Zunar's purrs gets a little louder, and he nudges his head into Hunter's hand, encouraging him to pet him.
Jim's smile doesn't waver. "Probably not. I thought I knew what it was going to be like, and for the most part, I think I wasn't that far off." He hadn't forseen how... samey things would come to feel, though. He's not burnt out, not really, but three years of space travel is somehow more rigorous than he'd expected.
He loves space. He always has. But it's lost a bit of its shine, and he's not quite sure where it's gone.
But he doesn't want Hunter to worry, either. This mission is unprecedented in its scale, and who knows whether Starfleet will want to send them out for another? Just the fleet psychologists alone are probably going to have a field day already with five years of crew records. And that's assuming they make it back in one piece.
Maybe nothing will happen. But with his birthday coming up - his thirtieth, at that - Jim can't help but dwell on the what-ifs, and on captains who never come home.
"Why don't you borrow Zunar for a week or two?" he suggests casually. "I can't take him on shore leave with me, and I'm sure he'd appreciate getting to stretch his legs a bit. It'll keep him from trying to escape into the Jefferies tubes for a while, too," Jim adds with a chuckle.
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Jim's smile doesn't waver. "Probably not. I thought I knew what it was going to be like, and for the most part, I think I wasn't that far off." He hadn't forseen how... samey things would come to feel, though. He's not burnt out, not really, but three years of space travel is somehow more rigorous than he'd expected.
He loves space. He always has. But it's lost a bit of its shine, and he's not quite sure where it's gone.
But he doesn't want Hunter to worry, either. This mission is unprecedented in its scale, and who knows whether Starfleet will want to send them out for another? Just the fleet psychologists alone are probably going to have a field day already with five years of crew records. And that's assuming they make it back in one piece.
Maybe nothing will happen. But with his birthday coming up - his thirtieth, at that - Jim can't help but dwell on the what-ifs, and on captains who never come home.
"Why don't you borrow Zunar for a week or two?" he suggests casually. "I can't take him on shore leave with me, and I'm sure he'd appreciate getting to stretch his legs a bit. It'll keep him from trying to escape into the Jefferies tubes for a while, too," Jim adds with a chuckle.