Like Ships in the Night
Like Ships in the Night
(or 5 times Kirk almost meets Spock and the one time he does)
Star Trek AOS
1.
Jim goes through orientation with all the other new cadets; gets the tour, and wheedles his way into getting roomed with his new friend Leonard McCoy (who he’s already decided to officially nicknamed Bones just because he loves how much the guy scowls when he calls him that). He even goes through the trouble of signing up for classes - stuff like “Intro to Astrometrics” and “Interspecies Ethics with Professor Spork” or something like that - but that ends up being kind of pointless when Pike shows up and drags him off to take a bunch of tests and then hands him a schedule full of completely different classes.
Not that Jim’s complaining or anything since it turns out Pike just had him test out of 90% of his first year classes. Maybe his whole “I’ll do it in three” plan wasn't going to be a complete failure after all.
2.
Jim's running late - really, really late - which is his excuse for racing down the hall in a manner most of his instructors would insist is unbecoming of a Starfleet cadet. He's almost reached his destination when he bumps against someone dressed in instructor black heading the opposite direction. He catches a glimpse of a strict haircut and slanted eyebrows, but he doesn’t have time to do more than throw a quick "sorry" over his shoulder before he slides into Pike’s office.
“You’re late. Our meeting was scheduled to start a good ten minutes ago,” Pike says when he looks up and sees him. He’s smiling a little, though, so Jim figures he can’t be in too much trouble. “Alright then,” he continues as Jim sits down, “what kind of trouble have you managed to cause this week?”
3.
Jim isn’t actually an asshole and he knows when he’s not wanted so he honestly hasn’t been seeking Uhura out since he started classes at the Academy (joining the Xenolinguistics Club doesn’t count, alright, no matter what Bones says. Jim happens to be quite good with alien languages and since he doesn’t have room for any linguistic classes in his schedule he needed to cultivate those skills somehow. The look of surprised consternation on Uhura’s face when he not only managed to get into the club but also be voted club treasurer was just a bonus, really). So it’s really not his fault that he keeps randomly running into her pretty much wherever he goes.
Like the time he just happens to be walking down the street in good ol’ San Fran and sees her kissing someone in the doorway of some hole-in-the-wall restaurant. She’s not wearing her cadet reds and the guy -at least Jim’s pretty sure it’s a guy - is wearing this big, dark coat and really the whole thing screams “secret rendezvous” so Jim ducks his head and walks a little faster because it’s none of his business who Uhura is seeing, secretly or not. He just keeps walking and in the back of his mind he labels her as “off the market, at least for now” - not that that’s going to stop him from flirting outrageously with her in Deltan at the next club meeting. (Ok, maybe he’s a little bit of an asshole.)
4.
About a week after orientation Jim had ended up telling Bones that he was seriously going to get kicked out of Starfleet if he kept drinking so much and then throwing out all of the guy’s alcohol when he refused to listen. Bones had been pissed (though not till the next morning when he had sobered up enough to even realize what had happened) but after a couple of days arguing about it Jim managed to convince him that no, really, being an alcoholic surgeon was just not an option. Somehow this led to not only Bones giving up alcohol completely, but Jim also joining him in perpetual soberness in some sort of show of solidarity. Which is why three years later Jim’s tolerance is total shit and the couple of drinks he’d attempted to drown his sorrows in after failing the Kobayashi Maru for the second time are enough to have him stumbling around outside the dorms in the dark contemplating just finding a nice bush to fall asleep in because the last thing he wants to do is show up to his and Bones’ room obviously drunk.
“Guess this means you’re a failure and a total dick. Way to go, Kirk,” Jim thinks, well, mumbles aloud to himself. Seriously, what was in those drinks? Sure it’s been awhile, but this is just sad.
He wakes up in the campus clinic, not entirely sure how he got there. He vaguely remembers running into someone, a flash of dark eyes and a strangely pleasant monotone of a voice, and not much else (though he’s pretty sure he told whoever it was that he absolutely could not go back to his room and apparently managed to be either convincing enough or pathetic enough about it that they had brought him to the clinic to sleep it off instead). The nurse on duty says some professor brought him in, though she has no idea which one, but Bones shows up looking worried as hell (and Jim isn’t really hung over but the guilt is making him so nauseous that he might as well be) before Jim can try to track down someone who knows anything more.
When a week goes by and Pike doesn’t call him into his office to have a talk Jim puts the incident firmly out of his mind and concentrates instead on hacking into the Kobayashi Maru program. Third time’s the charm after all and there’s no way he’s failing this stupid test again.
5.
"I heard the guy who actually programs this test is here today to observe us," Kendall says as they're heading into the testing room.
Jim glances up at the observation window but he doesn't see anyone up there that he hadn’t seen the last two times he did this simulation. "Yeah, so?" he says. He’s doing his best to look calm and unconcerned even though he feels like he's about to vibrate out of his own skin with anticipation. This is it, his big moment. He’s about to be the first cadet to ever beat the Kobayashi Maru.
"Apparently he never does that except for special circumstances." Kendall says. He grins and nudges Jim's side. "Guess stubborn idiots who don't know when to give up counts as a special circumstance."
Jim rolls his eyes, but deep down he feels a sharp spark of satisfaction. Whatever the guy’s reason for choosing to observe this particular test session he’s in for one hell of a show.
+1
The hearing is actually a surprise, is the thing. It’s not that Jim was expecting them to give him a medal or anything, but he never once thought they would do this - call him out in front of all of his peers, make him suffer a little before they throw him out on his ass.
Jim’s not sure when he fooled himself into believing this whole Starfleet thing wasn’t going to blow up in his face, but as he stands up to face his judgment he realizes he really should have seen this coming.
“I believe I have the right to face my accuser directly,” Jim says because if he’s going to go down then he’s going to go down fighting.
A man stands up. He’s dressed as a professor, Vulcan, young, and surprisingly handsome even with the unfortunate haircut. He’s a complete stranger.
“This is Commander Spock. He's one of our most distinguished graduates. He's programmed the Kobayashi Maru exam for the last four years,” Barnett says, which is nice because at least now Jim knows the guy’s name.
The next few moments are like something out of a bad dream, except when Jim looks down to check he’s still got all of his clothes on and even in his worst nightmares Vulcan professors he’s never met before don’t bring up his father in the midst of explaining why he failed their fucking test. It’s a relief when Barnett announces they’ve received a distress call from Vulcan because Jim honestly doesn’t know how much longer he could have resisted physically attacking Spock.
“Who was that pointy-eared bastard?” Jim asks Bones as everyone around them starts to file out because he seriously wants to know. He remembers the hours he spent digging through the code for the Kobayashi Maru wanting to meet the programmer so he could shake their hand and then punch them in the face. Well he’s met the asshole and he definitely doesn’t want to shake Spock’s hand, but he doubts punching him in the face would be all that satisfying either. Maybe after whatever crisis is happening on Vulcan has been dealt with and they resume the hearing so Jim can have his turn and tear Spock’s arguments to fucking pieces Jim’ll invite the bastard out to dinner. Arguing is a lot more fun when it’s done one-on-one over good food. Hell, maybe he can talk his way into a game of chess - seems like the kind of thing Spock would be good at and Jim's always loved a challenge.
“Come on, we gotta go,” Bones says. This isn’t over, Jim thinks as he turns and follows Bones out of the auditorium.
(or 5 times Kirk almost meets Spock and the one time he does)
Star Trek AOS
1.
Jim goes through orientation with all the other new cadets; gets the tour, and wheedles his way into getting roomed with his new friend Leonard McCoy (who he’s already decided to officially nicknamed Bones just because he loves how much the guy scowls when he calls him that). He even goes through the trouble of signing up for classes - stuff like “Intro to Astrometrics” and “Interspecies Ethics with Professor Spork” or something like that - but that ends up being kind of pointless when Pike shows up and drags him off to take a bunch of tests and then hands him a schedule full of completely different classes.
Not that Jim’s complaining or anything since it turns out Pike just had him test out of 90% of his first year classes. Maybe his whole “I’ll do it in three” plan wasn't going to be a complete failure after all.
2.
Jim's running late - really, really late - which is his excuse for racing down the hall in a manner most of his instructors would insist is unbecoming of a Starfleet cadet. He's almost reached his destination when he bumps against someone dressed in instructor black heading the opposite direction. He catches a glimpse of a strict haircut and slanted eyebrows, but he doesn’t have time to do more than throw a quick "sorry" over his shoulder before he slides into Pike’s office.
“You’re late. Our meeting was scheduled to start a good ten minutes ago,” Pike says when he looks up and sees him. He’s smiling a little, though, so Jim figures he can’t be in too much trouble. “Alright then,” he continues as Jim sits down, “what kind of trouble have you managed to cause this week?”
3.
Jim isn’t actually an asshole and he knows when he’s not wanted so he honestly hasn’t been seeking Uhura out since he started classes at the Academy (joining the Xenolinguistics Club doesn’t count, alright, no matter what Bones says. Jim happens to be quite good with alien languages and since he doesn’t have room for any linguistic classes in his schedule he needed to cultivate those skills somehow. The look of surprised consternation on Uhura’s face when he not only managed to get into the club but also be voted club treasurer was just a bonus, really). So it’s really not his fault that he keeps randomly running into her pretty much wherever he goes.
Like the time he just happens to be walking down the street in good ol’ San Fran and sees her kissing someone in the doorway of some hole-in-the-wall restaurant. She’s not wearing her cadet reds and the guy -at least Jim’s pretty sure it’s a guy - is wearing this big, dark coat and really the whole thing screams “secret rendezvous” so Jim ducks his head and walks a little faster because it’s none of his business who Uhura is seeing, secretly or not. He just keeps walking and in the back of his mind he labels her as “off the market, at least for now” - not that that’s going to stop him from flirting outrageously with her in Deltan at the next club meeting. (Ok, maybe he’s a little bit of an asshole.)
4.
About a week after orientation Jim had ended up telling Bones that he was seriously going to get kicked out of Starfleet if he kept drinking so much and then throwing out all of the guy’s alcohol when he refused to listen. Bones had been pissed (though not till the next morning when he had sobered up enough to even realize what had happened) but after a couple of days arguing about it Jim managed to convince him that no, really, being an alcoholic surgeon was just not an option. Somehow this led to not only Bones giving up alcohol completely, but Jim also joining him in perpetual soberness in some sort of show of solidarity. Which is why three years later Jim’s tolerance is total shit and the couple of drinks he’d attempted to drown his sorrows in after failing the Kobayashi Maru for the second time are enough to have him stumbling around outside the dorms in the dark contemplating just finding a nice bush to fall asleep in because the last thing he wants to do is show up to his and Bones’ room obviously drunk.
“Guess this means you’re a failure and a total dick. Way to go, Kirk,” Jim thinks, well, mumbles aloud to himself. Seriously, what was in those drinks? Sure it’s been awhile, but this is just sad.
He wakes up in the campus clinic, not entirely sure how he got there. He vaguely remembers running into someone, a flash of dark eyes and a strangely pleasant monotone of a voice, and not much else (though he’s pretty sure he told whoever it was that he absolutely could not go back to his room and apparently managed to be either convincing enough or pathetic enough about it that they had brought him to the clinic to sleep it off instead). The nurse on duty says some professor brought him in, though she has no idea which one, but Bones shows up looking worried as hell (and Jim isn’t really hung over but the guilt is making him so nauseous that he might as well be) before Jim can try to track down someone who knows anything more.
When a week goes by and Pike doesn’t call him into his office to have a talk Jim puts the incident firmly out of his mind and concentrates instead on hacking into the Kobayashi Maru program. Third time’s the charm after all and there’s no way he’s failing this stupid test again.
5.
"I heard the guy who actually programs this test is here today to observe us," Kendall says as they're heading into the testing room.
Jim glances up at the observation window but he doesn't see anyone up there that he hadn’t seen the last two times he did this simulation. "Yeah, so?" he says. He’s doing his best to look calm and unconcerned even though he feels like he's about to vibrate out of his own skin with anticipation. This is it, his big moment. He’s about to be the first cadet to ever beat the Kobayashi Maru.
"Apparently he never does that except for special circumstances." Kendall says. He grins and nudges Jim's side. "Guess stubborn idiots who don't know when to give up counts as a special circumstance."
Jim rolls his eyes, but deep down he feels a sharp spark of satisfaction. Whatever the guy’s reason for choosing to observe this particular test session he’s in for one hell of a show.
+1
The hearing is actually a surprise, is the thing. It’s not that Jim was expecting them to give him a medal or anything, but he never once thought they would do this - call him out in front of all of his peers, make him suffer a little before they throw him out on his ass.
Jim’s not sure when he fooled himself into believing this whole Starfleet thing wasn’t going to blow up in his face, but as he stands up to face his judgment he realizes he really should have seen this coming.
“I believe I have the right to face my accuser directly,” Jim says because if he’s going to go down then he’s going to go down fighting.
A man stands up. He’s dressed as a professor, Vulcan, young, and surprisingly handsome even with the unfortunate haircut. He’s a complete stranger.
“This is Commander Spock. He's one of our most distinguished graduates. He's programmed the Kobayashi Maru exam for the last four years,” Barnett says, which is nice because at least now Jim knows the guy’s name.
The next few moments are like something out of a bad dream, except when Jim looks down to check he’s still got all of his clothes on and even in his worst nightmares Vulcan professors he’s never met before don’t bring up his father in the midst of explaining why he failed their fucking test. It’s a relief when Barnett announces they’ve received a distress call from Vulcan because Jim honestly doesn’t know how much longer he could have resisted physically attacking Spock.
“Who was that pointy-eared bastard?” Jim asks Bones as everyone around them starts to file out because he seriously wants to know. He remembers the hours he spent digging through the code for the Kobayashi Maru wanting to meet the programmer so he could shake their hand and then punch them in the face. Well he’s met the asshole and he definitely doesn’t want to shake Spock’s hand, but he doubts punching him in the face would be all that satisfying either. Maybe after whatever crisis is happening on Vulcan has been dealt with and they resume the hearing so Jim can have his turn and tear Spock’s arguments to fucking pieces Jim’ll invite the bastard out to dinner. Arguing is a lot more fun when it’s done one-on-one over good food. Hell, maybe he can talk his way into a game of chess - seems like the kind of thing Spock would be good at and Jim's always loved a challenge.
“Come on, we gotta go,” Bones says. This isn’t over, Jim thinks as he turns and follows Bones out of the auditorium.