milliways_bar | (no subject)

Jim Kirk enters the main bar, having slept late (again - he's really getting lazy here), and notices something odd. Very odd.

"You have wings," he sort of blurts out.

Without missing a beat, "Yes, yes I do."

She smiles politely.

Kirk realizes that his grasp of the obvious got ahead of him. He also notices that he's talkiong to yet another pretty young blonde. Is the Bar trying to remind him of all his youthful liaisons on a regular basis?

"Sorry for beig so blunt. You'd think I would be used to seeing people who are a bit outside the norm.

"I'm Jim Kirk, Earth, 23rd century." After a month here, he makes no assumptions as to where or when she might be from.

She opens her mouth, then closes it, dumbfounded.

Captain-frigging-Kirk?

After a moment of wrapping her mind around that, she decides it's best not to blurt out that her best friend thinks he's awesome and instead extends her hand as calmly as possible.

"Max, Earth, early 21st."

Kirk notices the look on her face and wonders just what that's about. For the moment, he has other questions.

"I hope this doesn't sound like an odd question," he says as he shakes her hand, "but does everyone on your Earth have wings?"

((No worries, will not canon puncture unless you want that, it's just stated in canon that two characters love Kirk.))

She's not surprised at the question. She gets it a lot around here.

"Nope, there's just the six of us, as far as I know."

"Some sort of experiment?" It's a natural guess, though from what he knws of his Earth, even the project that birthed Khan and his army didn't give people wings.

{ooc: The day will come when Kirk is canon punctured. That today is not that day. :)]

"Wow, right on the second try. Most people go through 'angel' and 'superhero' first."

She grins a bit.

((And Max is smart enough not to do that to him anyway, though if he's ever wandering going "is this true?" she'll be there XD))

"I don't think there's such a thing as angels. And I'm afraid I don't know what a superhero is suppsoed to look like." He's heard of Superman, but knows very little about that chunk of 20th century pop culture.

"You must come from a rather advanced timeline. I'm not aware of any such experiments in my own time. Though such things are of course illegal."

She chuckles. "Glad to see someone agrees."

She takes another sip, then, "They're illegal in my time, too. Don't know if we're 'advanced' really... Not sure you can call any society that watches The Simpsons and prizes pizza above all other foods advanced."

Not that there's anything wrong with pizza, of course. Hmm, she may have to get some now.

"There's nothing wrong with pizza. Granted, once we get into space we find a rather wide array of cuisines. But I don't think you can judge a culture on its food.

"I'm afraid I don't know who the Simpsons are, though." Kirk takes a seat and orders a coffee.

Max goes ahead and gets that slice. Mmm, veggie.

"You're familiar with the concepts of slapstick humor and running gags at least, I assume, so that should be enough said.

"But really, I have nothing to compare it to. We don't have much in the way of space travel, for example; we've only been to the moon, and that was 30 years ago. We haven't been back since."

"Slpstick humor...like in...I think his name was Chaplin, right? The man in the baggy pants. I've heard of that, yes, though I don't think it's too popular in my time." Though Kirk rarely gets to see any kind of popular entertainment.

"But I get what you're trying to say. You'd explain it, and I'd have no clue. I'm starting to get used to that.

"And that someone gave you wings but can't return to the Moon is quite remarkable. In my timeline, we had a very robust space program in your time."

She shrugs.

"Robust, ya, but they just fly up, drop something into orbit, come home, repeat. And now they're scared to even do that because one of the ships blew up. I mean, I'm glad they're focusing on genetics and stuff, because then we can fight diseases, but since they've outlawed half the experiments, only the outlaws can do them, and the outlaws... would rather make things like me than cure AIDs."

To demonstrate what she means, she crushes her soda can. With one finger.

He ponders one idea here, that the space prorgram would be derailed by one accident. He knows of at least two accidents from that time, but things proceeded anyway. Is that as much a point of divergence as the rise of Khan?

"If it means anything, in my timeline at least they do find a cure for AIDS. It takes a long time, but it happens. Even though there were outlaws on my world who did what was done to you, and then some." Indeed, watching her crush the can brings back memories of Khan himself.

"That's good to know. Hopefully mine won't be far off."

Right now, with all this timeline stuff, she's glad for her intelligence. She figures it's one of those things even Kit wouldn't understand.

"Though I hope whoever decided to do this kind of thing got killed."

((Sorry, will slow time for a bit. Commute time.))

"You don't know who made you?" He is a bit surpsied by this, though his research of the Eugenics Wars did show that it's possible Khan's group never knew their creators either.

((Arg, sorry, errands held me up.))

"Oh no, I've... already taken care of them. I meant whoever did this same kind of thing elsewhere... Your time."

She shrugs. And eats pizza.

There is something very disturbing about Max's tone. Did this young woman with the wings kill her creator?

"What do you mean, taken care of them?"

She suddenly looks very interested in the texture of the counter.

"They... I had no choice. The government wasn't doing anything about it, and they were going to kill Kit and Frannie..."

"I see..." He pauses for a moment, trying to think of what to say. He doesn't approve, but he also knows that some times you do what you have to for friends.

"And what happened to you and your friends after this?"

"...Well, then the media and legal system got involved, and we wound up sent to live with our biological parents and put into the public educational system."

That's perhaps the most awkward part of the story.

"So you became famous, and then someone had the bright idea to put you in a public school?" Kirk has to stifle a snort of derision. "That might me be a worse idea than illegal genetic experimwnts.

"I sincerely hope that they got you and your friends into something better, something more suited to you."

Sheepish grin.

"They didn't, we did. We ran away and... well, that's where we are now. Hiding out in the wilderness and shabby hotels. It's pretty fitting, really. Adventure of a lifetime and all."

Despite himself, he smiles. He never disapproves of adventure. "Yes, I suppose it is. But...well, you'd have to have been on the run for years. Hasn't it gotten a bit tiring?"

"Er..."

She holds up her fingers and counts.

"Actually, we've only been on the run about three weeks."

"Three...weeks." Kirk pauses to look at the young woman again. "And you just escaped from school now...

"Max, how old are you?"

"...Thirteen?" she offers, resting her head on her hands. "But... I'm part bird... and birds age faster... so I'm like 25 for a human, probably..."

"Thirteen. They put a thirteen year old who looks 25 in a class with teenaged boys...

"I was thirteen once. I don't think I would have lasted a week in a class with a girl who looked 25." And he is very, very thankful that he kept his natural tendency to flirt in check.

"Yeah... that... did get pretty awful."

She lowers her head a little more, hoping her hair will hide her red face.

"I think it was harder for my little brother, though. He looked about 16, but he's still small enough that the older boys would beat up on him."

"I never thought I would say this, but maybe you're better off here. I personally neeed to get back home, but i can think of worse refuges for you." Interestingly, Jim is still talking to her like she's 25, and probably will for some time.

"I probably am, but the flock still needs me. So, I enjoy my time while I'm here while I can and then hurry back..."

She's fine with him talking that way and honestly prefers it. Frannie's the only one she likes treating her like she's a kid.

"Your flock..." He smiles at the term but that smile dims. "So you're the leader?" There is instead a knowing look.

[ooc: gotta go - more slowtime?]

((slowtime is fine.))

"It was sort of a 'by default'... I'm the oldest. Oz is stronger than me now, though, so he can take care of them pretty well."

"Im curious...did you like that role?" If there is one thing that grabs Kirk's attention, it's the idea of leadership.

"I suppose. I don't dislike it. At times, I feel Oz would be a better leader than I am, but some of them almost consider me their mom - I've raised them since they were born - so I guess it's only natural for me to be the leader."

She realizes she really didn't answer his question.

"...Yes, I like it. Because I know that the fate of my flock is in capable hands."

Jim gets a weird grin. "That's the funny thing about leadership. If you have a gift for it, it not only comes to you, but you can't think of anyone else in the job. It's a double edged sword. Believe me, I've been there.

"But if are really good at it,a nd if you never lose sight of the people you are leading, you'll do well."

"I can see Oz doing it... And honestly, I think Icarus would be leader if he wasn't blind..."

She laughs, taking another sip.

"Matty would love the position, but he's just a kid, and the twins are way too young. It's mostly a lack of options that I'm leader, but, we're happy this way. And as long as my flock is safe, I'm happy too."

Spoken, he thinks, like a leader. Or at least like someone who will not be content to follow. And so he smiles again.

"There are worse ways to look at the world, Max." Thinking that he's probably about to start lecturing her like she's a cadet, he gets up.

"It was a pleasure talking to you. Good luck with your flock."

"Thank you, sir. You too. See you again sometime."

She smiles to herself as he leaves. Good luck with your own flock.