Road Trip [for losthunter]

[boldygoing]

It's a beautiful spring day in Riverside, Iowa. The skies are clear and the weather is pleasantly mild, and across the endless fields that stretch out into vast distances, automated farm machinery is hard at work planting corn for the season.

There's no such machinery around the Kirk farm, though someone has bothered to zap away some of the weeds threatening to devour the foundation. The old homestead still sits disturbingly empty, all but abandoned if not for a few small signs that someone has been there recently. One of those signs sits just outside the house, leaning up against his motorbike as he waits for another rider to come join him, a set of riding goggles resting against his forehead.

The motorcycle has clearly seen better days, but it's nothing like twenty-first century bikes. There are no spokes in the wheels, for one thing - indeed, the wheels don't even seem attached by anything visible, held in place by some invisible force. It's keeping itself upright without a kickstand, as well, even though the young man in question is leaning most of his weight against it.

Comments

[losthunter]

"You have such an amazing opportunity ahead of you." Hunter reaches over to run his fingers up and down Jim's arm.

[boldygoing]

Jim appreciates the touch, and turns his palm upward to capture Hunter's fingers with his own, fully relaxed. "The chance of a lifetime," he agrees. "Before things went south on us, there were rumors that the Enterprise was going to be sent out on a five-year mission. Starfleet's never done an expedition that long before. It's a long time to spend out in space."

[losthunter]

Hunter smiles at the way Jim's fingers entwine his fingers with his own. "And you are worried that the mission will be taken away."

[boldygoing]

"It already was," Jim admits quietly. "I screwed up, got demoted. But then everything happened so fast, and I got reinstated. And Starfleet's had their hands full handling the fallout in San Francisco, so I don't know if my reinstatement is going to stick or not."

[losthunter]

"I believe what that little girl part of Kendra said to you... you are destined to be among the stars." Hunter leans forward to kiss Jim's knuckles.

[boldygoing]

"I sure hope so." Jim's still not sure how much he believes it. But Hunter does, and Jim can respect that. It's nice to imagine it's true, anyway, even with his realistic fears.

"If we do still get to go... it's a damn good thing this isn't the days of sailing ships, with no way to communicate with the world back home. Five years without contact would be a hell of a long time."

Dreamwidth at it again...

[losthunter]

"Yes..." Hunter squeezed Jim's hand a little, just thinking about it. "Yes it would be."

[boldygoing]

"Have you ever done any traveling back home?" Jim asks, curious. He knows that airplanes and the like were common methods of travel in Hunter's time, but they all seem so slow to him.

[losthunter]

"A few times." Hunter is a little glad that Jim changed the subject about how he might be going on a five-year mission. It is a little hard to think about.

"Not as much as my best friend, Lindy. She is hitting every country right now."

[boldygoing]

"Every country? That's a big deal in your time, right?" Jim has no idea how many countries exist in Hunter's time, but he does know it's more than there are now.

[losthunter]

"If you do it right, and take time to explore each country and their historical places... than yeah... it takes time."

[boldygoing]

"It might be interesting to compare maps sometime," Jim says with a small smile. "See how much has changed."

Which leads him to another train of thought, and he asks curiously, "I know a lot of stuff we have in this century is new to you, but has anything surprised you that it hasn't changed?"

[losthunter]

Hunter thinks for a moment. "The streets still seem to have the same grid-style layout. Makes it easy to find your way..."

[boldygoing]

Jim chuckles a little. "For cities like this, yeah. Some of the old historical cities are still a bit of a mess. You don't wanna drive in Boston unless you've got something cleared to fly over buildings, or you'll never get anywhere."

[losthunter]

"That is weird... you calling Boston an old historical city."

[boldygoing]

The captain shrugs. "It's one of the oldest settlements on the continent that's still inhabited. Founded in sixteen-thirty, if I remember my Continental History right." He's not entirely certain on that, given the gap in his formal education as a teen. "Because it's an important city in the Old USA's history, a lot of the original layout and buildings are still just like they were six hundred years ago. It's a pretty popular tourist spot for historians."

There's a momentary pause in the conversation as the Bajoran waitress returns with their meals. Hunter's ratamba stew is a vivid emerald green, and it smells strongly of exotic alien spices with a hint of peppery heat. The deka tea is similar to a cold chai latte, with an almost flowery aftertaste to it.

Jim takes a bite out of his hasperat, which looks a bit like a tortilla rolled with some kind of sauce and colorful vegetables, its spicy heat immediately making him break out in a sweat, and he sips at the deep purple Kava juice to cool the burn a little.

[losthunter]

Hunter doesn't mind the break in the conversation, especially since their food has now arrived. He wants to fully appreciate the new meal, after all. And he has to chuckle a little seeing Jim break out in a sweat.

"You weren't kidding about it being spicy, were you?"

[boldygoing]

"Nope." Jim grins at him, and takes another bite without flinching. It may be hot, but he's not trying to be macho or impress anybody, either. "Gotta spice things up once in a while to keep things interesting."

[losthunter]

"Why am I not surprise to hear you say something like that?" Hunter chuckles. He is enjoying the fact that his ratamba stew is just spicy enough, without having to deal with the spicy heat. Plus the flowery aftertaste of the latte is very nice.

[boldygoing]

"What can I say, I'm an adventurous guy. I'll try anything at least once."

[losthunter]

"Anything?" Hunter chuckles lightly.

[boldygoing]

"Anything not toxic to humans, sure. Doesn't mean I'll like it, but I'll try it." Jim takes a brief pause from his hasperat to tear the mapa bread roll in half, and he sets one of the halves on Hunter's side of the table. It's a sort of multigrain, full of seeds and other healthy-looking stuff. "Mapa's good for dipping in stew, especially when you get down towards the bottom."

[losthunter]

"Thanks..." Hunter flashes him a bright smile. He takes the mapa bread to do as Jim suggested, starting to dip it into the stew.

[boldygoing]

Jim eats the other half plain, letting the nuttiness temper the lingering heat from the hasperat. He doesn't leave a crumb of either one, and leans back slightly in his chair to sip at his kava juice. "You gonna have room for dessert?"

[losthunter]

"I always save room for dessert." Hunter wiggles his eyebrows slightly. "Always."