nexus_crossings | Impromptu Family Meetups

Impromptu Family Meetups

It's that time of year. Holidays around every corner, family and friends dropping in unannounced, needing to be entertained and fed and plied with stories of how you've been, how is work, and all sorts of things. The thing is, for most of Jim Kirk's life he's never known any of that. It's hard to have sudden family visits when you don't have much in the way of family and aren't speaking to damn near all of them.

Which makes this day exceptionally stressful.

No Starfleet uniform today--even if Jim wanted to he's not allowed to wear any of his own clothes for where he's about to be headed. Instead he's dressed in a soft wool tunic in his preferred golden color and simple linen pants beneath the fur lined cloak he's got pulled over his clothes. Gloved hands fidget with the ties on all of this, a nervous habit he can't quite stop himself from making.

He stops his pacing when he nearly stumbles over a passer-by with how lost in thought he is and it's only then that the captain looks up at whomever he's nearly trodden upon.

"What's the best way to impress your in-laws? What's the etiquette for meeting someone's family for the first time?"

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For one bafflingly long moment, Kirk wonders if George has something against the younger captain's future in-laws, as out of character as that would be. But then he remembers a mind meld, a flurry of memories transferred from human to Vulcan to human, a stark snapshot of a life changed forever by a single twist in the fabric of time. One where George Kirk didn't live to see his son become a man, to see him work his way up the ranks to the captain's chair.

The youngster's attitude is like night and day, flipping a switch straight from Red Alert to sounding the all-clear. If he's not the Jim Kirk that Spock showed him, he can't imagine another reason why that would be the case. Not to mention the part where his rank is captain, at this age. "Not the last time I checked, no," he says, watching the other pull himself together. Was he really ever this young?

"I didn't know you were here."

Not a new face either given how unsurprised the older Kirk is at being in a place like this where he could run into his younger self form an alternate universe as easily as he could a dinosaur on his way home from his morning shopping. Jim's seen this man before, once. Briefly. He's sure of that now.

And grief fills his chest remembering that the man who showed Jim those memories is dead and gone. Jim drops his gaze and tries to clear his throat.

"He told me about you. Not much, said he wasn't allowed. I sort of assumed...it was because it hurt to much to talk about. Never thought I'd actually meet you." Hesitant hands reach up to touch the older man's arms, as though not quite daring to believe he's real. "Sorry, this has got to be weird. Hi, Jim."

"Well, it is an infinite multiverse," Kirk says with a chuckle. Honestly, it's amazing anyone runs into the same person twice here, the odds have to be astronomical. (Note to self, don't ask Spock, he might actually try to calculate them.)

As for how weird this is? He gives the younger captain a wry grin. "It's not the first time, though it has been a while. Hello yourself, Jim." This is, however, probably the first time he's met himself that's actually him, and not a shapeshifter or an android duplicate or something.

He doesn't need to guess who 'he' is, either. There's only one man on that particular list. "He told me about you too. For what it's worth, I'm sorry for how it all turned out."

But it might be fun! Don't rain on a Vulcan's parade, Kirk. He's liable to find even more eccentric ways to keep himself entertained.

"Well, same here. Just not one with this much time between us. The guy I usually talk to is only a few years younger than me." Granted Jim's only talked to other versions of himself and not anything else like that. At least not yet.

"He did?" The record scratches to a stop in Jim's head. He opens his mouth. Closes it. Squints his eyes once before he looks back into this older man's eyes. Bullshit. "When...?" He's supposed to be gone, so how?

Now what's that look supposed to be about? Kirk knows himself well enough to read the genuine disbelief in those young eyes, but given that apparently Jim Kirks are in abundance here, is it really that odd that he might've met Spock here?

There's those pesky odds again.

"Late last year. Why?"

"Wh...because."

Jim sighs and shakes his head. It still hurts so much to talk about his passing, even if it wasn't his Spock. The elderly Vulcan means a lot to him, too. Was his constant companion when he was recovering from his ordeal after Khan. A confidant he wouldn't have otherwise had when he was struggling with his nightmares.

"Because he's gone. In my world. Has been since the start of this year."

Kirk had been prepared to chalk it up to alternates, and offer his sympathies. This is a multiverse, there'd be no reason for him to assume it wasn't a different Spock, if not for the very specific timeframe the younger captain gives.

He hesitates. Should he say anything?

Yeah, he should. The timeline's already contaminated. There's no reason to let young Jim suffer. "The start of this year? That's when Spock - my Spock - moved in with me, here."

Jim lets slip a swear that won't be in any language the older Kirk is familiar with but that the Nexus will helpfully translate to something very inappropriate with a 'netch', whatever those are. With swears though, no one needs to know the details. The awed disbelief in his voice and the gape of his jaw says all it needs to.

To say nothing of the relief that floods his face soon after. Jim's honestly tearing up a bit and has to quickly duck his head so he can school his expression.

"I...wow. That's. I'm so glad he's okay. I won't-I won't say anything. It's just such a relief. He got you back after all. I'm sure he's happy."

Whatever the elder Kirk was expecting, it certainly wasn't that. But damn, it is good to be the bearer of good news for once. The relief on the younger captain's face is plain as day, no matter how hard he's trying to hide it, and Kirk reaches out to place a supportive hand on his shoulder. "I never thought I was going to see him again either." There's so much packed into that one little statement, so inadequate to truly get across the joy of finding each other again after so long, of getting one last chance at happiness when they both thought their luck had run dry. And yet, he's pretty sure he doesn't need to say any more.

And so the subject drifts back around to marriage all on its own.

Jim knows what sort of relationship the elder Spock has with this older version of himself. There was a time he was quietly jealous of it, wishing so badly he could have that with his own first officer. Or even be a replacement for the Jim that's in front of him. Whatever it took for someone to see even a speck of worth in him.

That's long since passed by now. The only thing he can feel when looking back on that is gratitude that he held out long enough to find someone that was right for him, even if it isn't with the people he quietly wished to be with for years.

"It puts my mind at ease, knowing you two found each other. Spock deserves it after everything...well. You'd know better than me, even. He did a lot for me so I'm happy he's got someone. W...would you tell him I said so? I don't need to see him again or anything I just. Want him to know he was a good friend to me, too. And that I finally found where I belonged, thanks in part to him."

Spock has held such guilt in his heart about what happened to this young Jim's timeline, logic or no logic, that there's no way Kirk would say no to that request. Things will never be the same as they knew them, but that hasn't stopped the young captain from finding his place in the universe either, it seems. "Of course I will."

Even though he'd known how far-reaching the fracture in the timeline had gone, it's still so strange to be speaking with a Jim who's hitting some of the same beats yet missing so many others. Still, nothing like giving your younger self some words of encouragement when he's about to dive headfirst into matrimony. "As far as in-laws go, if you know who they are, you're already ahead of the game as far as I was concerned," he says with a light chuckle. "I'm afraid I didn't make the best first impression with Sarek, the first time we met."

"You didn't? I don't think Sarek disliked me exactly. He was definitely Spock's dad, that much is for certain but he wasn't..."

Jim cuts himself off then, remembering the grief both father and son felt for Amanda's loss when he had met them at first. The grief they were feeling for losing their planet. Such insurmountable emotions handled with all the dignity only a Vulcan could manage.

"To be honest I don't think he thought much about me at all the first time he met me. There was a lot of other stuff going on at the time. But, no. I don't know my future father-in-law at all. I was given his name only recently. And their mother's long since passed away so. It's just him I've got to impress." One shot at this. It's nerve wracking.

If not for the mind meld, he still might not be able to wrap his head around the knowledge that in this alternate timeline, Vulcan is entirely gone. 'A lot of other stuff going on' is one hell of a sugar coating to put on that, but Kirk understands why it's needed, a very human way to cope with the enormity of the loss. There's a more somber look in his eyes as he nods, not asking anything further.

Not about that part, at least. He can't draw conclusions about who young Jim is engaged to, not with all the ripples in time that have spread and propagated and changed so much that he knew from his own timeline. It could still be Carol, and he's not sure just how to feel about that. "Anyone I might know?" he asks lightly.

It's also not the sort of subject Jim wants to bring up if the older Kirk isn't aware of it. They've only just met, talking about his world's utter ravaging of huge chunks of Starfleet--both ships and crew--and the destruction of Vulcan is some really heavy shit to be jumping right in about. Best to keep his replies as vague as he can until he knows the older man better.

It's a different thing than talking to his younger self. They're not the same either but they're similar enough where Jim's not often surprised by actions the other one takes. But this Jim? He's a lot older and more experienced in a universe that the captain will never be able to experience. Their timelines are too divergent for him to ever become this older Kirk which makes him near enough a stranger.

One that looks so much like George and who really needs some more cardio in his life.

"Ah--" But the nervous gestures don't come. Jim doesn't look away from the older man nor scrub a hand through his hair. His teeth don't worry at his bottom lip. Jim just shakes his head. "No, I met them in the Nexus, actually. I suppose you could've met them wandering around here but it's not likely." He turns so that they're both facing the same direction and points out across the plaza to where the red and black Imperial banners hung up near Felix's world's portal can be seen.

"The fantasy Romans hanging around that doorway are his people. Nirn's a far cry from our world, that's for sure." So no. Not Spock in any capacity. Not anyone from the crew even.

Of all the possible answers he was expecting, this one hadn't even made the list. The surprise is written plainly across the elder Kirk's face as he studies the banners from across the plaza, their markings entirely unfamiliar to him, except in that he's seen them here in passing. He's met his fair share of xenocultures that took after ancient Rome, of course, but those were all native to his own universe at least.

The aptness of his initial answer comes back to him and he can't help but chuckle at it. "Well, I guess you really do need to make sure you've done your research, then."

If you'd asked Jim a few years ago whether that was even a chance hazard for being in the Nexus he'd have laughed in someone's face. But here he is, engaged. His younger self's in a steady relationship. There's something in the water in this place. Has to be.

"I used to be jealous of the relationships you got to have that I felt like I never would." Jim taps his temple before giving a small shrug of his shoulders. "Things are just so different in my world, but I remembered what Your Spock showed me. And I wanted it so bad it was an ache. I think..it's probably a good thing that I found my own way rather than trying to follow yours."

He can't exactly deny he regrets that this young Jim will never know the same closeness with Spock that he does, the bond that's kept them together through all their years of service and beyond, defying even 'til death do us part.' Deprived of the same loving family that he himself had, the fires of youth have forged him differently, not quite a stamp of the exact same mold. The earlier a course is diverted, the less of a change is needed to have far-reaching consequences.

But despite that, he still has the makings of an excellent starship captain, someone who's finding his place in the galaxy on his own merits rather than the memories of a man he'll never fully embody.

So neither can Kirk disagree with young Jim's assertion, and he smiles faintly, but sincerely. "As long as you've found your own happiness, that's what matters. It took me a lot longer to find what I really wanted in life, so you're ahead of me, there."

There's much this Jim is lacking when compared through the lens of his older counterpart. So many social nets that this young captain doesn't have. How alone must he have felt? How has he carried the burdens they must with no one to support him? And yet, Jim Kirk is here now. Standing tall, surviving so many of the same things the elder Kirk has.

He's had to do it all so much younger but he's still done it.

"Time was never a luxury any of us have in my world. You'd have done it sooner if there wasn't a choice. After all. I did."

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Impromptu Family Meetups

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