( open ) I won't even wish for snow

[winscenario]

Who: James T. Kirk 2.0 & YOU!
Broadcast: No
Action: Yes, planetside
When: throughout December


▹▹ ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

[ Jim hasn't been in the fleet long, and hasn't really gotten to know a whole lot of people, but still, he jumps at the idea of gift giving. Even if he only gets presents for a handful of people, it'll still be worth it. And of course, this is the first year he celebrates Winter or any sort of Christmas-like season with Victor, so that asks for something a little more special too.

Dressed in winter gear from head to toe (including a beanie, gloves and a thick scarf), Jim strolls through the streets, carrying a few more bags as the day goes on. He's easily lured closer to some of the street stands, and he takes a break every so often for a tasty snack or a hot drink. Otherwise he can be found in a variety of stores, possibly looking like he's having an internal struggle about two different presents for someone, or maybe struggling with the bags he's carrying when it draws nearer the end of the day and he's carrying far too many presents. Oops. ]

▹▹ LET IT SNOW

[ Winter is definitely not Jim's season. He likes warmer and sunnier weather for sure, but still, he doesn't get really grumpy about it, and the novelty of snow holds at least some charm.

At some point he decides to indulge, because why not? He'll be strolling straight through the snow, feet sinking into the deeper parts, grinning and chuckling even though he's probably getting soaked all the way up to his knees. He'll also try to build a snowman, though that proves to be far more complicated than it looks in movies and TV shows. He keeps trying, but for the life of him he can't figure out how to get the snow into a round shape, and he groans when his latest attempt just falls apart and turns into a pile of snow instead. ] Oh, come on! How can this be so hard?

▹▹ BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

[ Exploration and hiking will always hold a special place in Jim's heart. Maybe not so much on this planet, simply because of the temperatures, but he does have a very specific destination in mind: the hot springs.

The walk is a little long but absolutely worth it, Jim decides as soon as his eyes land on the surface of the glowing water. Grinning already, he strips down and hops into the water quickly, where the scars of stab wounds on his stomach are well hidden, and the bite mark going around his arm, shoulder and chest only show partially.

He sighs in relief and absolute delight, his whole body relaxing as he leans back, head resting against the edge, eyes closed. He can already feel his muscles unwind, a well-deserved rest after that walk. ] Now, this is the stuff.

Comments

[winscenario]

He was, yes. We were friends.

[ Now Markus, he was closer to. He was around for longer, too. Jim even left before him, at least as far as he knows. ]

You told me he was the one who helped you become deviant. But Markus was from way before then. He didn't remember you. He wasn't even deviant when he first arrived in Riverview. Took him a month or two to break free from his programming, on his own.

[coinstability]

[That, more than anything, gets Connor to relax slightly. If this other Connor was discussing Markus in those terms then he wasn't a machine version working off his memories. Although the implications of another version of himself being out there - an actual version, not just a copy of his files - are something he'll have to work through later.

Connor's face falls though as Kirk explains further.]

He wasn't a deviant? [It's hard for Connor to even conceptualise what Markus might have been like before becoming a deviant. The man was so synonymous with the idea that it feels... wrong. Even if that's where they all began.] That must have been ... difficult, for Markus to acclimatise to. To end up in a foreign situation while still following his programming.

[winscenario]

[ Jim shakes his head at the question. ]

He was brought from his world before then. Honestly, he didn't seem to be having too tough a time at first. He had a job assisting older natives, kind of like he used to help Carl. But he also painted a lot, he did... a lot of things. Discovered himself in different ways, I guess.

[ No doubt it played out differently than it would have back in his own world, but he still broke free from his programming, just in a different way. Jim likes to think he helped Markus get more used to life in Riverview, both before and after he broke free. ]

[coinstability]

[Connor knows the name Carl, had gotten the basic information on Markus's status when he was investigating the Stratford Tower. It's still a bit unreal to think of Markus in those terms. Pre-deviancy.]

I'm glad it wasn't too hard to adjust. Even then, the whole situation is completely different to the one I know of from home. But I suppose that is what alternate realities are.

[He wonders what happened when, or if, that Markus returned home. Would things have played out differently? It would have to.]

[winscenario]

I don't really know how things were supposed to play out for him. He didn't have those memories, and you never really got around to telling me much about it, either.

[ Not that Jim ever asked, or pried much. He learned about androids in general, about deviants, and Connor's job back in Detroit. More than that, he never got around to hearing about. ]

Maybe we can start fresh, here? There's still a lot about you that I didn't get to know, and I'd like to.

[coinstability]

I don't know that it would have been my place to speak for Markus's history. I haven't known him personally for long.

[Barely more than a day, really. But things accelerated rapidly from there. Connor sits back a little on his heels, absorbing the question and working it over. It doesn't sound as though he would be covering much of the same ground as the other Connor did in this other place. If Jim truly doesn't know that much about him, then it's almost a level playing field.

If he does know more than that, it will become apparent soon enough.]

If you want to, I wouldn't be opposed. Admittedly it's not something I've encountered before - but I could say the same thing about every conversation I have here.

[winscenario]

That's alright. Whatever he went through in your world, it's not what the Markus I knew went through.

[ Almost like speaking of different people, in a way. That's the way Jim likes to see it. If he didn't, then he would be the one and the same as his twin, and he has come to find that there are a lot of differences between them, that they've grown and changed in different ways. ]

Good. [ He perks up with a smile. ] And that's true, everything can be a new experience. And keeping with that spirit, it's nice to meet you, Connor.

[coinstability]

[It's bit strange, much like the rest of this conversation, to think of it as 'starting over'. Connor sits back on his heels slightly before he nods. He's starting from a baseline himself, and if Jim prefers to think of it that way for himself then it's more level playing field.]

It's nice to meet you too, Jim.

[winscenario]

[ Jim smiles at the answer, beaming happily. With that squared away for the moment, he gladly goes back to working on their snowman, which may or may not turn out to be a complete disaster. But it doesn't matter, because like Connor said, it's the social aspect that makes it worthwhile. ]