Gunderkeen one-shots

A Viking Famsgiving

Author's Note: Okay, I know I've been out of the game here for a while so I'm probably a little out of practice but I'm itching to write something so here we go... And I know Thanksgiving was yesterday but sue me.

Mallory's POV:

The hotel normally did a Thanksgiving dinner for everyone, but over the years Floor 19 had found it more enjoyable -and more survivable- to make a meal for just our group. In the past that had included everyone in my room with the ingredients we had stolen from Midgard, preparing a meal of turkey, boxed mashed potatoes, a small assortment of canned vegetables, and a store bought pie that varied in flavor.

As our group had grown from the original oversized swedish hamster, a civil war soldier, and myself, we needed to add to the menu. Falafel was picked up from Magnus' friend because Magnus apparently can't eat anything else. Alex could bake, and with her/his pottery background, she/he enjoyed working with the dough. Sam spent the day with her own family, but would swing by afterwords for leftover pie. Blitz and Hearth would also come, Blitz adding homemade mashed potatoes to the mix, and Hearth, the gravy.

Which brings us to now, I was being most helpful and yelling Irish curses at my oafish boyfriend who was in my way of the oven. Magnus was trying to sneak falafel from under Alex and Tj's watchful eye -he had already nearly lost his finger so far and Alex had threatened to slice off his whole arm if he bled on the dough she was rolling out. Blitz and Hearth were bickering over something on the television that was playing the parade. Basically it was the perfect famsgiving- a term Magnus had introduced us to during his first Thanksgiving spent with us.

"Mack!" I snapped me head away from the oven that I had just successfully placed the buns in to the former Union soldier, "where did you put the punch?"

"It's in Magnus' room!" I call back.

"Why is it in my room?" Magnus asked as Tj left on his mission.

"Because it's not safe in mine," I say. "Halfborn will dump it out or something more or equally stupid."

"Only because I am insulted by the presence of it." Halfborn bellowed, "It's is an insult to Vikings everywhere!"

"Yeah, well, we aren't allowed mead in here after what happened the Mess of 1975." I snap and move to stir the sweet potatoes -something Alex had insisted on this year.

"What's the-" Halfborn cut Magnus off.

"That was hardly my fault, and we shouldn't have such a harsh punishment."

"Her room smelt like mead for three years!" Tj supplied as he returned with the pitcher of punch. Halfborn waved a hand and went to grab the vodka from my cabinet, thankfully I had thought ahead and put a baby proof lock on it.

"Woman! What is this?" The oaf struggled with the simple plastic lock.

"You're staying out of the alcohol until after supper." I say waving my spoon at his face. He goes to rip of the cabinet door. I slap his butt with the spoon. "Or I'll have you alcohol free for the next decade, oaf." Halfborn mutters and grumbles, but he moves away from the cabinet and goes to set the table.

The light banter continued until the turkey had finished in the oven and everyone had settled at the table. My table had been replace with a long banquet table, currently full of, punch, turkey, both mashed and sweet potatoes, gravy, corn, buttered buns, and lefsa with butter and sugar- the pie had been saved for later. We passed the serving plates around the table instead of the normal free for all in order to save the maids the mess -another lesson learned from the Mess of 1975. Our plates were heaping and the softley burning fireplace matched our holiday spirit.

Don't think we were kind and civilized, no, we were vikings after all. The table was also filled with burping and bellowing laughter. Halfborn had given me a kiss on the cheek with a beard full of mashed potatoes, leaving my face red and potatoey.

"What's this?" Alex asked, pointing to the lefsa that had been passed to her.

"Lefsa," Halfborn explained. "It's a traditional scandinavian food. Basically mashed potatoes with flour, rolled out really thin and baked on a skillet. The hotel has a lefsa making to the death around the holidays every year, we can do it around Christmas time."

"We usually don't. It ends in some pretty painful deaths, with the hot skillets and all." Tj said. "You eat it like this," He took his lefsa, spread butter on to it before sprinkling a healthy amount of sugar then rolling it up. "Got it?" Tj had his mouth stuffed with lefsa. Then heroically, began to choke.

"Hey! Don't die on my table." I say and Alex slapped him on the back until he swallowed.

The meal continued without any dying, and soon everything had been cleaned up and everyone including Sam, was sprawled out in the living room, each with plates of apple pie with heaping amounts of whipped cream on them.

"Mallory?" Halfborn asked, pulling his best puppy dog eyes, the look complete with a bit of whipped cream smeared on his nose. I huffed but wiped the cream off his nose and nodded.

"Ya!" He cried in victory and made his way back to the kitchen, only to curse when he came face to face with the baby proofing again.

"Don't rip my cabinets apart, oaf!" I call and make my way to help him before he wrecked apart the whole kitchen.

"There" I say as I pinch and pull at the lock to get it to release.

"I for one am thankful for booze." Halfborn announced as he returned triumphantly to the living room. "And for my beautiful girlfriend to fight the stupid locks so I can get the booze." My face a flame I loving told him to shut his pie-hole and drink the damn thing before I smashed it over his oafish head.

Floor 19 laughed. We may not have had Thanksgivings like this when we were alive, but moments like these made up for them. We were family, not by blood in our veins but by the blood we spilled together.