"The point," Jim said, "Is to make it look effortless. The reason you do this is because doing so more often than not pisses your opponent off, which makes it, him, or her reckless. Watch."

He beckoned towards Cupcake, who lunged for him. Then he carefully manipulated the off-balance man so that he fell forward even as it appeared to both himself and other people like Jim was simply carelessly brushing Cupcake aside. The larger man fell, and Jim turned towards him, "Now, what is your first instinct, Cupcake?"

He was given a glare that could boil water as Cupcake (his name was actually Hendorff, but over time he'd become far more at ease with having a nickname given to him by his Captain, especially as Commander Giotto, their Security Chief, respected him for not complaining at that kind of nickname) said, "To get back up again, rush you, and pound your face into the floor. But that would just get me brushed aside again, or something worse, wouldn't it, sir?"

Jim nodded, "Exactly. So, you see, there are two lessons here for you guys to learn. Number one is how to use fighting to your advantage, and number two is for how to keep your calm and think critically during a fight, which could be the thing that lets you take advantage of your opponent's weaknesses and strengths even when they are a better fighter than you are, which some of them – inevitably – will be. As amazing as our Security Chief's simulations are, some things are best learned outside of training sims and in a more structured environment."

"Like how you made me think you were just some punk who didn't give a shit?"

Jim nodded again, but added, "However, that was deliberate so you would underestimate me and not keep challenging me to fights that I would constantly have to hold back on. You do not want to do that in most cases unless you are beyond outmatched and you know it – that gives you a chance to regroup once you are captured and try to escape."

The group of about seventy people around him erupted in a susurrus of agreement, and he smiled. Cupcake and his pals had told Sergeant Giotto about Jim's little performance for Spock, and gotten him to agree that Jim should use some of his training time to give them lessons in a couple different types of fighting. This was to happen in groups of no more than seventy students at a time, with assistants who knew the fighting styles when possible. They all already had the basic hand-to-hand everybody learned in the Academy in various levels of talent, but now it was time for more specified lessons in fighting. The first being a class in "how to use your enemies' anger to your advantage," which was something that he firmly believed would be needed frequently.

"Line up, ranks of ten, Cupcake, you stay here with me to provide a body for me to position."

He needed to make sure that they had their balance spread evenly so they could handle the bulk of a body even up to three times larger than their own. Let the preparation begin!


Jim towelled off his hair vigorously, stepping from the shower whilst stretching his left arm into the air. A hot shower had been just the ticket after that surprisingly intensive lesson. He hadn't realised that teaching would be so exhausting, honestly. Once his hair was just a bit damp, he threw his towel in the chute and proceeded to get dressed. When he was done, he headed out to one of the Rec rooms to grab something to eat. He'd skipped lunch to prepare for this lesson – he never did intensive work of any kind on a full stomach, only eating very light meals of things like fruit or soup and bread, and he'd known better than to eat a full meal before teaching a bunch of Security how to fight dirty. So now he was famished, his stomach holding his spine hostage in a demand for nutrition.

When he finally got to Rec room four, it was as empty as he had expected, so he went to a replicator and got some chunky stew and a BLT. The smell was heavenly as he sat down and began to eat, thinking about the past week.

Some new step had been taken between him and Spock, he suspected the night after their not-so-little adventure with Charlie. There was a new sense of relaxation about his First Officer, and he seemed far more comfortable in Jim's presence. Jim supposed that was because Spock had admired (or maybe respected?) Jim and now knew that Jim admired – quite a bit more than admired, honestly, not that Spock was aware of it – him back. There was no imbalance there now, and him showing Spock his gratitude had proven that to Spock. However, Spock had also been more thoughtful – and not necessarily in a good way – which made Jim wonder what his First Officer and best friend wanted to bring up.

"Jim?"

Well, speak of the devil! Jim smiled and looked up at Spock, "Hey there, Spock. How're you?"

Spock sat down and tilted his head slightly, "I am well, Jim. How are you? Did your lesson go adequately?"

He nodded, "Yeah, it went great! We've got a quick group of Security volunteering for this. They already moved past simple forms and to partnered attacks and blocks. And they're picking up the mental aspect as well as the physical part, thinking about why they are doing this and why it works. I'm very proud of them."

Spock tilted his head again, commenting, "As well you should be, Jim. It takes effort and hard work to change one's outlook on something so integral."

He had to smile at that. Spock had the right of it, of course. They were all working insanely hard to get these lessons down pat before they desperately needed them on a mission. To be completely prepared for the eventuality that they would have to use the information they were being given and taught. So he agreed with Spock, a simple, "Very true."

He did have to wonder what had made Spock seek him out, however. He was working Gamma shift today, so they would normally not meet until tomorrow, when Jim was back on Alpha shift. Granted, it wasn't a problem – Jim was rather pleased, in fact, that Spock was seeking him out on his day off (unfortunately, even though he made sure everybody else had a day off, Jim rarely took one for himself, he just assigned himself to Gamma instead, after all, it wasn't like he slept well even on the best of nights). It meant that he wanted to spend time together as much as Jim did. Surprisingly enough, his question confirmed that. "I was wondering if you would perhaps be open to another game of chess, Jim? I understand that we are to meet tomorrow, but it is not, after all, as if we have a precise schedule set."

Jim smiled, "Hey, I'd love to! Any time you wanna play or just spend time together, all you have to do is ask. Unless I am having a really bad day and seriously need to be alone, you can be guaranteed I won't turn you down. You're my friend, Spock, the closest one I have, and I want to spend as much time together as I can, so long as it doesn't interfere with anything else, which I know it won't – you're thoughtful like that."

That caused Spock to almost-smile at him, and in return he gave off one of his own bright and sincere smiles – no fake ones for Spock, he would read right through them – pleased beyond belief that their friendship was progressing so very well right now.