lah_mrh: Rocket in flight (turnabout intruder)
lah_mrh ([personal profile] lah_mrh) wrote2013-11-05 08:21 pm

Ad Astra Per Aspera: Epilogue

Fandom: Star Trek TOS (AU)
Pairing: Kirk/Spock, mentions of others
Rating: PG-13
Summary: As he begins his second year at Starfleet Academy, Spock has all but given up on finding acceptance from his fellow students, convincing himself he's better off alone. First-year cadet Jim Kirk makes it his mission to change that, and ends up succeeding in ways neither of them thought possible.
Words: ~400/31500

Three Years Later

Spock has to force himself not to smile as Jim stares around them in awe, taking in Spock's new science officer's quarters. "I can't believe I'm here," Jim says. "The Enterprise. The flagship!" He turns to Spock with a grin. "I knew there was a reason I was dating you."

"I was under the impression it was for the… how did you put it? 'Amazing sex'," Spock replies, raising an eyebrow.

Jim laughs. "Well, that too."

"In any case," Spock continues, "I merely mentioned your name to Captain Pike. It was your own superlative record that got you a position here." Pike had, in fact, seemed quite enthusiastic at the prospect of having Jim Kirk as one of his ensigns.

"And the fact that you wouldn't have left Earth without me had nothing to do with it," Jim says, smiling. "You're not fooling me, you know."

He steps forward and wraps his arms around Spock's waist, kissing him gently on the lips. "I love you," he says softly.

"And I you," Spock returns, letting his affection slip through into his voice and face.

Jim smiles broadly, then takes a step back. "You know," he says, "I looked in the regs, and there's a line in there about how they never separate married couples."

It takes Spock a few seconds to catch on to his meaning, and then he almost can't believe it. "Are you suggesting…?"

Jim nods, beaming. "I've been thinking about it a lot, and I'm ready. I was just waiting for the right time to tell you."

Pure love washes over Spock at the words, and he can't keep himself from stepping forward and kissing Jim. The kiss soon become more heated, and they begin moving towards the bed, shedding clothes along the way.

Jim laughs as Spock pushes him down onto the bed. "I should ask you to marry me more often," he says, before his words are washed away by Spock's skilful hands.

They curl around each other afterwards, transmitting love and affection wherever their skin touches. Spock strokes his fingers against Jim's gently, imagining the prospect of being fully bonded with him. He finds he cannot wait.

"Do you think," Jim says, "if we hadn't met at the chess club all those years ago, we would've still ended up together?"

The probability is remote, Spock knows. Likely they would have been posted to different ships and never even met. But looking into Jim's eyes, probability ceases to matter. "I think," he replies slowly, "we would have found a way."

Jim smiles.

amalthia: (Children of Dune)

[personal profile] amalthia 2013-11-06 03:06 am (UTC)(link)
Hi your story sounds interesting and I was curious to know if you had plans to host it on an archive? either A03 or the Kirk/Spock archive? I have A03 invites if that is all that is holding you back.

Best Regards.

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2013-11-07 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll be posting to ff.net and the K/S archive probably within the next week. I will not be posting to AO3.
amalthia: (Children of Dune)

[personal profile] amalthia 2013-11-08 06:16 am (UTC)(link)
Great! I look forward to seeing it at ff.net.

[identity profile] lazy-maddox.livejournal.com 2013-11-06 10:32 am (UTC)(link)
Wow, it was a great read, thanks for sharing! It's curious to have a look at TOS Academy AU, because now people mostly write AOS Academy AUs. It was interesting to see Jim who had a full family and wasn't brash and impertinent. I wish you had elaborated more on his Tarsus experience and Spock offering him comfort, though. Man, it would be interesting to read about things that happened during those three years! Friends to lovers is one thing, but the first relationship for Spock, it would be intriguing. He was very wary to start a friendship, but a relationship is a far more complicated thing.

Btw, I second AO3, would love to see this work there.

PS What about t'hy'la bond? Was it so archaic that Spock was unaware of it too?
Edited 2013-11-06 10:45 (UTC)

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2013-11-07 08:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I can understand why most people write Reboot Academy AUs - after all, the first movie is basically a canon one - but I wanted to try something different. And I have to say it was really damn fun to write Kirk as the "stack of books with legs" cadet he's stated to have been in TOS. I only wish I could have thought of some way to include McCoy.

What about t'hy'la bond? Was it so archaic that Spock was unaware of it too?

I assume he thought it was something that went out of fashion once Surak and logic took over. My impression of Spock is that he wants so desperately to be seen as a "good Vulcan" that he sometimes assumes things about Vulcan culture that aren't actually true.

[identity profile] aishuu.livejournal.com 2013-11-08 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
Lovely work. <3

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2013-11-09 07:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

[identity profile] tmelange.livejournal.com 2013-11-08 05:47 am (UTC)(link)
This was an excellent read. Bravo on finishing it!

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2013-11-09 07:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!

[identity profile] talitha78.livejournal.com 2013-11-08 06:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Great story!!

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2013-11-09 07:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

[identity profile] lygtemanden.livejournal.com 2013-11-08 10:19 pm (UTC)(link)
What an excellent read,I liked that you have set it in TOS, great to see Jim with his parent!

Thank you for sharing this!

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2013-11-09 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I wanted to write a TOS Academy AU because there are so few of them, and also because it allows for a very different relationship between Kirk and Spock than the reboot universe. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[identity profile] green-grrl.livejournal.com 2013-11-09 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
I was saying, "Aaaaaw," pretty much the whole way through. Lovely and delightful.

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2013-11-09 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you, I'm glad you liked it!

[identity profile] kero99.livejournal.com 2013-11-11 06:15 am (UTC)(link)

I haven't been on l.j. much (at all), but when I saw this on ksarchive I had to come here to comment :)

This is a wonderful Academy story--the pacing, the supporting characters, Spock and Kirk's voices... everything felt right, very true to the TOS characters as I imagine them in their youth. I especially enjoyed the scenes with Kirk's mother. Is it odd that to me the socks with the stars seemed to foretell Sam's coming around, the mending of his relationship with Kirk?

Your portrait of the Vulcan healer struck me as very balanced--even though Spock had a hard time on Vulcan, you didn't cast Vulcan's entire culture and populace in the role of villain, you had Spock acknowledge his own role in maintaining his ignorance (and I say that as a Spock fan whose heart usually bleeds for him :)

Is it too early to think of this as your Yuletide present to us? Thanks so much for writing and sharing.

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2013-11-12 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

This is a wonderful Academy story--the pacing, the supporting characters, Spock and Kirk's voices... everything felt right, very true to the TOS characters as I imagine them in their youth.

Thanks, I'm glad you think so. It was really interesting trying to figure out their personalities as teenagers based on how they act as adults.

Is it odd that to me the socks with the stars seemed to foretell Sam's coming around, the mending of his relationship with Kirk?

No, it's not odd at all. I wanted him and Jim to have a complicated relationship, but they're still brothers deep down.

Your portrait of the Vulcan healer struck me as very balanced--even though Spock had a hard time on Vulcan, you didn't cast Vulcan's entire culture and populace in the role of villain

Well, there are billions of Vulcans out there, I figure they can't all be assholes. :) Plus I'm not a fan of those fics where everyone goes out of their way to be a jerk to the character. Most people really don't care that much.

Anyway, thank you very much for commenting, and I'm glad you liked it!
ext_462821: (hailing frequencies)

[identity profile] synia09.livejournal.com 2013-11-13 04:52 pm (UTC)(link)
This was such a great read! Your characterization was spot on and the whole story was really well written and paced. Thank you for sharing it!

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2013-11-14 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you, I'm glad you liked it and thought it was in character. :)

[identity profile] the-pursuer.livejournal.com 2013-11-17 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
That's really really nice! I've been hooked on TOS these last weeks (the Reboot got me into the fandom, and I'm still catching up), and it's been hard to find good TOS!Kirk/Spock fics. I really liked the way you've portrayed the development of their relationship, and I only feel sad there isn't any more! Nice work here, and thank you for sharing this!

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2013-11-18 11:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I'm glad you liked their relationship, and how it developed, and that you took the time to comment.

I got into TOS through the reboot too (and ended up liking it a lot better). The relationship between Kirk and Spock is just so amazing, I think it ruined me for other pairings. :) I can give you some recs if you're still having a hard time finding things?

[identity profile] the-pursuer.livejournal.com 2013-11-19 09:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I like TOS just about as much as the reboot... I think it's a little more difficult to watch, but it has a lot more space for reflection and deep questions and exploration, and I really liked that. And while I like Reboot!Spock/Kirk, sometimes I just want to imagine Shatner and Nimoy and not have to worry about Uhura. XD

Oh, if you could give me some recs, it would be really nice! :D I have read a lot of reboot fics, but not many in the TOS universe. Thank you in advance! \o/

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2013-11-21 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay, some authors I like are Charlotte Frost (http://www.ksarchive.com/viewuser.php?uid=3532&skin=blanc), Dana Austin Marsh (http://www.ksarchive.com/viewuser.php?uid=210&skin=blanc), and Lady Ra (http://www.visionsofprettyboys.com/StarTrek/StarTrekTOS.htm).

And some single stories are Centennial (http://www.ksarchive.com/viewstory.php?sid=2978&skin=blanc) by Anna S Greener, Getting to Know (http://www.ksarchive.com/viewstory.php?sid=4922&skin=blanc) by Rae Trail, and Hair of the Dog (http://web.archive.org/web/20080219062158/http://www.kardasi.com/SBS/Special-II/hair-of-the-dog-by-physnorfowl.htm) by Physnor Fowl.

Hope that helps!

[identity profile] anoncomment7.livejournal.com 2013-11-19 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
This was so great. There's just not enough Academy AUs for TOS. I love how their relationship grew. Awesome job!

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2013-11-21 09:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it, it was a lot of fun to write.

There's just not enough Academy AUs for TOS.

There really aren't. It's sad, really, because having Kirk and Spock be students at the same time creates a very different relationship than if Spock is a teacher and Kirk is a student. (Not that you can't do the former in reboot, but as far as I can tell people don't.)
Edited 2013-11-21 21:00 (UTC)

[identity profile] chanel-5.livejournal.com 2013-11-21 11:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Fantastic story, thankyou.

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2013-11-22 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Glad you liked it!

[identity profile] fandomlucky.livejournal.com 2013-12-06 06:23 am (UTC)(link)
What a lovely read! I needed something feel good after having jury duty all week and this was perfect! I enjoyed your OCs, especially Lauren. Thank you for sharing!

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2013-12-07 07:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it! And I'm glad you liked Lauren - I wanted Spock to have someone he could confide in besides Jim, so that he didn't have to figure everything out on his own.

[identity profile] lav123.livejournal.com 2014-03-02 01:32 pm (UTC)(link)
This is lovely!

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2014-03-03 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

(Anonymous) 2016-04-24 12:01 am (UTC)(link)
Loved this story!

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2016-04-27 09:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

[identity profile] tardis67.livejournal.com 2016-09-19 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
It's so nice to see Spirk supporting each other in TOS Academy! Love every part!
Edited 2016-09-19 05:26 (UTC)

[identity profile] lah-mrh.livejournal.com 2016-09-30 10:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!