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

[boldygoing]

Jim shakes his head a little. "Maybe, maybe not. We aren't there yet. Hell, the other me wasn't a captain for another seven years from now." He pulls a face at the horrible mixture of tenses he just used. Time travel plus parallel universes make everything stupidly complex sometimes. "I don't know when exactly they ran into V'ger, it's just a fragment of a memory, but I think the other me was an admiral when it happened for them."

[losthunter]

"I am sort of glad that I have never met another version of myself..." Hunter can't imagine the confusion. "Though with the Nexus... anything is possible."

[boldygoing]

Jim smiles faintly, glancing over at him. "I haven't met another me yet either, but it'd probably be more straightforward than this. At least then I could ask some questions about some of the really out of context stuff."I

[losthunter]

"And imagine, it was only because of the Nexus that we met."

[boldygoing]

"I've wondered if a version of you existed in this Earth's past," Jim admits. "We probably won't ever know. Meeting you and finding the Nexus... It's definitely made things more interesting."

[losthunter]

"If a version of me did, I would wonder if he was an artist... and if any of his art was displayed somewhere." Hunter notes softly.

[boldygoing]

"Were you into art before the whole... magic thing happened?" Jim asks. If not, then it doesn't seem likely. As far as Jim knows, there's no magic in his universe.

[losthunter]

"I was too afraid of that part of me."

"And sometimes I wonder, if other versions of me never had a Kendra... what would have happened to them."

"It is never a good train of thought."

[boldygoing]

Jim certainly agrees that it isn't a great train of thought to chase, but he frowns at something Hunter says. "You were afraid? Why?"

[losthunter]

"My dad... didn't exactly see art as a lifestyle choice."

[boldygoing]

"Ah." That pretty much answers that. They haven't spoken much about their parents, but Jim doesn't need to hear anything else to understand Hunter's brief answer.

[losthunter]

"I am much happier now." He takes Jim's hand in his own, with a soft smile.

[boldygoing]

Jim gives his hand a little squeeze. "Glad to hear it."

They're almost to the craft store, and it's much larger than the tiny hardware repair shop. A person could spend hours browsing the shelves, stocked with most items an artist might need. Paints, brushes, canvases, several different types of clay, enormous bolts of fabric in dozens of textures and colors, feathers and buttons and beads, upon countless other items.

[losthunter]

"Holy...." Hunter's eyes go wide at the sight of everything that is available. He could get lost for days, looking for stud in this place. And suddenly he is very worried about exceeding Jim's offer to cover some costs.

"This is amazing."

[boldygoing]

Jim laughs a little, happy to put that look on Hunter's face. "Just don't forget, we've got bikes."

[losthunter]

"I guess I shouldn't try to put too much through my PINpoint portal either. Might look suspicious." So Hunter will focus his search on items that he can not regularly get in his dimension.

[boldygoing]

There'll still be a lot to choose from, but it's a more manageable list of items. Jim follows Hunter around the store as he looks at the supplies on offer, casually looking around too. "I've got some room in my saddlebags if you need to borrow some space for your haul."

[losthunter]

Hunter is attracted to a bolt of soft yellow fabric, that has the softest shine of gold on it. He thinks of the Drag Night date he has made, and selects that fabric to bring to April, who has made him clothing before. He is also interested in some metallic paints, that shine in the light.

"You spoil me."

[boldygoing]

Jim definitely approves of the choice. Gold is one of his favorite colors, with pretty obvious reasons why. "Do I?"

[losthunter]

"Yes. But I do have my own tricks of getting to spoil you." Hunter teases softly.

[boldygoing]

Jim just smiles a little. He's not used to having someone wanting to shower him with affection, not unless they want something from him, and sometimes he still doesn't quite know how to respond to it. So instead he just nods towards Hunter's intended purchases. "Gonna get anything else while we're here? I think I saw Spican flame gems a few aisles over."

[losthunter]

"Flame gems? Now that sounds interesting. Lead the way."

[boldygoing]

"They're not actually on fire, but they do glow," Jim explains as they seek out the correct aisle. There are other glowing materials in this particular part of the store, but the captain has no trouble finding the right ones, and picks up a decently-sized bag full of varying shapes and sizes to show to Hunter. There's a wide variety of colors in the mix, as well, both in terms of the gemstone and in the soft glowing light they emit. "They're real gemstones, but they're so common that they're really cheap."

[losthunter]

"They are really cool." Hunter runs his fingers over the gemstones. "I love them."

[boldygoing]

"I thought you might." Jim grins at him, and turns back to the shelves, seeking out a small glowing bottle of liquid. "Antarean glow water's what you need to polish them up. Only takes a couple drops."