(Untitled)

[bearsthevision]

CHARACTERS: Spock and Chase Kilgannon!
LOCATION: Spock's room
WARNINGS: Nerdery
SUMMARY: 3D Chess and ability swap.

Comments

[of_two]

If he has come to understand nothing else from Chase, he knows one thing for certain. She is entirely beyond expectation. She carries herself methodically, approaches situations from an admirable and often successful at reason, and yet never once sacrifices her humanity. Of all things, however, it is her honesty that he so readily acknowledges- and admires.

She does not flinch at the admission, and though Spock's gaze flicks up towards her face, assessing the move just as he assesses her statement, he too reaches for his tea. It is not the first mention he has heard, of precognitive ability, and certainly not the first in regards to Chase herself, but his curiosity remains as fixated as always.

His tone is measured and patient. For as much as this may be a structured conversation, a meeting designed with specific intent- he also enjoys her company. "Have you been able to do so while aboard this vessel?"

[bearsthevision]

"Not the way I usually do." And this is why she's worried--but she doesn't show it, or at the very least not nearly as much as she did when she made that video, panicking. Instead she calmly sips her tea and tucks her feet underneath her, tailor-style.

She likes Spock. She definitely, definitely likes Spock. It's why she's so casual, why she can explain things to him easier. She likes just plain being in the other's presence. It's funny, how a few weeks ago she would have chalked that up to his psyonic abilities, but now she thinks it's because Spock has become a friend.

"It's dulled on this vessel," She explains--as much as she can--and hum's and hah's as she tries to figure out how to properly say things.

"I don't predict it so much as just... know."

[of_two]

His head inclines a fraction, and despite his movement, the fingers that reach up to move a knight with as much delicacy as precision, her words are his primary focus. He's never known such an experience himself and as such, has no basis upon which to compare it. Spock can, however, understand the sense of disorientation that likely comes with it.

A dampening of one's abilities was not unlike losing of an instrumental body part. "By this you mean you have an awareness, but there is no true visual to accompany it?"

[bearsthevision]

Chase tilts her head to the side, trying to get a view of the entire board, contemplating what answer to give Spock. It's funny, the word he used--maybe he didn't mean to, but he's just explained her in a nutshell

[of_two]

His fingers lace together

[bearsthevision]

What if Chase was to say she was right? What if Chase was to say she was The Vishual?

Instead, Chase finds herself preoccupied with looking at Spock. She's not the best with people, and certainly not the best with body language, but she likes the way Spock's fingers look when he does that. He seems more calm, more assured, and she even likes the way he pauses, just to make sure he's chosen the right words. It's nice, and after he speaks Chase finds her posture straightening somewhat, trying to mirror the bridged fingers and certain gaze.

"It comes in waves," she says after a while. "I don't dream. I'm incapable of dreaming, actually, it just doesn't happen. Or hasn't ever happened.. But I see it. Visions. I know exactly who is who and what's happening, even if I've never met them before. And one thing is certain, Spock. It's always going to happen

[of_two]

"I believe you

late tag omg

[bearsthevision]

"Yeah." Chase sits bolt upright, a familiar look on her face--she's excited, glad that she can compare it to something. "It's like not having any depth perception. But I could sense Capa's past fine, if only a little bit. So I'm fairly certain my powers are the same, at least in that regard, and--oh," She pauses to move a knight in the direction she wants it to go, biting her lip in thought and scrunching her nose before relaxing altogether.

"I just need to figure it out. I think Inferno would be mad if he realized I jumped into things head first, you know?" It's more to herself than anything, and she leans back on her chair before grabbing onto the table's ledge and tipping the chair so it sits on two legs.

"It's weird, not being aboard the Grail Arbor. Is it weird for you, not being where you come from?"

story of my life OTL

[of_two]

She continues with the same dedication to thought as he has always seen from her. Even as her attention splits- as a knight is clasped delicately in her fingers and carried off. It is, he imagines, most unlike any other game of chess that he has played with a human being. Each match prior had been a focus on only one objective- to win. Instead, Spock is beginning to believe that this is merely a distraction for them both.

A means to present the idea of control in otherwise uncontrollable circumstances. Her question doesn't garner a pause, or in truth any physical tell at all. A pawn lights carefully on an untouched square. "Serving Starfleet requires, at it's basis, a willingness to be separated from one's home planet for several years at a time." Fact is clean. Fact is effortless. And yet, he is somewhat unsatisfied by the answer, and only when his hand returns to his lap does he find words to continue. "I made the decision to enlist because I am uninterested in establishing a sedentary life."

[bearsthevision]

Chase is quiet for a few moments. Perhaps a little too long--she's staring at the chessboard and the half-drank tea and it feels like forever before she decides she at least has to ask, because Spock has brought up something that Chase has always and would always wonder about.

Family.

Family is a weird concept to Chase and even stranger to hear other people talking about it. Or 'leaving their lives.' It's just strange, something that rings not quite false but not quite unsettling, either. It has an odd sound to it, like something that Chase was afraid of, or worried about.

Or jealous.

She's still staring at the board, not saying a word. She's glad Spock lets the silence stretch on. She has a feeling his friend wouldn't.

"Was it hard?" She asked finally. "Leaving your family? Were you close?"

[of_two]

His chin tips forward faintly.

It is not the first emotionally based query that he has been offered in his lifetime thus far, and certainly not so aboard the Tranquility- but it touches on so many fine and delicate things that he is unsure where to begin. "My father is ambassador to Earth. To leave behind one's family on a habitual basis is normative."

It is not unlike navigating, and he finds that too, is curious. "He did however, express displeasure with my decision. It is a contradiction to the Vulcan lifestyle I was expected to maintain." His hand moves, and lingers, like a ghost, beside the cup he does not touch. "I suspect my mother was as displeased as she was pleased. I had not, until then, made many decisions for myself." Speaking of her does not conjure her face to his memory, and he holds to that as leverage against all else.

His gaze moves to the girl opposite him. "It was difficult. But I do not believe we were close in the human concept of the term."

[bearsthevision]

"I know what you mean." Chase's smile is still there but it's soft and a little sad, game forgotten. She's still rocking on her chair, watching the guy--no, the Vulcan--with odd eyebrows and big ears and a weird bowl-cut, but this time she isn't scrutinizing. She's looking at him with profound interest, sure, but there's something else there. Another common bond

[of_two]

The terms are wholly unfamiliar to him. So too is the idea of war- of existence as a creation- unattached to all things when the only life he has ever known, has been an understanding of the importance of connection. But the laughter bubbles out of her, and she speaks with greater ease than he has known to her to speak of anything before and he allows her words to settle in the air.

I can kind of relate, Spock.

"I believe," He settles for at last, gaze lingering warmly on her features. "That it is not unwise to choose one's own attachments. Beyond what biology would dictate."

[bearsthevision]

"Well..." Chase's words are thoughtful and warm--Spock's version of smiling (at least she thinks that's Spock's version of smiling) has cheered her up immensely, and she spends a few moments taking in the picture. That's why she likes Spock--silence is their best friends.

"I think, then, I'm choosing you. You and Capa, I think. Because I like you both. You're my friend, Spock. I've never had a friend before but you're definitely my friend. I can be yours, you know. If you have friends. I mean, if it's culturally relevant to Vulcans. There's a lot of things I don't know about you and a lot of things you don't know about me, but that's OK, right? Oh--"

She lifts a bishop up a tier, and, smiling, places it where she wants to. She never wins, but sometimes, like this, she gets close.

"Check!"

[of_two]

It is not something he can explain, and the realization, the awareness of that fact comes to him slow. It is not an equation. It is not precise and likely, most unreasonable. But Chase only continues to brighten, opposite him, and her bishop is lifted with equal parts openness and honesty and Spock accepts in that moment, that no part of this venture has been particularly logical.

And that is acceptable as well.

His rook moves, intercepts the line her bishop can call it's own, and he speaks before the piece hits the board. "It is not a Vulcan habit, to establish friendships. Relations of that nature are considered unnecessary."

In the space between, his hand falls to his cup once more, catching the steam as he lifts it to his mouth- and there is perhaps, the barest ghost of a lift to the corner of his lips. "However. I am also human. As I understand it, such bonds are characteristic of the species."