nexus_crossings | (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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"You can make it sound technical and boring when it's your turn." Felix refrains from rolling his eyes. Even if he was trying, he doubts he could put it in JIm's scientific terms without coming out with something obviously nonsensical to Norn. The Andorian actually has a technical background, after all.

Speaking of, he gives Norn a disappointed look when the comms officer says he didn't plan to come back. Hasn't he been a persuasive enough tour guide, Norn? But Jim does start explaining the PINpoints, and that's a good enough start for Felix so he sits back for a minute and lets them talk.

"Places like this don't really... defer to laws. Natural or otherwise." He catches Jim's eye and reminds him, "Nor do the people who frequent them."

Well but, can't he just see Felix in Yorktown where it's safe to be? They don't have to hang out here in some kind of inter-dimensional space behind the couch cushions where things fall into and may never be see again. Right? Sure, Norn likes Felix well enough but the Nexus...

Jury's still out on this place, good food and little floating ammonites aside. Shit, those were really cute and neat to study though.

"Does anyone else know about this place?" If the captain's been using the Nexus as his own personal stomping grounds for three years now then surely in that time someone else must have noticed. Like Felix, for example. He turns his glaze from his captain to Felix slowly.

"...How did you find out about it?"

There's a question with two very different possible answers. Felix glances at Jim, but if the captain wants a say in his reply then he's a little too slow.

"Things like this are something of a specialty of mine. The, ah, toxicology is more of a side interest. A few years ago I ran into some rather foolish and unsavory people experimenting with a gateway to this place." He shrugs. "After that it became my problem."

"Like this?"

Different realities? How does someone specialize in this kind of thing unless, but no. No one this nice and carefree would belong to the DTA. No one advocating a general disregard for rules and laws would be in the department let alone tasked with investigating it. The captain is picking at his food and clearly struggling with how much to say.

What to say.

There's something going on here and Norn thinks he might have an inkling as to the situation here. It might be best not to say anything for now though.

"Senior staff, that's about it. After the Marcus incident, you understand why I'm not spreading it around." The captain fixes Norn with a stare when he says that. Ah. A lot more about this makes more sense. The Lieutenant nods and says nothing else for a moment while he turns back to his drink. it gives him time to digest everything he's heard here. When he does look up again it's toward Felix.

"Felix has really been a help since I ended up here. Thank you for looking out for me. Truly."

JIm may be uneasy - and Felix is watching him with a very slight hint of concern - but when Norn thanks him the conjurer looks back with a genuine smile.

"It was my pleasure. Even if we weren't going to be crew-mates, I'm always glad to make a new friend. Especially one who's such good company. I certainly couldn't leave you to get lost in this place."

His eyes flick to Jim again for a second before he adds, "And I think you've handled this place very well. Not everyone can keep such a cool head about this sort of phenomenon, and once you're here there's no avoiding seeing things you might struggle with. But ignorance isn't a blessing when it comes to a place that warps causality as well as time and space."

Well, this was going to happen eventually. Jim really should have considered this sooner. Of course Felix was going to make friends. That's what he does. Inevitably he was going to do something Weird and they were going to have to deal with that. It's not his fault, he's not from Jim's world. He didn't think it would happen so soon is all. Though could it have happened to a better person?

Kav's easily the least gossipy officer Jim has on the ship. He's kind, hard working, understands a lot more than he lets on. He's also incredibly sharp and Jim has no doubt that a whole lot of things he's been trying to keep secret for the last three years the Lieutenant will put together sooner rather than later. It would make a whole lot more sense to just trust the guy with this rather than making him feel like he's under watch for something that isn't his fault.

Jim sets the rest of his food aside and looks between Felix and Norn. Gives a tiny sigh. He hopes this is the right call.

"Alright, let's finish up here and we'll go get Norn a PINpoint and show him how to use it."

Yesssss. Felix gives him such a pleased smile, Jim can be assured he'll reap at least one sort of reward for his decision. The way Felix sees it, they need at least some people willing and able to help cover for him when Jim isn't there. He can't stay at his fiance's side at every moment of every day, and surely if he only stepped out of their quarters in Jim's company it would cause comment as well as inconvenience for them both. And Norn seems exactly the sort of person they need.

The look given to the comms officer is slightly more reassuring. "It's really quite safe- safer than being stuck without one, believe me. And I can show you the best places to visit... eventually."

All right, JIm, he'll show some deference to your sense of responsibility. (But if Norn doubted Felix was a secret DTA agent before, he'll rapidly determine the conjurer is more like their antithesis.)

"Uh...am I expected to make frequent trips here then or..?"

Norn's really not sure everyone should be so okay with this. Meddling in different times and realities is still kind of a scary thing to even consider but here they are. He's already met a different Jim Kirk while stumbling around. Insofar as messed up things to know about timespace and the Nexus, he's pretty much already learned way too much.

"Lieutenant, what you do in your off hours is your own business but Felix here will be in charge of messaging you if you're not in the right dimension when an emergency hits."

The look the captain shares with Felix is heavy with implied subtext but Norn doesn't really quite understand all of it. Probably checking to make sure Felix has no problems with this.

"Not if you don't want to, but the Nexus has a lot to offer." Trust him, Norn, he'll convince you. "Especially if the alternative is being confined to a ship for months on end."

Then again, Felix may have a hard time convincing Norn if he doesn't make his reasons sound less wholly selfish.

To Jim he lifts his glass and inclines his head in salute. Message received, captain. Make sure the lieutenant is home by bedtime and doesn't get lost when you need him. "I'm glad that's settled."

And later he and Jim can have the Talk Jim's probably dying to have.

"But that's the job...?"

He's trying to hard to be responsible and disapproving about all of this but it's impossble not to be at least a little bit excited about the things that are left to discover here. Like a true Starfleet officer Norn is cursed with boundless curiosity. The Nexus is just one more place to explore.

Either way the captain has made up his mind so Norn resigns himself to being an official Starfleet dignitary to the Nexus from here on out.

Oh. Aha. Felix knows the sound of a man being hooked despite himself. It's not that Norn doesn't want to explore, he just needs to feel he has permission. Felix gives him a look of encouragement and approval.

"Essentially, yes. We can't have a realm like this so prone to impinging on our own with a few reliable people in place monitoring it, can we? That's far too dangerous. I know I would feel much safer with a partner assigned to help me study it."

Actually that might mean Jim also has a way to keep better track of him, but worry about that when it becomes a hindrance.