Archive of Our Own ^beta

Phillippa Janeway could not get her tail under control, try as she might, as she and Jacianna Frehnk approached her parents’ house. It twitched back and forth nervously, betraying every emotion she tried so hard to bury deep down in her gut. 

Peppa never brought her friends home (not that she had many to bring). The idea of her mother interrogating her friends, getting them to crack under “The Admiral's” glare and spill all of Peppa's secrets was one of her worst nightmares. 

It was a real show of trust that Jace was standing next to her on the Janeway front porch now, not only to her best friend, but also to her parents; that they would accept Jace, with all her adrenaline-chasing and boxing and joking, and treat her well.

Peppa swallowed, digging a nail into the soft, green bed of her thumb, as she and Jace greeted their hosts.

“Hi, Admiral Janeway, Captain Chakotay.” Jace was wearing her most polite smile and holding out her hand to shake. Across the threshold, Mama eyed her hand as Papa reached for it eagerly.

This had been a terrible idea. The worst. 

“Hello, Jacianna!” Papa said warmly. “We’ve been looking forward to meeting you. We’re so excited that Peppa’s made a friend.”

Peppa shot her father a look as she felt her cheeks grow warm. He ignored her as Mama took Jace’s hand in turn. “I apologize if dinner is a little light; Peppa didn’t tell us you were coming until this morning.”

Peppa was about to shoot her mother the same look she gave her father, but she saw Papa tug on Mama’s arm. Peppa felt a bit of the tension release from her muscles; if Papa was on her side, maybe dinner wouldn’t be so bad. 

“Oh!” Jace, for once in her life, had the decency to look a bit awkward. “Sorry, I hope my being here isn’t an imposition.”

Quit being so polite, they’re not that special. Peppa thought as loudly as she could. The corner of Jace’s mouth twitched; message received.

“Not at all.” Papa smiled graciously. “There is always enough room,” he said, even as Mama eyed Jace, taking in her leather-and-fleece flight jacket and cargo pants - the marks of Jace’s affinity for flying ancient airplanes - with a slightly hairy eye.

The tension she had lost earlier returned with a vengeance. Peppa wanted to die. She wanted to dig a hole and die.

Before she could turn around and find a shovel to do just that, Jace’s hand shot out to tug her through the doorway after her parents. Jace's momentum carried her forward despite Peppa's attempts to dig her heels in.

The foyer was lined with pictures of Peppa and her siblings at different ages - some individual school photos, some group pictures from family vacations, and one photo with the triplets and Miral (their half-sister on their father’s side) as a baby - which fascinated Jace for a moment as they passed through into the rest of the house. Jace pointed at a particularly sullen-looking photo of Peppa at age 13 with a delighted grin. Peppa scowled at her until she realized she was making the same expression as she was in the photo, and tried to turn back around to go out the front door.

Jace caught the collar of her shirt and spun her back around, pushing her into the dining room.

The table was set with a feast fit for 30 grown men. Peppa caught her mother’s eye - she looked away quickly. 

So much for a “light dinner.”

“Please! Sit wherever you like!” Papa gestured broadly at the table as he took a seat at the head, Mama stealing the seat to his right. 

“Thank you!” Jace took the seat two down from Papa on his left, and tugged Peppa down next to her, putting Peppa across from her mother. 

Peppa let a flurry of choice words fly through her mind. Jace didn’t react, but, at this proximity and fueled by this much emotion, there was no way she didn’t hear Peppa’s distaste for the arrangement.

Just as Peppa’s rear hit her chair, a taller figure skidded into the room.

Papa smiled as the flushed young man sat down across from Jace, wiping dirt off of his hands and onto his green coveralls. Their father began to sign: “ Hi, Liam. Where’s the fire?”

Liam smiled. “If Mama’s cooking? The kitchen probably.”

Papa laughed and Mama gave Liam a playful scowl, gently smacking his nearest hand as he laughed. Peppa felt a pang in the pit of her stomach and looked away.

Papa turned back to Jace. “Apologies, Jace, this is our son -”

“Liam.” Jace smiled at the boy across the table. “I’ve heard.”

Liam grinned at her and gave a little wave. He turned to Peppa with a small smile. “Hi, Peppa. ”

Peppa gave him a small smile back. “Hey, kid.”

She suddenly felt awkward. “Sorry, Jace, I just realized you probably don’t know how to sign.”

Jace shook her head. “It’s cool. I’ve got telepathy.” She turned to Liam. “I’m just sorry I can’t sign to you.”

Liam waved a hand, as if to clear her worries away. “I’m a master at reading lips. I’ll survive until you learn.” He grinned brightly, his barbels twitching.

Mama cleared her throat. “Well then, shall we?” She gestured at the food piled on the table. Mama’s eyes made contact with Peppa’s and the growing level of comfort she had been feeling vanished.

Quietly, dishes made their way around the table, utensils clacking against the sides of bowls and plates the only sound until everyone began to eat.

“So,” Mama’s eyes slid over to Peppa’s right and locked on Jace. “Peppa tells us you’re a test pilot.”

Peppa resisted the urge to roll her eyes; as if her mother hadn’t already pulled up Jace’s Starfleet file the second Peppa had mentioned they were friends.

Jace swallowed her mouthful of food and smiled. “Yes ma’am. Mostly experimental warp-capable shuttles, but I do swing the occasional bigger ship.”

Mama raised a brow. “Experimental shuttles? Anything classified?”

A slight twinkle appeared in Jace’s eyes. “Maybe.”

Mama sat back, suddenly looking pleased. “I’m an admiral, you know.”

Jace raised her glass to her lips. “I know.” She smiled and took a long sip of her drink.

Peppa looked back at her mother and realized, with a strong sense of horror, that her mother was smiling.

Mama hating Jace was fine. Her personal and family life didn’t need to mix. But Mama liking Jace….

Peppa gave her friend a long look as she took a bite of the zucchini casserole in front of her. It was lightly charred around the edges - a hallmark of Mama’s attempts at cooking. Jace chewed thoughtfully without flinching. She turned to Mama with a smile. “The casserole is excellent.”

Peppa didn’t even try to hide her eye roll. Kiss-ass.

Papa began choking on his food and, suddenly, Liam was very interested in the floor under the table. Between them, Mama gave Jace a smile. “Thank you, it was my mother’s recipe.”

Across the table, Liam looked up at Jace and Peppa watched as Jace worked to conceal a smile. She glanced across the table at Liam and the two of them subtly grinned at one another.

Peppa felt a twist in her stomach. Jace must have heard whatever Liam was thinking.

She shoveled some charred zucchini into her mouth with a scowl.

There were a few moments of awkward silence before Papa swallowed and wiped his mouth. “Peppa mentioned that you’re a boxer.”

“I am.” Jace nodded politely before shrugging slightly. “Mostly bareknuckle.”

Across the table, Mama and Papa’s eyes widened slightly. Under the table, Peppa’s heel connected with the top of Jace’s foot sharply.

“But, obviously, I don’t do that at school.” Jace covered as smoothly as possible. “I met Peppa when she was punching a bag at the gym. We connected over a love for the sport.”

Papa smiled, looking a bit relieved. “Did Peppa tell you I taught her to box?”

“She did.” Jace smiled. “She said you were a great teacher.”

That was said IN CONFIDENCE, JACE. Peppa yelled in her head. Jace simply smiled a bit more widely without looking at her friend.

Papa chuckled. “Well, I was a bit out of practice when I taught her, and probably a bit out of shape,” he said, sharing a teasing look with Mama, “but I’m glad she’s trained enough to keep up with you and your club friends.”

“Keep up?” Jace laughed. “She’s the best.” She gave Peppa an affectionate grin. Peppa looked away, her cheeks turning a darker shade of tan.

“Well, I’m glad she has a hobby. People tend to be happier when they have hobbies outside of work,” Papa said. Beside him, Mama’s face darkened.

Jace winced and quickly shoved another bite of casserole in her mouth in an attempt to cover it up. 

Peppa quickly turned to face Liam, desperate to change the topic. “What were you doing before you came in? You’re dirty.”

Liam smiled. “Playing in the dirt.” As everyone around the table chuckled, the sour mood passing, he continued. “I’m working on a new pumpkin cross for Grandma. She wants something a little flashier for the county fair this year.”

Jace tilted her head. “Doesn’t it take a long time to develop new pumpkin crosses?”

“Not when you have a holodeck and probability calculators.”

Jace smiled. “I bet. Could I see your project? Or is it classified?”

Liam lit up. “You can see! I’ll take you after supper.”

“Cool.” Jace nodded.

“Peppa told me you like to fly old planes. Could I see them sometime?”

Mama and Papa both started speaking at the same time.

“I don’t know if that’s-”

“Jace doesn’t need inexperienced passengers-”

“Maybe when you’re a bit older-”

Jace glanced at them knowingly and then back at Liam. “I wouldn’t have a problem showing them to you, but maybe we should stick to the ground.”

The relief on her parents’ faces made Peppa glad she hadn’t told them about her plans with Jace for tomorrow, even though telling them would give her a good excuse to get out of going in her friend’s diabolical flying machine.

Liam nodded in understanding. “That would still be cool.”

“So,” Mama cut in, seeming eager to steer the conversation away from Liam getting in a plane, “aside from boxing and tinkering around with ancient planes, do you have any other hobbies?”

“Um,” Jace swallowed the bite she had just taken. Peppa grimaced as she realized her friend had only gotten to take a few bites of her food, what with all the questions she was being asked. “I mean, it’s sort of… plane adjacent, but I really enjoy learning about the WASP of WWII. My great-granddaddy had almost an entire library on the history of flight, and the WASP were one of his favorite topics.”

Mama smiled. “Was he a pilot too?”

Jace shook her head. “He was an anthropologist who specialized in the study of the evolution of flight across human cultures.”

“Human cultures?” Papa’s brow furrowed. “Was he human?”

“He was.” Jace gave him a small smile. “I’m only mostly Betazoid.”

Papa smiled back, and the meal resumed.

After a while, Mama said: “It’s a shame you and Peppa weren’t in the same class at the academy. You could have been roommates.” Peppa squinted at her suspiciously as she went on. “Amelia was in your class though, wasn’t she?”

“She was, though, being in different divisions, I can’t say I knew her well.”

“I see. Well, perhaps you might meet her someday. I think you two might get along.”

“Doubt it.” Peppa bit out before she realized the words were leaving her head and exiting her mouth.

Mama’s eyes shot up to look at her, fire behind her blue eyes. “And why is that, Philippa?”

Before Peppa could think, she scowled. “Because Amelia’s a preppy jerk and Jace isn’t.”

“Peppa,” Papa said, tiredly.

Beside him, Mama set down her fork. “Amelia is dedicated to her studies and advancement. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“There is when she acts like she’s superior because of it!” Peppa’s voice jumped an octave, making everyone except for her and her mother wince.

“That speaks strongly of jealousy, Philippa,” Mama warned.

“Jealous? Of what? How fake she is so people look past her tail enough to like her?” 

Mama worked her jaw for a moment before turning to Jace. Peppa felt her stomach drop; she knew that look on her mother’s face all too well. “I apologize for my daughter, Jacianna. We should be acting more polite in front of a guest.” She enunciated her last sentence with a glare directed at Peppa.

Peppa opened her mouth to say something again, but Jace stood. “That’s alright, Admiral. I should be going anyway,” she said in a low voice as she looked Mama in the eye without a smile. Suddenly, she turned to Liam with a bright grin. “It was nice to meet you, Liam. Let me know when you wanna see an airplane, okay?”

Liam gave her a hesitant smile. “Okay. I'll show you my pumpkins next time, too."

"I would love that." Jace turned to Papa with a polite nod. “Thank you for dinner.” She grabbed Peppa’s hand, pulling her up and out the door with her.

“Where are we going?” Peppa asked once they were outside.

“You’re walking me to the transport pad.”

“That’s 3 miles away.”

“You’re a really good friend.”

Peppa rolled her eyes and tucked her hands into her pocket.

They were quiet for a moment.

“I’m sorry about my family. My mom-”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind answering questions.” Jace gave her a half smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m sorry if me being there… exacerbated things between you two.”

Peppa rolled her eyes again. “Please, you’re not that special. That was a pretty typical meal between my mother and me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault.”

They were quiet for a bit longer.

“Aside from that bit at the end, I enjoyed your family.” The corners of Jace’s mouth tipped up hesitantly. “It was nice to have a home-cooked meal and conversation. Your brother and father are really sweet.”

“Yeah, you seemed to get along with them just fine, huh?” Peppa turned away from Jace’s knowing eyes as she realized her tone was a bit harsher than she meant. 

Jace stopped walking and turned to face her. “Peppa, I know you and your family don’t get along, but they love you. Your father was so proud to see you bring a friend for them to meet, to know that you’re good at the sport he taught you. And Liam looks up to you. He thinks your independence is cool.”

Peppa looked down at her shoes.

“Look, I don’t wanna-” Jace took a deep breath. “I don’t want to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong, or make you feel like I don’t see your side of things, because I really, really do, but you’re lucky to have a family that cares about you so much. A family that thinks of you so often.”

Peppa finally looked up at Jace, anger flaring in her chest for a moment before she saw the sadness in her friend’s eyes.

Peppa sighed. “Come on, you’re going to miss the next transport to Ohio.”

Jace turned and walked with her. “Are you still coming tomorrow?”

“Will you let me get away with not coming?”

Jace grinned. “Nope.”

“Well, then.” Peppa gave her a look. “You better get me one of those fancy flight jackets. With extra fur.”

Jace winked. “I already have one in the shed with your name on it.”