[NVC Day 24] -- [Does It Comes From Within?] -- [Jim/Sybok]

[kirktastic]

When Jim left the trial that evening, it was over. No more offense, no more defense. The trial was over. Tomorrow, when he came there in the morning, they would know what would be happening with the Romulans. He felt at ends about it, broken into pieces.

So instead of going back to his room, dealing with dinner he wouldn't eat, he decided to go do something instead. After some deciding, a quick bit of research, Jim had somewhere to go. He asked Bones, but wasn't entirely surprised when Bones declined to want to come. It wasn't exactly something up Bones' alley, but tonight, it wasn't a terrible thing. Just a few hours to go out, clear his head, then come back and find Bones' arms.

That's what set Jim out to the distant cliffs, where the beaches were shallow and warm like the ocean itself. He had on a pair of swim trunks, goggles, and pairs of specially designed shoes and gloves with webs in them to help him swim and still retain movement in his fingers. He dumped the backpack he had brought with him, and pulled on the last two items he needed. Around his neck went the mouth piece to his slim, light weight breathing device that could process the water into oxygen for him to breathe. Around his head went a band with a small camera attached, and on his belt was a very light weight processor that would record everything the camera saw. He thought it would be interesting to keep, and bring back so Bones could see.

The waters of Sha'Kwai were amazing. The things he saw, diving down as deep as he could before he couldn't tolerate it anymore. It cleared his head, the silence of everything except his bubbles and the moving water. It was warm down there, like slightly less warm bathwater. He saw strange fish with horns on their head, giant coral-like creatures that swayed when he came close to them and brushed against him, even something that looked like an alligator except when it opened its mouth a small tentacle emerged and struck at a fish.

When it started to get dark, he had to get out so he could be safe. He grabbed a towel out of the backpack he had brought and dried himself off, and started to walk back towards the guest quarters again. It was a bit of a walk - the beach he had started on had been recommended to him, but the walk felt good. Worked out the kinks in his muscles.

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[outcastprince.livejournal.com]

The text message and following breakfast yesterday morning had been troubling. A perfectly good serving of waffles and fruit had been ruined by Spock's sullen, self-tormenting mood, and then perpetuated by the advent (and dismissal of) some chocolate-chip pancakes that were replaced, after some debate ("This habit is destructive, and I'm not carrying you out of here."), by a traditional Vulcan porridge completely composed of non-inebriating ingredients. The victory had been small, and Sybok didn't bother relishing it when he was already thinking about how to talk with this captain, this...human.

Standing here waiting for Jim to come by hadn't exactly been a happenstance. Sybok hadn't stalked him, because that wasn't his modus operandi. He simply asked around, casual questions about a blue-eyed, blond-haired, fortunate looking human and his comings and goings on the beach until a young Vulcan in a loose white beach robe had told (mind or voice, Sybok didn't remember and didn't care) that he had seen such a human come by and rent his equipment for a specific location. So Sybok had found a place on the beach where he could see the sky, the ocean, and everthing within a five mile radius.

As the night came closer, his gaze was drawn towards where there would soon emerge a smattering of stars clustered toward the center of the galaxy. His eyes closed, thinking--he'd get there, someday--and when he opened his eyes, he could see a familiar figure treading through the sand towards him.

"Jim!" He caught his attention with a wave and a friendly smile; he wore a grey shirt and a pair of trousers that were strictly off-planet fashion, that kind of clean-but-cheap garb that let him walk around the planet without drawing unwanted attention to himself. Laborers had their place and he was more than willing to masquerade in their strata to move unseen.

"Have a nice swim?" Sybok guessed as he came up to Jim's side, falling seamlessly in with his pace through the sand. "I'd like to talk about a few things, if you don't mind?"