(no subject)

[primelogic]

As the temperature keeps dropping in the Nexus, a certain elderly Vulcan just keeps adding more cloaks to his attire. Some people may find humor in his excessive bundling but he and the cold are not overly fond of each other. Luckily there are ways to keep warm even in the increasing chill. The Plaza has no shortage of those little outdoor heating lamps set up alongside many of the couches that somehow manage to remain free of snow and frost despite the dip in temperature.

He could swear it was a might bit warmer here in the Plaza than it is anywhere else in the Nexus.

Spock only hesitates a moment before unsnapping the collar of his hooded coat so that he can speak and be heard properly. His bulky mittens don't seem to get too much in the way of that at least.

"What is an adequate gift to give someone you've not seen in a very long time?"

Comments

[mudblood_andproud]

Crookshanks remembers this man. He likes this man. So he bounds up to the elderly Vulcan, and rubs up against the excessively bundled leg.

"I always enjoy making something home-made. But that is because home-made is more unique in my world," the answer comes from Hermione, who has followed her familiar.

[primelogic]

Ah, Spock remembers these two as well. He gives a polite incline of his head in greeting to Hermione, though He can't really bend far enough over in all his layers to properly greet Crookshanks at the moment.

"It is gratifying to see you both again." Maybe if he sits down the cat will come within reach? Surely that's a logical line of thought. "I'm not terribly certain I could make something that would be appropriate to give."

Traditional Vulcan cuisine is somewhat difficult for him to manage with the rebuilding from Vulcan's destruction. Even if he remembers which dishes the intended recipient of said gift liked best it does him no good now.

"Has this place been treating you well?" Spock doesn't remember if he saw either of them at the Halloween party earlier, though he had not stayed for very long.

[mudblood_andproud]

Crookshanks is just waiting for Spock to sit down. Then he jumps up, and gets in the Vulcan's lap. Here, more warmth for you, good Vulcan. Purr purr.

"There are a few people in the Nexus who are artists, perhaps if you are unable to make something appropriate, you could speak to one of them?"

"When I recently stayed with Hunter, an artist friend of mine, I learned how much artists appreciate a commission that have sentiment."

Hermione smiles, sitting close by Spock to continue the conversation. "I am very grateful for the Nexus. It provided many good friends, who helped me out of a difficult situation."

"And of course, the new learning opportunities are always welcome."

[primelogic]

Ah, there is a thought that had not occurred to the elderly Vulcan. A sound justification for this trek out into the cold clutches of the Nexus proper and he's only just arrived. Spock smiles to both Hermione and the handsome cat curled up on his lap.

Runs one mittened hand along the cat in a gesture of contentment with the current situation.

"This place is exemplary for such things, it is true. I have met many new faces here that would otherwise have never crossed paths with me." His smile warms every so slightly with the mention of learning new things.

"I trust you are educating yourself to your satisfaction?"

[mudblood_andproud]

"I am! I just starting to learn about how to use a computer. They are quite incredible little things..." Hermione smiles.

She watches him for a moment. And notes the fact that he does not remove the mittens from his hand to pet Crookshanks.

Hermione reaches down to her side, pulls out her wand, and with a flourish casts a Hot-Air Charm on their vicinity, so Spock could be more comfortable.

[primelogic]

"No matter which era of computer you are beginning to learn, I must admit they are quite useful. My job once entailed using one nearly constantly."

There are days he misses his position on the Enterprise as the chief science officer something terrible. He's done so much with his life though. There is pleasure to be found in the here and now as well. Like the cat sitting nicely in his lap.

The Vulcan's eyes watch Hermione retrieve and use her wand with intense scrutiny. His immediate thought is to look up, but the heating lamp above their seat is no warmer than it was before. Besides, this warmth is permeating from all sides. Impossible to achieve from one of these archaic devices.

"Fascinating. May I inquire what it is you just did?" He has to look down at his hands to properly remove the mittens but is warm enough with the charm in place to set them aside and give Crookshanks some proper pets.

[mudblood_andproud]

"We never used computers at Hogwarts, so I am excited to learn how to utilize the device." Hermione smiles.

"I cast a Hot Air Charm." Hermione explained. "By using a magical incantation. In my world, a witch or a wizard uses a spell, potion or charm to manipulate the world around them."

[fiveofnone]

The bundled-up old man in the Nexus might be a sympathetic sight to some, but all he gets at first from Caspar is a wary look. Old people are tricky -- their years of experience give them an advantage that Caspar, at his tender age of four, cannot possibly hope to match.

But not everything has to be a battle of wits, as he's slowly learning the more time he spends in the Nexus. And that question hits too close to home for him to ignore it.

"An apology," he says, his hands in the pockets of his wool coat, a tasteful layer to the more flashy suit underneath. "And flowers, if they like that sort of thing."

[primelogic]

An apology, the man says. Spock nearly asks what would make someone assume he's done something that requires an apology, but the fact of the matter is that he'd given several the evening he'd been reunited with his captain.

"I've offered my sincerest of those already." No sense in denying it. Spock offers the wary looking young man a nod of his head. It's slightly stiff but then again movement of any kind in this many layers is a bit difficult for him.

"I don't suppose there are many florists in work this time of the year though, surely?" Spock has yet to learn the vast possibilities of the Nexus.

[fiveofnone]

An absence of that length is almost always due to someone's mistake, at least in Caspar's opinion. "Well, then you're more than halfway there," he replies smartly, returning the old man's nod.

"There's a greenhouse in the Shopping District. You can get flowers there year round." You can get anything in the Nexus year round, is what Caspar assumes. And that's where he'd end the conversation, except he wouldn't mind picking up a bouquet for Adia anyway. "I can show you the way if you want."

[primelogic]

Curious. Though a greenhouse makes perfect sense, he should have thought of such before. And perhaps it is a long shot but it couldn't hurt to see if they had any of the varieties he remembers the captain being fond of all those years ago.

"I am amenable to that, yes. Thank you." He's a little bit slow in all that restrictive clothing but he'll follow Caspar dutifully. Though if the other isn't going to be saying much along the way he's going to button his hood back up. The elderly Vulcan gets cold easily by human standards.

[fiveofnone]

"No problem," he replies casually. He waits for the older man to get up -- no need to be rude to someone who doesn't even know him -- and then heads at a reasonable pace towards the Shopping District. And, in fact, he has nothing to say, not until they get to the doors of greenhouse, a huge structure set back a little from the street.

"How long was it since you had last seen them?"

[primelogic]

"That's a difficult thing to say. Time passed differently for him than it did for me. What was very little time in comparison to him was more than a century and a half for myself."

Once they get inside Spock is carefully removing his hood so he can speak freely. It's warm enough inside not to freeze his ears clean off. He's also going to remove his mittens and tuck them into a pocket.

"I must say the temperature is much more agreeable inside."

[jarheadclan]

Pandora does not get this cold. At least, not where the Na'vi live. Neytiri had laughed at Jake when he'd asked for a blanket that he could wear, but several days later, she presented him with a simple poncho woven from plant fibers, pretty much just a big blanket with a hole for his head.

It's better than nothing, but man, does he wish Pandoran animals had fur. If his fingers start turning blue, how would he know?

The nine-foot-tall Na'vi is crouched near one of the heating lamps, warming up while he contemplates where might be the best place to find some kinda coat big enough to fit him. Out of all the Avatar-sized human clothes RDA had made, they hadn't exactly expected needing cold weather gear on a tropical moon. At least he's got socks and boots, strange on his feet after a couple years running exclusively barefoot, a strangely modern match to his leather-and-bone tribal accessories. The question draws his attention, and he flashes a small grin at this guy, all bundled up like Jake wants to be. At least, he'll want to be once he gets out of range of the heating lamp. "What, are flowers outta style or something?"

[primelogic]

What a remarkably large creature. Fascinating. Spock hasn't ever encountered a species like this one in all of his travels. Unfortunately, nothing he has on him will be large enough to fit the Na'vi so any attempts at sharing are sadly illogical and purely sentimental.

"I did not presume there would be many shops selling flowers with Winter approaching. Without knowing how large the Nexus is, where would they get their supply?" There certainly aren't terribly many plants flourishing that he can see around them. There have been some, however, odd alien plants that seem to thrive in the cooler clime. He'd rather like to study them sometime if he gets the chance.

The presumption that he would be giving said gift to a female is a recurring one, but that is the statistical likelihood of a gift given his own race and gender. Spock takes no offense to it. The captain rather used to enjoy flowers of all kinds during their exploratory mission.

[jarheadclan]

“Good point,” Jake admits with a self-deprecating grin. “I haven’t done winter for a while. Maybe there’s a greenhouse somewhere. People used to have those, right?” Hey man, it’s been decades at least since his old home world used to grow that kinda thing, and plants aren’t really his thing. At least, they didn’t used to be. Kind of makes a difference when you can jack your brain into a tree and say hello to a goddess.

“It might matter how come you haven’t seen ‘em,” he adds, as the thought occurs to him. It might not be this guy’s fault, or maybe he’s catching up with an old army buddy or something. Maybe a distant relative. “What’s the sitrep?”

[primelogic]

"We were separated for a time due to outside forces. I only recently discovered he was alive in the Nexus a few weeks ago."

He pauses at the choice of words Jake uses, clearly a bit confused by the terminology. Slowly he shakes his head.

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

[jarheadclan]

Ooh, all right, it's another guy. Someone this old guy thought was dead. Yeah, that's a hell of a thing to find a gift for. Jake is no expert, but he's pretty sure they don't even make greeting cards for I'm So Happy You're Alive or I'm Sorry I Thought You Were Dead. The market for it can't be terribly big.

"Ah, sitrep is situation report," he clarifies. Duh, Jake. He may have gotten used to the Omaticaya understanding some of the Sky People terms he throws around, but it's not like everyone else knows. You can take a Marine out of his entire body, but you can't take the Corps out of his soul, apparently.

"Not really sure what's the more fitting thing to do for that," he says contemplatively. "It's comin' up on Christmas, right? That kinda opens up your options a bit."

[primelogic]

It's alright, Jake. Such antiquated human terms are not in Spock's vocabulary is all. He's always asking his human companions what some sort of lingo means fairly often. He's at least used to asking, and comfortable requesting clarification.

"I had thought perhaps I could find something to decorate his living quarters in the Nexus. Something to remind him of home. One neither of us can return to."

[pathfromdarknesstogrey]

To be completely honest, when she doesn't mind being noticed, Dia's not at all difficult to recognize. The dark clothing she wears, what with the heavy, hooded cloak over her robes, makes her relatively easy to spot. The chillier air has made the cloak necessary, though the neither the hood on the cloak or the robes beneath are up at the moment.

"I suppose that would depend on the person, and what they mean to you, as well as how well you know them."

[primelogic]

Spock is a bit more difficult to recognize visually what with all the layers. His voice tends to stand out though. Dia gets a polite nod in way of greeting.

"One of my closest friends. He was the captain of the ship I was stationed on for many years."

[pathfromdarknesstogrey]

Spock gets one in return. Dia, herself, hasn't changed much in the previous time they met aside from wearing more layers of clothing. Deep passions below the surface reigned in with an impressive form of emotional control and compartmentalization. Closed off, but almost contrastingly relaxed.

Still, she looks thoughtful, her eyebrows furrowing a moment as she does. "Hm, was it the first ship you and he served on together, if you don't mind me asking?"

[primelogic]

More layers of clothing for everyone. The cold is distasteful and uncomfortable and should be avoided at all costs. Please get this old man back on a desert climate where he belongs.

"We were not close before our assignments to the Enterprise. It was a lesson in camaraderie for all of us, I believe." Still, he'd grown closer to the captain than he had anyone else over the years.

[pathfromdarknesstogrey]

To be fair, deserts get cold at night.

But admittedly, Vulcans aren't typically nocturnal.

Dia's opinions of the cold are similar, having spent much of her adult life on Dromund Kaas, which was a humid, rainy, tropical world. While her ship has a much more balanced atmosphere, she still keeps it a little warmer simply out of preference.

"It's a little silly, I'll admit, but the first thing that comes to mind, that has a personal connection to you both, would probably be a model of the ship you both served on," a gloved hand slowly snakes out of the cloak, revealing loose, black robed sleeves with deep red trim, and long, tighter sleeves beneath that to help retain her warmth, tapping her lips with her index finger for a moment before continuing, arm disappearing back beneath the cloak. "with some kind of personal note written with it."

[primelogic]

Spock thinks back to the apartment Jim kept when he was stationed in San Francisco for a time and to the many many model ships that adorned his walls on shelves, meticulously cared after.

He does not have such things in his Nexus home. Dia's suggestion may be rather more on the nose than she thinks.

"I wonder if I could find such a model here. It would be worth looking for. Very much so."