Mingle Log!

[notscrapmetal]

When; July 5th through July 7th!
Rating; G+
Characters; Open to ALL, 4th Wallers and Citizens!
Summary; The celebrations continue, and the Anonymous regime has summoned guests that Citizens might (not) prove very thrilled to see! As opposed to other Fourth Wall events, all visiting characters will have been invited to the City, or they must arrive here of their own will.

Mingle! Explore~!

Log;

There's so much to do and so much to see in this City of cities. From tromping through Xanadu, long walks along the shore, shopping in the Square, hunting in the forest, meeting a contact in the Underground, or getting as many answers as possible at the Welcoming Center how can anyone decide on just one. In three days time so much can be done!

Shops and restaurants are having specials. Happy hour has become happy days in some bars. This is quite the occasion! When the City decides to celebrate, it becomes contagious. Why not smile and strike up a conversation with a stranger? After all, a stranger is a friend you haven't met yet.

Comments

[first_officer]

[That wins a verifiable smile, though it's barely more than a twitch at one corner of her lip.]

He tells me Lieutenant Spock is your first officer.

[There's a hint of a question there and not only because I'm not actually sure if that's the correct rank for the pilot, oops.]

[countrydoctor]

[This Robbins is a tough customer. That's more of a smile than he might've expected.]

It's Commander Spock now. He must've shot up a few ranks between-- [Your time and mine? Your timeline and mine? He'll be damned if he knows.] ...Well, he outranks me, that's about all I know.

[first_officer]

[If you can't smile at the sophomoric brilliance of the younger generation, what can you smile at? She's hard, but she strives not to be dour. That's a role she doesn't want to play, the cold crone on the bridge. It's a tough balance. And besides, with a Vulcan second officer, she can't be too humorless or no one would tell them apart.]

Hmnn, [she muses, not precisely disapproving. It's only that it's so hard to judge, between her time and-- well. Perhaps First Lieutenant isn't the apt rank, then or there. Or perhaps--

Speculation is useless, really.]

If you see him, I hope you'll give him my best, [she says rather wryly, knowing he might not remember her, depending.]

[countrydoctor]

Oh, I'll see him. I can't turn around without running into that cold-blooded lizard. [There's definite fondness in that jibe. McCoy has known Spock for almost four years now and, although he'd only admits as much out loud under extreme duress, the Vulcan has grown on him.

Like a benign tumor.] I'll be sure to pass that on.

Say, do you know a Dr. Mark Piper?

[first_officer]

[Though she wouldn't say she's close to Spock, she appreciates his calculating, calm attitude; a devotion to rationality is something they share. That doesn't mean she doesn't understand how it can be frustrating.

He would-- will-- make a fine first, she thinks, but not without friction.]

Philip Boyce is our doctor, [she answers, shaking her head slightly.]

[countrydoctor]

[Sure, he's a great first officer. It's being human that he's not so good at, and that's what really grinds McCoy's gears.]

Boyce... I'm afraid I don't know a Boyce. Most days I think that the Starfleet medical community is so small that we must all know each other, but...

[He gives an unconcerned, one-shouldered shrug and tries his recently-arrived drink. It's better than the replicated swill he drinks on the ship, of course.]

[first_officer]

[Well, but he isn't human. Robbins is of the opinion he's too human to be properly Vulcan, but that's only a suspicion. It only makes it more striking, besides. The hint of another side to him. That, more than anything, she sympathizes with.]

For all we know, we're not even talking about the same Enterprise. Or it's before your time-- Vulcans are long-lived.

[countrydoctor]

I don't know how many more Enterprises I can keep straight.

[He moves to take another drink and stops half way, raising an eyebrow at Robbins.] There's something familiar about you, Robbins. I can't shake the feeling that we've met.

[first_officer]

One is enough for me.

[She sips her own drink neatly, the glass rim covering her trace of a smile.]

If we have, I'm sure I haven't yet.

[countrydoctor]

Same here. Lord knows I don't need more captains to supervise or Vulcans to bicker with.

[He makes no attempt to hide his own lopsided half-smile at the ridiculousness of the situation. Multiple universes, what.]

I'd hate to admit to forgetting a face, so I'll say we haven't.

[first_officer]

[By her own standards she's being remarkably demonstrative. It helps, really, that they're effectively off-duty here. And that she has no image to maintain. It'd be a stretch to say she's relaxed, but she's considerably less on guard than usual.]

I certainly won't contradict you, Doctor.

[countrydoctor]

[That's the only way to approach these unscheduled shoreleaves in other dimensions--relax as much as possible, enjoy the opportunity to be a private citizen on a vacation instead of a Starfleet representative. McCoy still gets a bit antsy when he doesn't know where Jim and Spock are, but it's getting easier to embrace the downtime. A decent drink, fine company... there are worse ways to spend a couple of days.]

You can call me Leonard, seeing as how we're not on duty. [It might be nice being Leonard for a while. Not Doctor, not Bones.]

[first_officer]

[Vacations aren't really her forte. But she's been given to understand there's a temporal hiccup to keep her from being declared AWOL, and really, what is she if not an explorer? Coming here was a split-second decision, an adventurous why not, and even if she ought to have called for backup before crossing over, she doesn't regret it.]

Morgan, [she returns in kind, surprisingly easily. No one calls her by her name; the Captain might be able to get away with it, and he would never try. How novel, to be a civilian for a little while. Or at least to pretend.] I won't stand on formality.

[countrydoctor]

Morgan. [Morgan Robbins. He's still waiting for something about her to trip a memory, but no luck. Maybe they just haven't met yet.] You're handling this better than I did the first time I was dragged to one of these shindigs.

[first_officer]

[Perhaps someday they will... though she can't imagine where, if not aboard the Enterprise. The nagging question of where she'll end up is the one truly unsettling part of this whole adventure.]

It's hardly the worst place I've ended up, [she explains wryly.]

[countrydoctor]

I could say the same.

[He examines his amber bourbon idly. Funny how little there is to talk about when work isn't an option. Maybe that means he needs to find drinking buddies he doesn't work with.]

[first_officer]

[It's doubly difficult, isn't it, living aboard a starship; by definition she works with everyone she sees on a daily basis. If she didn't find it rewarding, of course, she'd have stayed earthbound-- but it's peculiar. She wouldn't say lonesome. But it does come close.

Some people take it harder than others. The Captain, for all she thinks he has an easier time keeping the confidence of his men without having to be on guard at all hours, confides in no one, except perhaps Boyce's martinis. Morgan wonders if that's simply the price of command, but it hardly seems appropriate to ask what McCoy's captain is like, at least in so many words.

She needs to stop dwelling on Christopher's situation. She brushes her hair off her shoulders, an unconscious mirror of trying to shed the weight of thoughts, and smiles. It's small, not forced but oddly decisive.]

So, what's worth seeing on this side of reality?

[countrydoctor]

[Being on a starship certainly puts restrictions on a person's off-duty company. Not that McCoy minds too much; he's not the most sociable of people.]

I usually end up talking to myself--a younger version of myself. It's not as unsettling as it sounds.

[first_officer]

[He seems sociable enough. Possibly this is because her standards are skewed.

She arches an eyebrow.]

Do you find yourself good conversation?

[countrydoctor]

[Well, McCoy can be perfectly charming on occasion...]

There are people I'd never admit this to, but no, I don't. Having a conversation with someone who'll answer just the way you would leaves something to be desired.

[first_officer]

I can't imagine you'd learn anything new,

[she agrees. At least the elder McCoy.]

But at least you wouldn't have much to argue about.

[countrydoctor]

People don't usually make progress by being agreeable, Morgan.

[first_officer]

Of course, but being on vacation is hardly about progress.

[countrydoctor]

[He settles back in his chair, more relaxed now than he ever has a chance to be on the Enterprise. No crises to deal with, no captains to look after, no Vulcans to argue with... it'd get boring after a few days.]

I suppose you're right. It's been so long since I took a proper vacation--I don't know if I remember how.

[first_officer]

[Perhaps that's why vacations tend to come in small doses.]

By the time you figure it out, we'll all be home, I'm sure.