Captain's First LOL [for losthunter]

[boldygoing]

With the restrictions on his food intake finally lifted, and with months to go until the Enterprise is ready to fly again, Jim Kirk has had all the more reasons to visit the Nexus and explore, particularly the markets. Whether it's finding interesting otherworldly seedlings for Sulu, tracking down a source of authentic Vulcan kreyla for Spock, or bringing home volumes of Russian literature for Chekov, there's always something to bring back for somebody.

Jim's been warned about LOLs before. Both through the brochure he picked up the first time he arrived here, and by some Nexus veterans, namely Hunter and Samus. But in the months since he's been visiting the multiverse, he's still never seen the phenomenon, not even once.

And so it's easy to forget for a moment that he has to be cautious.

He's discovered a Jewish cafe on one corner of the commercial district that's offering free samples to passersby, and it's been ages since he's had real, hand-made vorschmack on rye. So he doesn't think twice before accepting one of the samples on offer, and there's nothing to indicate that there's anything in it other than the usual bread, fish, and other typical ingredients he'd expect. At least, not until the woman running the sample cart asks him how he likes it.

Jim fully intends on simply complimenting her on the flavor of the food, but what comes out instead is, "It's good but not as good as my Grandma Ruth used to make." He blinks in confusion. "I don't know why I just said that. I wasn't going to tell you that." And again... he says more than he intended.

"Oh dear," the woman says, looking mournfully at the sample tray. "I used the wrong seasoning again. Sorry about that." And then she whisks the tray away, vanishing into the depths of the cafe with no explanation or any indication that she plans to return.

And only now does Jim remember the warnings he was given.

"Oh shit. This is not good." He doesn't know what the hell it's done to him, aside from making him chattier than he intended to be, but he doesn't want to go home like this. Especially not when he can't be certain there won't be more coming. And there's only one person he knows he can go to for help.

Jim calls up the coordinates for Hunter's apartment, hurrying to get his ass over there, muttering to himself under his breath.

Comments

[boldygoing]

"Yeah I can see how you'd think that. I wish it was that innocent. I was over two months early too, so that didn't help. It was a perfect shitstorm of a tragedy."

[losthunter]

"Two months? A baby born that early these days would likely not make it... even with the medical achievements that have been made."

[boldygoing]

"There's almost two hundred fifty years of medical advancement between my time and yours," Jim says, unable to phrase it more politely like he wants to. "That's why they had to take my mom out on a medical shuttle and not just the usual kind otherwise I probably wouldn't have made it."

[losthunter]

Hunter can't imagine how much Jim had to go through as a child, especially with an inattentive mother and the Kelvin fame.

"I am glad you made it."

"Both times." Hunter refers to Jim's other death experience.

[boldygoing]

"It was more than just two times but thanks, I'm glad I'm not dead too." And then, because this is where his thoughts go next, "What do you believe happens after you die? Because I don't remember anything."

[losthunter]

"That is a question that weighs heavily on many people..."

Hunter sits down. And takes a moment to consider his thoughts. "I prefer to think that the spirit of the person is sent to their happy place. Whatever that may be. If they believe it is Heaven, it would be. If they believe it would be a reunion with other loved ones, it would be."

[boldygoing]

Jim sits down too, as he knows these are pretty heavy questions. It's something he's been thinking about for weeks, ever since he really began to grasp what had happened to him. "Sorry if this is getting deep. This is the sort of thing I usually keep to myself, or get really drunk before I talk about it."

[losthunter]

"I really don't mind answering your questions." It just sucks that Jim is being forced into being truthful, instead of having these conversations of his own free will.

"Do you think a little alcohol would help... or be worse?"

[boldygoing]

"I don't know if it'd make a difference," Jim answers honestly, the only way he can at the moment. "Is mixing alcohol with LOLs a good idea? I don't think I need it to loosen my tongue, that's for sure."

[losthunter]

"You know... I don't think anyone really has done a study on LOLs."

[boldygoing]

"I can see why. If there's no way to predict what'll cause it and the effects are random and inconsistent, there's no way to have any kind of control or feasible way of manipulating the variables. Spock would have as close to a fit as Vulcans can if he tried to run any experiments about them."

[losthunter]

"Once the LOL is gone, will you tell your crew about your experience? Have they been warned about LOLs?"

[boldygoing]

"I don't know. Bones will get mad if he finds out I hid something like this but he'll probably be mad if he knows it happened to me in the first place. I did give my brochure to Spock so he knows about it." Jim rubs at the back of his head uncertainly. "The thing that bothers me the most about this is I've been trained to resist interrogation and it doesn't matter. I don't mind talking to you and you've taken a lot of this shit really well, all things considered."

[losthunter]

"I don't know if you could compare this to an actual interrogation situation..."

"LOLs have that magical effect that no body seems to escape." Hunter will pour them both a glass of wine. It seems appropriate.

[boldygoing]

"Sure I can," Jim answers, accepting one of the wine glasses. "Thanks. It's kind of like being on sodium thiopental except without the altered consciousness. But truth drugs can be fought or at least resisted and I don't think I've managed to keep a single coherent thought inside my head since this started."

[losthunter]

Hunter is about to ask about why Jim is so knowledgeable about truth drugs, when he stops himself. Instead he just shakes his head, with a shy smile.

"It is a good thing I am not some sort of evil genius who would take advantage of the situation."

[boldygoing]

Jim did say he's been trained to resist interrogation, so Hunter is welcome to speculate on the potentially more benign reasons why Jim might know this from experience.

"Evil, no. Genius, sure." Jim smiles a little at Hunter as he takes a sip of the wine. "There's a reason I came to you instead of trying to weather this by myself. I trust you not to ask me for defense codes or anything like that. Is there anything you're dying to ask? I'd get it if you're tempted and I've already dropped some big deep dark secret bombs on you."

[losthunter]

"There are a few questions..." Hunter admits. "But I would rather ask them when you have a choice on your answer. I really don't want you being forced to reveal more things that are classified..."

"And some of my more playful questions might not result in the answer I would hope for." He chuckles.

[boldygoing]

"Yeah that's a safe bet," Jim agrees. "If I start talking dirty I might not stop anyway."

[losthunter]

"And that is the tempting part... you are pretty sexy when you talk dirty. And half of me wonders if there is anything you might desire that might not occur to me."

"It is the small logical part of me that advises caution. Truthfulness when it comes to intimacy sometimes can have drawbacks."

[boldygoing]

"I don't know what I'll say either so I'm purposefully trying not to think of it right now so if we could change the subject before I start just straight-up quoting classic literature to fill up my head instead that'd be great."

[losthunter]

Hunter nods. That is another conversation they can have, at a different time.

"Why not talk about classic literature? Do you have a favorite book? Author?"

[boldygoing]

Jim's pretty glad that Hunter is proving to be fluent in 'rambling run-on sentences,' since he's been falling into them every so often. "Good choice. I don't have a favorite author exactly but my favorite story when I was a kid was always Treasure Island."

[losthunter]

"Yah? What was it about Treasure Island that you enjoyed?"

[boldygoing]

Jim gives him a lightly amused look. "It's about a kid named Jim, living a boring life in the middle of nowhere, whose dad is dead and he's got nothing going for him, and then he gets to go on an adventure. Saying that it was relatable is kind of an understatement."