riverviewlogs | (no subject)

[ Jim chuckles. ] My hero.

[ He doesn't mean that, of course. Anyway, even if he does fall, at worst he'll get a bruise or dive into the river. Looks deep enough that the drop wouldn't kill him, and... well, honestly he's jumped off of much higher cliffs. This almost seems tame in comparison to some of the stunts he's pulled in the past.

It doesn't make it any easier for him to cross the bridge, though, and he slips up and slides forward a little, feeling his heart pump a little faster despite himself. ]

[ Clark waits, following his progress.

The ice is holding so far. ]

I think you can skid across.

That's a terrible idea.

[ And so of course he's going to do it. He just takes a couple quicker steps forward, then lets his feet glide across the ice, letting out an almost childlike 'wheee' as he does so. ]

It didn't stop you.

[ Clark's noticing a trend of smiling around Jim.

He stands aside as Jim makes it to the bank. ]

What did you think?

Very few things do.

[ That's great, because Jim loves making people smile. Especially when they have such nice smiles.

He wobbles a little before regaining his footing once he's on solid ground. ]

That was fun! I'm definitely gonna want to do it again. [ He's a 30 year-old, he swears. ] How did you even build that?

[ So Jim is a daredevil. Clark's mom sense tingles. ]

I have ice breath.

[ He's not worried about telling Jim this because Jim isn't going to freak out over it. He would also say it's pretty cool.

Pun intended. ]

Ice breath.

[ He parrots the words, and then (yep, you know it's coming)— ]

That's kinda cool. [ His lips stretch into a wide grin. Predictable? Yes. But he doesn't care. ] Pun intended.

[ Clark ducks his head to laugh. ]

Snow more puns, please.

[ They're both acting their age. ]

[ This time Jim's the one laughing out loud, tipping his head back a little. ]

My God, chill on the puns, will you? [ Mature adults right here. ] That was bad. I'll let it cool off now, I promise.

If nothing, it's an ice-breaker. [ He holds out his hand. ] I'm Kal.

Nice how that works out, huh?

[ Still grinning, he takes his hand. ] Jim. Really nice to meet you.

[ Not "ice to meet you"? ]

What are you doing out here, Jim?

[ Clark knows him to be human. He doesn't look armed and the forest has monsters. ]

[ Damnit. What a waste of a perfect and wonderful opportunity. ]

My job, actually. I'm a surveyor. Perimeter guard.

[ He does have a gun on him, as well as the dagger Loki lent him, but since he's fairly close to the city limits, he's keeping them in his backpack for now. ]

What about you? Just doing some ice sculpting?

Yes. I thought I might explore this area while I'm at it. Would you mind if I came with you?

Sure. I always welcome having some good company around.

[ But before he resumes his path, he grabs his comm device and takes a few pictures of Kal's ice scale model of the city and the bridge. ]

Alright. Good to go.

Lead the way.

[ Clark walks on the side closer to the deep forest so he can keep an ear out for anything that might decide they're food.

He already knows Jim and doesn't have to ask him anything about himself. Clark also stays quiet on hikes, so Jim will have to initiate any conversation. ]

[ Jim's not averse to silence either, and he's well-versed in it, what with his first officer being Spock. Still, he's always curious to learn more about new acquaintances— especially when they're as unusual as Kal seems to be.

So, after a few minutes he speaks up, glancing over as he breaks the silence. ] So where are you from? Not Earth, I'm guessing?

[ Jim's from space but Clark knows better than to believe there'll be no prejudice; however, he doesn't expect Jim to treat him like a freak or a curiosity. He doesn't seem to be that kind of person. ]

I'm from Krypton. Have you heard of it?

[ Of all the people to worry about when it comes to prejudice, Jim's definitely not one of them. Even as he's curious to learn more about new people from new and unknown worlds and cultures, he'd never treat them like some freak show. ]

Can't say I have, sorry. What's it like?

[ Clark smiles apologetically. ]

I'm sorry, I don't know much. I left when I was very young.

[ IT'S DEAD JIM ]

[ DAMNIT CLARK ]

Oh. That's a shame. So where did you grow up?

A strange planet called Earth. Have you heard of it?

[ Jim chuckles. ]

Oh, yeah. I grew up there too. And I'll give you that, it can be pretty strange at times.

[ Clark smiles back at him.

As they keep walking, Clark notices this area is at the edge of monster territory. ]

Are we looking for something?

Nothing specific. Just mapping out the area and seeing if I find anything interesting to bring back with me.

[ He does notice that too, though, and he slows down so he can take off his backpack and pull out both the dagger and the stun phaser, strapping them both to his hips. ]

You can go back, if you want to. This area isn't exactly fun.