[ Contrary to popular belief, Jim is not intentionally needling the Vulcan.
He can admit he's enjoying their little academic rivalry - and, perhaps, encouraging it to a certain degree. A healthy amount, Jim would argue. What? He'd hate for Spock to get bored. But it's not an unfriendly competition - okay, sometimes it's hard to tell whether it is or it isn't on Spock's end, but it definitely isn't on Jim's end, and he's 90% sure it isn't contentious on Spock's. 80%. Okay, 75% on a bad day.
It's true that Jim likes to tease - likes to pull pigtails and be contrary, but never, ultimately, that difficult. Is it his fault the furrow Spock gets in his brow whenever Jim's papers fall just behind Spock's on the grand total grading rubric (or, on occasion, just ahead, though Spock doesn't let him hold those records for too long, usually) is delightful to behold?
Shh, listen, Jim doesn't know what anyone may or may not have heard, but it's not his fault he's giving Spock a run for his credits. The truth is, Jim enjoys it. Genuinely, he does. They're both accustomed to the top, it seems, and maybe Jim likes that he's always a step or so behind Spock, threatening to catch up, unwilling to let Spock have the comfortable lead on his peers he's expecting. Jim enjoys the way Spock keeps him on his toes, the way Spock actually has him trying in PHYS400, a course on Warp Theory and Postwarp Theory in the Science track Jim was auditing as an elected supplement to his ASTRG103 class, for his Command track Astrogation qualification.
He really does find Postwarp Theory interesting, but maybe it was worth it just to see Spock's face when Jim strolled into a Science track class he didn't even need to take. It's not strictly necessary for what he's trying to achieve, it's true, but Spock's presence in the class has Jim actively ensuring he's ahead on his reading.
Not that he took the class for Spock. That would be ludicrous, what with his ridiculous schedule, trying to pack six years of classes into three. They were already in multiple other classes together - Jim's just committed to the bit, that's all. Don't worry about it.
Jim probably should have seen the partnership coming, given that between the two of them, they were already pushing DIPL200 up an extraordinary amount on Lt. Commander Sofak's grading curve. Word must have gotten around, because Jim's never been assigned a partner before. Does that make this all the more amusing? Maybe. Don't tell Spock.
Jim's sitting across from Spock, feet kicked up on one chair, allowing him to push back onto two of four legs in the chair he's actually sitting in, rocking absently back and forth. His notes are a mixture of one Starfleet-issue padd, one nightmare fuel bootleg padd with a crack in the screen that Jim's clearly bastardized for whatever it is he's doing with it, and a physical notebook with cramped chickenscratch writing - Jim prefers to do his math by hand, sometimes, and the pages are littered with numbers, from all directions, as though Jim just grabs the paper anytime he's trying to work something out, and it hardly matters whether the notebook is upside down or not when he grabs it.
Jim's not paying attention to any of it, though, because he's busy trying to catch popcorn in his mouth, flipping kernels up in the air with expert flicks of his thumb, answering without looking at his classmate. ] Come on, Spock. You know optimizing matter recycling is the key to enabling deeper space missions.
[ Is that what the topic is about? Ignore Jim - Spock's confusion is understandable, given that the top of the three-page proposal Jim emailed to him for their essay topic reads Hooked On Hydroponics: They're A-Maizeing!
...alright, maybe the title is still a work in progress, but the rest of the proposal is sound.
Jim misses a piece of popcorn, tipping his chair back dangerously to try and catch it - the legs teeter, threatening to dump him on the floor, but his equilibrium holds. ]
[ kirk's teasing is a source of consternation for spock—or, perhaps confusion is a better word. is is used to the concept of teasing, but it has always, in the past, been malicious means of achieving a negative reaction from him with the intention to wound. this is not that. it is certainly something, but even spock, who still struggles to "read the room" as he has been instructed many times by his fellow cadets, is able to tell that kirk is not in any way being malicious.
however, that just means he does not know what kirk is being.
other than the only person able to make his coursework more engaging as he adds an actual measure of competition to it that simply does not exist among their other classmates.
and despite the fact that spock dislikes the lack of respect with which kirk is treating the furniture, his eyes darting with at least a small measure of judgement to the way the chair he sits in is tilted, the manner in which he takes his notes and does his work is just as fascinating as the man himself. spock has his own habit of hand-written notes, though he has not included them today. generally it is saved for his personal projects, which he is not in the habit of sharing until he has concrete results and may submit a paper including the data.
the popcorn antics, however, are their own entity and spock genuinely hates that part, unable to keep his gaze from following the kernal that kirk drops on its journey to the floor before he slowly drags his attention back toward kirk himself, openly expectant.
when he speaks, his tone is dry. however, there does in fact still exist a small percentage of befuddlement in it. ]
I am aware of this fact. Allow me to clarify. Are the puns an important enduring aspect of your work process?
[ Jim offers Spock a lazy grin - or an approximation of one, because surely he's faking the slacker routine, right? Spock's look back at him would be blank, to anyone else, but Jim is reasonably confident he can parse out the unspoken criticism. He seems to thrive on it, in fact, toying with another piece of popcorn, held between thumb and forefinger. ] You bet your ass they are. Essential, actually, whole thing crumbles apart without it.
[ It might sound like a joke, especially when combined with the amused twist to Jim's mouth, but when he drops all four legs of the chair back to the floor, the energy shift to something far more engaged is apparent. Jim fixes Spock with an intent look, passion and intelligence working in concert behind blue eyes. ] A paper isn't just about facts, it's an opportunity to make the person reading it care about what you're saying. The pun is a hook, something to make us stand out at a glance. Mnemonics have a proven increase in learning and recall by roughly 20% in humans.
[ Jim opens his hand, the popcorn kernel sitting on the flat of his palm. He picks it up with the other, holding it up to eye level. ] Remarkable, isn't it? Federation's most renewable resource. This baby is used as raw fuel for so many things, including replicators - so, most of our food and material supply - produced en masse right here on Earth. It's easy to grow, stupidly easy to replenish, and ecologically-friendly.
[ Jim turns the popped kernel to the side, as if to examine every angle of it. ] Now imagine what we could do if we were able to streamline hydroponic production of this bad boy for deep space travel. How far we could go, Spock! Uncharted space!
[ Jim pops the kernel into his mouth, reaching over with the other hand - the one holding the bag of popcorn he's been munching on - offering it to Spock with a cheeky grin. The reason for it becomes obvious a moment later when he says (sounding unreasonably pleased with himself): ] A-maize-ing, right?
[ there is a moment during this in which spock mouths 'bet your ass' with some manner of—okay, the truth is, he has no clue what the hell that means. the question marks floating over his head are practically palpable.
however, to his credit, he does listen to kirk's entire spiel, though his eyebrows slowly raise so high they almost fully disappear into his bangs, which is impressive because he's already got those like, cunty super short bangs going? point is, they're WAY up there.
however, the fact (because it is a fact) about mnemonics does get his hackles down slightly. it's true, and he does need to take that into account, though he still finds himself saying— ]
—I find it remarkable that anything more than the facts would be required to make someone 'care' about the subject if they are presented in a concise, enlightening manner.
[ other than that though, he doesn't speak until the very end. unfortunately for kirk's self-satisfaction, the pun just gets a blank look. not even a twitch of the corner of his mouth. cold.
he does, at least, politely incline his head in appreciation for the offer of popcorn, though even the thought of touching something, say, buttery, with his bare hands, and not having a way to wash said hands afterward, is enough to make him have no desire to eat any of it whatsoever.
THAT SAID, kirk's reasonings are sound and his arguments well-grounded. the facts of the subject matter are clear and will prove both interesting and beneficial to delve into and cover. ]
I still would not use that term, but I am intrigued by the practical applications you mention.
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no subject
He can admit he's enjoying their little academic rivalry - and, perhaps, encouraging it to a certain degree. A healthy amount, Jim would argue. What? He'd hate for Spock to get bored. But it's not an unfriendly competition - okay, sometimes it's hard to tell whether it is or it isn't on Spock's end, but it definitely isn't on Jim's end, and he's 90% sure it isn't contentious on Spock's. 80%. Okay, 75% on a bad day.
It's true that Jim likes to tease - likes to pull pigtails and be contrary, but never, ultimately, that difficult. Is it his fault the furrow Spock gets in his brow whenever Jim's papers fall just behind Spock's on the grand total grading rubric (or, on occasion, just ahead, though Spock doesn't let him hold those records for too long, usually) is delightful to behold?
Shh, listen, Jim doesn't know what anyone may or may not have heard, but it's not his fault he's giving Spock a run for his credits. The truth is, Jim enjoys it. Genuinely, he does. They're both accustomed to the top, it seems, and maybe Jim likes that he's always a step or so behind Spock, threatening to catch up, unwilling to let Spock have the comfortable lead on his peers he's expecting. Jim enjoys the way Spock keeps him on his toes, the way Spock actually has him trying in PHYS400, a course on Warp Theory and Postwarp Theory in the Science track Jim was auditing as an elected supplement to his ASTRG103 class, for his Command track Astrogation qualification.
He really does find Postwarp Theory interesting, but maybe it was worth it just to see Spock's face when Jim strolled into a Science track class he didn't even need to take. It's not strictly necessary for what he's trying to achieve, it's true, but Spock's presence in the class has Jim actively ensuring he's ahead on his reading.
Not that he took the class for Spock. That would be ludicrous, what with his ridiculous schedule, trying to pack six years of classes into three. They were already in multiple other classes together - Jim's just committed to the bit, that's all.
Don't worry about it.Jim probably should have seen the partnership coming, given that between the two of them, they were already pushing DIPL200 up an extraordinary amount on Lt. Commander Sofak's grading curve. Word must have gotten around, because Jim's never been assigned a partner before. Does that make this all the more amusing? Maybe. Don't tell Spock.
Jim's sitting across from Spock, feet kicked up on one chair, allowing him to push back onto two of four legs in the chair he's actually sitting in, rocking absently back and forth. His notes are a mixture of one Starfleet-issue padd, one nightmare fuel bootleg padd with a crack in the screen that Jim's clearly bastardized for whatever it is he's doing with it, and a physical notebook with cramped chickenscratch writing - Jim prefers to do his math by hand, sometimes, and the pages are littered with numbers, from all directions, as though Jim just grabs the paper anytime he's trying to work something out, and it hardly matters whether the notebook is upside down or not when he grabs it.
Jim's not paying attention to any of it, though, because he's busy trying to catch popcorn in his mouth, flipping kernels up in the air with expert flicks of his thumb, answering without looking at his classmate. ] Come on, Spock. You know optimizing matter recycling is the key to enabling deeper space missions.
[ Is that what the topic is about? Ignore Jim - Spock's confusion is understandable, given that the top of the three-page proposal Jim emailed to him for their essay topic reads Hooked On Hydroponics: They're A-Maizeing!
...alright, maybe the title is still a work in progress, but the rest of the proposal is sound.
Jim misses a piece of popcorn, tipping his chair back dangerously to try and catch it - the legs teeter, threatening to dump him on the floor, but his equilibrium holds. ]
no subject
however, that just means he does not know what kirk is being.
other than the only person able to make his coursework more engaging as he adds an actual measure of competition to it that simply does not exist among their other classmates.
and despite the fact that spock dislikes the lack of respect with which kirk is treating the furniture, his eyes darting with at least a small measure of judgement to the way the chair he sits in is tilted, the manner in which he takes his notes and does his work is just as fascinating as the man himself. spock has his own habit of hand-written notes, though he has not included them today. generally it is saved for his personal projects, which he is not in the habit of sharing until he has concrete results and may submit a paper including the data.
the popcorn antics, however, are their own entity and spock genuinely hates that part, unable to keep his gaze from following the kernal that kirk drops on its journey to the floor before he slowly drags his attention back toward kirk himself, openly expectant.
when he speaks, his tone is dry. however, there does in fact still exist a small percentage of befuddlement in it. ]
I am aware of this fact. Allow me to clarify. Are the puns an important enduring aspect of your work process?
no subject
[ It might sound like a joke, especially when combined with the amused twist to Jim's mouth, but when he drops all four legs of the chair back to the floor, the energy shift to something far more engaged is apparent. Jim fixes Spock with an intent look, passion and intelligence working in concert behind blue eyes. ] A paper isn't just about facts, it's an opportunity to make the person reading it care about what you're saying. The pun is a hook, something to make us stand out at a glance. Mnemonics have a proven increase in learning and recall by roughly 20% in humans.
[ Jim opens his hand, the popcorn kernel sitting on the flat of his palm. He picks it up with the other, holding it up to eye level. ] Remarkable, isn't it? Federation's most renewable resource. This baby is used as raw fuel for so many things, including replicators - so, most of our food and material supply - produced en masse right here on Earth. It's easy to grow, stupidly easy to replenish, and ecologically-friendly.
[ Jim turns the popped kernel to the side, as if to examine every angle of it. ] Now imagine what we could do if we were able to streamline hydroponic production of this bad boy for deep space travel. How far we could go, Spock! Uncharted space!
[ Jim pops the kernel into his mouth, reaching over with the other hand - the one holding the bag of popcorn he's been munching on - offering it to Spock with a cheeky grin. The reason for it becomes obvious a moment later when he says (sounding unreasonably pleased with himself): ] A-maize-ing, right?
no subject
however, to his credit, he does listen to kirk's entire spiel, though his eyebrows slowly raise so high they almost fully disappear into his bangs, which is impressive because he's already got those like, cunty super short bangs going? point is, they're WAY up there.
however, the fact (because it is a fact) about mnemonics does get his hackles down slightly. it's true, and he does need to take that into account, though he still finds himself saying— ]
—I find it remarkable that anything more than the facts would be required to make someone 'care' about the subject if they are presented in a concise, enlightening manner.
[ other than that though, he doesn't speak until the very end. unfortunately for kirk's self-satisfaction, the pun just gets a blank look. not even a twitch of the corner of his mouth. cold.
he does, at least, politely incline his head in appreciation for the offer of popcorn, though even the thought of touching something, say, buttery, with his bare hands, and not having a way to wash said hands afterward, is enough to make him have no desire to eat any of it whatsoever.
THAT SAID, kirk's reasonings are sound and his arguments well-grounded. the facts of the subject matter are clear and will prove both interesting and beneficial to delve into and cover. ]
I still would not use that term, but I am intrigued by the practical applications you mention.