[Hide] -- [Kirk and Bones]
(OOC: This actually occurs after his escape from sickbay but before the party. Yay timeline fuckery!)
Somehow, he had made it back to their rooms. What had happened in the hallway... Kirk shuddered, full body, and staggered towards the bathroom. It required sitting on the toilet and both hands to be able to get off his boots, whole body shaking with the effort. When had he gotten so weak? He had been through beatings before... he shucked pants and shirts and turned to get into the shower.
He caught his reflection in the mirror.
Kirk's body, his entire world, froze in time. He stepped forward once, twice, staggering on shaking legs. He grasped at the edge of the sink and all of his weight leaned on it as he stared in horror at what stared back at him.
He looked like shit. Heavy bags under his eyes, a stubble growing that he never let grow. The tattoos were brilliant in their freshness, the edges crisp. He had been rubbing at them, rubbing off dirty brown, and now understood. He knew exactly what those words and markings meant. The lives carved into his skin.
Nero had kept a part of him behind.
Kirk couldn't feel his body shaking, couldn't take his eyes away from his own face. He saw it. Traces of green and blue and orange, so orange... everything else was black. Even the blood was black. Gleaming and black, dripping down the edge of the table, his father screaming screaming screaming...
His own scream echoed the one in his head and he slammed his fist into the mirror, cracking it. Designed not to shatter. It twisted his face, cracking it, displacing it.
He staggered back from the mirror and groped at the opaque glass of the shower until it opened and fell against the back wall, sinking down. He reached up, fingers sliding across the controls, and water fell. It was freezing at first, then got hotter, hotter... until it felt like it was burning. Kirk just buried his head against his knees, remembering.
Somehow, he had made it back to their rooms. What had happened in the hallway... Kirk shuddered, full body, and staggered towards the bathroom. It required sitting on the toilet and both hands to be able to get off his boots, whole body shaking with the effort. When had he gotten so weak? He had been through beatings before... he shucked pants and shirts and turned to get into the shower.
He caught his reflection in the mirror.
Kirk's body, his entire world, froze in time. He stepped forward once, twice, staggering on shaking legs. He grasped at the edge of the sink and all of his weight leaned on it as he stared in horror at what stared back at him.
He looked like shit. Heavy bags under his eyes, a stubble growing that he never let grow. The tattoos were brilliant in their freshness, the edges crisp. He had been rubbing at them, rubbing off dirty brown, and now understood. He knew exactly what those words and markings meant. The lives carved into his skin.
Nero had kept a part of him behind.
Kirk couldn't feel his body shaking, couldn't take his eyes away from his own face. He saw it. Traces of green and blue and orange, so orange... everything else was black. Even the blood was black. Gleaming and black, dripping down the edge of the table, his father screaming screaming screaming...
His own scream echoed the one in his head and he slammed his fist into the mirror, cracking it. Designed not to shatter. It twisted his face, cracking it, displacing it.
He staggered back from the mirror and groped at the opaque glass of the shower until it opened and fell against the back wall, sinking down. He reached up, fingers sliding across the controls, and water fell. It was freezing at first, then got hotter, hotter... until it felt like it was burning. Kirk just buried his head against his knees, remembering.