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Kaleb wrangled the team: Vic, Maximus, and now Jeb. The lads were on a mission and Jeb was grabbed as a 'subject matter expert'. Presently? Presently it was lunch while Maximus insisted on doing super secret shopping. While Kaleb was a tad remis to let Maximus be turned loose during a manic streat he was a grwon up and the best he could offer was setting a rendevous time. Echo was a little nervous but still they had to meet Jeb for lunch and get his input.
Walking into Eight Ball with Vic Kaleb had the hunter green 3 piece suit with the black plaid on the vest and a sage shirt and tie with. He always looked a class act though. "Jeb, you found us."
Vic is in chinos and a nice button-down shirt. The breeze outside has stirred his hair into something almost fluffy. It needs a trim. His arms are laden with bags of this and that, some Christmas ornaments, bunting, and a little secret shopping of his own. When he spies Jebediah, he grins at him. "Hey. I'm Vic. It's nice to meet you."
Jebediah would never get used to how Kaleb always dressed like he was going to a wedding or a big job interview. It was crazy to him. His church goin' clothes weren't even that pretty. The pair of them look like royalty in comparison to Jeb, who has on a pair of jeans that are suprisingly not ripped anywhere and a long sleeved shirt that's swallowing him up because it's a size too big for him, and a coat that has seen better days. "Vic." Jeb repeats. "Yeah, you're one of the other guys who lives in the house right? You share with Kellan. Ah ain't seen him yet either. Nice to meet ya." He holds out a hand for shaking. "Ah'm Jay's brother. One of the little ones."
Kaleb was royalty of sorts; the financial kind anyways. Kaleb blinked at Jeb and looked to Vic looking bewildered, "I'm Kellan. Vic, he lives with us and he can't even tell Kale and I apart." He sighed and waited for Vic to out him. "Jeb, we got lunch." He unbuttoned his peacoat and scanned the area for familiar faces before looking back.
Vic nods to Jebediah amiably. "Yeah, I've been studying a lot and staying a few nights at school, so we must just keep missing each other." He juggles bags so he can free a hand to shake. "It's really nice to finally meet you." He snorts then at Kaleb. "He's going to be mad if you keep doing that," he says. "Or I'm going to start asking for smooches." Like that's a terrible threat.
Jebediah gives Kaleb a long confused look when he says that he's Kellan instead. Jay had told them they were twins but he didn't think they'd look that much alike. Perhaps they do, so he hesitates. "Why would Cabbage invite me out and then not show up, that doesn't make any sense. You're Cabbage." Jeb insists and then has it confirmed by Vic. Jebediah doesn't seem to be upset by Vic's statement of asking Kaleb for kisses. He'd had the talk with Jay, he knew that Vic and Kellan were a thing and he'd vowed to not be weird about it, so he wouldn't.
Kaleb never made Jay that promise and squint a look at Vic. "You ruin… all my fun you know that?" He leaned back slightly and sighed. "Yeaaah thht'd go poorly for everyone. Fine." A little harmless fun at Kellan's expense would stop being fun when Kaleb's other half would get hurt and that he didn't wager. He sighed and looked to Jeb, "Sit. Order. Continue to ruin my holiday joy. It's fine. I'm not bitter. newp. Not a problem." Oh he was good at faking a grudge. "So we got a tree. A real one. Jay's been hurting over the Rockafeller thing and…reasons. So we're fixing up the apartment and surprising him. Need to figur out what to…do next. ALso someone needs to know how to drive a truck to move the tree so I assume you know about these things."
"I'm a fun ruiner," Vic says with a sunny smile at Kaleb. "I can drive a truck," he offers. Instead of sitting and ordering, though, he perks up and says, "Oh! I know that guy. I gotta talk to him a sec." And he gets up. "Hey! Hey, Eddie!" Then, in a lower tone, "Unfinishied business, I'll be right back."
Jebediah smiles at Kaleb as he knew the other man was joking about Jeb ruining all of his fun. "Now just for all of that, Ah'm ordering the most expensive thing ah can find, since you're buyin' rahgt?" Jeb teases, as if Kaleb didn't almost literally crap diamonds and could probably buy the entire building they were standing in just now. "Next we decorate it, we gotta get a whole bunch of ornaments and garland, and lights, definitely need lights. Some of that spray on snow stuff since we ain't got none yet. Oh man, Cabbage, Cabbage, can we get stuff to make cookies? We gotta make cookies. Ah remember one of mama's recipes, Ah'll bake cookies. You ain't even gotta touch the oven."
Kaleb looked up and noted Kitty. Aaaah sanity and intelligible solutions abount. Perfect! "Katherine… Kitty. Here" Echo upnodded and waved ehr over but it was to Jeb that he drily added, "You can order the lobster but I ain't sleeping with you." Awwww he learned humor! Another glance checked in on Vic because, damn if Kaleb wasn't his 'brother's' keeper. Then Echo looked bewildered, "Why are we decorating the lobs- oh. Yes. Yes Jeb, that's the plan. Maximus is picking out 'something', I dunno what but I think he may have Victorian retro in mind. Maybe something Chinese in nature. I dunno. No idea but I suppose we'll find out. I-" And Jeb's eyes lit UP causing the mutant to look vaguely worried as the younger Guthrie may explode, "I… touch the oven? Why…would I? Yeah we can make cookies. Where you want to cater them from?"
Vic speaks in animated tones with this 'Eddie' guy. Whatever the topic, it ends with Vic giving him some money and a manly hug. Then he returns to the table and says, "Sorry about that. Eddie used to help me jack cars." He slides back into his seat again. "We can make cookies," he tells Jeb. To Kaleb, he says, "It's about doing things together as a family. You can supervise us while we make them."
Kitty enters the Eight Ball, brushing hair out of her eyes and tucking the loose tendrils behind her ears. She lets out a long sigh of relief. She was very happy to be back in town, but hungry from her travels. She turns when she hears her name called. Reconizing Kaleb, she smiles and waves back. She heads over "Hey! How are you doing?" Noticing the others around the table, "I'm not inturping am I?"
"Not at all," Jeb assures her and offers his hand for shaking. "Jeb. We're just planning on how to make our apartment real festive because my brother is real upset about the Rockefeller tree and just because Christmas is supposed to be festive. You're more than welcome to help us. Ladies always have the best ideas, I find. All my sisters are definitely smarter than me." He looks over to Kaleb when he asks where they'll /cater/ the cookies from with such a disapproving look that Kaleb's grandchildren will feel his disappointment. "We don't order them, we get the ingredients and Ah'll make em and they'll be better than any of yer catered cookies any day and Jay will be real happy when he comes home and the house smells like cookies."
Kaleb nudged out a chair for Kitty with the toe of his wingtip oxford boot. He wasn't a 'smiler' as it were but the tone was pleasant all the same, "Not at all, Kitty. Sit. Join us. Let us grab you lunch. We're working on figuring out how to save Icarus' christmas now that vandals lobbed the top off the Rockafeller Center Plaza tree." he squint at Jeb and set his jaw. "You sure you have your mother's schematic for the cookies?" Becuase food had blueprints right? "Kitty, this is Jeb… Cannonball and Icarus' younger brother and current rural refugee in our apartment. Jeb, Kitty Pryde; one of the smartest women we have the pleasure of still talking to us. But yes in a nutshell we're trying to save Jay's morale." Vic got a curious look, then the fellow he was tlaking to. There was a squint. "Charming."
"Obviously I don't jack cars anymore," Vic tells Kaleb when he spies the look. He then offers Kitty a vague wave and an amiable, "I'm Vic. I live with them." He looks at Jeb for a moment, then says, "If you've got cookies worked out, I guess I can decorate. I don't want to step on anyone's toes. I'm just glad to have a Christmas." He smiles crookedly. "Not much decking the halls in Atica."
Kitty "I thought I detected the Guthrie accent!" She takes the offered seat, pulling her winter coat off and placing it on the back of the chair. As she loosens her scarf a small gold Star of David necklace can be seen around her neck. "I'd be happy to help, I have a couple of family recipes we can try too." she pauses and adds ruefully "So long as nobody minds that they might not be the most authentic for Christmas." A slight frown crosses her face, "What exactlty happened to the Rockefeller Center display?"
Kitty turns to Vic, "Hi! Pleasure to meet you!"
Jebediah looks over at Vic when he talks about cookies and he sounds a little like he had wanted in on that endeavor. "Ah can always use help that isn't Lettuce in the kitchen. I got my mama's recipe for chocolate chip and sugar cookies memorized, but if you know of some other ones, Ah'm more than happy for you to help! Ah wanna cut em into fun shapes like snowmen and snowflakes and Christmas trees. We could find some cutters for that! It'll be fun. And ah mean, we always gotta decorate the cookies too."
"Someone stole the top of it off, probably the grinch. Or who was that other one? The one with the ghosts? Scrooge?" He explains. "And Jay's Christmas cheer's been ruined."
Kaleb silently endured the butchery of his name and quietly understood why Max's eye twitched at being called 'Maxi'. Le sigh. There was a slow nod and he said to Kitty, "I know per our other conversation it may infringe on any of your family's stuff going on but if you'd like to come hang out and join us you are absolutely welcome to." The holiday even had Kale in a generous spirit as it were. "Yeah Jeb? No one touches Vic's food-workshop-area thing. You don't need my permission you need his." He thought about it quietly for a while and seemed to warm up to the idea, "Make is smell like home for em at least- ooh, Vic you know how to do gingerbread? Caroline used to make those for Kellan and I… I think he'd appreciate em. I mean… I would but I think Kell'd dig it."
Vic's smile broadens until there are dimples. "It's great to meet you," he says to Kitty. "Any friend of Kaleb's a friend of mine." He then perks up at Jebediah. "You got recipes? That's great. I was going to have to look them up, but I bet your mom's, like, a hundred times better than Betty Crocker. She's great, your mom is. We talk sometimes on the phone. But, yeah, we should make them together. It'll be fun." Another one of those dimpled smiles. Vic just seems to have happiness as a default. "We can work out gingerbread, I'm sure," he tells Kaleb. Then, to Kitty, "Do you have any plans? I see Christmas might not be your thing, but we're not doing it religious. We're just going to have a lot of fun."
Maximus saunters on into the 8-ball, since the driver said that's where they went off to. He has on a white fur coat, one of Kaleb's shirts. Its blue, with an black vest, black pants, /nice/ shiny shoes. His hair is slicked back tightly against his skull and his lips are a brilliant revlon red. He has fully shaved, so his face has that smooth quality about it until it gets a little later in the day. He looks 1000 percent pleased with himself.
Kitty smiles "I just got back from my family holiday stuff, so no infringement. And I am allways ready to have some fun in good company," her smile grows wider "I will happily accept your invitation." She pauses, "Are there any other holiday dishes that your family makes other than cookies?" This last bit is directed to Jeb, "Maybe we could make that too?"
"Other'n cookies? We make like, a big Christmas dinner. Get a big honey ham, make some green bean casserole, sweet potatoes with the marshmallows on top." Jeb frowns a little, talking about what they make for Christmas dinner makes him a little homesick for a place he doesn't feel like he belongs anyhow. "Ah.. sorry, we also make deviled eggs. Maybe a fruit cake. We could make all of it. Do any of y'all do much cookin'? Ah can do a lot of it. When Sam, Paige and Jay left, Ah learned a lot about cookin' and stuff." He pulls a little at his shirt, faded and a size too big when Max enters the building as well. He looks down and away from him and away from all of them for a second, aware of how out of place he looks. "Jay would like that, comin' home to a whole apartment that smells like Christmas dinner and cookies. That would make him real happy ah reckon."
Kaleb looked to Vic and then to Jeb and Kitty, "I'm only vaguely aware of what a kitchen is to be honest. Vic's a damn good cook though. But…" His eyes looked from Kitty, Vic and Jeb to the fluffy and resplendant Maximus Boltagon (accept no substitutes). "I think what feels like a homecooked meal should be included. Vic, I leave thi project in your capable hands to enable. You three are welcome to go nuts." He did stand though to vacate the chair extending one hand to Max and then the seat in silent offering while he grabbed the next nearby one. "Max, Ms. Kitty Pryde, a friend of mine, and you know Jeb and Vic." Yes Jeb, same Max. Eyes drift from shoes to tie and he squint at the be-glossed Inhuman. "You look entirely satisfied. Well done."
"Maybe a chicken, too? Can't have too much meat." Vic says. "My Opa is Jewish and I don't think they eat ham." He glances to Kitty inquisitively. He nods then to Kaleb, and he asks Jeb, "Would you help me with it? I've never done a Christmas dinner before, and I figure the more stuff we have the merrier." He grins. Then he spies Max and he grins. "You look great today," he tells him. He then says to Jeb, "If you make the ham and sweet potatoes, I could make the deviled eggs and maybe do something with vegetables. I'm sorry, I don't mean to volunteer you like this; it's only if you want to."
"Yesss…for what feast would be complete without an excessive amount of alcohol?" Maximus smiled like the cat that ate the canary and settled into the seat offered to him and placed the white fur on the back of it. "A pleasure…a pleaaaasure." Aware of Jeb's shyness in contrast to their awesome clothing, he leans back and stares at the man. "You are welcome too, of course. Kaleb is excedingly generous when it comes to his friends."
Kitty glances up as she is introduced to Max, smiling in greeting. At the mention of a chicken she nods in relief, "Yeah, a chicken would be good. Ham is a no go for me, but I wouldn't want to be a party pooper. Is there room in the oven to roast one?" She frowns slightly as she thinks, "Or we could cook that ahead of time, get all the carving and what not out of the way…"
Something about the way that Vic talks to him makes Jeb feel funny, a weird warmness in his belly. "Chicken is fine. Ah like it better than ham. It's always poultry you have on thanksgiving, and then ham on Christmas, but we can mix it up, 'specially if y'all have somethin' where you can't eat it. Ah would love to help you cook, and you can help me with the cookies too. Cookies are so much fun. Everyone could help with those." Jebediah consents easily, though he wonders if there is anyone on earth who can actually refuse Vic on anything.
When Max addresses him, Jeb shyly brings his eyes up to the very fancy other man. "Welcome to?" He asks, a little confused.
Kaleb seemed unphased by his 'other' being gussied up or even having bogarted his shirt. "Max, I don't think they mean us. They're not going to press gang us into being cookie elves. We are on the interior decorating detail." Says Echo as if he negotiated with a ticket scalper for better seats. He didn't interrupt Vic or Kitty making acquaintence and greetings though. As a point of clarification he told the trio, "I ahve absolutely zero opinion on cooking or culinary preperation. This is… entirely out of my depths here." Truer words have not been spoken. He did look back to Max though, curious, but he didn't voice his question. Not yet.
Vic tells Maximus and Kaleb, "You're both safe from cooking. Jebediah and I are on cookig detail. Jeb gets another grin. His buddy in the kitchen! "We could roast a couple chickens," he says. "They'd take up about the same amount of room as a ham would've. We'll work it out." He's adopted Jebediah. It's official. To Jebediah, he says, "We'll be in the company of Philistines, but not to worry."
"Sure, its for Jay, but you are welcome, in addition, or did Kaleb already cover that part?" Max says to Jeb, then chuckles when Kaleb makes sure he knows that they are NOT cooking. "Yes, that's /wise/. Very…/very/…wiiiiiise. We have no idea. " Maximus readily admits of himself and his partner. "I have a curiosity for all sorts of foods, so…the meal matters not to me."
Kaleb sat back with a half dimpled grin watching the food prep and Vic morph into Chef Vic. Looking back to Kity he offered, "I'm pretty certain they aren't rabid at least if they bit you in their enthuasim…mostly." Their excitement was infectous. Max's words brought up both of Echo's eyebrows. This was good news for everyone indeed. A slow nod found agreement as the natty pair seemed to appraise the plan smiling like the damn Mona Lisa.
Kitty looks between Vic and Jeb, "Anything I can bring? I'm no expert in the kitchen, but I would be more than happy to lend a hand." She looks around, "Just let me know what I can do."
Jeb smiles excitedly and leans on the table a little as they make their plans. He likes the idea that he could actually be useful. "Yeah, we'll just do all chicken. Ah think that every person in the world, no matter how fine their tongue might be, can enjoy a homecooked meal. And there ain't a single person in the world that can make a cookie better'n my mama, not even me, so Ah hope ah won't disappoint too much." He says and then looks over to Kity. "Yeah, miss, if you could bring some of the ingredients for cookies, that would help a lot! We could all just make lists of what we are bringing."
"Yeah, what he just said," Vic says, "Some of the makings. We'll make a list." He leans across the table to give Jebediah a pat on the arm. "It'll be fine. You'll do your mom proud, I'm sure. If she asks, I'll tell her they were the best cookies I've ever had." He beams at Kaleb. "This is going to be great. I can't wait to tell Kellan that we're having a proper Christmas."
Kaleb seemed… content. Was this what Happy Kaleb looked like? It was so subdued it might be hard to tell at all. Echo was an observer and a facilitator though and catalyzed something… not-awful for a change. "Surprise him." were his only words to Vic sharing a brief wink. There was the tip off. Looking around hte place he looked back to Maximusbumping his foot with his own to convey a thought for a moment looking back to teh three discussing food and meteing out who was going to be responsible for what as if: lookit em go. THis was… pretty great and absolutely needed inbetween lookign for Skrulls and people assailing shrubbery in Rockafeller Center. This was his family now and it…was pretty groovy.
Jebediah goes home.