nexus_crossings | (no subject)

(no subject)

Now getting lost is one thing.

The base this blue humanoid gentleman hails from currently is dense and very easy to get turned around in. Every third street curves over another or the building you wanted was on the underside of some other arch and it can just be a mess trying to get around Yorktown. Norn would be just fine if he was simply a little bit lost. That's a sad way of life for the Andorian.

But to get so lost that he can no longer see the other arching streets of the base? So lost he feels like he's stepped into a Vulcan shop for how high the temperatures have risen? How there's actual humidity leaving the air heavy? It almost feels like he's no longer on the base.

Oh. Oh no.

Luckily there's a very helpful if not garishly dressed human on a screen in the Plaza. It doesn't help the man in a simple red and black uniform to get back home, but knowing there is a system in place quells the panic for the time being. He takes a seat on an unoccupied couch and props his chin in one equally blue hand while watching the denizens of the Nexus wander around. His antennae perk up ever so slightly once he's made up his mind. The next person he sees he'll ask.

"Have you ever broken a rule by...by accident? How did you handle it or the aftermath?" Norn is pretty sure this counts as some kind of leaving his post. Even though he's speaking directly at someone his voice is a quiet hush. Like he might fear being overheard or maybe his internal volume button doesn't go past five.

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Good, there's more of the attitude he'd expect from a Starfleet officer. Take the moment and work the problem.

Oh. But not that way.

"No wait, hang on," he says quickly, before the lieutenant can skedaddle. "Even if you remember where your door is, this place can get you twisted around in a second. But I might be able to call somebody for you. I know a guy."

Though judging by the Andorian's reaction to seeing him, he can take a good guess how well he's gonna take the news of who 'the guy' is. And then there was that question. Jim eyes the lieutenant as he pulls out his PINpoint communicator. "You're not gonna be in trouble; the Nexus does this sorta thing sometimes. Not your fault." And with that, he scrolls to a certain fellow captain's contact info and dials it up.

"....Wouldn't any 'guy' you know be ultimately ineffective considering he'd also be from your time?"

The Lieutenant is trying to wrap his head around what this Not-His-Captain version of James T Kirk is saying but it's often a challenge for him to comprehend why the captain chooses to do most anything. Including this. His eyes get very wide and entire posture turns rigid the second a very familiar voice cuts in from the comm.

"Jim? What's up? You're not sending a text message so I'm assuming something is up. I don't have much time at the moment but I've stepped out. You're clear."

"....Are you serious?" That had better not be the very same Jim Kirk he's supposed to be attending a meeting with.

Edited 2018-08-20 02:13 (UTC)

Dead serious, lieutenant. Humans, am I right?

"Yeah, you could say that," Jim responds, watching that look of disbelief spread across the Andorian's face. "I think one of your crew might've wandered through the wrong door on his way to some kinda meeting. Andorian fella, operations division, answers to, uh..." Well he already knows the face, what more harm could the name do? Jim raises his eyebrows at the poor guy and tilts the communicator his direction slightly. "What's your name, lieutenant?"

"One of my--hold on." Can't be one of his, Bones and Spock are both here and they're the only ones who know about the Nexus--wait, Andorian? "Oh for f--"

"Kav Ch'Norn, sir." Beat. "Sirs." The correction doesn't make him feel any better about this. If the tone he's using after raising his voice for the comm is anything to go by, then Jim could probably talk over him if he was shouting without any trouble whatsoever.

He can tell his captain's mad now too. Moreover, the captain Knows about this place enough to be comfortable conversing with his past self. Norn has so, So many questions right now.

"Jim I can't leave right now just don't tell him anything weird about the Nexus. I'll text you a safe set of coordinates to send him to soon if you can't get him back to the door he used."

So this place is a secret, it's not dangerous enough to have the captain drop everything and run. And This Captain Kirk has access to that world? Oh this just keeps getting better and better.

Don't tell him anything weird about the Nexus? Anything? Shit, tie both arms behind his back, why don't you. It's a reasonable precaution and there's probably going to be some interesting measures of damage control later, but talk about playing on hard mode.

Not that he'd back out of a challenge like this. James T. Kirk doesn't give up on shit just because it's hard. And even if the lieutenant isn't one of his own crew (yet?), he's still Starfleet, and lost as fuck. All good reasons to try to get him back ASAP, or at least try to prevent him getting more lost before the other captain can pick him up.

"Will do," he answers, before ending the call and looking back over at the Andorian. "Okay, Ch'Norn, priority one's finding the way back to your door, if we can manage it. What's the last thing you remember before you got here?"

Edited 2018-08-20 23:39 (UTC)

Norn almost speaks up to have An Opinion about all of this but he flinches ever so slightly when Jim addresses him and shuts up all the same for a couple of seconds.

"...Just Norn is fine sir." Please. Please don't ask. Though after a solid few more seconds of internal monologue and regret he looks up again. "....The captain ought to realize that by ta;king to you in the first place 'anything weird' is already far and away happened already."

He's nodding though and pointing back the way he's pretty sure he came.

"I was headed for the main headquarters in Yorktown for a meeting with the captain. ....My quarters are currently in an adjacent arc so there's always a bit of a challenge in getting around efficiently."

Nope, no asking. Jim's eyebrows flutter up, very briefly, in mild surprise. No gender marker, all right, so noted. Moving on. "It's... complicated," he says. What? It is. And without a good sense of how much he can say without making things worse than they already are, he's reluctant to elaborate too much. "We've got good reasons, but you'll have to ask your captain about that." Nailed it.

Jim glances in the direction indicated, seriously hoping that the door is still there, somewhere. Although, now that he's thinking about it, didn't the door to... that place... shatter into a million fucking pieces? And wasn't on Yorktown?

Never mind that. He's not supposed to know that part, he can't be confusing the lieutenant further by asking about shit he shouldn't have a clue about, not until the other captain has time to explain it to him anyway. Probably not even then.

"So it could be some kinda archway, or something. Yorktown architecture." He's never been there, but he's seen images, enough to get the gist of the aesthetics. "We'll backtrack, see if we can't find something that looks like it'd belong there." If not... well, he'll have an interesting time stalling while he waits for those coordinates, won't he?

In his arm, Zunar stretches, and climbs to a perch on Jim's shoulder. Are we going exploring?

That's probably for the best. Being three years in the past means there's an awful lot This Captain Kirk and he cannot or at least very much should not discuss in any capacity. What's more worrisome is how he apparently has access to that future world. Many things he's going to have to talk to his captain about. Nobody wants to be under investigation by the Department of Temporal Investigations.

"I...I definitely didn't go stepping on any random beaming stations. Whenever possible I prefer to walk between my destinations on the colony. But I hadn't yet made it to the headquarters building." There's a hint of real frustration budding as the Andorian starts to wander back towards the way he'd come.

"Suppose that's a good thing. There'd be serious investigations if everyone ended up wandering into this place."

Jim keeps pace easily enough, turning his head to sweep their surroundings for anything that looks distinctly Yorktown-y. "Tell me about it. Either the DTI don't know about this place, or they've decided it's way too much trouble to try."

His relaxed attitude certainly doesn't hint that he's worried at all about getting caught by everyone's favorite humorless time police. Worried about getting the lieutenant back safe and sound, well, that's different.

With both of them keeping an eye out, Zunar decides to drop down from the captain's shoulder, fluffy tail held high as he trots forward to find more smells like the quiet blue man. Sure, he's not a dog, but look! He's helping!

"Don't get too far ahead," Jim calls out to the kneazle, receiving a mrow in swift reply. He knows, dad. Stop worrying.

"...Of course, sir."

Norn wants to know how two versions of Captain Kirk know about a place the DTI either doesn't or hasn't bothered shutting down. This bearded man may not be Lt. Norn's effective commander but it's still hard trying to loose his tongue for more than a few explanations or words otherwise at a time. He sighs nearly as loud as he was talking (so not very) while they continue on.

How curious this man seems to call a small predatory feline a companion.

"...I wasn't aware you kept a cat, sir." Maybe it's just this guy?

Oh, thank fuck, a topic they can talk about that probably won't lead to the destruction of a timeline or two. Jim flashes a smile over at the lieutenant. "What, Zunar? Yeah, he's the new kid in the house. He's a little troublemaker but he's good company. You a cat guy, Norn?"

"Good for company..."

That sounds rather nice considering how introverted the Andorian is. Still, the paperwork to be allowed a pet on the ship is not for the faint of heart and very few people ever actually end up keeping one aboard. Since he's an officer he'd be allowed to request it but....

"I've never owned a domesticated animal before sir. I don't know if I"m any kind of animal person."

"They're not for everybody," Jim admits, watching the fluffy orange tail weaving around people's legs ahead of them for a moment. "I didn't think I was the type either, but they kinda grow on you after a bit."

"You took in an animal you didn't know if you wanted?"

That seems a bit ill advised, but the captain--er. Captain Kirk. This is all so weird, just so SO weird. This other captian seems more than content with the company of this Zunar. Whatever the circumstances of their meeting they seem well attached to one another now.

"I'd." Norn pauses and watched the cat for a moment. "...I'd be worried that something would happen to any creature I kept if there was a problem on the ship."

Edited 2018-08-26 21:08 (UTC)

"Not exactly. I... looked after one for a while. A friend's cat." His expression is carefully schooled, giving away nothing but a slightly wistfulness. Assume it was cat-sitting if you want, Norn; Jim hopes that you do. "We got along pretty well, so after the cat had kittens, my friend gave me one."

The concern's pretty well-founded, from what Jim understands, and he addresses it with the appropriate seriousness. "For a lotta pets, I'd agree. Zunar's from a pretty smart breed though. I've got him trained on evac drills." Never mind that it's because the 'smart breed' is magic. That's probably what the other captain meant by 'weird,' so mum's the word on that.

"Evac drills? Really?"

Earth domestic felines are much more intelligent than previously surmised. Not that Norn has any real use for that factoid he's apparently picked up but that's impressive. Both his antennae have straightened ever so slightly as he stares after the cat who is leading the way again.

"That's good. ...As much as I wouldn't mind the company I have enough to worry about on board the ship without worrying over a pet too. But maybe some day that will be a good idea."

"Really," Jim affirms with a grin. "Like I said, his breed's kinda an exception. He's still a kitten though, so I'll probably have to refresh his memory every once in a while."

He knows enough about Andorian body language to read the tilt of those antennae, though he doesn't stare at 'em either, just a quick glance to see how he's taking this. "Good way to look at it. Do it when you're ready, not before. That'll save you some headache."

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