The students of Starfleet Academy weren't stupid, not by a long shot. After all, how could they be? The best peacekeeping and humanitarian armada around didn't let just anybody in. So when an Academy student told you something, it was probably for the best that you believed it. Academy students were also extremely perceptive, picking up on the smallest glances, touches, and movements of the eyes. No surprise, right? How could these students become future diplomats for the United Federation of Planets if they weren't perceptive? Half the time, Academy students knew things about other students before they ever became public, if they were ever even publicly acknowledged.
It was no big shock that the rumour mill started churning when two new students came in on one of the late shuttles in the year 2255. Their names? James T. Kirk and Leonard H. McCoy. Acquaintances from the time they stepped off the shuttle, roommates by the end of the day, friends by the end of the week, and best friends by the end of the second week of school. All eyes were on them as the new school year got underway. Although nobody commented it on it to their faces, almost every student in their first year guessed that Kirk and McCoy were too close to be just friends. As any Starfleet Academy student would've told you had you asked, James T. Kirk and Leonard McCoy were in love. Even if they didn't know it yet.
Everyone noticed how much good they seemed to do each other. James T. Kirk looked like shit on his first day. Beat all to hell and with bloodstains down the front of his shirt, he was the object of several stares and whispers. Everyone knew about Jim Kirk and how he was the son of George Kirk, Federation hero. The stories of the bar fight that he'd gotten into at the Shipyard Bar were common for the first few days of the year. Stories of his criminal record were just as common, and it wasn't long before copies of that record circulated around the school, getting sent from PADD to PADD. Every student, teacher, and high ranking official thought that Kirk would be out on his ass before they reached half term.
Leonard H. McCoy didn't look much better than Kirk on his first day. Drunk and crazed looking, McCoy had tried to lock himself in the shuttle's bathroom, wound up forcibly dragged out of the small room by a flight attendant. Aviaphobia, he claimed. Fear of dying in something that flies. He was a doctor, he claimed. Just out of a bad marriage and with his life in shambles, nobody expected McCoy to stick around long. Everyone hypothesized that McCoy had only turned to Starfleet because he had nowhere else to go, and that his aviaphobia would keep him from advancing much further within the organization. The common consensus was that McCoy would be out by the end of their first year.
As the year progressed, it became obvious that Kirk and McCoy were going absolutely nowhere. Kirk's behaviour was that of a model student. His grades were through the roof, having received high marks on every assignment, test, and simulation that he did. Although his first few weeks were marred by several bar fights, those quickly faded away and became a relic of the past once McCoy chewed him out enough times. McCoy, on the other hand, seemed to be doing just as well as the other new student. Even though he'd presented himself as a human wreck that day on the shuttle, he acclimated quite well to Academy life. He took on shifts at the campus med bay, excelled in his studies, and even joined a research team devoted to curing some of the Federation's most deadly diseases. McCoy even managed to get his his aviaphobia under control by the end of their first year, and he never once denied that Kirk had quite the hand in helping out with that. Kirk and McCoy were good for each other, and neither student denied it.
Jim and Bones spent every waking moment together when they could. The duo shared several generic classes, and it was no surprise to see them walking together every morning and every afternoon. McCoy and Kirk spent their lunch breaks together, sitting together at a back table in the commissary and talking, exchanging smiles and laughter. What little bit of free time the two had also happened to get spent in each other's presence. The duo would sit together in their room and watch movies, go to the campus library and study, or go out and hit the town together. Although the two had other friends, they never hung out with anybody besides themselves. It was obvious that they didn't want it any other way, even if they refused to admit it.
Leonard McCoy and Jim Kirk were always physically close to each other. Personal space seemed like a concept that didn't exist between Jim Kirk and Leonard McCoy. The two were practically on top of each other at all times. It started with the duo walking in close proximity, practically bumping elbows and arms. It progressed into Jim practically leaning into Bones for support, and it evolved further into the two wrapping their arms around the other's shoulder. Personal space was a foreign concept to the two, but only when it came to each other. Although they practically existed on top of each other, they kept a good amount of space between anybody else they were around.
Everyone noticed how the two couldn't seem to talk about anybody else. Within no time at all, almost every intern and doctor in the school's med bay got tired of hearing about Jim Kirk. McCoy constantly had some anecdote or story to tell about Kirk. For the most part, they always related to something medicinal, although there were a few stories that McCoy seemed to tell simply because they made him happy. The command students also got tired of hearing about Leonard McCoy. Jim only had stories to tell about McCoy and whatever crazy antics they wound up getting into with their free time. It was also noted a great many times that both of them seemed to smile when talking about the other, even if they didn't realize it. Although everyone wanted to hear the two talk about something or someone else, they couldn't help but find it cute.
The two had a whole set of looks and glances that they only used on each other. McCoy and Kirk were masters of non-verbal communication. McCoy had a whole set of glares that could stop Kirk in his tracks, preventing the younger cadet from doing something stupid or potentially disastrous. Kirk had a whole set of glances that were solely dedicated to getting McCoy to do some stupid thing with him. The duo shared a set of glances that could convey entire conversations in just a few simple flicks of the eye. One time, when a fellow cadet called them out on it, McCoy and Kirk simply turned to each other with a smile and shared a glance that seemed to imply "Oh shit, we've been caught."
Jim Kirk was allowed to call Leonard McCoy "Bones." Jim Kirk had been calling Leonard McCoy "Bones" since the day they got off the shuttle. Even when he was talking about McCoy to other students, he only wanted to call him Bones. McCoy pretended to mind, but it was obvious in his eyes that he'd taken quite the shining to the nickname. What he did mind, however, was when other students tried to call him Bones. With a sharp tongue lashing, McCoy would make it clear that anyone besides Jim only happened to be allowed to call him Leonard, Leo, Dr. McCoy, or some variant of those three names. Bones, it seemed, was reserved for Jim Kirk's usage only.
Yes, every student at the Academy knew that Kirk and McCoy were in love, even if they themselves didn't know it. It was no big surprise then, when some unsuspecting student went to retrieve one of his possessions from an empty classroom and wound up finding Jim and Bones up against a wall, kissing each other like there was no tomorrow. It also wasn't a surprise when the duo made their relationship public the next week, although they were a bit surprised when every comment they got was along the lines of "Finally, we wondered when you two were gonna get together." Yes, every student at the Academy knew that Kirk and McCoy were in love, even if they themselves didn't know it until halfway into their second year.