Don't believe in no-win scenarios

Captain James Tiberius Kirk of the ISS Enterprise has quite the reputation and one that extends beyond Starfleet, beyond even the Federation.

He is known as a hero. A respected man of considerable talent for his chosen occupation who can manage even the impossible. The dedication he has for his crew and the willingness to put himself at risk to protect them.

People don't talk about the reputation Kirk had before Starfleet so much, unless its to make lewd insinuations about how the captain spends his free time considering his actions before and in the Academy. They don't talk about the ego Jim has, or the arrogance so much. Nor the confrontational personality he has. For all the talk about Jim Kirk, he most certainly isn't perfect.

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"Excuse me?"

Something about the tone of Jim's voice has made the bridge go silent. This isn't nearly as frequent of a thing as when Jim first took command of this ship, but a sense of tension has filled the room. Everyone knows where this is going.

"Had you not failed to read the dossier I provided to you at the beginning of shift, you would be aware that I have already selected the landing party for this mission and your assistance on the surface is not required at this time. The mission will be of a research nature, and as such it is only logical to have the away team made up of Science Officers."

Despite the slight annoyance of having to repeat himself to the Captain, there truly is no malice in Spock's actions. Jim knows he's not trying to pick a fight, and his reasoning is perfectly sound. He knows even before he gets up that he should drop it. Admit his first officer is right and get on with his work. It's not as though he doesn't get time away form the ship often enough with his frequent trips to the Nexus.

Only.

He's been restless ever since the Nexus was attacked and there hasn't been as much of a chance for him to actually see the people he goes to the Nexus to see much in the wake of everything that's happened. Jim had been looking forward to their mission here as something to do to take his mind off of digging too hard into the what ifs of their most recent encounter with Khan Noonien Singh.

"I'm going, Spock." He doesn't need to be babied or sheltered on the ship. Something in him bristles at the mere suggestion of it.

"Your presence would be unnecessary and impeding of the nature of our mission."

Impeding?

Later, Jim will feel shame over how fast he reacts. Over how quickly his shoulders tense and he outright bristles at the statement.

"Oh, obviously. Why don't you go take care of the whole damn thing while you're at it, since I'm such a burden on your work mister Spock."

"Jim--"

"You don't get to 'Jim' me after the shit you just pulled in front of the entire damn crew, Commander. Dismissed. Go have fun with your plants. Some of us have actual work to do." The later is nearly immediately after Spock has left the bridge. It's not the way Uhura glares at him either. Spock is his friend and Jim knows he's right. Knows Spock is just looking out for his safety after...

Fuck, he's such a child.

"This is Kirk to Engineering. Mister Scott, I need you to take the Con." Jim can't deal with everyone walking on eggshells around him after his tantrum right now. He needs to go to the gym and blow off some steam. When Spock returns, Jim will apologize. One of these days, his quick temper is going to get the better of him at the entirely wrong time. A captain shouldn't be a breath away from shouting at his first officer, especially when the other is right and especially not hoping the other will try to choke him again just to give Jim an excuse to throw a punch. At a man Jim considers one of his closest friends.

Sometimes, he thinks Spock is lucky. Having feeling royally sucks.

A harvest moon hangs heavy in the sky this night.

Jim's learned his lesson from last time. He made sure everything would be good to go well beforehand. No weather foul ups, nothing to give him any cause to worry. He's brought Felix here before, but the trip to the farmhouse is different this time. He's not trying to impress Felix (any more than usual at least), not fretting over eight million different plans and presents.

Jim's taking Felix home.

He doesn't tell Felix it's where they're going after the Halloween party winds down, just PINpoints them to the pathway in front of his house and holds out a hand for Felix to take. Leads him around the house rather than inside, out back to where Jim's laid out several blankets and his father's old telescope in the grass. He did think ahead enough to stock his kitchen with food and drink, but aside from that?

It's just Jim, Felix, and that expanse of sky above them. Jim chuckles and brushes his fingers over Felix's cheek.

"Happy anniversary, by the way."

He remembers being caged.

Chained up, drugged. Bound to the other captain who couldn't have been more wrong about who he was. He was still funny from his capture, and hungry. Poor circumstances that lead to Jim's survival instincts going into overdrive. Whatever it took to not remember Tarsus IV.

Jim doesn't even remember losing. Just his pulse thundering in his ears and the rattle of the chain. Just getting swept away in a haze of violence and panic that left him mentally shut down. What he had wasn't a fight. Jim Kirk actually enjoys a good fight now and again. This had been something else entirely.

He hadn't been on control. Hadn't even been altogether present.

And now....

Everything hurts, but especially his head. His ears are ringing and it's difficult to keep anything in focus. There are voices, faint and vaguely familiar but Jim can't concentrate on them just yet. All he can manage is to groan and curl up on himself. He's on one of the many Nexus couches in the Plaza, where many of the captured and injured were taken for treatment after people had stormed the Arena to rescue those who had been taken against their will and put a stop to all of this.

Han's certain to find backwater pubs that remind him of his cantina days on the Outer Rim if he looks hard enough for them. The Nexus has a nigh infinite amount of variety and content that way. But if Jim's gonna take folks out for a drink, it's less 'seedy cantina' and more 'rural town bar' in ways of atmosphere. Blame his farm boy upbringing.

Lou's is just such a place, smelling of cigarettes and some kind of otherwordly smoke as Jim pulls the door open and holds it after he walks in for Han to follow him. There's a pool table in the corner and a dartboard on the wall. Dim lighting and cramped table arrangement really doing the hole in the wall feel justice.

Normally Jim would head right up to the bar so he could mingle and maybe pick up a friend or two when he's through. He hasn't done that in a while though. And he wants to talk to Han and that probably would be better done at a quiet corner table, away from any curious ears. It's warm and out of the weather, and Jim's already grabbing a drink menu and tossing it Han's way.

"Here we are."

It's well past two am by the time Jim and Verity make it back to the tower. They're both tired and Jim's already had a mug of that dream-free tea Viatorus was kind enough to provide for him during his meet up with Schon earlier.

He'll awkwardly give Verity a hug before waving her off to bed and heading back to the couch to try and get some semblance of sleep, if only to make it tomorrow all the quicker.

Jim is not expecting to see his body perched on the end of the couch, looming at him in the darkness.

"Okay, what the fuck now??"

There's an awful lot of commotion going on in the tower. Sounds like Ixis has his tail in a knot over something or another. It almost sounds like he's arguing with someone. Guess he's going to head up to his quarters and sulk for a good while.

Typical, right?

Except 'Ixis' isn't upstairs at all. He's looking around the entryway on the ground floor, scowling at everything he sees with equal contempt.

"Well, this is just great." Honestly? Jim doesn't know what to do. He's got his phone in one of the magi's pockets. He supposes the first thing he should do is text Verity and see where she's at. Being all but herded to the ground floor before Ixis went storming upstairs hasn't left him with any more answers than when this whole fiasco started.

Wow, trying to grab his phone with his claw hand isn't going very well. He's just standing there like a doof.

It's like dreaming that you're falling and then waking up. That's exactly what it feels like. But the two of them are no longer in the Nexus. There's a faint hum underfoot and the floor is hard under the thin carpeting.

"--and here we are." Jim lets go of Felix's hand and gives the other a smirk. "That location brings you directly to my quarters on the ship. Which well, is your third present. The last one is this way. Good thing you've got your new digs, yeah?" Jim heads to the door and presses a few buttons.

The door opens with a whisper. "I'm gonna show you the best view you'll ever see."

Usually Jim's on the other end of this situation, leaving a lady to guess his intentions and plans. Keeping people at arms length is safer. So why wait around at a winding down party for a guy he's just met?

For one, Schon is a friend and Jim was legitimately excited to come to this. For two, Felix has been incredibly fun to chat and dance with and not at all what the Captain expected. For three, open bar.

By now, Jim is well into tipsy and enjoying watching the little floating candles around the bar area. He's glad he came to this shindig, even if Felix doesn't come back. All he'd have been doing instead of this was sulking in his quarters alone like he does every other holiday.

He'd come back, wouldn't he? Shit, Jim downs his drink. Why does he care? He had fun. It should be good enough.

"Give me another." He murmurs to the barkeep.

The good thing about being in a weird multiverse meeting point is that there's no shortages of doors to other worlds and places. There's a particular cafe Jim has frequented more than a few times since he's ended up in this place.

Good of place to go as any. At the very least, it's off the beaten path and there's coffee and real tea. The ship might have been a more appropriate place to take her, but replicated is not decent, as far as Jim is concerned.

Once they've got some drinks (black coffee for Jim) they can pick a quiet spot in a corner somewhere to catch up.

"Hopefully the tea here is decent. I haven't had it myself, but. Better than what we've got on the Enterprise, that's for sure."

There's a message stuck to a door, last door on the left of a certain apartment complex in a certain New York. It's replicated paper, definitely a different sort of feel to it than one would expect in 2013.

Paper isn't the preferred message delivery device in the 2250s. Replicated paper and replicated ink.

Clint

Head to my place when you get this. Bring Ver.

Bones knows you're coming, he'll get you where you need to go. Don't bring your bow, we're not leaving home.

See you soon hopefully,

Jim


((Feel free to post without me until you guys actually get through the door to the Enterprise. I'm stuck in training/meetings and won't have another solid break for 2.5/3 hours from now. Will post actively after that time.))