The First Annual Adopted Family Thanksgiving

[smartass_captain]

It's not that Jim forgot about the second present he gave Verity way back a month ago on her birthday. How could he forget, when he'd had to dig out the key to the house to get it replicated? It's sat out on his desk in his quarters every day since, a bold reminder that Jim Kirk was seriously doing this.

Jim Kirk was going to try to have a normal family. A family who celebrated (some) holidays. A family who came together. Not a relationship. Hell no. But...you know..siblings? A family? He almost worried Sam or his mother would try to reach out to him. Thankfully no such messages yet. Which means Jim is free to spend time with the people he actually wants in his life.

And that means getting Thanksgiving put together.

He'll call Clint later. First things first. Calling Big Sister.

"Verity? It's Jim. You busy?"

Comments

[brave_heart_verity]

Anyone trying to bother Jim about Thanksgiving is going to have to get through Verity first. She's got no reason not to smack Sam or her mother around if need be, beyond her general disinclination toward violence.

(And yeah, Barney had better hope she never sees him again.)

The phone rings twice before it's answered. She'll have to have a word with Jim about letting someone say 'hello' first. "Just sorting out my yarn collection. What's up?"

[smartass_captain]

Hello is for suckers. She picked up, didn't she? (Jim seriously.)

"Getting the farmhouse set up for Thanksgiving. Figured I ought to consult you before I did anything. I need to go shopping. Want to meet up?"

[brave_heart_verity]

Well! That's a happy surprise. She'd been worried she'd have to beg him to come at all.

"Yeah! I'd been meaning to ask you about that..." There are some rustling sounds in the background. "When and where?"

[smartass_captain]

"Uh...nnnowish?" Yeah so much for planning ahead. At least Jim has the decency to sound a little bit guilty for giving her exactly zero notice about this. "Meet outside Nana's and then get to work, was my general plan."

Why, yes, Jim did put this off until what he deemed the moment where he had to decide to call it off or go through with it. but at least he chose to do it?

[brave_heart_verity]

"Okay, give me... fifteen minutes to get there?" What, one of her brothers might procrastinate? Say it ain't so. Nobody bring up how long she waited to go coat shopping. That's entirely different.

[smartass_captain]

"Sure, sounds good." Jim's already most of the way there, but that just means he gets to say hi and charm Nana some more. ...And then get forced to eat a slice of apple pie because he's just so skinny. By the time Verity arrives Jim is being fussed at in front of the diner to go get a coat before he freezes to death while she watches him like a hawk to make sure he finishes every last crumb of his slice of pie.

"Verity, hon, look at this daft boy! Not a hat on his fuzzy blond head, no coat--nothing!"

[brave_heart_verity]

Oh god, forced to eat Nana's pie? The horror.

"I'm sorry, Nana. He shouldn't offend you with his state of undress." Verity's got a coat, a long black swallowtail trench coat. She's clearly the stylish one in the family. "Thank you for looking after him for me."

Yeah, you're on your own when it comes to Nana, Jim. But Ver is trying to smooth the way for your escape at least?

[smartass_captain]

"Buh ish noth hat colh ou--"
"Don't talk with your mouth full, boy! Were you raised in a barn?"
"...Yesh."

Nana throws her hands into the air dramatically before shaking her head and muttering all the while wandering over to Verity and giving her a hug.

"These boys, hon." Shaking her head. "Have a good day, dear."

"Nana i'm fine." Jim replies, handing her his empty plate like the begrudging good boy that he is. "I'm going shopping with Verity, okay? I'll come see you again soon, I promise." Jim is ready to duck any other attempts to grab his arm or ear and force him inside. They've got work to do.

"How come she likes you so much more than me?" once they've gotten away, of course.

[brave_heart_verity]

Nana hugs! Yay! "I will, Nana. I'll look after him."

Ver will take Jim's arm, when he's done with his pie, and places herself firmly between him and Nana as she steers him away. She doesn't even care which way they're going, they can circle around later if need be. "I'm not entirely incapable of being charming, you know. I just usually don't bother. And keep in mind that I didn't get any pie, so we can't really know who she likes better."

It's easier to be amused by these things when you're not the one with the threatened ears.

[smartass_captain]

"Course you're charming. You're a Kirk-by-proxy." Jim is grateful for the assist, because he is no match for Nana. Satan is not a match for Nana, Jim would wager.

"So, I had a few things to do. One- I gotta get one of those personal port device things and learn how to use it fast so I can get us to and from the house. Two, gotta get the place presentable for company. No one's lived there for a few years, now. I've got a neighbor who checks in on it once in a while, but that's about it. Three-- groceries." He gives Verity a sidelong look.

"Missing anything?"

[brave_heart_verity]

Why would Satan even want to try to match Nana when there's pie?

"Oh, is that what I am?" She gives him a playful nudge before listening to their list of errands. "Leave the groceries to me. I'm going to do all the cooking anyway. We'll get you a PINpoint and then we can have a look at the house, see what we need to do. Have you invited Clint yet?"

[smartass_captain]

"Probably for the best. I can make eggs and that's about it." Even that is up for debate. "The house is all low tech too, so you won't have any trouble with it." It's a really old damn farmhouse, is what Jim's saying. There's some modern amenities, there's a replicator that was installed a while back. But it definitely didn't replace the kitchen.

"...I gave him a key. That was the invitation, wasn't it?" Jim, you...Oh man he's serious. "Well, whatever, once we get a look at the house I'll call him up and summon him to help us clean and carry shit."

[brave_heart_verity]

"I don't think you'll find me to be a technophobe," she points out. "My information may be considered out of date where you come from, but I'm not stupid." Jim, this is the member of your family who reads math textbooks for fun. For fun, Jim. "And it's nowhere near as low-tech as the kitchen I have now. Naugus won't have electricity in the tower."

...and she thought she was the socially stunted one. "It might be prudent to let him know there'll be a meal at a certain time, in case he wants to plan ahead. Help cleaning would be good too. So what kind of PINpoint do you want? A basic model, or one of the fancy ones built into a phone or a pen or something?"

[smartass_captain]

"Didn't think you were, but holiday meal prep isn't exactly the most opportune time to be learning a new cooktop, I'd wager. Maybe? I dunno, we never really did this, growing up." Jim shrugs and tries not to think about it too hard.

"Oh, right. Well, I'll call him later today once we've got everything figured out. I dunno what time we're doing shit yet either." Jim looks kind of shocked there are choices in this. "Oh, uh..a phone combo would be good? You keep giving the one I've got the side eye whenever I use it."

[brave_heart_verity]

"True," she concedes. "Starting with something smaller would be smart. Which means I'm making dinner tonight, and you're going to have to help me eat it."

Sucker.

"We'll work out the details when we talk to him." It's not like the exact time matters much to her besides being the point at which she begins her calculations. "I think you might appreciate a phone with more options. Mine's like a mini datapad. That might be more your speed."

[smartass_captain]

"How ever will I survive..?" Jim can't even pretend to not be excited for that. Everyone's feeding him today. Hurray non-replicated food. He's smiling too wide.

"...At the risk of sounding like a terrible person--" Too late, Jim. "How will he know I'm calling him anymore?" Would he even hear the chirpy sound the phone makes?

"Sounds good. Datapad/comm/PINpoint it is! And then...learning how to use it. hopefully quickly."

[brave_heart_verity]

There's no such thing as smiling too wide. Not in her book. Especially not when it involves getting him to eat properly for once.

"Oh, he has hearing aids. And cell phones can be set up to flash a bright light on the screen to let people know there's a call coming in. Or if he's got it in his pocket, he can use silent mode, and it'll vibrate so he feels it. If he doesn't have these things yet, he will soon." Anything to make her brothers' lives easier, even if she has to drag them to it by the ears. Metaphorical ears, Clint's ears have been through enough.

"I doubt it'll take you long. It's mostly press, swipe, and thumb-type." She'll get out her phone while they walk. She can talk him through a number of functions as they go, and keep hold of his arm so she can steer him.

[smartass_captain]

"I mostly meant how to use the PINpoint. The comms--phones, I get. Data pads, I get. But we kind of need to be able to get to my home to start cleaning up, right?" And Jim's been around Scotty trying to explain personal long range trans-warp beaming capability. He doesn't understand the first thing about it other than 'dangerous' and 'experimental'.

"So what kinds of things should the first annual Kirk-Willis-Barton Thanksgiving have? Turkey's a thing, right?"

[brave_heart_verity]

"Ah, that's pretty easy once you know where you're going. We can figure out the coordinates once we've got your new phone." Dangerous schmangerous. It probably is, but Samus trusts them, so Verity trusts them. And Samus was almost killed in a rigged-to-fail transporter, so you'd think she'd be extra careful about this stuff.

"Turkey's the traditional main course, yes. Traditionally it'd be a whole roasted turkey and gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, roasted carrots, cranberry sauce, maybe sweet potatoes... pumpkin, apple, and/or pecan pie for dessert. But we can have whatever we want and what we like."

Thoughts Jim should never have

[smartass_captain]

"Oh. Well, that's all settled then." It will probably be fine. What's the worst that could happen?

"We'll ask Clint what he wants. But Iowa boy, I'm betting he'll want corn of some kind. Mashed potatoes sound great, I haven't had a real potato in forever." Jim scans the people they pass by as they're wandering. I'll have to pass on the pecans though. Can't do nuts."

[brave_heart_verity]

He needs to stop thinking things like that.

"We can have corn, sure. And the realest real potatoes." The comment about nuts draws her up short. "You said peanuts when I asked. You can't have any nuts?"

[smartass_captain]

"...Yeah. I..." Jim sighs and shifts his gaze to anywhere else. "I don't...want to talk about it. But if you're gonna be cooking for folks, I mean. It makes sense. If I'm not allergic to it, chances are I've got a sensitivity toward it. Thank fuck I'm not allergic to alcohol. But strawberries, nuts, seafood...can't do it. I also can't have a bunch of the stuff they put in a lot of medicines, or polyhy-- phen...doesn't matter. It's a common thing in replicators, to synthesize sugars. Hasn't been invented yet, so it's no big."

[brave_heart_verity]

Well, she's glad he told her that before she started in on the Christmas candy making.

"Okay." He gets a quick hug then, to reassure him she's not angry. "Thank you for letting me know. We will be a nut-free family, that's no problem at all." And they don't need to talk about it anymore. "So... turkey, gravy, stuffing, green beans and corn, cranberries, apple and pumpkin pies. Cornbread or dinner rolls? Oh man, do I get to decorate? I've never had a family to decorate for."

[smartass_captain]

This is why Verity is the Big Sister. All of this being awesome right here. Jim pats her on the back in return, glad she isn't pressing the issue.

"Gotta have buns. Rolls. Whichever. Meat and carbs are practically what the Midwest runs on." Jim snorts and there's that smile that had vanished, peeking back out again.

"Sure, you can decorate. Go nuts." How much trouble could it be? "As long as we can get everything cleaned up, it should be fine. Even have rooms for everyone."

[brave_heart_verity]

What's there to press? She can't make him un-allergic to things. She would have preferred a complete answer the first time, but no harm done.

And there are better things to think about. So much to plan. "Anything you like," she promises. "I won't go overboard. There may be flowers." There are going to be flowers.

"Down here. The shop with the green sign."