Growing Shadows (open thread, tagging boldygoing for sure)

[smartass_captain]

George Kirk is a Starfleet legend for the Federation. A hero to his crew. A good husband and father to his family, or so Jim Kirk has always been told.

The shadow he cast even in death swallowed Jim up before he was even old enough to understand why his mother cried whenever he smiled a certain way. Refused to look at him or even come back to Earth more than she had to while he was young. He tried to fight it, rebel against it. Baring his teeth. Willing to become the antithesis of George Kirk so long as it meant someone would see him. Anyone. It didn't matter who.

To a young James Kirk even being labeled a criminal was better than being labeled as George Kirk's Son.

Pike ruined all of that. Drug Jim right back into that shadow and told him to embrace it. Encompass it. Dared him to be better. An impossible challenge surely. Every struggle Jim waded through made in the gloom of a reputation he could never hope to live up to. When he finally came out the other side and stepped into the light again a year older than his father ever got to be he was lost. His own accomplishments and reputation stood on their own merit but to what end?

"Dammit, I thought I was past all of this."

Thought he'd moved on since arriving in Yorktown. Found a place all his own that he belonged, no matter what George's reputation was. It turns out self awareness can only go so far. Meeting a Norse God who wears your old man's face isn't the sort of thing he'd been prepared for. He has a pile of ignored PINpoint messages staring accusingly up at him from the screen. Jim's been ignoring people for the last few days since his run in with Thor in the Nexus.

Some people are harder to dodge than others, of course. He picks up the device and starts to rifle through everything he's missed.

Comments

Beard Jim

[smartass_captain]

Hey, when you see this give me a reply. We need to meet up somewhere and--"

Talk. But how likely was the younger Jim to reply if he said that? Pretty likely but he'd be anxious as fuck over it. They never asked like that. He tries again.

--and play some chess. Getting my ass handed to me last time isn't sitting well.

[coldsong]

Well, if there's anyone who knows about living in the shadow of a family member, it's Loki. He's handled it really really badly, but in a lot of ways the odds were stacked against him from the start, too. If he knew where Jim's mind was at, he might even have some sympathy. A little. Sympathy isn't his strong point.

He doesn't, though. All he knows is that Kirk had an unusually intense reaction to his brother. Jealousy, sure, he gets that. Thor is an impressive physical specimen, and, damn him, he's a genuinely good person, too. (That's the part the really gets to Loki, in the end. If Thor would just be the stupid, reckless, arrogant, entitled brick of meat Loki accuses him of being, he wouldn't be so frustrated.) One doesn't just go pale staring at someone because they're that physically attractive, though. Not in Loki's experience. There is something else there, and he wants to know what.

The text comes in from a PINpoint number, one that is unfamiliar to Jim:

Are you free to speak with me? It is not a matter of immediate importance, but I would request your advice regarding my brother.


A break between messages. Then:


My apologies. This is Thor.