A tall ship and a star to steer her by (starwreck) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-02-10 02:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, cisco ramon (vibe), james kirk |
Who: Kirk and Cisco
What: Music on the Enterprise
When: recent
Where: The Enterprise!
Rating: PG-13 for mild flirting
Status: Complete
7pm Couldn’t come soon enough, Cisco was out the door of the Agency before anyone could even have a word in. What, he liked space, he liked hanging out with Kirk. He was just as much of a science nerd as he was. Cisco loved that. If he said something scientific he wasn’t just stared at like some kind of weirdo in Orange County. The city definitely had some perks. People seemed to appreciate intelligence and science, and that was more than Cisco had ever experienced before.
He got ready, armed with a playlist and several tools in case Kirk really did want to push the limits of his sound system in space. Not to mention, it would give him a chance to check up on his satellites up close, and also-space. When he wasn’t in space he was daydreaming about it. He sent Kirk a text that would probably make his eyes roll. Beam me up Kirk.
Science and intelligence were a part of Kirk’s life. Even before his dreams, he’d always had an interest in them. The dreams had just accelerated it all.
The only real downside was how damn lonely the Enterprise was. Maybe that was part of the reason he’d yet to start the refit. It was still how it was in 2265. He wasn’t ready to upgrade it; maybe that meant his crew would never come. Or maybe it would make him feel as old as he’d dreamed he’d become.
Although the refit would be easier with help.
Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he hit a few buttons and beamed Cisco up.
Cisco stumbled as seconds later he was standing in the Enterprise. “One day I’ll get used to that.” He said with a little laugh and shook his head as he regained his bearings to properly step forward. Smooth. Way to impress your childhood hero. Well, at least he hadn’t completely face planted that smooth surface.
“Do you live up here? I would if it was my ship.” He looked around with a grin. It was always impressive. He never got over it since the first time he was brought up. “It’s still beyond cool.” He never lost that awe over the fact that he was standing in front of Kirk inside the actual Enterprise.
--
“If you get used to it, does that mean the wonder is gone?” Kirk asked, hands clasped behind his back, a lopsided grin on his face. He shook his head, waiting for Cisco at the door to the transporter room. “Sometimes. It’s good to keep my feet on the ground. Remind myself where I started, because even with automation the Enterprise can’t get very far.”
--
“I don’t think that’s possible up here.” He grinned in return. His week had been full of nightmares and bad shit so far, and it was just getting started-but who could be sad or upset in space? Certainly not him. It was exactly what he needed. “Really? How far can you go?” The TARDIS could go back in time, he hadn’t thought about the limitations of the Enterprise. “...Is hyperdrive limited?” He really hoped not. A moment later he joined him at the door. The light in his eyes was obvious even if he tried to outwardly maintain his collective coolness, internally he was having a fanboy moment. “I used to have dreams like this. Just regular normal dreams, sitting in your seat and directing a crew.” That was embarrassing, had he really just said all that out loud? This was more sentimental than Kirk knew for Cisco.
“Farthest I’ve gone is the Centauri system. I could probably push it another few light years, but without a crew it becomes increasingly dangerous.” He led Cisco to the turbolift. “Too much automation doesn’t typically end well. And the ship is missing something, being so empty.”
He flashed a smile as he gripped the control and ordered the lift to the bridge.
“Tell me you have video playback?” Cisco wanted to see. He was excited at the prospect, but what scientist wouldn’t be!? Following beside Kirk, it was hard not to stop and touch things on the wall. In fact anything with surface they passed by he had to have a hand on. Like it was grounding.
The engineer tried to get his stance a bit more stable as he prepared to be vaulted upwards via that command. “I’d say I’d help, but two men probably still aren’t enough for a ship this large.”
--
“Recorded the whole adventure,” Jim assured him. “Took Clara with me for that first Warp trip.”
Clara was… complicated. One of his best friends, at times like some strange combination of Spock and McCoy to him.
The door swished open and the familiar sounds of the bridge filled his ears. The viewscreen was turned, as it usually was, to the Earth below. The only view better was the observation lounge, where it was an actual window.
Listening to that swooshing door, he laughed a bit. “That never gets old no matter how many times I come here.” He loved that noise. If Kirk would let him he’d stand by a door for a good ten minutes and let it make that sound. Today however they had another goal. Cisco wanted to see stars and sound. See what could come of it. “You know we’re gonna watch that right?” He smirked as he looked around, letting it all sink in.
“Is Clara your girlfriend?” Even as he asked the question he was skeptical, the two acted more like friends-but who was he to judge or know. He was bad at that stuff. He walked toward the screen to look at the crystal clear image of the blue planet. “It’s amazing.” Cisco wished his dreams were more like this these days instead of like his own. His own were hard and complicated, he wanted to go back to normal dreams sometimes. When he was staring at the view of Earth, now was one of those times.
“It was a good trip,” Jim said, running his hand along the command console of his chair before he took a seat. He glanced at Cisco, smiling. “No, that ship sailed awhile ago, and we work better as friends anyway.”
Still, Clara would always kind of be in that nebulous space that Edith Keeler and certain others occupied. The ones that got away.
“Maybe next time I’ll be able to tag along.” Cisco was too interested in what was around them to properly sit somewhere. He touched one of the consoles idly before glancing back at him curiously. “No girlfriend then?” How often was it one got to sit in space with Kirk. Were these really the things he wanted to talk about?....Well no. But the other things lead to him stumbling over words. So maybe not those things just yet.
If there was a next time. Kirk wasn’t in the habit of taking a stroll outside the neighborhood. It was too lonely to do alone. While one could appreciate the beauty of the cosmos alone, it was much more fun with friends.
“A few friends with benefits, but nothing serious.” Did Isabela still count?
“Stiles would say that counts.” He smirked, his friend and his damn libido. Honestly Cisco had no idea how people were so into sex. “More than me. I’ve only ever been with the one recently on our trip. Is that lame?” He asked with an eyebrow raised. “It’s probably lame.” Cisco gave a little laugh as he glanced over at the view of Earth. “Only women?”
“It’s not lame.” Jim leaned his elbow on the chair’s armrest. “You don’t need to sleep around with everyone you meet, if that’s not the kind of thing you’re built for.”
He looked at the view on the screen as well. “I’ve appreciated a few men.”
Contrary to popular belief, Jim was actually pretty discerning when it came to love interests, regardless of gender.
--
“People seem to think it’s abnormal, it was nice but..I don’t think it’s for me. I want someone who sticks around you know? I just..don’t know how to find it.” Stiles had found it with Scott, Lydia had someone, everyone seemed to have someone. “Maybe I should just get into a relationship with science. It can be marked as complicated.” He snickered at the lame joke. “How do you turn on the sound in here?” A quick change of subject. He still wanted to test the limits.
“Would you believe I understand that, a little? Every time it’s in reach, it’s snatched away.” Kirk got to his feet, and gestured for Cisco to take the command chair. “You can use Uhura’s station, or the Chair.”
The way he said it, it was like it was a proper noun.
***
He gave Kirk a look that read like Really, you? But was mostly a teasing sort of thing. “I don’t even know how to start looking for it. My friend practically had to force me to text that guy on vacation.” He was so awkward. But the Kirk was pointing at the command chair and Cisco had to force himself to maintain any amount of coolness he had. Any attempt at cool guy was fading as Kirk stood, Cisco quickly slid into it. “Which one?” He glanced up at Kirk with a grin, then down at the command options. Normally he’d have just started experimenting, but this was real and literally someone else's ship. Not his home.
“The only advice I can give, is that if you don’t to anything, nothing will happen. So be yourself,just be…” He waved his hand. “A little more willing to put yourself out there. Any guy worth his salt would appreciate that.”
Leaning over Cisco, Jim pointed out the controls. “This one here. Besides a huge complement of music from across the Federation, I’ve added bluetooth compatibility, as well as both digital and analog interfaces. We could hook up a jukebox if we wanted to.”
--
Cisco gave that response some thought, and as Kirk reached over him to touch the controls he reached out a cautious hand to touch his. “This one?” He asked as he touched the same button, looking up at him hesitantly. For him, that was a bold move. Hell, all he could hear just then was the sound of his own heart beating in his ears. What if that was out of line? He didn’t read situations very well sometimes but he tried to test his advice. He’d admired Kirk since he was a kid. Dark eyes shifted up toward him just to watch him for a moment.
“I think we should. “ He’d be impressed with a jukebox on a spaceship. A little taste of past and present. As a song came on that he knew and loved, Cisco grinned and sang a few bars of Under Pressure. He had a shockingly good singing voice, like he’d been trained.
“That’s the one,” Kirk confirmed. He grinned down at Cisco. “Where would we even get ahold of a jukebox? I could just beam one up but that’s technically theft.”
Not for the first time he wondered if any of this somehow violated General Order One. But he wasn’t technically a Starfleet captain, and there was no Starfleet Command to reprimand him anyway.
“You sing?”
“I’m not going to say anything, are you?” He grinned. They’d just not tell Noah. “Besides, technically there’s a gray area in space anyway. We -I mean the government doesn’t own it. We’d just borrow it.” Pulling out his own tablet from a bag that he’d dropped earlier by his feet, he gracefully swiped over a screen while he hummed along to the tune that touched every inch of that room.
“I do. Grew up singing in a choir. Then an acapella group in high school. More like a club, we just liked to sing. We didn’t perform or anything fancy.” Cisco waved a hand, that wasn’t information he often volunteered. But hey when the mood struck. He zeroed in on a little bar known to have a jukebox. It happened to be the same bar that was shut down a while back. “This place has one. Their lineup lists it.”
“As long as we return it when we’re done, I don’t see the problem,” Jim replied. “I guess we could bend the rules, though I don’t at all know anyone who bends the rules.”
“Ever thought about performing?” Kirk walked to one of the consoles in the back and started inputting commands. It had taken him weeks but he’d managed to route the ability to control most systems from either the bridge or engineering. “Locking on. Beaming the jukebox over to the comm console.”
“That place is shut down, if you return it-it gets trashed anyway or put in some sad storage space never to be used to full potential again.” He gave him a little side smile as he leaned back in that captains chair contently. He would happily stay there all night if allowed to.
“That involves small crowds of people all watching me. Pass.” Cisco lacked some confidence in that area. “For my friends though, sure.” Though none of them were even aware he sang at all, much less well. A grin came over his lips at that comment. “Do it.” What, he was a great influence.
“Good thing I like bending the rules,” Jim said, watching as the jukebox materialized on the bridge. It wouldn’t be the permanent home for it, that would be the rec room, but it’ll do for now.
“Pity, I do enjoy being watched.”
Cisco grinned at that and finally got up. But then both eyebrows raised in curiosity at that comment. “What?” Watched how? In general? Or was it something more? Something sexual? Hanging out with Stiles made him over think things sometimes. He wondered what his friend would say at his current situation. Alone with Kirk in the Enterprise and he didn’t really make an obvious move, was it stupid with a comment like that?...probably yes. He’d definitely thought about making a move. That was his problem, he got so internally analytical he didn’t end up doing anything he actually wanted to do. He couldn’t help but look at the man in confusion for a moment. “Really now?” Amusement in his tone. “How exactly?” Granted he could take it as a rhetorical question, but Cisco was intrigued. Maybe being subtle wasn’t doing him any favors, maybe it was time to try a new tactic.
“What’s your current favorite song?” He asked as he pushed the buttons to turn the pages of music to see their choices.
“When you’re in a command position, you have to at least be a little used to being the center of attention. And that goes to a nice party too.”
Jim leaned against the console, studying Cisco from his position. “I like the classics. Beastie Boys. Sabotage.”
Cisco was confused, but he shrugged it off. He really didn’t understand how people found others so easy to be around. Cisco just felt awkward, so he flipped a switch on the jukebox when he found Sabotage and leaned on the machine to watch it as it set itself up. He’d refocus on what he initially came up there to do, hang out, test science stuff, it was fine. Right? Internal struggle e damned.
“Looks like it’s your lucky day, they’ve got two Beastie Boys songs in here.Chop Suey and Sabotage.”
“Ah, classical,” Jim said, without a hint of irony or joking. There were several eras of classical, but he did have a soft spot for the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He wondered if that was because of his dreams or because of the waking world.
“In one of my dreams we used this song to defeat a fleet of automated ships. Radio disrupted their ability to coordinate.”
Cisco gave him a smirk, but fiddled with some of the buttons. It needed some work. Maybe it could be restored pretty easily. “Bet they wouldn’t miss this if you decided to keep it you know. “ He said out loud, glancing back at him as he smirked.
“Yeah? Is that your favorite memory of this place?” He asked with curiosity. Flipping through the song selections again, he frowned. “Could use more k-pop, but no surprise it isn’t on here really.”
“I’ll still have to replace it with something valuable,” Jim mused. He looked the jukebox over. It did need some work, but if they couldn’t find parts on Earth they could probably replicate them.
“K and J-pop are already on the computers.” He glanced around the bridge, frowning. “Too many good memories to really pin one down, and that’s just sticking to the bridge.” Spock and Bones at his side, his crew at station. Bones being grumpy in sickbay, Scott babying the engines…
“The people are the memories.”
“Even if it’s meant to be junked anyway?” He raised an eyebrow at his friend. It was going in a trash heap somewhere, but he id admire that a little. Jim sticking to his values either way was part of what made him legendary.
“Got any G-Dragon?” Cisco was a closet k-pop fan, he admitted to most fandoms but the K-pop fandom was a mess he didn’t really associate with-but that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy the music.
“Yeah, I understand that. It’s the same with mine, I love my job in the dreams but it’s because of the team it is what it is. The guy I work with iis a hero. Powers and everything. I’m..not sure what I’m becoming.” He admitted a bit more quietly as he looked away, back at the monitor behind them of Earth. “Somethings changing..But I’m just science guy and have no problems being that.” He didn’t think of himself as a hero just because he had power now. But it was a confusing time. Being up there on the ship was helping drown out the noise Of Earth and he appreciated it. “Thanks...for letting me come up here. “
“Even if it’s meant to be junked,” Jim said, then pointed out. “You can get a lot of money for the part, or even just the copper. It’s only fair.”
He thought he might have some G-Dragon; the music library was as large as possible. While a lot of music of the 20th and 21st centuries had been lost due to World War III, there was still a sizable amount, and Jim had augmented it with his own collections and spotify.
“Just a science guy? That’s still a hero.”
Cisco nodded. “Fair enough. I’ll help you find something, it was my idea.” He listened as the music filled the ship, then went back to the chair where he touched the controls to bring the levels higher. Hey, he said he wanted to test it. However, when Kirk said those words he just smiled.
From Kirk it was a pretty high compliment. “Knew I liked you. Now, let's see what she can really do shall we?” His hand hovering above the audio controls as they raised slowly. So many tests he wanted to run.