archersline | Christopher Pike

Quarters for officers on colonies or even stations back home weren't nearly so spacious, so to that Pike had to give it to them in this reality. At least Starfleet seemed to try to take care of their own, to some extent. The temptation to take his jacket off and stretch out in a chair won out over attempting to keep up a large amount of his guard and looking professional and soon enough his blue and gold jacket was hung up before he sat down and finished his order for clothes.

"Straight, if you don't mind." And he only kept his eyes open long enough to watch Kirk for a minute before leaning his head back and closing them. "Do you keep the bottle on board ship for yourself or is this all locally sourced for officers?"

Any office stationed out here or out this far had been in space awhile - it was just a fact of the position of the colony. The enlarged size was probably a way to soothe already frayed nerves from being in the tight spaces of the ship for so long, and while Yorktown did support a civilian population, it was by and large a Federation outpost. They could afford to take up a bit more room.

"A man after my own heart," he chuckled, pouring them both simple straight glasses. He liked his that way too, and his scotch. He placed one down in front of Pike and sat beside him, leaning back in his chair, but didn't immediately drink. "This one is for me, but the Enterprise has her own bar, and we keep it as well stocked as we can. Sometimes we do go a bit long between resupplies. Star Fleet is generous with these places to sleep, but not that generous. We have to handle food and drink ourselves."

He shrugged and sipped from his class, looking towards Pike for a moment as he did.

"Look, I... I know this must be difficult - all of this. It's a lot, I'm sure," he started, turning the glass in his hand slowly. "Even harder, when there's someone else, another you, that was already around in this universe. I was shocked when you first said your name, and I'm sure I might have said some things, and Command too, that put pressure on you. While I am glad that there is a Christopher Pike here again, I'm not a little kid. I know you're not him - my Pike. I've made my peace with his passing, and I would never expect you to be him." His class turning stopped. "So to that end, I would very much like the chance to get to know you, Christopher Pike."

The questions may seem odd to Kirk, as trivial and basic as they were but they were Pike's way of figuring out the little differences. This wasn't the mirror reality he had been briefed about in regards to Lorca (nor the one in which he suspected Georgiou hailed from) and it was so similar to his own that he had to keep reminding himself that it wasn't. So really finding those little differences, like Yorktown and how this Enterprise had a bar on board and this young James Kirk was in command of his ship and Vulcan was no longer in one piece, it helped remind him he was the outsider here. He'd learn to adapt to it all, but first he had to know.

He also had to give all the credit in the world to Gabriel Lorca for pulling the wool right over everyone's eyes for so long.

Taking his drink though he did manage to sit up and actually watch Kirk with more curious eyes then not. In this universe, in this case, he was far more open to learning about the people and not imposing change on those around him or, at least at the moment, reminding the young man next to him that he was not in fact his Christopher Pike. The sip he took as Kirk started to talk was probably proof enough of the pressure he felt from all sides at the moment, as it was a rather large one then he normally would have. "It's nothing I'm not used to walking into recently, the expectations of everyone around me and the pressure." He made sure to clarify as he turned to really give Kirk a better look over as he talked, a bit of a smile on his face. "And I would very much like to take you up on that offer, James Kirk, at least so long as we have the time to."

And he even offered Kirk his hand to shake.

"I think we might have a bit of that, as it were," he smiled and took the hand, giving it a firm shake and a gentle squeeze. "At the least we have this evening, and quite frankly your ship won't be in any shape to do anything for a bit. Nor mine, actually. I'm glad inspecting your signal turned out to be a fairly simple inspect and retrieve mission."

He shook his head, tossing back his drink and pouring another one, leaning back in his chair. He looked too Pike.

"Please tell me you're just a simple inspect and retrieve mission - outside of your universe-jumping. We just saved the universe last year, we don't need to be doing it again so soon."

Pike couldn't help the wince at Kirk's comment about having time, because that seemed his lot in life when he met new crews. His ship needed repair and of course ship was the one out of commission for weeks while he was on some other one carrying on like business as usual. "No, I expect she won't be going out anytime soon. Hopefully it's not nearly as bad as what happened before I was transferred to Discovery." Where the Enterprise was just now starting to get her legs under her.

Which really was just a prompt to finish off his own drink and then reach over to pour himself a new one as well while Kirk continued talking. The consequent draining of his freshly poured glass to only half full was probably the biggest indicator of just how bad things were back home for him.

"Our universe jumping was completely unintentional. So unless Control and the Red Angel magically appear here," and weirder things had happened in his life so nothing would surprise him, "your mission should stay a standard inspect and retrieve." He tiled his head back and once again emptied his glass, but this time he didn't pour himself another. "At least for the moment." Until his crew inevitably probably started something or other.

"Ah yes, that special caveat - for now," he shook his head again and laughed softly as he watched the other man. "You sound like you end up in a lot of interesting situations."

His question sounds less curious and more like a statement framed in a curious sort of way. He motions for Pike to come with him as he rose and took the bottle, heading for the softer comfort of the couch and a wall of windows, looking out onto the colony, and beyond it the stars.

"Mind if I put on some music?" he asked, pausing at his record player.

"That's the nature of Starfleet, isn't it? Adventure, exploration and turning grey." He gave Kirk a grin and a laugh back as he stood up to follow him to the couch and the view it presented. Which really only turned the grin into a soft smile as he looked out at the stars.

"Go ahead, just not Kacellian opera." He couldn't help the wince at that. "I don't think your windows could handle it."

"Hopefully not for a little bit yet," he touched his golden fluff a little protectively, looking to Pike and smiling. "Though you pull it off very well, so maybe it won't be so bad."

His gaze softened, seeing Pike smile at the view. He knew this man was not his Pike. He had been turning that over and reminding himself of it and coming to terms with it. He was not his Pike. Would never be the Pike who had given him his chance, set him on this path. And that - that was okay. He didn't want another Pike like the one he had. That would only dilute what he'd shared with the Pike of his world.

This new Pike was just that - new. He shared a name, probably a somewhat similar past, but he wasn't this universe's Pike. He never would be. And that was as it should be.

He set the needle to the board and smiled as the classic tones of Panic! at the Disco drifted out - set to a low volume of course, so they could talk. He would have preferred the Beastie Boys, but they were rather fringe and not to everyone's taste and seemed to aggressive for the moment.

"I'm a glutton for punishment, but I am not a masochist," he scoffed at Pike, settling on the couch beside the other man. He frowned gently at him. "Who in the world has subjected you to Kacellian opera?"

Edited 2019-04-29 03:57 (UTC)

"As I so recently reminded someone, at least I still have hair, so count your blessings." He tipped his glass at Kirk as he said that, watching the younger man touch his hair and settle on the couch.

At least for the moment he could ignore the fact that he was from a different universe and pretend he was just getting to know the next up and coming captain of Starfleet. Nothing he hadn't done before he had left on his five year mission, in fact he had often ended up the mentor of a number of rising stars around the fleet and he was perfectly fine with that. So, if he approached Kirk and Spock and this universe like that, but of course knowing he lacked in critical information, he might actually make it out of all of this okay, at least until he made it back home somehow.

Somehow of course being the operative word, because that all hinged on something about the spore drive and mycelleium and things Stamets had babbled at him rather quickly before they had all been dragged to their respective debriefings. Mushroom travel, the galaxies most complicated piece of engineering.

As the music hit his ears though, he shook his head some at the classic. Not really his usual but he also wasn't one to be overly picky, and so he couldn't scowl at Kirk for his choice. The sigh though, that was perhaps a little over dramatic, at least in regards to Kirk's question.

"I've known most of my senior staff on the Enterprise, my version of her at least, for a number of years, and at one point I made the mistake of getting drunk while on an away mission during our five year mission." So it wasn't too long ago really, in the grand scheme of things for him. "To be fair, it was during a diplomatic dinner with a new planet. Apparently it was bad enough for me to cut out early and leave Number One on her own to finish the discussions and she changed my alarm to Kacellian opera as payback for my, abandoning her to the company of Dr. Boyce."

To which Phil had been horribly insulted and Pike had nursed a hangover the entire day after being so rudely awakened because of the somehow perceived insult of leaving the two of them alone (Pike called bullshit on the entire thing and honestly just thought she did it because it meant he had managed to get out of the diplomatic talks early and she hadn't exactly been thrilled with the planets people).

Kirk pressed a hand to his mouth and laughed, watching Pike with shining eyes as he soaked up the story. It sounded like something he might have done. Had probably done. There had been a lot of incidents, and Bones, at least, was not above getting back at him. Spock might not see the point in it, or maybe he would someday, and then he really would be in for a world of hurt he was sure. He didn't want to know how clever a Vulcan could be at revenge.

"Well, I can't actually say you didn't deserve it," he chortled, hiding the rest of his laughter behind a drink.

Pike had served with both Una and Boyce for far to long to not have a long running list of stupid things they had done to one another. Spock had yet to be dragged into it all, he was to young and logical and the three of them had somehow decided he would enter into their shenanigans if and when he felt ready. The rest of his crew? They had a running pool on such incidents. Not that of course, he was at all aware of such things.

The laugh though, that's what he had been after from sharing the story. Break the ice so to speak and really to stop dwelling on things that were different. "I would say I didn't. Not at least the consequent negotiations while I was hungover and she was allowed to stay on the ship with all the knowledge of what we had discussed the night before." Lesson learned: Don't piss off Number One. Not that he hadn't known it already, but the lesson was always, always better relearned.

Young and logical - a rather odd combination fo words, but Vulcans were odd creators. Especially a half-Vulcan. But Kirk liked to think that he and Spock had grown together, feeding off each other into the men they had become and were yet becoming. He couldn't have made it near so far without him, after all. Thankfully, he never seemed to partake took heavily in the shenanigans of the crew, though Kirk noted he really never did much to curb them either...

"Guess your Number One got things very smoothed out the night before. I'm not sure Spock would trust me to handle that hungover without tucking in the corners, so to speak, the night before," he shook his head. "There was, one time though, that instead of getting my physical in the medbay, I somehow convinced Bones to let me show him I was fit doing some gymnastics. It somehow turned into a near ship wide spectacle."

From Spock, his very Half-Vulcan science officer to Michael, his very much Vulcan raised science officer, Pike had learned that young and logical made an odd but fascinating combination. Typically it resulted in a lot more laughter at someone's expense and a lot of dry remarks, not enough to indicate any sort of inclination towards hijinks but enough to show to Pike at least a sense of humor. Which really, was all he could ask for in somebody on his crew.

"She's good at that, smoothing things over that the rest of us tend to get ourselves stuck in." He couldn't help the moment to chew on his bottom lip at Kirk's choice in words, because he couldn't imagine a time where he didn't have Boyce or Number One around to help harass cadets and junior officers with. But it was Kirk's own story that made Pike smile. "Gymnastics? I can just imagine how much of a sight you were for your crew."

Kirk caught the chewing of his lip, finding it curious. Not for the fact Pike did it, but that Kirk shared a similar tick. A curious thing, a small thing to file away, because he had never noticed his own Pike doing that sort of thing. So many new things to learn, but then, it was a whole new person, after all.

"It did become something of a spectacle," he admitted, and then chuckled. "But we needed it. We'd had a rough time of it not longer before. And while I truly did want to get out of Bones' unique ministrations, giving the crew something to smile at was a very happy bonus."

"Rough times are something Starfleet crews tend to attract, at least the best ones." Because he had to try and lighten the mood a little, because even with their own antics in the midst of them all, rough times always spelled worries about crew, about family. Plus if he thought of his crew as family, he could only imagine what this universes Pike was like and well, again, a path he wasn't sure he was ready to follow.

"I'm glad you could give your crew some happy times. Deep space missions, for all they can be boring at times amidst discoveries, they take a toll." The waiting and then the rushing for the discovery, and of course the inevitable breakdowns for being so far away from home and having to figure out some way to fix it. There was always something going on and it always seemed to pile up at the worst times. "Ever had the pleasure of teaching cadets in the Command Training Program on your bridge?"

He shook his head. "Well, not in recent years. But my five year mission keeps me out here and we don't go in to Earth's sphere very often. Because of that, it's hard for us to transfer crew in and out, and most of my crew has been with me for awhile - I don't get very many new transfers, unless.... well, nevermind. And honestly, I think before now, I wouldn't have made a very good Captain for them to learn under."

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at his drink.

"If I'm honest with myself, they gave me the chair way to early, and I was far to eager to accept. I didn't really understand that responsibility when I first took it, and that lack of understanding caused a lot of damage. Now, though, if anyone would be interested, I would welcome it. I'm sure there are some cadets here and on Earth interested - or scared off forever by the last stunt I pulled. We'll find out."

What he had been expecting had been an answer full of bravado, if only because that seemed to be how not only young captains were but just how Jim Kirk seemed to style himself. What he got instead was a pleasant surprise and he can't help but feel sympathy for the younger man as he talks. It's all to familiar pain, what he's talking about.

"It's the ones that are unsure I tend to see thrive in teaching people. I can't imagine that Discovery's crew was at all pleased at first to get cadets aboard, but they all seem to be thriving, both the cadets and officers." It's meant to try and soothe Kirk but he's not sure if it would help or not, but the effort was made. "As to your latest stunt," and here he leaned toward Kirk, "I've always found there are those that will misinterpret things to their own ends. Whether for hero worship or to condemn. Self-reflection is the worst thing possible for anyone's confidence, as is false flattery, but I think you would find the chance rewarding. Teaching tends to make one think things through and reflect, and prove to others why you deserve that ship out there."

He was quiet for a long moment after Pike finished speaking, watching him. Finally, he took a steadying breath and he laughed, taking a bigger gulp of his drink.

"Sorry. Sorry, you just - you sounded a lot like him just then," he smiled, and took another breath, getting up to refresh his drink, motioning for Pike to hand him his glass as he passed. "That's not a bad thing either! I - I'm glad, I think. It's good to know that you have a good soul too."

Christopher Pike | Open Post

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cheese and crackers life needs to chill

it happens <3