Polyamory | Star Trek (Spirk x OC)

1.9 - Kobayashi Maru 2: Electric Boogaloo

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Bones, Jim, and Cali were hanging out in the former two's dorm room. Bones was sat at the desk doing work while Cali and Jim were laying on Jim's bed, snuggling. They were talking about making plans for the next day when Jim suddenly remembered something.

"I have something tomorrow!" Jim suddenly bursting out making Cali jump slightly at the raised voice in his ear. He noticed his pillow's movement and quickly looked at him apologetically, "Sorry Cal."

Looking down at his partner in amusement, Cali shook his head, "It's fine love, what do you have tomorrow?"

Deciding to sit up, he moved himself slightly, allowing Cali to get the hint and move his arm so that he could do so, following suit after as Bones looked at the two in amusement. "I'm doing the Kobayashi Maru test." He explained after both having settled back down.

Bones' brows immediately furrowed, "You've already done the test." He commented in confusion making Cali mirror his expression as he looked back at his partner. "Why are you going back for seconds?"

"I wanna beat it." Jim said simply, looking to Bones as if it was obvious.

Looking at his partner for a moment, Cali spoke carefully, "Love, the test is unbeatable, you can't." For a moment, Jim frowned as he looked over at his boyfriend next to him. He couldn't stop the slight disappointment that rose in his stomach at the fact that Cali didn't believe in him but he shook it off as Cali spotted his expression and continued, "It's programmed that way. It's meant to test how you do under no-win scenarios. You don't beat it by saving the day, you just complete it keeping your cool and commanding despite your fear."

Before Jim could defend himself, Bones spoke up. "You seem to know quite a bit about it, Cali."

Looking over, he smiled. "Yeah, I wanna be primarily stationed on the bridge of a starship. You never know who the captain is gonna leave on Con when they aren't there so I figured it would be best if I take it just in case I ever get put in that situation." He explained casually. Though it had been before he met Jim, it hadn't been that long ago since Cali had taken the test and he could remember it quite well. "A lot of people take it even though they don't want to command."

"How'd you do?" Jim asked expectantly.

"Well, I didn't manage to save anyone, but I was told after that I performed very respectfully." Cali had been told so by Commander Spock, the programmer of the test. The Commander had gone on to say that he had confidence Cali would perform well as a commanding officer if ever put in that position. This was what had caused Spock to pay more attention to Cali in his lessons and their professional respect to form. "I got a good score. How did you do the first time around?"

Before Jim could, Bones answered with an amused tone, "He failed, got too frustrated and focused on beating it rather than keeping his cool."

"Thank you Bones!" Jim shouted back, giving Bones an unimpressed look while both he and Cali had amused looks, though Cali's was a lot more respectful.

"It's okay love, maybe this time you'll focus more and do better." Cali smiled politely.

Jim looked at Cali for a moment, "How'd you do it?"

"What do you mean love?"

"How'd you pass?"

Cali looked down for a moment before sighing. "Cause of my training on Donum, looking after the children, I was able to control my fear and keep a clear head to make quick and direct decisions. I didn't act like it was a test to beat, I acted like it was a real-life situation that I had to get as many of my crew and that of the Kobayashi Maru out of safely. That's the point." He replied strongly, trying to get the point across to Jim in hopes he would actually listen, though he knew his stubborn partner wouldn't.