Word Play

Fanfiction
Title:	Word Play
Author(s):	Cordelia Naismith and T. Jonesy
Date(s):	2002
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Word Play is a Kirk/Spock story by Cordelia Naismith and T. Jonesy.

It was published in the print zine Beyond Dreams #4.

Summary

"Kirk and Spock play scrabble."

Reactions and Reviews

"Word Play" by Naismith and Jonesy is a three page cute little fluffy story. It's good for a few smiles. You really can't say much about a super short story about two guys playing scrabble. I must admit that it took a lot to think this story up.

I am thinking of getting up a collection so these talented authors can write their own wonderful brand of K/S full time without the mundane pressure of actually having to work for a living. I love, love, love their offbeat sense of humor, their delightful wit, their sparkling intelligence. (I am incapable of producing something like this even if you held a gun to my head.)

“Word Play” is the third in what I fervently hope is a long series of “game” stories, i.e. stories about games that are so familiar to us and to James Kirk. He attempts to teach them to his Vulcan first officer with hilarious results. This collaboration has also produced the very funny story about baseball, “Field of Screams,” in First Time 54. Here the game is Scrabble. In a sly reference to the first story, “Twenty Questions” by T. Jonsey in Within The Mirror 11, we find out that by now Spock has learned quite a bit about playing games with his captain: “It’s a word game, Spock. Would you like to play?” “I have never played this game. May I see the rules?” “I can tell you the rules, Spock. Sam and I used to play this game all the time.” “I have heard this statement from you before. Please hand me the rules, Jim.” (That a boy, Spock. You definitely have to keep an eye on him.) Of course they start out with simple words (What can he do? Kirk’s tiles suck) that Spock turns into scientific treatises (and no, Jim, he doesn’t have a fish fetish). This is just done so very well. I was laughing as I read it and smiled for days after when I recalled it. Then they start telling how they feel about each other using the tiles to communicate. And communicate they do. Very well.

I hope the authors are turning their considerable talents to more stories of this type. May I humbly suggest the following as subjects: badminton and Parcheesi and jai alai. How about Red Light, Green Light? Jacks?

I enjoyed this so much, and it was too short for me!

By the way, “oh-eight-hundred” (in first paragraph) is 8:00 AM, not PM. Instead of chess, Kirk and Spock play Scrabble— what fun! Spock of course makes obscure scientific words – this was making me chuckle out loud. Kirk has shitty letters, can make only simple words. This is so funny and easy to see, Kirk getting irritated because he’s used to always winning. I liked picturing the authors setting up this game, coming up with the word-configurations to fit into the story.

Kirk and Spock then start having to say each word in a sentence. It begins with Kirk’s comment on his crappy game, but then becomes subtle foreplay, spelling opportune words back and forth: Adore, IloveU, Agree, Sex. Spock’s last word is Now, and then Kirk uses his two blank tiles and spells Yes. Ah....

Take a game of scrabble, add one very intelligent starship captain and a first officer who is nothing short of brilliant, combine them with the incredible writing talents of these two authors and you have a recipe for a story that is pure genius and will keep you laughing out loud the entire time. Want to know what the word "gonozooids" means? Read this little gem of a tale and find out.