Suit up (Literally!) It's a Birthday Bash! (For Verity and Clint)

[smartass_captain]

Guess who's back in the Nexus. Well, mostly back in the Nexus. Jim is standing outside his world's door and calling Verity's phone.

What? Genius level repeat offender remember? He bought a phone in the Nexus and got her Number from Clint's phone a while ago.

It's the morning of October first. The Nexus' resident lie detector is getting a call from an unknown Nexus number. Does he have to leave a voice mail message?

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[smartass_captain]

This knowledge would not surprise Jim in the least. From either of them. Jim will flip through the menu and nod appreciatively.

"Their tastes are more subtle. I have it on pretty good authority that the plomeek soup is as close to authentic as you can get off New Vulcan, if you want to try it." Jim will pull out a PADD and give it a look over while he's perusing the menu. Then flip to a different part.

"Personally, I take every chance at eating out to get the old familiars I can only eat facsimiles of on the ship." Jim chuckles lightly. "Though if the birthday girl just wanted wine and dessert she's welcome to do so. Whatever you'd like Ver. I mean it."

[brave_heart_verity]

"Portobellos," she supplies for Clint at a near-whisper. Just a gentle reminder.

"Tempting, but I'm really curious to see what's considered 'traditional Earth cuisine' in this mysterious future of yours. But you know you can have real food any time you like now, right? I'm a good cook and I'm determined to find something you'll like." She's noticed his lack of appetite, but she's trying to be gentle about it. Especially now that they know.

"Do you need to go do captainy stuff? I'm sure Clint and I can entertain ourselves if you do."

[aw_hawkguy]

Clint nods to Verity--he knew, but he wasn't sure Jim would know he meant burger-shrooms from the name. It's the future, who knows?

"Yeah, we can hold down the fort if somebody just said 'what could go wrong?'" Beat. "That doesn't count, I was quoting."

He's looking over his own menu while he speaks (please oh please let it look like English--or have pictures).

[smartass_captain]

The menu is in English, and the things that aren't have pictures, don't worry. English is the universal language of the future for some reason. Though Jim swears in about five different dialects (Uhura laughs because 'only five, Captain'?).

The PADD disappears quickly and Jim beams toward both of them. He could charm a bird form the sky with those pearly whites. It's a lie.

"Nope, nothing Captainy going on." He speaks the truth though! His eye twitches. He needs to find a topic of conversation that he won't have to turn ultimately depressing. This should not be so hard, damn it. "Oh, roast chicken, steak, salmon. The classics really. Cuisine hasn't changed that much. We've just assimilated a lot of Federation species foods too."

That's about when the wine arrives and really, now the celebration can really begin! Jim will pour them each a glass of the white Reisling first and raise his glass for a toast.

"To a lovely view, and lovelier company. Happy birthday Ver."

[brave_heart_verity]

It's the language of this future, for now. Not every future is so accommodating. She's not complaining.

No, Jim, she's not falling for it. Maybe it'll work on Clint? But again, in public, not pressing. He won't be able to avoid the subject with her forever; really, he's lucky she's been this patient. It's not one of her virtues.

"Ah, fusion. Always fun." She glances at the menu, but then the wine comes and it's more immediately pressing to pay attention to that. She takes her glass when they've all been poured, swirling the wine gently and examining the bouquet. The toast gets a smile. "Aw, thank you."

[aw_hawkguy]

"Happy birthday," Clint echoes, raising his own glass to the birthday girl. "And we'll make 'em better every year."

There's a word that'll be much less fun in a couple centuries: assimilation. But for now, it can be delicious.

Whether Clint falls for Jim's front or not, he doesn't argue it here. "Sounds like a little slice'a New York, wherever you go," he muses. The real Manhattan project was an attempt to crack the secret of culinary fusion, and it worked--oh, how it worked! I am become chef, destroyer of hunger.

[smartass_captain]

There's no crazy future fusion dish going on Jim's plate. He'll order the roast chicken and steamed vegetables before passing the menu to the waiter. Always a safe route. He notes the squeeze Verity's hand gives his and flashes her his most charming grin.

She's not asking in public and Jim can live with that. Hell, give him the evening and hopefully she'll forget all about it.

"That cart outside your complex had really good smelling food, and that was just a cart. New York sounds like it has amazing food. But it also smells friggin awful." He's not used to the smell of fossil fuel pollution. Jim wrinkles his nose slightly.

[brave_heart_verity]

She won't. How could she? He's hurting and she needs to fix it somehow.

Oh damn, those heroic traits must be catching.

"Nobody comes to New York for the smell," she admits, before leaning toward the waiter. She orders pork roast with sour cherry sauce and Andorian tuber roots, then passes the menu over with a quiet thanks.

[aw_hawkguy]

"That's not true," Clint counters Verity with a grin, "there's a thriving masochist community."

From the waiter, he requests the plomeek soup, a steak (medium), roasted broccoli, and a baked potato laden with nearly as much cheese, sour cream, and bacon as Wisconsin, relinquishing the menu with an "I-can't-help-it" smile. A dim bulb of charm, compared to the Kirk charisma, but it's there.

[smartass_captain]

"Like those guys we had to beat up." Jim snorts and thanks the waiter before turning back to his glass of wine. Avengering is tough work, having an appetite makes complete sense. Someone has to, of the two of them.

Jim slides a glance Verity's way again and smiles.

"Want to read us a story off your present pile there while we wait?"

I'm being lazy after 2.5 hours of sleep last night. :P

[brave_heart_verity]

"Pretty sure nobody's that much of a masochist. And I would know, considering how much they like me." The truth hurts.

Better to think about the stories, yes. She'll look through the pile again before pulling one out. "How about Operation: Eucritta Tape? I've never heard of that."

Clint can narrate since it's his story.

And I helped!

[aw_hawkguy]

"Aw, I put that one in there?" Clint asks, half-laughing and swiping a hand over his face.

Operation: Eucritta Tape started as an effort to smoke out a mole in the Department of Defense who was about to sell the names of the NAVY Seals who killed a famous terrorist. Three fake tapes were made, of Avengers assassinating the terrorist instead, and placed where the suspected moles would each have access to one of them. An Avenger running assassination ops for the President of the United States is way juicier than some Seal team, and the mole took the bait.

The mole was supposed to be caught in the taking of the tape, but managed to evade capture and arrange an auction in Madripoor. Armed with a no-limit SHIELD credit card and his wits, Clint was sent to recover the tape by any means necessary. If it failed, it could look like he was acting alone to recover the evidence of his own crime. Maria Hill also sent Kate Bishop, the younger Hawkeye, to do the actual work while Clint's bumbling drew attention.

Barton's antics included beating up an airport security team, falling asleep in a taxi, being robbed in a taxi, and stealing a taxi.

Bishop managed to subdue and impersonate one of the bidders, the supervillain Madame Masque, whose agents captured and interrogated Barton. Bishop (as Masque) took the SHIELD credit card from Barton and bought the tape for one billion euros, outbidding representatives of Hydra, the Secret Society, and (present in person) Wilson Fisk.

Barton regained consciousness tied to a chair and under attack by ninjas, and escaped by jumping out the window (Maria Hill provided aircar support). The sounds of combat prompted Masque's bodyguards to secure her suite, blowing Bishop's cover. Bishop was taken to the conference room where the auction took place while her captors discussed a course of action. Said conference room had an exterior window, and Barton had an exploding arrow and an aircar.

Upon entry, Barton and Bishop fought through the combined criminal forces present, and Barton injured his foot by jumping onto broken glass without a shoe. The tape was recovered and subsequently destroyed in the ensuing combat. Barton was shot in the chest at close range, but his kevlar vest mitigated the damage considerably (cracked ribs and a bruised liver). The end.

[smartass_captain]

"...Wait, isn't...isn't Kate that kid I'm not allowed to hit on?" Jim stops drinking his glass of wine. "She's too young for an eyebrow waggle but old enough to get dropped into Madripoor to impersonate a super villain and do a secret crazy kill mission?

Clint's world is messed up.

"Not old enough to drink, but old enough to die for her country. That's messed up." Jim shakes his head. Pauses. "Why didn't you steal some shoes while you were busy stealing a taxi and an aircar?"

He looks at Verity, then back to Clint. "Am I wrong to be asking these kinds of questions or..?"

[brave_heart_verity]

"No! And thank you. I hate the idea of kids doing these things." And Clint has heard this from her before so he knows what's coming. "They're much too young to make these kinds of decisions about their lives. You know there are schools for training kids, little not even teenager kids? These kids should be being protected!"

Wow, this is sounding kinda personal.

"But she's till much too young for you."

[aw_hawkguy]

Aww. "Kate... look, Kate decided on her own she was gonna do this kind'a stuff, and if someone like me told her no, she'd just go 'round us and do it anyway. Like, literally, she bet my bow one time that I couldn't do the Robin Hood shot with a cheap sporting goods bow and junk arrows," the result is obvious, "and she just snuck in and stole the bow back that night. She's a good kid, doing good, she doesn't need an old man tellin' her to stop, just maybe helpin' her find the right way sometimes." Clint will defend Kate to the death. She's one of the people he does that for. He's having dinner with two more.

"We, uh, we do try to protect the kids, though."

After a moment's thought, he realizes, "hey, hold up, you can join the army at eighteen and you're still too young to drink."

[smartass_captain]

Well, when he puts it that way...Pavel couldn't be older than Kate. He was what, 17? Maybe 18 now? Yet he'd been on the ship for both the Narada and Khan incident, not to mention was doing the 5 year stint with them.

Would he have told the kid it was too dangerous to come with? I mean, granted he wasn't putting the kid on away missions, but he had promoted him to master of engineering during the whole Khan debacle.

A kid.

In charge of the most dangerous bit of the ship.

"Okay, I can see your point." Jim seems mollified. He gives an understanding sort of nod. "I pretended not to know the punch got spiked at last year's Christmas party so I wouldn't have to report one of my ensigns for partaking." And a couple other young'uns. The Enterprise has a really young crew for the most part. He hadn't thought of that before.

[brave_heart_verity]

Verity is genuinely disappointed that neither of them understands but she knows a lost cause when she sees one, so she'll drop it. It's not that she couldn't argue, it's that she's choosing not to, and they had better respect the difference before she changes her mind.

Oh, wine, save her from her short-sighted siblings. Wine understands.

[aw_hawkguy]

"I gotta say, Verity, you're good at reading stories," Clint offers, to spackle over the hole he made in the conversation.

[smartass_captain]

Jim can pour them all another glass of wine. Wine makes everything better except a morning after. Unless you consume more wine the morning after too.

That is not how the body works, but Jim Kirk is determined to ignore biology.

"So didja do anything else fun today?" A change of topic might just help them right about now. "I mean, obviously we went all out, but you're a classy lady with lots of friends in the Nexus. Get any galaxies in a bottle or things like that?"

[brave_heart_verity]

Wait, when did Clint learn to take a hint? This is a nice surprise. "Thanks. I did get to listen to a lot of good stories, so, I guess I learned something."

Don't try to keep up with her, boys, she has fancy future gut flora that makes it extremely hard for her to get drunk. So, that's good and bad.

Jim's teasing gets a laugh from her. She doesn't think of herself as classy, or a lady, or particularly popular. He's so silly. "Well, my mom called me obscenely early to sing happy birthday and try to set me up with Ron's cousin's intern or something like that. Katsuya brought me some flowers and baked me a cake. And now we're here. It's officially the best birthday ever."

[aw_hawkguy]

It's a birthday surprise. "Sounds like a great day. With room to grow, for next year." Clint doesn't have fancy powers, just a poor upbringing, a high metabolism, and a sense of class that he dusts off and puts on for fancy occasions like this. He's probably the light drinker of the table, at least tonight.

[smartass_captain]

Jim will laugh right along with Verity, foolishly attempting to follow her pace as far as wine goes. Clint is eating more than they are and drinking less and he weighs more. He's definitely the responsible one tonight.

Jim is going easy though, comparatively. He hasn't downed anything like he's done at the bar or drinking with them in the past. there definitely seems to be an honest endeavor to stay on good behavior tonight.

And then food is here and it is just as ornately plated as any other fancy restaurant you'd ever go to is. This is about when Jim uncorks the bottle of red wine and pours some for everyone to go with their meals.

"To the best birthday ever!"

[brave_heart_verity]

The thought of next year is a sobering thing for her. She knows she's done what she's done to make sure she'll have a next year, but somehow she doesn't think she's going to want to celebrate her birthday ever again.

She's quiet while the food is being served except to thank the waiter when her plate is set down and to thank Jim for the wine. "Oh. Yes. To the best birthday ever."

After a sip of wine she leans forward a bit, putting on a brave face. "You know what we should celebrate instead next year? The day we became a family." Don't you dare laugh at her for being a sap.

[aw_hawkguy]

Barton, you dummy. Way to spoil a good thing. But Verity has the save, herself, so he raises his glass with a smile. "Next year, the day we became a family."

Fancy dinner is fancy. Hopefully, there's no anti-gravity forks or other funky space silverware to navigate.

[smartass_captain]

Oh hey, Verity gets it. Not that the 'it' in question is something he'd ever want someone to understand but. It's hard to get excited about your birthday when it's the anniversary of a tragedy. Most of Jim's birthdays are spent off-duty as drunk as possible and in a depressed stupor by himself in his quarters.

Happy friggin birthday.

"I could get behind that." Jim agrees, raising his own wine glass. It's a holiday he might actually look forward too. Now that's an odd thought. Jim pauses and glances Clint's way.

"How's the soup? Spock loves that stuff, but the stuff we get on the ship doesn't taste like anything to me."