[Closed] I mean, breakfast cobbler?

[perservering]

Who: Team Fam Mingle
Broadcast: None
Action: Iskaulit Community Gardens
When: Day after Glenn gets shuffled



[ It's been a rough few weeks. Glenn's unexpected arrival after such a brutal reminder of what waits for all of them after death has Carol feeling out of sorts, to say the least. She wants to celebrate them being all together, and alive, no matter how unlikely it may be. And once a southern housewife, always a southern housewife. The way she decides to celebrate is with food.

She does her best with what she has. The various gels and pastes and other processed foods along with whatever she can scavenge from the gardens and the stores of what they picked up on the last few planets. With all that, she's managed to put together a decent enough picnic. Not as good as what she wants, but nothing ever will be. The menu is: cold fried chicken, pasta salad, fruit salad, peach pie, and sweet tea.

She's set up a folding table and chairs with a sheet for a tablecloth. Brought place settings from the Heron. It's the closest she can get to actually being outside while still in the relative safety of the fleet.

Time to reconnect and recover. She sends a text invitation the morning of. ]

Come to the Iskaulit Community Gardens at lunchtime. Bring your appetite.

Comments

[worn_wings]

[ Visiting the planet has two big advantages: it means not being stuck indoors if he doesn't want to be, and it gives him something to do to keep busy. Glenn being here is-- they don't make words for it. It's the best thing, and it's impossible, and it makes him feel terrible about himself for not stopping what happened but he's so glad he can mostly ignore it. The waystation still weighs on him-- so all in all, it's hard to be happy, but he can't be miserable, either.

It's a lot to feel at once, and digging crops for aliens on their weird-ass floating rock planet is a good distraction.

But he's not gonna turn down an invitation. It's a little fancier than he expects from the text, maybe, but that's not a bad thing-- and he's always happy to have all of them in the same spot. ]

Didn't realize it was a party.

100 years late \o/

[youdontneedapictureofme]

I think we've earned it, don't you?

[She's all smiles for once, a nice change of pace to usual. Glenn is here and things finally felt like they could be normal - maybe even good - again. There were no wars to fight, no Negan to try and be one step ahead of. It was just them, as it was when they first arrived in Alexandria.]

C'mon, I brought more food.

[worn_wings]

[ She's earned it, for sure. She deserves it, and Glenn, and the rest of them. Whether he does himself is something he's not going to weigh in on. This is nice, it doesn't need to get spoiled by his guilt.

And it's good, really good, to see them all. ]

When's the last time we were so well fed?

[youdontneedapictureofme]

Oh, I don't know. When we first got to Alexandria and Deana threw that party? Somethin' like that.

[Maggie smiles a bit, reminded fondly of those early days when all of them were just trying to heal from their losses and remember what it was like to not be 'out there' for so long.]

[worn_wings]

Skipped it.

[ But she's not wrong, he pretty much ate himself sick on Aaron and Eric's pasta. It'd been the first time in goddamn ages, at least it felt that way, that he wasn't half starved.

But he huffs, still in a good mood. ]

Think I like this better.

100 years and a few more hours late <3

[rheecon]

[ Being on a spaceship, and then another spaceship, had been one thing. For whatever reason, being on a whole other planet is somehow more alarming.

That barely registers, though, once they're here, the little band of his family he's somehow found his way to in another dimension, another galaxy, another reality. He'd have to get Chekov back on the line to figure out what the proper term is, honestly, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that he's here. That they're here, and evidently this is all real, or at least real enough.

As soon as he can get Daryl aside, he does. He knows there's a strange, awful, nebulous thing hanging over them, and he needs to do everything to start making that dissipate, to try to stop Daryl from carrying a weight he never should have been. ]

Daryl?

[ With the questioning tone comes a small smile, weak but hopefully reassuring. ]

[worn_wings]

[ He's had a little time to adjust to the idea. Hasn't gone running over, not because he doesn't want to but because he wanted to give them some space. Maggie's been here a long while, and Glenn... well, the two of them deserve some time.

And he needed a while to get used to the idea, but he knows immediately-- the second he sees Glenn, he's not ready.

But maybe he's never gonna be ready. How could anyone be?

So fuck trying to stay cool. He doesn't answer, just takes the couple of steps to close the space between them and pull his friend into a hug. ]

[rheecon]

[ He has no problem with that, letting himself be pulled (which is good, because he probably couldn't have stopped it), and returning that hug.

For a long moment, that's it, he just hangs on, steady as he can manage. Every one of these is going to be heavy, far heavier than talking over broadcast, but this one - all that weight, it goes a long way to lifting it in one instant.

Finally, just above a whisper, he breaks the silence, though not the embrace. ]

Hey.

[worn_wings]

[ This moment is held in a strange, tense balance. On the one hand, Daryl knows he absolutely doesn't deserve this warm welcome, the implicit forgiveness in... well, in Glenn not immediately beating the shit out of him. On the other hand, he's got even less right to tell the other man how he should feel.

That feels like a cowardly move, shrugging out of the responsibility he ought to bear. Really it just means he's going to do his best to bear it quietly and not put it on anybody else.

Either way-- he's glad. Inexpressibly glad, though he's doing his damnedest to at least illuminate the edges of it. ]

Hey, [ he echoes, a little choked, partly by an impulse to laugh hysterically at the fact that they haven't got anything better to say. ]

[perservering]

[ Carol glances down, flushing a little. She didn't think it was all that big of a production. ]

I just wanted to cover all the bases with the food. And, you know, make it look kinda nice? As best as I could. You hungry? The chicken turned out alright.

[worn_wings]

Just the chicken?

[ Everything looks good, and everything Maggie's brought does, too. It's just a lot to take in-- hard to believe they've got this much for just the handful of them.

Not that he's complaining. ]

You first.

[perservering]

The rest is alright, I guess.

[ She tilts her head, eying him suspiciously. Mostly. Also teasing. ]

You scared it's poisoned or something? Need me to taste test for you?

[worn_wings]

Wanna make sure you get some before I eat it all.

[ He's only half-joking. Really, he wants to make sure she doesn't get so wrapped up taking care of everyone else that she forgets to take care of herself, too. Besides, she's earned the first plate. This is a lot of work laid out in front of them. ]

[youdontneedapictureofme]

[Maggie had made more food, despite Carol probably already bringing a ton. What was there to worry about when they could have left overs? It all just felt so homey and nice that she didn't care if there was too much. Glenn was here. They were all here to enjoy themselves and just be together.]

I think we have enough food to feed a small army - even if it's just us.

[Carl could probably plow through most of it, honestly.]

[perservering]

Hey.

[ Carol smiles warmly and takes some of the food, helping Maggie set it out on the table. ]

Don't worry about it. We got a lot of missed meals to make up, right? Oh, is that potato salad?

[ She grabs a clean spoon and totally sneaks a bite. Because who's going to tell her no? ]

[youdontneedapictureofme]

Hey-

[Maggie is cut off with a laugh as Carol takes the food and starts helping herself.]

Somethin' like it. We got a lot of supplies on that planet with the deserted town. I think there's enough food on my shift to last us months if we get stranded somewhere. Always a possibility.

[She smiles, crossing her arms and looking around at their little gathering. It wasn't anything fancy - just their little family piling food onto a table and chowing down. It was perfect.]

[perservering]

I'm sorry I missed that place. Sounds like it must have been pretty useful for filling pantries.

[ She looks at the gathering too. Everybody seems so relaxed. More than she's ever seen them. A tightness in her chest loosens. ]

It's real nice to have Glen here.

[ She says quietly. ]

[postocular]

I mean, we could technically be called a small army?

[ It's the first time since they all got together as a family, so there was a low-level of excitement brewing. It felt so good to have Glenn back, and he's sure nobody feels that more than Maggie. ]

I'm not late, I'm just a time traveler

[rheecon]

[ Of course he turns up, eager and anxious and disbelieving all at once. This is his family, and however it's possible for him to be here, he is. Whether or not it's real, whether he's real... he can't answer those questions, and in the moment, they hardly matter. This is what he has, and it's more than he would have expected.

So with a small, subdued but undeniably grateful smile, he takes it all in. Drawing a deep, steadying breath, he speaks. ]

You know, this is already starting to feel like a home.

[perservering]

[ Carol smiles warmly and hugs him. ]

Hey, stranger. Hope you brought your appetite.

[ She doesn't quite let go of him, keeping a hand on his arm as she leads him to the food. ]

You settling in ok? How's your shipmates?

[rheecon]

[ Of course he returns the hug, his own smile warming as he does, and goes along easily toward the food. ]

Yeah, I'm... sort of getting over the initial shock? Some of them have helped a lot with that, actually. I kind of feel bad I'll be transferring.

[perservering]

Transferring already? Where are you off to?

[ She smiles fondly. ]

Guess Maggie can't quite transfer to your ship, huh?

[ She starts fixing a plate for him. ]

[postocular]

[ The setup is amazing, and it's perfect for the five of them. Of course, he wished there were more of them in the Fleet, but they'll take what they can get. For now, it's about being together. ]

It gets better the longer you're here.

[ It sounds like such an odd thing, but the Fleet, really is like a big family. ]

[rheecon]

[ He gives a warm smile there, a little dip of his head. ]

Good. I plan on sticking around as long as I can.

[ He knows it's not really up to him, but the sentiment remains. There's a lot of that going on for him right now - talking to them over broadcast had been one thing, but actually seeing them... well. That's another level, entirely. ]

[postocular]

Really glad you're here, Glenn. [ He motions to the table. ]

Carol pulled out all the stops.