nexus_sages | Single Guard Seeks Thief…

"I'm losing track of how many of those lines are serious, and how many are euphemisms for sex." Jim shakes his head and polishes off the rest of his fourth cup of coffee for the day before he turns back to his eggs to finish them off too.

"The rule of thumb when dealing with me, is assume I take as little time as possible to stop myself from actively doing what I want to be doing." Jim winks in Felix's direction before turning dutifully back to his plate.

“Oh. I’ve assumed everything’s a euphemism since our first conversation.” He might have a very skewed view of Earth now. Granted, Verity’s obliviousness to flirtation sort of counteracts that.

He lifts his mug. “A fine philosophy. I’ll do my best to keep up.” Starting with finishing off his food, which is an easy task even if his stomach’s filling rapidly. He might regret the rush later.

"Good, because I've been flirting with you since our first conversation." Not that subtle is in Jim's usual Modus Operandi, but it never hurts to state the facts, now and again.

"So, I showed you a nice little homey slice of Americana out in the Nexus....I think it's your turn to show me something. UNless you're tired and want to head back to work already?"

"And you'll carry on, I hope." See, Jim? See that hopeful look he's giving you?

Felix sets his plate aside with a shake of his head, on his feet without a thought. After a meal like that, he really should be sleepy, and yet he just can’t wait to drag Jim back out there. “I couldn’t sit at a desk if I tried. Come on, let’s settle up and thank our hostess.”

He hums thoughtfully, fingers drumming on the table. “Do you like forests, by the way?"

He does, God he does. Jim licks at his lower lip, blue eyes flitting from Felix to the door. And then Felix is on his feet and there's a shiver down Jim's spine.

This guy is fucking phenomenal, Jim thinks. He's clever, witty, adventurous, not too serious...and a great lay. He'll get sick of Jim--they all do--but that's okay. Just a bit longer. He'll ride this out a bit longer. Felix is fun. Felix is different. And Jim likes that.

"Speaking my language already. Let me go pay Nana and I'll be right back." Jim squeezes Felix's shoulder as he brushes by and pays for their meal without so much as thinking about how that could be taken or whatever. Jim's the one that brought Felix here, so as far as he's concerned, he should pay for whatever happens. Nana gives Felix a knowing sort of look while Jim's charming her, before letting them go complaint free (that doesn't happen often) and taking them back to the commercial district.

"Forests? As long as they're not trying to eat me or kill me in any way, sure." Jim's entirely cheerful about the prospect. "I love the outdoors. And before you ask, yeah. The last forest I was in tried to eat me and mind control a friend. Sometimes other planets are fucked up."

Felix can see that look in his eyes, and it makes his own smile that little bit wider, quickens his already fast pulse. He’s caught off-guard when Jim goes to pay, but the touch at his shoulder almost distracts him from the implications entirely. Felix struggles to wait patiently, and only realizes he’s fidgeting when Nana looks his way. Somehow he doesn’t think she’s fooled by his attempt to look casual.

There’s a spring in his step as they head back out. He’s too jittery on his feet to cozy up to Jim this time. But he doesn’t stray far and his body stays angled toward the other man, his eyes drawn back to Jim in lingering glances while he listens. Mention of a homicidal forest is actually unsettling, but he can’t help laughing the way Jim describes it.

“Just sometimes?” He shoots Jim a grin, but there’s an inquisitive look close on its heels. “You, er… don’t happen to know whose forest that was, do you?” To him, every planet is synonymous with its ruler – its creator. Naturally that makes it very important to know who's in charge.

He's not aware of it, but Jim hasn't been smiling this much in a long time. Not genuinely, anyway. Felix is like a puppy, constantly wandering from one sight to the next as they make their way through the commercial district. He never goes far, always turning back to Jim and grinning and it only makes Jim smile all the more.

And that laugh. Jim could listen to that all day.

"Uninhabited and marked on the list of 'Fuck that Planet, Seriously" in my logs." Jim shakes his head. Spock won't let him put that on his reports. He's tried already. But the sentiment is there all the same.

“I hate fighting tree spirits,” he agrees. “The Nexus ones seem very tolerant. Thank Kynareth, I suppose? Anyway, I met one at the ball. Right in the center of the dance floor, and she wasn’t throwing bees at anyone.” To his shock and following relief.

He pauses to gesture for Jim’s attention and nod at a tailor’s shop advertising a specialty in catering to aquatic gentlefolk of taste. The doorway is an airlock (though an unusually tasteful one) and to Felix it looks horribly foreboding. “Is that normally here? On the route to Nana’s, that is.”

"Oh, Groot? He's a good guy. Great dancer, too." Jim ran into him (ha) at the party as well. Kind of hard to miss the guy.

Jim stops in his tracks and peers through the storefront window. "Might have been? I usually come from the other way." Jim is reminded suddenly of diving into the ocean while poor aliens try to chase him down. Good times. Good times.

Bones hated that.

"want to take a peek inside? how long can you hold your breath?" There's a spell for that, right?

Felix shrugs, then remembers he isn’t talking to his alteration instructor and admits, “Quite some time. That doesn’t mean I can talk underwater, more’s the pity.” He peeks in the window alongside Jim, murmuring absently. “Or ward either of us from getting soaked to the skin.”

Because having to strip off would just ruin his plans for the afternoon? Someone isn’t thinking ahead…

Instead he’s disappointed that the suits displayed look like they’re all meant for humanoid proportions. Okay, except the one with extra fin holes. “I wonder if they have sloads in the Nexus- slug-men, I mean. Probably too adventurous for them.”

"Okay so....it's gonna be your job to find a way to warm us up after." Jim, no. Jim you can't hold your breath for that long and how are you even going to talk to the salespersonthing. Jim?

He's going in.

"I dunno--" His voice echoes in the doorway. "I saw a rodent building a nuclear powered toaster around here once. I wouldn't put it past this place." The Nexus in general, Jim means. "Let's go! What's the worst that could happen?"

“Well for a start- hey, wait!” Jim! Where are you going? Felix dashes in after him before the door closes, not to be left behind. Then he remembers the consequences he was just about to point out and hastily tries to remember that waterbreathing spell… “You don’t think it’s really under water in there, do you…?”

Alas, it is. To start with there’s a lot of floundering, and a short chance to be dragged inside and sized up by the octopoid shop assistant. But the experience ends rather quickly with them both getting hauled out under the tentacles of said assistant. The octoperson deposits them on the street with an alarmed burble. They’re both equally drenched, but Felix is grateful to find he isn’t coughing and spluttering after all. That doesn’t dissuade the assistant from giving them both rib-rattling thumps on the back before Felix fends it off.

“I’m fine, I’m fine! He’s the one you need to check- Jim?” He twists around to peer at the captain with wide eyes, reaching for Jim’s shoulder. “Jim! Are you all right?” He can’t have swallowed that much water, can he? No, no. But that intellectual knowledge doesn’t stop his heart racing, nor take the edge out of his voice.

"Fu-hgk!" Jim tries to wave off the octopoid weakly, coughing up quite a lot of water for a moment or two there. Ugh water up his nose and in his...everywhere. Great. Just great. "I was...f...fine...until it grabbed me. Startled me was....was all."

Ugh. Hack cough cough. Wow he must look ten kinds of lame right now. Ugh...why did he think this was a good idea again? Oh, right, because Jim's an idiot and trying to impress his b---new friend.

Yeah. Totally. Ow.

"Th' tentacle guy totally groped my butt." Jim says weakly, once they're left alone again. He shakes his head trying to get it back into place but alas, it's perfection has been ruined by the water.

“They didn’t even have an air pocket. Unbelievable. I still can't believe you dived right in!” Felix lets out a relieved giggle, the adrenalin rush suddenly vastly more enjoyable now he knows Jim isn’t drowned. And on the upside for Jim, he has got Felix close at his side again, massaging his back and fussing over him.

“Wait, it what?” His mouth draws in a jealous twinge; he tilts his head and shoots a speculative look at the door, eyebrows raised disdainfully. Hmmph. Bother his captain, will you… “Shall I have a word with it?”

"I'd have been fine if it hadn't grabbed me and made me yell." Jim insists defensively, because oh yeah, he totally meant to inhale a lungful of water. That is his favorite afternoon post-meal activity. Ugh. It wasn't that bad. But hella uncomfortable though.

"Can y'really blame him?" Jim laughs, though it sounds more like wheezing at the moment. "Don't go back in there. You can't talk to them, more trouble than it's worth." besides, they're out here now, with air and everything and Jim wants to just pretend none of that happened.

"...They didn't have anything in my size, anyway." Still joking about it. It can't have been that bad!

“Mmm.” Felix inclines his head to concede the point, offering an arm to help Jim back to his feet. If Jim wants to dismiss the offense, he’s going right back to being amused. And damp, of course.

“At least you achieved one objective, captain.” He grins, combing a hand through his wet hair. “Now I have to keep up my end of the deal.”

"You're just mad you didn't have to do mouth t'mouth." Snrk. Cough. Jim lets Felix help him up. It's not demeaning when Felix does it. He's just being helpful. Supportive. Other words. "Hope your armor's not dry clean only."

Jim has completely forgotten what the deal was in all the commotion, but watching Felix run his hands through his hair is pleasant watching. Roll with it, Jim. What's the worst that could happen?

"What are you waiting for then?"

“Let’s just say I’d rather not wear it until it stops squelching.” If it helps Jim rationalize things, he can assume Felix will just take any chance for physical contact. He certainly does it without thinking, just like guiding them both toward the Parklands now. Jim probably isn’t ready to dash about just yet, which means they have to go slower, and they’ll both be shivering by the time they get there.

“I can’t just will the water away. Come on, let’s get somewhere I can help us both warm up.” Or, well, ask something else to start a fire. It’s not his kind of spell.

Who knows, maybe this kind of thing will motivate him to actually put some effort into his studies. Stratos would have to appreciate that.

"Pffft. And I thought I was the one looking for excuses to undress." Jim teases lightly, content for the moment to let Felix support and guide them. As long as no one approaches them or no one they know shows up, he's fine just accepting the help and going along with things.

The shivering, though, that he can't help so much. That shop wasn't the warmest place to begin with and that was before they got dumped back on the street soaking. Jim does find it somewhat strange that Felix can't start a fire, but he chalks it up to 'all magic probably isn't the same' and starts wringing the end of his uniform out onto the ground.

“Well, you gave us one. First rule of surviving the elements – don’t stay in wet clothes.” He doesn’t actually remember if it’s the first. But it’s definitely one of the most relevant to his experience. Particularly his experience right now. The Nexus isn’t even that chilly and he can feel the damp going to his bones. Jim must be shivering even harder with the shock he’s had, he thinks sympathetically. Near-drowning is surprisingly hard on a body.

And the closer they get to the Parklands the more the streets open out to the breeze. Urgh. He and Jim will just have to stick close. For mutual shelter.

“I really miss living somewhere wa- erk!” He cuts off his mutter and ducks around to Jim’s other side, keeping his head down. He’s spotted a very familiar figure emerging from a side-street ahead. “Don’t look up, but, er. I think my brother’s tracked us down.”

Why now, Stratos? Whyy? He snatches a glance around Jim. The hooded figure actually seems to be frowning at his palm, but Felix isn’t fooled by that. He knows how good Stratos is at clairvoyance, he’s just stalling for time.

"What the hell?" Jim looks down at Felix rather than looking for the supposed brother, but the warning alone does something to Jim. His posture stiffens to Starfleet regulation parade rest. His expression loses it's dazzle and warmth, hardening to his 'captain face' in one swift moment. He stops wringing his shirt and despite the goosebumps Felix can see Jim looks as casual as if it were a mild summer day. You don't show weakness when you're in command.

And then, rather than waiting to be caught, Jim turns them sharply so that they will run into the other unless he steps up. Might as well get this over with.

"The elements will have to wait for now, Felix." Jim replies calmly, keeping emotion out of his voice. And then, raising it and staring directly at Stratos, he adds. "I believe we're being watched."

Felix draws back and straightens when he feels Jim stiffen, making his support a little more polite. He doesn’t go so far as to break contact, unless the captain pulls aside. He knows very well the body language for ‘Let’s get formal’. He’s so busy gauging all that he doesn’t have a moment to protest when Jim swings them around to meet his brother head-on.

For all the theatrical dread, the tribune himself doesn’t look so terrible. There’s definitely a family resemblance with Felix, though Stratos is about ten years older, a tad darker and much sterner in expression and bearing. On top of that he’s wearing the segmented steel plate counterpart to Felix’s armor, and actually has his hood up where it can shadow his face.

“Hmm. Found, certainly.” Stratos studies Jim with raised eyebrows for a moment before inclining his head; his erstwhile brother gets a much briefer glance. Felix is only adopting his usual innocent act, of course. “Auxiliary. I presume you have an excellent reason for leaving your post.” His cool tone ebbs a bit as he returns his attention to Jim. “And who would you be, sir?”

That his brother has found more interesting company than usual doesn’t quell his irritation, but does check it. He’s visibly reassessing the situation, trying to work out what he has on his hands before he lays into his subordinate (verbally, one hopes).

"He does." Jim replies for Felix, as calmly as if he were speaking for one of his own ensigns. Jim isn't the tallest man in the room, nor the fittest, but he knows how to make a commanding presence, and how to make it known that he is in charge. "I was in need of his expertise and spellcraft abilities in investigating a rogue entity within the commercial district." Jim gestures the way they'd come.

"As I have no magical ability, I needed him to facilitate a means by which I could enter a shop entirely underwater to perform my duties." Jim extends his free hand toward Stratos without breaking eye contact.

"Captain James T Kirk, united Federation of planets circa 2259. I am from a version of Earth's future, and you must be Felix's commanding officer? Of Tamriel?" Yes, Jim knows of your land of magic and dragons because he is important and informed. And not while drunk and flirting and making out. certainly not.

Felix has been looking as serious as he can, and trying really very hard not to bounce on his heels despite how excited he is. And yet a smile grows on his lips as Jim speaks because gods, his ‘friend’ is good at this. The smile’s vanished by the time Stratos glances his way again, but he might as well be sticking his tongue out at his elder brother and they both know it.

For now Felix nods enthusiastically and lets Jim talk, ready to back the captain up but absolutely not going to undermine his authority by butting in prematurely. Why should he, anyway? This is beautiful to watch. See what a friend he’s found, Stratos? Handsome and charming and quick-witted and authoritative enough to make you sit down and play nicely. Better, he’s made Stratos blink at him for a moment.

Whether Stratos buys the story or not, he’s frowning with surprise. He reaches up to lower his hood with his free hand while he accepts Jim’s handshake. His grip is firm but light, a kind of care in it. “Tribune Stratos Caelus of the Imperial Legion, yes. A pleasure to meet you, Captain. I believe the auxiliary has mentioned you before, although I wasn’t aware your duties extended to the Nexus.”

Just because Jim is good at this doesn't mean he's not also an insufferable smug asshole about it. His smile is the sort that makes people just want to punch him for how full of himself it is. He knows he's taken Stratos by surprise and seems to be enjoying it.

"He has a name." Jim remarks with amusement, glancing back toward Felix. "Don't you Felix?" There's a brief moment where Jim's smile softens when Felix matches his gaze. It's not something Jim is even aware of. It turns less smug authoritarian and more cheeky schoolsboys playing tricks.

But then it's back toward his brother, all calm and collected.

"Felix has mentioned you as well, yes. Sorry about not leaving a note. But as you can see by our current attire, it was quite urgent." Jim supposes he should be thankful that Felix's brother caught them like this and not oh---five minutes later or so. He can only imagine the trouble that would cause. Doesn't mean Jim can't judge Stratos a little because of it though. This song and dance is cute but Jim is trying to get busy with your brother. Sheesh.

How much worse could he make this if he said that out loud? Captain, no. Right. He doesn't want Felix to get into too much trouble because of him. Even if it would probably be worth it. Captain, no.

Edited 2015-12-15 04:28 (UTC)

Single Guard Seeks Thief…

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