AN: So, this fic. This is a thing. A thing that is happening. I'm not sure how people will react, but I really want to tell the awkward story of how this plays out. I guess I'll just wait and see if anyone else is interested in this. But as always, comments, thoughts, criticisms, ideas and feedback of all kinds are welcome.
Some nerves were normal when introducing a boyfriend to the family.
Jazz was a frazzled mess, but only in ways her boyfriend would notice. Jazz in a tizzy was not the same as other people in a tizzy; there were only subtle signs she was nervous. Her eyes kept sweeping the airplane cabin, she kept biting her lower lip, and she continually sighed. These were minor things played out over the course of the flight back to Amity Park. They were indicative of a bigger problem, one he couldn't help with because he had, in fact, seen it coming. He had told her that she should have been honest with her family.
The words 'I told you so' were so hollow he didn't even bother with saying them. Instead, he simply continued to read his book, smiling at her when she leaned her head against his shoulder. He wasn't a very physically affectionate person, but he could never refuse Jazz and her intense teal eyes. He was weak to her, and that was something he was increasingly okay with. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have agreed to go home with her for this break. Meeting her parents was something that had his nerves alight, so he had to think of anything else, of how to make her less nervous, of how this was only a week. He reached over and placed his copper colored hand over her smaller cream colored one, lacing his fingers through hers.
He looked over at her when he felt her head turn. "You okay?"
"My dad is going to run you off," she said with a sigh. She looked away, then back up at him. "I mean, you know how he is. You saw all the ghost hunting gear he sent me."
"I'm sure he just wants to keep you safe," he replied after a pause, thinking over the pile of weapons in her closet that went unused and sometimes unwrapped. Her dorm room overflowed with things from home. Honestly, he was a little awed by the inventiveness of her parents. "He's probably a great guy. It's just a parent thing to hate anyone dating their daughter. I think it's an international law or something – my father still dotes on my older sister."
"It's dumb. I'm an adult now, I shouldn't have to defend the fact I'm dating." She folded her arms. They were still dancing around the issue, but if she wasn't going to broach the topic then neither was he, not right now.
"I've had the same argument with my mother over you. I don't think we have a choice in this." He glanced up as the announcement came in that they were landing. "Well, I suppose now I'll get to meet the little brother you keep raving about."
"Danny's awesome. At least he won't take this badly… at first," she added after a pause. He squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Why did I suggest this again?"
"We've both lost our minds," he replied, smiling fondly. "And I'm alright with that, if I have you with me."
Jack Fenton wasn't malevolent, he was just ignorant.
His response to his daughter dating a man at college had been to send everything she would need to detect a ghost. When she gave details, which she only did when pressed, she had been sparse with them, saying only he was from Africa, they met in a Psychology class and he was in the same year as she was. Jack knew nothing of Africa, psychology or modern college, but since they'd been dating for months now he figured it was time to meet the man sweeping his only daughter off her feet. September to May was a long time for a college couple, at least from how he remembered college being.
His first thought was that the man Jazz walked towards them with wasn't dark skinned enough to be African; his hair was textured like a white person's, too, black and sleek, slicked back from a heart shaped face. His eyes were such a dark blue that they were almost black, his smile a bit uneasy as he took in the sight of the Fenton family. Jack couldn't find a reason to run him off yet. That was only a matter of time. No one was good enough for his Jazzypants. Some foreign student from some country Jack had never heard of would have to work hard to prove he wasn't just looking for a school romance before heading back to wherever he was from. After all, Jack had seen men do that when he was in college. For every ten normal foreign students, there was always one picking up chicks as a major.
"Mom, Dad, Danny! You made it!" Jazz smiled, hugging them in turn. "I was worried with how late our flight was getting in that you'd just have Dad pick us up."
"Oh, honey," her mother cooed, "I know we can be busy with work, but we always have time for you. Right, Jack?"
"Of course. So, kiddo, you gonna introduce us or not?" he asked, smiling even as he side-eyed the man in front of him.
"Right," the redhead said, taking a deep breath. "Everyone, this is Rakin Farhan, my boyfriend. Rakin, this is… everyone."
"It's nice to finally meet you," Rakin said, holding out his hand for Jack to shake.
Jack took it and squeezed, hard. It was a standard boyfriend greeting, but… "You're Muslim." With a name like that, it wasn't a question. "Jazz didn't tell us that."
"Ah, well. I have no control over what your daughter says or does," he said diplomatically, looking to Maddie for help. The auburn woman seemed to sense the spike in tension and reacted accordingly.
"So, what part of Africa are you from, Rakin?" she asked sweetly, taking his hand with a small, nervous smile.
"Eritrea, actually."
"Is that a place?" Danny asked with mild snark in his voice. Rakin chuckled even as Maddie gave him a warning look.
"It is, we're just not particularly big. I guess it's easy to miss unless you're reading up on Africa as a whole," he replied, trying not to look at Jack, whose fists were slowly clenching and unclenching. "Don't worry, Jazz had the same response."
"She did, did she?" Jack looked Rakin in the eyes. "Did she know it's a Muslim country?"
"Well, Eritrea is actually sixty percent Christian, forty percent Muslim, so I'm not sure it's accurate to say we're a country of Muslims…" he trailed off at the look on Jack's face, one that said all words were useless.
"Why don't you kids go get your baggage?" Maddie suggested, gently leading her husband away. "I just need a word with Jack for a second. Danny, go with them, okay sweetie?"
As they walked towards the baggage claim, Rakin and Jazz silently reached for each other's hands.
"That went well," Danny remarked, and this time he didn't get a chuckle from Rakin.
