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

buffy summers ❧ ota;

[slay]

[ after slipping off to the corner to speak with des and elena in hushed voices, buffy spends the reception looking tense and touchy. her fingers fidget incessantly, tapping on her glass or the table or simple wringing together in front of her, and she tries to keep an eye on failboat at all times as they mingle through the crowd of people.

meeting back up with rafael has managed to slip her mind in favor of anxious impatience and visceral concern, and the relaxed atmosphere of the ceremony has effectively been quashed. ]

[fornicator]

[ after gay chicken abates over there, zarad wanders by and lingers next to an empty chair at the otherwise abandoned table buffy's parked at rn. ]

... Is this seat taken?

[slay]

All yours.

[ she perks up at the voice, then offers a strained smile and nods, gesticulating with a hand to invite him to what used to be rafael's seat at her table. ]

[fornicator]

[ he gives her a little smile back, settling in after grabbing a drink off a passing tray. once he's comfortable, he shifts his attention back over towards her. ] It's ... Buffy, right?

[slay]

I—Yeah. Sorry. I know we didn't really get the chance to talk before, with everything at the club. [ she nods, turning her attention more fully towards him, drawing up a more relaxed smile. she coaches herself to calm down and focus on this. ] You're Des' boyfriend, right? How long have you two been seeing each other? [ given that he just lost his shit over his dead ex. ]

[fornicator]

Just since that night at the club. [ he smiles slightly at the memory, taking a swig and then setting his glass down on the table, where he twirls it slowly between thumb and forefinger back and forth. ] Long distance as a relationship kickoff isn't exactly a walk in the park, but we're making it work.

[slay]

Really?

[ she looks surprised by that. ]

Sorry, I don't mean to pry, I just—I noticed you were wearing his necklace in New York.

[fornicator]

He and I had bumped into each other the night before - that's when he invited me out to meet you all.

[ he grins to himself and chuckles a bit ] I sort of roped him into a poker game that night. With some interesting stakes.

[slay]

[ that earns a laugh from her as well—a genuine one, albeit weak. ]

Okay, if this story ends in strip poker, I really don't need to hear it.

[fornicator]

Mum's the word, then. [ :) ]

[slay]

[ that only makes her laugh harder. she sits back in her seat, nodding. ]

Wow. You ... really are his type.

[ because his level of audacity is so damn reminiscent of jade. she smiles fondly at him for it and turns to rest her arm on the back of her chair, folding her legs towards him. ]

Okay. Interrogation almost over—promise. Just ... how'd you guys meet? I mean, how long have you known each other?

[fornicator]

Ohhh, we go way back. [ he tilts his head almost upside down to look behind him before leaning forward again, content that no one's eavesdropping. ] Centuries back, actually.

There's gambling in that story too, although it might be of a less unsavory nature in terms of mental pictures for you.

[slay]

As long as it doesn't involve any Descant-centric nudity, I think I can handle a little gambling. [ dude he's like her brother she just really doesn't want that mental image. she's saying nothing about zarad nudity tho tbh. ]

[bigbad]

[A little while after he's done playing gay chicken with Zarad, he wanders over and sits on Buffy's table, glancing down at her with a bit of a smile.]

Not out there dancing?

[slay]

Kinda got my fill.

[ she offers a flash of a smile that drops quickly, then shrugs. ]

[bigbad]

Me too. [Slightly skittish look towards Zarad. Why did he think playing gay chicken was a good idea? No matter how good a dancer he is.] Probably doesn't help that I'd rather be out punching Dimitris in the face than watching otherwise sane ladies beat each other up over flowers.

[slay]

Don't do that, don't—[ buffy sounds tired, shaking her head and sitting straighter, visibly uncomfortable with this tone and phrasing. ] Don't act like this isn't important, too. They need this. [ buffy has never felt like she can fully engage in it, not really, but they need it. they need normal. she's just never been sure what her normal is, but she'd never begrudge it someone else. ] We can't just put our lives on hold for however many years we'll be fighting this.

[bigbad]

Yeah, I know. [He only mentioned it because she didn't exactly look life of the party herself.] I don't begrudge 'em. Just having a bit of trouble joining in.

[slay]

I thought it'd have been a relief, going back to normal after ... everything.

[bigbad]

It is, in some ways. Sleeping in a bed, getting fed, having bloody peanut butter if I want it... relief doesn't really come close to covering it. But even so... [He trails off, looking out at all their friends having lots of fun and partying. He sighs and shakes his head.]

Just an adjustment. But I don't want to bring down the mood. Now's not the time or place.

[slay]

Myri's trying pretty hard. For Vi.

[ she makes the observation with no real opinion one way or the other of if that should be something spike ought to be trying to do, too. ]

[bigbad]

I'm not as nice as Myri. [He glances over at her and raises his eyebrow.] Should I be smiling more? People might think I've been replaced with a doppelgänger again.

[slay]

Would they?

[ she doesn't want to say 'no,' but ... they certainly hadn't noticed the first time. buffy is only seeking comfort in the fact that she hadn't spoken to him or myri, for the most part. ]

[bigbad]

[Spike looks over at her. This isn't about him having fun (sense motive 23). She's still feeling guilt about not catching it.]

...No, probably not. It's the mind reading bit, right? He say what you want me to say and nobody thinks too hard about it.

[slay]

Not always 'want.' When Myri—When it was Myri, it was more like what I was afraid she'd say. [ she hunches her shoulders. ] And exactly how she'd say it.