geniuswithasmartphone | 75 Godiva Street, Thanksgiving Day, Thursday Afternoon

It was Thanksgiving! The house smelled amazing too, like roasting turkey and sage and simmering apple cider and baking pies. Eliot had outdone himself in the kitchen this year, whipping up the creamiest mashed potatoes, the fluffiest stuffing, and even the crispiest egg rolls Hardison had ever seen. His own contribution was a platter of the croissant-variety Hot Pockets in various flavors.

Look, his TA had requested them and he was gonna provide, dammit.

Now they were finishing up the last few dishes, setting the table, and preparing for a delicious Thanksgiving meal. Not every member of their assorted families could be here today, but every person who was here was family in their own way. For Hardison, found family was infinitely more precious than people just related by blood. Each person had chosen to be here, to be part of this, and--

Shut up, he wasn't getting all misty-eyed. It was the dust. It got all up in his allergies.

[Up super-early I know, but holiday-related SP expected in a big way and also timezones! Sorry to anyone confused, but this post is definitely set for Thursday, Thanksgiving.]

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"Okay, I'm pretty sure that your Thanksgiving traditions are even weirder than mine," Kathy said, turning to give Raven a grin.

"If we want to go tradition, there needs to be 90% more sherry," Raven said. "And being mistaken for the new maid."

"Anders did bring wine," Kathy teased. "But I think we're going to have to skip your terrible traditions and make a bunch of new ones, just for us."

"You never had any terrible traditions growing up?"

Kathy frowned, thinking. "Outside of my mom making her special kimchi, I don't think so? We ate a lot of what middle Americans would probably consider weird food, but that was all. Most of our family's back in Korea, so it was just the four of us usually."

"It doesn't have to be a food thing to be a weird tradition," Raven pointed out. "Besides, I like your food."

"I know, I'm just thinking of what would count as terrible traditions anyway," Kathy said. "But our Thanksgivings were usually really low-key. I mean, Mom made the big meal, but we just had dinner and then scattered."

"Anything super obnoxious, or that completely devalues you as a person?" Raven shrugged. "Scattering doesn't sound too bad to me. Did you guys ever watch the parade?"

"I mean, that wasn't a Thanksgiving tradition, that was just a thing that happened," Kathy said with a shrug. "My mom harped on me for not trying hard enough to be pretty, my dad expected us to flatter and cater to him. Regular day that ended in -y, there."

Between Parent Weekends and staying with the Lis for a few days, Kathy figured Raven had seen it often enough to know what she meant.

"Your friends were really kind of a piece of work, weren't they," Raven observed. And stopped herself from making a comment bout how that made it easier to kill them.

Thank you for not single-handedly ruining Thanksgiving, Raven, good job listening to those instincts.

"They were," Kathy said with a shrug. "But Sarah and I turned out okay, right?"

And stopped herself from adding a comment about how that meant her parents couldn't have been all bad then.

75 Godiva Street, Thanksgiving Day, Thursday Afternoon

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