0Title: Masters of Fate (1/4)
Author: klmeri
Fandom: Star Trek TOS
Characters: Kirk, Spock, McCoy
Summary: Long ago, Kirk and McCoy were given a chance to glimpse the red string of fate connecting them. Lately, they have been wondering if what they saw might not be the full picture.
A/N: It occurred to me I haven’t come across a platonic Red String of Fate trope for the TOS Triumvirate. Now we have one. :)
This is also the story I accidentally lost last year, so bear with me as I piece it back together!
A Red String of Fate is said to be the evidence of true love, but those who share one would tell you it could hardly be defined in such simplistic terms. The string is both a joyful declaration and a strong warning. Your life will no longer be fully your own. The unknowns tied to you can shape your aspirations, your actions, the beliefs you live by; and you in turn shape them.
To be mindful of one’s power is only common sense. To question one’s predicament is equally natural. Is it right to be bound by a thin little string?
The answer to that question may surprise you.
“There are things we must renounce in life. Some of us must resign love,” reads Jim Kirk mournfully.
Upon glancing up from the book in his lap, Jim discovers his audience is hardly paying attention. A second passes, then another until he complains, aggrieved, “Bones.”
“What,” comes the automatic response.
“I said, ‘Some of us must resign love.'”
“Congratulations, that’s depressing.”
“I can’t tell if you’re uncultured or simply unromantic,” Jim says with a tsk of disapproval. “Either way, you are what is truly depressing to me right now.”
Leonard McCoy looks at him, then. “I was married once, you know. If anybody’s an old hat at falling in love, it’s me. Makes a fellow practical too,” he reasons as he shifts his focus once again to the data padd in front of him. “Unlike a certain somebody who still sighs over love stories like some mooncalf youngster.”
Jim snaps upright in his chair. “Romance isn’t just for the young!”
“Ha! If I had a dime for every time you said that I’d be retired already!”
Jim eyes his companion balefully for a moment. Well, while they’re complaining… “You realize what century you’re in? No one trades in dimes anymore. Most people don’t even know what a dime is.”
“Simpler times,” sighs McCoy before pursing his mouth. “Why are we having this argument, anyway? And watch it with the old-fashioned talk—that thing in your lap is a paperback novel. Paper, Jim!”
His sour mood already dissipating, Jim runs a hand lovingly over the well-preserved cover of the prize of his antique (and, yes, very out-of-fashion) book collection. “It’s an adventure, not a romance, which you would know if you had been listening.”
“Didn’t ask you to read to me,” grunts McCoy, his blue gaze flicking back to Kirk.
Jim suppresses a smile, sensing a victory. “You didn’t tell me to stop either.”
McCoy rolls his eyes. “Maybe I was hoping to be put right to sleep. It’s been a long day!”
Laughing despite himself, he lets his grin bloom. “I don’t believe you. I was in a theater club in school. My reading voice isn’t so bad.”
Amusement fills Leonard’s gaze, his attention finally, fully on Kirk. “Ha!” declares the man. “These medical journal articles are more lively!”
With a swipe of a finger, the data padd’s screen goes dark, and McCoy tucks the device aside before leaning toward Kirk. “Don’t you get tired of all the romance? Most of it is nonsense if you ask me. The paramour rides in, his lady love swoons right into his open arms, and then they have a great passionate affair until some jealous fool comes along to wreak havoc with their happily-ever-after.”
Jim finger-snaps the page he’s on, still grinning. “Oh but this lady-love punched her paramour in the nose and decided she liked herself better than any partner.” That’s an exaggeration, of course, as there was definitely some swooning and hand-kissing before the female found her own self-worth, but Jim does have a point to make.
Eyes dancing now, Leonard demands, holding out an imperious hand, “Let me see that!”
Ah, called on the bluff. Jim casually drops the novel to a side table—specifically the table farthest away from McCoy—and casually crosses his legs at the knees. “You were saying about those medical articles, Doctor?”
McCoy mirrors his grin momentarily and then slumps comfortably back into his original position. “I’m not reading ’em to you.”
“Why not? Maybe I’m the one who needs a nap.”
“How dare you.” But there’s no real heat behind Leonard’s growl. “I give a good lecture, and you know it.”
“I’m all ears,” Jim presses, smoothing his grin to a more charming smile.
The other man harrumphs and fiddles with a corner of his data padd, his gaze skipping around the cabin. He mutters at last, to Kirk’s great satisfaction, “Fine, you win. I guess that romance-adventure-whatever is better than hearing about the variants of Rigellan fever.” He pauses. “She punched him in the nose? Start there.”
Kirk gladly resumes where he left off, stating once again, “‘Some of us must resign love,'” and flicks a glance at McCoy, his gaze softening when their eyes meet and hold.
“Love can be a fickle thing,” drawls Leonard, “but usually it’s worth the hassle.”
And they would know. For Kirk and McCoy, love is born from this friendship, one they might have never have had if not for the concept of a rather mystical red string. Oddly enough, though they cannot see the String of Fate with their own eyes, of its existence neither have any doubts now.
Fated ones, the pair was named some years ago, when they were two young men gaping in disbelief over the radical pronouncement, delivered by an elderly humanoid whose body weathered by centuries had seemed at odds with the mischievous gleam in his eyes. They were told that fate is supposed to be an inescapable thing.
Fate is also sly sometimes, leaving room for interpretation and for invention.
This is one of those times.
Opening is Kirk reading a line from the classic The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot.
Related Posts:
- Masters of Fate (4/4) – from July 1, 2023
- Masters of Fate (3/4) – from September 7, 2021
- Masters of Fate (2/4) – from July 15, 2021
