simpers: ⭒ BE STILL (Default)
Captain James T. Kirk ([personal profile] simpers) wrote2021-03-06 12:16 pm

noctium, in-character inbox.

@𝙆𝙄𝙍𝙆𝙅𝙏

TEXT, VOICE, VIDEO, ACTION.
Kirk, here. Any messages received will be answered as soon as I have time available. If it's urgent, keep trying me; I'm sure to pick up eventually.
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[personal profile] tsansat 2021-05-24 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
I did.

[ And it takes a moment before he continues, knowing that the response is insufficient. ]

The reasons he gave that he should avoid doing so outnumbered those to the contrary. Both in quantity and in quality.

[ With the obvious logical flaw here being Spock's relative inexperience with the sheer strength and value of romantic love. ]
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[personal profile] tsansat 2021-05-24 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ "You're not capable of love," Michael had told him once. "I am," he had stated resolutely, as full of determination and fire at such a young age as he would ever be.

"I feel sorrier for you than I do for him because you'll never know the things that love can drive a man to," McCoy had told him years later. "All of these things you'll never know simply because the word 'love' isn't written into your book." This, he had not tried to fight. Along the way he'd lost the need to keep trying.

He is capable of love. But Jim Kirk understands it far better than he ever will.
]

I had no doubt that he would receive encouragement from those with similar worldviews if he sought them out. The case remains to me that humans place undue focus onto the emotion. There are many other concrete factors which cannot and should not be ignored, Jim.
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[personal profile] tsansat 2021-05-24 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
They were all concerns which he himself shared with me.

Their relationship is already one he finds agreeable and making this decision puts that at risk. He is aware that having a deeper connection with him could potentially endanger him. He is also concerned that he will begin to define his life by his terms and no longer by his own. He believes that he will hurt him through his actions.


[ The vague use of pronouns only, whether by conscious design or not, is intentional. It doesn't matter, after all. Not truly. ]
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[personal profile] tsansat 2021-05-24 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
That relies on two assumptions. The first is that the person confessing has that same awareness and approaches it carefully. The second is that the one receiving that confession is capable of hearing it and providing for the needs of the former.

Beyond the societal expectations that they will be required to navigate, there is also the matter of the effect of the conversation itself. Whether or not he had been successful in obtaining the relationship he desired, those words would engender feelings and thoughts which would not be forgotten.
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[personal profile] tsansat 2021-05-24 09:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I accept that from a human perspective this could very well be the case.

[ And in this circumstance his use of the word "human" both is and isn't meant to create an extra barrier between them. Yes, his outlook is distinct. No, he doesn't mean to disregard the opposing side.

But this is a largely blind analysis he's conducting.
]

And I took it into consideration. However, he spoke of the already high quality of their relationship, as I have said. Those feelings of affection exist with or without a romantic inclination. He could have had a rewarding experience without jeopardizing their positions.

[ Could.

There is no room in his breakdown for a "leap of faith".
]
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[personal profile] tsansat 2021-05-24 11:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[ James Kirk has been interested in him for years.

This, given the inquiries he's endured on the subject, would be less shocking to most than the revelation that Spock himself is entirely and fully aware of that interest. How could he not be? With the endless careful attention paid to his feelings, the consideration of his boundaries and knowledge, the awareness of and respect for their racial divide, the stolen glances, the warm smiles, what he's sensed through repeated joinings of their minds.

He is dynamic, beautiful, and arresting. He is sharp, stern, and intuitive. He is everything that Spock has resisted, and also everything that Spock could want in a commanding officer.

Reading what he has to say now is like greeting him the first day he was required to say goodbye to Captain Pike.

Full of perilous unknowns, but sensing a kinship that doesn't allow him to look away.
]

Captain.

It is my duty as your first officer to advise you when I believe you are erring in your judgement.
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[personal profile] tsansat 2021-05-24 11:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[ That is part of your error. ]

Of course.

[ He wants to meditate. He wants to free himself from a conversation that threatens the most important thing to him in this universe.

But he owes Kirk more than that, so much more.
]

If you would not prefer to meet publicly, I will return to the house at once.
tsansat: <user name=malagraphic> (pic#14688797)

1/2

[personal profile] tsansat 2021-05-25 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's another four minutes and thirty-six seconds before Spock arrives. He is availing himself of the tracker on his phone to alert him as to Kirk's whereabouts, after all, and his mind is nothing if not longing for distraction.

Each second passes slowly as he wipes one mental slate clean to then fill it with new calculations, another propped up to list emotional variables, another their duties as servicemen. He's run through the scenarios countless times, always taking care to go only as far as is necessary to arrive at the "no" without allowing himself to indulge in further, extraneous fantasy.

He arrives at it again before he reaches the house. It twists in his gut, painful, compromising, and all of his mental energies are redirected to shutting the door on every emotion attached to the name "Kirk".
]
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[personal profile] tsansat 2021-05-25 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
[ When he steps inside, overcoat hung neatly in the coat closet, it's with a measured gait and emotionless expression. Eyes flicker momentarily to the chess set set upon the dining room table before redirecting to the living room where he knows he'll be waiting, and if Kirk's choice of attire is unexpected Spock gives no indication of such.

He remains standing, no less foreboding a figure in his civilian clothes, and appraises his captain with the barest nod of his head.
]

Captain.
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[personal profile] tsansat 2021-05-25 04:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[ His position behind the couch is abandoned in order that he might face him fully, stepping out from behind the obstruction with his usual grace and formality as he too meets Kirk's eyes. It's more fitting this way. He deserves this.

They both do.
]

I do not believe that I must. [ Immediately it's clear that his tone is guarded. Only in times when his human half is at its strongest, after all, must his Vulcan half build higher walls. ]

You are a highly intelligent man and as aware of our respective situations as I am. [ Is that true, with how much he's omitted from his own personal narrative? With just how many things he's kept from a man who has managed to understand him so well in spite of that? ] Your open-mindedness and intuition do you credit, but so too do your control and pragmatism.
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[personal profile] tsansat 2021-05-25 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[ That step forward has his eyes lifting, remaining settled on this man who to him, even now, challenging everything he's ever known, is a beautiful marvel to him. Every complexity, every equation that says they shouldn't, every logical axiom that forbids acceptance of this entreatment as anything more than fantasy is ignored by him. James Kirk finds the strength to say words Spock isn't able to even think without his mind going to war with itself.

And he admires him even as he seeks out the right words to refuse him.

What more could he want in an ideal partner than the man standing before him? Understanding. Patient. Even now, to Spock, he is perfect.
]

You are my commanding officer. You are also my friend.

[ I have been, and ever shall be, yours. ]

I have no intention of abandoning my post or duties to you, and no desire to express a sentiment lesser than yours when you speak of the importance of our relationship. I too have experienced it.

But you understate what is now required of me. You do not simply require that I listen, you require a response. And what you desire is not something that I am capable of providing, Jim. You must have known this.

[ Already pain is blossoming in his skull, not the first of many symptoms of the strength of his emotions, and his heart rate is causing alarm in the back of his mind. Even still, he remains. ]
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[personal profile] tsansat 2021-05-26 02:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Never in his life has he overestimated Captain Kirk.

For the majority of their first year together, and in pockets afterward, he had done exactly the opposite. He'd seen one more human ready to underperform, one more human replacing a man he had grown to so deeply respect, one more human who would tell tired jokes and take things personally and slow down his work.

How could he have possibly known?
]

I am asking you to accept my answer, such as it is. [ It's a mirror of what he said to him when he was in the depths of his pon farr, ready and willing to die rather than expose the most intimate parts of his life. And because of the similarities, he knows already that Jim won't allow him to get away with it. ]
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1/2

[personal profile] tsansat 2021-05-26 03:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Before when Kirk used his title to force answers out of Spock it had been in a situation critical to their work together on the Enterprise. Does it surprise him now that he would use it in this matter, divorced from the service? That is something he hadn't been able to predict with certainty. His captain is a devoted man, an excellent commander, but he has also set that aside for the well-being of his first officer more than once. ]

It is my duty to inform you when you are abusing your authority, [ he cuts back suddenly, voice uncharacteristically sharper as his hands unclasp from behind his back and instead linger unsteadily at his sides. ]

... just as it is also my duty to respect it.
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2/2

[personal profile] tsansat 2021-05-26 03:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Jim, I understand far better than most the tribulations that accompany close relations between humans and Vulcans. The differing lifespans. The war between emotion and logic. You are a passionate man, able to give of yourself freely and deserving of the same in return. My capacity for this is greatly diminished by comparison.

I am half-human, but many years ago I made a choice to pursue my father's path. The obstacles along that path, for someone like me, have been many. And a relationship with you... of the kind that you seek, it would jeopardize my ability to fully honor that choice.

There is also the matter of your career. To display such favoritism by fraternizing with your first officer would damage your reputation irreparably, to say nothing of the scrutiny added due to my race. [ As indelicate as it is to mention. Why lie now? Why pretend that it wouldn't be a factor when their cross-species friendship has become so famous? ]

You belong as captain of the Enterprise. I will not sway you from that destiny.

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