The sound of typing starts to wake James up, and he finds himself laying on his back instead of curled around a certain genius. But he's generally a very light sleeper so he's very impressed when he opens his eyes and sees Q sitting up in bed slightly with his laptop propped up on his legs. And when did he even get his laptop? He sighs a little, smirking as he watches the entranced young man. "You. Are supposed to be resting." he says before he stretches a little, noticing he's getting lazy when he figures out he's not 100% instantly awake like he usually is.
"I am resting. I am in bed, I got myself some more fluids, I'm all wrapped up in covers despite the fact that it's a bit stifling in here. I think the air conditioning needs to be turned up." Q says calmly, sounding a little weak still and generally stuffed up but otherwise sounding better than he did earlier, at least until he coughs. Once the fit is over, he turns back to his laptop and continues his typing.
Spotting the water that Q does indeed have on his bedside, James nods a little. "You're stealthier than I thought.. I'm a very light sleeper." He says as he looks at Q, forcing himself to sit up and lean against the headboard to watch what Q is doing. "Are you working?" He asks, skeptically arching an eyebrow, his tone definitely not approving as he continues to watch the sick young genius.
Q lets out a snort, then he coughs a little before he goes back to working. "Honestly, it was relatively easy. And yes, this is a bit of code I was working on before I left. Since I am trapped here in a monsoon and a bit miserable, it seems logical I could get some work done." he notes, glancing over at Bond for a moment, some of his detached demeanor back it seems.
Shaking his head for a few moments, James reaches out and he puts his hand on top of one of Q's wrists. "You're not here to work, Q. Well, we were originally but the mission is over now. You can relax. R can handle Q-branch for a while, surely." He says quietly as he watches the younger man's profile, reaching his free hand up and resting it against Q's forehead. "Your fever appears to have broken at least.." he says quietly, sounding a little relieved about that.
Moving his head away from Bond's hand a little, he goes back to typing. "Well, it's only a few more days until we'll be back, so there's no reason not to finish up a few things until I get back." He says quietly, able to continue his work even with Bond's hand on his wrist, since it doesn't really restrict anything.
"Mmm.. I wouldn't count on our return so soon.." James says casually before he sighs. "Don't make me confiscate your laptop, Q." He scolds the other man lightly, shaking his head. "Why don't you tell me how you learned to surf, instead?" He asks, lifting one of Q's hands away from the keyboard, in both of his, leaning over and giving the back of it a soft kiss.
Finally conceding that he's not going to get any work done while James is awake and bored, Q saves his work and logs out of his system before he closes the lid to his laptop, and looks over at James. "I told you, I had a life before MI6." He considers for a few moments. "As you might imagine, I graduated school early, and had my pick of universities. I didn't want to stay in England, so I went to America, and I spent a year at a university in California where I learned to surf, before I went to MIT." He says casually as he looks over at Bond. "MIT was a bit like working as Quartermaster, in fact. I had access to a great deal of materials, and a lot of leeway to use those things as I saw fit. Of course, as head of Q-branch I can work on more dangerous things, and the parts I can obtain are more expensive." he notes as he thinks about it, tilting his head back against the headboard to look at the ceiling. Something then seems to soak into his sick brain, and he looks over at James for a moment. "Wait.. you think we'll be here longer?" And of course that connects with who James Bond is as a person, and his eyes narrow in suspicion as he looks at the older man. "James.. what did you do?"
The innocent look on the agent's face almost says it all, but James smiles a little. "Nothing illegal, nothing that will even really get me in trouble." He says thoughtfully, keeping a hold of one of Q's hands. "So you learned to surf when you were in California for a year." he says before he smiles a little. "I never took you for a sportsman, Q." he says in an attempt to change the subject.
"Mmm. There are very few sports that I excel at. I did dabble in gymnastics when I was younger, but that was a long time ago.." Q says thoughtfully, then adds, "That and swimming were the two things that I appeared to be uniquely suited to." he turns his head back away from James to stare across the room, before looking out the door to one of the windows in the living area, watching what's left of the rain which is just a light drizzle.
"Gymnastics.. well, doesn't that bring up all sorts of interesting mental pictures.." James says playfully, smirking a little, shifting his hold on Q's hand until their fingers are intertwined. "Of course, I now must see you on a surf board.. that's just too good to pass up." His tone remains light and playful, even though he's hoping that he will get to see that because Q will be much better.
"No." Q says almost immediately without looking at James.
"No what, I didn't even ask you anything." James points out, shifting a little so he can reach up and brush some hair back from Q's forehead, tucking it behind his ear in a slow, gentle gesture.
Rolling his eyes behind his glasses, Q lifts his free hand to grasp his glasses on top and bottom of the lens, adjusting it how it's sitting on his nose before his hand falls away. "I am not as flexible as I used to be, nor am I going to show you anything or dress up in spandex." He says as he glances at James out of the corner of his eye, smirking a little before he shakes his head slowly.
"Hmmm. Anything else I should know about you, dear Quartermaster?" James asks playfully as he looks at the younger man, since this entire trip has been a revelation and he wants to know as much as he can about the other man.
Q considers the question for a few moments, tilting his head to the side, his hand closing a little around James' hand. "I quite enjoy music, and I tend to sing along to it a bit. I've been told that I have a good voice." He says as he looks at his closed laptop, stroking his free hand over the case slowly, fingers tapping out an unheard rhythm, perhaps a sequence of key strokes, it's hard to tell when you're talking to Q. "I don't get a chance to listen to quite as much music as I used to, what with you double-oh's in my ear and spending so many hours at Q-branch. And who knows what my minions would think of me if they caught me singing.." He scoffs, shaking his head a little for a few moments as he stares at the top of his laptop case.
"Yes, they must never know that you're human." James says with a soft smile as he regards his - and when did he start referring to Q as 'his'? - boffin. "Better for them to think you're a cyborg who can only be appeased, and prevented from taking over the world, if he's constantly supplied with Earl Grey." He teases playfully.
"Human cyborg relations." Q mutters mostly to himself before he snickers a little. "Yes, perhaps they do think something of the sort. But it hardly matters. And if you insist, I will sing for you when I have a proper lung capacity back. In other words, after this damned cough goes away." He mutters, annoyed as he tries to take a deep breath and it dissolves into a coughing fit.
Rubbing Q's back through the coughing to try and soothe him, James then slides his hand up into the young Quartermaster's hair, stroking through it gently and massaging his scalp lightly at the same time/
"I am sure you sing like a nightingale."
Ok.. so I just found this little clip of Ben Whishaw singing in The Tempest, and I had to put it in. He has a really good voice, even if the clip isn't that long. Besides, can't you just see University-aged Q rocking along to music as he hacks, and singing along to it? Everyone has their quirks. :)
My Bond muse seems to have won out tonight, so I hope you all enjoy this fluffy little chapter.
Reviews/comments welcome!