The fact of the matter was it simply wasn’t Kirk’s game; that was to say it was becoming all too apparent that beating his first officer in chess was something of a “mathematical impossibility.” It wasn’t that he didn’t possess the intelligence per se or the mental capacity, or even the patience—though it was particularly taxing when the resident Vulcan took forever to make his next move— no, Jim simply realized that beating a sentient being in a game based around logic and rationality was a taller task than the rebellious captain cared to admit. Like trying to drink Bones under the table, beating Uhura at Scrabble, or Chekov at.. whatever it was Russians did in their spare time. No, if he wanted to beat Spock in this millennium he was going to have to do it on his own terms.
It wasn’t that Jim had to win per se; it was only that, well—yeah.. he had to win.
For quite some time now Spock had made a bi-weekly trip to his accommodations where they proceeded to play a game of chess, with minimal discussion, and he went on to get his ass handed to him—neither knew how it had started but it had become something of a tradition Jim was particularly fond of. He hadn’t gotten to play many games in his youth and at its core chess was a game, a game that required far too much thinking but still a game nevertheless. A stress reliever, fun, and he had already decided that tonight he would claim his most satisfying victory over the stoic chess enthusiast.
Poker would be the game and there was virtually no way that he could lose, Jim prided himself on something of an impeccable poker face—and Spock? Well Vulcans couldn’t lie, could they? Perking up at the notification of another at his door the charismatic captain alerted his computer to let the visitor in; beaming with an almost childlike sort of excitement and beckoning the other in emphatically. “Have a seat Mr. Spock,” Jim started with a characteristic smirk and skillfully shuffled through the deck of cards in hands; he had made his way through ages fourteen to twenty two by playing poker and had no doubt that beating his first officer this evening would be child’s play. “I thought we would switch things up a little tonight.”