wedding ♔ so let in the morning light and let the darkness fade away

[luthir]

♬ from this moment on- shania twain ft. bryan white

WHO || Vi, Luthir, Wynn, Jack, Myri, Finnick, Francesca, Val'drin, Spike, Dumage, Felicity, Gus, Astrid, Fred Jr., Kat, Gar, Buffy, Rafael, Elena, Alaric, Rose, Dimitri, Aedan, Dovan, Lan, Zero, Koraith, Mark, Dawn, Archer, Des, Zarad, Alex, Faith, Faye, Sean, Anastacia [closed]
WHAT || Vi and Luthir's wedding
WHERE || Chelsea Physic Garden, London
WHEN || June 6th, evening
HOW || Actionspam

Now officially Knighted, Vi exchanges her ceremonial armor for a wedding gown, and the guests head into London to gather at the Chelsea Physic Garden.  The evening is warm and clear, and the flowers in full bloom, chairs set up on the main lawn with name tags on them for people to find their seat.  Gentle Elvish music plays everyone in, and at the front of stands an arbor covered in wisteria.  It's a remarkably peaceful setting, enough to dispel further some of the grimness of the past few days and create an atmosphere of smiles and warmth.    It seems to reinforce what Luthir has been telling Vi all along: that maybe now more than ever, this is the sort of thing they need, in order to remember what they're all fighting for.

Comments

OTA | The Clever Ruse;

[isisagent]

[In case anyone wanted a spot to scream at Archer for bringing a Call-Girl to the wedding, without de-railing any of the ongoing threads;]

[They occasionally hit the dance floor, but otherwise Archer drags her from group to group to mingle, always opening with some variation of;] - Oh yeah, everyone there was some, uh... SNAFU... with my RSVP. This is clearly my willing and un-hired date, Scarlett? [She whispers.] Stacey. She was just... running a little late. [Cough.] So, as you can see, I clearly have no trouble. Finding a date. For a wedding. At all. [Stern Face.]

[It's a very convincing charade, to Archer.]

[witchwoman]

[Myri's not looking to scream at anyone. In fact, when Archer ends up explaining himself to a nearby group of guests, she just calmly waits for the others to disperse before she steps up to the two of them.]

Stacey? You won't mind if I steal him for a dance, would you? [She puts a hand on Archer's arm, smiling warmly. She doesn't know him well, but there's been something she's been meaning to talk to him about for a few days now.]

[isisagent]

[Stacey doesn't mind, she's paid by the hour. Archer seems a little relieved too, actually.]

Good to see someone still smiles around here.

[When they get to the dance floor, Archer's actually taken quite a few dance lessons, and it shows with a Dance check of 24.]

[witchwoman]

[Heading out to the dance floor and following his lead, Myri is obviously not really here to show off her moves (dance 10). But it's a good excuse to get him alone.]

Archer, what are you doing?

[It's not a tone that's laced so heavily in judgment or scolding. In fact, she sounds slightly concerned.]

[isisagent]

[That's not a tone Archer is acquainted with... at all. Also, sense motive crit fail.]

Uhm... Well, it's a slower variation on the Fox-Trot. Why?

[He's not intentionally being evasive, he's just dense sometimes.]

[witchwoman]

No, that's not- [Thankfully, she has the patience of a saint.] With that woman. After everything you said at Elena's ceremony...

[She hadn't been on board for Elena and Archer hanging out. Hell, she had been an active participant in rushing to stop him from doing anything inappropriate way back when and had tried to subtly caution Elena away from him ever since. But those things that he said? While vulgar, they had changed her mind about him.]

[isisagent]

Oh. [He laughs.] Right... Well, Elena just seems like she needs some space right now, so I wasn't about to ask her to be my date for this. Hell, I wasn't even sure she'd feel up to coming... phrasing... I mean, would you?

[He seems like he actually thought about this decision for a while. Though, he's notably leaving out the part about why there's now a call-girl here.]

[witchwoman]

[She can respect that. In fact, it's likely the only acceptable answer to that question. Thinking about the fact that Elena is going through a lot is exactly what Myri wants to hear from him.]

No- No, that makes sense, but... Do you really think it's doing her much good to see you parade a strange woman around like you've been?

[isisagent]

Well this wasn't exactly part of the plan... Then, Plum [He nods his head at the bride, continuing to seek ever stranger synonyms for Violet.] puts me next to a pack of giggling hormones at the ceremony [He nods at those damn teenagers.] and seats me with a gaggle of single old dudes for the party.

I mean... I've got appearances to keep up, and THAT [He points at Lan] ain't one of 'em.

[witchwoman]

Maybe it's time to stop trying to appear like something. You're a knight- or well on your way to be. Unless your pride is worth more to you?

[isisagent]

That's a tad melodramatic, don't ya think? [He dips her] I mean - I am a spy. Without "appearances", I'm just a professional killer... What do you think Elena would be more into; 'Old-man-table Archer', 'hired killer Archer', or 'sexually attractive superspy that gets all the ladies Archer.' ?

[witchwoman]

[She waits until he's brought her back up from the dip before continuing.] I don't think she'd like any of those. I think if you really have feelings for her, then you need to stop trying to be some version of yourself that you think she'd like. [Her hand on his shoulder shifts to rest on his chest, her palm resting over his heart.] If you want it to be real, then you need to be true to yourself first.

[isisagent]

[Archer sighs, because Myri's right - and deep down in his thick skull he knows it. Also, she's clearly taking this pretty seriously, despite him trying to be as aloof as possible, so he'll return the favor - at least for a little while.]

Honestly, I'm not sure if I do. I mean, I do, but... Seeing a cyborg murder your wife in front of your eyes, on your wedding day... [He nervously runs his hand through his hair.] Shit, I've been on edge ever since Vi texted me about this damn wedding. I need some air.

[He pulls his flask out of his jacket and heads towards the doors. Feel free to pursue him, he just can't handle the dance floor right now.]

[witchwoman]

[Oh, she follows him. She follows him right out there and goes to snatch that flask right out of his hand (str 15, probably opposing to see if she's able to get it from him tho??).]

One of these days, you aren't going to be able to bury your problems in the bottom of a bottle. [Or flask. Whatever.] Now what are you talking about? You were married?

[isisagent]

[He could probably hang onto it, if he wanted to - but he doesn't resist.]

Wow Don't sound so surprised. [He eyes her skeptically, and pulls a picture out of his wallet, which - like all pictures from his world - is still cartoon-ified, and hands it to Myri] Katya Kazanova, former KGB agent, and one hell of a woman.

[witchwoman]

[Myri has no idea why this is a drawing... But she's not going to touch that part.]

You never mentioned it. And the way you carry on with all these women... [she feels terrible for judging him.]

[isisagent]

[She should have seen the look on the cops face in Chicago, when he handed over his "ISIS Badge".]

Yeah, well... It's not exactly my favorite thing to talk about. [Archer's quiet for a bit, then he sighs, and continues,] A double-agent named Barry Dylan, who for some reason really hates me, and was also mostly bionic last time I saw him tackled her like 20 stories off my penthouse balcony. [He swallows hard.] Otherwise, it was the perfect marriage - the whole like... minute or two it lasted.

[He sounds a little choked up, as he tries to spit that last quip out.]

[witchwoman]

[At the sound or Archer actually having emotions, Myri glances up, concern etched into hr expression. She reaches out and rests a hand on his arm.]

I'm so sorry.

[isisagent]

I... actually don't know how to respond to that. [He chuckles a little.] Sorry. I'm used to these conversations ending with Mother telling me to 'Be a man,' and some reminder that I'm a disappointment. [He doesn't sound depressed by that, it rolls out matter-of-factly, like there's nothing wrong with it.]

So... uhm. Thanks? is the right response?

[witchwoman]

[Oh god. Myri's been in a fragile state for awhile, tired of taking for granted what she had in the friends and family around her. So hearing that Archer sincerely doesn't know how to respond to someone feeling bad for what he's gone through? Her heart can't take it.

So she hugs him. Tight. Because perhaps they've all been quick to judge him for the way he acts and the things he says. There's clearly more to this man and she feels terrible for missing out on that for this long.]

[isisagent]

[Well, taking all Archer's (already few) good memories away only made him a more broken individual. But, there's a mostly good person buried in there somewhere.]

[He's caught off-guard, but he reciprocates with a loose squeeze and some awkward pats on the back... Then he frowns, and eyes Myri skeptically, and clears his throat;]

So... You really think Elena's mad?

[witchwoman]

[She pulls back, wiping a few stray tears away. How did those get there?]

I think she's hurting. She needs us, Archer. She needs all of us.

[isisagent]

[He scratches the back of his head, and seems to be thinking hard.]

Well... Whenever I was depressed, Mother would just give me expensive Whiskey, and some money.

[He looks at Myri like, "Do you think that'd work?"]

[witchwoman]

Knowing what you do about Elena, how do you think she'd react?

[Gently leading him by the hand, hoping he can figure this out. She's like Steve from Blue's Clues right now.]

[isisagent]

[He folds his arms, and eyes Myri.]

Well... I mean, she tends to be pretty happy as long as I don't pull my gun on a civilian. But, she'd probably prefer something else, like a dinner or whatever.