maskormenacelogs | MARCH CATCH ALL

[ Miles hadn't noticed Jim's absence specifically - sorry, he likes you a lot, but he's too busy nowadays to notice not seeing someone for twenty-four hours - so he doesn't know the man left and came back. But he does find himself feeling especially lonely on a Friday night, with no Tex to drink with and not wanting to harass Bel on their night off from guarding him. So - a little harmless fun, he figures. Jim will almost certainly be up for it.

Leaning back in his chair at the office, he takes out his comm and sends a text: ]

Want to get drinks tonight? My treat.

[Jim slowly remembered Miles over the couple of days since he'd returned--five years is a while after all, considering everything he'd been through. He'd been debating on when exactly to text him, see if he wanted to meet up to talk but Miles had beaten him to the punch.

He was debating what he should say in the text but finally settles on just telling Miles in person.]

Sure, where and when?

[ Ah, good. Miles didn't think Jim would turn him down, but he's glad anyway. ]

Is tonight okay? If I have to approve one more zoning permit I may just die.

[The text earns a (lately) rare grin from him.]

Sure. Don't let zoning permits be the way you go out.

Edited 2017-03-22 02:46 (UTC)

I knew you'd have my back.

[ He shoots Jim the address for a sufficiently divey bar in Nonah, then gathers up his things to head out. ]

[Jim makes his way to Nonah with the coordinates and is pleased to see the kind of place Miles has picked out. Just his style.

He makes his way over to the end of the bar and climbs onto one of the stools, waiting for his friend to arrive. The memories of five years ago are hazy but he definitely knows that Miles is someone he can trust.]

[ Good. Miles brightens from his stool at the bar and waves. God, it's always good to see Jim. ]

New haircut? It looks good on you.

[He runs a hand through his hair. He's had his hair like this for a couple of years now at least...]

Yeah about that...I got ported out for a day or so.

[He orders his usual scotch neat when the bartender comes around.]

[ Miles straightens at that, startled. And orders scotch for himself too. ]

You were ported out? For how long?

I was gone from here for a day but it was about five years back home.

[Which made coming back here a rather nasty shock. It was like another lifetime.]

[ Miles just stares at Jim, trying to picture it. Three years had been bad enough for him. Five ... the thought that he might very well do the same one day chills him to the bone. Come back and be five years out from knowing Gregor? Everyone else here? Oh god. ]

That's - quite a long time. I hope you have good stories.

[There's a small grin at that. The bartender comes by with both of their drinks and sets them down. Jim looks down at his drink and picks it up.]

We'll need a lot more alcohol than this for some of 'em. I was in year 3 of a five year mission to explore deep space when I was brought back.

[ Miles is going to down a decent swallow of his. Clearly he's going to need it, yes. ]

And how is that going? Found all manner of interesting aliens?

Of course. Had my fair share attack me too. Can you believe someone thought I'd be a great ambassador for the Federation?

[He laughs to himself and takes a swig of his scotch. He wouldn't trade his life for anything at this point, even though he was getting restless aboard the Enterprise.]

[ Miles can't help but laugh at that. Sorry, Jim. ]

That's nearly as good as me being an ambassador. Where'd they send you?

At least people voted for you so more than a few people thought so apparently.

[No offense taken. Sometimes he thinks back to how he used to be before he entered Starfleet and marvels at how far he's come to be given this kind of responsibility.]

Uncharted space. We were given the mission of making contact with other species and mapping out the area. I haven't been back in Earth in the past three years.

[ Gosh. Miles seems a bit breathless at that. It sounds amazing. ]

Really. You really are from the Betan Astronomical Survey, aren't you? And you had Spock with you the whole time, right?

[Erk. That's the sticky part of all this. There's a notable stiffening in his posture at the mention of Spock.]

Yeah. He was. My First Officer.

[ Huh? Miles blinks at that, not sure what he's seeing. ]

What's wrong?

[Jim's trying to think of a way to explain it.]

When you went back...you forgot all about this place right? And when you came back you remembered things.

... Yes. That's right. It was like I'd never come here at all.

Right. So without any memory of here, we were over there for five years and he's been dating someone else just about that entire time. Then we come back here...

[You see where he's going with this right Miles?]

[ Oh hell. He does see - and it hits him way too hard. The thought of that happening with Gregor is too real right now. ]

Spock left as well?

[He nods and takes another healthy drink of his scotch.]

Seems like we're from almost the same time.

... Ah. And now you don't know how to pick back up?

I don't know if there is a way to pick back up.

[He's playing around with the glass, shuffling it a few inches from hand to hand across the bar.]

It's just...weird now, you know? We had this...thing. I couldn't explain it back home but it was like we were in sync after a while. We work really well together. We weren't bonded back there, it was broken when we went back but it was like we still were with how we worked.

[He pauses here, gathering his thoughts--even though he hasn't been back here that long, it's obvious they've been stewing.]

I don't know.

[ Heavy words with no easy solution. Miles stares down at the bottom of his own cup for a moment. ]

Have you talked to him yet? Tried telepathy at all?

[Jim puts back the rest of his scotch.]

Hell no we haven't tried telepathy. That's...He's been with the same woman the past 5 years. I can't just come in and ask for that.

[Although it's a weird feeling, missing that connection deep in the recesses of one's mind.]

We did talk a bit.

[More like Spock forced him to have that conversation. Otherwise Jim would have escaped having it.]

We kind of had to. Our shared apartment and everything.

[ So, the bare minimum. To put it more bluntly. Miles sighs softly, but he also can't really blame Jim. ]

You must be dying of thirst, then. To have gone from everything to nothing in the blink of an eye.

[ He downs some of his own drink. ]

[He's already signalling the bartender for another drink. There's a small scoff.]

It's not just about me. Imagine what Spock is going through, coming back here after being with someone for as long as he has.

It's a crappy situation all around.

I didn't say it wasn't terrible for him too. I just sympathize with you more.

[Jim falls silent for a bit at that as the bartender sets his second drink down in front of him.]

It's just bad all around. Like we had this great thing going back on the Enterprise, amd now it feels like it's ruined.

[There's a heavy sigh with a touch of frustration to it.]

[ Miles nods slowly at that. God, he can kind of picture it - if he wants to hurt himself. ]

Can't you talk it over with him? At least he's here.

We decided to just "see what happens". I'm not sure what else there is to talk about.

[And he does silently appreciate that Spock is here and from around the same time he is. At least they're both from the same point in their relationship--otherwise the conversation could have gone worse.

He's definitely starting in on that new drink though.]

[ Ow. Well that reminds him way too much of Gregor for a moment. He flinches bodily. ]

What about anything else? You don't sound like you resolved anything.

[ He reaches out a hand for Jim's. ]

Edited 2017-03-26 18:16 (UTC)

[He looks over at Miles when he sees the movement. What had he said?]

We...didn't really. He said he doesn't want this to affect our current relationship. I don't either but short of forgetting about it, I'm not sure how that's going to happen.

[Jim looks down at Mile's proffered hand, confused for a second.

Oh. That's right.

While getting re-acquainted with the place, he'd forgotten about this power. There aren't so much memories about this so much as feelings leftover with the memories themselves still lost in the fog of time, but they're pleasant when associating this with Miles.

Eh, what the hell?

He meets Miles' hand the last bit and opens his own to make contact.]

[ Miles keeps his hand a few inches away so that Jim can choose this if he wants. Not forcing. But - well, Miles is parched for telepathic contact too, and maybe this will help them both. ]

Let me see, then. Maybe I can help.

[ He grips Jim's hand back, then. He can't really control whether the link is open or not, given this isn't his own power, but he can still kind of put himself back in the proper mental position. It ... aches to have this contact. But he's greedy for it too, the feeling of someone's mind against his. He doesn't intrude on his parents more than he has to. It's not the same.

For all that he's aching and more shadowed than usual, Miles is still a bright, fierce presence over their mental contact. Fondness for Jim bleeding through too. ]

[Whoa, Jim had all but forgotten what it was like to experience telepathy, even after having been here a couple of days. At least...it was one thing to remember it, but another to actually experience it.

There's no barriers at all, just an eagerness to try this again. He craved...something. Even in the chaos of deep space, he felt like he'd been stable on the Enterprise particularly in his relationships. Now he's here and on unstable ground with the one person who has had his back since he first sat in the captain's chair. There's a general wave of uncertainty that's threatening to darken his usually sunny mindscape, thunderheads in the distance.

Feeling Miles' mind with his own is like a breath of fresh air after holding it underwater for so long--relieved but needing more. Now that they're like this, he's realized how much he's missed this.

[ Miles, too, feels as though he's gotten a drink of water after a long drought. It's not quite enough - only Gregor can manage that feeling now, and Miles has resigned himself to never experiencing it ever again - but Jim is good, thunderclouds and all. Cautiously, Miles reaches out to met Jim, to intertwine gently. He's rusty and out of practice here, painfully so. But it's a good ache to have.

He takes a moment just to enjoy the feeling before he can move onto anything coherent. ]

How is it?

[Jim too is adjusting to this, memories of doing this before, how much he enjoyed it back then are clearing through the haze brought down from five years outside of this place.

He's gone so long without doing this, he's having some issue expressing himself in his mindscape, mostly going from colors, brightness and currents. After a bit there's a quick darkening over the entire mindscape and finally he can get words put together.]

Forgot how to do this.

[A quick waver here.]

I missed it.

Edited 2017-03-29 23:48 (UTC)

[ At least Miles is patient and sympathetic, letting Jim find his feet however he needs. Just so incredibly happy not to be alone in his own head again. ]

It's amazing what you get used to. And how it feels when it's gone.

[ More keen aching, a bit of pain. Gregor's departure has left Miles' mental landscape scarred permanently - a great gash in his rocky cliffs where once there had been verdant life. ]

Hermann surveyed himself in the mirror, turning to the side, critical of the newly fitted suit. Miles lounged in the reflection as Hermann searched for flaws in the material or tailoring, but was finally forced to admit it was well done.

The wedding was only a week off, and he both felt over and underprepared.

"The wedding is for Newton," he mused, making eye contact in the mirror. "But I can't help but think that perhaps it won't be the largely social event we've had in mind."

Miles, meanwhile, happily grins and lounges as he watches Hermann. It's still strange to watch this older, taller, and nerdier version of himself up close, but - today it's mostly just comforting. He can pretend he's watching a brother get married, or some version of his future self. Both are pleasant to contemplate. And besides, he's just plain old fond of Hermann on top of that.

He waves a hand in the mirror, beaming back at him. "What, are you expecting explosions?" he teases.

MARCH CATCH ALL

JIM

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Mar 20th?

Re: Mar 20th?