Meeting those Who Helped Him ((open thread))

[losthunter]

Two weeks after Halloween, Hunter was finally feeling up for company again. And while much of what happened between him and Karlene (Electra) was still a blur in his head, he remembered the many people who helped him out during the whole night.

And he wanted to reconnect with those who were there. Get to know those who he had not met before. And answer any questions they might have had.

He sends out a few invitations over PINpoint to those who helped. And waited for a response.

Comments

[losthunter]

"Thanks..." Hunter starts dishing up the apple crisp into the bowl. A little extra for him (comfort food).

"I designed Jim's ring." That the Starfleet captain is wearing these days (not on the finger, that would mean things). "And I have a lot of new ideas. Friendship rings. Family rings. Engagement rings."

[chiron_survivor]

Adia takes a little less than Hunter. Apple crisp is comfort food for her, too, but she's getting a little tired of apples. They have so many, and even with canning the bulk of them, there is plenty of fresh fruit to use up in coming month. Caspar takes about the same amount as she does. He had time to plan on eating some crisp, so there's no repeat of last time -- although he has a feeling that if he chose not to have any, Hunter wouldn't be weird about it.

He's handing out the classes of wine when Hunter mentions rings. This catches his interest immediately, although he tries not to show it in front of Adia. "I'll have to stop by your stall when you have your new line out. Winter Solstice is coming and I need to top last year's gift."

"Caspar..." Adia blushes, but is pleased by the idea.

"What? Who knows what I'll have to compete with, especially if there's another Secret Santa exchange."

[losthunter]

Hunter will totally respect Caspar's right not to have any more apple crisp. (More left overs for him).

"I do want to have a stall up before Christmas. But I am also considering having a bodyguard nearby... just in case." Hunter is still a little Nexus wary.

"I made Jim Hanukkah gifts last year." He smiled.

[chiron_survivor]

That's the point, anyway, for Hunter to have leftovers. The crisp is quite good, though. Adia takes a bite of hers, then washes it down with a sip of wine while Hunter talks about his plans. "Oh! Caspar, you could be Hunter's bodyguard!"

Caspar blinks at her, glass halfway to his mouth. "What?"

"Not all the time, obviously, but when you can." She smiles at Hunter encouragingly. "Caspar is very good at fighting. And he would look nice standing by your booth."

"Adia..." The Cylon looks a little disoriented at being volunteered. But before she can take back her suggestion, he shrugs. "If you're okay with it, Hunter, I can help out." The man has been attacked multiple times in the Nexus by now. It's not a bad idea to have someone looking out for him.

[losthunter]

Hunter smiles. He remembers how determined and focused Caspar was during the last moment with the Sisters. And knows the Cylon would be a good bodyguard.

"It would make me more comfortable. And I am sure it would ease Jim's mind to know someone else is there with me."

"How about in payment, you can order something from my table for free?"

[chiron_survivor]

Caspar doesn't let much get in the way when there's a job to be done. He smiles faintly when Hunter says he'd be more comfortable with Caspar there. Not many humans feel better with a Cylon hanging around.

"Send me the hours of your stall, and I'll let you know when I'm available." As for payment, he shrugs. "It's not necessary, but sure." It'll give him a chance to discuss engagement rings without Adia there.

Adia smiles, pleased that she brought up the idea, and takes another sip of wine. "What did you make Jim for Hanukkah last year? It must be nice to be able to make your own presents."

[losthunter]

"I will certainly do that." Hunter will feel more comfortable figuring out what hours he wants to run at the market, now knowing that he can have someone else there beside him.

"Well... it was gifts that he could use with some of his crew members that I had met. And little origami animals." Hunter chuckles.

"Then I showed him how to make Kintsugi, the art of mending broken pottery."

[chiron_survivor]

"You're the one who taught him origami?" she asks. "He made an origami lotus flower for Sterope. She asked for a tribute for each sister. Oh, but he must have told you about all that."

Caspar has a bit of crisp, listening to Hunter's reply. "Is that an art that involves superglue?"

Adia pokes him under the table.

"Sorry, never heard of it, before." Caspar grins briefly before paying attention more seriously. "How does Kintsugi work? What's the technique behind it?"

[losthunter]

"We spent some time catching up." Hunter chuckled lightly.

"In a way it does... it involves using melted gold to piece together the broken pottery pieces. It is very therapeutic... putting together the pieces of something broken. Making it whole again."

[chiron_survivor]

"That's good." She imagines that Hunter had a lot of questions about what sort of trials the Sisters put everyone through. Fortunately, Jim had a window to all of that. She smiles at Caspar. "We did, too."

It was a strange evening, but nothing like the Nightmare. It feels okay to talk about it.

"That sounds likes a very symbolic form of art. And beautiful. Do you have any pieces here?" She'd love to see what it looked like. Caspar doesn't comment, but it does sound aesthetically pleasing to him as well. He takes a sip of wine, also curious about the visuals.

[losthunter]

"Well if you are interested... we could create some pottery together some time." Hunter stands for a moment, to get a few display items from his art studio.

"This is a small bowl..." He puts down the repaired piece. "And this is a platter..." And he sets down another piece of pottery on the table.

[chiron_survivor]

"Really?" She smiles hopefully, excited by the idea. "I've never done any pottery before... well, unless you count the little projects I did as a kid."

Adia sets aside her fork and plate so that she can carefully take the bowl into her hands. It looks delicate, because of the repaired cracks, but when she holds it, it feels as stable as any other bowl. "It's beautiful," she murmurs, tracing a line of gold.

Caspar looks down at the platter, his expression thoughtful. "It's nice," he says finally. "My instinct would have been to fix the cracks so that they don't show. I suppose highlighting the effort made to repair them is what makes it look so nice."

[losthunter]

"Well part of the reason the gold is visible, is that the practice is related to the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, which calls for seeing beauty in the flawed or imperfect. That it is okay to show how we were broken... but mended."

Which speaks a lot to Hunter's own trials recently.

"I am going to have a few of these pieces for sale next month."

[chiron_survivor]

"That's a lovely philosophy," Adia says, looking over at Caspar to see what he thinks. She's not surprised to see him a little closed off, taking a sip of wine instead of responding. "And it will nice to have some items on sale. Even if people don't understand the meaning behind it, the gold is a nice touch."

Caspar doesn't say anything because the philosophy touches a little too close to home. Except he knows, deep down, that he hasn't been fully mended yet. And he worries there's not enough gold in the world to seal those cracks.

"Where do you get the pottery to fix?" he asks finally. "Does it come broken or do you do the honors?"

[losthunter]

"There is so many stages of pottery, where anything can go wrong. A piece could fracture in the bisque stage, or the glazing stage, or in the kilns. So sometimes you work on a piece... and it breaks..."

"Or sometimes..." Hunter smiles. "You get to break pieces that you are not quite happy with, to see if something different can be done."

[chiron_survivor]

Caspar raises an eyebrow. "That part I'd be happy to help with," he says honestly.

"I have a hard enough time if I break a test tube," Adia confesses. "I don't know how I'd feel about a piece breaking before I'm done... but I guess that's part of the artistic process, right?"

[losthunter]

"But that is the thing... you are never truly done, until you feel the piece is right. And trust me, I have had plenty of pieces that turned out better because I broke them."

[chiron_survivor]

Never truly done. She thinks about this while she takes another bite of crisp. There are a lot of things in life that could apply to, not just pottery.

"Do you know why it's gold?" Caspar asks, looking over the platter in front of him again. He's already finished his plate of crisp, glad he saved room for it. Adia has really gotten a handle on the wood stove. "Instead of another metal to seal the cracks?"

[losthunter]

"Kintsugi does translate to golden joinery or golden repair. But there are repair attempts made with silver or platinum." Hunter grins.

[chiron_survivor]

Oh. Well, that explains that. "Guess they have to call it something else if you don't use gold," Caspar muses.

Adia smiles. "I'll have to stop by your stall to see everything." She glances at Caspar and her smile turns into a grin. "And to visit your bodyguard."

"Don't distract me while I'm on duty," Caspar teases her, and she giggles.

[losthunter]

"You will be allowed a few distraction breaks..." Hunter teases the couple.

[chiron_survivor]

"You can swap it out with my lunch break because I won't need it," Caspar replies light-heartedly.

Adia's smile blossoms. It's nice to see Caspar relaxed around someone enough to joke around a little. "We'll behave, I promise," she tells Hunter. "It'll be good to see you more, too."

[losthunter]

"It will be good for me to get out more again." Now that he has no more obligations in his world, Hunter has more free time.

[chiron_survivor]

Adia knows that feeling. There were long stretches of time that she did not want to be in the Nexus, either. But ultimately, it was worth doing. "A lot of people will be glad to see you again. Especially everyone who helped you."

[losthunter]

"Yeah?" Hunter blushes a little. He was a little surprised by how many people came to help him. It was nice to know there were those who wanted to make sure he was alright.

"I can't wait to see everyone else too."