Impromptu Family Meetups

[smartass_captain]

It's that time of year. Holidays around every corner, family and friends dropping in unannounced, needing to be entertained and fed and plied with stories of how you've been, how is work, and all sorts of things. The thing is, for most of Jim Kirk's life he's never known any of that. It's hard to have sudden family visits when you don't have much in the way of family and aren't speaking to damn near all of them.

Which makes this day exceptionally stressful.

No Starfleet uniform today--even if Jim wanted to he's not allowed to wear any of his own clothes for where he's about to be headed. Instead he's dressed in a soft wool tunic in his preferred golden color and simple linen pants beneath the fur lined cloak he's got pulled over his clothes. Gloved hands fidget with the ties on all of this, a nervous habit he can't quite stop himself from making.

He stops his pacing when he nearly stumbles over a passer-by with how lost in thought he is and it's only then that the captain looks up at whomever he's nearly trodden upon.

"What's the best way to impress your in-laws? What's the etiquette for meeting someone's family for the first time?"

Comments

[slayers_desire]

"Were you married before meeting them?" The question comes from a woman, wearing a very fashion forward dress today.

"I was fortunate... I knew Clark's parents for quite some time, before he and I were married. But I still remember how nervous I was, when it came time for me to meet them." April smiles softly.

[smartass_captain]

"What? No, I'm not--not yet. He's going to be my father in law and I just--"

Maybe start your story at the beginning, Kirk. Jim stumbles back a step and takes a breath while he listens to April's recollections. Nods along and tries not to look as out of his depth as Jim feels.

Considering the answer is 'Very, please send help' he's doing a pretty good job of not looking like he's about to fall to pieces just yet.

"I've met some of his relatives already but not...not his father."

[slayers_desire]

"My apologies. You just said in-laws." April watches as he stumbles back a step, and takes a breath. He looks nervous.

"Is there some reason why you are worried so much about meeting his father?"

[outpostcook]

"Meeting the folks, huh? That's never easy. I wish you the best of luck."

Kinner doesn't have much to refer to on this one, since he's unmarried and was never the most social of people. Still, he ought to try and offer something to help this stranger out. It's a situation he's never been in, mostly because he's never been in a serious relationship long enough for it to come up.

"Do you have any fancy dress? I'd suggest that, as well as being on your best manners in general. That's mostly what I saw folks do back in my time." He wonders if social mores are different in Jim's world - working from 1938 as a reference is only what he knows, and the rules around meeting in-laws could be different in other universes. In fact, they almost certainly are. It would only make sense. "Ignore my advice if things are different in your world."

[smartass_captain]

"I'm not allowed to wear it. I have to wear...well I guess this is actually pretty nice."

Jim pulls at the ends of his sleeves to show off the decorative trim on his tunic. Winding patterns of trailing vines and soft whorls breaking up the otherwise plain looking shirt. Someone put a lot of effort into making this.

"He's not form my world so I'm dressing for my fiance's world today. There'd be too many questions if I wore my own stuff."

[outpostcook]

Kinner looks at the stranger's cothes. They are, as the other man put it, pretty nice. Kinner's no fashion expert, though. Quite the opposite. His clothes are plain shirts, work pants, and his standard polar jacket.

It is a nice jacket, and the weather's growing colder. But the stranger's outfit is much nicer, Kinner observes.

"I'm guessing your fiance's world does things a litte differently? Thats interesting. Marrying someone from another universe and all."

[delphicbooksandbaubles]

The outfit catches her eye first and she slightly tilts her head. It looked like something someone would wear back in her home realm. She smiles softly and warm.

Ah that body language was very familiar she'd often did the like her self. Her face softens as she pads softly closer. Her eyebrows go up and she does her best to stay on balance and holds out her hands to intuitively to help steady jim as well..which one it is she's uncertain at the moment. She's met one before though. "Whoa, east there laddie." She murmurs in surprise but her tones half concerned warning, half trying to soothe him. As her lit comes out a bit.

She listens, intently her eyebrows going up, ah there's something she had some experience in. "Well, ahem " She softly clears her throat and looks half in thought. "Good manners typically go over well..don't put on any..hmm haughty sort of airs..most parents can smell fakery even if yer trying to put your best foot forward a mile away..or it'll come back to bite ya in the butt. Show them how much ya care for their young one..but don't be..overly PDA to an uncomfortable degree. " She does her best to gently impart.

[smartass_captain]

"Oh, shit--sorry." Jim moves to the side with his hasty apology tumbling out of his mouth before he's even stopped to take notice of who he's talking to. When he spies her his smile turns a bit rueful, she's a familiar face around here even if they haven't spoken directly much.

"Well, some fakery is going to be necessary. I'm not exactly from his world or time. I've been practicing his language for a while now though so...whoo boy. Here's hoping, right?"

[delphicbooksandbaubles]

She smiles slightly sheepish though her nose twitches for a minute. As she does her best to regain an equilibrium. "It's alright, no harm no foul." She reassures the fellow. "Happens to the best of us." She states wryly, normally she's the one tripping over herself in some manner.

She hums and sighs softly, "Well..the language thing will likely go over well..most folks appreciative that sort of effort." She states encouragingly. True she knows a thing or two about trying to and the need to blend in. Still her right eye twitches. Hopefully, he won't have to do too many far out things. "Best keep yer cover story simple then." She advised, and hopefully semi-close to the truth as possible. Even if not detail heavy.

She blows out a breath and blinks as she mulls some things over. Let's see what else could be helpful.

[volurofthehearth]

Runa does enjoy making the most of the Nexus. Being surrounded by people who have almost everything makes Yule gifts difficult, but having access to a multiversal Nexus gives her a distinct advantage, and she's spending more and more time here. Which is how she ends up bumping into Jim.

"Oh, sorry!" She laughs as she apologises, readjusting her bag over her shoulder.

The question gets a smile. One she has to pinch to keep small. "An important meeting coming up?" She doesn't really need an answer, so she inhales deeply as she thinks. "Be pleasant and polite, courteous and open minded. You can't really know how to impress someone until you know what they find important. Listen and watch. See how they act, and take your cues from them. First you have to show them that you're not crazy, and you can impress them after you get to know them a little."

[smartass_captain]

"Oh shit--wh...Runa!"

Jim moves out of her way quickly with an embarrassed laugh tumbling out of his mouth before he can even try to gather up his composure around Viatorus' wife. She's not someone he's spoken directly with alone before so he's quick to paste on his most charming smile despite how completely uncool he'd looked only seconds before.

"Yes. Felix's father is home sooner than any of us were prepared for, and he's asking to meet his future son-in-law so..." Jim gestures to his clothes with a small shrug. It's a rather nice outfit, really, just not what Jim's used to wearing. "Yeah. I'm...I wasn't quite as prepared as I thought I was."

[coldsong]

"Oh, look at you, all dressed up!" The tone and cadence of this greeting might strike Jim as familiar, although the person they're coming from is a tall, dark-haired woman with green eyes, not Loki as he usually appears.

She's dressed, incongruously, in a neat black business skirtsuit, with a green hooded cloak overtop it, and she, too has gloves on, as well as pantyhose and sensible silver pumps. Why she's dressed like this is anybody's guess--maybe she just felt like it--but she immediately tries to bat his hands away from the ties to straighten them out herself, like a fussy mother helping a child with a necktie.

"This is very nice. I like this better than your usual clothing. Grow out your hair and you'll look like you came straight from Vanaheim. Do you have a brooch? I can lend you one."

Loki, what the hell are you doing?

[smartass_captain]

Jim's head snaps up, an apology on his lips for his bumbling about with a head full of nerves, but the friend he expected to see on the other side of this is...not who he thought it would be. The hair's too dark and the skin a bit too pale to be any of Felix's kin and rather than pacing JIm falters to a standstill as he tries to reconcile what he's seeing with anyone he knows.

She talks as though they're friends but..? Ah. No she must be thinking he's the other Jim Kirk somehow. He offers Loki a charming gentleman's smile that once more fragments to confusion when she steps forward to adjust his outfit for him.

"My usual--I already grew my hair out to sell this look in my fiance's world." He isn't quite pouting but it's a close thing. "I don't have a brooch, no. Is that something you need for these?" Wait, that's not--she's doing a good job of keeping Jim on his back foot.

"Sorry. I'm just. I don't think I'm the Jim you know. Maybe. I don't...have we met?" She feels so familiar but not.

[conjuredskies]

"I didn't realize you were this nervous about it." That's a voice to drag Jim's attention away from whichever bystander he's bumped into this time. Felix is almost as well-dressed as the captain, though his clothes aren't quite as new. They're blue, as he prefers, in a shade that just happens to complement Jim's favorite color scheme.

It's rather hypocritical of Felix to act so casual as he smiles at Jim. He's nervous about the whole thing too, and he hasn't exactly been a fount of inside information on how to win his father over.

"It'll be fine, I'm sure of it. You have more charm than the rest of my family put together. If we can handle a pack of bloodthirsty bandits, we can handle my father."

[smartass_captain]

Jim makes a rather undignified noise he will definitely deny is a whine in the back of his throat when Felix pipes up, spinning on the spot and letting out a long breath he's not really sure how long he'd been holding up until that point.

"I'm not, I'm fine." Jim he just saw you asking the Nexus about it. Fussing with your ties on your clothes. Pacing! Felix knows your body language and that's the best retort you can come up with?

"I still don't know anything about him, you know? Only that he's your father and he's been away on some top secret thing and he's the battle mage that got us you and Stratos, who is no slouch of a mage himself and this guy is probably like ten times as much as Stratos so yeah I'd say I'm maybe just a little bit worried."

[boldygoing]

Jim hasn't been a frequent flyer in the Nexus for the better part of a year now, but the crowds are still as normal-looking as they've ever been, a random mishmash of futuristic, western, medieval, and countless other styles that one man in an unfamiliar cloak doesn't draw his attention whatsoever until he suddenly has to avoid bumping shoulders, jolting him out of his thoughts.

The clothes are so very un-Starfleet that if not for the recognition on the other captain's face, Jim might wonder if he's stumbled across some other poor bastard who shares their face.

"Beats the hell out of me. I only met Hunter's dad once, and there were cops involved." No, he's not joking, sadly.

[smartass_captain]

"Cops? Wait, cops?"

Like the actual police? What the fuck happened when Jim met Hunter's old man? Was it during a goddamn robbery? It does the trick of getting Jim to calm down a moment and stop to just breathe. He stares after his companion wearing the uniform Jim wishes he could be donning right now and gapes like a fish out of water.

"Is Hunter's dad some kind of criminal or was he that upset to think Hunter was dating a man?"

[mr_enterprise]

This time of year, it's Kirk who does most of the shopping for the little two-man (and one kneazle) household, venturing out into the chilly markets to buy groceries and other essentials while Spock keeps his old bones warm at home. It feels a few degrees cooler than he remembers Iowa being this time of year, but it's still a hell of a lot warmer than Rura Penthe was, so it's positively balmy as far as he's concerned.

He's still dressed for the weather though, his coat a more futuristic style in burgundy and black, a bright red scarf wrapped loosely around his neck, and he's carrying a small tote of groceries in gloved hands as he makes his way through the Nexus.

Being almost tripped over by a stranger is par for the course here, but what isn't is the voice of the stranger, maybe fifty years younger but still just as familiar as it was every time he played back one of his logs. And the face... it's like looking into a mirror into youth, maybe not exactly as he recalls it, but close enough that if the youngster was in Starfleet gold, there'd be no doubt in his mind at all who this is.

Well, how about that.

"I'd start with making sure you've done your research," the old captain says, after the shock wears off.

[smartass_captain]

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry--"

Jim's a flurry of live wire nervous energy, stumbling back out of the way of the older man and hurrying to hold out a hand to help steady him in case he needs it and he's so focused on his own internal browbeating for tripping up senior citizens in the Nexus that he doesn't notice until he sees the man staring at him and Jim...?

Finds himself staring right back.

The breath robs itself from his lungs in one sudden exhale as his eyes go wide as saucers. What is he looking at? What exactly...? Fear grips at Jim's heart because for a horrible second he's wondering if there's a George Kirk that's still alive somehow walking around because if he was he'd--probably not be that old actually but definitely close.

"Of course I did my--okay. Hold on, no. I can't...I can't do this." Jim pinches the bridge of his nose as if it will stave off the massive migraine he already feels coming on. "Captain James T. Kirk. Designation SC937-0176CEC." He doesn't open his eyes or look up while he recites his name, rank, and number. Maybe because he's not sure he can handle what he might be about to hear.

[liverfree]

Prometheus is quick to step out of the way to avoid a collision. "Easy there!" He says with a laugh, before taking in the man's appearance. The style of clothing reminds him of an earlier time, one closer to his own than the modern dress that he frequently sees Nexus goers wearing.

(Modern being anything in the last couple of centuries, of course.)

"Well, I unfortunately can't speak specifically to in-laws." Mostly because his in-laws were also his on family. Moving on! "But I imagine it is like meeting anyone you wish to be on good terms with. You act as a gracious guest and attempt to follow their customs as best as you can."

[smartass_captain]

"Sorry, sorry. I'm just...I'm a bit of a mess right now. I really do apologize."

Jim's fidgeting with the ties and stays of his clothing while he stops his pacing to talk to this new person he's nearly run into. Even when he's standing he's never truly still. Typical human.

"Okay yeah, that's fine on paper and all but--" Could it really be so easy? Jim Kirk is a practiced diplomat who has acted in Starfleet's stead to oversee numerous public affairs and peace talks on the Federation's behalf and he's afraid of a middle aged wizard from a world that doesn't have electricity. Jim sighs deeply and drags his fingers through his hair.

"I'm so worried I'm going to screw something up. It's driving me mental."

[attackpatternbattista]

"As I understand it," Delia explains as she wanders up, "Usually the best way to make a good impression is to be yourself, and try to relax, and calm your nerves."

"Admittedly, it's not something I've got much experience in, myself." Her relationships rarely lasted that long, let's be completely honest.

For her part, she's dressed for the weather, long jacket, heeled boots, and heavier pants.

[smartass_captain]

"Delia, why do you always see me at my worst?"

It seems like every time Jim's stuck floundering there his Orion friend is. Thankfully, it's usually not to point and laugh. She's been an indispensable help more than once. Jim gives a self depreciating laugh before he slows down so he can spend a moment talking to his friend.

"I wouldn't be so worried if Felix's world wasn't just so different form mine, honestly. Or if I could be honest about who I am and where I'm from."

[losthunter]

The man he nearly stumbles upon this time is taken aback for a moment. Stumbling over the face, before reassuring himself that this is not the Jim he normally spends time with. Hunter places a steadying hand on the captain's shoulders all the same.

"I heard that congratulations are in order."

[smartass_captain]

"Shit, sorry----" Jim stops his frenetic pacing and has a moment to gape himself when he sees just who it is he's run into. "Hunter!"

This is a little bit strange. Jim's not used to dealing with his other self's partner very much. He hopes he's not about to make things terribly awkward. Jim tries to keep his smile friendly but more professional. Less charming. It's really difficult to do and he really doesn't succeed very wall but An Effort Was Made.

"Ah, well sort of. I'm off to visit Felix's father as soon as he meets me here. He's found out we're engaged a bit quicker than we expected and rushed home to meet us."