Bro time
„You are crazy, you know?” and with the challenging question a nice glass of unknown-but-alcoholic was put in front of him.
„Um...thanks? And I already told you, I was absolutely sure before the start about the triple-flip” he murmured, gripping the glass.
„Ah, I wasn't referring to that, you dumb human!” The impossibly light-blond man sat next to him on the iron. They could look down to the astonishing amount of crowd of the Sunchaser beneath them from here, as this part of the framework, and favourite place on the ship for Jim, was just above the main plaza.
Not a safe or normal place to sit down and think about things, but that never stopped any of them.
„Please tell me if I'm wrong, but I honestly believed some part of you is human too” Jim answered with a little smile.
„Not officially!”, answered the other with a terrible, totally fake painful expression on his face.
„What do you want, Crahyn?”
„I wanted to tell you how stupid it is, what you do!”
„Okay. You got me. Which part?”
„The part where you're sitting here, all alone, after that amazing new trick of yours we all want to murder you for, instead of sitting down there, taking part in...you know..that thing...oh what's the name...hm.....oh, yeah, life! That's how it's called!”, and there was again some terrible acting about hard thinking, then happiness for the solution, but then the mocking stopped, and more serious eyes looked into his, „You could have girls, or guys, for every limb you've got!” the other wiggled his eyebrows, then asked, „What the hell is wrong with you?”
„Maybe I just wanted to relax a little?”
„You...One of us....Relax?!” How the man snorted, then started to giggle was a good way to cheer Jim up a little. He smiled, and shrugged.
„I just thought about my life..from earlier! Not the present one” he admitted.
„Don't tell me you started to miss that!” Jim looked up from his drink, and the pleasant surprise which filled him was the best distraction from his memories. Because Crahyn's face was shocked, honestly this time, and maybe even a little worried.
„No. Not missing. No” he answered quietly.
„So...It still haunts you. Hm?”
„Yeah, something like that” he stared down at the crowd again.
„Jim. What's wrong?”
The question was honest. Too honest. He grimaced, then slowly answered:
„There was a man. He'd died years before we met at the SpaceJump. I never really had a father, but somehow he, many years after I had given up on wishing for one, became...something like that to me. I wonder what he would think now about...me. My choice to come with you guys, instead of Starfleet. He wanted me to be a good man. To do good things”, he dropped his head, „Maybe it is better he cannot see me now, cannot know what I ended up being”, he whispered.
The smack on his back made him yelp in pain. Crahyn was stronger than a human.
„You are stupid!”
„Yeah, okay, sure, great! Now tell me something I don't know!” he snapped with hurt and anger.
„Why would he think anything else but the simple fact that you had enough of the service and decided to live a life of your own? This is not bad”
„Giving up the service of a noble ideology? Stepping out of living and working together with others who serve the same thing? Leaving the Starfleet was leaving behind the very belief that a world can exist, where we are explorers, not conquerors, and we seek out knowledge and maybe...friendship with others, not treasures of their homes. The idea which the whole thing was based on...yeah, it was a noble and good one. Much better than many things humanity joined during it's history anyway”
„Nice speech. Well-practiced, I guess”
Jim only answered with a furious glare. He truly believed in all that!
„Look, Starfleet boy, I know you think there is nothing better and more filled with good-will than Federation and Starfleet, but let's face the facts: Starfleet has it's dirty little secrets too. And I thought you spent enough time among us already to see that we aren't so different......Oh, yeah, we don't fill anyone's mind with something like that oh-so-majestic ideology...”
„Hey, I'm not saying they are better than everything!”
„Yet, here you are, brooding about what that almost-father would think, because you left one space-traveling company for another. Maybe we aren't as famous and big as your beloved Starfleet, but we aren't bad either. With a little better management and PR, we could have thousands and thousands of applicants every year too, and soon: your Starfleet would end, beause everyone would wish to join us, not them!”
Jim stared at the other man for three heartbeats, then started to laugh. Histerically. And couldn't stop until his tears were flowing freely, because Crahyn's idea was so exsessive in surreality, he couldn't believe it was really said out loud!
Thousands and thousands of crazy racers and jumpers and acrobats, most of them helping in really illegal acts from system to system.
Nice.
When he could finally breath normally, or at least more normally, he let Crahyn yank him up to his feet, and they climbed down together from the framework.
It was a night which could make a man never forget it, always bringing it up in his old age, calling it „the most fully-lived time of his life”.
He ended up with three girls, gorgeus purple-bluish skin, hair like angelic feathers, laughter totally like angels' giggles, and very-very mesmerizing flexibility.
They almost made him forget about Xessala.
Almost.