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

[losthunter]

"It can be helpful, if you are here for a couple hours, since you are able to return back at the same time as you left."

"It is also possible to adjust the time dilation, so that if you decide to permanently move into the Nexus -- your home dimension isn't permanently on pause."

[boldygoing]

"I wonder if that affects people's birthdays," Uhura says, thinking out loud. "Whether people would get older faster."

[losthunter]

"There are a few people I know who live in the Nexus. My best friend Verity still ages on what would be an Earth year calendar."

"And Schön... well, he is sort of ageless."

[boldygoing]

"So if you went back and forth a lot, you could end up a bit older than your birthday says you are," Uhura concludes.

"Speaking of which, when is your birthday, Hunter?" Jim asks. While he doesn't like celebrating his own, the captain likes to be able to observe his friends' birthdays whenever they come around.

[losthunter]

"May 1st. Verity held me a big bash. I turned 25." He smiles.

[boldygoing]

"Mazel tov," Jim replies with a grin.

"Is the twenty-fifth birthday significant in your traditions?" Spock asks, curious.

[losthunter]

"No. But it was my first birthday in the Nexus. With some new friends."

"Verity wanted to make it special."

[boldygoing]

"That was nice of her." Jim has only met Verity the one time, and she seems like a decent person to him.

[losthunter]

"And your birthday?" Hunter smiles.

[boldygoing]

Jim's smile dims a little, but he's not so bitter about his birthday that he can't talk about it. "January fourth." He brings back the smile a bit, though, as he nods towards his first officer. "Spock's birthday is two days after mine, funnily enough."

[losthunter]

"And if I remember correctly, Vulcans age differently than humans. But your birthdate is still a set day in a year?" It occurs to him that he never asked Jim his age. Perhaps another time. He noted that the smile was a little dim.

[boldygoing]

"Correct," Spock answers. "The Vulcan calendar is different than that of Earth's, but my mother wished to observe the anniversaries of my birth according to her traditions in addition to the Vulcan way. As Starfleet's standard calendar mirrors Earth's, it is logical to continue."

Uhura gives him a sympathetic look, though she doesn't reach out and touch him to offer any comfort. There's no emotion on Spock's face to betray his feelings, but she knows how much his mother meant to him, and how devastated he was to lose her.

[losthunter]

Noting that Uhura doesn't reach out to touch Spock just speaks volumes to how close they are as a couple. She knows what touch means for a Vulcan.

"I lost my mother when I was a baby. And when I found out about something she had set aside for me, it meant a lot for me to fight for that legacy."

He now knows there are three people around this table who lost a parent.

"If you don't mind me asking, how are Vulcan traditions different?"

[boldygoing]

Of course, Spock is not offended by the questions. And he considers it good practice for his upcoming role as a cultural guest speaker at Starfleet Academy. "Only significant milestones are typically commemorated. The manner in which such a milestone is observed depends upon the age of the Vulcan in question, but often involves meditation and self-reflection."

[losthunter]

"Interesting."

"Uhura? McCoy? I am now collecting birthday information."

[boldygoing]

McCoy eyes Hunter with mock suspicion. "You planning something nefarious with all this intel you're getting?"

[losthunter]

"Who me? Plan something nefarious?"

Hunter stands for a moment, using the fact that some plates need to be cleared as a great transition. When he returns to the table, he places a wrapped box in front of each of his guests.

"Would I do that?" He sits back down.

[boldygoing]

After all the talk about birthdays, Jim had not expected this. Still... it's not his real birthday, so he picks up the gift and turns it over in his hands slowly. "What's this about?"

The others certainly hadn't anticipated being given gifts either, though Spock shows it on his face a little less. Even so, the chocolate has loosened him up slightly, and he casts an analyzing eye over the wrapped package in front of him.

[losthunter]

Jim's box has weight to it. Whatever is inside must be protected properly, because Hunter doesn't look concerned when Jim turns the gift over in his hands.

Uhura's and McCoy's box will both be light. Spock's has weight to it too, and is the heaviest of all the boxes.

"You have each inspired me, to create. And I would like to share my creations, with those who inspire me."

[boldygoing]

"Hunter, that is so sweet of you," Uhura says, smiling. She'll be the first to open her gift, followed shortly by the others.

[losthunter]

Inside of Uhura's gift, carefully wrapped in bubble wrap, is a minature golden wire tree. On the end of each branch is a small leaf-shaped ruby. The base of the tree is wrapped around a small tsavorite stone. The tree is light enough to be held in her hand. It is about six inches in height.

McCoy's gift was only wrapped in newspaper. At first, when he opens it, he will see a hand-crafted box. When he opens the box, there is a small collection of civil war medical equipment. While the medical equipment was purchased from an antique store, Hunter was unable to find an antique case for it all. So he made one himself.

Spock's gift is wrapped in that bubble wrap too. Inside are marble bookends, with a globe on each side. The globe is an artistic rendition of what Vulcan would have looked like. Hunter had been able to find some research material to allow him to create the globes.

And Jim's gift is wrapped in newpaper. He should not be surprised to see the completed model of the Enterprise sitting there for him. After their recent shopping trip, Hunter had used the metals and some of the fire gems for the light of the engines to complete the piece.

[boldygoing]

"Oh, it's adorable," Uhura says, cupping the little wire tree in her hand. And though the tsavorite is small, any amount is precious and valuable, and she gives Hunter an appreciative look.

Jim had somewhat expected that he might find the model Enterprise inside his gift, and the sight of the flame gems acting as the nacelles' frontal field nodes make him smile, their blue glow adding to the accuracy of the model. Reassured by the incorporation of the duranium, he turns the little ship over in his hands, noting where Hunter has given her a more artistic flair.

He glances over at McCoy's gift, and the surprised look on the doctor's face. "Wow, those look old."

"They are," McCoy says, removing one of the implements from the case with a steady and careful hand. He's only seen tools this primitive in museums and textbooks on the history of medicine. And while they're barbaric and nowhere near what he considers to be civilized medicine, he has to appreciate their part in history, relics of a time where doctors knew much, much less yet still strove to do their best for their patients.

Spock gently turns one of the globes on its axis, examining the hand-painted markings on its surface. "I have never seen Vulcan represented in such a way."

[losthunter]

It warms Hunter's heart to see the reaction of his friends when they see their gifts. There is a little piece of them in the art that they have received. That little piece of their inspiration that Hunter carried with them.

It is also nice to see how McCoy and Spock each gently appraise their gifts.

"I actually know some Civil War recreationists. They collect historic pieces and sometimes find some interesting stuff at auction sales." He noted to McCoy. "If you ever wanted to join them for a battle recreation, they are a pretty welcoming group."

He tilts his head at Spock's comment. "Never?"

[boldygoing]

McCoy shakes his head. "I'm a doctor. The history's interestin', but combat's not my thing, even simulated combat." He's also fairly certain that as a Southerner, he'd be expected to playact as a Confederate, and he has no interest in representing a nation built on enslaving other people, even just as part of a recreation.

Spock looks up from the globe towards Hunter. "Representations of Vulcan's surface are either holographic or photographic in nature. There are - were - ancient maps that depicted the continents as they were understood by cartographers of old, but physical globes were unnecessary once holoprojectors were invented."

He certainly doesn't mean to imply that the gift is bad because it's nontraditional, in fact, quite the opposite. It's a unique take on his homeworld, a planet that no longer exists, translated into a tangible form. It is beautiful, instructional, and as the globes are attached to what he believes are weights meant for keeping books upright on their shelves, practical as well.

[losthunter]

"It was a photograph that I had found for the inspiration." Hunter smiled slightly. He can tell that it does mean a lot to Spock to have that representation of his homeworld, and the fact that it is a practical gift.

"The base is marble. For durability and strength."