200 words

[kat8cha]

The bruises on Kirk's neck chafe under the collar of his new yellow uniform. He wonders who decided that yellow was a command color. Red, now, red looked flashy. Red commanded respect and attention. Yellow just kind of made you look like a giant blob. The turtleneck is also another part that Kirk dislikes. The Enterprise is temperature controlled, and the suits are made of light weight material, but there has to be something about turtlenecks that affect physiology, because Kirk keeps getting hot. Every time he twists his neck and the bruises start singing new hymns, he wonders why he didn't let Bones do something about that. Give him another goddamn shot or some sort of cream. Maybe it's the same reason he can't help glancing at Spock out of the corner of his eye, assuring himself that his new first officer is still there. He'd been worried that Spock wouldn't come. The future had changed, Spock might not have felt the need to take up a position on the Enterprise, he might have dedicated his life to Vulcan instead.

But Spock came, and that makes the bruises on Kirk's neck sing whenever he takes a breath, or speaks.