( closed ) I'll try not to sing out of key

[winscenario]

who: Jim Kirk & close CR
what: a small get-together, and Jim introducing Victor to his friends
when: April 20th
where: a holosuite simulation of the Enterprise
warnings: none expected!


[ Jim's been in the Quarantine for a year now. Plenty of time to make connections, and establish a solid circle of friends that he cares for, trusts and relies on.

Granted, nothing's perfect. Plenty of people have come and gone. A number of names come to mind, too many people who left that he misses dearly. But the people he has here now, he cherishes them immensely. They're important to him, and some of them he'd almost consider family.

And Victor has mentioned more than once that he'd like to meet his friends. Jim's not keeping their relationship secret by any means, and after a month of going steady, he knows for sure how important Victor is to him, and that he'll be an important part of his life for as long as they're both in the Quarantine. So, it seems like the perfect time to set up a little get-together and invite his friends so he can introduce them to Victor.

Finding a place is a little tricky at first, because his loft is still inaccessible due to the flood, and it's not like he's gonna ask Victor to do it at his place. Beverly offers the perfect suggestion, though, and so Jim sets up one of the holosuites with his Enterprise program. Once arriving at the holosuites downtown and stepping inside, everyone will get to walk through a few of the various corridors of his ship, but the simulation is still fairly limited, and there's only so many areas one can visit. The small party itself is happening on the bridge, which would likely be the most inadequate location if this happened to be the real Enterprise. Seen as it isn't, though, no harm done.

There are a few snacks and sweets for people to help themselves to, plenty of drinks to go around (alcoholic and otherwise), and Jim has gone with a selection of old pop and rock music to be playing quietly in the background. It's not much, but it's really a very informal thing. His main purpose here —and he'll be going around the party making sure it happens— is to introduce Victor to his friends. ]


(( ooc: I'll be going around tossing Jim at people, possibly with Victor tagging along, but everyone's more than free to take this as an open log, so set up your own starters and tag around to your heart's content! ))

Comments

Rey: Open

[talentedscavenger]

[Parties aren't really Rey's thing. She preferred to be around a small group of people--no more than five. Besides, the work that goes into a party, it's a lot. There's a lot of food, and Rey wonders if all of it will be used--even though she shouldn't be concerned about it, but having been a scavenger all her life, it's something she carries with her in the back of her mind.

Considering she can't exactly go to her apartment, she's forced to go get clothes that aren't her normal attire. Remembering the things Lola went over with her, Rey goes with something simple: dark blue and grey form fitting pants, and a charcoal grey top with a lighter blue jacket and beige scarf. Her hair is in it's usual style: half up in a pony tail and the rest down. At her side is a hip pack that has her lightsaber--like hell she was going to leave that back at the guard and have someone accidentally slice off their arm.

She doesn't go for a drink (though she feels like maybe she should), but instead looks over the interior design of the ship, looking over panels which made her think of the Falcon...of home. She'll stick to the wall or a corner unless she saw someone she knows and felt comfortable with.

Wall flower thy name is Rey. Parties were never, ever her forte, but she's doing this for Jim.]

[evasives]

[well hello there fellow wallflower! it's easy to find her, just because cassian tends to linger on the outskirts too. it's where they always seem to bump into each other in these kinds of situations.]

[he's carrying a drink, but it's still mostly full. they're both dressed so casually today, with him in his jeans and t-shirt. he holds up his free hand in a short quick wave to make sure she sees him before he comes over.]

Parts of this ship keep making me think of home. What about you?

[talentedscavenger]

[Wallflowers unite! Away from the party! Away from people being...friendly. Really, Rey will take being a wall flower with Cassian than trying to mingle with people she doesn't know. Staying in her own little spot, people watching...it's what she preferred.

It's...interesting to see Cassian in something that isn't part of their world's attire. Something casual. Something that makes them look like normal people. She can see his cup is full, but at least he's found where the booze is.]

Same...but I know it's not the same. Interior is nice, but the panels and the controls...not. [It's not like the Falcon, nothing compared to that.] Come here to make sure Jyn doesn't bag all the food? [Teasing, just a tiny bit.]

[evasives]

[people watching is an excellent hobby, okay. it's just a lot harder to hide when there are less people. not that cassian is complaining, because less is definitely better.]

I don't think it would be that hard to figure out, if I really tried. It is definitely much bigger than I am used to. [rebellion starships are usually tiny.]

If Jim does not expect her to take some of it back, he should not have invited her. [he pauses, contemplating the idea of testing the word aloud.] Jim is my friend. I wanted to come. [that's part of what friendship is, he thinks??? he's testing it.]

[talentedscavenger]

[People watching is great, and those who say otherwise are stupid. Maybe she and Cassian should make a club for simply people watching....or maybe not, and let it be just a club for the two of them.]

It wouldn't be hard to figure out, but...it's not the same. The last ship I was on, it was the Millennium Falcon, and there's nothing else like her.

[Granted, she was a bucket of bolts, and garbage at times, but it has a legacy and more importantly...it was Han's. She didn't know the old man too well, but he was a father figure to her.]

I would like to think he'd want her to have a good time, even if that involves taking food back. Just hope he doesn't run out of it. [Because well, food was precious and Jyn knew how to eat.] Jim's my friend too, I wanted to be here to support him.

[Though, she prefers to just hang out in the background and not mingle with a lot of people. But, Jim was one of her closest friends and she wanted to be here for him.]

Anything new with you?

[evasives]

[a two person people watching club sounds like the perfect size!]

I have never heard of it. [the perks (?) of dying before the original trilogy. what's a han solo?? skywalkers?? we just don't know.]

Anywhere with food probably translates into Jyn having a good time, at least while she's eating. [he sounds so fond, like, more than usual.] She would deny being his friend, but I don't think anyone is here because they don't like Jim.

[he is a just a Good Dude. genuinely good people feel so rare in the universe. it's not a surprise rey would be jim's friend too though, because they are both Goods.]

I have stayed my own age, which is apparently noteworthy. [he makes out with jyn now! that's definitely new, but not really something he's talking about, so gonna gloss over any real answer.] How have you been, Rey?

[talentedscavenger]

[Yes! They could even bring snacks, like popcorn and make observations about people as they pass by. The perfect club!]

It completed the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs....and Han Solo was the captain of it.

[There's a faint sad smile on her face when she brought up her old friend. The man who offered her a job on the Falcon. The man who died by his son's own hands... But, best not to get into that right now.]

That's the impression I'm getting. But, it is Jim's party, he would've only invited people he liked, or considered a friend.

[Or people who wanted free food, and Jyn falls into that category--both actually. The same as Cassian. She raised an eyebrow at him staying "his own age."]

How is that noteworthy? [Was he supposed to look older? Younger? Whatever, it didn't make sense to her. But he should tell her he's with Jyn because she had a feeling about them--they're good for each other, she thinks.]

I've been fine. [A shrug of her shoulders. She doesn't like talking about herself and the mess she's in, but..she's better off here than she was on Jakku, so that's always a plus.]

[evasives]

I don't know who that is either. [all these hero names mean nothing to him! and cassian knows a lot of names. but he recognizes that fond if not sad look on her face. someone more personable to her. recent, if the stories of her childhood are anything to go by.] A friend?

[he sighs a little.] I do like Jim, and he knows that, unfortunately.

[listen there's been a lot of weird happenings in this place, but the de-aging flowers might be among the weirdest.] The flowers that temporarily regressed us in time. I would not have thought to mention staying my own age as relevant before now.

How fine is fine? [concerned anyway!]

[talentedscavenger]

[Rey held back the urge to let out a soft, almost chuckle from Cassian's reply. of course he wouldn't know Han Solo. He wouldn't know about the famous smuggler, or anything of that nature. He was busy fighting for the Resistance....and he didn't live long enough to learn of him.]

Yes, he was a friend....a good friend. [She'll focus on that instead.] He even offered me a job, but I said no..kind of regret it now. [A man she didn't know too well, only from stories and someone she never thought she'd meet. A man who was taken from him, by his own son and...she knew he deserved better. Han tried to do the right thing..he wanted his son back, but there was nothing she could do about that.]

You prefer to have people think you don't like them? [Teasing a little, because she gets the feeling Cassian likes her as a friend. Otherwise, he has a high tolerance for women who liked to eat oreos together in his apartment.]

Yeah...that was.interesting. It could've been worse. Least no one tried to take over the Moon or anything during that. [Because they were all children and Rey would be more careful about picking flowers or even observing them.

As for how 'fine' she was, there was another shrug of her shoulders.]

It is what it is. The rain flooded the apartment building I was in, just waiting to go back and see the damage. [But it was more than just the apartment. It was dealing with feelings and working so she wouldn't have to think about things like how to further her training and just...other things.]

[winscenario]

[ Jim knew this wasn't Rey's sort of thing, but she was his friend. Since Bones left, they'd spent a lot of time together, and even now that he had Victor, they still met regularly for their runs, and they still had their movie nights. There were still lots of movies for her to get to know, after all.

Point was, he was glad she was here, even if she didn't look exactly at ease. He made his way to where she was attempting her party trick of blending into the wall, offering her a light and colorful cocktail, very much similar to his own. ]

You know, there's no harm in socializing a little.

[talentedscavenger]

[After everything that Rey has gone through, it's unlikely she won't ever be really at ease. She had a lot on her plate, and being social wasn't something she was taught on Jakku. If she was doing something for business, trading scraps, bargaining for one piece or another, that was fine. Actually talking to people that she didn't know? A whole different story.

But, she was here for Jim, to support him and meet his new friend. He sort of talked about him during their runs and in between bites of pizza during their movie night. He was different, he was happy, and Rey was happy for him.

She was looking over the other people in the area when Jim came up to her with drink in hand. Rey smiled a little at him, trying to keep a good poker face before taking the drink and offering a 'thank you' to him.]

I'm more interested in how you got this to look like your ship, and...I don't really know too many people here. [Granted, some of them are probably from the Perimeter Guard, but she doesn't go outside her circle of friends because being social is a skill she does not have.] Enjoying yourself?

[winscenario]

[ Jim knew Rey wasn't very prone to taking part in big social gatherings, but he wouldn't say she was entirely antisocial. They did spend a lot of time together, and she was at ease around him. One-on-one was easier, he knew that, but still. It counted for something.

It also counted for something that she was willing to ignore her awkwardness during these events for his sake. He genuinely appreciated that. ]

Well, that's the whole point of a party. You go out there, get to know them. Say hi. [ He shrugged, though. He wasn't going to push her, of course. ] And this is a holosuite. It creates tactile holographic projections by holding photons and holomatter within a magnetic containment field to give the holograms a specific appearance, and also to create a solid surface that we can actually touch. [ He pointed towards Beverly, some good feet away from them. ] Beverly maintains the holosuites here, but I designed this specific program. She doesn't know enough about my ship to create the simulation anyway.

[talentedscavenger]

[One on one interactions were fine. It allowed Rey to focus her attention on one person and not travel anywhere else. Or, being in a space with fewer people, that was fine too. Rey wasn't one to approach someone, not unless she had to. She was used to keeping a low profile...and she wasn't the best at social interaction.

There was a light chuckle from her.]

Say 'hi' to a completely random person, and then what? Walk away?

[She was joking of course. She knew she could just say hi to someone and strike up a conversation, but it would feel forced...and honestly, she wouldn't know what to talk about.

However, with Jim, there was loads to talk about. Her interest grew in how he created the holosuite. Beverly...the name was familiar, but she couldn't exactly say where she heard the name before.]

That's incredible. It's the closest thing to being on your ship. It's similar to the interior design of my world. [And it made her a bit homesick for the Falcon.] Maybe later you could show me how you programmed this?

[winscenario]

[ Jim rolled his eyes, though he was still smiling at her. ]

No! That's just rude, Rey, seriously. You chat them up. You know... 'Fun party, huh? You know, Jim's the one who introduced me to pizza and mean high school girls. He's such a great guy, isn't he?'

[ He grinned wide at her, evidently teasing. Probably for the best that she didn't make him the sole topic of all her conversations at this party, even if it was technically about him and Victor. Well, Victor mostly. Who also didn't like being in the spotlight much. Too bad for him, because Jim wanted to show him off to all his friends. ]

Yeah? Too bad I can't see it, then. [ Jim nodded. ] Sure. How good are you at computer coding? I mean, for the most part the computer does the work. You can even create some programs almost entirely through verbal commands, it's very intuitive. I drew a few pictures and specific schematics of my ship and uploaded them onto the system, for instance, it helped create this simulation a lot faster. Plus, Beverly has a base Enterprise program thanks to her own ship schematics, so I built it from there.

[talentedscavenger]

[Rey had to catch herself from bursting out into a full on laugh. Oh yes, she would really stroke Jim's ego like that. Go up to someone and simply talk him up like he was amazing--he was, but he didn't need to have himself talked up like he was bigger than life.]

I'm pretty sure someone else would've introduced me to pizza at some point.

[She began to tease back, taking a small sip of her drink.]

But, I could say you're a great guy, if you really need that. [Joking, kidding, having a bit of fun.] What is this party for anyway? I heard that you wanted a get together for...someone? Or something?

[She didn't really know that parties could be thrown for the sake of having one. It wasn't a birthday, she knew that much. There wasn't banner or anything that said so.]

I know...a little, but it might be different from my world and yours. [She had run flight simulations, and reprogrammed them to be on the hardest levels, but she's never had to build anything from scratch. Rey was used to working with her hands, fixing actual parts and not numbers and letters.] I could go to the library and look around for books on coding. Maybe find something that looks like the Falcon... [Something to maybe cheer up Finn, Poe...Paige, and the others. Just something to remind them of home.] I'll talk to Beverly about it. We spoke briefly when I first came here.

[And that was.....so many months ago, a complete life time ago.]

[winscenario]

[ He definitely did not want her to do that, no. This was what they called a joke, Rey, get with the program. ]

Well they could, but they didn't. I did.

[ He snorted at that. ] No, I think everyone here already knows what a great guy I am.

[ There was a bit of pause then, and he cleared his throat. ] Yeah, uh... I started dating someone. And he wanted to meet my friends, so... I figured something small like this would do the trick.

[ He hadn't really told Rey, he realized. Mostly because he and Victor weren't really serious at first, and after actually getting serious, he didn't get much of a chance to tell her about it. He'd only mentioned Victor to a handful of people, so it didn't surprise him that Rey wasn't entirely aware of why he'd done this get-together. ]

You do that. If you want, you can fiddle around with the holosuites' program, see how well you do. I'll give you a hand. Could be fun, trying for a few things, see what we can get. How does that sound?

[talentedscavenger]

[Oh, she knows what a joke is. The question was, could Jim take a joke? Could he tell when she was joking and trying to pull his leg?]

Yes, and that will be your claim to fame.

[Grinning at him, pretty proud of her own teasing.

Yes, everyone knew what a great guy he was, otherwise they wouldn't have been friends with him. They wouldn't have come to the party, so really, it's evident that Jim is well liked.]

Oh...well, that's good.

[Rey wondered what was going on with him, if he was busy for the sake of being busy, or if...he was doing something else. She wasn't doing well with keeping in touch and finding out how her friends were. There was a faint smile on her lips, knowing how Jim was with Bones and how upset he was when the other man left.]

As long as he makes you happy, that's all that matters. [She whispered the words to him, like it was a secret she only wanted him to hear.]

Sounds like fun, we'll make time for it.

[Learn something new, and if Jim had to cancel plans on her, that was fine. She could learn on her own, and she wouldn't want to take time away from Jim's boyfriend. That's what mattered, what's what came first.]

[jolting]

[James is certainly the type of person who can convince wallflowers to come to a party. It isn't that surprising to Victor just how many people are here, though it's a little intimidating at the same time. He's been to a few parties but they were never in his honor, and he already knew everybody there.

So he's making his way over to the panels as well. But it seems Rey beat him there. It is a bit easier approaching someone who seems interested in things he finds interesting, so here he goes]

You spend a lot of time on starships?

[talentedscavenger]

Hm? [Oh, someone was talking to her. Someone she hasn't met before. There's a a slight nod of her head.]

Oh, yes. Not on ones like this--I'm not from Jim's world. [Best to state that now, since it can kind of get confusing to who came from where. Rey nearly catches herself to state that she is a friend of Jim's, but then why else would she be there? Friends were invited--and she's over thinking things a little.]

It's similar though, makes me miss it. [The ship that is, not her world. Well, okay, her world because there was nothing like it, but they weren't at a war here.]

You?

[jolting]

I'm a few centuries behind James. We have space crafts, but they aren't nearly this advanced, yet.

[He runs his fingers over one of the consoles] I've never even been outside our small town before coming here, let alone travel in space.

[talentedscavenger]

Really?

[Well, that's interesting. Then again, Cisco's world was advanced, they had rockets, but they didn't travel very far. They hadn't figured out how to go Lightspeed yet.]

It's quite the rush, looking down at where you were and seeing a sky of stars just...there. You're part of it and you can go anywhere you want.

[Assuming there isn't a war to be fought, or a bounty on your head.]

[jolting]

Now I see why you and James get along: you both love flying in space. And going wherever you want sounds pretty appealing. Did you pilot starships where you came from?

[talentedscavenger]

Well, there is that, but when I came here I heard he had a ship that he was repairing. Thought I could help. [And see if she could use it to get the heck out of here, but that didn't work out.

He was also there when Poe first left. A friend who was there for her to lean on and he some how became one of her closest friends.]

Only flown one ship, but there's nothing like her. I studied though, for a very long time. [She didn't want to give away too many details about herself--and in all honesty, it felt a bit awkward to talk about her and her past.]

What did you do in your world?

[jolting]

Ah, I see. Did you manage to fix it?

[He doesn't suspect that they managed to get the ship beyond a certain point. This place is a bit more open than Storybrooke, but it still doesn't allow easy exits]

Same thing I do here: I'm a doctor at a hospital. Though back home, I was the only doctor, and here I'm part of a team.

[talentedscavenger]

He was almost done by the time I approached him. He let me help though. We listened to music from his world--I didn't pay much attention to the lyrics. [A faint smile broke across her lips, thinking back to those times when they were working on finishing the wiring--making sure they didn't get shocked or anything.]

The only doctor? Did you live in a ...[Desert town? Or barren wasteland?] in a rural area or..just very small?

[Wait, he said he's a doctor...is...is he Victor?]