[HALLOWEEN PARTY!] -- [Open to ALL PLAYERS!] -- [IC Event!]

[kirktastic]

It had gone out as an announcement over a month ago, sent to every padd and station by one very excited Captain. A Halloween party! Must come in costume, must have fun!

Despite the hell that had been going on for the last few days, Kirk was determined that it still would happen. After a long discussion with the ship's quartermaster, along with a small army of crewmen who wanted to help, the largest rec room was decorated.

A huge buffet table had been prepared by the galley and sat spread out, all in Halloween theme. Green punch with floating eyeballs, cake decorated to look like a gravestone, a huge bowl of candy, a holographic severed hand that was scurrying around on the table top. There was even a bar set up with quite an expanse of liquor that had been secured on Risa.

There was a small seating area off to one corner, a huge dance floor, tables spread out for a real meal, and a small corner set up for music.

(OOC: Just like the thread with Risa... this is a party that's 'open' from now until Sunday night at midnight! Go nuts! This IS supposed to be IC, like the Risa party, so keep that in mind!)

Comments

[john-grimm.livejournal.com]

John took a step back, letting go of the ripped fabric in his hands. He stared at Kirk, just looked at him.

" I.....I'm so sorry." As he spoke, he kept stepping back, holding his hands up. "I-just.... please. Don't corner me. I don't-I'm not..... There was a time, when I would have snapped to attention, and hung on your every word. But bad shit, like the bad shit that fucked up your hand.... Things are different now. That bad shit? It changed me."

He was far enough away now that Kirk probably couldn't hear him. ""

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Kirk stepped right after him. There was something here, something that he wasn't sure what it was, but that he instinctively knew he might be able to do something about. "John. John. I can't tell you what's changed. All I can know now is the person I see right in front of me. And that person? He's like a scared animal who wants someone to pay attention to him but is terrified to."

He never let his eyes drift away, kept his voice calm but firm. He had no idea what he was doing.

[john-grimm.livejournal.com]

John stopped. This was... different. Kirk was trying to persuade him to talk, to coax him out of... whatever this was. Even after he'd disobeyed a direct order, displayed signs of disrespect, possibly even mutiny, to a superior.

It struck him. Kirk wasn't Sarge. He wasn't going to be shot in the throat. Not yet.

He crumpled under the weight of that revelation, that he could just let go, follow orders whole-heartedly, trust his commanding officer without a grain of salt, not have to side-step questions that hit too close to home....

He sat down hard on the ground, eyes wide, mouth slightly open.

""

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

The sitting down shocked the fuck out of him. Holy shit, I broke him. Was Kirk's very first thought. The sir was another huge shock. "...John?" He asked unsurely, not knowing what had gone through John's mind to get such a reaction.

Normally he would have reached out and touched the man, squeezed his shoulder or something, but he didn't know if that would end in tragedy or not.

[john-grimm.livejournal.com]

John climbed unsteadily to his feet, and snapped to attention, bringing his arm up to salute Kirk.

"Sir, may I ask a question, sir."

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

The salute didn't even make sense for a moment as it was nothing like any he had seen before, but Kirk got it. "Sure, anything." Kirk gestured a little for John to continue.

[john-grimm.livejournal.com]

John took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Sir, if I were to hypothetically disobey orders in a dangerous situation, would you, hypothetically, shoot me in the throat for insubordination?" He didn't wait for an answer.

"And, sir, if I were to be keeping a secret that could cost the life of every person on this ship, and you knew, would you push me until I broke?"

He couldn't stop himself. It was like it was pouring out of him.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Would he what?!

"John." Kirk blinked in shock. "I'm not ever going to shoot you in the throat unless you were... I can't even think of a reason that I ever would. Secondly, I trust you to tell me a secret that would put this crew in danger. We're not torturers."

[john-grimm.livejournal.com]

"Sir, if I were to refuse to tell you until I trusted you fully, sir, what would you hypothetically do. Sir."

He was pushing it. He felt like a child. Dammit, he was over two hundred and fifty years old. He shouldn't be this immature.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

"...I'm a twenty-five year old Captain. I don't even think Starfleet fully trusts me, and they gave me this ship. I... I will do everything I can to try and earn your trust, but... I need to be able to trust you, too." Kirk wasn't sure where he was going. It was like walking through a dark place with only a shitty flashlight. Almost everything was dark and he was hoping he didn't trip and fall.

[john-grimm.livejournal.com]

John paused, thinking.

"Good enough."

He sunk out of attention, shaking out his shoulders and standing normally. "I guess we should talk, huh?"

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

"Yea." Kirk looked around, then asked, "You want a drink? There's conference rooms around here we could talk. Somewhere quiet and less... party." Plus the idea of sitting down sounded good, after that.

[john-grimm.livejournal.com]

"Sure, whatever." He stared down at his boots. He could feel the panic at the back of his brain, the voice that shouted, "Don't give in! You can't trust command! They'll betray you in end. They're evil, remember?" But it was far away. He could easily ignore it.

"Lead on, Kid."

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

In the end, John and Kirk ended up in a small conference room with a pair of cold beers. Kirk felt half deaf after the noise of the party when sitting in this silence. "So."

[john-grimm.livejournal.com]

John placed the beer on the table without drinking any. He slid it over Kirk's way.

"You're gonna want that as well, Kid. I've got quite the story to tell. Possibly some demonstration, too."

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Kirk leaned back in his chair, taking his own beer and taking a sip, "I've got all night and day and however long until they finally deem me fit to take over my ship again, so my attention's all yours."

[john-grimm.livejournal.com]

"I was born in 2020. My parents were scientists, my dad was an archeologist and part-time biologist, and my mom was a geneticist and an anthropologist as a hobby. They had two kids, twins. My sister and I. Her name was Samantha." He thinks about his awkward meeting with Tina, and then pushes it out of his mind. He'll torture himself over that some other time.

"Six years after I was born, something was discovered in Nevada. They called it the Ark. After much trial and error... lots and lots of error, the government determined that it was a teleportation device. Hurled your ass faster than light, all the way to Mars."

"On Mars, there were ruins. And ruins lead to fact, right? No one knew anything about the Ark, or Mars, so they decided to dig. And that's where my parents came in."

He has to stop for a second. Hearing himself describe things that had eventually led up to the events that had changed his life so clinically....... strange.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Kirk listened in absolute curious rapture of the story, leaning forward. "2026..." He thought about it, "Hadn't discovered faster then light technology yet. Didn't happen until 2063." He rubbed his chin, "Never heard anything about an arc or ruins on Mars. So what were the ruins about?"

Pause.

"Wait. Wait."

He thought about this all again.

"...You were born in 2020? Shit, that's some serious time travel. Must be weird, being here. You even know the year?"

[john-grimm.livejournal.com]

John winced. "Well, it wasn't so strange. But, we'll get to that. Anyways, my parents were hired by the government to do some super secret archeological bullshit. I swear to god, I felt like they worked in Jurassic Park, or something." He stops, frowning. "You won't get that reference."

"They never told Sam or I anything about the dig. Orders from the top, right? They would stay on Mars for months, coming back for holidays, or vacations. Sam and I would stay with a sitter from the agency. Later on I found out the agency was government run." He scowled. The Feds had been involved in his life for a long time. He wishes they hadn't.

"When Sam and I were freshmen in high school, we were informed that our parents had.... perished in an accident. And that was it."

"Sam handled it the way normal people do, crying and yelling and crying some more, breaking things sometimes. But I didn't. I got up and left, left the house, the town, the state. I didn't have anything but the clothes on my back, and the change in my pockets. And I'd left Sam on her own."

He froze up, eyes wide, swamped with the ancient guilt that had never truly gone away.

"She never forgave me."

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Kirk closed his eyes for a moment, wishing he knew the other man well enough to offer him a physical comfort. Instead he just nodded, understanding. Sam had done the same thing, after all. He could have said something about that understanding, about knowing the other side, but they just... didn't know each other, yet.

"What happened next, John?" His voice was gentle, but not pitying. He'd never wanted pity and he doubt John did either.

[john-grimm.livejournal.com]

"I joined the Marines. Well, first they made me finish school at this military academy. But I joined up. After four years I got bumped up to second in command of a rapid-response team. At first I thought it was a joke. I mean, how often are you in a squad who's sent in to do the job when no one else can? But that's what we were. A killing machine."

"I stayed in touch with Sam, at first. A phone call here, an email there. But whatever bond we'd had as siblings, as twins, was broken. I lost contact."

"In 2046, our first in command, Sarge, received word that something had happened at Olduvai." He tenses at the word. Just that little word and it all comes back, the heat, the damp, the dark. The death.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

"Olduvai?" Kirk questioned, not knowing the term. He thought about it, then suggested, "...Name of the ruins on Mars?" He took a leap to a possible conclusion.

He shifted, and finally tried offering, "...my brother's name is Sam. We were all we really had as kids, and we did a lot of the same. Ended up completely losing contact with each other."

He hesitated again and looked to John, "...You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."

[john-grimm.livejournal.com]

"Nah, not the ruins. An independently owned and operated research facility, run by the top scientists of their fields. One of whom, was Dr. Sam Grimm."

He shuddered as his mind raced ahead to what had happened in those dark halls. He willed himself to skip over it, get to the end.

"Long story short... I'm immortal. And super-strong. And super-fast." He'd rather answer questions than continue this painful monologue.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Silence.

"Immortal." In that 'I don't believe that' tone. He had a feeling he knew what happened to Sam, if John skipped over so much of it.

[john-grimm.livejournal.com]

"...Yeah."

He knew what was coming next, but he didn't feel the need to rush it. Demonstrating immortality hurt just as much as it did if you were mortal.