nexus_crossings | Family Matters

Her approach does draw his attention, and he looks her over as though he's never seen her before. Which, of course, he hasn't. She certainly doesn't look contemporary, but Jim's run into plenty of people from other timelines that it's really not a surprise anymore at this stage.

Part of him wants to say something like when is it not? but that seems really quite rude, so he doesn't, instead shrugging a little. "My mom's spent most of my life avoiding me and now she suddenly wants to get to know me. I haven't figured out if I want to let her or not."

That's surprisingly earnest and forthcoming from Jim and confusion washes over Amelia's face in response. She'd never imagined Jim of all people admitting something like that, especially not to her.

"I didn't realize you were having trouble with your mother," she begins slowly, a frown tugging at her lips. She takes a deep breath, shifting her weight from one hip to the other as a way of giving herself another few seconds to think. If Jim's being open, maybe now is a time to ask questions he's otherwise reticent about? "Why would she do something like that to you? That seems a harsh thing for a mother to do to her son."

Dreams, the Jim she actually knows is going to be confused if she ever tries to talk to him about any of this later. Or if she even mentions it in passing one day. That's going to be awkward for everyone.

Her confused frown is answered with the same from him. "Why would you? That'd be one hell of a good guess from two sentences." Unless she's a mind-reader, but if she was, he wouldn't have had to say anything.

Well, he certainly can't fault her for not knowing the story that everyone else on his Earth knows, given both where they are and the era of her attire. "My dad died the same day I was born, and I look a lot like him." Jim shrugs, as if that explains it. For the most part, it does, as far as he knows. "I got sick of it and left when I was a teenager."

His response is more along the lines of what she's used to, but... "Because you've mentioned your family in passing before now?" What the hell is wrong with him today? He seems off, even for Jim Kirk, her one and only frenemy here in the Nexus (because of course she knows all of his mannerisms and how much they can piss her off by now).

"Oh." That's a hell of a weight she didn't know he carried. Her face softens into a sympathetic frown and she bows her head a little in respect. "That's a weight no one should have to carry. I'm... sorry you have to do so, and can understand why you're conflicted about speaking to your mother again."

Sympathy? From Amelia? This new Kirk might not understand the significance of it, but the rogue certainly does. It's not often she feels anything but pity for Jim when he ends up in a bad way, but this is completely different. Family is the one thing Amelia holds above all else in the multiverse and anyone having trouble with theirs - no matter how much she may not like them on a given day - will get her sympathy.

His confused look only intensifies at her response, looking at her like she's got an extra head. "....have we met?" He's pretty sure he would remember that, but weirder things have happened, he supposes. Still, he very much doubts that.

Despite the confusion, her sympathy is appreciated for what it is, and he nods a little stiffly, still trying to figure her out. "Yeah, it's not ideal."

Has he lost his mind completely? She really wouldn't put it past him, or the Nexus for that matter. This place has a habit of doing strange things at the drop of a hat.

"Very funny, Jim," she says with a roll of her eyes. And here she was feeling sympathy for him while he was just having a good laugh at her expense. If anyone wondered why they didn't get along, this would be it. "Nicely done in getting me to believe your story before you pulled the rug out from under me, but I'm not falling for it anymore." She huffs indignantly and narrows her eyes at him. "Now why did you really ask that question?"

Jim certainly isn't laughing, and now there's a hint of anger in his expression as he looks up at her. Honest confusion is one thing, but she knows his name somehow, and now she's being the rudest person he's met today. Something strange is going on and he doesn't like it. "Excuse me? I don't know you. I don't know what your problem is with me but I've never seen you before in my life."

Hasn't met her before? What is he... playing at...?

Dreams, this is one of those weird things the Nexus is always doing to people, isn't it? The one where he looks like one person but isn't technically that person? She's seen it before, but never experienced it first hand. And now she's made a complete fool of herself. Fuck.

Her cheeks flush a deep red as she tries to figure out how to recover from this. "Dreams, I... I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else. I know a man who looks exactly like you and acts much like you and..." Excuses, Amelia, they're not helping. She looks down at her feet as her cheeks darken another few shades of red. "I assumed you were one in the same, but I see now that I was wrong. Please, forgive me."

This is undoubtedly one of the most awkward situations she's ever been in and she can only hope the other Jim Kirk doesn't hear about it. The last thing she needs is for that man to have anything more he can poke fun at her for.

Jim's never experienced it for himself either, so this is new territory for him as well. Fortunately, the genuinely mortified look on her face is enough to convince him that there's been some kind of mistake here, even before she apologizes. He's silent for a long moment after she stops talking, carefully reining in his own reaction before it can manifest outwardly and make things worse.

"Sounds like it was an honest mistake," he says at last, and though he's still watching her somewhat warily, he feels fairly confident that she's not trying to pull some kind of bizarre psychological trick on him in return. "I don't understand what the hell's going on here sometimes either. My name is Jim Kirk. Just... apparently not the one you thought I was?" That's gonna be a mindfuck later, he's pretty sure.

Yeah this is... Well, there really isn't a better word for it than awkward, no matter how many times she repeats it to herself. She's never going to live this down.

"It was, and I apologize." She gives Jim a guilty look and then takes a step back before sweeping her arms out as to the side as she bends at the waist in a bow. A bit formal, perhaps, but dreams does she need the extra few seconds to clear her mind enough to think. "I'm sorry. My name is Amelia Ronsam. I'm afraid a different Jim Kirk and I have a very... frictional relationship. I apologize for assuming that you were one in the same."

Cautiously, she offers her hand to him for a handshake. "I promise to be more careful in the future. Can I do something to make up for this slight?" It's not a great start to their relationship, but at least she's trying to make up for being a jerk to start?

Frictional. An interesting choice of word, and Jim can only wonder what the hell that means. He does, however, shake her hand, employing some of the captainly diplomatic skills that Starfleet attempted to teach him, to try to smooth things over a little. "Honestly, right now, all I really want is to know what the other me did to you. Not that you owe me an explanation if it was embarrassing or something."

It's a diplomatic way of saying they each think the other can suck it more often than not. It's what happens when two emotionally unstable people run into each other at bad times in their lives - and when one doesn't want to deal with all the crazy the other and her weapons could bring into his life. At least she's grown since meeting the last Jim?

"We..." A beat as she crosses her arms in front of her chest. Shifts her weight into one hip and motions to the general area of the Nexus behind her with one hand. Then frowns hard. No, that's not the right way to start this. Try again, Amelia.

"You see he and I..." A sigh. Nope, that's not right either. Time for some creative truth telling?

She looks Jim square in the eyes, a hint of nervousness mixed in with her earnestness. "I hit on him. And because I wasn't in a good place to think about such things and carry weapons I know how to use quite well, he brushed me off. Poorly." However this Jim wants to take that last word is up to him. No matter what he decides, it's probably right. Neither the other Jim nor Amelia are very good at this sort of thing.

She sighs looks away from him, crossing both arms in front of her chest again. "I can stand to be around him and answer his questions and calls for help if I think he's being serious, but as you can probably guess, I'm not eager to count him among my friends." But she's not saying she hates him, so... progress?

He can't help but feel that her story is missing a lot of vital details that would make it make more sense, but she did do as he asked, he supposes. "Fair enough."

Whatever the case, her attitude toward the other Jim certainly does explain why she had such a rude response to his questions. "Does the, uh, other me usually lie about stuff to you or something?"

She'd contest the "vital" part, but she did leave her story deliberately vague. She has no way of knowing if these two Jims have similar timelines and if she could cause an issue mentioning something to one that only applies to the other. Best to say only what's necessary right now.

His question earns a single huffed laugh. "The better way of phrasing it is that he often dances around the truth. There are many things he doesn't want to talk about, as I'm sure you don't either, and given our history? Neither of us is eager to give the other more fuel to add to the fire." Another polite deflection of how much she hates the other Jim Kirk knowing about her and how she used to be with everyone. But at least this one is closer to the whole truth.

As she turns back to look at him, she tilts her head a little in question. "Can I ask that you be more straightforward with me? In return, I offer to be the same." Maybe she can't fully repair the relationship she has with the first Jim Kirk she met, but she can at least try harder with this one to start.

Yeah, there's definitely things that Jim never wants to discuss with anyone, even if he was allowed to do so. "I can try," he says, after a moment to consider that, "but I'll be honest, there are things I'm not allowed to talk about. The sort of thing where if I talk about it here and word gets back home, people's lives will be at risk. Is that going to be a problem?"

If it is, he figures there's no harm done. They can just go their separate ways and she can continue avoiding him... them... whichever. But he kind of hopes it's not an issue, because so far, everyone he's met has had an interesting take on the whole Nexus thing, and he's learned a lot from the people here - not just as tactically useful information, but just knowledge for the sake of knowledge itself.

Someone who understands the difference between being honest and telling the whole truth? That's a nice change of pace. It gives Amelia a better appreciation of both Jim Kirks, and brings the barest hint of a smirk to her lips.

"Not at all. Sometimes it's better for everyone if things are left unsaid." Which is exactly why she didn't give all of the details of why she and the other Jim Kirk have so many issues with each other. Those details don't get them anywhere, so why should she share those things with this man? It gets them nowhere, and only leaves her in a more vulnerable place. "And if I ask too much, you can always look me in the eye and tell me you can't. I'll understand that easily enough." Because lying or deceiving someone is different than simply not being able to tell them something.

She offers him a hand to shake, meeting his gaze with a pleasant, if vaguely determined, one. "Shall we call a truce and deal, then? To be honest with each other in what ways we can?"

"Sounds fair to me." He takes her hand and shakes it firmly, though not in an overly macho way, like those guys that think whoever crushes the other person's hand better wins. "Should we start over? Hi, I'm Jim Kirk, captain of the USS Enterprise." She knows that already, but it seems right to at least try to reset things as much as he can, before things went downhill. Which, granted, was pretty much the beginning of the conversation.

Starting over isn't something Amelia usually gets the chance to do, which is why she smiles so brightly when he suggests it. She gives his hand another firm shake before releasing it, taking a half step back and nodding politely to him.

"I'm Amelia Ronsam, merchant and rogue by trade, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Jim." Her smile widens a bit as she motions to the open seat in front of him. "You ask an interesting question - might I join you while I answer?"

It doesn't matter that she's already technically answered his questions; They're starting over, and that demands she do things right from the start.

It's not really possible to actually forget, but Jim does his best to pretend like nothing ever happened. Her desire to set things right seems sincere to him, and it really is understandable how she got the two of them confused, if he really does look identical to the other Jim running around somewhere.

"Sure, have a seat," he answers, moving his coffee cup to one side in case she needs the elbow room.

Smiling a little wider, Amelia takes the empty seat and folds her hands neatly in her lap. If not for the various weapons hanging from her belt, one might think she was the lady she'd trained and made herself to be. Too bad the rogue side is much more obvious when she won't leave them in her room.

"My family has been everything to me. They were the people closest to me when I still lived on my world. We shared in triumphs together and celebrated every occasion we could with a gathering of as many of us as we could manage." The corner of her lip tugs up into a smirk. "It made for a rather big spectacle when I brought home a noble title for them - we took over an entire city block for it."

Sure, a city block isn't as impressive in Masarra as it is in New York, but it's still impressive to her. The sheer number of people in the streets, crowding around each other laughing, smiling, and dancing is still one of her favorite memories, even if much of the rest of that day was unpleasant.

She lets that small thought hang in the air for a moment before she continues. "I haven't had to reconnect with my family after such a long period of time, though. We've been apart for a month or so at a time, but it was never long enough that I felt like I'd missed something when I came home." Her smile slowly softens into some sadder and a little more sympathetic. "I'm sorry you're having trouble with your family."

Perhaps unusually for someone of his century, the knives don't really factor into Jim's opinion of her. While they are a bit blatantly obvious for his tastes, being armed - even in a place of relative safety like the Nexus - is just common sense to him. Despite his civilian clothing and lack of phaser, he too has a combat knife of his own hidden away in one of his boots, a habit he's kept since he was thirteen years old.

He listens as she speaks, taking a sip of his now lukewarm coffee, and manages a polite smile, accepting her sympathy. "Your family sounds a lot bigger than mine ever was. Do you have brothers or sisters?"

His body language says stiff and vaguely uncomfortable, but he's trying and that makes Amelia more at ease with opening up. They don't have a history of pissing each other off or that would give him reason to take what she's saying and use it against her. It's still not something she's terribly comfortable with, but she's trying.

"A handful," she says with a small laugh. "Two brothers and a sister, all younger than me. And for most of my life, my paternal grandparents lived with all of us and my parents. We had a very crowded house, but I didn't have to share my room after my sister was out of her crib." A small blessing for being the eldest.

"What was your home like?" she asks. And then, realizing that question could be taken several ways, she adds, "I mean the physical one. Did you live in a city or somewhere far away from it all?"

It's not his favorite of topics, it's true, but he is the one who brought it up in the first place, so he's not going to deflect. Mostly sticking to publicly-available facts helps, naturally.

"Small town called Riverside," he answers honestly. "Out in rural Iowa, about fifteen miles from the closest big city. It's technically a farm, but we never did any farming ourselves. I'm actually living there again for now - my apartment got destroyed, and since I had another place to go, Starfleet bumped me down the priority list for finding alternate housing." He doesn't fault them for that decision; it makes perfect sense to prioritize those who have nowhere else to stay.

"It's not so bad, though. There's a Starfleet shipyard about ten miles away, and I used to go and watch the ships being built sometimes when I was a kid."

Public knowledge from another world is still knowledge she doesn't know, so he's doing just fine sticking with that.

She nods along as he explains where he grew up, trying to picture something like that. Not only for spaceship captain Jim Kirk, but for... well, anyone. She's seen a few rural towns and farmhouses in the middle of nowhere in her lifetime, but she can't imagine anyone growing up there if they weren't living off the land. Her mouth's halfway open to ask a little more about the house when he brings up the shipyard, and her face lights up at that little gem.

"That sounds amazing. I've seen a shipyard for ships that sail on the water before, but I imagine a yard that builds vessels made for space would be that much more grand." It can't beat the bustle of a port town for her, but the idea is still intriguing. "What was it like, the shipyard? How many ships could they build at the same time? Two? Three?" Her curiosity is getting the better of her now, but she really can't help it when it comes to things like this. Who would've thought she and Jim Kirk had something in common?

One thing's for sure, Jim doesn't mind talking about the shipyard. It's not as uncomfortable as trying to discuss his family, more impersonal and professional. A part of Starfleet, not young Jimmy Kirk's life.

"It's kinda like a dry dock for sailing ships, but a hell of a lot bigger," he says, as he's seen historical shipyards once or twice before himself. "How many ships they can build at a time depends on the size of the ship. The Enterprise is the biggest ship in the fleet, seven hundred twenty-five meters long, so she's got the shipyard all to herself. The old NX-class ships were small enough they could've done four at a time, but they never did, so they could leave room to repair commissioned ships."

Edited 2017-07-26 04:32 (UTC)

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