kirktastic | [Risa, Day 3] -- [Suraya Bay] -- [Spock and Kirk]

Current Location: Risa, Suraya Bay

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[Risa, Day 3] -- [Suraya Bay] -- [Spock and Kirk]

After making plans with Spock and definitely having worked on his tan, Kirk showered, got himself cleaned up, and dressed. A casual sort of button up shirt and dark jeans, something simple and easy for vacation, but if the place was a little fancier, it'd be fine buttoned up fully. He left the top buttons open, for now.

Without the cycle swiped by Bones, Kirk left early so he could walk into town. Not a long walk, about fifteen minutes, but it was made easy by getting a ride from a group of very lovely ladies. He made his goodbyes (not before slipping them his comm information with a promise for fun), and walked along the boardwalk. Almost on intuition, thinking about the dream last night, he stopped in a store briefly and made a quick purchase. With the bag in tow, he headed for the bay proper and looked for Spock.

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Kirk turned his head back to that single star that hung on the horizon, so faint against the dying sun but it would be brilliant set in the night time sky. "But the stars are still there, always there, even if we can't see them. We still have to trust that they're there." Words were coming, ones that he didn't even fully understand but meant. A bright smile touched his lips.

"Even when the sun rises and blots out the stars and they can't be seen anymore, we have to believe they're there. Just when it seems like there's nothing to guide us, the night time comes and we can see them again. Never completely alone... just gotta trust the stars are there, even when we can't see them."

He felt that amusement coming up again, as he glanced sideways to Jim. That smile. It held his attention for a moment or two, and then he glanced back up at the evening sky.

"You have never been more correct, Jim." Spock folded his arms loosely over his chest, hand wrapping over his elbow. He can accept this truth, here, where there wasn't anyone else to hear it.

Kirk fell silent again, glancing down between them. He eyed the strawberries and smiled slightly to himself, snagging one and biting into it with the near-obscene enjoyment from before. "...you ever used to sit out and watch the stars?" Kirk asked after he had swallowed. "Or is that too illogical for a Vulcan to do?" A gentle tease, but also giving Spock a way out of the personal question.

Two left. At least he managed to keep his attention away from Kirk as he ate it, this time, though his memory provided the visual in absence of his observation. "I could observe them clearly from my home on Vulcan." It was less painful to regard it now, as the sky he carried with him lessened the feeling of the planet actually being gone. "It was logical to become acquainted their layout and the locations of various Federation planets. However, they lack the mystique humans commonly attribute to them. A star is recognized for what it is."

"...She used to sit outside and watch them. Vulcans might not find anything mystical about them, but she did. On the balcony..." And sometimes, fath--Sarek would join her. There was a very clear memory of that in his mind. She would look for Earth. It was the first star Spock had memorized the location of.

To hear Jim bring up a memory of his own was strange, to say the least, but in this situation, not entirely unwelcome. "How often did you survey the stars?" He inquired. He had little knowledge of the activities of kids out in the Iowan countryside.

"I hated the stars." Kirk answered honestly. "...Stole my Dad from me, then stole my mother too." No anger in those words, just acceptance. "That didn't stop me from looking up at them. Trying to see if I could find something that wasn't there." A tiny smirk touched his lips, but it was sad at best.

"...tell me about your mother?" He asked almost softly, feeling the wind briefly kick up a bit of salt water droplets in their direction.

His thoughts paused on the subject. He hadn't put any conditions on his inquiry; he could pick any particular detail he wanted.

"She remained human, despite all of her years on Vulcan," He murmured, but it lacked any derisive tone, instead, there was a hint of expected fondness. "She learned our customs, but she applied them uniquely to our household, integrating Earth customs as well." Spock took another strawberry in his hand, but didn't eat it just yet, only admiring the smooth curve of the chocolate over the fruit.

"What kinda customs?" Kirk asked out of curiosity, trying to add information to the mother-woman that he would have given anything to have as a child. He took another bite of the strawberry that was slowly oozing pinkish juice down his fingers.

Slowly, between his thumb and his fingers, he turned the strawberry counter-clockwise. "Culinary, mostly. There is a sandwich she often made using a peanut spread complemented by a fruit jam. She would also give me material gifts on my birthday."

The so-simple memories just made Kirk's smile return full force. "...Peanut butter and jelly." He could have laughed, but it was surprisingly sweet that that was what Spock thought of. "...must have been wonderful." He said warmly, meaning it.

"She would make it if I otherwise did not want to eat during the day." He turned the strawberry clockwise between his fingers, still not eating it yet. "I recall working on a research project, during which she was particularly insistent that I consume it."

The smile only grew in size and in warmth. It showed a human side to Spock to hear him talk about that sort of thing. "...its the little things people do to show they care." Kirk said quietly, watching as the other stars slowly started to appear.

"Yes." A small agreement, barely murmured. For the briefest moment, it felt as if his head was elevated, before it settled on a just-distinguishable float. He brought the strawberry to his lips and took a small bite.

"...She taught me how to play chess, as well." Spock looked up at the sky.

"Hmm." A tiny sound of surprise. "I would have assumed it was your father." He admitted, thinking about it. "Does he play?"

"He does, on occasion, though he was more concerned with teaching me kal-toh." He wondered for a moment whether he could purchase a set around here, or commission one on short demand, though he doubted if he would ever play it on this ship. With his counterpart, perhaps, and maybe if Jim was particularly masochistic. "She claimed that I needed to learn a simpler game to set the foundation of my understanding. We began with a two-dimensional set."

Edited 2009-08-17 01:11 (UTC)

"Mmm, I did too." Kirk murmured thoughtfully. "What's kal-toh?" Asked in curiosity, which definitely seemed to be a theme for the night. "Sam... that's my brother... he taught me how to play."

He blinked, and glanced over to Jim; he hadn't heard him mention his brother very often, if at all--but he knew one did exist. Starfleet files could come in handy like that, as well as A7 computer degrees. "...It is a puzzle between two or more people, where you begin with a pile of metal rods and endeavour to place them into the shape of two icosidodecahedra, one nested inside another. The person to place the last connecting rod wins."

Kirk thought about that for several moments. "I don't get it. If its two people, wouldn't the winner always be the person who went second?" A quick calculation, "And three people, the person who went first?" At least, that was how it seemed in his head. Wouldn't it be like en-nee-miny-mo, where if you went back and forth with two people, the second person pointed at always won?

Spock realized that he had consumed too much chocolate already to be annoyed at him for simplifying the game. He took another small bite of the strawberry he held in his hand, pushing his potential bad mood farther and farther away. "You are assuming that there is only one method to construct the shape. That is similar to assuming there is only one set of steps available to achieve checkmate, and that whoever choices black is the certain winner."

"You find one of these things, you teach me how to play, then you can show me." Kirk just gave a little grin, still completely relaxed. "I'd like to learn. And if we can't find out... we'll replicate up the pieces."

At first he doubted whether the rods for the game can be so easily replicated, but he has the entire science division of the Enterprise at his disposal. If he couldn't manufacture several dozen steel rods that were able to hook together through magnetism and then some, he should just resign his post now. "...of course." He wondered how much patience Kirk would have before he got frustrated with the game. The light of the two suns began to disappear fully behind the horizon, leaving a smattering of bright stars across the sky and two emerging moons.

Probably wouldn't take long.

"Hey, Spock?" He asked quietly, but continued right on. "...remember how you told me you could teach me how to shield myself? Would you still be willing to teach me? ...Later, and what not. When we're back up on the ship and everything."

Another bite of the strawberry. "I would be willing," He agreed (and he wondered, for a moment, whether he even has the capacity to refuse, after--this was his third, strawberry, right?). "You are already aware that it is more matter of you finding the time to concentrate on learning. Though it would be an useful skill for you to have, as a captain, on this mission, even to the most basic degree." The entirety of the five-year mission. Not all species were conveniently psi-null.

"I'll make time. This is important." Kirk said with a small shrug. "...thanks, though. I just hope I don't end up driving you nuts." A laugh came with that - he had no idea how he'd take to this mental work out.

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