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]

"...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."

[brave_heart_verity]

It doesn't have to be that way anymore, Jim. You at least have drinking buddies now. Ones you don't have to try and be captain of afterward.

"Then it's a date." They know what she means. It'll be their own special day.

"I hope it tastes better here." She's curious about these Andorian tuber roots. Are they potatoes? Carrots? Doing a conga line? Let's find out.

[aw_hawkguy]

Yes. Social drinking, much better than drinking alone.

Clint gives a spoonful of the soup an experimental sip. "Mm. Y'know, I was expecting kinda bland, from what you said, but it's a little spicy. Good heat. How's yours?"

[smartass_captain]

"Best thing in my mouth in a while." Jim winks around his wine glass before taking a few more bites of his food. He's not entirely kidding around. This place has a reputation for a reason, and Jim is seriously enjoying the taste and texture of real food.

The silence that passes over the table for a few minutes isn't awkward, rather its is the hallmark of a good meal being enjoyed. Jim finds his gaze sliding from the cute waitress heading down the stairs up toward the open skylight above them.

On his best behavior.

The sky's prettier than any of them anyway. This place could be a half run down diner serving replicated coffee and he'd still eat here for the view alone.

"Wish you guys could come with us. See stuff like this all the time." He hasn't realized he was talking out loud, absently staring off into space. Literally.

[brave_heart_verity]

Verity saw that look he gave the waitress. She'll let him go flirt when he's finished eating. Bossy big sis, remember? Veggies before flirting.

The view really is amazing. It's almost hard to remember to eat, as good as the food is. There are a few long stretches when she's just staring.

"Yeah," she sighs, because it's not like she has anything keeping her... anywhere...

I need to get an icon of Clint eating.

[aw_hawkguy]

Careful, Jim, you're dropping innuendos that even Clint can pick up.

Also, worth noting: space does not negatively impact the taste of steak. It's different, but that's probably just the animals grazing on something else. Yay, space-steak!

"Well, there's the door, right?" Clint muses. "We could visit."

http://portlandmainedentists.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/messy-ribs.jpg Majestic?

[smartass_captain]

That's half the fun, isn't it? Jim isn't going to finish his food, but he's made a decent effort at it. And he's only on his third glass of wine which is positively prudish compared to his normal gusto toward getting drunk.

The view is amazing, the food is great, and the company is comforting. Jim thinks they've done a pretty decent job at throwing a Birthday dinner.

"I've got no clue what this place has for desserts, but I'm sure they've got something if you want that sweet to go with your birthday treats." When Jim goes look back at Verity, it's with a small smile.

perfect :P

[brave_heart_verity]

They've done an excellent job. Hasn't she made that clear?

Verity's not trying to monitor his eating too much, but there's a brief flicker of a frown when she sees he isn't going to finish. Knowing just enough to worry isn't fun for anyone. But he is eating, which is something. More vexing is how he just ignores what they've been talking about whenever it suits him.

"Well, indulging is a birthday tradition," she admits with a smile. They're really going to have to twist her arm on this. Seriously, it's going to be a hard sell!

The speckled Midwestern tailgater in its natural habitat.

[aw_hawkguy]

Clint's not monitoring anyone's eating or drinking, but there's not going to be much left on his plate when he's done. A little bit of steak juice, or moisture from the broccoli, perhaps, but he's a man perpetually recovering from injuries while living a high-activity lifestyle, and he often forgets to eat when he's at home, so times like now he packs it away.

"I bet they'd bring the menus back if we asked. Or, heck, fancy place like this, they'd probably try to make somethin' if you asked for it." Okay, they probably wouldn't bake a pie from scratch, but a pastry or a sundae of some kind, maybe.

.

[smartass_captain]

Jim gets to change subjects when he wants to because no one stops him. It is a fabulous way to put the kibosh on anything getting too feely or uncomfortable when no one reigns you in and calls you on your shenanigans!

"Looks like..." The PADD is back as Jim does the equivalent of googling in the future this place's menu. "There's a baked Alaska with Sygnian wildberry gelato. It's uh...kinda like a cross between a strawberry and a blackberry. Not too sweet. Kinda fizzy actually. Neat. A traditional chocolate cake with coffee liqeur buttercream, and....white chocolate mousse on a seasonal berry parfait."

[brave_heart_verity]

He'll just have to keep all their meetings in public to avoid the chance of her making a scene, then.

Oh, wait. What makes him think she won't make a scene in public?

She leans toward Jim to try and glance at his PADD. "They all sound good. I think I'll get the baked Alaska. I've never had fizzy ice cream before." That stuff with the pop rocks in it did not count and was generally awful. We don't talk about that. "Are you going to have anything, or will you be going to flirt with that waitress?"

[aw_hawkguy]

Is it blind optimism? It's blind optimism, isn't it?

"Yeah? I was just thinking the baked Alaska, myself. Think I'll get the chocolate mousse, though." Is Clint planning to offer the old dessert-share when things come? Probably, yeah.

[smartass_captain]

Lack of foresight, mostly.

If something isn't actively Going Wrong, everything is probably fine. Blind optimism sounds about right, actually.

Jim passes the PADD over to Verity and Clint so they can look it over. He'll get to his feet then, straightening his suit jacket as he does so.

"Nah. A sweet word or two, but I'm not sticking around tonight for a lay. Back to duty after we're done. Besides, this is your fun evening. I'm just here to make it better." He winks their way before excusing himself to go and flag down the waitress on his way to the restroom.

Jim doesn't even give her the eyebrows or the megawatt smile. He really is behaving.