nexus_crossings | (no subject)

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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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Just the fact that Norn's here is more than Jim would like, but so far as emergency situations regarding the Nexus and Starfleet this couldn't have happened to a better officer. The Lieutenant chances another small smile that does its very best to be reassuring.

It's not a smile he's used to giving.

"..Y-you really do get used to it. And the pilots are all excellent at their jobs. I hardly notice we're moving most of the time." He has no way of knowing Felix has plenty of experience being on a ship but that's fine. "Only since th-the captain returned to duty post his...uhm. Injuries. After the attacks in London and San Francisco a few years ago." That wipes the smile off of his face in a hurry.

Both the attacks and knowing the captain had been dead for a while there.

Ah, kindness. The smile Felix gives him carries a hint of gratitude, though it's swiftly followed by a more somber turn in the conversation.

"I see. I didn't know Jim at the time but I've heard... most of the details, I think. It must have been a difficult time for the whole crew." Not that he's picking a better time to join, is he? "So that would be... three years? Why, you're a veteran by now."

Norn gives a nervous chuckle. He can't fake confidence very well but he knows well enough he wouldn't be on the bridge at any shift if he wasn't up to snuff. Nyota casts a large shadow but he's got a few specialties of his own and its enough for him. Being able to help when things get tough and study all the phenomena they run across is more than its own reward.

"You would have liked the old ship. I-I'm told our new vessel will be the most advanced in the fleet though. ....So that will be interesting." Hopefully that means the Captain will treat it carefully. He can hope right?

"Oh, yes. Jim tells me the new labs are going to be quite spectacular." His tone is a little amused - and he never does hide the hint of affection when he speaks about Jim. The ship's improvements are one of those topics that go over Felix's head and they both know it. For the Imperial, any lab with computers and invisible 'sensors' (that are not spells at all because of science reasons) and everything is made of glass... that's all a bit too alien to grasp readily. Yet Jim talks about it all with such enthusiasm and clarity that Felix finds himself getting excited, too.

"I expect the improvements will make your job a great deal easier, too. At least I hope so. After all, in a sticky situation communications are our first line of defense."

"Oh...? When did you meet th-the captain?"

Jim.

So Mr. Caelus is on a first name basis with the captain. That's an interesting factoid now lodged into the lieutenant's head. A close friend by the tones his speech is taking on. Being able to listen and pay attention are the two skills he's spent his life honing but in all honesty Felix isn't trying to hide it any.

"Lt. Uhura is the Alpha bridge comms officer. She's going to be taking myself and Lt. Caldessi through the changes and upgrades to the system once we're allowed on the ship properly to begin getting it ready for a shakedown run. ...I'm looking forward to it." As much as they've all needed the time to recover and mourn their lost comrades spending this long grounded isn't doing any of them any favors. Just delaying how long before they get to see their families again after the five year mission since it's on hold now.

Not that Norn has any family he'd want to return to really. He just felt much more useful on the ship than he does here in endless meetings he never speaks up in.

"Well, it can't have been very long after that. He was already back on duty by then, I remember." Felix rubs his chin as if trying to figure it out. Getting too specific with the timeline would probably give too much away too soon, since Jim couldn't have had many opportunities to meet strangers while on his mission. By way of distraction he points out a couple of the stand-alone doorways that dot the plaza.

"Do you see those? Stable portals. It's usually inadvisable to go through one unless you're sure of where it leads- and how you'll get back. They could lead absolutely anywhere you might imagine. Some of them are less obvious; as a general rule, just be sure to look before you enter."

He considers, then. "I've met the lieutenant once, but we didn't really talk. I'm told she's not someone to suffer fools." By his brother, when Stratos can be coaxed to talk about that encounter without blushing. "What does a shakedown run usually entail? Nothing overly exciting, I assume?"

Norn was in fact trying to figure out where that would make Felix from--he was at least in San Francisco while the Enterprise was being refitted after Captain Kirk's injuries. But his line of thought is utterly overturned at the named stable portals Felix is gesturing to now.

It's alarming how unguarded they are. How everyone more or less ignores them as though they're precisely where they're meant to be. And perhaps they are, but as to what kinds of worlds they lead to? And for all of this and all these worlds to be so close to Yorktown? It makes a guy kind of nervous. Especially if that's one of his default settings to begin with.

"...That's an apt description of Lt. Uhura." A sage nod accompanies his words. She's the kind of fearless other species looks sideways at humanity for. But unlike the Captain's fearlessness to the point of recklessness, hers is tempered enough to have some semblance of a healthy understanding of danger. She's someone Norn looks up to quite a bit. "She also tends to say what she means, so you'll never wonder how she feels about you."

His accent's certainly off, although maybe it's from an Earth language Norn hasn't heard before? Some of his phrasing might seem a little odd too: for all the time he's spent around Jim, Felix really hasn't picked up his slang and is only slowly bothering to learn Federation terminology.

The only reason he isn't quizzing Norn about his own history is because it would be far too easy an opening to turn the question back around.

Felix laughs at that. "That's a pleasant change sometimes, isn't it? Maybe a little dangerous for some of us, but I can't imagine anyone thinking ill of you. Starfleet's people always seem so... generous-minded anyway."

There are plenty of Earth languages he's unfamiliar with. Unlike Uhura he doesn't have a seemingly endless number of languages he can hold onto at a given time and with the universal translators it's easy enough to stick with English and set his focuses on other species most used languages rather than getting drug through the weeds of every planet's multitude of dialects and languages.

Plus, if Felix if from a colony originally there's no telling what he was taught so far as language goes growing up. It could have been a mishmash of several different species and regions all coming together to form it's own pidgin language--no he'll settle for listening carefully and taking contextual clues on any phrases the translator won't really know what to do with.

"Understanding human social customs isn't...always easy. I like that she doesn't leave me guessing."

"Are we so bad as that?" He sounds amused. "Well, I suppose we can be complicated. It's always such a rush trying to get to grips with the customs of whichever group you fall in with. But I don't expect I'd have the least idea how to conduct myself on... Andoria?" He's sure that's the name. Probably. It sounds right, like Jim's said it to him before.

"You probably wouldn't like it. Most humans don't. ...My people are not known to be very friendly as a rule."

He seems to have gotten it right. Norn gives a shrug of one shoulder and looks uncharacteristically annoyed by the mention of his peoples' home planet. There's not a lot of lost love between he and his brothers and sisters. How do humans describe such a thing? Probably 'it's complicated'.

"I'm from a colony myself though. I...have blood on Andoria obviously. But I haven't been back in a long time."

Well, that's an interesting shift in expression he catches. It seems this lieutenant's not entirely on the same page as much of his race. Felix has seen that sort of diffidence before - Altmer legionnaires, irritated Nords, 'city' Orcs... everyone has their disagreements with kin. Even he does, in his own small way.

"How many places are welcoming of outsiders?" he asks breezily with a shrug of his own. If that's an odd perspective for a Federation citizen, it really doesn't occur to him. "It's rather the same for me, of course. Even if I had time to go traveling back to the old colony I'd have practically no-one to visit. Most of my family are on travels of their own." He laughs then, waves a hand at the bizarre architecture and even stranger crowds around them. "Besides, it's hard to think about going home when there's so much exploration to be done."

"Outsiders? Well Andoria is still a part of the Federation. They're not hostile."

For crying out loud, they're one of the founding Federation species. In a way it's his peoples' own fault for being so isolationist in their social integration into the federation even if they are deeply vested in the political, economic, and security concerns of the alliance. Still, he's often surprised how wary humans can be of him. Sigh.

"I'm sorry....none of this is looking familiar to me. I don't see anything that looks like a doorway I could have used."

"Of course, but you know what people can be like. Especially faced with anything the least bit unfamiliar to them." Felix does not have room to talk, but if you ask him he's extremely open-minded. For an Imperial, perhaps he is.

Anyway, Norn himself seems friendly enough and Felix only really cares about the Andorian right beside him.

"Oh, well." Felix stops and takes a slower look around. He shouldn't say it, but he's not sensing anything that says 'Jim's plane' to him besides, well, Norn. Not that that's helpful information here. The Nexus is such a tangle of shifting interplanar energies that even to a conjurer's senses (and he fancies his are pretty sharp) it's nigh-impossible to pick out anything specific unless you're right atop the source. "The Nexus does like to be difficult. I suppose we'll just have to go on with the other part for a while."

The smile he turns on Norn says he's not actually sorry about that. "So, do you like gardens? Or are you more of a city boy?"

Edited 2018-08-27 20:30 (UTC)

How people can be like? Yes, Norn is quite well aware of what his people can be like. Humanity also. Considering he opted to work on a ship that's mostly manned by humans Norn's certainly clear where he's thrown his chips in with. Humans are blissfully uninterested in the minutia of someone else's personal business and are more interested in their own. An unfettered relief to the Andorian, truly.

No one asks questions. It's so very nice. It's slightly alarming to Norn that they might be stuck here, but Felix doesn't seem troubled at all by it.

"I uh...if those are the uhm only two options. I prefer a garden. Quieter."

"We have as many options as you can imagine. I just wanted to know which way I should steer us first." He's going to show you everything he thinks you might need to know about, Norn - great library, police station, reliable currency exchanges, the lot. He just takes them in such a direction that the further they go, the more peaceful the streets get. They're heading for the parks bordering the wilds.

Felix can explain things as they go, cheerfully unconcerned about anything except not tipping his new friend off to the fact that they're not from the same universe. And if Norn wonders about his relaxed attitude...

"I know our way back, as I said. But it's best that you know how to fend for yourself here. Ah, there." He points out a gaggle of floating ammonites bobbing around some fruit bushes. "Funny little things, aren't they? I've yet to come up with a name that fits them."

"Even without a door?" He does remember the oddly dressed human in the video talking about other ways back but all of that had been so overwhelming at the time Norn hadn't taken all of it to heart. Frankly he's still struck dumb by every third thing he sees. Even for a guy who makes a living exploring the unknown the Nexus is a weird alien place to be wandering around.

Felix is an endless font of knowledge about this place. Just how long have he and the captain been coming here? Is this some kind of widely known entity he'd just missed out on the meetings over? And yet, there aren't other people in uniform wandering about. There are no species aside from humans he recognizes at the ready. But neither are there ONLY humans. Clearly this isn't a place they've invented with their crazy schemes somehow and monopolized.

It's a puzzle Norn can't help but wonder about.

"I...oh." Fending for himself seems not that difficult given the access to free food, drink, and seating around the plaza they'd been in earlier. But he's distracted by the floating ammonites, eyes wide with wonder. "It looks like a dihzthaal but it swims in the air...how? It can't be weightless with that shell..."

"There's a sort of transporter device we can use." And isn't Felix pleased with himself for substituting the right words without having to think about it? "This place contains some extremely advanced technologies - but I'll let the captain discuss all that." For security reasons, of course.

He seems to be onto a winner with his choice of sights, too. Felix leads them closer to the bushes, idly pulling off a few berries and offering them to one of the bigger creatures. Its stubby tentacles wrap around his fingers as it takes the tasty bits of fruit. "They can't be, and yet they get around. Not with any sort of speed or grace, it's true. There's likely to be magic involved-" he catches himself as smoothly as he can, "but I haven't studied them seriously. Does your homeland have something similar? A- a 'dizthal', did you say?"

"Oh...That makes sense." Almost. Kind of. But Felix sounds like he knows what he's talking about and if the captain's informed of how it works then that's good enough for Norn. Knowing there's a system in place and rules makes him feel so much better. Even if he doesn't know about them they exist and that's all that matters.

It lets the Andorian relax as he peers around Felix's shoulder to watch the little critters awkwardly bumble around while they grab for fruits. But wait.

Magic?

Magic? Felix is so clever and funny! Norn grins and holds in a chuckle, too shy to laugh out loud even if his shoulders tremble ever so slightly. He nods at the question and carefully clears his throat.

"Dihzthaal, from Andorian, literally translates to ah 'hidden fish' in Galactic Standard. They are very rare."

Felix shoots a look back when he passes Norn a handful of the berries. Far from looking suspicious, Norn's grinning as if Felix said something very clever. He can absolutely roll with that.

"Hidden fish- well, that makes sense. Perhaps these are relatives of theirs: I've certainly never heard of anything else like them." They look like squid in snail-shells to him. "About here is the start of a belt of parklands and gardens. They usually stretch about halfway around the settled areas, but they're largely just a transitional area between here and the proper Wilds. Be very careful if you want to go beyond them - there's barely any protection against violence or natural threats by the time you get into the true Wilds. Fascinating place to explore, though. I go out there looking for plants and such all the time."

"I did not think they lived outside of the water. ....Just look at them move."

Where others would whoop or exclaim Norn shows his excitement in an air of quiet awe and wonder. He's careful when he holds one of the berries aloft between his fingers and watches one of the creatures reach out with no fear toward the Andorian's blue digits to snake its gripping tentacles around the fruit.

They're beautiful and strange and Norn absolutely adores them. He's only barely listening to Felix's explanation of this place until the word violence pops up and then he's looking up quickly.

"It seems unwise to venture out alone...I will keep that in mind."

Whatever faults Felix can find with Jim's people, this is one thing he thinks he'll love about them: like the captain, they don't seem to let their fears blind them to the wondrous. The quiet delight with which Norn watches the bumbling little creatures marks an unqualified victory to him, and he doesn't even try to hide his pleased expression.

Jim may worry about timelines and classified information. Felix sees the first friend and ally he has an opportunity to make all for himself in Starfleet.

He'll let Norn be enchanted by the creatures a while longer before he asks, "Are you hungry, by the way? I often find I lose track of the relative time here."

Jim has every reason to worry about what this means for everything he's trying to build for himself and Felix. Or at least he would, if the man who fell into the Nexus was anyone else. Norn though? He looks up at Felix with glee on his face and a tiny tentative smile.

"Oh, yes I suppose it is getting to be close to dinner isn't it? The meeting will be over by now..." Or at least Beta shift's. He has no doubt Gamma's is going on now and there's a tiny bit of a sulk at having missed his very first gathering for his crew but it's not as though they won't fill him in. Like all of Jim's bridge crews his will look after him pretty well.

"...What sort of cuisine do you prefer? I can eat most anything."

"In that case, there's a place I've been meaning to try out just around the corner." He thinks it's a safe bet, but he might as well try it on his new friend before he takes Jim there. Waving for Norn to follow him, he strolls back a little way into the open streets. The shift between wilds and townland is very much a gradient here, and the streets have plenty of flower beds, trees and creepers twining around the buildings. Actually, there's a lot more greenery than Felix remembers. Apparently letting things grow wild is in fashion lately?

"If I remember right, the menu is mostly stews, dumplings and some lighter vegetables. I hope that suits you. I'm not sure there's a name for the style of cuisine since I'm certain about half the dishes come from completely different worlds. ...Not that that's so different from back home, of course." Norn's sure to be more used to odd combinations of fusion cuisine than the Imperial. But he's learned that in the Nexus, few establishments stick to one world's style of food. You get Earth-style sir-fries with noodles made from an alien grain, or cornbread just like it is in Cyrodiil served with a soup full of luminescent beans.

"I rather liked the look of it, though," Felix adds. He turns into a quiet square and points ahead, and Norn might see what he means. There's an elaborate fountain at the center of the little square, encircled by a lotus-filled pond. Aside from a couple of small cafes, the restaurant at one side seems to be the main source of activity, its tables sprawling outside beneath overflowing hanging baskets and trellises. It's an utterly relaxed-looking place, less than half full at this hour of the evening. Felix will have no trouble finding them a table outside.

"Oh....this is lovely."

The overgrown garden won't strike Norn as improper as he doesn't have a baseline for the Nexus to be aware of. He's still looking at every third thing with that same quiet wonder even if it's much more tempered than the little floating ammonites received.

"Worry not, I'm used to there being a lack of Andorian cuisine outside of the core Federation planets. As I've said, my people are not the most widely social explorers." And this...would this be considered Terran Eastern Hemispherian? Or perhaps Teldrassian? Or some other culture he's never before seen or heard of? Regardless, Norn stays at Felix's side as they head to ask for a table.

"...If nothing else, I've yet to meet a species who would say no to a proper dumpling."

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Have some speech points for passing that bluff check, Felix

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Felix just sort of assumes Starfleet officers don't feed themselves

No, that's a Jim-specific problem, Feli--Okay Maybe Bones too.

He's just going to insist on feeding the lot of them. It's the only way to be sure.

Food makes him friends so....