smartass_captain | Scientific Progress goes 'Boink'

"It was last time?" he offers. "I'll go first, if you want."

"You're the one they know," she points out. He's free to go first.

Clint's done this whole song and dance before.

It will take him a couple tries to get it right--since it lacks a proper control switch the magic way to open the door is to slip his hand against the glass about a third of the way up the door from the floor.

Right about laying down on the floor reaching up level.

Don't think about that too hard. Really, don't. You are? Too late then. You can't un-know that little glimpse of trauma.

The good news? The door does finally open. As in, lets them onto the ship instead of just stuck in the radiation blast door area. Engineering is much the same as it was the last time Clint was here--full of jeffries tubes and the constant hum of the engines.

That little guy from before shows up in short order, pulling his goggles off to stare at him with large black eyes. That's not a window, Clint didn't come in through a window, and this little guy thinks you're an idiot, Barton.

"Hey," Clint greets the little guy. "How's it goin'?" Gesturing to Verity, he adds, "this's a friend."

Verity watches Clint try and try at the door, and is glad he figures it out without their having to think about the hows and whys too much.

The little black-eyed fellow gets a smile from her. "Hello. I'm Verity."

This little guy doesn't talk much, but he does seem to like Verity a good deal more than Clint. He's quick to dart around the archer and pull at her hand slightly.

He wants to lead her over to the comm station with all the lights and buttons she wont understand. Then he runs off. But not for long! He comes back with a toolbox, heavy enough to have him leaning over while he carries it. It gets set down and he hops up on it.

So he can reach the controls. He pushes a couple buttons and then motions to Verity and Clint too, if he's there.

"This is Medical, y'all better not have had another 'minor explosion' or so help me god...." Oh hey Clint! it's Bones' voice!

"Hey, doc," Clint puts in cheerfully. "Just pickin' up our visitors' passes. Feelin' great, by the way."

Verity allows herself to be lead and is smart enough to not start pushing buttons she doesn't understand (and swat at Clint if he tries).

Ah, a comm station. Useful. The little guy gets a grateful head-pat. "Hello. Jim. Um. Captain Kirk" and boy is it hard for her to say that without sounding sarcastic "asked us to drop by."

"...Oh hell, it's the other one." Just quiet enough that maybe he hadn't meant to be leaning on the button when he says this.

Keenser makes a noise that might be a chuckle at Clint's expense.

"Christ, already? Swear Jim just got back from puttin' the message out. Alright stay there. And don't you or your ladyfriend touch nothing. McCoy out."

The little guy, Keenser, nods when the comm goes silent and hops off his toolbox. There's a long blink while he stares up at Verity and Clint, then he shakes Verity's hand and grabs the box to get back to work.

It's not his job to babysit weirdos who come out of the Radiation door.

Clint gives Keenser a wave, since he didn't get a handshake. "I think he likes you," he murmurs after the little guy has gone. "Okay, so... this is where we came in last time. It's... very shiny, right?"

Keenser gets a handshake and a smile from Verity. "Thanks for your help." He's cute. And he's got good taste if he doesn't trust Clint.

"It's so... retro. It's like what people thought the future would look like in the 60s. Oh man, does this make Jim a hipster?" There's opportunity for such mischief in that thought.

"It is, isn't it?" Clint flashes a grin. "You've so gotta ask him that."

Doctor McCoy doesn't keep them waiting long. Definitely not because he was worried about Jim's friends. Also definitely not because he's damn curious about that goddamn door that leads to an alternate reality that isn't somehow radiation poisoning and death.

They've done quite a few tests since the last time. Bones doesn't trust anything especially in space, with Jim Kirk's health. He's in his Science Blues instead of scrubs, which is at least some sort of comfort.

No emergencies in Medical in the last few hours.

"Barton, isn't it?" Leonard's perpetual annoyed scowl lifts somewhat at the sight of the purple haired woman standing next to Clint looking just as much out of place. "Miss." His drawl gets a tad more pronounced, and his tones less borderline about to punch faces.

"You make it through okay? No fever like symptoms?" He turns to Verity then, all business. "No allergies or shortness of breath? Neither of you are sick, right? Last thing I need is goddamn 2013 diseases spreading on this goddamn ship."

Oh, she will, Clint. She will.

She offers a hand to shake if he's not too afraid of cooties. "Verity Willis. I'm from 2015, so that's a slightly different set of things to be paranoid about." Sorry Bones, nobody escapes the sass. "I feel as healthy as I ever do. You're... Bones? I've heard good things about your fancy future medicine."

He's welcome to turn that handshake into a pulse check. She's an exceptionally healthy young woman, physically. "So how many tests do I have to endure before you let me see Jim?"

Clint's also got a hand offered for a handshake--with no fresh injuries, even! How did he manage that?

"The note seemed kinda urgent... for a note stuck to my door, anyway."

It's really weird when other people call him by that idiotic nickname Jim gave him. Dr. McCoy isn't quite sure how to respond to that for a moment.

"Leonard McCoy, miss. I'm here to make sure everyone stays some semblance of put together on this tin can full of germs." Clint gets a brief nod. He half expected Barton to come back carrying his legs in one arm.

Don't ask how Clint would be hypothetically walking. He's a doctor not a novelist.

Both of them get a firm yet brief handshake.

"Jim'll be glad to see you two, which means I may get some work done without being bothered every ten minutes. Let's get out of here,I can't stand being by that door."

"Sorry, Dr. McCoy." She can be polite, really. And she'd like Jim's friends to think well of her.

This is strange for her. She's starting to act like a normal person.

"So he is always that hyper?" That's good to know. At least she doesn't have to worry it's too much sugar or coffee because she does love piling both on when she can.

He'd be walking on his hands, like all good circus folk. He's perfectly content to walk on his feet, though, falling into step with the rest of the group.

"Has he, uh, seen a therapist at all? I know a couple'a times I died, talking helped." Oops. That was an overshare.

"I'm glad t'see him making some friends that aren't me or the hob--his first officer." Best not to give them a wrong first impression of Spock. Even if it's right and they'll find out for themselves soon enough anyway. "If you can convince him to eat and sleep like a normal person you've got my blessing t'keep him."

They're not heeding any direction Clint remembers form the last time he was here. Medbay is skipped entirely and so are the crew quarters. The doctor goes rather quiet rather quickly when the topic of dying comes up. He's not even scowling. If anything, he seems kind of at a loss.

"I don't talk about my patient's medical history, kid. But if you're Jim's friends, I will say this. He don't open up to anyone. Best not to take it personal." He doesn't talk about it any more than that.

Everything in the future is lights and ~~lens flares~~ colors and bright. Also by the time they even get to the lifts Verity has seen at least ten different species giving her and Clint the side eye. Visitors are rare, and Doctor McCoy's gruff demeanor is somewhat infamous on the ship.

"We're working on it." She's wondering if she can get some alone time on a computer here long enough to look up what happened on Tarsus. She promised not to bring it up with Jim, she never said she wasn't going to try to find out on her own.

Verity could live without the lens flares, but mostly she's wondering who started giving iPhones steroids. The looks don't bother her. She's used to it.

"He'll open up when he's ready."

Clint's the guy who stands between a billionaire in robot pants and a literal god, carrying a bow and funny arrows. He's used to side-eyes.

"He'll come around," Clint agrees. Noticing that this isn't anywhere he went before, he asks, "so, uh, where we goin'?"

Bones stops at the turbolifts and gives them both a small smile. They didn't even hesitate to affirm they weren't giving up on Jim. Maybe these interdimensional past-future people weren't so bad for him after all.

There's computers everywhere Verity, the trick is getting into one without being detected. Might be safer to snatch a PADD and do the future equivalent of a wikipedia search. Much simpler to hide. And considering that tidbit of information is something pretty much only Bones knows about, much less likely to get you unwanted questions.

They get a rare but sincere smile from the doctor.

"You kids are VIPs today." He snorts. "We're gonna go get Jim. Might want to stay by the lift when we get there though." The there in question is the bridge of the Enterprise. Banks of computers run along the perimeter of the circular station, manned by a small bridge crew who seem intent on the tasks at hand. Spock's there, if Clint looks around.

"Officer on ze bridge!" Chirps the youngest of the bridge crew, and holy cow he really is just a kid. Doctor McCoy heads straight for the chair in the center of the bridge, leaning over it to mutter something.

Sure enough, Jim Kirk gets up quickly, all serious and business until he spots his companions by the lift. He breaks out into a smile.

"Spock, you have the con."

"Aye, captain." Musical Captain chair gets taken. Jim and the doctor hurry back.

"You guys made it. Good. Thanks for bringing 'em here, Bones."

McCoy gets a small answering smile from Verity. She's too stubborn to give up on her friends this easily, and someone has to look after these two idiots.

She'll stay by the lift, but oh, she wants to have a proper look around the bridge. It is shiny and interesting, and being off-limits only makes it more appealing. (Not everything Loki brought out in her would be considered a good thing.)

"Hey, Jim. We need to get you a phone. Passing notes is so junior high." She'd give him a hug if he weren't being all captain-y right now.

Clint smiles, too. He's not a quitter (except when he is, but let's not get into that). He's a little better-acquainted with control rooms, but he still looks around with appreciation. The junior officer announcing McCoy's arrival gets a murmur to Verity, "my god, he's Kate's age."

Jim gets a wave when he approaches. "What's the word?"

"The hell is a phone?" He says that the way your eight year old neighbor asks what a fax machine is.

"Your comm, cornfed hillbilly." Bones rolls his eyes in exasperation. "Can I leave you alone with these kids without some kind of emergency so I can finish my shift?"

"Sure. We're gonna be in the prep room." Jim waves Verity and Clint to follow him back into the turbolift. The hallway they exit into is much less interesting than the bridge, sadly. Jim smiles and greets every worker he passes by name, while playing tour guide as best he can.

"So that was the bridge, pretty slow alpha shift today. Promise I'll give you the grand tour, but I figure we've got more important things to do at the moment. Remind me though, when we're done, to take you guys to the observation deck."

The prep room is like every conference room ever created except futuristic and in space. The wall mounted computer panels are neat and all, but it's still a meeting room. Not everything in the future can be cool.

"Take a seat guys. I'll grab us some coffee...." Where the hell did they keep the mugs and shit? Jim doesn't usually do this kind of thing when there's mission briefings going on. That's why Starfleet has Yeomans.

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Let's try this again.

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