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

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

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! ))

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[ 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.

[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?

[ 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.

[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.]

[ 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?

[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.]

[ Of course he could take a joke! From his friends, that is. He wasn't about to take it to heart that Rey was teasing him, especially when he would sometimes tease her too. ]

Please. As if I need that.

[ The claim to fame, that is. He was famous back in his own world already, and that sufficed him. ]

Yeah. It is. [ He smiled wide, tilting his head slightly. He still missed Bones sometimes, and he wouldn't ever forget him completely (nor would he want to), but he was happy now.

He looked around the room, then nodded in the direction of the doctor. ] That's him. Victor— and yeah, he does make me happy.

[ Turning back to Rey with a smile, he leaned in to press a quick kiss to her temple. ] I'm glad you came tonight, anyway. We'll definitely make time for each other soon, and do some fun stuff.

Victor?

[So that was his boyfriend's name. It sounded nice. Rey looked to where Jim was pointing to and saw him. He seemed nice, but Rey was protective of her friend. While she could trust Jim's judgement, she didn't want to see him hurt. Otherwise....she may have words with Victor.]

Good. That's how it sound be, right? [A rhetorical question, because that's how it should be. Though, the person who made her feel anything....no, no, she wasn't going to go down that road.

The kiss to her temple caught her off guard, blinking a little. Should he really be doing that? It was innocent, she knew, but she didn't want his boyfriend to get the wrong idea..]

You sure? Even though I'm staying close to the walls? [Ribbing him a little.] Thank you for the invitation, probably would've been at the Guard training. If you ever want to bring Victor to movie night or anything, you could. I wouldn't mind.

[ Rey really has nothing to worry about. People hurt other people sometimes, sure, even when they don't mean to, but Jim doesn't really like building a relationship around the possibility that one day Victor could hurt him— or that he could hurt Victor. He cares about him, and they enjoy each other's company, they make each other happy. And they do trust each other. That's what matters to him. ]

Yeah, even then. Funny thing that most of my friends are wallflowers. You guys just keep popping up, go figure. [ He smiles, winking teasingly at her. ]

Oh, no. Movie nights are our thing. We can find something else to do together, though. The three of us.

Really? I would've thought they were the more adventurous type.

[Rey caught onto that teasing, even laughing a little at that wink. He just attracted different types of people--helped them come out of their shell. Though, for Rey, it was hard to break old habits, keeping to herself in big crowds and unsure how to actually talk to others too.

But, she was learning. Baby steps and all that.][He wanted to keep it 'their' thing? That was touching. She thought when people go into a relationships things changed (because they do) and she was willing to have their thing include Victor to. Or whoever else Jim wanted. She wouldn't mind, just watching films (hologram or not) was fun and eating different snacks and...not thinking too much on things and have fun.]

We could figure something to do. I mean, what does he--or what do you two like to do? Aside from collect wallflowers.

Well, yeah. That too. People can be adventurous wallflowers, you know.

[ It's the norm, with his friends. He's always been the most sociable and outgoing on any group of people. The people at this party, for instance, they're mostly fairly shy or reserved, yet they also enjoy adventure much like Jim. Rey is no exception, for instance.

Anyway, some things do change when one gets into a relationship. But his friends are important, to him. Having time with them, and having a social life outside of his relationship with Victor. It was the same when he had Bones, and he doesn't plan on changing that this time around.

Victor understands and accepts it, and Jim appreciates that. There's plenty of things he will happily include Victor in, but that doesn't mean he has to sacrifice his personal time with his friends, or include him every single time. ]

Well... movies, books and music. Victor loves drawing, and science. Oh, he's shown some interest in going beyond the wall for a bit of exploration, so we could do something involving that.

Think you're making that up.

[Rey said in a soft, serious voice. But her words carried a hint of teasing. People could be wall flowers, like her, but she was adventurous when she wanted--and needed to be. She didn't do well with groups, but she was slowly coming out of her shell little by little. At least she didn't stay for half an hour and then leave without saying a word.

Maybe one day, she wouldn't automatically stick to the walls. Maybe, she'd venture out, talk to someone and then head to the safety of the walls to people watch.

Rey tilted her head to the side for a moment.]

I don't know if that would be a good idea. I mean, we could go exploring, but can he defend himself? Or, are you thinking of taking the shuttle out for that?

[Because, well, she could use her speeder, but it could only fit up to two people. She would be fine for exploring, but if something happened...better to have 3 people fighting than 2.]

[ He snorted at the accusation. ]

Please. Pretty much everyone at this party is exactly that: an adventurous wallflower.

[ Rey, even if she wouldn't see herself that way; Cassian and Jyn, who may as well spend more time beyond the walls than within them; Victor, who may be no fighter but certainly had a taste for adventure. He could go on. ]

I was thinking we could take the shuttle, yes. But for what it's worth, we've been out there a couple of times already, just him and me. Both on the shuttle and by foot. We've managed fairly well. There are areas closer to the inner wall that are perfectly safe, where wild animals are scarce, small and generally harmless.

[ With a few exceptions, sure, but Jim had never had too many troubles. He wouldn't take anyone farther away if he wasn't sure they could defend themselves, though. ]

[Rey listens, going over the possibilities in her mind. If they stayed close to the inner wall, it wouldn't be too bad. Unless their luck is truly that bad. She was covering her bases and didn't mean anything by asking.

She trusted Jim, but if they were leaving the safety of the Quarantine, she wanted to make sure they were prepared for it.]

No, that should be okay. I didn't know you took him out that far already. Going by Speeder would be better than foot--I think we should be fine. As long as you... [She nudges his arm a little.] Don't try to show off or attract trouble.

[Have to tease him a little, that's what adventurous wallflowers do.]

We can load your speeder onto the shuttle, actually. It could get us farther, then use that to explore the ground.

[ And Jim means that as not just when they go out with Victor, but on other occasions too. The shuttle provides better and quicker access to more distant locations, and the speeder can easily be loaded onto the cargo bay.

He laughs and shakes a hand at her. ] Oh, sure! Because I do that all the time. Blast some tunes out loud, shoot some flares, yell at the top of my lungs. Just to see how much wildlife I can attract. That's smart— and mature.

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

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