Suit up (Literally!) It's a Birthday Bash! (For Verity and Clint)

[smartass_captain]

Guess who's back in the Nexus. Well, mostly back in the Nexus. Jim is standing outside his world's door and calling Verity's phone.

What? Genius level repeat offender remember? He bought a phone in the Nexus and got her Number from Clint's phone a while ago.

It's the morning of October first. The Nexus' resident lie detector is getting a call from an unknown Nexus number. Does he have to leave a voice mail message?

Comments

[aw_hawkguy]

"We'll be there in a couple minutes, you can relax. Verity looks great, by the way."

[smartass_captain]

"Of course Verity looks great. She always looks great." Okay, he's clearly fixed it. Maybe it was better left the way it was before.

"The question is, where are you? I went by your door already and had t'give Barney the finger for sassin' off t'me."

[brave_heart_verity]

"Yes, I do." So modest. The boys can figure out their own miscommunication. "You don't need to yell, Jim. Just talk normal, we'll hear you just fine."

[aw_hawkguy]

Sigh. "Aw, Jim. I went to pick Verity up--I thought we were gonna meet at your door. We're headed back there now."

[smartass_captain]

"Oh."

Beat.

"I knew that, i was just going to surprise you two." He's not fooling anyone with that. "I'll be there in a sec. Kirk out."

Someone needs to tell him to stop doing that.

[brave_heart_verity]

"We need to tell him to stop doing that." Thank you Captain Obvious!

[aw_hawkguy]

"I dunno, it kinda reminds me of Kate." Beat. "Okay, Jim can never meet Kate." Like he said, they weren't far from Jim's door when Jim called. There it is, now.

[smartass_captain]

"I can't ever meet who now? I thought you were dating a Jessica?"

Jim rounds the corner right after them, looking like someone's magazine cover model in the casual way he's wearing the suit he'd bought. He's also holding a single red rose in what can only be described as the perfect almost in full bloom status which gets handed to Verity. He's also carrying a small wrapped parcel under one arm.

"You can't keep two women from me Clint. That's not fair. Happy birthday Verity." Jim grins and gives her a wink to show he's only teasing Clint.

[brave_heart_verity]

Verity smiles when she hears Jim coming, and gives him an approving once-over. "You two are too handsome for anyone's good, you do know that. And thank you."

The rose gets him a hug. Clint could have had a hug if he'd brought her flowers. Now he knows.

[aw_hawkguy]

"Kate's still a girl, Jim. No dating kids, that's gross."

He can't help but preen just a little at Verity's remark, but gives a quiet "aw" when Jim gets a hug and he didn't. Not fair.

[smartass_captain]

"Oh. Well then yeah, no thanks." Jailbait's not worth his career or getting his ass kicked by superheroes. Jim scoops Verity up into a big hug, dipping her just slightly and grinning down at her.

"You ready for a night on the town with two willing chaperones? We are here to cater to your every whim, madam~"

[brave_heart_verity]

You could hug her, Clint, you're all family now remember?

Whoa, okay, she was not expecting the dip. But it does get a laugh from her, so, mission accomplished?

"Oh, are you? Lucky me. Okay, first whim: tell me what the plans are." Note none of this is 'put me down' or anything.

[aw_hawkguy]

He doesn't come from the huggiest of backgrounds, sometimes he needs to be reminded he can do that. "I would answer, but, uh, Jim made all the reservations. So, Jim?"

[smartass_captain]

"Of course." Jim pulls her back up and twirls them both around before passing Verity off to Clint.

So he can take his cheap flip phone out of a pocket and check the text he'd copied over from his PADD before he left.

"We have about half an hour--plenty of time--to get there. I promised Scotty a bottle of top shelf if he'd get us where we need to go." Jim grins at them both and flips his phone back shut and slips it into his pocket. He'll brush up against the door to his world to let them in. He still doesn't linger near it, but he's no longer shaking when he uses it.

"We're heading to a classy Old Earth specialty restaurant out on Sulari Cetna. I'm told the view and the wine list are to die for." Jim turns to give Verity a half smirk. "I was told you liked wine, so."

[brave_heart_verity]

The twirling gets another laugh and she moves with him easily. Does it surprise Jim that she's a good dancer? Most people wouldn't guess that. She settles into a hug with Clint readily enough when she's passed off. The galaxy is in no way ready for the two of them like this. It's a good thing they go to dive bars together instead of trying to seriously charm people.

"I wonder who told you that." Clint gets elbowed playfully as they follow Jim into engineering again. Did Clint mention how much she likes to dance? Because that would be an amazing night for her. "Where's Sulari Cetna?"

Barton, Clint Barton

[aw_hawkguy]

Clint catches her with a chuckle, and oh, hey, hug. Hugs are great. He hadn't mentioned her love of dance, as he may not have known, but maybe they got lucky with Jim's reservation. At the very least, he can observe now, "you're light on your feet." After oof-ing at the elbow.

[smartass_captain]

"It's in one of the wealthier colonies of a Federation planet. The Cetna Starfleet base became a huge political deal with some treaties signed a while back, and that's when all these high class places started cropping up, as a way to schmooze dignitaries and the like."

Jim pauses a moment then looks back at Verity as he's leading them through the ship.

"You...uhm. You're not adverse to.." How did Clint put it last time? "Space teleportation type technologies, are you?"

[brave_heart_verity]

Clint gets a sidelong look. She wonders if he's just entirely blocked out the last (first, and only) time they went dancing. Maybe that's why he seemed so surprised by the repercussions.

"That doesn't really answer my question, but it sounds like fun. So I'm guessing it's my job tonight to keep you two from causing an intergalactic incident?" She's only half joking about that.

"'Space teleportation type technologies' being...?"

[aw_hawkguy]

He was dealing with a lot of stuff at the time, some of it new-to-an-alternate-universe levels of strange, and also drinking probably more than he should have. Superprom is kind of a blur.

"Well, I plan to be good," Clint puts in. Of course, he didn't plan to start a bar brawl last time, either, but that sort of thing happens less frequently at nicer restaurants (unless you are the Mongols).

[smartass_captain]

Jim gives Clint a sidelong look. He's not sure he can properly explain the technologies invested in beaming to a layperson without making it sound horrifying.

What with matter being broken up and reassembled somewhere else.

"It's your job tonight to have fun is what it is. We're on best behavior." Jim corrects for the moment, leading them over to the turbolifts. Best dressed people on the whole Starship, tonight.

"Beaming? You know, subatomic matter translocation?"

[brave_heart_verity]

"Well, if that's my job." It's so hard to convince her to want to enjoy the night. "I'm sure you'll both be models of gentlemanly behavior."

This is Verity, Jim. Just tell her the truth. She'll find a way to deal with it.

"You mean where you take me apart and reassemble me elsewhere?" She's not stupid, Jim, she knows what you're talking about. "It's never bothered me before. Although it does tend to make me dizzy. Your theologians must love this sort of thing. Debating about whether the soul is made of matter and whether it relocates under its own power... Just so long as it doesn't screw with the dissolved gold in my system or my fancy future space medicine, I'll be fine."

She'd rather not think about not having the improved gut flora and getting sick again. It was a miserable week she does not want to repeat.

[aw_hawkguy]

"Need an arm to lean on?" Clint offers, although he thinks of something that prompts him to look to Jim. "Or would that, like, stick us together when we come out the other side?"

[smartass_captain]

"It's not ideal..." Jim admits. "But you can beam two people back on one pad. Not recommended though." Jim's just glad he and Spock were still the same and not each other or something weird the time they did it.

"And Verity doesn't need any trouble on her birthday. We're supposed to be showing her a good time, not a transporter malfunction."

Those two words are the bane of Jim Kirk's existence. He just doesn't know it yet at this point in his five year mission.

[brave_heart_verity]

"Just be ready to catch me on the other side," she suggests. "I don't want to be involved in an anything malfunction." Now this is starting to worry her. Not enough to stop her, but enough for her to take it seriously.

"Of course the disorientation may have been because the last transporter I was in has a retrofitted PINpoint to allow for cross-dimensional travel. I'm not sure Blaze's portal was anywhere considered safe for human habitation." When in doubt, talk it out. It must drive the boys crazy. But it's her birthday so they can deal with it. "Have you tried that yet, Jim?"

You know, maybe she shouldn't have mentioned that within hearing of a transporter engineer...

[aw_hawkguy]

"Will do," Clint promises, adding, "and I can give you the birthday gift of that going over my head." Hi, transporter operator. Don't mind the weird foreigners. It's all space, right?