text ► un: girl on top

[unas]

( if you'd have taken a bet as to which starfleet officer ended up in the brig first you wouldn't have come out with this one. the fact that she's now back in the brig-- she's starting to really hate superstition )

Anyone that's allowed on deck want to tell me which direction the ship's pointing? Or what you see up there?
I'll even trade a story, something from your home for one of mine.

( she'd even take a story about the things that people have seen here but she's info seeking, find out where people are from, maybe when... she can't help the pirates but she can still be busy.

you could also potentially assume that she's a little bored )

Comments

[unas]

( she'd joke that he was scared if she a) was that way inclined and b) felt better about having her 'talents' known )

Raincheck.

( a small smile that's polite more than anything. and then she realises something-- )

Spock doesn't know. ( and spock is here )

[winscenario]

[ For the better that she doesn't, because if she did then he would take it as a challenge.

He smiles a little at her, then nods at her admission. ]

You don't have to worry on my end. He won't learn it from me.

[ Even if he was the Spock he knows and is close to, he still wouldn't break the trust she's put in him by confiding something so personal. ]

[unas]

( she nods a silent thanks. and she might be making a mental note to get around to telling him just in case this place did it first since the rules were different.

pike knew, la'an knew, chapel and m'benga knew. spock... was a friend, someone she had a good understanding with about freaky. she'd get around to it.

maybe )

I suppose if you've got any questions--

( it's his one opportunity to ask them )

[winscenario]

I probably will have questions. If you don't mind me asking them later, as they come up.

[ Hard to think of them all on the spot, though one comes to mind, even if it's not necessarily related with her species. ]

Do you ever get to go back home?

[unas]

I haven't since I left.

( she was a human from an illyrian colony, that had been the story, meaning that there were other humans also living within the colony. that part was truth at least, there were humans there. but going back...

something about it had felt safer to never do even if it may have been fine. but everything felt a risk, everything could potentially end badly. there'd been some messages sent, never enough, never video conversations, but enough for them to know how she was. and never any details on either side.

it protected her, she told herself, and them. even if it hurt her heart a lot )

But I don't tend to do shore leave. I prefer being busy.

[winscenario]

Must be lonely.

[ It's all that comes to mind. Jim doesn't often go back to Iowa, granted, nor does he see family often, but he knows he can whenever he wants to, whenever he has the time. He hasn't cut off relations, neither by need nor by desire. And besides, he is still surrounded by people of his own species, and his own world. There is a lot of inclusion and understanding between species in Starfleet, especially on his crew as he makes sure of that, but knows there are things that can't be translated across worlds, across cultures, so easily. ]

What, never? You're exaggerating, I have to assume.

[unas]

( she pushes herself up, deciding to maybe continue this chat sitting up )

It depends on the leave.

( shore leave on a planet she was more likely to take, she could walk, find somewhere to climb, to really clear her head and find a moment of peace that was rare in its need.

but she didn't take that many of them. on a starbase? the enterprise getting some repairs? she kept busy, unless it was a lengthier break.

and sometimes even then she took a job )

[winscenario]

Okay, so it's not like you never take shore leave.

[ He absolutely gets still looking to keep busy, though, especially in those same contexts. He might even be worse than her at times, but his friends have their own strategies to get him to go out and do things, enjoy his time off while he can.

Now that she's sitting up, he reaches for a canteen with water, passing it over to her as he sits beside her. ]

What's a shore leave you've really enjoyed? Something you liked doing?

[unas]

I don't think you're going to get the answer you're looking for.

( unless the answer was just getting to know her better and then he would.

but una tended to spend the leaves she did do alone -- it was peace she looked for and getting to hike or climb in quiet company was nice. she had some friends on earth, people from a posting previously that she'd managed to keep in touch with but she didn't look for the company. she was on a busy ship every day, when she was alone that's what she wanted )

I go climbing. I've tried a few different spots across Earth.

[winscenario]

[ Getting to know her better is exactly the point of his question, so whatever the answer will be a good one.

But it's definitely an added delight when she answers, a bright smile stretching across his lips, chuckling in surprise. ]

No way! I love climbing. Personally I like to go offline and camp too, add to that adventure. Just disappear for a few days. I always try to make time for that when I go back to Earth.

[unas]

I've camped a couple of times though usually it's just the climb and the day.

( she does enough camping on some of their landing parties even if it was far from the same experience )

Do you have a favourite?

[winscenario]

Guess I've done that a couple times too, but I like the camping. I drag Spock and Bones along with me sometimes.

[ More than just sometimes, actually, but they do enjoy it. For all that Spock struggles with the concept of campfire songs (or pretends to, just to be an insufferable little shit). ]

Yosemite will always be a favorite of mine. Plenty of spots to choose from, lots of variety in terms of surface, height, inclination and difficulty. But Kalymnos and Dolomites are pretty nice too, and it's always a nice change in scenery.

[unas]

Anything's different compared to a ship. And it's nice really seeing the stars.

( you didn't truly see them during travel, them just whizzing by. sometimes it was nice to take that moment, the reminder of how she'd gotten here: by looking at the stars )

[winscenario]

It really is. They just don't look the same from a ship.

[ Even when they're stationary. Plus, it's not like Jim has a lot of free time during those periods to just sit and admire what's outside. ]

We had some wonderful clear skies, back in Iowa. That's where I'm from. Not a lot of exciting climbing spots, though.

[unas]

I've never been.

( and not because of the lack of climbing. really, even in her academy days, una hadn't explored earth that much. her early days were very contained and since she'd only done what she'd needed on the planet, gone where had been useful )

Do you still call it home? Iowa?

[winscenario]

Oh, no. Absolutely not.

[ It's said with a smile, small but not the least bit sad. He has a home, he was lucky enough to find it after leaving Iowa, but it's not like he's ever felt like he's lost much when he left that behind. ]

I don't think I've ever called it home. Not really.

[unas]

Even when you lived there?

( that sounded... interesting? tragic? earth didn't feel home to her but she hadn't grown up there. it was somewhere she had a place to go when they were back on earth, somewhere she'd lived but for all that she was fond of the academy and a little fond of earth it wasn't home.

but for someone human that grew up there? it seems very different to her )

[winscenario]

Especially when I lived there, I think.

[ Some part of him misses a few things about it now, and he certainly wouldn't say he hates it like he would have when he was younger.

He gives her a glance, then lets out a small breath. She's shared a bit about herself, putting her own career at risk in a way, so it seems only fair to be a little open himself. ]

The time traveling incident that created my timeline happened on the day I was born. Actually, I was born because of it— kind of. The ship my parents were in was attacked, my mother fled on a medical shuttle and went into premature labor due to the attack. My father died on that ship, sacrificing himself so the crew would have time to escape.

It made my childhood... complicated, [ He chuckles humorlessly. ] To say the least. She eventually got married again, but she never really got over the loss of my father, and she basically buried herself in work to cope. [ Or to forget. ] I wouldn't go so far as saying she was negligent, far from it, but she wasn't very present in my life. I grew up angry at everything. Got into trouble at every opportunity just as a way to lash out. I felt trapped there, I knew I didn't want to be there but it's like I never really thought there was anywhere for me to go where I'd find some form of happiness or peace.

And let me tell you, I really hated Starfleet, I felt like they took from me the opportunity for a normal life. You know, when I first joined, it was more out of spite than anything. I was dared to finish the Academy as quickly as my father had. He'd done it in four years. [ He shoots her a smile. ] The man who dared me was Christopher Pike. and I finished it in three.

[unas]

( una doesn't expect the story, doesn't expect exactly what he'll tell her. and it's tragic, not only just how his world was created but how it affected him.

it renders her speechless for a time, trying to wrap her head around, what he's given her. until she responds with-- )

Chris recruited you?

( his life already sounded different, maybe this was why she wasn't on the enterprise either. both of their lives were different )

[winscenario]

[ He doesn't particularly like talking about his childhood, but he's not as against it as he once was. It seems fair, like making things a little more even between them, to share this with her after what he's learned. At least in his case it's voluntary, whereas she was more or less forced to share her own secret. ]

Yeah. I probably didn't see it that way back then. Thought I'd graduate just to show him I could and then leave.

[ He shrugs, looking across the room and away from her. ]

Life just tends to surprise you.

[unas]

( she smiles slightly. even though she doesn't know all of the circumstances she knows this-- )

Instead, you became Captain of the Enterprise. And he'd have been proud.

( she assumes from knowing her chris. his crew was treated as family and he was proud of what they accomplished. this was no different )

[winscenario]

[ Those words hit so close, so much closer than she could possibly know. Christopher Pike is alive and well in her reality, after all, so how could she know the dull ache that hits him square in his chest with those words alone?

Luckily Jim's gotten good at internalizing some things, and keeping up a calm demeanor despite everything. He's still looking away but he smiles. Grief and regret aside, he appreciates the words. ]

I like to think so, yes.