Iowa | Tuesday FT

[pursuedthestars]

Jim was sitting on the front porch of his mother's house, enjoying the sun and the warmth. For the first time in awhile, he had the house to himself. His mother was off on some mission and Frank was...well, he didn't care where Frank was. What counted was that he could sit outside with a cool glass of water and do nothing without hearing that he was a lazy screw up.

Of course, that didn't stop the thoughts from impeding on his calm. Thoughts that he was wasting his life, doing nothing, letting unrealized potential wilt and everything else. He made an unhappy sound when he couldn't stop thinking about it and sat up.

What good was having the house to yourself when you couldn't enjoy it? Jim got to his feet and dusted off his hands. His motorcycle was nearby and he decided to just take a ride on that. Get the wind in his hair and the sun on his face and get going fast to forget about everything.

Because that would surely work. Surely.

[NFB but open for calls/texts/everything else]

Comments

[pursuedthestars]

"Hey," Jim said, almost surprised that he was hearing from her. After the silence from last time, he wondered if she'd gotten held up in space again. "Good to hear from you. Where are you?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Still in Brazil," Natalie said with a little sigh. "I know I said otherwise last time, but I'm going to be held up for a little while longer."

[pursuedthestars]

"Bummer," Jim said, slowing down to take a turn. "Everything okay?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Everything's fine." Kind of. That was as specific as she was going to get. If things went well, she could fill him in later. If things went badly... She could hopefully still fill him in later. "Miss you, though."

[pursuedthestars]

"Not surprised," he said cheekily. "I miss you too. How long are you gonna be stuck there for?"

[whenshewasnice]

"A few days," she hazarded. "I'm coming over as soon as I can. Or to Fandom. Somewhere."

Anywhere that wasn't Brazil or space.

[pursuedthestars]

"You wanna come to Iowa?" Not that he minded her being there but Iowa was boring. "If you wanna see me, I can meet you halfway. This place isn't exciting."

[whenshewasnice]

"I'm not at all particular." Iowa didn't seem so bad after the relative isolation of space, which she seemed to still be kind of bouncing back from. "Anywhere's exciting enough when you're there."

[pursuedthestars]

"You trying to butter me up for some reason?" he teased, speeding his bike up again and keeping the phone close to his ear.

[whenshewasnice]

"I haven't seen you in over three months," Natalie pointed out lightly. "Of course I'm aiming to have you be extra nice to me when I see you again."

[pursuedthestars]

"Do you think I'd be mean to you if you weren't flattering?" Jim teased. "That I'd refuse to see you?"

[whenshewasnice]

"I think a lot could change in three months," she retorted. "You could've forgotten that you like me."

[pursuedthestars]

"Some things have changed but not everything," Jim told her. "Have a little faith in yourself, Natalie."

[whenshewasnice]

"I have enough of that." Enough to face a known psychopath, even! "What's with the background noise?"

Tht'd be air whooshing past a motorcycle, Nat.

[pursuedthestars]

"Just out for an afternoon ride," Jim told her, shrugging. "Didn't wanna stop when you called me."

Luckily Iowa didn't have a huge traffic problem.

[whenshewasnice]

"You were right," Natalie drawled, a little unimpressed. (But really pretty glad to be unimpressed by something this mundane for a change.) "Some things haven't changed."

[pursuedthestars]

"What's that mean?" Jim asked, frowning. "It's not like I'm speeding through the streets. I'm being safe."

Sure, he wasn't wearing a helmet but whatever.

[whenshewasnice]

"You're riding a motorcycle and talking on the phone. Without a helmet and with only one hand for steering, I assume, because you're not really the headset type." Logic! "It's not really a textbook definition of safety, is it?"

[pursuedthestars]

"Says the girl who went to space for three months to hide," Jim pointed out. "Pot, kettle. I'm fine."

[whenshewasnice]

"Space was safe," Natalie pointed out. "That was the whole point."

Apart from how they'd had a mole on-board, but they'd dealt with that in a pretty elegant way, so it didn't count.

[pursuedthestars]

"Space is never one hundred percent safe," Jim told her, shaking his head. "Never."

[whenshewasnice]

"It was safer than Earth." But ugh, the isolation. It hadn't worked for her at all. "Which is also never one hundred percent safe, and you should wear a helmet. I don't care if it messes up your rugged sexy image."

[pursuedthestars]

"Next time," Jim told her, turning his bike around and moving it onto a quiet straightaway. "I just wanted to ride, okay? I didn't expect a phone call."

[whenshewasnice]

"Mm hmm," Natalie replied, but she didn't sound like she was intending to keep harping on the subject any further. That wasn't really in keeping with the spirit of this call. "How are things, other than that?"

[pursuedthestars]

"Fine."

Well, maybe not so fine but he wasn't sharing that.

"Just enjoying the life of doing absolutely nothing."

No, he hated it.

[whenshewasnice]

"Really?"

Somehow she doubted that last bit.

[pursuedthestars]

Jim sighed. "I think I'd rather talk about that when you're here," he requested. "Maybe you can help me out or something."

[whenshewasnice]

"Sure, okay," Natalie agreed. Maybe a little surprised but not in any kind of bad way. Just... surprised. "It can wait."

[pursuedthestars]

"Yeah, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." Not if he didn't get his act together. "It can wait until you're finally able to come out and play again."

[whenshewasnice]

"Soon," Natalie promised. She had things to disclose to him at that point, too. "I'll keep you posted, Jim."

[pursuedthestars]

"Okay," Jim said, nodding. "Get here soon, okay? It's kind of boring without you. It's been awhile."

[whenshewasnice]

"I know." It felt like forever, and their goodbyes had been pretty hasty and unceremonious, too. So, she had extra reasons to hope everything went according to plan tomorrow.

She held back a sigh. "I'll see you soon. I love you."

[pursuedthestars]

"I know." He still hadn't gotten better at returning sentiments like that. "I miss you. I hope I get to see you soon. Be safe."

[whenshewasnice]

For Natalie, that was more than good enough. Close enough. She knew he cared.

"You too, Shatner. Bye."

She hesitated for a second, then ended the call.