Meggan had only ever planned one date so far, and that was quite recently. Brian had taken her out once - when she was all blonde and pretty and he was trying to show his interest, make up for how he’d treated her before - and it was an upscale type of restaurant and Meggan had kind of hated it. That wasn’t for her. She didn’t really care for that kind of date. Dinner, talking over a glass of wine. Boring. Overwhelming. Too many people and emotions and it was so easy to get caught up in the romantic atmosphere of a place like that.
No, this would be far from that.
The date was a two-parter. First, coffee - because trying new coffees was kind of their thing. She got two hot drinks they hadn’t had yet, and was sitting with them on the ledge of a short wall, down by the overlook shops, waiting for Jim to arrive. She felt him coming her way long before she could see him, and she held both drinks in her hand for a moment, before setting them back down awkwardly and picking them up again.
Holding them, or not holding them? She eventually decided on not holding them, leaving them to sit on the edge of the wall she’d been leaning against. Meggan waved at Jim excitedly, and then, when he was close, decided to give him a hug instead of just a wave. “Are you ready? We’re going to have so much fun!”
Meggan asking him on a date had not been something Jim expected, but he liked her - he liked dating, so really he didn't see the problem with it if he was being honest. And her insistence at planning things was also a source of amusement, all Jim had to do was sit back and wait for the night to arrive.
And when it did he made his way down to the appointed destination lifting a hand in greeting when he saw Meggan waiting for him by a low wall, and returning the hug when he reached her, a quick brush of his lips against her cheek as he greeted her. "I am so ready to see what you have planned for us." He agreed eagerly.
She was right, they were going to have fun, he never doubted that. He enjoyed the time they got to spend together no matter what they were doing so he didn't expect anything less tonight. "So what do you have planned for us?" He asked.
The little kiss to her cheek was a surprise, and he’d feel that butterfly-feeling in her stomach as his lips left her skin, as her hands left him. “It’s a two-parter, at least.” She replied, because there was always time for more and, knowing both of them and being night owls, they could always find something spontaneous to do, later, after the planned bits.
“First, I thought we’d have a nice little sit out here with two brand new coffees we haven’t tried yet, people watch, make up stories about their lives, and catch up on things because boy do I have some things to talk to you about.” Meggan wasn’t one for gossip, but she didn’t feel like it was, with Jim.
It was just two friends talking, having a good time. Honestly, it felt a bit more like a hang-out than a proper date - but that bit was later, anyway. “Once we finish the coffees, or maybe halfway through, we’ll head on out. It’s a bit of a walk. Hope you don’t mind.”
"Oh, a two-parter- that sounds fancy." Jim laughed when Meggan started telling him about her plans for their evening. Drinking coffee and chatting sounded like a pretty great start, not so different to the kind of hanging out they did normally, but then he didn't think they had to do anything all that different than their usual just because it was a date.
But it was clear there were other things on her agenda that evening that he was curious to see for himself. "All of that sounds pretty great," He told her smiling, "I don't mind a bit of a walk." He added, just to make sure she knew he wasn't worried about that part of her plans either. They were going to have fun together.
"Do you want to jump up here and sit while we have our coffee?" He asked, nodding to the wall where the cups said waiting, "Or do we want to find a bench? And then you can tell me what's on your mind." Their topics of conversation tended to be all over the place, fueled by her inexperience or his own in this world, but they always had fun with it and they often learned something from it too.
“I hope you weren't expecting fancy because it's not at all fancy it's definitely more weird and -” She paused, because she could already tell he was fine with it and she laughed at herself for getting momentarily worried. “You're gonna love it.” She hoped, anyway. She thought she knew Jim well enough though, that he would.
Meggan hopped up on the half wall, grabbing one of the cups of coffee. “We'll sit here, because I made sure to pick the best people watching spot.” She'd checked it out more than once, and had sat here on her own before. You could see almost the entire street from here.
“Well, firstly, I met a strange woman who asked me to kill her.” She jumped right into it, looking at Jim innocently as she took the first sip of her drink. A chai something, with espresso. She couldn't remember what it was called.
Jim smiled letting Meggan take a minute to feel his emotions and his eagerness for their evening. "I am," He agreed happily, "I mean we're spending time together so what else am I gonna do?" He reminded her with a laugh. They always had fun together, he had no reason to think this would be any different.
Jim turned and hoisted himself up on the wall beside Meggan, "It sounds like you've put in a lot of work to make sure we got the best spot," Jim grinned picking up the second drink and taking a sip.
He didn't know what news Meggan had to share with him, but what he hadn't expected was for her to tell him she'd met someone who asked her of all people to kill them. He practically choked on the sip he'd taken - coughing as he tried to regain his composure. "Wait what?"
“It wasn’t work, not really.” She had put in a lot of thought, though and Meggan did like to people watch nearly as much as Jim did. She was even able to pick up some of their emotions, which added to the things they talked about when people watching.
Jim nearly choked on his drink and she jumped a little, placing a hand on his shoulder in concern. “Are you okay?” She asked, registering his surprise and confusion. “Yeah. She wouldn’t even tell me her name, but she’s one of us, though.” Not that she could tell which one she was. “I call her Liza.”
She took another sip of her drink before she set it down next to her, waiting for Jim to take a real sip of his so they could swap. “She’s… dead, I guess? I can barely feel anything from her. Anyway, she said she doesn’t die, she’ll reform and she’s gonna reform on the other side of the ghost line. Do you think that’d work?”
Smiling as she assured him it wasn't really work, it hadn't been exactly what he meant, but he decided that some things didn't really need clarifying, they were here in the best spot because she knew it was and Jim appreciated that.
Just like he appreciated her concern when he'd been caught off guard by her comment. "I'm okay," He promised, taking a second to catch his breath and shake his head, "I'm okay," he said again, "You just surprised me." But he was okay, and listening even more intently now that she was telling him the story of the girl who had asked Meggan to kill her.
"She wouldn't tell you her name but she could ask you to kill her?" Jim wasn't sure he could really make sense of that kind of logic. But Meggan seemed pretty sure she was one of their fellow misplaced neighbors and not just one of the many strange locals that he'd run into since he'd arrived.
He took another sip of the drink while she explained that the girl was dead maybe? Or didn't die? Jim wasn't sure what it was, and by the sounds of it even Meggan wasn't entirely clear on the particulars. "It's hard to say." He said offering her the cup he'd first picked up taking the other. "I don't think anyone has a really definitive answer as to what the ghost line is or how it works. And as far as I know everyone who has attempted to cross it has been fully alive." He lifted his shoulders, "All variables should probably be tested eventually, just so we can get a clearer idea of what we're dealing with, but that said - I don't know how wise it is to put a person through that particular experience." No matter how confident they might be that they'd be the exception to the rule.
It was easy to believe his reassurances because Meggan could always feel that they were genuine. The more time she spent with Jim, the easier his emotions ended up being to read. She was acutely aware of their changes when they did change, and so used to his normal state of being that his emotions no longer overwhelmed her at all or were particularly ‘noisy’ to her.
“That's what I said!” She agreed, “I asked how she could ask a perfect stranger that and she said we weren't strangers, that I'm Meggan and she's - well, I nicknamed her, Liza. When I pointed out that wasn't her real name she ignored it.” It was frustrating, honestly. She easily swapped cups with Jim, their exchange of coffee so natural at this point it was basically automatic.
Meggan’s attention was caught by two men, heads close together as they looked over something - a game or comic, maybe a CD she couldn't tell. “They're going to fight over who gets to play first. Or read.” She pointed them out to Jim before slyly looking away.
“Anyway, she seems quite determined not to sit around and do nothing, and I think she'll find someone else or she'll do it alone if I don't help and…” Well, she didn't want her to be alone or with someone less equipped to help. “Do you think I should?”
Jim knew some people were better with strangers than others but it seemed an odd line to draw between a name and asking to be killed by someone you'd only just met and he couldn't imagine what had compelled this woman to suggest such a thing much less ask it of Meggan.
He was still puzzling it over when Meggan pointed out a pair of men holding something between them, telling Jim how she suspected that they were going to fight over who got to make use of it first. "You think so?" He asked with an amused grin on his face, "Maybe one of them just likes sitting back and watching while their partner enjoys something." He offered a different way the scenario might play out.
"I understand the desire not to feel like you're just doing nothing," For Jim especially this place had been a bit of an adjustment for that very reason - he was used to working on a starship, he had a set shift that he had to be ready for, things were a little more nebulous here, you could do what you liked or even nothing at all. So, he got needing to do something and feel like you weren't just wasting away.
But this felt reckless, and even more than that dragging Meggan into it? "If she's going to do it regardless, are you even necessary to this plan?" He asked, "Even if what she says is true, killing someone isn't something to be done lightly." Even if she'd come back, and she very well might have been lying.
“Well it depends. Couple? Siblings? Friends?” Meggan focused on Jim's emotions so she didn't cheat and get any insight on the two men they were people-watching. She did her best to be honest and play fairly. Meggan took another sip of the drink before handing it back, switching with Jim again like a routine.
As for Liza, well. “I don't suppose she does… but if she's going to do it herself and ends up needing help and I knew and didn't do anything, wouldn't that be just as bad?” It was a sort of moral dilemma Meggan wished she wasn't a part of. “I guess that teaches me to keep going around talking to strangers.” She joked. Sorta.
While she understood Liza’s reasonings, Meggan didn't particularly agree with them. Considering there was no way for Meggan to truly know her intentions or the extent of whatever her abilities were, she didn't think she could actually kill the woman. Maybe she could watch, though. And help if she got in trouble.
For science.
She let that particular conversation lapse for a little, and went back to people watching, making up stories with Jim as they finished their coffees off. Overall, she'd have to say this date was going well so far. “Okay, are you ready for part two?” She asked, excitement in her expression.
Jim had a feeling he'd be thinking about the woman who asked a stranger to kill her for days now, or at least until he met her himself. But tonight was about Meggan's plans so when she decided it was time for them to move on to the second part of her evening's plans Jim nodded.
"Ready and eager to see what you've got planned for us," He agreed, talking and coffee were fun, but not all that different than what they normally did when they were hanging out regularly. Which was fine, the defining of a thing you did was really what made it a date as far as Jim was concerned, it didn't have to be anything in particular or even out of the ordinary.
Still he was more than a little bit curious about what Meggan might think a date should consist of, so he was more than happy to move on to the next part of their evening. He hopped down off the wall, and because he was a gentleman helped Meggan down as well, though there was no doubt that she was more than capable of the slight jump on her own.
And when she was on her own two feet, Jim let his fingers find hers - a question in his mind as he did, cautious and careful, checking to make sure this was okay.
“I think you'll like it.” She was really starting to understand what made Jim tick, things that excited him. This plan, hopefully, would give him that little spark he got sometimes, in his eyes. Meggan loved that look.
She accepted the help - although she was capable, it was easy to tell that's not what Jim was doing. His hand found hers and held onto it, cautious and careful and Meggan squeezed his hand back in response.
It was always more of a conscious effort to not share emotions when she was touching someone, but she did her best to keep them from being too much. Still, Jim would feel that butterfly feeling she got when he took her hand, the nervousness she felt wanting him to enjoy the date.
“It's a nice walk, anyway, not too far.” The weather was perfect too, which was most certainly Meggan’s doing, the air around them always just warm enough to be comfortable. “What's the strangest date you've ever been on?”
"I'm sure I will," Jim agreed, he had no doubt - he wasn't worried about that at all. Whatever they did was going to be just fine for him, and honestly even the idea that Meggan had put thought into something that she thought he'd like was more than enough to make it something he wanted to do.
Her hand in his was warm, and he could feel some of her emotions as they walked together, a flutter of warmth, reminding him of the way he had felt in some of his younger years when he was still getting his feet under him when it came to dating, when he was a little uncertain but eager. It was fun.
It made Jim want to make sure she knew he was enjoying their night out together. The weather was nice out that evening, which only made things better in his opinion, making the walk comfortable and easy. "The strangest?" He pursed his lips thinking about it for a minute before he settled on one memory in particular.
"Maybe the first date I went on after I ended up back on Earth when I was a teenager," He decided, "I'd spent so long away, and had been through a lot up to that point in my life, that trying to do something normal like going on a date had felt like a good idea." He explained. "But I was just a weird little guy with a lot of lingering trauma and I just made a complete fool of myself, I got weird about dinner and then when we tried to go to the movies after something about being in the dark like that really just had me uncomfortable and I couldn't sit still." He laughed softly, "It was an experience, I got a bit of a reputation after that for a while, but I guess it was worth trying something new."
Meggan was happy to be holding his hand like this, walking easily along the streets of the rather touristy area, over towards one of the paths that would lead to the beach. The beach wasn’t their destination, either, but the path would lead them further out in the quickest way, towards a more forested area of Dunwich.
Listening to his date story, Meggan frowned, most of a oh yikes kind of look than anything else. “Oh, Jim.” She said, the grimace still present on her face. “That sounds terrible. How'd you get weird about dinner?” She wondered if it was the food or something else - because she wanted to know if there were any foods she should avoid in the future on their hangouts.
“I think I was… oh I don't know, twenty-one or twenty-two when I went on my first date? With Brian, of course. We were already dating at that point and I asked for a night out.” Which he'd planned, he'd wanted to he said. At the time it sounded romantic.
The streets gave way to a dirt path, leading them straight into the trees. It was Meggan, of course they were going into the woods. “He took me to a bowling alley…” In theory it was a good idea, but Meggan had been overwhelmed the whole time. “There were two birthday parties, people everywhere, I couldn't focus and all.” She left the part out where Brian mostly drank at the bar, and played arcade games. “Oh, we're almost there.”
Jim considered how much he wanted to talk about what had preceded his time on earth, and how it had left him changed in many ways and decided since they were out to have a good time that evening he would save that for another day instead he shrugged, "I'm not a huge fan of food going to waste," He admitted, "And she was in her worried about eating in front of others phase of life," He knew it was common in teenagers but that hadn't changed his ability to sit there and watch her push food around her plate. "I wouldn’t leave until I'd finished her plate in addition to my own," he huffed softly.
He'd taken the rest of that summer to try and get his bearings and figure out how to be a person again, but he'd managed it well enough. At this point in his life it was mostly a funny story, not enough to trip him up anymore.
"A bowling alley?" Jim wasn't sure that counted as a romantic night out, but then again he wasn't going to judge anyone's idea of romance too much. And she had said they'd already been together by that point, but if she'd had to ask for a night out he had a feeling that a bowling alley had not been what she'd had in mind. Particularly when she added that there had been other parties and a lot of people around. Even Jim knew by this point that large groups of people like that would be a distraction. "I hope you managed to have a little bit of fun at least." He said sympathetically.
Their path was beginning to look a little more rustic, the trees coming up around them. Jim still didn't know where they were going but he trusted that Meggan knew the way and was just happy to go where she led.
Meggan didn't want to press. She could feel the reluctance there - he was sharing, which was nice but Meggan decided not to ask any more questions on it. “Is that typical? The not wanting to eat in front of others thing.” She's seen some things on tv, but it was rare and almost always a big problem, not something so casually mentioned.
“Me? I can always find fun.” She replied, shrugging with a little laugh. It was hard not to enjoy some of it when most everyone else was enjoying themselves. So despite the excess, there had certainly been good moments.
After a few moments where the excitement she felt was easily passed on to Jim, she let go of his hand and stepped forward. “Okay! We're here.” At first it seemed like nothing. There was a large tree with a hollow base, where a basket and blankets were.
A picnic - only, not so simple obviously. This was Meggan. The tree grew larger in front of them, what essentially was a platform with seats covered in soft moss like an open treehouse formed up at the top. The hollow base widened like a doorway, stairs forming.
“Treehouse picnic.” She said, biting her lip and watching Jim in anticipation.
"I think it can be in teenagers, so much of that part of your life is trying to figure out where you fit in with your peers and wanting to put forth the best picture of yourself. And for some that includes minimizing the amount others see you eat." Jim wouldn't have said it was common as much as he would have said it wasn't out of the ordinary. It was just one way that adolescent insecurity could manifest itself.
Jim hoped that their date was going better than that previous experience had at the very least. He knew that her experience with the world and even others was often a bit outside the norm. And while Jim didn't necessarily feel like he needed to give Meggan anything that was definitively normal, he wanted to make sure she actually enjoyed whatever they did together.
Soon enough though they reached their destination, a small clearing with a tree and as he looked closer he saw the basket and blanket at the base of the tree waiting for them. "Wow." He said clearly in awe of what she'd found, enhanced perhaps even?
And then all doubt was removed as he watched the tree changing as he stood there, not in the way that would say it was natural, but instead it changed, opening up like it was inviting them in, creating a space for them to sit up off the ground, like it was meant to be this all along. "If anyone ever tells you, that you're not the coolest person in existence they are full of shit." Jim said, shaking his head and turning his attention from the tree back to Meggan.
Meggan watched his face as the tree changed for them, her own excitement growing as he watched it. It was having exactly the right impression - what she had been hoping for. Jim liked to see new things, things he’d never seen before - enjoy new experiences he might not have had on his many journeys through space. This was something she was pretty sure he’d never experienced before.
If there was one thing she knew about Jim, it’s that he was very curious. About a lot of things. Including her, and the things she could do. So she thought this might be a good way to impress him and do something new, for a fun date. “I brought some snacks - and yes they’ve been sitting out here but trust me they are not spoiled - but there’s cheese, crackers, nuts, wine.”
She didn’t really know what else was there. She’d gotten help with putting together the charcuterie board - a word she did not know and would not be able to tell Jim because she forgot what the lady at the store had told her already anyway - but was definitely not the most expensive set of things, but still a good selection and would taste nice, anyway.
The wine would pair nicely, the woman had said, and there were blankets for them as well. Not that they needed them for warmth or softness, because Meggan could control that - but because it was nice, and sometimes it felt good to wrap yourself up in a blanket to fight off the cold than just make the cold go away.
“Do you like it?”
Truthfully, thoughts of food or drinks or anything else was the furthest thing from Jim's mind at that point - watching the tree change in front of him was one of the coolest things he'd ever seen, definitely the coolest thing he'd ever seen on Earth. And knowing that Meggan was doing it made it all the more special, what she could do was incredible and Jim felt pretty amazing that she not only trusted him enough to do something like this but that she wanted to.
He never wanted her to feel like she had to show off around him or put herself on display - he wanted her to be comfortable and at ease whenever they were together. But he couldn't help the way his curiosity was ablaze whenever he got glimpses of what she was capable of.
"Do I like it?" He practically scoffed at the suggestion that he could be anything other than amazed at what she'd done, "This is incredible," He said, shaking his head, "We can go in there?" He asked, because sure there were stairs and things but it still felt like something out of one of those stories you might have read as a child, it didn't feel real even seeing it with his own two eyes.
"Are you-" He started and stopped not entirely sure how to frame the question but then just deciding to go with it, "This isn't too much for you?" He asked, uncertain of how much effort it actually took Meggan to do something like this.
It was a bit of a trade off. The effort it took to use her abilities purposefully was a lot - but she wasn’t shifting out of control all the time like she used to. Still, with the effort she put out today she’d probably sleep really well tonight. If she pushed herself further, well, it’d be bad. It was worth it, though, this level. She felt the burning curiosity, the awe coming from Jim. That’s exactly what she wanted.
“I’m fine. It does get tiring, but this was okay. I’ve been using my abilities nonstop since I was born, so it’s… like any muscle, I guess. I can use a lot of this, because I always have. If I try to go overboard though, like… do this to every tree in the forest I’d probably pass out before I got even close.” She admitted, shrugging a little. Not that she ever would do that. She didn’t know her limits, exactly, but there were some signs.
He wasn’t sure if they could go in and Meggan smirked, tugging him forward towards the tree. “Here, take this -” She handed him one blanket, the wine, and cups. She grabbed the basket and set the other blanket on top of it. “Why don’t you go up first?” She suggested, waving the way. “Watch your head, and the outside is a platform but you’ll step right onto it.”
She waited for Jim to take the first steps before she followed behind him up the wooden tree-stairs.
It made sense as Meggan explained it, comparing her abilities to using a muscle. “So is it something you could get stronger with if we continue the metaphor?” He asked, unable to help himself, knowing Meggan had asked him not to hold back, so he’d try not to be overly invasive but he did want to know everything Meggan felt good about sharing with him.
Jim let Meggan pull him closer, taking the blanket and the other items from her as he followed her lead, trusting that she knew what she’d made and how they would fit into it. So he took the steps one after another, the stairs seemed like they’d grown that way - at least that would have been his guess if he’d stumbled upon this tree in the wild. He knew how it actually had happened. It wasn’t as though someone fashioned a staircase and attached it to a tree - it was like the tree simply was this way.
And as he came up on to the platform Jim couldn’t help but marvel at it - the way it was perfectly suited for them to sit together and talk. He stepped out of the way so Meggan could follow him up and he spread out the blanket, and set down the wine and glasses so he could take the basket from her as she finished climbing the stairs behind him.
“I would have killed for something like this when I was a kid.” He said shaking his head in wonder, he could just imagine nights spent out under the stars like this. It certainly would have been more fun than the farm back home. Nothing but flat fields and crops.
It was fun to watch him walk up first - because she could feel the wonder, she didn’t need to see his face to get the same effect of his reactions as he walked up to the top. “That’s how it’s supposed to work, I think. I might have limitations but… in my world, lower level mutants can become omega level mutants with enough practice. Not everyone can, though.”
Meggan herself had a weirdly, unquantifiable sort of ability. There were many facets to it, so whether or not she was omega level or not was undecided. She certainly could display feats that would classify her as such, but she rarely did. She also wasn’t trying - because if she let loose too much, if she let her emotions dictate her elementalism too much, it could be really bad.
At the top, Meggan handed over the basket and the other blanket to Jim as she stepped out onto the platform. She was pretty proud of it, honestly, and it was cozy enough for the both of them. There were fireflies hanging out in the trees too, some buzzing around, but it was enough light to see by as the sun began to rapidly set.
“When I was little, I could only go outside at night. We lived in the forest most of my life, even though we traveled often too, it was usually us parking our caravan deep in the trees to hide. I spent a lot of time in the trees.” That’s, perhaps, why she had been able to do this so well. I twas something she’d done before, growing up. Finding a safe place for herself to just… be. “Want to sit?” She asked, placing the other blanket on top of the first one, and sitting down so she could pull the blanket over her legs.
"Are you a lower level mutant?" He asked, though he didn't think that could be true - and if it was, then he'd severely underestimated what mutants could be capable of. Because what Meggan could do was astounding.
It was like a scene out of a film, the glow of fireflies and the stars coming out overhead as the sun set behind the trees, it should have been ridiculous, the sort of thing that Jim might have scoffed at if he'd seen it in one of those films, but experiencing it first hand changed everything.
He sat with Meggan as she explained about how she'd grown up in the forest, and had spent a lot of time in trees when she'd been young. It made sense, considering what she'd told him about her life, "We didn't have trees like this back where I was born," Things were much more rural, more farmland than trees and forests.
"I didn't spend a lot of time there, but I suppose it was enough to say I'm from there." He admitted with a soft huff.
“I don’t know, honestly. Someone said I was an alpha-level mutant once, but it’s all kind of um, I don’t know the word. Up to whoever thinks your abilities are strong or not that day.” She wasn’t officially registered or anything, either. “Especially before, a lot of what I did was based on a reaction to something. All my shapeshifting, I’m more likely to shift against my will than because I want to.”
She’d been getting better the last few years, and since the Doctors had been helping her, even more so now. The more she used her abilities here, the better she got at using them willingly as opposed to because they just happened. “We had some trees like this where I was from, but I couldn’t ever call a specific place home I guess. Except the caravan.” Wherever it was, it was both her home and prison.
Meggan pulled the picnic basket over to them, though she wasn’t in a rush to eat or drink anything. She just wanted it in arms reach, in case. She’d get hungry soon enough and there were plenty of easy snacks in there. In the meantime, though, she rested her head on Jim’s shoulder, the top of her head nestled into his neck.
It was really pretty, like this. Magical. Meggan had always loved things that felt like this, because it felt so outside of her real life, a place she could be happy and - usually - away from other people. Sharing it with Jim, though, was even nicer. “What would you consider home, then, if not where you were originally from?”
“So is alpha the highest level there is?” Jim asked, unable to help his curiosity, they should probably talk about other things, but this was part of getting to know Meggan, learning about her world, and her place in it. “Your control over your abilities affect what sort of position you might have on that tier list?”
This was nice though, just talking with Meggan, about his life and hers and this place and their time together tonight.
It made sense that Meggan would consider the caravan her home and not any place in specific; it was a lot like Jim if he was honest. He had moved around so much throughout his life that home was less a place and more a feeling.
“Most recently it was my room on the Farragut,” He told her, “I’ve been stationed there several years now, and before that I had a room on the Star Fleet Academy campus,” And before that he’d been just a kid following his dad around wherever he got posted. “Home has just been where I hang my hat most times, more than anything else at least.” Having a place to go back to had never been all that important to Jim, maybe because he’d spent so much of his life moving around, it was more important to know there was some place he could be rather than some place he could get back to.
“Omega is the highest level.” Meggan popped open the basket, reaching in it to grab a grape and some cheese. She ate both at the same time, thinking over what Jim asked. “I’m probably like, beta if we’re basing it on control and not potential. Alpha because I have learned a bit more, maybe? I can do a lot of it willingly now. Maybe Omega, I haven’t really tested my limits.” Or tried to expand them, which you could also do with practice.
Meggan wasn’t all that concerned with it, though. She did what she could do - she was more focused on not doing things or feeling things when she didn’t want to than doing them willingly. Though maybe that was part of it. She’d never considered it too much before.
Boldly or maybe stupidly, Meggan twisted around, sliding her legs towards the basket and her head towards Jim. She leaned back, resting her head on his legs. It was comfortable, and she was able to see stars peeking through the tree canopy above them. It really was beautiful, something she loved doing as a kid.
It was, maybe, the one place she felt safe.
“I think home is a weird term. You hear about it all on tv and shows and radio and stuff and they talk about home being a feeling or a person or a place and those things are supposed to… keep you safe or make you feel warm and happy and comfortable. If you never really have that, I don’t think that means you don’t have a home.” Or maybe she’d been homeless most of her life. Until Braddock Manor, until Brian had welcomed her into his home.
Mostly out of guilt, and then out of desire when she’d changed. Maybe that wasn’t a good representation of what a home should be. “If I got to just pick, I’d say trees are my home. Great redwoods like this one. They’re very welcoming trees.”
“I suppose it’s the sort of thing that’d be more important if you were back home maybe,” And even then only if she really wanted it to be. Jim thought Meggan was pretty incredible, whatever level she may or may not be, classification was just a way for some people to create a bit of order in their perspective, it didn’t really have to mean anything if you didn’t want it to.
This was nice though, Jim could admit - talking with Meggan being out under the stars, relaxing and not letting anything else bother them for a few hours as they spent some time together. It had been a while since he’d been able to do anything even remotely like this, dates were more often the sort of thing fit into his time spent docked, not something he could just linger in and enjoy like this.
When Meggan shifted against him, her head on his legs while she stretched out a little he smiled, he could certainly get used to something like this. It felt like some sort of forgotten idea of what dating could be like, from a world that had been gone long before he’d ever been born.
“People like the idea of being able to say they’re from somewhere, or they belong somewhere.” Jim said as Meggan talked about home and what that could mean. “I don’t think not having a set place you’d consider home is a bad thing, not everyone needs that sort of thing in their life.” He shrugged, “There are certain people I feel at home with, I think it’s more a matter of where you feel like you can be yourself, where you don’t have to hide who you are, you can just be you without pretending.” Jim thought himself a pretty genuine person, he didn’t lie he didn’t try and put on a show of ego when he was with people, but he was trying to live up to the example of his father, trying to be as good as his brother, trying to impress the brass so he could rise up the rankings, but home was where he could let those kinds of things go. He didn’t have to be anything other than Jim.
“I like that,” He hummed a soft sound of approval when Meggan said she thought trees might be her home, lifting a hand to gently brush over her hair. “If there was a place outdoors to call home, trees like this are absolutely the right choice.”
There was no real need for it here in Dunwich. Whether she was alpha or omega, none of it. She was just Meggan here, and she liked that. It felt like enough here. Which was never a feeling she’d had before. Not once. Not growing up, not for her family, not for her first friends. Not with Brian. Kurt - well, Kurt had always made Meggan feel comfortable, like she was just fine as she was but that was another complicated relationship.
Listening to Jim describe what he thought about homes - why some people liked to define where they were from, how he felt about home - she realized that maybe, a little bit, she was staring to feel like Jim and Riley were people she could call home. She’d been more herself with them than she had anywhere else. Her eyes fluttered closed only briefly as Jim brushed his hand over her hair.
“These trees can be home for now then but I think you’re right. I think people can be a home.” Maybe Dunwich could be a home, for her. As weird as it was, it was also a place of opportunity it seemed like. She was learning to read, she’d gotten her first job. She was going on real dates. It was so vastly different than the life she had led so far it almost made her head spin.
Meggan twisted her head, just a little, so she could look more directly at Jim. “Do you think this place is as bad as people think it is? There’s so many opinions. There’s whole groups that think this place is good, because it’s safer than their own worlds… and others who are so desperate to get out of here. What do you think?”
Jim had been here a while, and in the beginning he'd been so convinced this place was just a temporary stop, and perhaps that was still true, it might only be a matter of time before he was sent home again. Like so many others in this place, but the more he got to know people and the more he made space for himself here he could see exactly what Meggan meant.
Home didn't have to be a forever thing, at least not forever in one place, but home could remain even when you were far from it.
"No," He said, shaking his head, "I think this place can be scary for some people, but I don't think it is all bad." He admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "I can understand why many would hate it here, and wish to leave it as soon as they found a way." Even if this place was nothing but sunny days and nothing bad ever happened, people had lives that they had been taken from, and loved ones that had been left behind when they'd been taken.
"I think it's really more a matter of not having a choice for many of us," He explained, "I'm sure there are plenty of people who might choose to come to a place like this, away from their lives from whatever situations they might have been in before they came here. But no one here got to make that choice."
Meggan had to wonder about it. If she got a choice, what would she choose? Would she go back to Brian, knowing there was something different? Would she go back home to Kurt and Kitty and Excalibur and all the good awful amazing terrible things that came with it? To a world that hated her, categorized her, classified her, wanted to treat her like an animal, a freak?
Or would she stay here, choose to be in Dunwich where she was understood, where she felt comfortable. Where she had a magic room that kept emotions out of it so she could find a little peace. Where she had friends like Jim and Riley and Kay, even if her other friends had disappeared?
She was quiet for a long while, considering. Sometimes you didn’t need to talk, and Meggan instead moved her hand, reaching to find Jim’s. When she did, she held it - her emotions swirled to him - content, contemplative, a little torn maybe. Add in confused, happy, scared, worried, lonely, excited. It was a lot of things to be feeling at all once - but then, Meggan’s emotions were never simple.
“It’s home for now, I guess. This tree and this town…” Her room. Everything. Meggan kept her fingers laced through Jim’s. “We could stay here tonight.” She suggested, head tilted to look out through the trees again. There was just a peak of the ocean in the distance through the canopy.
Jim didn’t think he’d ever get tired of this kind of feeling, Meggan’s hand in his and the gentle swirl of her emotions mixing with his. It was a reminder that no one was ever just one thing, never just entirely mad entirely happy entirely at ease. There were other thoughts and feelings there that made them who they were. And Meggan was no different.
His own were like that as well in that moment, content with Meggan and their night out, happy that he’d found something like that here, missing his life at home, his brother, his parents, Carol, his job. Fear about what might be coming here, but an awareness that the quiet before the storm was important to enjoy while it lasted.
“That sounds like it’d be nice,” Jim smiled when Meggan suggested staying where they were overnight, life would be there when they returned to it the next day, but tonight could be theirs. “Let’s stay,” He nodded. “I’m not in a hurry to get back.”