The Stories We Keep Secret

[losthunter]

Hunter has received a few phone calls after completing his memorial to Kendra, and getting the opportunity to display the artwork in his dimension. His goal of finding the other people who might have had Kendra affect their lives had been successful. And now he is ready to go speak to them personally.

But first, he didn't want to go alone. And at the same time, he didn't want those he was meeting to know that he didn't trust them. So he called Faris to join him in the adventure. Hopefully he would be able to put more of Kendra's memory to peace by doing this.

Comments

[boldygoing]

McCoy doesn't quite roll his eyes as he leans close to sling Hunter's arm around his shoulders. "The amount of times I had to haul Jim back to the dorm at the Academy, I've got a lot of practice in."

Faris is quick to put himself under Hunter's other hand, letting the man lean on his back again.

[losthunter]

It is not like before, where Hunter was just too weak to stand, but having the assistance and support is very appreciated. "Now those sounds like stories I would like to hear sometime."

It is also a relief to know that being tired right now feels more natural, not like the pure exhaustion he had felt before.

[boldygoing]

McCoy has always felt that there is a strength in being a little paranoid sometimes. Especially with as rapid of an onset as Hunter's symptoms had, and the remedy apparently being magic, he figures there's no harm in playing it safe.

And Faris, of course, still freshly remembers how quickly Hunter's condition deteriorated when they were on their journey, so he's subconsciously trying to reassure himself that it won't happen again.

Jim follows as the others help Hunter to the bedroom, smiling a little at Hunter's remark. "There's nothing too exciting, mostly just me going a bit overboard at the end of finals." Or on his birthdays, but those were not the kind of drinking that makes for an amusing story.

[losthunter]

It doesn't take long to get to Hunter's bedroom. And he is grateful to get into his large King-sized bed. He smiles again.

"Celebrating the end of school. I remember doing that myself."

[boldygoing]

"Oh, you don't know the half of it," McCoy says as he helps Hunter get settled. "Four years in the Academy's pretty standard, but this idiot here decided to cram four years into three."

"Hey, I managed," Jim protests, though there's no heat in it. Clearly, this is familiar ground between them.

"Yeah, because you had a doctor for a roommate."

[losthunter]

"I had been home-schooled my last year of university. So I missed the whole classmate and roommate thing." Hunter pulls off his shirt, and then settles under the blankets. "I missed the company."

[boldygoing]

"Speaking of company, do you want any?" Jim asks. He's a little reluctant to leave Hunter alone, after what they've just been through.

Faris had been about to offer, himself, but decides to wait for the answer before speaking up.

[losthunter]

"Yes. I do." Hunter is glad that Jim had asked. He doesn't want to be alone right now either.

[boldygoing]

"You seem stable enough by my reckoning," McCoy tells him. "But Jim, if anything happens, you know where to find me."

"Yeah, I know," Jim says, smiling a little at his friend. "Thanks, Bones."

The doctor leaves, and now there are only the three of them. Faris bows his head slightly. "If you would have me, I would stay also. I am also in need of a rest."

[losthunter]

"Of course Faris...." Hunter moves his blanket, so that Faris can leap onto his chest, if he so wishes.

"In a fashion, you both have been closer to me, than anyone else." He is referring to their experience inside the mental representation of his mind.

[boldygoing]

Faris is happy to do so, and the force of his leap will only momentarily weigh against Hunter's chest as the K'da wraps himself around the man's torso.

Jim is already in fairly comfortable clothes for lounging around, but he does take the time to toe off his boots before getting into the bed next to Hunter. "How much do you remember?"

[losthunter]

Hunter wraps one arm around Jim, content to be in his arms, and to have that presence of Faris against his skin again.

"I am not sure how much of it was real..." It all happened in his head, after all. "I remember the weight of the doubts in my mind. Casting all these doubts on my emotions..."

"And then your voices... reminding me of what was real."

[boldygoing]

"That part happened," Jim confirms, shifting a little until the two of them fit together comfortably, familiarly.

"We would not have succeeded without guidance from Kendra," Faris adds. "There is a part of her still inside your subconscious."

[losthunter]

Hunter feels a slight wetness in his eyes, hearing that. "There is?"

The thought of that makes him feel incredibly happy. And fortunate. And blessed.

"Those doubts were not mine... it was like they were feeding off a part of me that was still hurting."

[boldygoing]

"She said they were things that normally wouldn't bother you." Jim debates whether or not to mention his next thought, but he decides he has to know. "You don't really think that I'm just using you, right?"

[losthunter]

Hunter tightens his grasp on Jim a little. "No. No..."

He takes a moment to compose his own thoughts. "I care very much for you. And you have already earned a special place in my heart. In my life."

"What we have is so special to me, Jim."

[boldygoing]

Jim holds onto him too, his worries reassured by that. "You're important to me too. I'm glad that we met. And that won't change, no matter what happens. Or who else we might end up meeting along the way."

He's not sure if this will come as a reassurance to someone of Hunter's century, but Hunter's contact with the Nexus and other timeframes has put him in a more modern mindset, by Jim's reckoning. "I'm still friends with most of the people I've dated. I didn't stop caring about any of them once we weren't seeing each other anymore."

[losthunter]

"Dating, hmmmm?" Hunter smiles. Placing a kiss on Jim's forehead. He gets a warm feeling just hearing Jim say that. He knows that Jim is not looking for anything serious. Or has a desire to be monotonous.

And he is okay with that.

"I'm glad that we met too. That won't change, no matter what."

"I must admit that a selfish part of me wants you to be in my life, as long as possible. I enjoy our time together."

[boldygoing]

Jim doesn't attach as much emotional implications to the term as Hunter might be, but it's really the only appropriate term. "Sure. If that road trip we went on wasn't a date, it's news to me," he says, lightly teasing.

"I like spending time with you too," he agrees. "And if and when we get to the point where we're not seeing each other like that, it doesn't mean we can't see each other anymore."

[losthunter]

The 'dating' term is still being defined by Hunter, as he continues to experience new things. He is evolving more and more, due to opportunities that he had been given in the Nexus.

Hunter turns to face Jim. He strokes a hand through the other man's hair.

"I want you to know... I have always wanted to see you happy and fulfilled. Your smile... your laugh..."

"Faris and I had the chance to discuss about lifemates when we took that journey. And while there was a part of me that was still trying to 'define' what we have... day by day, I realize that I don't have to define anything. I think that darkness took advantage of those last little parts of myself that were still trying to find a 'definition'."

"I do love you, Jim. I always will. No matter what happens."

[boldygoing]

Faris rouses slightly at the sound of his name, but he remains silent, giving his human friends as much privacy as a symbiont can.

Jim smiles a little at Hunter. "I love you too," he says, and gives him a lightly amused look. "Though now that we've both done the Sleeping Beauty thing, I think we should probably pick a different fairytale."

[losthunter]

"We encountered five other versions of fairytales. Do you really want to go there?" Hunter teases Jim.

[boldygoing]

Jim chuckles a little in response. "Depends on the fairytale. Not all of them are bad or depressing. One of my favorites has always been the one about stone soup."

[losthunter]

"The community comes together to bring what they have out of their cupboards, so the whole community can eat." Hunter can figure out why Jim can relate to that particular tale.

"I think we can live up to that one."

[boldygoing]

"Yeah." Jim had already been fond of that story before living through the famine on Tarsus IV, but now he holds it all the more important.

Mostly he just tries not to think of the reason.

He also doesn't want to keep Hunter awake if the other man needs his sleep, so he doesn't immediately ask any more questions about his trip today, before the whole thing was ruined by the curse.