Chess Aboard the Enterprise [for smartass_captain]

[boldygoing]

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.

Comments

[smartass_captain]

"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."

[boldygoing]

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.

[smartass_captain]

"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."

[boldygoing]

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?"