Plans for the Future
Dec. 5th, 2017 11:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerMain Points:
Star Trek (the 2009!movie verse) Cambion AU
Summary: Jim needs advice again...
Word Count: 2543
Rating: Teen, probably
“I’m sorry, Admiral; is this a bad time?” That makes him actually glance up; it’s Captain Jim Kirk, back after a general visit to the Federation to reassure them that they’re all safe and alive. Starfleet’s loss was prioritized slightly over the Vulcans’ loss, especially with the humans calling the new planet New Vulcan despite the Vulcan terminology. Kirk had visited and behaved himself, though, and if they can give any members of the Federation hope after the horrors Nero inflicted they’re doing useful work.
“I don’t know whether to thank you for saving me from paperwork or be worried about what problems you’re bringing to me this time.” Despite his words, he sets aside the papers with a smile.
Jim detaches himself from leaning against the doorway. He’s holding himself utterly normally, but the second he drops himself into a chair he looks exhausted. “Do you think the glaring fact I’ve refused to see any other doctors will stop them from reassigning Boyce?” he asks without preamble.
Instantly, he sobers. Not only would a new CMO have to deal with Jim’s Tarsus-related anxieties, but also the cambion secret that not even Starfleet knows. He also makes a mental note to smack Phil for not mentioning it and probably trying to deal with the problem himself. Chris had to get himself “promoted” to Admiral, so the least he can do is actually use his influence for solving actual problems, not just harassing people and making opaque decisions.
“It’s not likely, Jim, I’m sorry.” He hates saying that, hates realizing that he can’t create miracles for the kid he’s kind of adopted. “I’ll of course be against it, and I might be able to explain that your phobia isn’t just something to ‘get over’. We could probably get Archer, assuming he hasn’t transferred his vendetta against Scott to you, and likely Nogura and Barnett, but we’re hardly a majority. You probably don’t want me to talk about your medical history, but it’s the best chance I have at convincing them.”
Jim focuses on his breathing, closes his eyes, and hides his head in his hands. “I—I’d rather have a new CMO than talk about that with the admiralty, especially Komack.” In general, Pike would rather not have any conversations with the man, so he doesn’t blame the kid for that. “Options.”
“Christine Chapel actually does have a doctorate. She didn’t go through the usual training and doesn’t have the experience, so that’s not something you can implement right away. And that, of course, depends on what she wants to do, as well.” It’s an option, but not an immediate one. A thought occurs to him. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a stupid political stunt. It was probably Komack’s idea, to punish Phil as well as to give one of his people the honor of serving on board the Enterprise.”
Jim definitely looks panicked at that, and Pike hastens to reassure him, “You don’t have to accept any assignments you don’t want. Unfortunately, reassignments are a different matter. You can fight it, but it’s more difficult. You haven’t had to deal with the idiocies of personnel assignments because you were lucky enough to inherit it all. I would’ve taught you more about it if I’d thought they’d be dumb enough to try to ensure our flagship doesn’t have the best serving aboard her.”
That earns a sickly smile.
A thought suddenly occurs to Pike, and he grins. The new Captain is quickly concerned, but Christopher ignores him and hits the comm. “Contact Phil.” Fortunately, he’s conditioned the system to understand him when he’s not specific about his old friend, and it does. “We will be having a talk about not hiding things later,” he warns in greeting, and Phil swallows. “But, assuming we can’t block this, do you know the whereabouts of Doctor M’Benga?”
He can hear the smile and relief in his old friend’s voice. “He was reassigned to one of the research Starbases because he refused to play by the rules. He’s not likely to occasionally play bartender, but you’ll like him, Jim.” Phil sighs. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it, but this all started soon after you became Admiral and the boy became Captain and I didn’t want to jeopardize either of your positions before you’d settled in. Assuming you’re okay with it, Jim, I may go along with it without a fight, but rather than accepting the posting to Biddeford and playing Komack’s games, I’m going to accept that teaching position at the Academy they’ve been offering me for years. I believe you’ve been managing to find trouble without me, Chris.”
Pike ignores the jab. “He served as my CMO briefly. The added bonus is that M’Benga completed his internship on Vulcan,” at which they stoically all ignore the fact that he mentioned the now-gone planet, “…so his knowledge of Vulcan physiology is stronger than most doctors you can find. Considering that you have a higher percentage of Vulcan crew members than most Starfleet ships and his honesty will hopefully not cause your perfectly understandable paranoia to make you avoid Medbay and get yourself killed, and it seems like a near-perfect solution.”
“If you’re both vouching for the doctor, I guess that means I can stop having a panic attack about this.” He smiles at Pike and the comm, and he senses Phil relax, too. “It’s not my only problem, though.”
Phil sighs. “If the two of you are having an existential crisis, you’re not doing it without me in the room. I’m not doing this over the comm. Get drinks and snacks; I’m on my way.”
He cuts off the call before either he or Kirk finish protesting.
They spend most of the time waiting for Boyce griping about doctors who are nosy and don’t know their place and feel free to order Captains and Admirals around. They’ve also eaten a decent amount of the snacks by the time Phil arrives, which is why he grins and waves a bag of chips at them. “I came prepared.” Pike realizes that he’s utterly forgotten his paperwork, and can’t even bring himself to feel bad about that. “Now, what else is wrong?” he demands.
Jim forgets entirely about the fact that they’re angry at the doctor. He actually looks embarrassed, with slightly tinged pink cheeks and everything. “I—okay, it has to do with the whole Cambion thing.” He pauses and then glances at the walls. “I, uh.”
Pike rolls his eyes. “Yes, my office is a safe place to talk. I actually have protections against listening devices, which isn’t necessarily following regulations, but then again neither is bugging the office of an Admiral.”
“You really should’ve thought about that earlier, kid,” Phil agrees, but pats the kid on the shoulder when he continues freaking out.
“Yeah, okay, sorry. I’m, just. Talking in front of you two is safe, so I don’t tend to think about it that much.” And that’s utterly touching, so Christopher abandons his plan to scold the kid more.
“No harm done. Just keep it in mind for later,” Pike reassures him. “What’s the problem?”
“Do you think I should tell Starfleet?” he blurts out, and the two of them look horrified.
“That’s not a good idea,” Pike disagrees, and Jim looks hurt.
“Jim, it’s awful, but Starfleet gets a lot of good PR out of the fact you’re George Kirk’s kid. The ones who didn’t like you at first gave you a bit of a pass because of the name. Even the ones who like you would probably be mad about you keeping secrets, misrepresenting yourself.” He holds up a hand. “I’m not saying it’s fair, or has any basis in reality, but I’ve studied psychology and I’ve dealt with these people for a long time.”
“I just…if I was any other species, if I wasn’t me, they’d give me some sort of accommodations.” Which is a level of unfair, but on the other hand it’s not a chance they should take, not with some of the things Starfleet’s done. “I’m not…I’m not whining, or anything. It’s a lot harder as Captain, though. I’m not going to go against regs and sleep with any of my crewmen who aren’t senior officers, and my senior officers are dating each other, kind of scary, or I’d feel bad for taking advantage. I’m having to binge when I go planetside and there’s compatible lifeforms, I’m dreamwalking almost every night and it’s honestly feeling a little privacy invasive even for me, and worse, the constantly sleeping around is putting some of my missions in danger!” He’s ranting, arms flailing like he’s orchestrating, and neither of them has the heart to stop him. “I’m disappointing some of my crew including Spock, who just keeps sitting there judging me with his eyebrow without any idea of the fact that it’s not necessarily a choice and I’m trying not to take advantage of anyone or starve to death!”
Phil actually looks angry. “You should have mentioned that, Jim. As your CMO, you really should’ve told me.”
Instantly Kirk deflates. “Yeah…sorry. I figured there wasn’t really much you could do to help.”
Christopher winces. “You really shouldn’t have said that, kid.”
Phil manages to get even more furious, which is a little scary considering he doesn’t get mad. “That shows what you know. I’ve been researching…well, pretty much everything, actually. In between you and your crew trying to get yourselves torn apart or whatever else on diplomatic missions that shouldn’t be dangerous. There are a few incubus analogues in other cultures, including a Japanese version called the kitsune. They have the usual ‘can seduce anyone they want but they’ll sap your energy-slash-health’ base. Illusions, which I’ve actually noticed you using even if you don’t.” Jim blinks, completely caught off guard, and Pike turns curiously to his friend. “He’s been—accidentally—making it seem like he’s healing more naturally. I wouldn’t have caught it except I know how fast he heals, and while the appearance and tricorder readings look right, he doesn’t flinch when you touch the wounds.” For once, Jim’s subconscious is being a lot more smart than he is. “And all that research has given me an idea.”
Christopher leans in. People argue that Jim’s a bad influence; but he’s just trying to keep his personality after his ‘promotion’. “When he’s manic like that, you should run away.”
Jim grins. “I can’t. I’m desperate.”
“That’s how he gets you. Alas poor Tiberius; I knew him well,” Pike says with a grin, and it takes all his command training to stop himself from flinching at the warning hand on his arm.
“I’m glad years as your CMO has yet to instill common sense and normal human fear reactions in either of you,” Boyce warns the two of them, and once they’re quiet continues. “Kitsune do have weddings. There are a few other stories I’ve read where similar sexual beings enter monogamous relationships, but in all the stories I found those seem to be rather permanent.”
“How do you stop yourself from taking too much?” Jim frowns, asking sensible questions like he does during a mission briefing. At Chris’s confused glance, he elaborates, “…Well, I do have repeats, occasionally. It’s okay if I spread it out, but so far only Gaila—an Orion—is almost completely fine with multiple days in a row.” He shrugs at Phil’s stare. “It’s not just fun and games for me, remember? I’m pretty sure I could accidentally kill someone with taking too much energy from them if I tried hard enough. I could also override consent if I wanted to which is really, really sickening.”
Pike swallows and nods. “At least you don’t.” At least Jim stopped the erotic dream and just had a conversation. Someone else with his abilities might not have.
Jim looks uncomfortable, and he amends sternly, “You haven’t, have you?”
“Not intentionally, no,” the Captain hastens to reassure him, “…but I’m not sure how far my powers extend. Like, if you chat someone up in a bar and then end up in the bathrooms for a quickie, you don’t have to question whether they actually want it or whether you unduely influenced them into sex.” He sighs. “I try not to think about it and focus on the fact that I’m good at it and make them happy. And I can usually tell when people are looking for sex, so I usually go for them, because then I feel less weird about it.”
That…sounds horrifying. He’s been dealing with this so long without telling anyone. What would it be like to not be able to trust anyone’s interest, on top of the general loneliness?
“You’d get hungrier if you used your powers,” Phil states with no hesitation. “Both Winona and George were possessed of not inconsiderable charisma themselves. I don’t think you can blame being different for being able to talk people into things. Chris here was certainly capable of it, but he’s calmed down a little since then. And a good indicator—if they’re acting out of character, it’s safer just to skip it.”
Jim’s grin is a little warped, but that’s to be expected. “So, keep vigilant, but don’t obsess about it. I might be able to do that.”
“All the stories suggest that monogamous sex isn’t a problem, but specific rituals might have to be used,” Boyce adds, and shrugs at the incredulous look Jim gives.
“It can’t be that easy!” he argues.
Phil shrugs. “Figuring out the specifics might be comparatively easy. You’re the one who has to find someone who’s not going to use you, will be able to give you the sex you need, will somehow fit on your ship, and maybe even feed that secret urge for romance you try to hide from your crew.”
The kid blinks and looks vaguely ill. “When you put it that way…” He shivers a little. “Hey, I saved the Earth from a crazy time traveler, how hard could it be?” Despite the light tone, he’s a little more worried about it than he sounds.
Pike claps him on the shoulder. “Let me know how I can help.”
The Captain nods professionally, snapping into a salute. At Pike’s glare, the slightest hint of a smile peeks out at the corner of his face. “Someone Starfleet’s probably a good start, so if you could compile a list on your downtime, that’d be great. I wouldn’t do it on one of these computers, though, because it’s not like we can exactly explain it to them.” He pauses near the door, struck by a thought. “Wait, uh. Actually, if you could get me a face-to-face with Spock Prime or whatever they’re calling him now, that’d be great.” And he’s gone.
Chris turns to Phil, who shrugs. “Don’t look at me, Admiral. I have no idea what that boy of yours is planning, but you should probably get that pile of paperwork on your desk to shrink.”
He laughs and leaves, too, as Pike groans.
Star Trek (the 2009!movie verse) Cambion AU
Summary: Jim needs advice again...
Word Count: 2543
Rating: Teen, probably
“I thought I said I wasn’t to be disturbed.” He doesn’t raise his voice, because he’s not that sort of person, but he’s low on patience right now.
“I’m sorry, Admiral; is this a bad time?” That makes him actually glance up; it’s Captain Jim Kirk, back after a general visit to the Federation to reassure them that they’re all safe and alive. Starfleet’s loss was prioritized slightly over the Vulcans’ loss, especially with the humans calling the new planet New Vulcan despite the Vulcan terminology. Kirk had visited and behaved himself, though, and if they can give any members of the Federation hope after the horrors Nero inflicted they’re doing useful work.
“I don’t know whether to thank you for saving me from paperwork or be worried about what problems you’re bringing to me this time.” Despite his words, he sets aside the papers with a smile.
Jim detaches himself from leaning against the doorway. He’s holding himself utterly normally, but the second he drops himself into a chair he looks exhausted. “Do you think the glaring fact I’ve refused to see any other doctors will stop them from reassigning Boyce?” he asks without preamble.
Instantly, he sobers. Not only would a new CMO have to deal with Jim’s Tarsus-related anxieties, but also the cambion secret that not even Starfleet knows. He also makes a mental note to smack Phil for not mentioning it and probably trying to deal with the problem himself. Chris had to get himself “promoted” to Admiral, so the least he can do is actually use his influence for solving actual problems, not just harassing people and making opaque decisions.
“It’s not likely, Jim, I’m sorry.” He hates saying that, hates realizing that he can’t create miracles for the kid he’s kind of adopted. “I’ll of course be against it, and I might be able to explain that your phobia isn’t just something to ‘get over’. We could probably get Archer, assuming he hasn’t transferred his vendetta against Scott to you, and likely Nogura and Barnett, but we’re hardly a majority. You probably don’t want me to talk about your medical history, but it’s the best chance I have at convincing them.”
Jim focuses on his breathing, closes his eyes, and hides his head in his hands. “I—I’d rather have a new CMO than talk about that with the admiralty, especially Komack.” In general, Pike would rather not have any conversations with the man, so he doesn’t blame the kid for that. “Options.”
“Christine Chapel actually does have a doctorate. She didn’t go through the usual training and doesn’t have the experience, so that’s not something you can implement right away. And that, of course, depends on what she wants to do, as well.” It’s an option, but not an immediate one. A thought occurs to him. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a stupid political stunt. It was probably Komack’s idea, to punish Phil as well as to give one of his people the honor of serving on board the Enterprise.”
Jim definitely looks panicked at that, and Pike hastens to reassure him, “You don’t have to accept any assignments you don’t want. Unfortunately, reassignments are a different matter. You can fight it, but it’s more difficult. You haven’t had to deal with the idiocies of personnel assignments because you were lucky enough to inherit it all. I would’ve taught you more about it if I’d thought they’d be dumb enough to try to ensure our flagship doesn’t have the best serving aboard her.”
That earns a sickly smile.
A thought suddenly occurs to Pike, and he grins. The new Captain is quickly concerned, but Christopher ignores him and hits the comm. “Contact Phil.” Fortunately, he’s conditioned the system to understand him when he’s not specific about his old friend, and it does. “We will be having a talk about not hiding things later,” he warns in greeting, and Phil swallows. “But, assuming we can’t block this, do you know the whereabouts of Doctor M’Benga?”
He can hear the smile and relief in his old friend’s voice. “He was reassigned to one of the research Starbases because he refused to play by the rules. He’s not likely to occasionally play bartender, but you’ll like him, Jim.” Phil sighs. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it, but this all started soon after you became Admiral and the boy became Captain and I didn’t want to jeopardize either of your positions before you’d settled in. Assuming you’re okay with it, Jim, I may go along with it without a fight, but rather than accepting the posting to Biddeford and playing Komack’s games, I’m going to accept that teaching position at the Academy they’ve been offering me for years. I believe you’ve been managing to find trouble without me, Chris.”
Pike ignores the jab. “He served as my CMO briefly. The added bonus is that M’Benga completed his internship on Vulcan,” at which they stoically all ignore the fact that he mentioned the now-gone planet, “…so his knowledge of Vulcan physiology is stronger than most doctors you can find. Considering that you have a higher percentage of Vulcan crew members than most Starfleet ships and his honesty will hopefully not cause your perfectly understandable paranoia to make you avoid Medbay and get yourself killed, and it seems like a near-perfect solution.”
“If you’re both vouching for the doctor, I guess that means I can stop having a panic attack about this.” He smiles at Pike and the comm, and he senses Phil relax, too. “It’s not my only problem, though.”
Phil sighs. “If the two of you are having an existential crisis, you’re not doing it without me in the room. I’m not doing this over the comm. Get drinks and snacks; I’m on my way.”
He cuts off the call before either he or Kirk finish protesting.
They spend most of the time waiting for Boyce griping about doctors who are nosy and don’t know their place and feel free to order Captains and Admirals around. They’ve also eaten a decent amount of the snacks by the time Phil arrives, which is why he grins and waves a bag of chips at them. “I came prepared.” Pike realizes that he’s utterly forgotten his paperwork, and can’t even bring himself to feel bad about that. “Now, what else is wrong?” he demands.
Jim forgets entirely about the fact that they’re angry at the doctor. He actually looks embarrassed, with slightly tinged pink cheeks and everything. “I—okay, it has to do with the whole Cambion thing.” He pauses and then glances at the walls. “I, uh.”
Pike rolls his eyes. “Yes, my office is a safe place to talk. I actually have protections against listening devices, which isn’t necessarily following regulations, but then again neither is bugging the office of an Admiral.”
“You really should’ve thought about that earlier, kid,” Phil agrees, but pats the kid on the shoulder when he continues freaking out.
“Yeah, okay, sorry. I’m, just. Talking in front of you two is safe, so I don’t tend to think about it that much.” And that’s utterly touching, so Christopher abandons his plan to scold the kid more.
“No harm done. Just keep it in mind for later,” Pike reassures him. “What’s the problem?”
“Do you think I should tell Starfleet?” he blurts out, and the two of them look horrified.
“That’s not a good idea,” Pike disagrees, and Jim looks hurt.
“Jim, it’s awful, but Starfleet gets a lot of good PR out of the fact you’re George Kirk’s kid. The ones who didn’t like you at first gave you a bit of a pass because of the name. Even the ones who like you would probably be mad about you keeping secrets, misrepresenting yourself.” He holds up a hand. “I’m not saying it’s fair, or has any basis in reality, but I’ve studied psychology and I’ve dealt with these people for a long time.”
“I just…if I was any other species, if I wasn’t me, they’d give me some sort of accommodations.” Which is a level of unfair, but on the other hand it’s not a chance they should take, not with some of the things Starfleet’s done. “I’m not…I’m not whining, or anything. It’s a lot harder as Captain, though. I’m not going to go against regs and sleep with any of my crewmen who aren’t senior officers, and my senior officers are dating each other, kind of scary, or I’d feel bad for taking advantage. I’m having to binge when I go planetside and there’s compatible lifeforms, I’m dreamwalking almost every night and it’s honestly feeling a little privacy invasive even for me, and worse, the constantly sleeping around is putting some of my missions in danger!” He’s ranting, arms flailing like he’s orchestrating, and neither of them has the heart to stop him. “I’m disappointing some of my crew including Spock, who just keeps sitting there judging me with his eyebrow without any idea of the fact that it’s not necessarily a choice and I’m trying not to take advantage of anyone or starve to death!”
Phil actually looks angry. “You should have mentioned that, Jim. As your CMO, you really should’ve told me.”
Instantly Kirk deflates. “Yeah…sorry. I figured there wasn’t really much you could do to help.”
Christopher winces. “You really shouldn’t have said that, kid.”
Phil manages to get even more furious, which is a little scary considering he doesn’t get mad. “That shows what you know. I’ve been researching…well, pretty much everything, actually. In between you and your crew trying to get yourselves torn apart or whatever else on diplomatic missions that shouldn’t be dangerous. There are a few incubus analogues in other cultures, including a Japanese version called the kitsune. They have the usual ‘can seduce anyone they want but they’ll sap your energy-slash-health’ base. Illusions, which I’ve actually noticed you using even if you don’t.” Jim blinks, completely caught off guard, and Pike turns curiously to his friend. “He’s been—accidentally—making it seem like he’s healing more naturally. I wouldn’t have caught it except I know how fast he heals, and while the appearance and tricorder readings look right, he doesn’t flinch when you touch the wounds.” For once, Jim’s subconscious is being a lot more smart than he is. “And all that research has given me an idea.”
Christopher leans in. People argue that Jim’s a bad influence; but he’s just trying to keep his personality after his ‘promotion’. “When he’s manic like that, you should run away.”
Jim grins. “I can’t. I’m desperate.”
“That’s how he gets you. Alas poor Tiberius; I knew him well,” Pike says with a grin, and it takes all his command training to stop himself from flinching at the warning hand on his arm.
“I’m glad years as your CMO has yet to instill common sense and normal human fear reactions in either of you,” Boyce warns the two of them, and once they’re quiet continues. “Kitsune do have weddings. There are a few other stories I’ve read where similar sexual beings enter monogamous relationships, but in all the stories I found those seem to be rather permanent.”
“How do you stop yourself from taking too much?” Jim frowns, asking sensible questions like he does during a mission briefing. At Chris’s confused glance, he elaborates, “…Well, I do have repeats, occasionally. It’s okay if I spread it out, but so far only Gaila—an Orion—is almost completely fine with multiple days in a row.” He shrugs at Phil’s stare. “It’s not just fun and games for me, remember? I’m pretty sure I could accidentally kill someone with taking too much energy from them if I tried hard enough. I could also override consent if I wanted to which is really, really sickening.”
Pike swallows and nods. “At least you don’t.” At least Jim stopped the erotic dream and just had a conversation. Someone else with his abilities might not have.
Jim looks uncomfortable, and he amends sternly, “You haven’t, have you?”
“Not intentionally, no,” the Captain hastens to reassure him, “…but I’m not sure how far my powers extend. Like, if you chat someone up in a bar and then end up in the bathrooms for a quickie, you don’t have to question whether they actually want it or whether you unduely influenced them into sex.” He sighs. “I try not to think about it and focus on the fact that I’m good at it and make them happy. And I can usually tell when people are looking for sex, so I usually go for them, because then I feel less weird about it.”
That…sounds horrifying. He’s been dealing with this so long without telling anyone. What would it be like to not be able to trust anyone’s interest, on top of the general loneliness?
“You’d get hungrier if you used your powers,” Phil states with no hesitation. “Both Winona and George were possessed of not inconsiderable charisma themselves. I don’t think you can blame being different for being able to talk people into things. Chris here was certainly capable of it, but he’s calmed down a little since then. And a good indicator—if they’re acting out of character, it’s safer just to skip it.”
Jim’s grin is a little warped, but that’s to be expected. “So, keep vigilant, but don’t obsess about it. I might be able to do that.”
“All the stories suggest that monogamous sex isn’t a problem, but specific rituals might have to be used,” Boyce adds, and shrugs at the incredulous look Jim gives.
“It can’t be that easy!” he argues.
Phil shrugs. “Figuring out the specifics might be comparatively easy. You’re the one who has to find someone who’s not going to use you, will be able to give you the sex you need, will somehow fit on your ship, and maybe even feed that secret urge for romance you try to hide from your crew.”
The kid blinks and looks vaguely ill. “When you put it that way…” He shivers a little. “Hey, I saved the Earth from a crazy time traveler, how hard could it be?” Despite the light tone, he’s a little more worried about it than he sounds.
Pike claps him on the shoulder. “Let me know how I can help.”
The Captain nods professionally, snapping into a salute. At Pike’s glare, the slightest hint of a smile peeks out at the corner of his face. “Someone Starfleet’s probably a good start, so if you could compile a list on your downtime, that’d be great. I wouldn’t do it on one of these computers, though, because it’s not like we can exactly explain it to them.” He pauses near the door, struck by a thought. “Wait, uh. Actually, if you could get me a face-to-face with Spock Prime or whatever they’re calling him now, that’d be great.” And he’s gone.
Chris turns to Phil, who shrugs. “Don’t look at me, Admiral. I have no idea what that boy of yours is planning, but you should probably get that pile of paperwork on your desk to shrink.”
He laughs and leaves, too, as Pike groans.
