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

[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.

[witchwoman]

She probably would. [She gives him a small smile. See? You know this stuff!] And is that something you'd like to do?

[isisagent]

Look, I might not be... actually, I'm fairly certain I'm not what you'd call "well-adjusted," but I'm not that socially retarded, Myri. [Archer rolls his eyes.] We've been on dates already. It just seems a little counter-intuitive to give her space and take her out to dinner, that's all.

[So the only logical step is to pretend to be dating call girls. Duh.]

[witchwoman]

[She sighs.] The funny thing? Is that I think your heart is in the right place. But that doesn't change the way that it looks. And right now? It looks like you're already looking for the next girl to bring to the party and into your bed.

[isisagent]

Well... Yeah, I mean - maybe to everyone else. But, Elena knows I stopped the whole call-girls thing in Chicago. And, I mean... it hasn't been easy. The last time I went this long without having sex, was... god... Before that Brazilian au pair; and I was twelve.

[Archer's interesting life story, that Myri gets to share in.]

[witchwoman]

[Myri sure didn't need to know how long its been since you got laid... But she recognizes that he's taking steps to do things for Elena, because he cares about her... to some dregree. Myri still isn't completely sure on that.]

I don't think Elena feels like she knows anything for certain right now. She was deceived by someone she thought she could trust, someone she thought cared about her well being. She doesn't need any more reason to wonder if she really knows us as well as she thought.

[isisagent]

[Archer chews on that bit-o-wisdom for a moment, then pulls out his cell phone.]

Hey Sarah. Stacey? Right, Stacey; come get your money and take off, alright? [Which she's happy to do, after glaring at Archer like "How the fuck hard is Stacey to remember?"]

[Archer hands the call girl a stack of bills, and shrugs at Myri as the girl walks off.]

Alright... Phase one complete.

[witchwoman]

[myri gives Stacey a small wave as she leaves.]

Good. Now we can go back inside if you'd like. [Asking archer to talk about his feelings seemed like strange and dangerous work.]