(no subject)

[boldly_going]

"Mr. Sulu, take us out."

Sulu confirms his order and Jim decides that as much as he likes the Captain's chair, he needs to spend some time in the Captain's quarters for a while. It's been a whirlwind over the last year or so - the revelation that a high-ranking Admiral in Starfleet is a traitor and the destruction of a large swath of San Francisco would qualify as eventful in anyone's book, even his. Still, it set the pace for something grander, something with a bit more ambition and Jim had jumped at the chance to take the Enterprise on an extended, five-year mission.

The chance to chart uncharted portions of the galaxy and expand the Federation's presence throughout known and unknown space? The chance to potentially make first contact with species that had recently acquired warp technology? Jim is neither scientist nor diplomat but he thinks the beauty of being captain is that he can be a little of both. He's still a wide-eyed little boy sometimes when it comes to Starfleet and he thinks it's fitting that he was born in space; there's no place else he feels at home. There's no place on Earth that feels like home to him but on a starship with the engine purring beneath him and his boots on the bridge? That's home.

It just feels right to be captain again and he's glad that his demotion was only a temporary one. He's glad to be in the chair again and he thinks this time, he's going to respect it the way he didn't before. Being captain means holding the lives of your crew in your hands and knowing that you have the power to determine their life or death based on your decisions. One wrong move could be detrimental not only to oneself but to everyone else on board. It's weighty and meaningful and something that Jim thinks he never truly understood until just recently. It's one thing to cheat the Kobayashi Maru just to say he beat the test. It's quite another to actually live it and he understands the point of the test now - and the point in it being a no-win scenario.

(He is never, ever going to admit that to Spock.)

He presses the button to enter his quarters and steps through the door once it automatically slides open. It's automatic to start dictating into his captain's log now and while it's not something that he'd ever thought about before, keeping a journal, it's nice to have a few minutes to unwind each day by putting his thoughts down. Maybe that's how captain's logs started out to begin with.

"Captain's log, star...wait a minute." His quarters just...aren't there. In their place is what looks like a hotel or a resort and the plush surroundings are utterly foreign after spending so much time amongst the utilitarian and spartan surroundings of the Enterprise. Federation starships are all sleek and modern, nothing like this. And certainly not in his captain's quarters.

"What...what the hell is this?"

Comments

[nebaritralk]

Chiana slows down on her way across the hall when she hears the question, and looks at the human that's asked it. Eventually, she comes to a halt a few feet from him, her stance as alien as her looks, booted feet a little too wide apart, knees bent slightly, as if always ready to spring away if needed. "Newcomer, huh? Welcome to the Nexus."

She's expecting him to start asking questions about her. Since most humans seem to have never seen anything like her, she's found she's excellent distraction from the fact that the door they just went through led them to an entirely different place than expected.

[boldly_going]

Jim doesn't know her species but she's female and attractive and that's meeting both of his requirements for a second look. He's an expert in xenolinguistics, after all.

(Technically, that's his Communications Officer but Jim has found it makes one hell of a line.)

"So, what's a girl like you doing in a ridiculously old-fashioned space port like this one?"

[nebaritralk]

Well, that's new, and Chiana's lips stretch into a smile before she chuckles, a sound like a mix between human and dolphin. The look he's given her isn't one of shock, surprise, or confusion; it's the kind of look she's used to getting, the kind she likes to get.

"Got stuck here outta nowhere, just like you," she answers, black eyes glinting with amusement. He might be one of the lucky people able to go back and forth between the hotel and their world whenever they want, but she wouldn't know - and since he's brand new, neither does he.

She shifts on the spot, cocking her hip, and there's something like a challenge in her eyes. Prove me all humans aren't that repetitive and boring. She just hopes he's no Peacekeeper, but he doesn't sound like one. "Name's Chiana."

[boldly_going]

"Captain Jim Kirk," he says, offering a hand. "What planet are you from, Chiana? Not one I've been to yet. I would have remembered something as gorgeous as you if I'd been to your planet."

Smooth, but not as smooth as he can be. Still, he's just getting warmed up. This is the opening play.

[nebaritralk]

Chiana laughs, delighted to find that he is more advanced than most of the people in this place. Or he seems it, anyway, and a Peacekeeper would not be this friendly from the get-go. They take some working on, first.

"You wouldn't have liked my planet, I can tell," she tells him, smiling joyfully up at him. She recognises the proffered hand for the human greeting it is, too, and puts her own gloved one inside his, opting to step closer as she does. She isn't shaking his hand, just giving him hers and leaning back even as she stands on the edge of his personal space, looking him up and down. "They're not nearly as fun as I am."

Which isn't any kind of smooth at all, but Chiana isn't in the business of smooth. She's in the business of direct, and while she isn't sure what she wants from him yet, she can still lay down the groundwork ahead of time.

[boldly_going]

Jim's lips quirk up in a smile. "Is that so? A whole planet of women that look like you and I'd find it boring? Hard for me to believe that."

He's always been a flirt. Ever since he was young, Jim has had a way with charming the ladies, with smoothing over the rough edges that tended to get him in trouble with the guys. Sure, there's a few it doesn't work on (Uhura, for one) but for the most part, he's very, very good with women.

Chiana is an interesting one. She's direct and up front, which he appreciates, but he also doesn't quite know how to deal with a woman who isn't coy. Hmm.

[nebaritralk]

"Who says anyone else looks quite like me," Chiana retorts, teeth bared on a grin. She likes him, especially for a human. If he really is a human, but she's never met a Peacekeeper so eager to flirt with another species without asserting his own superiority over them.

"You wanna buy a girl a drink, Captain? Tell her how come you're the first human she meets that sounds like he's been out and about."

There, that should hopefully confirm it for her.

[boldly_going]

"It would be my pleasure," Jim says, giving her a little gallant bow. "You'll just have to tell me where the nearest bar is that can pour a decent glass."

As far as being out and about, that's easy enough. He's been in Starfleet long enough to have the Captain's chair and not so long that he's jaded and doesn't still get the jitters in his stomach when seeing Earth from orbit.

"Currently on a five-year mission to deep space, ma'am. I know my way around a starship."

[nebaritralk]

"Come on," she tells him with a nod of her head in the direction of the Smoking Room (her upper body seems to shift with that nod; as always, her body language is a lot more expressive than human body language). She curls her hand in the crook of his arm, gives him another sharp, incredibly pleased smile, and draws him towards the bar. "So you people do manage to get out there eventually. Good on you."

[morethanhuman]

Erik remembered Kirk from the Proserpina, though it took him a startled moment to put a name to the face. The man looked equally taken aback, and his demand for an explanation was enough to let Erik know he had yet another newcomer on his hands.

"Let me guess," he said, dryly amused, "you're not where you expected to be when you stepped through that door?" Pointing, he directed Kirk's attention to the door he'd just exited, which was labeled HOUSEKEEPING in bold letters. "Unless you're a new addition to the staff," he couldn't resist adding with a smirk, "in which case you'd better not let Helga catch you out of uniform."

[boldly_going]

Jim's brows knit a little in confusion. This guy is speaking familiarly to him but he's never seen him before in his life. "Do I...know you?"

He's accurate about not being where he expected. He'd expected to spend some time logging the days events before having some much-needed rest in his quarters and ended up in this hotel instead. Since Jim is fairly sure it's not Federation standard to have starships with hotels inside of them, he thinks this is some sort of anomaly. It would help to have a science officer around to help him investigate said anomaly but for now, he's going to have to use his own brain for the job.

[morethanhuman]

Erik shrugged, shaking his head, unperturbed. "No. But I expect you won't know most of the people here." He tried to recall if anyone besides Spock had come to the Proserpina from Kirk's home universe, and couldn't remember.

Kirk still looked wary, so Erik took pity on him. "You're in the Nexus hotel. It's a sort of pocket between universes— anyone can come here from anywhere, any time. The doors don't always lead where you expect, either." He didn't elaborate on that; he knew from experience that seeing was believing when it came to the possibilities the Nexus offered. "I can show you to the front desk if you like."

[boldly_going]

"A pocket? You're going to have to break that down for me. I wear gold, not blue." This is why he has Spock and Bones explain these things to him on a regular basis. He trusts them implicitly and trusts their judgment when it comes to scientific matters.

"But if there's a front desk, that's probably a decent place to start." He wonders how far the hotel metaphor goes. Are there keys? Mini-bars? Private suites?

[morethanhuman]

Erik shrugged. "I'm no scientist, I can't explain it any better than that. You couldn't find it on a map, there's no way to— to plot a course, or whatever you call it. But you can get here from anywhere, any time, any universe. And it can put you in any of those places too, if you aren't careful about which doors you go through."

To illustrate his point, Erik strode across the hall to a door marked with an innocuous 245, to all appearances just another guest room. A wave of his hand opened the door from the inside, and it swung open to reveal a streetside view of Las Vegas, cars crawling down the strip, drunk idiots with plastic guitars full of beer strapped to their backs, desert air and the neon glow warming the hallway around them.

He shut the door and turned back to Kirk without comment. "Front desk is this way," he said simply, gesturing to the grand staircase at the end of the hall.

[boldly_going]

"I wouldn't mind a little more of that door," Jim says, looking longingly back in the direction of the Vegas door before turning his attentions back toward Erik and the Front Desk.

"What currency does this system take? I'm not sure what I have is going to convert."

He has a Federation account, of course, but whether or not his credit is accepted here is a different question.

[morethanhuman]

Erik couldn't help a slight smile. Past or future, Las Vegas was eternal.

"I wouldn't worry about money," he said as they walked. "I don't think they've turned anyone away yet. You can exchange at the front desk or at the bar for whatever currency you like, as long as it's from Earth." They stepped off the last stair onto the polished marble floor of the lobby, and Erik watched Kirk take it in. It was a sight, when you hadn't been walking through it ten times a day for the past year and a half.

Spotting the tall blonde with the elaborate hairdo at the desk, Erik paused a few steps away. "She'll take it from here," he said with a curt nod in the woman's direction. He was on the brink of turning to leave, but felt compelled to pause and say, "Just remember— be careful of the doors." From what he recalled of Kirk, it wasn't a warning likely to be taken seriously, but if only for the sake of the absent Spock, he felt he ought to at least make the effort.

He left Kirk to the blonde's chipper mercy, and headed for the gardens, where he could indulge the sudden onslaught of nostalgia for the Proserpina at his leisure, with no one to witness it but him.

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

Harvey and his fresh cup of coffee are on their way somewhere - Harvey hasn't quite decided what he wants to do with his day yet - when he hears the familiar refrain of someone recently arriving at the hotel.

He turns to locate the source of the confused - maybe irritated - voice and frowns a little. Because seriously? "Someone got seriously lost on their way to ComicCon," he comments with a nod at the man's attire. This does not mean that Harvey won't, at least, buy the man a coffee.

[boldly_going]

"Lost, yes, ComicCon? Never heard of it." Jim tries to affect a sheepish look and he thinks he comes slightly to the left of it. The one thing he's never had a shortage of is confidence and even in this new situation where he knows nothing and has no idea why he's not in his own quarters, he doesn't feel off his game.

"Is that normally where wayward Starfleet captains wind up?"

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

Harvey arches an eyebrow at the incongruity of the opening to this conversation. Either this guy is screwing with him or... okay, this is a weird magic hotel, so maybe this guy is from a world where ComicCon isn't a thing. It seems unlikely, but so did nearly invisible young women until he ran into Dawn.

"That is the rumor." Harvey's not lacking for confidence himself. Or snark. "Though, if you were getting your hopes up, this isn't ComicCon." He motions around the lobby with his coffee cup.

[boldly_going]

"My hopes are anywhere but up," Jim says. He's optimistic, yes, but a little more cautiously optimistic. Wide-eyed wonder doesn't always serve in the real world and Jim has learned to temper it a little bit.

"Is there a bar around here? I think I need a drink to get my head around this."

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

So far, Harvey can't find a reason to not like this guy. Or, at the very least, he doesn't have a reason to actively dislike him.

"I think we can find one of those," he says regarding the bar. Putting out a hand to shake, he says, "Name's Harvey."

[boldly_going]

Jim shakes his hand firmly in response. "Jim Kirk, Captain of the USS Enterprise. Of course, can you be a captain without a ship?"

It's a little philosophical for his tastes but it's a good question. The Enterprise is how he's identified himself for so long. Is he still himself without it?

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

That gives him pause. "You've got to be shitting me," he says. No, he's not talking about a captain needing a ship. The Enterprise is a famous ship no matter which era you're in, certainly any post-1958. That's what he's talking about. Well, that, and he's a giant Star Trek fan, but he has enough decorum not to try to tell someone they have the same name as some fictional character 'back home'.

[boldly_going]

"I didn't realize I was so famous," Jim says, grinning wide. He knows his name has gotten around Starfleet circles, especially considering his rapid promotion to the chair, but he wasn't aware of how famous he was outside those circles. Good to know.

"Maybe I should be buying you the drink? But yeah, I'm Jim Kirk of the Enterprise."

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

"Maybe you didn't realize it, but you like it when people know who you are." Who doesn't, right? Harvey loves it when people know who he is.

He grins at Jim. "I won't object if you decide to buy the drinks," he says, leading them into the bar. He waves a hand for Jim to decide where he wants to sit - bar, table, it doesn't much matter to Harvey.