asgardchrysalis | ( open ) practice makes perfect

Who: Jim Kirk & YOU!
What: Jim wants to learn how to wield a sword (and some other weapons)
When: Now-ish
Where: Temjask arena
Rating: PG-13 for possible mild violence, fighting and minor injuries

While not unfamiliar with using weapons, it's fair to say that Jim's well out of his depth here. Barring the use of magic, there's nothing even remotely resembling energy weapons, and even projectile weapons are nonexistent. He's checked out what's on offer but some of them he doesn't even recognize, and those that he does...

Well, he can't really remember ever holding a sword in his life, for instance. But he's definitely curious. He goes to the arena to train, keep his body in shape and possibly look for someone willing to spar with him, and after he's worked up some sweat, he heads out to where all those weapons are on display, looking over the selection with interest.

He picks up a sword at one point, a smaller and lighter-looking one, but not knowing what to do with it, he'll put it back down unless someone approaches or cuts in. He also walks around the training grounds, watching others use those same weapons, admiring from a safe distance at how skilled they are.

A more elaborate or showy move will no doubt get an impressed sound from him, and he tips his head at them. "That was brilliant. You're really good."

Not that he'd know the first thing, it just looked impressive.

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"Haven't met him yet," he wrinkled his nose a little. "Sounds like I might be better off. I don't like cranky people."

What a load of crap, coming from the guy whose best friend was probably the crankiest, most pessimistic man to exist in their quadrant of the galaxy. It did get annoying at times, but he loved that about Bones.

"It's unfortunate that anyone ever did," he commented. "You know, you remind me of a race we have where I'm from, called the Orion. They're green skinned too, although their hair is usually black. There are a few redheads but they're incredibly unusual. I... actually, I went to the Academy with an Orion girl with a lovely smile and very bright red hair. She was quite... unique."

And Jim probably deserved a punch in the face for the way he'd treated her back then. Thankfully they'd talked it out years later, but still.

"Orion," she repeated, careful to pronounce it correctly. "You know, you're the second person to tell me he's met a green race before. Peter Quill has too. He calls them 'Zen-Whoberis,' I think." Actually, he'd mentioned being in a courtship with one, which seemed like a wild notion to Ariadne. Wild, but not unheard of. She'd known Elves and Humans and Darucs to occasionally intermingle with each other. Never with her kind, of course. But with each other, anyway.

But while she'd mistakenly hoped that Zen-Whoberis was just another name for Alastrian, she knew better about these Orions. No Alastrian had black hair. It was utterly unthinkable, actually.

She touched her fingertips to her chest, leaning in slightly. "My people are Alastrians," she said. "We all have green skin but...many different hair colors."

The subject of hair was tricky. So Ariadne abandoned it quickly.

"Some of us are born with the ability to appear Human. I was. Until I came here. And I only just got it back...I thought I was stronger..."

"Well, there's not just one race," he pointed out. "But there are a few Orion officers in Starfleet, so I interact with them more often."

Jim nodded, smiling fondly at the mention of Peter. "Yes, he mentioned that to me too. His badass girlfriend is, in fact, one of them. I've been involved with Orions before too, so you see, not all of us really care much about that."

His eyes flickered to her hair in understanding. It was very unusual, Jim could remember maybe one species who had natural hair the same color as hers, so he could only guess that other Alastrians had hair with colors just as unusual.

"I think your powers here might work a little differently," he said. "Nevertheless, you won't need to look human all the time here, so maybe that's not much of an issue?"

"I would never have thought I could live that way," she said. "Out in the open."

But she liked the idea. She loved it, in fact. Whether or not she was ready for it would require some time. But Jim had definitely encouraged the seed growing in her mind. And there was no way to express--in any language--how grateful she was.

So she went for the next best thing. She surged forward suddenly and gave him a giant hug.

Well, as giant a hug as a five foot two waif was capable of giving.

"Brand new world out there," he shrugged, smiling at her.

The way he saw it, everyone had the right to live out in the open, should they want to. It didn't feel right to him that anyone should hide away just because of their race, or their appearance, and he was glad that he was the one to show her that here, she didn't have to worry about that.

It felt like he'd soothed some of her concerns, which made him feel pretty happy, but he was still surprised by the hug. However, he was as quick as ever to adapt, all six feet of him more than willing to lean down to meet her halfway, his arms resting around her as he let out a soft laugh.

"Well, you're friendly," he commented, a hint of teasing to his tone.

Unfortunately, Ariadne was a little tone deaf when it came to teasing. Humans were wonderful creatures, but their use of language was completely confounding. She stepped out of the hug and looked up at him, puzzled. "Well, I try to be."

It was much easier to be friendly than to be scowly. In her opinion, anyway.

She only hoped she hadn't broken some taboo.

"Good. Not enough people are," Jim nodded, reassuring her with a smile. Even as she pulled away from the hug, he added. "I didn't mind that, by the way. You can hug me anytime."

He may not be used to it from most people, but he was pretty friendly himself. Physical closeness of any kind didn't bother him, even with acquaintances, and hugs sounded like a great way to build a friendship.

She was grateful. As a whole, she found humanoid races just a little too prudish about physical contact. But what did you expect when they were generally born only one or two at a time? Alastrian hatchlings didn't really have a concept of personal space. It had taken Ariadne a long time to get used to the isolation that came with growing up.

Except when it came to hands. She was careful never to let anyone touch her hands.

"You've given me a lot to think about, Jim." She smiled. "Thank you."

Jim's concept of personal space was a little more lax than most humans, so there was that. She'd come to find that there was precious little when it came to physical contact that bothered him, at least when the touch was harmless.

"I'm glad that's the case," he tipped his head at her. "Now, are you still teaching me how to use this thing or what?"

Ariadne gave him a dramatic curtsy. Unlike the previous ones, this was a little playful. A lot of bounce and just the vaguest hint of sass. "Of course," she said.

Somehow, that felt like the least she could do. He'd offered her a lot of perspective.

( open ) practice makes perfect

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