Twelve Days - December 17 - Jack/Liz
Title: Uphill
Challenge: The Twelve Days of Christmas!
Prompt: 30 Rock, Jack/Liz, sledding.
For: pancake_susi
Word Count: 536
Rating: PG
Note: This is an AU ficlet in which Jack first meets Liz's family while visiting during Christmas.
Summary: Jack is starting to like Liz's family.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue!
*
Jack is starting to like Liz's family.
Not to say that he previously despised them; he simply found them unsettling. A brother stuck in a previous decade? (Even if Jack did enjoy asking Mitch who the president currently was and hearing him reply, "Ronald Reagan." Though that did lose more than a little of its charm the other day when, after the fourth time -- Jack was feeling stressed by the constant cheer and needed a pick-me-up -- when Mitch got confused as to why Jack was making that particular inquiry again and cheerfully snorted, "What, do you have some problem with your brain or something?" This led to an uncomfortable silence.) Parents who support their children and treat their offspring's significant other with respect and adoration? (Even if Jack's well aware he is, as Margaret Lemon declared him to be, 'quite a catch,' and knows, without a doubt, Dick was entirely accurate when he praised his striking good looks and sharp mind.) Parents and children who are comfortable, no, *happy* in each other's company? (That, he can't quite wrap his head around on any level, but he's willing to accept the possibility of such a dynamic somehow happening.)
But at some point between the hot chocolate served in mugs shaped like Santa's head and the five of them creating a family of snow people in the Lemons' front yard, Jack had relaxed and, more importantly, stopped worrying that Dick was going to ask for a loan to pay for some experimental medication and/or therapy to treat Mitch's condition.
Now, he's on a hill wearing a sweater that matches those of his girlfriend and her family. (A sweater which had been hanging in the closet of the bedroom he was occupying -- which wasn't also Liz's room; generally, he's annoyed by parents forcing their adult children to pretend they aren't sleeping with the people they're dating but, considering the fact that Liz's brother believes she is currently fifteen, he's fine with the Lemons' particular charade -- on the day he and Liz arrived. He assumes it was purchased for him specifically, but he wouldn't rule out them having various sizes of these sweaters at hand to more easily include visitors in their holiday celebrations. And, honestly, that part is still rather off-putting.) On a hill... and carrying a sled. And this doesn't irritate him.
"I feel," he says, "like I'm in a Frank Capra film."
She puts a mittened hand on his arm. Slightly rubs him. "Stop complaining."
"I'm not."
"Oh." She smiles. "So you're finally having a good time?"
He tilts his head. "Yes."
"Good."
"You know," he says, looking out at the white expanse below him, "I've never done this before."
"Been uncynical for more than five seconds?"
"Yes, but that's not what I was referencing."
"Then you are referencing--"
"The closest I've been to sledding before this was fighting with my siblings near a snowy incline."
"It's a good thing you met me, then," Liz tells him. Her hand is on his arm again. "Because sledding is awesome."
He nods at the first part; it's the one he's certain is true. The second, he's actually optimistic he'll come around to agreeing with.
END
Challenge: The Twelve Days of Christmas!
Prompt: 30 Rock, Jack/Liz, sledding.
For: pancake_susi
Word Count: 536
Rating: PG
Note: This is an AU ficlet in which Jack first meets Liz's family while visiting during Christmas.
Summary: Jack is starting to like Liz's family.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue!
*
Jack is starting to like Liz's family.
Not to say that he previously despised them; he simply found them unsettling. A brother stuck in a previous decade? (Even if Jack did enjoy asking Mitch who the president currently was and hearing him reply, "Ronald Reagan." Though that did lose more than a little of its charm the other day when, after the fourth time -- Jack was feeling stressed by the constant cheer and needed a pick-me-up -- when Mitch got confused as to why Jack was making that particular inquiry again and cheerfully snorted, "What, do you have some problem with your brain or something?" This led to an uncomfortable silence.) Parents who support their children and treat their offspring's significant other with respect and adoration? (Even if Jack's well aware he is, as Margaret Lemon declared him to be, 'quite a catch,' and knows, without a doubt, Dick was entirely accurate when he praised his striking good looks and sharp mind.) Parents and children who are comfortable, no, *happy* in each other's company? (That, he can't quite wrap his head around on any level, but he's willing to accept the possibility of such a dynamic somehow happening.)
But at some point between the hot chocolate served in mugs shaped like Santa's head and the five of them creating a family of snow people in the Lemons' front yard, Jack had relaxed and, more importantly, stopped worrying that Dick was going to ask for a loan to pay for some experimental medication and/or therapy to treat Mitch's condition.
Now, he's on a hill wearing a sweater that matches those of his girlfriend and her family. (A sweater which had been hanging in the closet of the bedroom he was occupying -- which wasn't also Liz's room; generally, he's annoyed by parents forcing their adult children to pretend they aren't sleeping with the people they're dating but, considering the fact that Liz's brother believes she is currently fifteen, he's fine with the Lemons' particular charade -- on the day he and Liz arrived. He assumes it was purchased for him specifically, but he wouldn't rule out them having various sizes of these sweaters at hand to more easily include visitors in their holiday celebrations. And, honestly, that part is still rather off-putting.) On a hill... and carrying a sled. And this doesn't irritate him.
"I feel," he says, "like I'm in a Frank Capra film."
She puts a mittened hand on his arm. Slightly rubs him. "Stop complaining."
"I'm not."
"Oh." She smiles. "So you're finally having a good time?"
He tilts his head. "Yes."
"Good."
"You know," he says, looking out at the white expanse below him, "I've never done this before."
"Been uncynical for more than five seconds?"
"Yes, but that's not what I was referencing."
"Then you are referencing--"
"The closest I've been to sledding before this was fighting with my siblings near a snowy incline."
"It's a good thing you met me, then," Liz tells him. Her hand is on his arm again. "Because sledding is awesome."
He nods at the first part; it's the one he's certain is true. The second, he's actually optimistic he'll come around to agreeing with.
END