#valxr

Day 8: A song about drugs or alcohol

DeeRiginal, Searching

‘Drugs. I’m addicted to drugs

not talking about weed, coke, or any of that other stuff

talking bout the processed food I eat that’s high in sugar and salt

You'll have to take my word for it: 17, Rain Kiss

It had been five years. Five long years since he'd seen the man face to face. The trial seemed like an eternity ago, but it had revealed so much about all the ways in which Starfleet had lost its way. Though it had been his life's dream, the five year mission he took on felt like a heavy standard to carry. He had the flag ship, the best crew in the fleet, and yet he felt emotionally under-prepared.

All of humankind was rallying for him to succeed, to turn over a new leaf for Starfleet. Make a brighter, more honest future for the one that they had nearly lost to the brink of a war that no one wanted.

Coming back to Earth after all that time, heralded with the success of their mission, he felt like he could finally breathe. He could finally face the expectations of the man he left behind. He'd been too wounded, too broken to offer Khan an apology when they'd parted last. He'd wanted to make sure that when he did speak to Khan, it was honest. The man deserved that much.

Five years later, and no shortage of seasonal communiques and visual calls later, Kirk believed he was ready to say sorry.

For Starfleet, for history, for himself. For everything. And mean it.

When he stood at the door of Khan's flat in London, it was in the rain with a bottle of Aldebaran Whiskey, contemplating his fate. He was told that the little village where Khan and his people had begun their re-integration was flourishing because of their efforts, and so, for that matter were the people.

Whether or not he would believe that Khan had recuperated from his plunder into hell, well. That was left to be seen.

Mustering up the courage, he rang the bell. He heard it chime in the house, and wasn't surprised when he didn't hear the feet padding toward the door that would have indicated to anyone else there was someone there. Instead, Khan opened the door as quietly as he came to it, staring out at Kirk for a moment, a blithe smile on his face.

It took Kirk a moment to realize that Khan was holding two mugs, each with steaming contents. Looking back up at the other man's face, he couldn't help a light smile. "You knew I was coming."

"Yes. And we can talk all about it over coffee. Now, come in before you catch your death."

Before Khan could even move aside to let him in, Kirk stepped forward on instinct and pressed their lips together. It was a natural motion, and Khan seemed to more than just passively allow it. When Kirk stepped back, the man handed him his mug, a smirk on his pinked lips.

You’ll have to take my word for it: 15, Last Kiss

Kirk had known it was coming from the day the two of them stepped into the courtroom. The outcome, while worth putting on the record through trial, had its set boundaries in reality. Wishing, however fervently, that something unique might happen and allow the other man his freedom was not going to result in it actually happening.

When the deliberation was made, it didn’t stop either of them from taking advantage of the time that was left. In another life Jim might have made jokes about them being conjugal visits, but he didn’t have the heart when such jokes teased just a bit too closely at being reality.

For whatever reason, they allowed Khan to visit his flat. He supposed that there wasn’t much for him to run for, not when his family was being safely stored with Starfleet. And with a security chip implanted into his arm, there was nowhere he could go on planet that they wouldn’t know about. Jim did dare to make jokes about Khan being followed, and about how he wasn’t going to share his scotch or his company if any security officer came barking down his door looking for Khan.

That much, thankfully was far from their reality for the few remaining months they had together before Khan was scheduled to serve his sentence. Jim was almost glad he was getting re-frozen; Khan would finally get what he wanted, and be reunited with his people. He would be safe, held in the storage facility on New Vulcan away from Earth’s corruption and longstanding malice toward them. And most of all, he wouldn’t be subjected to the unerringly questionable treatment provided criminals in Federation penal colonies. Jim had far too many sour memories of Tantalus Colony for him to be comfortable with Khan being sentenced to a stay anywhere even remotely similar.

The last night they had, they spent in the safety of Jim’s flat. He was grateful that they didn’t force Khan to report to any sort of holding facility any earlier than was necessary. It would have gotten in the way of his grandiose plans for their last evening together, and he would hate to have the man leaving with anything less than the best last night a man could ask for.

Between home cooked food, playfully desperate sex, slightly less home cooked dessert, slower sex, and a comfortable bath between the two of them, he couldn’t imagine that he had missed much of what Khan would be unknowingly missing during his indeterminate sleep. Come morning, however, when they were both clothed and coiffed and standing before his door, Jim didn’t think he’d done such a good job of fulfilling his goal. No matter how well everything had come together, this was still goodbye, and he had to do an admirable job of forgetting how much he hated goodbyes to keep the man before him from feeling guilty.

You'll have to take my word for it: 5, Eyelid Kiss

Jim's ears were still ringing as the sun dipped below the jagged teeth of the western peaks of the park. Perhaps it was shock of what they'd just done, or just the joy that was still buzzing between his ears as he tried to process it.

The ring on his finger was doing a damn good job of keeping him grounded, even as the world seemed to tilt into unbelievably vibrant color during the sunset. The ring on Khan's hand was the other half of why he wasn't completely catatonic, and even something so simple as watching the man turn steaks on the barbecue, the silver band catching the vibrant light, was enchanting to him.

Tending to the table seemed like a lacking chore compared to cooking the actual meal, but he figured it would be a time to make good on the opportunity to sidle up behind his new husband and wrap his arms around the other man's torso. Resting his chin on Khan's shoulder, he murmured, "I still can't believe that's my ring on your finger," he said, and the other man huffed lightly at him before turning to give the corner of his eye a gentle kiss.