still hadn't had any sort of resolution.
Tim wondered if it ever would.
He wanted to go back to where they had been on the night that Jimmy had been kidnapped, to push this entire mess aside and be as they were. But that couldn't happen.
They weren't as they had been. They still loved each other, of course; that wasn't going to change. But he felt as though he had to treat Jimmy as if his boyfriend was made of fragile glass. He didn't know what to say to him most of the time, so he opted for silence.
Jimmy seemed to understand, but Tim wondered if he felt the same awkwardness, if he faced that same huge stumbling block. Jimmy was probably having just as hard a time talking about all of this as he was; he was the one who needed to make the first move.
They couldn't stay like this forever, Tim told himself firmly. Being wrapped in silence wasn't good for either of them; it would eventually raise a wall between them.
He wasn't about to let that wall become a permanent fixture.
He got up, moving from the couch to where Jimmy was standing by the window and sliding his arms around his boyfriend. Jimmy leaned back against him, closing his eyes, and Tim did the same. The two of them stood there, savoring the silence.
Maybe silence wasn't such a bad thing when you shared it with someone you loved, Tim thought, It could feel warm, and safe, and relaxed.
The silence flowed over them, and this time, it wasn't uncomfortable. He didn't feel that he had to say one word; all he had to do was stand here and hold Jimmy, to feel that slender body in his arms, to know that they were together, that they were still united as one.
This time, the silence actually felt right.***