riverviewlogs | ( open ) the day is bright and fair

Entry tags:

( open ) the day is bright and fair

who: James T. Kirk & YOU!
what: general out and about for the month.
when: August (please specify when during the month you're tagging him!)
where: all over
warnings: none for the moment; will edit if need be

I ▹ PERIMETER GUARD ▹ SHUTTLE WORK

[ After the mission, getting the shuttle up and running, not to mention cleaning her up all nice and proper so she's ready for use again, is Jim's priority, and it's a project he throws himself into with vested interest and dedication. While the shuttle still works, there's a lot that needs repairing or even outright replacing, not to mention the overall old and worn aspect of both the interior and the exterior.

Despite this, Jim looks excited rather than bothered or tired, as he fumbles around the makeshift shuttle bay set up at the perimeter guard. Sounds of clinking and clattering around come from the area, and he can be found throughout the month working on several different aspects of the shuttle, from control panels to the shuttle exterior— repainting the outside completely, installing a more complete and advanced navigation system and flight controls, or he may just be found disappearing halfway into one of the panels beneath the dashboard, fumbling around with wiring and circuitry. If he hears someone approaching, he'll stick an arm out, gesturing vaguely towards a pen-shaped handheld device. ]

Hand me that laser cutter over there?

II ▹ CITY STREETS & OUTSKIRTS ▹ BIKE RIDE

[ In the midst of what starts to feel like a very good month, Jim gets a really nice surprise one of the days he gets to the perimeter guard: there, waiting for him, is an all too familiar bike— not just any bike either, but a peculiar engraving on the side of the leather seat lets him know that this exact bike used to belong to his father.

It's only natural that he takes especially good care of it, tuning it up and cleaning it until it's spotless and shiny, then promptly takes it out for a few spins during the next few weeks. From the city center to the outskirts where he won't find nearly as much traffic, he can be found just about anywhere, both riding the bike or taking a break somewhere, leaning comfortably against the seat as he sips on some juice or enjoys a tasty ice cream. Feel free to approach or even ask him to take you for a ride, if you happen to know him (or even if you don't, really). ]

III ▹ COMMUNAL APARTMENTS ▹ MOVING

[ Another change in Jim's life happens to be something he and Bones had been talking about, and finally now they've managed to find a place they both like and can afford (not that money's a problem for them, with both earning well and saving up the majority of what they earn). During the first two weeks of the month especially, Jim will be spending some time boxing up things and getting them ready for the move. They don't have a whole lot in their apartment here, and some of the lighter boxes he chooses to carry to their new home on his own. He'll smile at anyone he crosses paths with, daring to offer playfully to people he happens to know. ]

I'll accept a helping hand, if you've got the time.

IV ▹ ANYWHERE ▹ WILDCARD

[ Jim is nothing if not both active and sociable, so throughout the month it's not difficult to find him in several spots, be them bars and coffeeshops, parks, grocery stores, and even the hospital when he's coming over to meet up with Bones.

He also feels the shift of the city when the strange outbreak sweeps the Quarantine and causes some random cases of memory loss. It is, sadly, something he's not unfamiliar with, but more than his insight on their mission beyond the walls and sharing some details he happens to remember, he finds himself overall useless in finding a resolution or a cure. He will, however, try to help anyone who happens to be affected by the outbreak. ]

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[ Jim doesn't entirely mean it, to be fair. Spite carried him for a good portion of his life, led his path, and that path led him nowhere. He only really ever made something of himself when he let go of certain grudges, when he overcame spite and and anger and stopped hating people for what his life was. And he didn't even have as bad a childhood as Re-L apparently had.

Granted, she keeps that whole look like she's unfazed and uncaring, but Jim doesn't really believe it's much more than a façade, at least at times. No doubt she's tougher, used to putting up with more crap, not affected as easily, both mentally and emotionally, but that doesn't make her entirely impervious either. He has no doubt there's plenty buried beneath the surface, too. ]

What about the ones not from Romdeau? [ An open question, like he's asking her to tell him more (or anything) about those people. Re-L never speaks much about her past, the people in her life back home, so he takes the opportunity when he can get it. ]

[ Her childhood was... strange, really. Privileged beyond reason, in some ways, in the way she was treated by many people in her life as if she were some living embodiment of something fantastic and rare. And on the other.. Well, probably jealousy from those below her in social strata and reviled by most she was level with, but none of them able to do anything about it for the most part. Generally, she was too much of something for pretty much everyone, it was just a matter of what annoyed an individual the most for what made Re-L someone they couldn't stand.

Granted, finding things that couldn't stand about each other was always practically a past-time within Romdeau Dome.

Still, she's not totally dumb to what Jim is trying to do, and shrugs her shoulders. ]

That basically leaves Vincent, and when someone is your only human interaction you tend to find ways to get along with them.

[ She seems to be in a sharing mood, Jim notes. He says nothing, not wanting to push too much nor disengage, curious and glad to get a little more detail about her life before the Quarantine. Some people are more prone to sharing, but Re-L not so much. He can understand why, really, from what little she has told him in the past. She's had some complicated experiences, and in her position, he wouldn't want to share much either. ]

Well... that's one of the two ways it can go. [ Jim spent some summer weeks with Frank as his own only human interaction, and he sure as hell never managed to find a way to get along. Not that he tried particularly hard— but then again, neither did Frank. ] But I take it that by that you mean he's a friend of yours.

True. But Vincent's personality isn't very.. mmn.. assertive, most of the time. [ Meaning she can and will walk all over him and not feel bad about it, at least when he'll let her and isn't having one of those days where the Proxy side is a little more prevalent. Still, their relationship has become more and more of a partnership, lately, and Re-L doesn't hate it a bit. Still, she seems reluctant to call him a friend -

Jim can take that one however he wants to. ]

If it weren't for him I'd probably still be in Romdeau. [ Kind of the truth, kind of not. Without Vincent catching her interest, and finding out about proxies, who knew if she would've found herself outside anyway, or possibly even dead in the rubble with the rest - ]

I haven't decided yet whether I appreciate that or not.

So you can just boss him around all you like, right? [ He knows you, Re-L, he knows what you can be like. Not that he's criticizing by any means, of course. If anything he sounds almost entertained by the mere thought, his lips quirking upwards in amusement. ]

Romdeau was destroyed, wasn't it? Came crashing down. [ He raises an eyebrow, canting his head. Just saying, that's a question that ought to answer itself. If she hadn't left the dome, then she would be dead. Not like she'd have that many options to choose from, even if she could. ]

When he wants to allow it. [ She shrugs, of course leaving out the fact that Vince allows it.. quite a lot more than most people might. Re-L tends to be a hard headed person to deal with in the first place, and for the most part.. Vince is an agreeable guy. It's that pesky Ergo Proxy one has to have a bit of a .. though process over. ]

Yes. But there's much more outside, microscopic, even, to kill you even if you survived the fall. [ She pauses, then - ]

I ventured to the outside, once before Romdeau fell. If I hadn't done that I would have died regardless from contact with the outside air and, obviously, no access to the vaccine I'd need to recover from those illnesses.... If I'd never followed Vincent out to the Commune things could be completely different.

[ But she's a bad child who doesn't listen to directions, so.. here they are. If she'd simply followed directions and her grandfather's directives she could not be here at all, or here in a different facet, as a different person... there's an entire plethora of things that could shift or go in one direction or another. ]

That's what I mean when I say Bones will find it ridiculous, what I'm immunized to and what I'm not.

[ Jim can imagine it easily enough, anyway. Not that Re-L's ever been mean or forceful, but she is pushy, even Jim can tell. Well, not that he can talk much. He can be obnoxiously persistent, and charmingly persuasive too. He knows all too well how to get what he wants from the people closest to him— Bones being a prime example.

Jim nods at her explanation. ] Then I guess it is a very good thing you followed him out of there that first time. And from what I can tell, nothing's killed you so far, microscopic or otherwise.

[ It's good, in that sense. Those vaccines prepared her for any aggressive elements outside the dome, and when time came that she had to leave, she was ready to handle that environment. That had to be a good thing, now hadn't it?

He purses his lips at her last remark, shrugging a little. ] Maybe, maybe not. We're used to visiting new worlds, with different medical and scientific advancements, different things that people need to defend themselves against. It might intrigue him, but it probably won't be entirely nonsensical to him.

Few people who knew me before would agree with you, but I do, so that's the opinion that matters, I think. [ Re-L shrugs, not about to linger too long in what her grandfather or Daedalus thought of her decisions. Daedalus had been the first one to give her the tools to go outside, had given in to her curiosities and had been cocky enough to think that he would be enough to keep her there once she knew what was beyond. A foolish assumption, to be sure, but she can't totally blame him, either. She had lead him to believe that she would most definitely be back, that there couldn't be anything worth staying out in the wastes for -

That had turned in to famous last words, hadn't it? ]

Well, I also had to con my doctor a little for my own curiosity, but.. Daedalus thought I'd be back, to be fair. And I did come back, for a little while. But only because I would've drowned in my own fluids if I hadn't. [ A worse death than bleeding to death, she thinks. Drowning takes longer - at least so she's heard. ]

I meant more in terms of, say... I can survive whatever mutant viruses and germs have sprung up in the thousands of years since humans have last touched Earth's surface, in my world, but here in the Quarantine I can catch every damn common cold and feel like I'm dying from every single one. I find it at least.. slightly ridiculous.

[ Frustrating, too, that she can't even come somewhere and not have some sort of sickness befall her. Granted, she's not dead or dying, so there's no much past the inconvenience that she can complain about. ]

Oh well. I'm still, stubbornly, here, so I can't complain too much.

In this particular instance, yes. [ Anyone who thought it was bad that she had done something that later on guaranteed her survival, even if unwittingly, clearly were interested in a lot more than Re-L's well-being. Or not interested in it at all. More concerned with their own agendas. Jim's not glad for all the people who must have died when the dome fell, but he didn't know any of them either.

He does know Re-L. He considers her a friend, almost sibling-like, and he's of course very glad that she survived. Even if others didn't. ]

Lovely mental image. [ He scrunches up his nose a little. He makes light of the situation, but he does take it seriously. He chuckles a little, shrugging at her. ]

Yeah, I know what you mean. But at least there's a cure for the common cold here, so provided you decide not to be stubborn, you should be able to survive that and plenty other common illnesses. Even those Bones might not be able to vaccine you against.

[ In reality they'd all been interested in the ends to their own means instead of each other's well being, but.. considering the core values of Romdeau Dome had been basically to keep your nose in your own business and do what would best suit and bolster yourself? She's not all that surprised. Daedalus' betrayal had taken her the most aback, but there's probably little chance she's going to talk about that one.. ever. Her home world was strange enough without revealing that her doctor, in lieu of having Re-L there in the dome, had simply made another. Though it might explain a lot to Bones about her skittish nature around Doctors. ]

I know, but imagine being the one trying to breathe through it and suddenly the mental image isn't so bad.. [ That had been.. a trip, to say the least. She remembers the illness taking her over almost instantaneously from when she'd freed herself from her suit, how Daedalus had pleaded with her to not disengage the suit with filtered air and the like, but.. there was no way she was laying on the ground like a sitting duck in a heavy suit she couldn't move in. ]

If Vincent hadn't been there I probably would've been a bargaining chip with an expiration date for the commune, so I at least owe him that...

[ Jim's bit of snark about her stubbornness means she owes him a bit of a sour look, which she pays on immediately, blue eyes narrowing. ]

Had I been anything close to dying I would have at least given him a courtesy call. I'm not an absolute animal.

[ That much Jim can tell. He's used to a different reality, to being surrounded by people who work together, live together, fight together when need be. Where he comes from people look after each other, they live in a genuinely united community that cares and works towards the well-being of everyone, but even in his galaxy —even in the quadrants of it that he's been to— he's all too familiar with races, worlds and people who don't work that way. He's not so naïve as to think that his own circumstances are the norm; if anything his time here has come to prove just how very unique his situation is.

He doesn't really need to imagine how it feels like to try to breathe through lungs filling up with fluid, through the unbearable pain of his organs shutting down one by one. Been there, done that— would rather not repeat the experience. He shakes off the memory easily, taking in what information she offers about Vincent instead. They must be close, he thinks, though he doesn't ask her how much just yet.

He snorts at her last remark, chuckling. ] I think he might pop a vein or have a heart attack if you do call him sometime just to let him know you're dying. I'd rather you didn't, by the way. Good boyfriends are so hard to come by. [ He tips his head towards the bike. ] Anyway— drive you back?

I think I've given enough of those in the past few months to Daedalus alone. [ Granted, Donov and Daedalus probably deserved them a bit more than poor Bones. The good doctor just didn't know who he was getting involved with back on the Eluvio, and here... even if he hadn't remembered her, he and Kirk had already endeared themselves on her and there was no backpedaling from there. Well.. maybe, but they both would have had to have done some convincing.

Either way, she's glad for the offered ride back - she's beginning to feel her oats a little bit, thanks to a long while of being sick and lacking decent rest it feels as though it's time to settle in for the night or at least take a nap, and a nod follows in short order. ]

I'll try, at any rate, if only to let you avoid the minor inconvenience of having to track down someone else who will deal with you.

For now, though, I think a little rest on my couch would do me the most good.

[ For better or worse, Bones does have some practice in handling rash and hotheaded people who will leap into danger without thinking twice of it. Jim is a repeat offender in that aspect, but really, plenty of people on their crew are like that. Most aren't quite as dramatic as Jim, but even Spock, who's supposed to be the embodiment of logic and complete lack of emotion, is just as given to flights of rashness and impulsiveness. ]

Hey, it's no minor inconvenience. I'll never find anyone like Bones again, he's a catch. [ Also, you know, he spoils Jim rotten and he loves that. ]

Alright, then. I'll drop you off at your place. [ He takes his seat on the bike again, nodding behind him. ] Hop on.

Well, people are generally a bit too unique to replace in full, but, I'm sure you'd have no trouble catching anyone else if there was ever a need. [ That's her own weird version of a compliment, here, but in reality there's no way she'd encourage him to move on. If anything, she'd probably kick him (literally or figuratively) back to Bones if there was ever a need. In all reality Re-L's never been one to become involved with other people's problems, couple's problems, but...

Well, to be fair, there wasn't a lot of that in her home dome anyway. ]

I'd appreciate it. [ She settles behind him again, adjusting a little bit to make sure she's situated well enough to not feel off balance. Her arms weave their way back around him in short order, resisting a tired urge to rest her chin somewhere to try and doze - ]

I can't wait until I feel normal again, honestly. That has to be the worst part of all of this.

Maybe so, but they wouldn't be Bones. [ And Jim has never been one to take substitutes in his life; he certainly wouldn't in this particular case. He loves Bones and he can't even think about moving on, for better or worse. Because here, he knows all too well how either or both of them might leave from one day to the next, but he knows that won't change how he feels.

Revving up the engine, he lets out a laugh at her last words. ] Oh, trust me, Re-L. You may be a lot of things, but you're definitely not normal.

[ He means it as a compliment, of course. Once he's sure she's holding onto him properly, he kicks up the stand, then starts them fast down the road and back towards the city center. ]

Mmn.. I know what you mean. [ Just as she could spend time with other people, but none were exactly what she knew she was probably looking for. Either way, it's not worth bringing up in front of Jim, talking about things that deep right about now would be nothing but trouble. She's a bit tired and worn, which is why the thought to agree in such a way even occurred, but now...

Well, she's probably going to just keep her mouth shut. ]

I don't know whether to thank you or punch you. But... Considering you're driving I'll refrain either way.

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( open ) the day is bright and fair

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