Total Eclipse of the Tourist

[takingkarabusiness]

Who: Touristos and friends
Broadcast: as needed
Action: Tourist/wherever friends are found
When: August

[ One may have noticed the mood around The Universe's Most Hospitable Ship has been somber and quiet as of late, despite the super swank new system. Feel free to drop by unannounced, call in, or just drop a line! ]

Comments

[universal_charm]

_{[ Honestly, Chekov, when you do things like this he thinks you and he are for alike than he cares to admit - mostly because he really hopes you don't have his other bad habits. He came down in his workout gear, pausing when he heard the smack of flesh against the bag. He waited two beats, then four, and on the sixth he slid the door open and stepped in. ]}

Keep pounding it that hard and you'll make us diamonds.

[candothat]

[He does admire Kirk and aspire to be more like him. You know, in a sensible way. Pavel does not want to incur McCoy's wrath on a daily basis.

Chekov halts the bag on its next swing so it doesn't hit him in the face. Judging by the sweat and the scraped knuckles, he's been at this for a while.]

I think that you misunderstand the process of diamond formation.

[universal_charm]

Continual intense pressure over a period of time.

_{[ He raised a brow, offering him out a towel, glancing at his knuckles. ]}

Looks like the bag's winning, though.

[candothat]

Then we are all destined to be diamonds.

[He takes the towel with a thank you and mops off his face.]

Does it? It didn't fight back that hard.

[universal_charm]

Oh, that was profound.

_{[ He holds out his hands to try and catch Chekov's and inspect his knuckles. ]}

Yeah, well, trees don't fight back either, but they tend to win punching contests too.

[candothat]

Unintentionally, I promise.

[He lets his hands be caught but doesn't bother suppressing a (fond) eye roll.]

Punching bags are meant to be punched. Trees are not.

[universal_charm]

_{[ Kirk frowned as he inspected the knuckles, reddened and raw. His thumb brushed close around the skin, making a clicking sound with his tongue. ]}

It was an analogy. I think you should accept defeat today.

[candothat]

[Pavel pulls his hands back to dissuade Kirk from fussing. Without a punching bag to beat his feelings into, he looks kind of sad.]

I will, but only for today.

[universal_charm]

_{[ He lets him take his hands back, but he moves to grab some water to wet the towel so he can at least get something cool on them. ]}

Good. The crew of the Enterprise aren't ones for giving up, after all.

[candothat]

[Gosh, Kirk, you're almost as bad as Bones.]

...Do you think that there are times when giving up is the wisest option?

[Not talking about vicious punching bags here.]

[universal_charm]

_{[ Maybe Bones has rubbed off a little on him. And in his absence, well, he has to step up a bit more doesn't he? He glanced up at the question, quiet a moment as he gave it some thought. ]}

I can say there are a few. Not many, but a few.

[candothat]

[Well... if it makes Kirk feel better to fuss a little in the doctor's absence, then Chekov will allow it.]

When?

[universal_charm]

_{[ He reached for Chekov's hand again to apply the towel. ]}

When not giving up is essentially giving yourself a new wound every day, however shallow, and keeping all the others open too.

[candothat]

[He looks down and thinks about this.]

Then there must have been times when you gave up.

[universal_charm]

_{[ He made a soft sound, gently petting Chekov's towel-covered hand. ]}

I gave up hoping my brother would come back. I gave up hoping my mother would stay on Earth with any amount of permanence. I gave up thinking I had to be my father.

[candothat]

[He really brought this conversation to a bad place, didn't he?]

Those seem like difficult things to give up... although you have succeeded in being as brave as your father, I think.

...I'm sorry for making you talk about this.

[universal_charm]

_{[ He shook his head. ]}

It's all right. If I can't talk to you about these things, how can I expect you to be able to talk to me about them?

[candothat]

[If Kirk was willing to answer Chekov's questions and reveal such personal things to him, then Pavel owes him the same. Family does mean trusting each other.]

I think that I need to give up hoping that I will find someone who will stay with me.