kirktastic | [Need to Punch Something] -- [Kirk and Kirk]

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[Need to Punch Something] -- [Kirk and Kirk]

Between finding out about Alex, finding out about Spot, and finding out that the bridge had gotten something from the planet below, Kirk was... well, frustrated wasn't quite the word. Stressed was definitely it, and there was one thing (other then alcohol, and he was refusing to go that low right now) that worked to get him ... okay TWO things including sex, but that wasn't (amazingly) on his mind either.

He wanted to punch something. Hard. Jim sounded like a good idea for a sparring partner right now.

With a fast comm to Jim, he had himself a sparring partner as he got off shift. He went back to his quarters and pulled on the same basic clothing he had worn back at the Academy when teaching classes - no formal gi, just loose shorts and a tee shirt.

He glanced around the gym, wondering if he had beat Jim there. When he didn't spot his counterpart, he found a flat, open spot and started to stretch out. Briefly, he wondered if pulling out safety equipment would be a good idea. At least the gloves. It'd keep his knuckles from ending up with bruises... and putting any on Jim.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I'm 90% sure its intentional. We've gotten signatures that indicate there's technology down there, possibly even warp-technology. Otherwise... we're almost at an unknown. No marking of this planet, not even this system. We're right on the edge of a system we do know, though. It's got dilithium, which means Starfleet's going to want at it. It's almost all water... just little bits of land."

Jim grinned. God, he missed his job. "So," he said. "When are you going down?"

"Right now? ...I can't."

He gave one very pointed look at Jim.

"That's not my fault, Jim," he said calmly. He was pretty sure it wouldn't have stopped him.

"No, it's not. The point I was trying to make is that I can't go. So... maybe another captain should go in my place. Besides, you have about a thousand times my experience doing this."

Jim stared at him, his expression unreadable. "Jim, I..." He paused. "Jim, I appreciate that. I do. But..." He had experience. Kirk needed it. "Are you sure?"

His fingers clenched, "I have to stay here. Watching Nero, making sure he doesn't get at the dilithium? That's more important right now. I... I want to make sure this ship is safe."

Jim didn't say anything. It wasn't his place, and he was grateful, yes, that Kirk had taken his advice. He needed to make his own decisions. Under the circumstances... Jim didn't rightly know what he'd do. It was possible to keep the ship safe without Kirk being on it, on duty, constantly. But he understood.

"I understand," he said quietly. "But are you sure you want to send me in your place?"

"I think you'll do better then I will right now. I don't think... I think I'd just be better not being at the head of a group of people meeting a new species, right now." He glanced up. "When... I know more about what Nero's doing, I'll go down, if we can."

"Okay," Jim said, his eyes warm. "I'd be proud to." He was impressed with Kirk's restrain, not because he didn't think him capable, but because he knew what it took. "Who else you sending?"

"I don't know yet. Uhura, and maybe the female Spock? I need to think on it more.." He laughed, "Our very first meeting with another species. I don't want to screw it up."

"You won't," Jim assured him. "Seriously. We're good at this."

"I'm hoping. ...Crew's really young. ...me too." He shrugged a bit. He knew it was true. "We're all learning together."

"Some of it... you can't train for," Jim said. "You have to do, and that's the only way."

"Do you think I'm doing this wrong?" Kirk looked to Jim, wanting an honest answer. "Keeping an eye on Nero, letting you and my crew handle this? Or... should I go down too?"

Jim watched him seriously, wanting him to know he was taking him seriously. "I don't think there's a precise right and wrong, here," he said at last. "The reason we've got this ship, with all these people, is that everyone contributes something to the team. We're in command--we're not necessarily the one who's supposed to do everything. I know Command wishes I'd stop taking on so much myself. Unnecessary risk, yadda yadda. Then again... I'm good at what I do. And I like it. And we come through stronger than ever. That doesn't mean there aren't others who couldn't handle it just as well, in their own way."

He grinned winningly. "I just have a hard time letting them have all the fun." He sobered. "But you need to decide what you think is best--and then make sure it's true. Or be able to change when the situation demands flexibility."

"I think this choice is right." He reached out, laying a hand on Jim's forearm. "If you went down, with that female Spock, and a good away team? I have no doubt you guys'll set things right. They're reaching out, contacting us... that's important."

"It's our mission," Jim agreed. "And you'd do just as well. I know it. I just... I don't want to take anything away from you. That you'll resent."

"It's not like I won't be down on the planet at all." Kirk gave a little dismissive wave of his hand. "Nothing to resent."

"Okay," Jim said, smiling. "Just making sure. I want things to be... open between us," he said. They shared so much already. "What do you think of the new Spock?"

"...Well, I've started calling her Gracen." He grinned, "It's her middle name, if you can believe that, and she agreed to it. A whole lot easier then having half a million Spocks on this ship. She..." He wasn't entirely sure how to put it, and frowned, "I dunno. After having met your Spock, and knowing ~~mine~~... the one I did...? She seems... different. More Vulcan, less human. More like a computer, honestly." He shrugged.

"Gracen?" Jim wasn't sure he could handle that. Spock was Spock. Except in his head, where there was girl-Spock and beardy-Spock and my-Spock and Spock-junior. "I don't know about that. She's pretty formal, in a sense. But she's also..." He searched for the words. "More comfortable with herself. Less conflicted." He shrugged. "I could be misreading entirely, of course."

Kirk shrugged, "I think she seems more comfortable with her Vulcan side, maybe. She just... didn't seem human to me." He made a face, nose wrinkling. "Maybe it's just because I don't have that..." Little gesture, "You know," Another one, "Connection with her."

Jim shrugged. "I'm not sure I do. But I think she's... funny. I've stopped trying to think of Spock--mine, anyway--as Vulcan or Human. He's himself, and doesn't have to conform to either one. Oh, I'm not saying you're pigeonholing her, or any of them. It's just not how I think about him anymore. Though maybe that's because he's stopped so rigidly identifying as Vulcan over the years. You should have known him earlier."

"I've known a Spock earlier." He grinned a little. "You've just had... more experience with Spock." A little shrug, one he couldn't help. It was just the truth after all.

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