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Greetings. I am Commander Spock of the USS Enterprise, a Starfleet contingent of the United Federation of Planets. I understand that we are temporally isolated as well as spatially displaced and that this is not a subdivision of any one possible multiverse, neither a pocket dimension of any one universe, but a unique quantum singularity linking many and each possible variation thereof. If others here have scientific findings of this nature, I pre-emptively extend my gratitude in the event of any information being divulged.

[ AKA pls share ur theories. He's not human, in case anyone with eyes and ears missed the blatant memo staring them in the face, the approximation of what would happen were a dollop of raw science ~~and a great jawline~~ to get mixed with an elf in a blender. Spock pauses thoughtfully, glancing away, and a single slender brow arches when he looks back; there are likely a great deal of customs to be observed from numerous new species and races, none of which he seeks to offend. ]

It has been brought to my attention that this is not my first foray into Keeliai. While I would request that you exert a measure of patience with my ... freshly acquired outlook, you will find me amenable to revisiting former acquaintances. [ Again he hesitates, though this time it comes across as more of an amendment. If you've been hanging out with his BFF, prepare to explain why, how and to what end. ] Similarly, I wish to meet with any and all allies of Captain James T. Kirk at their earliest convenience.

All remaining Starfleet personnel are to submit a fully comprehensive report effective immediately regarding their time here. Audio will suffice, given the circumstances.

[ And off goes the feed. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[In the time since Spock left his house, Jim's acquired an apple. Which he's actually not chewing like an obnoxious asshole! He does point at the camera with said apple in hand, though.]

Those reports are probably better done in person, Mister Spock. I have reason to believe Khan's been hacking our communiques.

[ Khan. Of course he has. ]

I will have the crew attend directly to my suite. [ Which he won't name on here now, ever. ] Do you require a summary once their reports are concluded?

I've been here longer than Bones and Chekov put together, Spock, I've got all that covered.

[... but it's Spock, and that in and of itself means he'll be crawling the walls about as badly as Jim. He'll just do it with less panache. So.]

-- But if you felt like drafting me a written account, I could add it to my dossier.

[ ... Oh. This might be a frown sinking in. ]

You wish for a hand-written account, Captain? [ But paper is so inefficient and easily accessible! ] May I remind you that I did not arrive with a PADD and as you have said, this method of communication is compromised.

[Spock you sound a little plaintive. Captain Kirk to the rescue!]

You can use mine. It's not like I am.

[Because he's been handwriting things. Inefficient? Maybe. But he never has much liked technology (except his ship because she is a real lady) and this is a great excuse to eschew it as much as possible.]

[ As opposed to a certain Vulcan who will probably never give back that PADD or tricorder unless directly ordered. Precious technology. ]

I will. [ And assuming this transmission happens after he meets with Kyle; ] I have been invited to dine with Mr. Rayner tonight.

['Mr. Rayner' sets off warning bells from here to Tarsus IV. Jim had kind of just assumed they'd fall right back into wherever they left off, but that? Is not promising. Very carefully,]

Yeah?

['Elaboration would be awesome'. He already got chastised once for singing Kyle's accolades so he's not going to add 'well he's a great cook' on top of everything else. He learns! You can only stick a fork in a light socket so many times before you become cognizant of the correlatory shock .]

[ Honestly, Jim's uncertainty is an emboldening thing to behold. Spock wonders whether he'll stop looking like he's about to disciplined when he hears the name Kyle eventually leave Spock's lips around the man in question. ]

He is your friend. [ Speaking deliberately, carefully. He grew up with enough Terran social norms to understand that the consumption of food is often a sentimental event, though he has never actually put that into practice outside of indulging his mother and most recently, Nyota. ] Will you be attending?

[ A foghorn probably couldn't get any louder with the unspoken request, the slight concern there. ]

[In the words of the great Samuel Beckett, oh boy. Jim sits back in his chair and rubs a hand across his scalp before he ever even turns the video feed back on. He recognizes this situation already, he's too much of a chess player not to. It'd be like not realizing someone just opened with the Queen's Gambit, tossing a pawn out for the slaughter. This is Korra, all over again. Not in a good way.

Jim opens his mouth. Closes it carefully. Something's wrong, and if he's there, he'll try and mediate. Fix it, like what he did with Korra. Only-- unlike with Korra, Jim knows damn well that Spock and Kyle can (do? should? will?) get along just fine without his interference. The trick would be keeping his mouth shut long enough for the natural synergy to take place. And Jim's never had a good track record for silences. They make his skin crawl if they sit too long.

But it's Spock, and the guy's practically begging Jim to be there. How can he turn that down?

Okay. Breathe. If he was to think about this like tactical warfare there are at least ten moves left on the board.

(But it's not warfare, these are two of his best friends. They know him better than anyone, and he has no illusions about the opacity of his grand gestures where Kyle or Spock are concerned.)

Moves one through ten suddenly look like very bad ideas, and finally Jim turns the feed back on. Veracity. Move eleven.]

It went that bad, huh?

No.

[ Breathe easier, Jim. ]

I informed him I believed he was a satisfactory companion for you. He did not appear to appreciate the observation, though it is true I have only made a preliminary assessment.

[ The center-point of Spock's unease is far simpler. ]

I have only ever privately dined with two humans before, both on separate occasions. I am unclear at such an early stage how to navigate the occasion with a near-total stranger. Additionally, he has confessed that he knows a great deal about me.

[OH THANK GOD THAT IS SO MUCH EASIER TO DEAL WITH.]

Yeaaah I'll let you work that out with him. Probably better if I stay out of it.

[Now. To lay all those other concerns to rest. Jim nods once, briskly.]

So what do you need from me?

[He keeps the video feed on long enough to make sure Spock gets the point across, and then kills it so he can consider what might be needed. He doubts it's etiquette Spock's after, but if Jim can figure out the specifics of his unease, he can assuage them as best he can. It's a weird gap of experience to have, he feels like he should just know these things about Spock, but with Spock being from the future, he doesn't want to risk jeopardizing everything by simply guessing.

And after a moment, he realizes just how deeply his reluctance to do so bothers him. Jim, who's made a career out of leaping without looking, doesn't want to. A muscle jumps in his jaw as he flexes it, stubborn. Angry. He's had so few victories here that it's worn him down enough to be afraid. Fear is something he buries under adrenaline and arrogance, something he ignores, fights down. Being afraid... just like everyone else? Kyle's words. They echo, empty and hollow.

Just like everyone else. The Kobayashi Maru's final lesson.

He slouches in his chair, one arm propped up on the rest, and drapes the back of his hand across his mouth so he can bite at his knuckle in frustrated, pent-up annoyance.

Damn, does he need a hobby.]

Edited 2013-10-27 15:25 (UTC)

[ He replays the recorded message twice, silent as he tries to take his cues from the pointed look Jim gives him at the end each time. Preference plays a small part in insinuating he would be at ease with Jim present, only insofar as to navigate Kyle's evasive way of explaining what he knows about Spock. This stranger who appears to flip between one fickle mood and the other, overriding each in a display of unspoken (unnoticed?) indecision, who offers information freely yet seems to suffer indecision over how much of himself to put forth and retract by turns; Spock is only certain that things would be handled more easily with someone else there to forge the way. He has more pressing concerns all of a sudden, like misunderstanding what his captain expects.

Less than twenty-four hours ago Jim was beaten on the floor of a Klingon warship.

What do you need from me?

When he replies, it's not so long after the last message was issued, short and succinct and not exactly a lie; he really does want to keep an eye on him just a while longer to ensure this place isn't affecting him more negatively than initially observed. ]

I require your presence at dinner.

Edited 2013-10-27 18:03 (UTC)

Done.

[Good. This is more like Terra firma. It's a direction, something to go with. The confines of the-- for lack of a better term, mission parameters -- don't even chafe. Jim takes another bite of his apple.]

Tell you what.

[He is totally talking around that mouthful of apple enjoy his uncouth behaviour, Spock.]

I'll even bring wine and flowers. Light a few candles. For the record, I draw the line at live music.

[ ... Wait, he's had one of those dinners before with Uhura. He's got your number, those items have meaning. ]

If you intend to seduce Mr. Rayner, I will remove myself from his property.

[Don't mind him he's just going to choke on his own raucous laughter here. It's a good thing he swallowed that chunk of apple otherwise he would probably be dealing with an airway obstruction and Bones is way too far away to pat him on the back and perform anything resembling mouth-to-mouth.]

Okay, first of all? I was joking. You know those things, Spock? Jokes? [ACTUALLY GIVE HIM A SECOND HE'S GOT THIS ONE--!] 'Something done to provoke laughter or cause amusement'. Great party trick, you should try it sometime.

[It's said with all due affection, because really. It's Spock. He knows the guy's not humourless, even though he pretends it at times. He's grinning as he says it, bright and cheerful. He is still not over his Spock's here! exuberance.]

Second of all, I really do not feel the need to seduce him and for crying out loud, his name's Kyle.

Edited 2013-10-27 22:19 (UTC)

Forgive me, I find myself constantly misguided in the finer nuances of human jokes when around you.

[ Definitely a sense of humor, albeit rather self-serving. Romantic dinners are not romantic, they have naked flames and time constraints with a level of stress directly disproportionate to the level of relaxation supposedly being generated. ~~Spock has seen some illogical shit, man.~~ There's a moment where his face tightens as if he's trying to listen to a weak signal. ]

I am on a first-name basis with him, I simply did not want to promote disrespect.

[ He doesn't go around calling Jim Jim to everyone, that way lies madness. ]

Oh, don't worry. We can work on it. You could always consider it homework.

[A flash of amusement, and then he coughs to try and indicate serious business time.]

Ask him over dinner. He'll probably have a few alternative suggestions.

[He knows Kyle doesn't like the idea of being a mister. And while Jim could provide other alternatives, he's. Going to try and exercise some restraint and not interfere too much. It's like tagging the last breeding pair of a species and then shoving them out into the wild to procreate.

Or something.

... Actually it's nothing like that, but it's the best metaphor he's got at the moment so. It's a thing.]

Out of the two of us, I highly doubt that you would gladly undertake the role of Instructor.

[ On a purely academic level, anyway. Captain Know-It-All can defer a proverbial position if he gets to keep his actual chair, no matter that Spock actually has no designs to acquire it and check him out, flaunting his Terran vernacular. 'Gladly.' Happy was the last curveball he threw Jim, back during their foray through Marcus's schemes. With Jim so far behind in the timeline, it's going to be interesting to ~~troll him~~ serve up those phrases now and again.

Although he really needs to stop hanging around McCoy so much if metaphors like that are what comes immediately to mind. Keep it in your pants, Captain. ]

As a matter of course, I would not object to live music.

[He gives Spock a brief, momentary look of pure suspicious scrutiny, and then shrugs it off. Two can play at that game.]

You never know. I think I could surprise you.

[EYEBROW WAGGLE. Honestly, Jim loves teaching. It serves a twofold purpose - the first being that it makes him look Smart and Knowledgeable (ever one for gasconade, Jim) , and the second... well, he actually, earnestly enjoys it. Of course, there are very few people who actually know that bit, and he intends to keep it that way.]

Helps with the digestion, right? It's only logical. Ergo, pursuant to those aforementioned logistics, I would gladly provide an adequate sampling of 21^st century rock music.

[Note the smarmy mock-Vulcan tone he used there.]

[ Do you think he went through kahs-wan yesterday, bro. ]

Your approximation of my voice is inaccurate in both tone and cadence.

Who says I was trying to imitate you? Here I thought ego was another one of those logical fallacies of yours.

[... and then, speculatively,]

Word choice was pretty close, right?

I have no comment.

[ Maybe it was, just a little. Shh. ]

But that right there was totally a comment.

[SERIOUSLY BRO. BRO SERIOUSLY.]

You are being deliberately pedantic.

[ If he were capable of emotions, which he totally isn't, he'd classify this as second-hand embarrassment. ]

[He is, isn't he. Not sorry.]

Why Spock, here I thought you'd prefer that. Technicalities, right?

[trollface.]

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