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Title: First Kiss
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Jimmy Palmer/Tim McGee
Fandom: NCIS
Rating: PG-13
Table: 5, 12_stories
Prompt: 3, Kisses
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 around his apartment with a critical eye, wondering what it would look like to someone who had never seen it before. Did it seem too much like a place that a geek would make his home, or did it look like the abode of a somewhat normal person?
Of course, the fact that he had video game magazines on his coffee table rather than large books, not to mention three computers, might have told the most casual observer of his home that he was a computer geek. But that wasn't what worried him the most.
What was Jimmy going to think of the way he lived? He was always alone; he had friends, but most of them were people that he knew via the internet. His co-workers were the closest thing he had to friends who were here in the city, where he could have actual physical contact with them.
Tony always made fun of the fact that he didn't go out much -- hell, he didn't go out at all, unless it was to a gaming arcade or a coffee shop. For the most part, he kept to himself; he'd never been much of a social person, even at the best of times.
What would Jimmy think of that? True, he seemed like a bit of a loner himself, but Tim was sure that pretty much anyone he knew would have more of a social life than he did. Still, Jimmy had really seemed to want to spend time with him, and that was a good start.
At least he knew for a fact that Jimmy was into men; he'd never have guessed that if they hadn't met by chance in the park today. He would have believed in the fallacy of the girlfriend, the broken engagement, the picture that everyone else had of Jimmy Palmer.
What would they think when -- no, if, Time reminded himself firmly -- they found out that he and Jimmy were seeing each other? That was a bridge that they could cross if they came to it, he told himself. And if they were careful, they never would.
But he didn't want to keep his relationship a secret, a voice in the back of his mind piped up. If he kept seeing Jimmy, if tonight wasn't just a dinner date and nothing more, then he would be proud of that fact that he was with someone he cared for. He would want his friends to know.
They couldn't know. It wasn't unheard of for people who worked with NCIS to have relationships; it wasn't even frowned upon, really. But for two men to be involved? That was something he couldn't remember happening. And he was sure that Gibbs wouldn't approve.
Still, Gibbs didn't run his life -- and he was sure that his boss would be the first person to tell him that he should follow his heart. Besides, it wasn't like he spent a lot of time working cases with Jimmy. They didn't even work in the same department, technically.
A knock on the door made him turn around sharply, his eyes widening and his heart pounding in his chest. Jimmy was here; the time for pacing around and wondering if everything was going to work out well was over. Time to move forward into the inevitable.
Taking a deep breath, he headed for the front door, running a hand through his hair to smooth it down before he opened it. A word of greeting was on his lips, but for a moment, when he saw Jimmy standing there, he found that he couldn't move or speak.
He had thought that Jimmy Palmer was a good-looking man the first time they'd met, and that conviction had only grown with time. But somehow, Jimmy looked more gorgeous tonight than Tim had ever thought he could be -- and more desirable.
Tim managed to smile, holding out a hand. "Hey, come on in," he said softly, not trusting his voice for much above a murmur at the moment. He hadn't realized that jeans and a sleeveless button-down shirt could combine to look so completely devastating.
"Hey," Jimmy said with a smile, holding up the bag he was carrying. "I didn't know if it would be appropriate to bring wine, but I did anyway. I hope you like Chardonnay," he said, with a slight frown. "It's always been my favorite. I should have asked you what kind of wine you like."
Tim wasn't listening to Jimmy's explanation about the wine; he was barely hearing anything that had been said. All he could focus on was how good Jimmy looked to him -- and how much he wanted to simply take the other man into his arms and kiss him.
He'd never felt anything like this before with anyone else; there was a desire rising in him that he was almost afraid of. What was he thinking? He couldn't just grab Jimmy and kiss him. That would send his dinner date fleeing for his life.
But it was so hard to keep his hands off Jimmy. He had never wanted to touch anyone this badly before in his life; his hands almost itched to run their fingers through Jimmy's hair, to touch his soft skin. Tim swallowed hard, pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind.
"Chardonnay is great," he murmured, taking the bottle from Jimmy and setting it on the table. "I was just finishing up dinner -- I made fettucine alfredo. I hope you like pasta." He already knew that Jimmy was a pasta fan; they'd talked about it at work before.
Why was he making small talk like this, when what he really wanted to do was ask Jimmy if they had a future together? He had to try to calm himself dow, to get his priorities straight and figure out just what he wanted to talk to Jimmy about tonight.
It was just so hard to concentrate on anything when Jimmy was standing there, looking so utterly gorgeous and smiling at him in that sweet, hesitant way. He'd never wanted to kiss anyone as much as he wanted to kiss Jimmy at this moment.
So why hold back? that insistent little voice in his head whispered. It was eating away at his self-control; one more moment, and he would lean over and brush his lips against Jimmy's. He was going to do just that, unless he backed away from the other man now.
But he wasn't backing away. He was moving closer to Jimmy, doing exactly what his mind told him that he should do; his lips were brushing gently across the softness of Jimmy's mouth, amazed at how incredible those lips felt against his own.
Jimmy's lips were parting under his own; was it his imagination, or was the other man responding to his kiss? He'd half-expected Jimmy to pull away, or to run -- but he was still here, and he was leaning into the kiss as though he didn't want it to end.
His arms were sliding around Jimmy's waist, pulling the other man close; Jimmy was leaning against him, his thin body pliant in Tim's arms. Jimmy's arms were moving around his neck, and he was leaning in closer to kiss the other man again, more firmly and decisively this time.
It didn't seem possible that this could be happening so easily. He hadn't thought that he and Jimmy would share their first kiss for a long time to come; he had expected their relatinship to move slowly, if it moved forward at all. But this was a pleasant surprise.
When they finally drew away from each other after what seemed like a very long time, both men were breathless. It took Tim a few moments to find his voice; when he felt that he could speak, no words came into his mind. All he could do was stare at Jimmy, wide-eyed and speechless.
"Wow," Jimmy said softly, sounding just as breathless as Tim felt. "I always thought you'd be a great kisser, but that far exceeded my expectations. I'm a little bit jealous of anybody you've ever kissed in the past, knowing that they kissed you before I did."
"You don't have anything to be jealous of," Tim whispered, raising a hand to trace the heart-shaped outline of Jimmy's upper lip. "I don't plan on kissing anybody but you from now on. Not ever." He didn't want to kiss anyone else, not after what he and Jimmy had just shared.
Maybe it was his imagination, but that first kiss had felt more spiritual than physical. It was as though a piece of himself that had always been missing had suddenly fallen into place, as if he'd finally found his niche in life and had managed to slip easily into it.
Just like he wanted to slip into Jimmy, that little voice piped up again. Tim hastily squelched it; the last thing he needed to be thinking of now was how much he wanted to be with Jimmy in the physical sense. There would be plenty of time to think about that later.
For the moment, he just wanted to spend a nice relaxing evening getting to know Jimmy better, with the two of them feeling comfortable around each other. This was only the first step, Tim told himself. The rest would come later -- and he already couldn't wait to start taking them.***