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]

Jim hopes that Hunter will still feel that way, once they have the now-inevitable conversation about what really happened on Tarsus IV. For now, he lets himself sit in the moment, appreciating and reciprocating the support that Hunter has shown for him so far.

"You're a pretty good cook, too," he adds. "Much better than the synthesizers make."

[losthunter]

Hunter starts cleaning up the plates and chuckles lightly. "I get it. You love me for my good looks, great sexual abilities, and food preparation abilities."

[boldygoing]

"Don't forget 'well read,'" Jim reminds him, getting up to help clean up in the kitchen. He may be a guest, but he was technically an uninvited one, and Hunter's done a lot for him today.

[losthunter]

"Books were my first true love." Hunter chuckles again. He can tell that something is still weighing on Jim's mind. And doesn't mind distracting him once again. At least until they can start the movie, and have it be the distraction.

[boldygoing]

"Mine too," Jim agrees. He needs the distraction less now than he did when he was still under the effects of the LOL, but he is not going to turn down conversation either. "What's your favorite? I kind of skipped past that earlier."

[losthunter]

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Hunter answers immediately. "It is a science fiction comedy."

He takes a moment to think over the book itself. "But since it does deal with aliens who are violent, and planets being destroyed... you might want to wait a little before reading it."

[boldygoing]

Jim gives an odd, slightly confused look. "It's a comedy, though?"

[losthunter]

"It has a lot of comedic elements. But just the right mix of drama and conflict to make the story interesting."

[boldygoing]

"So why do you think I should wait?" That's the part that's tripping him up at the moment. If a story is primarily a comedy, it stands to reason that it isn't going to be traumatizing, probably.

[losthunter]

"Call me an over-protective and concerned lover." Hunter shrugs. He puts up in a 'give up' gesture. "It is a great book. I can lend you mine."

[boldygoing]

Jim hasn't had many over-protective people in his life, not besides McCoy, really. It's kind of endearing. "Hey, if I can't get into it, I can always stop reading. That's one of the benefits books have over real life."

[losthunter]

Hunter would protect Jim in a lot of situations. They have not faced a situation where his overprotective 'Beast' self has emerged... so far.

"One more of my books being borrowed by my 'Beauty'. Whatever will I do?" Hunter puts the left-over lasagna in a Tupperware container for another night. Then with the kitchen clean, heads over to the living room to start up the movie.

[boldygoing]

Jim chuckles at Hunter's lament. "Hey, you're the one who offered." While Hunter gets the DVD set up, Jim takes a moment to look over the rest of the movies on the shelf. He doesn't recognize most of them, of course, but he's always curious.

[losthunter]

"I did. And I will always offer you a loan of any of my books."

Hunter has a very eclectic variety of movies that belong in his shelf. A lot of them are old classics, but many are new releases, and there are several that fall into either the romantic-comedy or sci-fiction adventure category."

[boldygoing]

Jim does pull a few DVDs off the shelf momentarily to read the backs of the cases, now that Hunter's shown him that's where to find the plot summary, and places them back where he found them once he's done.

"I'll have to go through some of my more contemporary novels and see if I have anything that would make sense to you without too much context," he says as he joins Hunter on the couch, ready to watch the film.

[losthunter]

"I trust your recommendations. Give me anything. And like you said, if I can't get into it, I will just stop reading."

Hunter leans close to Jim, once the other man joins him on the couch.

[I have not seen The Martian, so we could lead into a scene-ending point at any time]

[boldygoing]

"Sounds good to me," Jim agrees, and settles in to enjoy the film.


[I have been looking for a good end point and this looks pretty good to me. :D I do recommend watching The Martian though!]

[losthunter]

[This was a great thread. I enjoyed all of the truthbombs]

[boldygoing]

[I did too. :D Poor boys though. Hunter did a fantastic job handling truthy!Jim.]

[losthunter]

[He kept from freaking out too badly. And some inspiration for other paint projects]

[boldygoing]

[Yay for inspiration, even if there was bad memories behind it. :) Now I have to ponder when Jim will choose to tell the whole story.]

[losthunter]

[I am glad to hear that Jim is thinking about it]

[boldygoing]

[Psychologically he really does need to talk about it with somebody so I'm excited to get him to work through it, now that I've made it so he can't really ignore it anymore. It will be a hard conversation for everyone involved.]

[losthunter]

[I am glad that he has Hunter to talk to. And as an evil mun, I do enjoy a little drama and conflict every now and then]

[boldygoing]

[Me too, hehe. Fluff is fun but we've got to have drama to spice it up.]