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]

"Maybe that's what we should do for our next crew get-together," Jim says. "We might be splitting up for a bit while the Enterprise is in dry dock, but that doesn't mean we can't all still see each other."

[losthunter]

"Potlucks are always better with more people. It gives a lot of variety, to feed a lot of people."

[boldygoing]

The others don't seem averse to the idea, so Jim nods. "I'll let you know when, then. It might be a bit before our schedules sync up, once we're back on duty."

[losthunter]

"My schedule is pretty flexible." Hunter smiles. That is one advantage of being an artist.

[boldygoing]

Jim comes damn close to saying 'that's not the only thing about you that's flexible.' Instead he just smirks a little. "Speaking of your schedule, any big projects going on right now?"

[losthunter]

"I have been working on a memorial piece... for Kendra."

[boldygoing]

Oh. Well that's a bit of a mood change. "Memorial?" Uhura repeats, frowning in concern. There's been too much of that, lately. Especially after Hunter gave up some of his own time to help them memorialize Admiral Pike, and the crewmen of the Enterprise who were lost in the battle against the Vengeance. "Are you okay?"

[losthunter]

It was an honest answer to Jim's question. Hunter doesn't want to bring down the mood. But it is important to him that he reflected on what happened between him and Kendra. And their goodbye.

"It is strange. To miss her so much, when at one time in my life I was so angry with her."

[boldygoing]

"Loss of any kind is a complex emotion," Spock says, understanding in his eyes, behind the usual Vulcan stoicism. "To struggle with one's reaction to loss is shared by many."

[losthunter]

"I previously had painted a painting of Kendra before," The dramatic large portrait of Kendra's vibrant green eyes is hanging in his art studio.

"But I got to see another side of her. Many different sides. And I want to capture more of who she was..."

[boldygoing]

"Anything I can do to help?" Jim asks, uncertain.

[losthunter]

"You are already being an help." Just having Jim around as emotional support is important to Hunter.

"In addition to the memorial project, I am also using my pottery wheel a lot more recently. There is something relaxing about working with clay."

[boldygoing]

"Well I'd say it's good to have hobbies, but you seem to have that pretty much covered," McCoy says. He may not know the details about this Kendra woman or how she met her end, but he's been watching Hunter's body language, and is satisfied that he's handling any grief in a productive manner.

[losthunter]

"I am even attempting my very first sewing project. Luckily, I am getting a lot of advice from a professional seamstress."

[boldygoing]

"Someone else you met here?" Jim guesses. Hunter does seem to have a lot of Nexus friends, and to be fair, this seems to be a great place for that kind of networking.

[losthunter]

"Yes. She is the mother of a good friend of mine. I think I mentioned her name before, April. She married someone she had met in the Nexus."

[boldygoing]

Jim nods, remembering Hunter mentioning them before.

"What are you making?" Uhura asks, curious about Hunter's work. She had briefly looked at the art gallery part of the apartment, but hadn't seen any fabric being worked on.

[losthunter]

"A dress. I found this fabulous gold fabric during Jim and my bike trip." His intent is to make a sexy gold dress for himself, for the Drag date that he and Jim are planning. But not everyone needs to know that.

He smiles. "Would you like a better tour of the art studio?"

[boldygoing]

"Sure," Uhura agrees with a smile.

"I would also be interested to see this," Spock adds.

Jim's already seen it before, but one of the nice things about an active art studio is that you may never walk into the same room twice. "C'mon, Bones, it's pretty cool."

[losthunter]

Standing, Hunter clears a few more plates, dropping them off in the kitchen for later. Then he leads everyone into the art studio.

One of the first things that he shows them is a large art material cabinet, that as he starts opening drawers and cabinet drawers, it reveals tons of materials. Paints. Brushes. Canvas. Sketchbooks.

There is also a large project table, that has a lot of space for various projects.

There is a large easel, that is adjustable to a various of canvas sizes. There is also a pottery wheel, with an untouched mound of clay on it right now. And a large sewing machine in the corner, where the vibrant gold fabric is folded nicely in a little square.

[boldygoing]

Spock takes note of the wide variety of materials that Hunter's collected, and the fact that many of them appear well-used. "Do you specialize in any particular medium?" the Vulcan asks, raising an eyebrow.

[losthunter]

"I tend to use these art pencils for my portraits," Hunter pulls open a large cabinet that has hundreds of pencils in it. They are all organized in a rainbow-spectrum, with the reds and oranges at one end, and the purples and blues at the other end. The drawer is also set up in a style, that after one pencil is taken from its color palette, another slides into its place.

"And for my paintings, acrylic. It is a cleaner paint. And if you are not quite happy with a finish of an acrylic painting, it is easier to change it."

[boldygoing]

McCoy is no artist, but he can tell that Hunter's put a lot of work into collecting and organizing all his materials. "You've got one hell of a set-up here."

[losthunter]

"The important thing is to feel prepared. When you are drawing faces... there is so many colors and shades that should be captured."

All four of them just might see a portrait of themselves among the visible portraits that are hanging on a fishing line that is hanging against the wall. Jim's portrait is him sitting at his Captain's chair

[boldygoing]

Of course Jim wants to get a better look, so he approaches the row of portraits, appreciating the detail that Hunter has put into the pictures. "You got all this from one trip, huh?"