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They’ve been invited to dinner. Or well, Connor was invited. But he did tell Marcia that he’d be bringing a guest and the tone of her voice didn’t get icier like it normally does when she’s annoyed, so he’s assuming a guest will be fine. The dinners at the Roy residence are always filled with people – family, friends, something in between. Tom will fit right in.
Tom’s a little nervous, though he is trying to hide it. Connor can see through it fairly easily: no one changes their outfit five times unless they are nervous. He knows that very well himself – he had to give a speech at Kendall’s wedding and he spent weeks muddling over his outfit, even changing his shoes for the final time at the venue. The speech went well and no one looked at his shoes, so Connor knows there is no need for Tom to worry, either.
It doesn’t stop the questions, though.
“Do I need to bring something? Maybe some wine? Flowers?”
“Only yourself. It’s not anyone’s birthday, we don’t do gifts outside of that.” Well, Connor and his siblings don’t do gifts outside of that. Everyone Shiv brings along always tries. Marcia is cordial enough to smile at anything she receives, but Connor has a feeling everything gets thrown out the second the final guest has left.
“Are you sure? Isn’t it rude if I don’t bring anything?”
Connor walks over to him and lays a hand on his shoulder, hoping to comfort and calm him down a little.
“Don’t worry. It’s just a dinner. Do you want to do some breathing exercises before we leave?”
Tom declines but still continues to look like he’s worrying. Connor smiles reassuringly and pats his shoulder again. It really is going to be fine. Tom is surely going to charm everyone, just as he charmed Connor a couple months earlier.
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During the elevator ride up, Tom is past looking merely worried and has graduated to looking a little green around the edges. He is trying to hide it, though, but the frantic tapping he’s doing against his thighs is a clear indicator of nervousness. Connor hopes his siblings are going to be nice to him. They did treat Willa moderately well, so maybe they’ll give similar treatment to Tom? Though now Connor realizes he probably should have told them earlier about bringing Tom with him. They’re always at their most insufferable when they haven’t had time to prepare. Well, it’s a little too late for that now.
The elevator doors open and they step out, starting to shed their coats only to be greeted by Roman, whose expression can only be described as a mixture of absolute delight and shock.
“What the fuck?” He grins like the little gremlin he is. “Shiv? Did you know about this?”
Shiv arrives from around the corner, looking a little confused before seeing Connor and Tom. “What the fuck?”
“I know, that’s what I said too.”
“I didn’t know we’re allowed to do that. Fuck, that would’ve saved me from so much trouble.”
Connor is confused, but probably still less confused than Tom. Time to de-escalate.
“Tom, these are two thirds of my siblings. Shiv, Roman, this is Tom.” Connor does the introductions while Shiv and Roman still look like they’re currently experiencing all of the Christmases of their life put together.
“Tom Wambsgans, it’s nice to meet you.” Tom attempts bravely, which makes Roman look nearly ecstatic.
“Tom Wambs-what? It doesn’t matter, how the hell are you?” He moves to shake Tom’s hand. It’s a good sign and Connor beams, even if Tom looks flabbergasted.
“Where’d you find him, Con?” Shiv asks, eyeing the interaction between Tom and Roman.
“From cruises, actually. We met in an elevator.” He’s not lying, he’s simply omitting some of the truth. He knows his siblings well enough to realize that if he told them the entire truth, they’d never forget about it.
“Fuck, why is that like from some D-rated rom-com? It doesn’t matter. Does dad know?”
Connor frowns. He hadn’t exactly realized that it might have been something he should’ve told Logan before dragging Tom with him.
“Oh, he doesn’t? Wow. Well, maybe refer to him as your partner or something like that. He’ll get the wrong idea but let’s lead with that, right, Con? Baby steps, you know?” Shiv says, looking a little worried but somehow also thoughtful at the same time.
Connor nods and decides to save Tom from Roman. The impish grin on the latter’s face is usually not a good sign.
“And where are you from? Incestianapolis?”
Tom visibly cringes, but Connor is pleased. Getting the authentic Roman treatment is basically an initiation rite to everyone introduced to the family, and if Tom hasn’t fled running yet, there’s a high chance that he never will.
“He’s from Minnesota, actually.” He grins, putting his hand on Tom’s shoulder. Roman is visibly going through some sort of a face journey that Connor doesn’t even begin to try to understand.
“That’s just adorable. I’m just gonna go over there. Bye.” Roman gestures to the direction of the living room and speedwalks away. Tom’s shoulders drop noticeably and Connor grins.
“Don’t mind him, he’s a jerk.” Shiv offers while rolling her eyes, though the tone of her voice is fond-ish.
“It’s all good. I don’t get spooked easily.” Tom jokes feebly, still a bit shell-shocked but recovering rapidly. While Connor does care for his siblings very much, he can admit that they’re sometimes a bit difficult to deal with, Roman perhaps more so than Shiv or Kendall.
“A good quality if you’ll want to keep hanging around us. I think the dinner is almost ready, Marcia was starting to look a bit stressed since dad is still locked up in his study with the minions.” Shiv tells them.
Like clockwork, Marcia’s voice rings through the apartment, announcing that the dinner is indeed ready. Connor leads the way further to the apartment. His father is nowhere to be seen, but there’s Kendall, listening intently to whatever Frank is telling him. Apparently the so-called minions are joining them to dinner, because Gerri is there too. She’s talking with Roman in the corner, or maybe it’s more accurate to say that Roman is talking to her and she might be listening to him. Connor has no idea which one it is.
Kendall sees him first and looks genuinely pleased to see him (it’s been a while), but his expression changes pretty quickly when he sees Tom trailing behind him. It’s nothing bad, just mostly surprised. The look on Frank’s face is pretty similar, maybe a little bit more scandalized. Gerri on the other hand looks as stone-faced as ever. Connor doesn’t really know if it’s just because nothing seems to ever surprise her or because Roman already told her. It’s probably both, to be fair.
Before anyone has enough time to say anything, Logan enters the room. If Connor paid attention to that sort of things, he’d probably realize that the entire room has gone silent. You’d hear a pin drop on the floor, but he doesn’t notice. He’s just happy to see his father doing well.
“What are you all looking at? Let’s eat.” Logan says, and surprisingly that’s what cuts through the tension. They all make their way to the dining room. Connor notices that he and Tom are seated next to each other, which brings a smile to his face.
It’s mostly a quiet affair at first, even Shiv and Roman are abstaining from their usual bickering. Logan doesn’t really seem to even notice their unusual guest, only seemingly focusing on talking with Frank. That’s until Tom gets over his jittery nervousness and compliments Marcia on something that’s definitely not her doing. While Marcia is gracious enough to accept the compliment without batting an eye, Tom speaking means that Logan finally pays attention to him.
“Now who’s this?” He says, looking at Tom. “Are you with Shiv?”
Logan has never been one to beat around the bush. Connor almost replies, as does Tom, but it’s Shiv who manages to speak up first.
“No, he’s Connor’s… partner.”
“Ah.” Logan frowns and turns to look at Connor. “Partner. Like how?”
“We have common interests.” Connor explains and beams a little. “We are both very interested in investing into the grain industry. Did you know that Minnesota is one of the biggest rye-producing states in America?”
Logan hums as if he’s understood, though he seems to lose interest in the conversation as soon as Connor mentions the grain industry. Tom, however, takes advantage of the slight lull in the conversation.
“Tom Wambsgans. Pleasure to meet you, sir.”
On the other side of the table, Roman makes a gagging face, which makes Shiv punch him on the shoulder. Connor appreciates the gesture, even if he doesn’t condone violence (well, maybe in extreme cases).
“Yes, yes. Let’s talk more sometime, now we eat.” Logan’s voice has a shade of finality in it. It doesn’t really matter, since Connor is very happy with how everything has gone. Now his family knows who Tom is and the introductions went well. Better than the time he introduced Willa to them – never let it be said that Connor Roy doesn’t learn from his experiences.
The rest of the dinner goes relatively swiftly. Connor mostly talks with Kendall, who is apparently in the process of acquiring a rabbit to his children. Everyone should know that chinchillas are a far more superior pet, so Connor tries to convince his brother of that. Considering how much Kendall keeps nodding, he thinks he’s successful. Tom chats with Marcia and Shiv and it seems to be going well.
Connor thinks they probably shouldn’t linger for too long after the dinner. For all he loves his family, he knows they can be a little much for outsiders. Baby steps, maybe next time Tom can join them on one of their international outings. Connor isn’t invited to those too often, but perhaps now that his family members seem to like Tom, it means that they’ll both get invited?
When they’re in the elevator after saying their goodbyes and all the other pleasantries, Tom exhales very deeply.
“That went well. Did it go well? I think it went well. What do you think, did your dad like me?”
“As much as he likes anyone. Maybe next time you can talk more? It’ll be easier now that you know each other. You can tag along the next time, I need to talk to him about my investing horizons, anyways. I just didn’t want to spring them on him now, not when anyone could have heard.” Connor smiles and pats Tom’s shoulders. Tom still looks a little shocked, but that’s only expected after meeting the family. Especially one as peculiar as the Roys.
All is well, Connor decides. He sees his family rarely enough that even little dinners like this are special to him, and this one was made more special by Tom being there. Now his family knows who Tom is and they even liked him. Not that Connor ever doubted that, but it was still nice to see.
“How did you like them?” Connor asks, suddenly curious.
“They’re… interesting. But I, uh, I’m apparently going to have lunch with Shiv?” Tom sounds surprised, but Connor’s joy only grows. “What sort of name is Shiv, though? That’s not her real name, right?”
“No, it’s Siobhan. No one could figure out how to pronounce it when she was little, and one time she was running around with a knife. Their mom made the obvious connection between her name and the weapon and the nickname stuck.” He explains. “Maybe don’t ask her about it, though. A bit of a sore spot.”
“Ah. I’ll keep that in mind.” Tom shakes his head a little, as if he can’t quite believe what he’s hearing.
The elevator dings and they’re on the bottom floor. A car is waiting for them, ready to drive them back to Connor’s place, where a fresh sourdough starter is ready to be transformed into a delicious loaf of bread. Maybe they’ll even add spinach to it this time?