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]

She doesn't want to die, Des. It's... it's not the same. She's just tired of being alive because the way she's living now hurts so terribly. If she wanted to die, she wouldn't be here today. She wouldn't be getting married and trying to enjoy every moment that she can. She's been surrounded by weapons, had access to impossibly high balconies. There are things in her garden that would make it look like she simply passed in her sleep. If she wanted to die, she would be dead. [It's a combination of Vi trying to reassure her after Rafael's suicide attempt had come out in the open and Myri's own empathic connection from before she left the group.]

[nothingsodivine]

It doesn't matter. It won't matter. [He can't even look at her.] She's not gonna die like this.

[witchwoman]

Des. [Her voice gets a bit firmer, reaching up to tilt his face so that he has to look at her.] We haven't lost her yet. But we will if we go into this like it's a battle. These are our friends. We're not fighting against them. We need to work together to find a solution.

[nothingsodivine]

[He makes a face.] I know. You just can't always be sure of that where Blade's involved.

[He pulls away from her gently, so he can dig in his pocket to produce a small stone-like object with a spider on it. ARDEN LINKED ME A PICTURE, BUT I DON'T HAVE IT. Leave me alone.] I found this under my pillow. I don't know if Buffy and Elena have them too- I only noticed because I keep my gun there.

[witchwoman]

[She's going to reach out and take it. Which is clearly the best thing to do with new spider objects that you find in this plot.]

What do you think it is?

[nothingsodivine]

I dunno. I was gonna give it to Gar or Francesca after the wedding was over to let them take a look. [He shrugs.] Given the way Blade was acting, it might have been a calling card. In case I changed my mind and took him up on his boss's personal offer.

[witchwoman]

Offer? [She looks a little alarmed.] What did he offer you?

[nothingsodivine]

Only one thing I want. [He holds out his hand to take the spider thingy back.] An end to my curse.

[witchwoman]

[Shock makes her freeze. She should have expected that but somehow didn't.]

Des, I... [Her mouth works open and closed, searching for words.] You turned him down? [Not that Myri ever thought that Des might work with Blade, but the fact that he'd give up on a chance to break his curse is big. Huge.]

[nothingsodivine]

[He rolls his eyes.] His god can't break this curse and he's an idiot if he thinks I'll buy that for a second.

[It's easy to just brush it off, like it's not a big deal when it really is. A few years ago, he would have done just about anything.] And even if he could, the consequences would be worse than the bitch of... [he gestures to himself] this.

[witchwoman]

[No, it's a very big deal. Des chose them, chose to help them and keep them safe, even when he had the chance for an out. He could have easily sold them off to the highest bidder for a shot at ending it and he didn't. Tears spring to her eyes, a mixture of good and bad emotions all at once.]

We'll find a way. [To save Vi. To beat them. To break his curse. For the first time, Myri's able to accept that helping Des find a way to die is part of the mission. As much as she doesn't want him to go, she's coming to accept that she can't be selfish about that anymore.]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des opens his mouth to say something and then closes it again and swallows. He tries again.] I-

[He shuts his mouth again and rubs the back of his neck.] Yeah. We will.

[He shoves his hands into his pockets and nods towards the party.] Shouldn't you be dancing with Finnick?

[witchwoman]

I did. And I probably will later. [She smiles, blinking back those tears that have formed, taking a deep breath to lose the shakiness in her voice.]

I think he was talking with Francesca before I came out here. Maybe you could fill in as a dance partner until he's done? [Oh she knows that's a long shot. But she has to try. She loves the big lug. Also she's doing her best to be very convincing (diplomacy 29).]

[nothingsodivine]

[I don't even have to roll a will save. WHO THE HELL WOULD SAY NO TO THAT? What kind of monster...

He offers her his arm.] Shoot. Why the hell not?

[witchwoman]

[He's rewarded with the widest smile she's shown all night. Mostly because she didn't actually think he would agree. She just assumed he would politely turn her down and make some joke to brush her off and send her back to the party.

Slipping her hand to hold onto the offered arm, she heads back in towards the party.]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des rolled a significantly better dance roll than he did with his boyfriend. I guess that's what happens when Zarad's a jerk who insists on leading. (dance 38) He's got a pretty good foxtrot going on here.]

You enjoying yourself?

[witchwoman]

[Apparently Myri was nervous about dancing with Finnick at a wedding because she could barely tell her left from right before. But now? Well, she's definitely keeping up (dance 21).]

I am. [Which isn't a lie. She has enjoyed the wedding, but it's hard to explain just how she seems to ebb and flow with how she feels.] It's good to have moments like these- moments to show us that it's not just one bad thing after another.

[nothingsodivine]

Aside from the nightmares last night? [BECAUSE THAT SURE SUCKED. Not that he's worried about it right now. They'll deal with that problem tomorrow.] I think things'll start looking up after this. The bad guys are getting desperate.

[witchwoman]

They are. [She doesn't really want to talk about the bad guys. Not for right now. She's quiet for a moment, looking around the room at their friends before turning her attention back to Des.] I like him. Zarad. I hope we get to see more of him.

[nothingsodivine]

Um... [He flinches and then looks sheepish, clearly troubled by what he has to say.] I wish you could- believe me. It tickles me that he's hitting it off so great. But I... I don't want him mixed up in all this.

[witchwoman]

No, I- I know that. [Her face falls a little because perhaps she should have explained a little better.] I suppose I'm just hoping that once it's over, we could... [She trails off, because the rest of that essentially boils down to Des sticking around once the mission is over.]

[nothingsodivine]

We'll see how it all plays out, okay? [It's not a flat no, anyway. He forces a smile.] I don't know how tomorrow's gonna go, much less the end of this.

[witchwoman]

[She just nods, head ducking slightly, feeling silly for bringing it up.]

Of course. It's hard sometimes not to try to think about it, though. It helps me to think that all the suffering we've gone through is worth it to imagine what's on the other side of it.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des goes tense, fingers curled just at the small of her back.] Guess I can't see it that way. Suffering's just senseless pain to me.

[witchwoman]

Maybe I'm just still young and naive enough to have hope that it's not just pain for the sake of pain. [She has to believe that. Otherwise she can't make sense of the last two months of her life and that thought makes her want to crumble sometimes.]