nexus_sages | (no subject)

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James T. Kirk absolutely loves marketplaces.

It's not necessarily because he's looking for anything, per se, although he does often keep an eye out for interesting books to add to his collection, or maybe a bottle of some kind of exotic alcohol, or some kind of pointless alien gizmo with which to annoy Spock with its purposeless existence. No, he just loves the sheer diversity each bazaar brings to the table.

No two markets have ever been alike, in his experience. Sure, it's not quite as exciting and mysterious as exploring deep space, but it's something of a microcosm of the same, all sorts of goods and cultures thrown into close quarters, and one never knows what one might find just down the street.

His shipboard gold uniform may stand out a bit in the crowd as he meanders along, a faint smile on his face as he leans in to examine someone's wares on display, just enjoying being out and about in the fresh air.

[OOC: Retconning Jim eating bacon in this thread. Hadn't fully considered some of the elements in his backstory at the time.]

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"That's pretty cool," Jim says, taking a good look at the tattoo. And appreciating the human beneath it, of course. "Is it a cultural thing?"

"To seek understanding is the highest of goals," Shade-Seeker intones. "In Mundus, magic is abundant, and all people possess some faint potential for its use which may be nurtured. In a realm bereft, I am uncertain whether the potential, or even the theory would be of use to you, but I would be pleased to discuss comparative realities, nonetheless."

"Me either, but I don't have anything more urgent to do. Why don't we take this someplace more comfortable? I'm sure there's a cafe or something around here somewhere." Jim doesn't necessarily recall seeing one, but this seems like the sort of place to find that sort of thing.

Of course, he has no idea if his 'fleet account is going to be any good for payment here, but you never know until you try.

"No. More of a magic thing." Hunter is comfortable talking about his curse. But leaves it to Jim to inquire further, since there are some people who are uncomfortable talking about magic.

"Magic," Jim repeats, still trying to get his brain around that. Sure, he picked up a brochure near the sign when he arrived, and he's a pretty open minded guy, so it isn't like he's being dismissive right off the bat. Especially since Hunter isn't the first person he's met here who claims magic is real, and the other guy had a glowy hand and a ton of technobabble to back it up. But it's something he's still hesitant to fully jump on board with until he's done more research first. "Like... a protective spell or something?"

"No, not really." Hunter moves to bring over his chair, so Jim could sit if he wanted while he listens.

"I was cursed by a witch. She had used her magic to change my appearance, and the rose bush used to have roses on it. She told me that the curse would end if I had found True Love's kiss before the roses had wilted away."

He shrugged slightly. "I didn't. But found myself a new path."

Jim mentally shrugs and takes a seat in the chair. It isn't as cushy as the command chair on the Enterprise, of course, but he nods slightly in thanks as he puzzles over Hunter's answer. "Was the curse supposed to make you ugly or something? Because I don't think it worked."

Hunter blushes, appreciating the compliment. "I used to think differently about appearances."

"I don't anymore."

Edited 2017-05-17 19:54 (UTC)

It's cute that this guy blushes with such a small compliment. "I'd say appearances are overrated but looking good does have its perks." Jim takes a guess that this guy is human enough to probably share cultural gestures, magic or not, and offers his hand for handshaking purposes. "My name's Jim Kirk."

"I am Hunter." Just the one name, but he does accept the offered hand to greet the other man.

"The Stellar Harp has been recommended to me," Shade-Seeker suggests. "It is not far."

Shade-Seeker makes a fair guide, setting a brisk but polite pace through the Nexus crowds to a busy sidewalk cafe seemingly staffed by satyrs, with the sign hanging overhead a wood carving of a harp with stars caught in its strings.

Jim, in turn, does a good job of keeping up, clearly an old hand at navigating crowds. Despite his unfamiliarity with magic, he doesn't stare at the satyrs, instead looking at them as if they were any other sentient race. "Nice. Kind of reminds me of this Andorian coffee shop in downtown San Fran."

Only having one name isn't terribly weird or notable to Jim. After all, his first officer only goes by his first name since his other Vulcan name is apparently unpronounceable by humans, and Jim learned his lesson about pushing for other names after the debacle with Uhura at the Shipyard. "Nice to meet you, Hunter. Mind if I ask where you're from?"

"New York City." And because Hunter has been in the Nexus many times, he elaborates. "It is a major city on my world, on planet Earth. The year is 2017."

"Andorian?" The word is close to a familiar one, so it piques Shade-Seeker's interest as he finds an open table to claim. Some of the chairs are even built to accommodate tails like his.

Oh, people take all kinds of money here. Probably including Starfleet credits, in places with the equipment to do electronic banking. But this time he's in luck, the plum is paid for. Verity is not the nicest person he's likely to meet around here, but she remembers how much little things like this meant when she first arrived.

"If everything was the same everywhere, there would be nothing to discover." A few gourds that look like small teal pumpkins are added to her basket before she shifts it, intending to move on. "And if that were the case, lots of people would be terribly disappointed. You looking for anything in particular?"

Jim is a little amused that Hunter needs to explain what New York City is, but he gets it. Earth geography isn't universal, after all, and Jim hasn't mentioned that he's from the same planet yet. But the year comes as a bit of a surprise. "2017? Not 2259?"

"Afraid not." Hunter gives him an apologetic smile.

He flashes a genuine smile of thanks when he realizes what she's done, and takes a bite of the fruit, swiping at the juice that threatens to run down his chin. It's pretty good, he has to admit.

"Not really," Jim says, once his mouth isn't full. He may have been raised on a farm, but he likes to at least act like he has manners sometimes. "I like to try new things whenever I can, so whatever I haven't seen before, mostly. Plus it can be fun to watch my CMO's face whenever he finds out what I've been eating."

"Yeah, you know, blue humanoids, white hair, two antennae." He puts his index fingers up to his head in an approximate mime of the feature in question, even as he slides into his chair at the chosen table. "Four sexes, really militaristic, founding member of the Federation."

"Shit." Jim rubs a hand over his face, most traces of humor gone, even as he considers the situation. "What're the chances we're from alternate realities instead of just time travel? Because the last thing I need is the Department of Temporal Investigations on my ass."

"It is a very good chance." Hunter feels this is a good time to place a reassuring hand on Jim's shoulder.

"The Nexus is open to many alternate realities -- some that are from a future timeline, or a past timeline -- and many alternate worlds."

"There is even a possibility that your knowledge of past history doesn't match what I know as my world. There are thousands and thousands of doors that led to the Nexus."

"And if you are like most people, no time will pass in your dimension while you are here."

Shade-Seeker gives him a puzzled look, then shakes his head. "I have not yet met such people, either in the Empire or here." A brief pause leads him to the most natural question: "four sexes?"

It's good to hear the theory, at least, but Jim isn't particularly eager to take chances. "Any way we could know for sure? Just because I've never heard of real magic on my Earth doesn't mean it didn't happen in the past sometime. Most of our records of that time period were lost in World War Three." To which he makes another face, because if they do share timelines then he sorta just gave away a bigass spoiler.

Edited 2017-05-17 23:19 (UTC)

"Well, if the records were lost... it wouldn't help for me to list off current social or political points of history."

"But I wouldn't worry about that Department of Temporal Investigations. If they don't know you are gone... they won't be concerned about anything."

"And we can test the theory of how much time passes in your dimension while you are here."

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