boldygoing | Chess Aboard the Enterprise [for smartass

It feels like it's been ages since Jim has gotten to sit down with the other Kirk, under pretty much any circumstances, really. Between whatever happened with his double's Enterprise and all the pre-launch chaos on his own end, even their interrupted chess game from the previous year was better finished via PINpoint, snapshots and chess positions sent digitally every now and then, drawn out nearly a week before the other captain could claim victory. And then it's just been busy busy busy since then, their duties keeping them both occupied, an unspoken understanding that comes from experience sitting in the very same captain's seat that the ship and her crew come first, always.

Call it a rare yet fortunate break in the routine, then, that they both have a couple hours free at the same time. The door to the captain's quarters is sealed against anything less than a CMO override, a replicated pot of coffee and two mugs set out by the chess set, an unconscious mirror of the setup from the first time they did this, on the other ship. But the small knickknacks are different, small tokens of Hunter's influence following him even here. Small hanging plants below the wall shelf, a whiskey dispenser with a handcrafted Enterprise inside, a strange manual style of calendar set to today's date, among other things. And on top of a wooden bookshelf, a long line of colorful origami animals standing guard over battered old paper books.

With everything set, there's only the guest of honor to attend to, a quick message sent to the second-most familiar contact in his PINpoint.

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That look of longing is easily read by the younger Jim, and man, he kinda wishes he could let the other guy do a walk-around, just once. Maybe it'd be a bad idea, maybe it'd be too weird, but either way it sure isn't happening today. Better not to mention it, probably.

Out comes the other knight, a variant on a Vulcan gambit he's picked up from playing against Spock. Something the other captain might be familiar with, but with an illogical human twist of his own making, assuming his companion hasn't already tried this one himself. Worth a shot. "Oh yeah? I'm guessing you've gotta slip out to, uh, Tamriel for that." He's only heard about it a couple times, but what little he has heard intrigues him. "What's it like over there, anyway?"

Jim's being a bit hard on himself. His stamina's gotten a heck of a lot better with months of high incline hikes under his belt. He may not be as fast as his younger counterpart but he can plow on for quite some time. That coupled with his normal workouts and archery has had Jim in better shape than he's been in quite some time.

It's no sparring and jogging with Captain America, but it's not nothing either.

Is he trying to play the triple defense against Jim? Is that's what's happening here? It's still too early to tell but the captain hates these gambits of Spock's and he's not about to let the younger captain start setting up such a strong defense. He'll challenge one of the knights to force it out of position or risk it being lost to his own piece.

"More often than not yeah." Jim sets his mug aside for the moment and smiles. He likes Tamriel when he's not getting kidnapped by bandits. "They're in Skyrim right now, which is a mountainous northern territory on the continent. It's a rock climber and hiker's fantasy out there. I'm having a blast."

Damn, that was fast. Out of position it is, though Jim knows damn well it's going to be an uphill battle to get it back where he needs it. He scratches at his beard as he studies the board, considering alternate strategies to use from here. It's still early, there's plenty he can try. Maybe not so much as he can get away with, but that's the fun of it.

It's been a long time since he's gone mountain-climbing, and he can't help but be a bit envious. "Skyrim... sounds poetic." In a good way. "Better than Yosemite?"

"Can't even compare. I need to take a picture of the night sky there and send it back to you because damn. It's something else entirely. That's the other half of the reward to all the climbing. The trip up's the first half though I don't think Felix appreciates it the way I do."

It's not a treat or an excursion to the mage, after all. It's just his commute to get to anywhere worth visiting. They've gotten used to some social differences though. Had to, over the years.

"Yosemite would be a lot safer though, is the trade off. Skyrim's pretty dangerous."

Jim hasn't even seen the place and he's already envious, what with the way the other captain talks about it. He smirks over at his companion, eyeing the board and shifting another piece. "Oh yeah, I can see that stops you." Like a little danger would scare off James T. Kirk. If Tiberius wasn't his middle name already, he'd have adopted that particular alternative a long time ago. Or so the joke goes.

"I just want to get back to the mission. All of this, it's something to use up my free time until the new ship is ready. Figured I might as well spend it getting to know my fiance's world a bit better. Sooner or later I'm going to have to meet his family and lie through my teeth about who and what I am. The more I learn about Skyrim now, the better it will go."

Jim shifts a piece and looks back up at his companion. He's tired of the silence that's been forced between them ever since he lost the ship. All that shit that he can't talk about has kept them from interacting much in the months since and Jim's sick of it. He might as well talk about the stuff he can talk about.

Might even be good for him to do it.

"Just because a little danger doesn't stop me doesn't mean I go looking for it, either." Anymore. He's grown out of that particular impulse at least Jim would like to think that.

All right, yeah, he's got a point there. A little cultural research goes a long way, and if you're planning to marry somebody from an alien planet, it's probably a damn good idea to know how to blend in when visiting. Jim tilts his head a little, conceding the point.

The additional comment has him looking up again, that familiar captainly tone proving his seriousness, and Jim considers that, his teasing smile fading a bit. "No, I guess not. Old habits, sorry." Choice of career aside, he hasn't done much thrillseeking in the last year or so either, not since the warp core. Hasn't had time, even if he'd had the inclination. But he's got enough of it coming his way as it is, and whatever happened last January just goes to prove that all the more.

"Believe me, we get more than our fair share of dangerous situations without having to scope out opportunities to add on to it."

Maybe if it were just Jim he had to worry about that would be different. He's always been more than a little cavalier about his own safety and well being and that honestly hasn't changed a whole lot in the years between them. He's still the first one to jump into danger if it will save someone else. Anyone else. But the lives of his crew are depending on him. Felix is counting on him to come back alive.

Jim has to be a bit more careful than he used to be. His life isn't just his own anymore.

"Still feels weird to think about."

That's a pretty open statement, and Jim can think of a couple things his companion might be referring to. "Which part?"

So far, his renewed strategy isn't turning out quite how he'd hoped, his offensive gambit broken well enough that he's just improvising now. Still, that's what he's best at. He taps a finger against his chin for a moment, thinking, before he puts his queen into play. All in.

"I'm not used to putting a worth on my own life. I mean, we both know why it's been ingrained out of us but...I can't do that anymore. It's not fair to my crew, and moreover it's not fair to Felix. I have to be more careful."

He's always been the expendable one and he's always known it deep down. He surrounds himself with the best and the brightest and really what do they need him for? It's in Jim's nature to sell himself short when the cards are on the table. His ego is a huge thing right up until someone has to stay behind. Take the fall.

Make the climb.

Jim hums in thought before positioning one of his bishops on the topmost terrace of the board where it will have the most potential to strike. Come at him, ~~bro~~ Captain.

"It's not easy and I probably won't be great at it."

Weird to think about, and even weirder to hear, on his end. Jim's not used to hearing that kind of levelheaded, mature opinion in his own voice, and not for the first time, he wonders what the hell the other captain's been through to provoke that kind of change. Maybe just three years separation makes more difference than he's thought.

But what the hell, Jim's been learning how to be patient. If it comes, it'll come, when and where it's supposed to. And if not, well, nobody ever said he had to follow in anybody else's footsteps, even if that person is another Jim Kirk. It's not like destiny is a thing.

Even if the universe does seem to have a sense of humor about the whole thing sometimes.

Jim looks across the board at his companion, and gives him a small, knowing smile. "Maybe. But since when have we ever done something because it's easy?"

Chess Aboard the Enterprise [for smartass_captain]

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