Day 53: Lunch

[buryyourdemons]

There was little to be said of the daily business that went on. He allowed himself to be shuffled, mind embedded too deeply in things he shouldn't be dwelling on. The night was over, the shadows had vanished, and there was little more than bad memories to be left in their stead. This was logic, pure and simple, and should have been reassuring but

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[hes_deadjim]

The only one that was hostile was you. You tried to kill Jim, the doctor thought darkly, eyes flickering towards Spock when he spoke. It was a knee jerk reaction. Spock had tried to talk to him last night, but by God, some little part was thinking it anyway. Maybe it was in the past but to his mind, it didn't make it any better. Jim seemed to get along with him just fine, which was odd, because even if Jim had forgiven Spock before, actually having a friend try to kill you, really mean it, was bound to leave something. Maybe Jim had somehow managed to forgive Spock for it, but McCoy wasn't going to be so quick to.

McCoy held his tongue and focused his attention back on Jim.

"Picking fist fights then. You know there's something called 'water off a duck's back'" he replied. Although Spock's shadow had digging up every little nasty thing about the commander, some of which McCoy was better off not knowing. And if that thing could test Spock's control, McCoy wasn't too surprised that Jim had ended up with some bruises.

When Kirk asked what happened to them last night, McCoy hesitated. He looked at Spock. Did he want to tell him what happened?

Thankfully the universe had some sense of timing. McCoy was saved from answering himself when a woman arrived. This must be their Uhura. She was younger than the woman he knew, wore her hair differently, but she still had the same air of professionalism about her.

"I wish it were too." He didn't like time travel, much less universe hopping in the first place, but the positive was getting to meet these other crew member. He looked her over, and true enough, she didn't seem injured. That was at least one good to come out of this meeting. "Pleased to meet you."

[dual_worlds]

From what Kirk was saying, it sounded as though the shadows from last night only attacked if provoked by violent action. Of course, it also sounded as though every shadow was different, depending on the individual, so some creatures were likely easier to anger than others. He and McCoy had been wise not to lash out first, unlike Kirk. Spock would have liked to have been able to say that it was unexpected for a starship captain to react in such a way, but Kirk had already proven that he was unlike others of his position.

When the captain asked to know what happened to them last night, Spock exchanged glances with McCoy. Neither of them were eager to give the details, yet inevitably one of them would have to speak. As Spock was the ranking officer between the two of them, he realized that was ultimately his responsibility.

Before he could answer Kirk's question, however, Nyota approached their table and promptly introduced herself to Dr. McCoy. Just as Kirk said, it appeared the shadow had not attacked her after all, if her apparent lack of injuries were any indication. Spock gave a nod, serving as both as an acknowledgment and a silent greeting.

"Please take a seat, Miss Uhura," he said.

[doneinthree]

Kirk snorted at the comment about 'water off a duck's back', but as far as reproaches went, it was pretty mild. Bones was getting too used to how he operated. "Someone should've told him that. It. My shadow. The other... whatever." Not Kirk. At least... not any Kirk but himself. The fact that most of the prisoners had apparently run into an unwanted visitor last night made it clear enough that it had been some kind of monster and not the other James Kirk in any way, but it still disturbed him, the particular form his shadow had chosen to take. The natural question to ask then was why... but he already knew the answer, didn't he?

The less he thought about it, the better; so even Kirk was briefly grateful for the distraction provided by Uhura's arrival. "Hey," he greeted, and busied himself with his pizza again. She'd been the witness to everything what had happened last night, and he wasn't sure if it had changed anything. After all, Uhura had known him for three years already - hell, she'd probably voiced some of the shadow's complaints herself - but no matter what her opinion of him, he knew she was too smart to dismiss him as just a womanizing, irresponsible attention-seeker.

For one, he wasn't so busy seeking attention that he didn't catch that glance between his science officers when he asked about their experience. Two shadows, neither of them apparently violent, but that was the limit of Kirk's knowledge. "We're just discussing the shadows. I covered what happened here-" He gestured to his less-than-pristine face. "-and Commander Spock and Doctor McCoy were about to tell us what they saw last night."

Although Kirk included both of their names, it was Spock he looked at then.

[xenolingual]

Uhura, despite catching Kirk's obvious distraction tactic in the form of gaining a sudden interest in his pizza, didn't miss a beat, and took the free seat closest to her. The events from the night before hadn't changed anything, as far as her opinions on Kirk anyway, because really... She knew the shadow was meant to voice all the insecurities one had buried deep in the back of their mind, but that didn't mean they held any actual weight. And she definitely wasn't going to let some evil spawn of Kirk's subconscious to sway her opinion, not when she had all that time before arriving at Landel's to form her own. If she was being honest, maybe that was sort of the first impression that he had given her when he started at school, but after sharing a few of the same classes with him, it was actually glaringly obvious that he shouldn't be underestimated as a Starfleet cadet, or in general.

Plus if anything, the fact that she witnessed Kirk intentionally provoke Spock into resorting to physical violence in order to take his position as Acting Captain probably had a more damaging effect on her opinion of him than anything the shadow had to say. Even if he did turn out to be a decent- Wait.

She had definitely just surpassed her Positive Opinions About Jim Kirk quota for the day, maybe even the week, so she tried to focus on the more important part of the night. Since Kirk already gave them a run-down of their evening, she decided it was best to just listen for now, giving her full attention to Spock and Dr. McCoy. Although, again, if she was being honest, about 80% of her focus was on Spock because- Well.

[dual_worlds]

Nyota's arrival had been a brief distraction, but now it was time to discuss what had transpired last night. Spock was keenly aware that most of the attention was focused on him. His expression did not waver -- rather, he grew more stoic as he spoke.

"There were two shadows who represented the doctor and myself," he began explaining after a brief pause. "Neither one of them appeared hostile, though they were inclined to follow whenever we attempted to leave their presence. Doctor McCoy's shadow did not have a full head. Mine, on the other hand, looked like a near identical copy to myself, save for its coloring."

Leaving his food untouched, he did not look away from his colleagues as he continued with his report. "McCoy's shadow had little to say, save for the words: 'we trusted him before, see where it got us now'." He sat straighter in his chair, squaring his shoulders. "As for my shadow, it made repeated references to what transpired on Vulcan, and alluded to the..." His mouth faintly tightened for a second as he considered his words. "...previous altercation between Captain Kirk and myself. Both shadows disappeared before shift ended."

There was more he could have said, but that was the concise summary of what happened last night.