driftfleet | 'cause it's better than nothing

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'cause it's better than nothing

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(last updated: 1/25/19)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Of course. [There is no room for doubt here, Jim.]

There were no apparent goals in the City or Marina either. [As much as he'd like to keep looking at the why of this, it's probably not a mystery that they're going to solve here and now.] We should do that. I found nothing remarkable last time, but that doesn't mean that there is nothing to find.

For now, you are stuck poking around in here. [He smiles apologetically.] If there is a way to leave quickly, I don't remember it.

You're sweet, Pavel. [ Jim smiles, genuinely touched. ]

Good. If you don't remember any of this, rest assured, I will. And I'll come find you.

[ But like Pavel says, right now he is kind of stuck here. With the permission to look around all he wants, he nods and starts walking around the room again, taking in the details before deciding what he wants to focus on next. ]

That's alright. I'll see if I can find a way out. If I can't, at least I'll be in good company.

[That's a very odd compliment to receive when presenting facts, but okay, he'll take it.]

I should be easy to find once we are awake. If this is like the last time, we will all be held on a single ship.

[As he looks around again, Kirk may notice a couple of subtle changes. The corner of a piece of transparent future-space-paper sticks out from between two books on the shelf. A vertical section of the screen wall has, at some point, soundlessly opened to reveal compartments.]

I'm flattered, thank you.

[ He likes offering odd random compliments, get used to it. ]

I see. Then I'll come find you.

[ Even if only to check that he's doing alright. Some of these projections can be pretty intense, so whether or not Pavel can remember it, some of it might affect him.

He moves closer to the wall, noticing the way it has changed. Leaning in, he takes a peek into the compartments, curious as to what he might find in there. ]

I would say that I will hold you to that, but I don't want to make promises.

[The brightly-lit compartments contain small wooden boxes. The boxes are rustic, plain, and distinctly unlike the storage wall that holds them. Each also has a label:]

tessa_14 city.y2

lucy_13 city.y2

kitty2_17 df.y1

Edited 2019-02-04 07:03 (UTC)

[ Lucy. It's familiarity more so than anything that has Jim reaching out for that box. His thumb smooths across the label, and he glances towards Pavel for a moment, as if to make sure it really is alright for him to be snooping around like this.

Then he opens the box, undeniably curious to see what he'll find inside. ]

[Pavel isn't thrilled to have his memories on display, of course, but he does nothing to dissuade Kirk.

Once Kirk opens the box, he's transported to a cityscape. Pavel, seventeen and so much younger-looking than he is in the present, is walking with a pretty blonde woman. She has to be a decade or so older than him, and when she talks, her voice has a light southern accent.]

You were a very good first husband, Pavel.

[Pavel blushes furiously, but he's doing his best to play it cool.] Thank you, Lucy. It... er, it was a pleasure being temporarily married to you.

[Lucy laughs.] I don't think I'm really a staying longer kind of girl, but it was a pleasure being temporarily married to you too.

It is best, I think, that it was short. Seventeen is too young for marriage.

Yeah. Way too young and I'm too old for you. [She grimaces in a goofy, overly-dramatic way.] Ouch. That hurt to say.

The age difference isn't that great, Lucy. You are still very young.

So does that mean you still want to date me?

Maybe when I'm eighteen. Fortunately, that is in only five days, if you are serious. [Pavel doesn't think she's serious. Lucy jokes around a lot, and it wouldn't be completely out of character for her to joke about his silly crush on her.

She smiles. It's a sweet, genuine smile. Nothing joking about it.] It could be fun. Going out sometimes.

I would like to go out with you, sometimes.

Good. Then we'll do a date thing after you turn eighteen.

[The city fades and Kirk returns to Pavel's dreamscape.]

Edited 2019-02-13 03:05 (UTC)

[ Jim can't help a small smile when he goes back to Pavel's dreamscape. He offers a slightly apologetic look as he puts the box back in its place, fingertips running along it before he draws away from it. From the names on the others, he can guess they're all equally private, and equally sweet. ]

That... was really cute. The two of you.

We had our moments.

[He has to smile too. Things weren't always good with Lucy, but they were good more often than they were bad.]

You--another version of you--had the opportunity to meet Lucy. I think that you were both surprised and proud.

[And Pavel couldn't blame him for the surprise. They were a mismatched couple in almost all regards: in age, experience, interests, looks...]

[ Jim chuckles softly, unable to stop himself from feeling a little sorry that he wasn't the one sharing those memories. Pavel seemed happy then. ]

I would feel the same, too. And I'd be happy for you, of course.

[ He glances to the boxes again, contemplative. ]

Do you ever miss it? I mean... being with someone.

That you was happy for me as well, yes.

[That question hurts. Not that Kirk could know that it would be a sensitive question; Pavel doesn't talk about his relationships (or lack of them) with anyone.]

Very much. [And that's where he'd normally stop, but he's willing to be a little more open here.] I was with someone, in the prison before this one. She is here too, in the Fleet, but she doesn't remember when we were together... and she would never be with me now.

[ Jim can still imagine that it is a sensitive, painful topic. He doesn't know why he asks, really; he just feels like he doesn't know this Pavel at all, but he does want to. Not that he knows yet whether talking about this will bring them closer, but he's willing to give it a try.

More hesitant than he was to ask his first question, he is now to voice his guess out loud. Jim hasn't met a whole lot of people on the Fleet so far, but only one 'she' who talked about being elsewhere before. ]

Was it... Kitty?

It was. [Pretty obvious, huh?] You have met her, I take it.

Briefly, when I first arrived. She told me she was a friend of yours, though I didn't know about... that, of course.

[ He smiles weakly, understanding that kind of loss all too well. A hand rests on Pavel's shoulder. ] I'm sorry. That... is awful. I know. [ And having Kitty here likely doesn't help, either. ]

She is. [A friend, he means, although their friendship isn't as easy and comfortable as it was in Marina. Maybe it never will be. He really messed things up by falling in love and not falling out.] She has been, for years now.

...You know? [He's curious. That doesn't seem like it can be true what with his evidently happy relationship with Victor, but he trusts Kirk not to lie to him.]

[ That's a good thing to hear, despite everything else. No matter the complications, friends are precious, invaluable. Jim's glad that Pavel has made some in this place, and the places before. ]

Yeah. [ His gaze falls a moment, and Jim seems to debate how much he should share. With a sigh he surrenders, resting with his back to the wall. ] There was... someone else, before Victor. Before I even met him. We arrived in Riverview together, and we were together for... Jesus, it was a while. Almost nine months.

[ He closes his eyes and shrugs. ] And then... he disappeared. One day to the next, he was gone.

[Pavel nods sympathetically. It's a familiar story.] I'm sorry. It's difficult, not having an opportunity to even say goodbye.

[Since Jim is being so open, it only seems right to follow his example. Plus, he has a hunch about the identity of Kirk's first love.] That is what happened with Tessa, in the City. She was there when I first arrived, and then one day she vanished. Dr. McCoy--the first version of him that I met outside of our universe--disappeared the same day that she did.

[ Jim is both surprised and not when Pavel mentions Bones. There's something of a hollow laugh there, devoid of any real amusement, as he shakes his head and tilts it back until it rests against the wall. ]

That... was him, actually. Dr. McCoy-- Leonard. He was in Riverview. With me. [ It still feels strangely baring to admit to that out loud, especially to someone who knows both him and the doctor from before. ] I'm sorry. About Tessa. I understand that must've been difficult.

[He feels kind of bad for bringing the doctor up, but it's somewhat gratifying to know that McCoy and Kirk have been together in some universe and Pavel hasn't been imagining the sexual tension.]

I'm not very surprised, but I am sorry that he didn't stay. [Although Kirk seems happy with Victor now, and being with someone who isn't a part of the Enterprise's crew seems simpler in some ways.] Eh... there are more difficult things.

No, it's alright. [ He shakes his head and smiles. ] I... regret that I didn't get to say goodbye, but I can't be sorry that he left. I don't know that I'd have gotten to meet Victor otherwise, you know?

[ And now, he is happy. He loves Victor more than he ever got to love Bones, and he wouldn't want to miss out on that. ]

I think, Pavel... we of all people know there are always more difficult things. [ He rests a hand on his shoulder, smiling pointedly. ]

I understand that.

[He can't really relate as he hasn't so much as been on a date in the two years that have elapsed since his last romantic relationship came to an abrupt and unhappy end, but he gets it.]

I can't even imagine which of the more difficult things you are thinking of. [The ones related to prison universes? To the oddly high mortality rate on the Enterprise? There are some choices.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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