boldygoing | L'shanah tovah [for losthunter]

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L'shanah tovah [for losthunter]

Jim Kirk has not celebrated any holidays with his family for a very long time.

Sure, they started talking again after his enlistment in Starfleet made its way into several Earth newsfeeds, the usual media vultures seeking attention for their coverage of George Kirk's son returning to the fold, so to speak. Confined mostly to text-based messages, and a few short video calls, his grandparents have reached out to him over the past few years, trying to reconnect, to mend old fences, and giving a standing invitation to come visit whenever he's ready.

He's always had an excuse for not going, citing existing plans to spend time with Bones, to study for upcoming exams, or being out of the solar system on Starfleet business, among other things. But with the Enterprise still out of commission as her repairs and overhaul nears completion, and having spent several weeks sharing living space with his mother again, he can't really wiggle out of it this year.

Not that he's even sure he wants to, anymore.

His family life has never really been the poster child for well-adjusted people, but... they're still his family. And maybe it's time to stop running away from his problems and pretending they don't exist. He's not a traumatized thirteen-year-old anymore, overwhelmed and isolated in the knowledge that none of them can truly appreciate the horrors he lived through, lashing out at a world that allowed such things to happen to him. He's turned his life around, cleaned up his act, and started down a path that is far more important than just fulfilling his own wants, regardless of the legality. And this particular holiday seems like the appropriate time to try to make amends.

Fortunately, he doesn't have to deal with it alone.

Jim patiently waits just outside a public transporter terminal in the Chicago suburbs, sitting on a park bench. While still wearing civilian clothes, he's on the slightly more formal side of things today in a white dress shirt and dark pants, though he's not bothered to wear a tie. It's about mid-afternoon, and the streets are mildly busy with people out for a stroll or out running errands of some kind, a steady flow of foot traffic both on the sidewalks and beaming in and out at the transporter platforms. He idly watches them pass by, keeping an eye out for his expected guest, whose PINpoint coordinates should bring him out exactly where everyone expects people to appear out of nowhere.

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"Atonement and a celebration of the new year." Those two things seem to go together often. "It does sound interesting."

"When was the last time that you celebrated Rosh Hashanah?"

Jim assumes he means legitimately celebrating, not just going 'oh hey, it's Rosh Hashanah' and then getting whatever festive meal the Academy commissary was serving that day. "Not since I was twelve." So it's been a while.

They arrive at the house, a moderately-sized single-story home with a neatly manicured lawn. It's a lot better tended than the Kirk household in Iowa, something that might not look out of place in a slightly futuristic subdivision, fairly similar to the neighboring houses in shape and structure, if not for the small personal touches that mark it as distinct. There's a woodburned sign above the main door declaring it to be the residence of the Davis family, and the doorpost is decorated with a small mezuzah. The lawn has a small path of stepping stones that leads to a small flower and vegetable garden, and a holographic pink flamingo adorns the side of the path, flanked on the other side by a birdbath.

Hunter takes in everything, as they approach the house. He sort of chuckles at the sight of the holographic pink flamingo.

"Those never go out of style, do they?"

"Oh, yeah, they're just as tacky as they've always been," Jim says with a grin, as they walk up to the door. "Most people who have 'em these days have them because it's funny or whatever."

He knocks once as he opens the door, not waiting for anyone to let them in. The scents of fresh bread and roasting fish waft out to greet them, and the interior of the house is comfortably casual, once again better maintained than the Kirk homestead. Digital photos and artwork line the walls, pictures of landscapes and people, unfamiliar faces in civilian clothes or Starfleet uniforms, and there are a few medals in shadowboxes on display on one wall, surrounded by pictures of a man about Jim's age who is wearing those medals and shaking hands with another uniformed officer.

That same man, now in his eighties, appears in the doorway between the foyer and the dining room. At first glance, he and Jim don't look much alike, but there is a certain family resemblance there on closer inspection, mostly in regards to the nose and the laugh lines around his eyes. "You must be Jim's guest. Welcome."

Hunter takes a nice deep breath in, absorbing the welcoming smell of fresh bread and roasting fish. Whatever they have planned for supper definitely smells good.

He takes a careful look around, especially at that one display on the wall.

When he makes the connection between that man, and the man who greets them, Hunter wonders how many generations of Jim's family have served in Starfleet.

"Yes. I'm Hunter. Nice to meet you."

If this man finds it unusual that Hunter only has one name to give, or finds his appearance unusual, he doesn't show it. Living in a truly multicultural society has its benefits. He offers his hand to shake, quite at ease with Hunter's presence. "I'm James Davis. Nice to meet you too. Jim tells us you're an artist?"

As weird as it can be to hear his grandfather introduce himself by his full name, Jim's pretty sure things would get confusing fast if they both went by the same name tonight. One of the very few downsides of being named for a relative, he supposes.

It is really nice to meet people who don't give him a 'weird' look because of the tattoos and piercings. And he gladly accepts the offered hand.

"Yes. Mostly a portrait artist. But I have also created other mediums."

The sound of voices has drawn attention from the other people in the house, and two women approach the spot where the men are gathered. One of them is an older woman, silver-haired, and it's a good bet that she's the lady of the house, with the way she comes to stand at James' side. The other woman is in her fifties, and bears a somewhat stronger resemblance to Jim than his grandparents. She hangs back slightly, her body language slightly hesitant, but as if she doesn't want to overcrowd their visitor either.

"Oh, you'll have to show us sometime," the older lady says with a smile. "I dabble a bit with paints and pastels when the mood strikes. I'm more into landscapes, but portraits take talent."

"This is my grandma Ruth," Jim tells Hunter, pushing down his unreasonable nervousness at Hunter meeting his family.

"Nice to meet you, Ruth." Hunter offers his hand to the older woman.

"And I am one of those people who consider that the talent is always there, no matter what kind of artistic project you are working on."

Hunter gives a slight nod at the other woman, who has not been introduced yet, but he can safely assume is Jim's mother. His hand moves to settle at Jim's back, giving the other man silent support.

"Certainly," Ruth agrees, shaking his hand easily. "But practice can't hurt either."

Jim and his mother share a silent look, uneasy but not hostile, like they're still trying to find their footing around each other. Still, there's also an element of unspoken words passing between them, the sort of familiarity that some families build over time, though the wordless language is a bit rusty.

It's enough to make up her mind about what to do next, anyway. "I'm Winona, Jim's mother," she says, also putting out her hand towards him. "Jim's told me a little bit about you." Hard not to, when they've been living in such close quarters.

"I am fortunate, I get to spend most of my day working on art projects." Hunter grinned.

He turned to Winona with another friendly smile, and accepts her offered hand. "All good I hope."

He doesn't know if Jim has explained about the Nexus to his mother. So he will be taking his cues from Jim himself.

Jim hasn't told his family - any of them - about the Nexus thus far. They're not close enough for that right now, and with the history they've had... well, keeping secrets from each other is no strange thing to a family where some have served in Starfleet anyway.

"Yes, I'd say so," Winona says, giving Jim another side glance before returning her attention to Hunter. "I'd like to thank you, for being there for him when I couldn't. New York is a little closer than the Beta Tau sector."

Jim's feelings on her behavioral turnaround are complicated, to say the least. The fact that it took him actually dying to get her to reach out in any kind of meaningful way stings a bit, even if she doesn't know it was that bad. But... she's making the effort now, and while he can't forget, he's trying to forgive. He's not entirely innocent in creating the rift between them either. And this time of year is supposed to be about making amends, so he doesn't say anything about it.

"I am glad I was there for him too." Hunter had only known Jim for a few weeks, when he received the call from Spock that Jim was in the hospital.

And now, because they have just gotten closer, they have known each other for several months.

"Come now, let's not focus on the bad things this past year brought us," Ruth says, touching Winona and Hunter both on the arm, smiling at them. "We have so much to appreciate today. Family and fellowship, and everyone is safe and healthy. And hungry, I hope?"

"You'd better have brought your appetite," James adds with a grin. "Ruth would make us all enough to feed us through Yom Kippur if I didn't stop her."

So far, Jim is hopeful for dinner to go well. While his mom is a bit more restrained, his grandparents are the type to feed strays and welcome in strangers on Shabbat, and while it may take a little time for Hunter to be completely comfortable, he hopes they've already begun putting him at ease. "I've been looking forward to this," he says honestly. "I've missed your cooking."

"I have plenty of appetite, especially since whatever you are making smells delicious." He smiles at Ruth.

He does already feel at ease. "He speaks of some of your meals fondly."

Ruth beams at the praise, eager to introduce her cooking to yet another hungry guest. "Oh, and you've brought wine," she says, seeing the wrapped bottle in Hunter's hand. "We'll be sure to have that with the meal. Jim tells us this is your first time celebrating Rosh Hashanah?"

Hunter laughs, since he almost forgot about his gift. "For the kind hostess and host."

"No. I haven't. I am quite curious about it."

James takes the wine with gratitude. "Don't worry if you don't know what's going on," he says, grinning. "It took me a while to get the hang of all the rituals when I first met Ruth too. Gets to be second nature after a while, but just do what everyone else does and you'll be fine."

"Well, let's not let dinner get cold," Winona says, gesturing for them to head into the dining room. "We still have to do the blessings before we can eat."

Unlike some holidays that Hunter may be used to, there are no fancy decorations or electronic lights, no overbearing focus on making the room festive like more commercialized holidays. The round table is set with handpainted china and fine silver, with two unlit candles in the center of the blue tablecloth. There's no head of the table, but one place setting has a more elaborately decorated silver cup in addition to the regular wine glass, as well as a cloth-covered loaf of challah. The rest of the foods on the table are varied and numerous: whole roasted fish stuffed with lemon and herbs, braised brisket with onions and carrots, matzo ball soup, apple-date tarts, lemon-parsley leeks, pomegranate coleslaw, and sweet potato latkes, as well as plain sliced apples. Each place setting has a small shallow dish of honey, as well.

There's certainly enough food on the table that there's going to be leftovers to take home. Clearly, Ruth Davis could give Molly Weasley a run for her money if she needed to cook for more than five people.

Hunter is amazed at the amount of food on the round table. He also smiles at the china and silver that decorates the table. He is also surprised by how much food there is going to be on the table.

"This looks wonderful. All of it."

"Thank you dear," Ruth says, beaming. Her goal is always to see her guests satisfied, no matter who they are. "Winnie, would you light the candles please?"

The candle-lighting is a part of the ritual, as Winona lights the candles and holds her hands in front of her eyes, and says the short blessing in Hebrew. Jim is rather rusty when it comes to this particular language, something he hasn't used in years, so he's more than content to play a passive role here and just say the 'amen' at the end.

After the candles, that fancier wine glass comes into play as James fills it to the brim and holds it low over the table as he chants the kiddush, a somewhat longer recitation than the blessing over the candles. Once the ritual words are complete, he takes a sip and passes the cup around for everyone to partake.

The last ritual is in two parts. Each member of the family uses a cup to pour water over each of their hands twice before reciting their own blessing (Jim goes last, so he doesn't have to struggle to remember what's supposed to be said). Then James uncovers the challah, holds it up and blesses it, before tearing off a piece and dipping it into his honey, and passes the bread around so everyone else can take a piece. No other words are spoken between the handwashing and eating the bread, but after that, the dam is broken, and it's time to begin loading up plates with the feast on offer.

[ooc: The blessings have some of the holier names of God in them, which aren't supposed to be written down except in specific circumstances, so I'm erring on the side of not posting transliterations out of respect.]

Hunter watches, quiet yet fascinated all the same, as they go through the different rituals. First, the candle-lighting, which he isn't even sure if he should say 'amen' or not, so decides to just hold Jim's hand in silent support during the short blessing.

And then he watches in interest of the next ritual. When the cup reaches him, Hunter politely takes a small sip out of respect.

Finally, he watches the family members recite their own blessings, a small smile tugs at his lips as Jim takes his church. As the challah is past around, he too takes a piece, after observing everyone else do it too.

Then everyone starts loading up their plates. So Hunter is glad it is something familiar. He has a lot of questions, but doesn't want to disturb the ritual.

[ooc: good call]

Once the bread has been blessed and the initial bites eaten, and everyone begins to pass around dishes for each other to serve themselves, the ritual atmosphere of the evening gives way to a more familiar, relaxed mealtime. Jim takes some of everything, and he's surprised to find it oddly comforting to have these familiar foods on his plate again after such a long time without. No one ever makes holiday meals the same way as one's grandmother does, after all.

"The honey's for dipping the apples in too," Jim tells Hunter as he puts a few apple slices on his own plate. "It's kind of a 'let's have a sweet new year' kind of thing."

"Ah..." Hunter takes a little of everything too, even if it is something that he has not tried before. He wants to sample all the foods that Jim's grandmother had prepared.

"A sweet new year sounds like a wonderful thing to wish for."

"It's a central part of the Rosh Hashanah meals," Ruth adds, pleased to see a healthy appetite in her guests. "You don't want to take in anything bitter at the beginning of a new year."

James tops up everyone's wine glasses before digging into his own meal. Hunter's choice of gift is clearly a good one, pairing well with the food on offer without being too dry. "Do you celebrate the secular new year?" he asks. "They still do that ball drop thing in New York, right?"

Even though Jim hasn't told them about the Nexus, this seems like a harmless enough question. He doesn't know much about twenty-first century New Year's, of course.

"They do." And Hunter hopes that they do in this timeline. "I have seen it a couple of times. It is really quite amazing to see it in person."

"But you have to be willing to brave the crowds and the cold."

"And I usually celebrate important holidays with my friends, no matter what time of year it is. The most important thing to me is just being there with the people who matter most in my life."

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