Be My Guest

[losthunter]

Hunter is hosting a few guests at his Nexus apartment tonight. Hunter had been planning this night for awhile, ever since meeting some of the crew members of Jim's ship, getting to know them better, and then telling them about the Nexus. He has been busy planning for the evening, including grocery shopping for some home-made recipes, and finishing some art pieces that will be given as gifts.

Hunter has arranged so that the PINpoint portal is basically connected to his front door. His open concept kitchen and living room will be the first thing that his guests will see, once they arrive through the PINpoint portal. There is a small closet located to the left of the door where they can place any jackets.

The dining room in the living room has been set with all the dining places for his guests. He decided against placecards, since it is more freedom to allow his guests to choose their own seats. On the island in the kitchen is a large plate of vegetarian-friendly appetizers, which features Lavash bread topped with Guacamole and red bell peppers, alongside crescent rolls filled with Jalapeño, mushrooms and asparagus.

The open concept living room immediately flows into Hunter's art studio, where he has a few pieces still being created. There is a large set of French doors that leads out from the living room to an outdoor patio, where there is a rose garden outside. The every-spanning Nexus can be viewed from the patio balcony. Right now, the Nexus is showing the lakeside, where Hunter had first appeared when he had needed support the most.

There are a few closed doors along one wall, one of which that leads to the bathroom, and the other of which leads to Hunter's bedroom.

As Hunter chills some wine, and checks on his main course, he is pretty ready for his guests to arrive. He is feeling excited and happy to be a host.

Comments

[boldygoing]

"Your consideration is appreciated," Spock tells him. "The bread items are likewise satisfactory."

Uhura wanders towards one of the windows, sipping at her punch as she peers out into the Nexus. "I've gotta admit, this isn't what I expected from this place. It looks pretty normal to me."

[losthunter]

"This is just the view that I have right now. The outside view changes every now and then... it was a little weird to get used to."

"Some mornings I would wake up to the park, where I first arrived. Others, I would be looking down on the Nexus market. Or have a view of the millions of doors that open onto the common areas."

"There was even one day when I awoke to have a space scenery outside my window."

[boldygoing]

"Is the scenery changing, or is your apartment moving around?" Jim asks, curious. He takes a seat on one of the couches, making himself comfortable. McCoy follows him, not quite as much at ease in their surroundings, but he's used to that.

Spock, meanwhile, has another thought. "I must assume that your home was not exposed to vacuum."

[losthunter]

"I never really looked into that. But the Nexus apartments can adjust in size... so... anything is possible." Hunter sits besides Jim.

"No. It wasn't. And my roses still flourished, even though the outside was different than before."

[boldygoing]

McCoy shudders a little at the thought of being suddenly exposed to space. "God, that would freak me the hell out."

"Speaking of your garden, it's beautiful," Uhura says, smiling over at him. She's not quite ready to sit, content to stand and look out at the scenery. Spock stands at her side, and if it hadn't already been known that the two of them were dating, the Vulcan's closeness to her would be quite a clue.

[losthunter]

It is sweet to see the closeness between the two of them. Hunter smiles.

"Thank you. I had built my first rose garden shortly after my appearance had been changed. I started with red roses, but have explored with yellow and white roses."

"And I have even grown a few hybrids too."

Hunter nods towards his art studio. "I sometimes use the petals from my roses in my paintings. Or to make jewelry."

[boldygoing]

"You have experimented with your own hybrids, or grown existing breeds?" Spock asks, raising an eyebrow in scientific curiosity. He comes over to join the others now, and he and Uhura have a seat on an adjacent couch together.

[losthunter]

"A few of my own. Mixing some species from my dimension, with those available in the Nexus. Just to see what might be created."

[boldygoing]

"Interesting," Spock says.

"Probably a good thing we haven't told Sulu yet, or he'd be grilling you about roses for hours," Jim says with a grin. "Botany's kind of his hobby."

[losthunter]

"And I could talk about roses for hours. But I am sure there are better conversations to be had."

[boldygoing]

"So you live here by yourself?" Uhura asks. She's noticed that there doesn't seem to be any signs of anyone else in residence, in the decor or elsewhere.

[losthunter]

"Yes. For about a year now."

"It has been some time since I shared a place with anyone." There might not be signs of anyone else in residence, but there are random pieces of art work that were gifted to Hunter by his friends.

[boldygoing]

"And that doesn't get lonely?" McCoy asks with a slight frown.

"It's the Nexus, Bones," Jim answers, nudging the doctor. "Trust me, there's no shortage of people if you want company."

[losthunter]

"And sometimes, it is nice to have the place to myself. Blast my music. Work on my art. Walk around with paint or clay on my hands and my skin."

And if Hunter had wanted someone to move in with him, the person he would choose right now would not be in his best interest.

[boldygoing]

"Ah, civilian life," McCoy drawls, taking a drink from his punch.

[losthunter]

"It is the only life I know." Hunter laughs.

"So... care to turn some skewers with me?" He offers to Jim. But anyone is welcome to help out.

[boldygoing]

"Sure," Jim agrees readily. "Bones, you wanna supervise?"

McCoy gives Jim a look like he isn't sure if this is supposed to be a dig at his opinions on barbecue or if it's an insinuation that his mother henning is such that he doesn't trust the captain not to burn himself. "You know, I think I will," he says, muttering something under his breath about tofu.

[losthunter]

"And if you two would like, you can go through my music selection and make a choice for something to play." Hunter speaks to Spock and Uhura, gesturing to the sound system he has in the living room. There is a large CD tower that holds about 100 choices.

Hunter then leads Jim and McCoy out to the balcony outside. Tucked away on one side of the balcony is a hot tub, which is covered right now.

He lifts the lid of the barbecue, letting the smell of barbecue fill the air.

[boldygoing]

"That does smell pretty good," McCoy admits, as the scent of cooking meat wafts across the balcony.

"One of the only good things about being Earthside is getting real food," Jim agrees. Even though this isn't Earth, it still counts enough for him. He eyes the skewers, taking note of their levels of doneness and where the greater points of heat seem to be on the grill, so they can rearrange them to cook evenly.

[losthunter]

The meat-based skewers are on a closer point to the heat, where they can get an even-heat. The tofu-based skewers are on a middle rack, a little further from the heat. And the corn is on the top rack.

"When was the last time you had real food?" He asks Jim.

[boldygoing]

"You mean before our last mission?" Jim asks, since he hasn't left Earth since the day he got brought to Starfleet Medical in cryogenic suspension. It's been a little over two months since then.

"That was ten days before we came back from Nibiru," McCoy says, doing the mental math. "So that's about eleven weeks ago, give or take."

[losthunter]

"Wow. Then I hope tonight is just what you need." Hunter takes the opportunity to place his hand onto Jim's spare hand.

[boldygoing]

Jim smiles a little, giving his hand a squeeze. "I've had non-synthesized stuff since I got out of the hospital, but more's always better, especially a home-cooked meal."

[losthunter]

"You are adorable." Hunter tells him.

"I am going to get the salad ready. I am going to leave you two BBQ chefs in charge." He smiles at McCoy. "And yes, even the tofu."

[boldygoing]

McCoy rolls his eyes, but there's a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he turns to the grill, and there's a brief - if friendly - scuffle over who gets to man the tongs.

Inside the apartment, Spock and Uhura have figured out how the entertainment system works after some trial and error, and are playing samples of some of the CDs to figure out what the hell they even are.