Offscreen

Main Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Star Trek
Summary: Faster to read.
Word Count: 145
Rating: Teen 

        It’s easy to miss a lot of things, when you’re a kid.
        It’s easy to see the guy getting so many kisses. It’s hard to notice it’s done under mind control, or as a distraction, or persuasion. To protect the self, to protect the ship, to protect the crew.
        Even when you’re a skeptic with a nose for the worst life has to offer, it’s easy to think he’s got it all. The ship, friends, the smiles and the action and the winning. Maybe because it’s on screen. It’s easy to gloss over the pain and tears when they’re more implied.
        It’s easy until you’ve got it in your head and know exactly how hard, how painful, how it all being effortless is just an act. Sure, James T. Kirk is incredible and forged that reputation with difficulty, but a lot of it is acting.