Bene venisti (for smartass_captain )

[conjuredskies]

The last time Jim came to Bruma was upon the tail-end of a waking nightmare. The last time he walked the streets was just before he descended into a crypt to rescue Felix from himself. Hardly the circumstances to let him appreciate the snowbound town perched high in the Jerrall Mountains above Cyrodiil.

How much has changed, though. It’s afternoon in Bruma, and Felix is leading them out of the alleys behind the house, the pair of them bundled up against the cold. The snow has been swept to one side of the streets, and the town’s citizens are going about their day, from rugged fur-wrapped hunters to young women in bright cloaks heading for the chapel. The smell of smoke is on the wind as Felix takes his fiance’s hand and leads them up to the old familiar door under carved low-slung eaves. The front window shutters are open, and he’s sure they’ll have been spotted already. He lowers his hood and shares a look with Jim, a small smile before he knocks on the varnished wood.

Terentius doesn’t move too fast these days, and he’s half-consciously expecting a couple of minutes’ reprieve while they wait. Instead the door opens within seconds. He finds himself looking – up – at- gods, he does look so much like Stratos, doesn’t he? His complexion’s lighter and his face is lined; perhaps this man is a little heavier built than Stratos… and he’s smiling. Widely, genuinely, stepping back to gesture them both in. He’s clearly had time to change, whatever clothes he traveled in exchanged for a set of dark blue and gold robes.

“Come, come, it’s too cold to stand in the street.” Time in foreign parts has diminished his Brumese accent, but it’s still stronger than Felix’s: the vowels more drawn out, the hard consonants softer. “And here you are at last. Felix-” and now he’s pulling his slightly dazed son into an embrace as fierce as it is brief, before standing back to look at him, “I’m glad to see you. And to congratulate you!” He turns to look at Jim properly, eyes bright with interest. “This must be-?”

“Captain James Tiberius Kirk,” Felix says with quiet pride. “My betrothed, father. Jim, may I introduce my father, Legate Nereus Caelus of the Seventh Legion.”

Comments

[smartass_captain]

"I'm a...wh-- no. No, I'm not a conjurer." Nereus and his thicker accent and now rapid speech take Jim a moment to keep up with. He's shaking his head quickly.

"There's." Fuck, this is hard. Jim doesn't have the words for what he wants to say. He licks at his bottom lip and squints down at the table before raising his head again. "There's no one who is mage in my plane." That's close, right?

"I used to think it was impossible to...t-to cast there. But I've seen it done now. It's just harder." Repeated exposure to the climate seems to show that mages can acclimate to the area quite successfully given Felix's familiarity with his spells in Jim's world as the years have gone by but the captain doesn't even know where to begin if he wants to explain it.

"I'm not a mage. And I'm certainly no daedra. I just. It's my job to study things people haven't seen before. I ended up wandering into a place that let me meet your son." A beat. "Sons."

[auspex_caelo]

"We didn't just meet," Felix adds. There's a little more color in his face, but it's sunk in what conversation they're having and he's giving everyone uncertain looks as he rejoins the discussion.

"This is extraordinary," Nereus says, peering at Jim and shaking his head.

"But true," says Stratos. "Father, you must understand why all of this demands secrecy. The things Felix and I have been studying must not fall into the wrong hands."

"Of course." He agrees with that immediately, almost on reflex. Still. He's frowning at Jim. Secrecy being the watchword, bringing a new husband home from another plane is a very dubious venture... but why they'd take such a risk is already obvious. Much too late to argue even if he wanted to.

Of all the questions he wants to ask, Nereus can't guess how many will go unanswered. He reaches across the table, however, extending a hand toward Jim's palm up. "May I... ah. Examine your energies, for a moment?"

[smartass_captain]

"No," Jim agrees with Felix readily. "We've been together for years now. As you can imagine, deciding to do much anything else required a bit more thought and work."

Work Felix was more than worth doing. Twice, even. Jim can't help the slight crook to one corner of his mouth. He doesn't regret it. The only thing he regrets is the months they spent apart after Felix's ordeal. The captain's bound and determined not to make the same mistake again.

"Ah?" Jim doesn't think twice about reaching out with his right hand to offer it to Felix's father. There's no ingrained suspicion of what a mage could do to him. "Sure, okay."

[conjuredskies]

Neither of the brothers objects, but they're both watching closely as Nereus takes Jim's hand and passes one of his own over it. A faint pink glow tinges the air between them, limns both of their skin, and Jim's likely to feel an odd sensation, like something ethereal plucking at him gently. Nereus's eyes are distant before he lets the magic face and pulls away.

"I thought you might carry some trace of your plane's magic with you," he explains. "A residue of something truly foreign. And yet I don't sense anything strange. It must be true that your plane has very little magic. Perhaps you're at an advantage over a mage, in that respect."

"A conjurer could tell," Felix says quietly. "But only if they're good enough. And most of them only study the flashy spells, anyway."

[smartass_captain]

It's different from when Felix does it. Jim couldn't explain how exactly they feel different but it's there just at the back of his head. The tingling doesn't hurt but it's not normal, not comfortable. Jim shudders slightly and shakes his head when Nereus pulls away. He's not aware at how quick that same hand reaches over to take Felix's instead.

To seek comfort once it's over with.

"I don't know, Felix does quite alright over there." Jim shakes his head slowly. "I'm studying it as well as I'm able. So far all I've done is raise more questions than answers." He'd really rather not bring up How Felix knows he can tell Jim apart from anyone else spiritually. The last thing they need to bring up is the shit that happens in the Nexus.

Alternates, curses. Felix has had to identify His Jim on more than one occasion even when he didn't look like himself.

[conjuredskies]

Felix's fingers curl tight around Jim's hand, squeezing in reassurance. They have each other's backs here. Nereus, meanwhile, clearly has plenty to distract him as he turns his gaze to Felix.

"So when you say you intend to live with Jim..."

"In his world. Yes, Father. He's arranged everything. I'll have to keep my origin a secret just as his is here, but we've worked it all out. I'll be with him on his ship most of the time, anyway."

"His ship." Up go the eldest Caelus's eyebrows again. "Then you really are a captain?"

[smartass_captain]

"That's truthfully why I didn't think it would be wise to bring many people of mine for a wedding over here. Everything's already been settled in my world. Stratos came as a witness. I really don't have much in the way of family over there so there was no ceremony, merely paperwork to be filled out. But we both agreed it wouldn't be right or official until all of your ceremonies were seen to."

He could probably invite a few people along to this if they had enough time to prepare. Uhura knows both of the brothers. Spock, Bones. It wouldn't be much more than that but it would be something at least.

Nereus' question makes Jim smile with more than a touch of pride, though his gaze strays toward Stratos again, eyebrow raising in a clearly unspoken question.

"I am. Though not what you would call a traditional one."

[conjuredskies]

Stratos hesitates; Nereus is quick to sweep a look around all of them.

"Now," he says firmly, "I won't ask you to tell me anything that directly compromises your work. I won't ask the details of getting there and back, for example. But I will hear what sort of place my youngest son intends to run away to. And what manner of life he's going to lead."

The look he gives Stratos accepts no arguments. After a moment, his son looks at Jim and nods helplessly.

"Besides," Nereus adds more lightly, "if I am ever interrogated - and I have many ways to prevent that - it will not be about your escapades, believe me."

[smartass_captain]

They're all talking, all looking around at each other. Jim watches them all and says nothing. But he does lift one hand and point a finger straight up. Felix understands, of course he does. Stratos will only take a moment longer, and then only because he's less used to Jim's nonprofessional side to his personality. But eventually he'll have their attention again.

Their questioning stares and potentially frustrated faces.

"Oblivion. The Void. Not yours, obviously. My ship is out among the stars. A research vessel. Mapping out uncharted regions of space and documenting whatever else we may find." It's the whatever else that's usually the part that gets them in trouble but Jim knows well enough what not to say.

All of this is hardly believable as it is. He's at least got the decency not to smile. He doesn't want this to be taken for a joke in poor taste.