knightsoflegend | wedding ♔ baby we've come a long way

wedding ♔ baby we've come a long way

♪ you are the best thing -- ray lamontagne

WHO || Lila & Sylar and invited guests
WHAT || Wedding & Reception
WHERE || Baglioni Hotel London, the Ballroom
WHEN || September 18, 2015; 4PM onwards [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam

The ballroom of the hotel is a study in elegance, which isn't surprising considering who the bride is, but perhaps more surprising are the personal touches and sheer sentimentality of the room. Circular tables are scattered on the edge of the dance floor, covered with ivory tablecloths, and while there isn't a seating chart, everyone invited can find a place card with their name scrawled on it so they can claim their spot at a table. Along with the simple centerpieces and floral arrangements, each table holds a different photo of Lila and Sylar, often times selfies, and a location that has some sentimental meaning. London, Nando's, New York, Chicago, Tahiti, Andres, etc. (The tiny table for two by the dessert table is labeled Oregon.)

Once they're presented to the guests, Lila and Sylar have their first dance, to get it out of the way and so no one can ruin it. After a dinner of steak, crab stuffed sole, creamed potatoes, and late summer vegetables, the DJ starts playing dance music and probably won't stop all night if we're being honest. Castle party music this is not. There is a brief pause to cut the cake and so Lila can inhale about twelve petit fours by herself, but it's party, party, party all night long. And, oh yeah, it's an open bar.

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It's been a year, Rose, since I got back. And it's not getting better.

[She was the one that had to live it, and people could tell her until they're blue in the face that she belonged here and that she shouldn't let other people get her down.]

I talked to Wynn a long time ago, back when...we got Myri and Spike back. There was another changeling that worked with the Knights, and while some people trusted him, most didn't. Ever. And I doubt he burned the bridges I did.

[She leans forward again, her expression happy that she can actually talk to someone about this, like she's been holding it in awhile.]

It's not ever going to get better, and I'm tired. I don't care what they think, not really, because I know who I am and my own worth, but it's better for everyone if they don't think they have to look over their shoulders. They don't mean anything by it, but that instinct is always going to be there. I scare them, and I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to deal with it anymore.

[She sits back up, shrugging her shoulders a bit.]

Besides, it's not like I'm the only Knight who isn't going to live here full-time. I'll be an hour away. All anyone has to do is call me.

[Rose’s lips pull into a grim line, not sure if she even has the words for this one. A year ago she would have told Elena that they didn’t matter. That she was proving them wrong every day just by being here. She never understood why people were scared of Elena. She never understood why her mere presence made them uneasy. She never believed that Elena would use her abilities in any way that made the whispering warranted.

Now?

She hated that she understood it. She hated that she got that same feeling of unease any time somebody suggested she take somebodies face, even when they were on a mission and it could save their lives and while a part of her still wants to tell Elena to prove them all wrong? She’s not entirely sure she can say that now or if she even wants to.]

Are you doing it because it’s what you want, or because you think it’s what everyone else wants?

[The corner of her mouth pulls up into a semblance of a smile.]

There's a selfish aspect to this, too. I think we all need to move on a little, myself included. It's in the past and I want to leave it there as much as I can.

[She made it sound so simple, like it was something she really could move on from but Rose wasn't sure if that was the case. She had learned a thing or two about how much ignoring something or pretending it hadn't happened didn't help you move forward from it. In so many ways, her situation with Elena was proof of that.

She did however understand the desire and in a lot of ways? Rose might have an easier time without Elena around. She just wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do.]

The people who don't trust you just because of what you are? [Carefully selecting her words.] I still say, fuck them. [Even managing a wry, almost half smile at that. She'd said all this before though, when they'd talked about it in the past, before everything that had happened with Kyp.]

The ones who don't trust you because of - what happened... I think... most of them? They don't want to hold a grudge. They just... Need a reason to let it go. [She was projecting right now, she knew that but it was all she had to draw from. This wasn't a topic she easily discussed with anyone, not even with Dean.] If you leave? It'll be easier. You won't have to deal with the whispers and, the looks. But... you won't get a chance to give them a reason to let it go either.

I need easy, Rose. Because things are going to hit the fan sooner or later, and I need easy. I'm not going to bend over backwards for a bunch of people who think they know me just to prove to them what I already know.

[She's not frustrated, she's just already thought this through. She knows it's not going to help her public image. She just...doesn't really care at this point.]

I care what our friends think. I care what you think. But what I did? It didn't hurt anyone else, and so I just...I have enough to worry about. I'm not worrying about them too.

Fair enough. [Rose nods her head, slowly, not judging Elena for once it felt like, but rather just trying to listen to what she was saying, process what she could, leave the rest to think about later.

She wondered if maybe, she was trying to make amends with those she felt she needed to so that she could walk away, so that maybe she didn't have to deal with the past biting her in the ass at every turn.

It was impossible for Rose to consider that without unconsciously looking in Dimitri's direction, a touch of sadness there, not for what she longed for, but perhaps for what might have been or even just, regret for how it ended.]

Have you... spoken to Dimtri? [The fact that Rose even needed to ask that, probably speaking volumes.]

[Elena's smile is grateful, and her eyes follow Rose's. She doesn't even need to search for their target, since Rose gives it away verbally a moment later.

She shakes her head.]

Not for a long time. I didn't exactly make things easy for him, either.

[And then he left, and they were never super close or anything, so...]

[Guilt touches her own features, Rose's lips pressing into a thin line and she acknowledges something she hasn't said to anyone before, not even to herself.]

Neither did I. [It was honest at least. Elena hadn't been the only one who'd made it hard for people.

She shakes her head.] I just... wondered.

[Elena gives a slow nod of her head. It's none of her business, and she's not going to pry.]

I should...probably make myself scarce before Dean gets back.

[Speaking of people she doesn't talk to people very often for good reasons. Like getting shot by them. Also bad blood.]

Something tells me his first instinct isn't going to be that we're having a friendly conversation.

[If any word could pull her out of her head, it was Dean's name, Rose straightening a little and while she could say that it's okay? There's a part of her that's believes the only reason he's not at her side right now is because he hasn't actually seen Elena at their table.

With a grim sort of smile, Rose bobs her head in agreement.]

Yeah... probably, not a bad idea. [She could explain to Elena that it's less about her, what she is, what she did and more about Rose and Dean's own issues but just like it wasn't Elena's place to pry, it wasn't Rose's place to share. She could talk to her about Dimitri because he was her past but Dean? She was far too protective of what they had to be in a place where she could even consider talking about him with Elena.

There's still a million things she wants to say, not sure if she should or not and she gapes a moment, swallowing the start of her sentence before she can finally get it out.]

If you do decide to go... [She's pretty much said she intends to so it's not so much a matter of if, but when. Still, Rose feels like she should say this.] I don't know... if, we can, ever be friends again...

[She's not trying to be cruel, just honest. There was a lot of hurt to get past but there had also been a lot of good too. That still counted for a lot, regardless of what had happened.]

But... we can't really figure that out, if you're gone. I'm not saying, stay... I'm just. Saying.

[Elena's expression becomes something unreadable as she briefly looks conflicted.]

This place isn't home for me anymore, Rose.

[Her voice is distant and quiet.]

I ruined that, and no amount of people trying to convince me otherwise is going to change that. I did something I can't fix. And even if there are people here I love now and if I have a purpose and a goal, that isn't going to last forever. I'm a changeling, and even if I survive what's coming? I'm going to outlive almost everyone I care about. It would just be an endless cycle of trying to find people to look past what I am.

[She shakes her head, as if she's said too much.]

I can't make this place home again. And we could lie to each other and say we could fix our friendship too, but I don't think that's possible. Not in the way we'd want it to be.

[She mouth curls up ever so slight, though, as she tries to lighten the mood the tiniest bit.]

Though I do think you're underestimating how often Vi is going to make me visit.

[Rose isn’t going to argue with her, not even on the state of any possible friendship between them. She couldn’t say that that wasn’t a possibility but she also knew that Elena was right about one thing. It wouldn’t be the way they wanted it because it couldn’t be the way it was before. There wasn’t trust, not how there used to be and even if Elena swore to her here and now that she’d never do it again, would never involve her or those she loved in anything like that?

Elena would do what Elena thought was right. Even if that meant Rose got hurt in the process. Rose might get it, might even be able to respect it but she also wasn’t sure she could take that chance right now. Maybe not ever. ]

You have to do what you think is right for you. [It was easier for her to say that now, at least after everything that had been said between them. Easier in a lot of ways because that was how Rose was choosing to live her own life. That was one thing that had come out of New York and everything that followed between then and Andres. She knew there were some people who disapproved of Dean. Knew there would be more if they had any idea what being with him could bring into her life but she didn’t care anymore. She spent far too much time since she arrived here, caring too much about what everyone else thought or wanted or did. Now? If she felt it was right for her? The rest didn't matter.]

Yeah I... have no doubt. [The smile there, tight thought it was.

Rose takes a breath like she’s going to say something more but the words don’t form and she just bobs her head, making sure that she means what she’s about to say before she gives it voice.]

Good luck Elena. [It wasn’t goodbye exactly. She knew they’d see each other again but it was a farewell in its own way, like she was sending off all the anger she’d been holding inside for more than a year. ] Whatever you decide.

[And there it is. Nothing more to say, but at least it's done. And it's probably the best outcome she could have hoped for, given the negativity between them.

She sees someone walk by with drinks, and she signals them as she rises out of the chair, taking it from the tray before looking over at Rose with a smile entirely void of bitterness. If anything, she looks content.]

Thanks, Rose. [She takes a sip of her drink before she starts to head away.] I'll see you around.

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wedding ♔ baby we've come a long way

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