10th Contraption: Mawwiage

[pineapplesalmon]

Who: John Watson, Johnny Summer, and César Salazar with Rich Goranski, Fio, and Honoria Crabb AND YOU Oh god why are weddings like this
What: The throuple getting married by... the Captain?!
When: December 11th at 7pm
Where: John's
Warnings: I believe in us! But for now, nothing.


SEATING

John's has been transformed, the seating up front rearranged in rows towards the center dias with an aisle down the middle, the piano moved off to one side. The buffet for later can be seen off to the other. Decorations taken from Spirit Halloween appear here and there–flowers taken from cavalera flower crowns, sun and moon candlestick holders from the tarot collection, festively colored tablecloths draped down the walls like curtains or banners. A sign near the entrance says "seat yourself", although the front row on one side is reserved with a ribbon across the backs.

What can't be seen is who is officiating. Or the husbands, but at least that part makes sense. The dais is empty.


THE CEREMONY

As one of the few traditions in this wedding, music announces the start of the ceremony. Rich strolls in first, trying to look professional even if he’s clearly shaking a bit as he holds the small pillow with the rings laid on it. At least he’s dressed quite smartly, Johnny ensuring his red suit is wrinkle free and his cuff links are set in place. Fio, in a winged black dress and flowery headdress, follows after the ring bearer, adorning the path with paper petals as she moves along.

The first husband to be down the aisle is none other than Johnny, in a smart charcoal grey suit with a goldenrod pocketsquare, gold jewelry, and a wreath of orange blossoms on his head; and accompanied by Honoria Crabb in her perfectly tailored black tuxedo, worn with black gloves and a white bow tie. Watson and César take up the rear, arms linked together. César is wearing an equally fancy suitcoat with his tie held in place with a ruby and silver tie pin, and Watson is wearing an officer’s dress uniform, with the sword and without the helmet, and also his good cane. All three husbands-to-be are wearing green carnation boutonnières.


AFTER PARTY

It's time to eat, dance, and party!

The seating has been rearranged for sitting at tables around the "dance" floor. Food from Windjammer has been placed on some tables for a buffet. There’s a selection of fancy cheeses and crackers, sushi, premade sandwiches, and salad with dressings on the side. For dessert, to one side there’s a table with cupcakes, cookies, and chocolates arranged in a heart. On the bar are a couple bowls of punch (including one explicitly labeled as non-alcoholic) made by Johnny ahead of time, because he's been forbidden to bartend his own wedding, much to his deep chagrin.

There’s a space set just off the dancefloor for musicians who wish to perform, the usual John’s piano (bribed into behaving with a whole pan of beef brisket from the buffet) off to one side.

Comments

[astrogator]

[Was she? She was lieutenant astrogator on her ship, and she'd worked hard for years to get there. Here, she was Oda's general as well. What else could you call her? A Company daughter? She supposed she was still that, too. And Carrington's experiment. No, being an officer definitely seemed best of the lot.]

Some things aren't really about strength. It's a skill - one that I don't have, and maybe if I had nothing else left to learn then we could spend our time on dancing lessons, but there's so much else that has to take priority right now, don't you think?

[She gives him a small smile.] When we're free, then maybe I'll learn to dance, and ask them all. Until then, someone has to keep watch from the side, just in case. I'm good at that.

[redlightgreenlight]

"Wow, Critchon, you look like you've just stepped out of a science fiction romance novel."

Valdis noticed him holding back along the sidelines and hadn't exactly snuck up on him, but hadn't made an effort to make her presence known until her comment. He seemed vaguely depressed, and she's not interested in trying to cheer him up. Or maybe she is. Or maybe she just wants to stand along the wall with someone just as skeptical as she is.

[konpeito_aji]

Nobunaga thinks about it, and coos, "I could wear the other half of Klaus' closet now? Oooh. I wonder how my legs would look in those--" a hand gesture, "Pleats, yeah that's the word." A nod! "He did my makeup. But he says it's warpaint. Although Klaus himself is fairly pacifistic, he did it for a few other men even though he's--" non-binary, was that public? He was pretty sure it was because otherwise why was he always calling Klaus his partner instead of boyfriend? "Non-binary. Wait, why are sweets feminine?" It took him THAT long to get to the end of the joke to realize!

[inhairently]

Steve shrugs in an "oh, this ol' thing?" sort of way and says, "Thanks." Then, in a tone that's slightly more serious but would still seem casual enough to the random listener, he asks, "Interesting ceremony, huh?"

[lightconductor]

"Klaus, then."

Watson gives a little bark of laughter at being compared, even obliquely, to a prince. "I am but a lowly half-pay army surgeon, and I can count the times I wore a formal uniform when I was in active service on one hand and have fingers left over. But it is the most formal thing I seem to have at my disposal. I think that's a long way from being a prince though."

after party stage / wildcard-ish

[cacophonish]

At some point when Rich is done performing and back to mingling, Jeff's going to approach him with, "Hey, dude. That was fucking awesome, composing a song for your dads like that. I mean, it was a totally sweet gesture, and it was a good song, too! That takes skill, man."

[not_the_last]

"Oh, yes." She doesn't miss a beat, matching his tone and maintaining her smile. "Most unexpected."

[astrogator]

Thank you! I think the last time I wore this was a Liberation Day diplomatic summit where... [she shakes her head] -a story for another time, maybe. [Really, Tayrey, don't monopolise his time with stories about the misadventures of junior lieutenants of the Tradelines. He'll have his mind on romance, as he should.]

But you know I would never forgive myself if I trod on your toes. Better not to take the risk. Let me say instead how happy I am for you all. Your words were very powerful. Your promises. I can tell that they spoke to your deepest values.

[cacophonish]

Jeff's just going to flop down next to Helena, fresh from the dance floor himself. He's got a cup of punch (of the boozy variety) in one hand, and a cupcake in the other.

"Hey! Saw you out there on the dance floor. You've got some moves!"

[astrogator]

[So of course Ari goes off to get him not one but two cupcakes, both of which she tries to balance very delicately on top of his pile of food.]

I'll validate you with miniature cakes any time I can. My only question is whether you think you can eat it all?

[saltwaterlungs]

[ She might be judging a little internally. It's not her life or anything, but... wow. Darcy shrugs. ]

Apparently I'm a bad judge of men, so no comment. Happy for you, though, [ She guesses, or at least it's the polite thing to say. Even if she's still bitter about the situation with Undine and quietly despising anyone in a happy relationship. ]

Been a weirdly short couple of months. 'n now it's almost Christmas and everything.

[ss_buttcrack]

"Thanks," Crichton says somewhat sheepishly, bumping his shoulder against Arthur's. "We'll go with that since I don't actually know how old I really am anymore."

His own lips curl into a wicked shape that will translate into his voice as well. "You know what is a tradition where I'm from? Birthday spankings. Dare you to try it." He doesn't actually think Arthur will, but it might be funny to watch his fluster if he thinks about it.

[not_the_last]

"Erin?"

The question mark in Cass's voice is mostly owing to the outfit, which she's staring at in unabashed wonder.

[decrypter]

"Yes. And if there are more good moments following, those can add to the enough."

She'd ask it to dance, but she remembers how it acted when she touched it - even by its invitation. So that can be for another day, when they have more space.

"But if you need to worry, then I won't tell you not to."

[ss_buttcrack]

Crichton might be powerful enough to do it twice. Never know.

"Aw, really? You didn't have to do that." Hey, guess what Nobunaga, you are getting a hug anyway! As soon as he gets done with the bow, here comes Crichton with open arms. You have to let him, it's his birthday.

"Oh, pretty good I guess. Made it through all of November without someone stabbing or shooting me."

Jack + Siffleur, OTA

[obeyseventually]

Seating and Ceremony

Jack was worried that his dark blue sweater and his slacks wouldn't be formal enough for this wedding, yes, even with a Tommy Bahama and a souvenir store as the only sources of clothes on the ship. As it turns out, he needn't have worried, firstly because of the aforementioned improvised Tommy Bahama Formalwear, but because his, uh, his +1 got a little creative himself.

And listen, Jack can't say anything, especially as he knows he's going to have to ditch his sweater halfway through the reception at this rate, but Siffleur's made do with something called a 'maxi dress' which... It's a nice blue colour, with lighter blue radial spots giving the impression of flower petals, and again, Jack's the idiot wearing a sweater to venue packed full of people, and his current personal situation is so absurd he should be far past the point of being self-conscious about anything-

So maybe it's not all of the above, maybe it's not because he's attending a wedding between three men with a tall werecougar in his man-form wearing a floral maxidress and little else, maybe it's because he's here with Siffleur.

Or maybe it's because Siffleur is as shapely as a piece of plywood, and the dress is hanging off him like it would if you draped it on a door, and he'll never be able to tell anyone that.

After Party

Siffleur has experimented a few times with dresses in the last few weeks, but this is the first big event he's wearing the dress as a dress, and not just as a top with pants beneath. After the initial feeling of reluctance, he's come around completely on it. It's breezy and flowy, both two very welcome things considering how warm it's become. Jack is clearly feeling the heat, as he's rolled up his sleeves to cool himself down. It's a good look on him, handsome.

Siffleur's gotten them some cups of the alcoholic punch and he's eating various cheeses and sushi off a plate. As far as weddings go, this one might be one of the best ones he's attended. It's interesting being somewhere other than an ancient hall, or an empty hockey arena.

He's in the midst of offering Jack some of the cheese on his plate when he notices someone approaching the two of them. Siffleur straightens up and tips his head in a sort of question - what do they want?

Unless, of course, you were looking to talk to only Jack or Siffleur on their own. You could probably catch either of them stepping away from the other to refill their plate at the buffet or punch at the bowl.

[ooc: this is a joint top-level, so if you only want to thread with one of them, just mention that somewhere in your title or something. Otherwise, you'll get a response from both of us or one of us at random!]

[inhairently]

"Even more interesting to see how people reacted," he says. His pose is casual, arms folded across his chest, but he's watching the crowd. His eyes linger on the Captain across the room before landing on Cassandra again. "I haven't been to too many weddings, though. Maybe this is what they're always like."

Rife with drama! Officiated by one's kidnapper!

[decrypter]

"Thank you!"

It's more just moving with the music than any formal dancing, but she's having a good time, and that's what matters more.

"I was trying to practice some, but I admit some of these songs have me at a loss for what to do..."

Thank you, Eddie, for the metal interludes.

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

[pointofhonoria]

Crabb breathes a laugh and tilts her head to nose Erin's jaw, heart back to pounding in her chest, the part of her still not used to being so shameless in public making itself known but... frankly not loudly enough to matter. "Like you wouldn't enjoy that just as much."

Tease, tease—but then she just breathes. On the next step she takes them into a turn and follows through into a proper dip, a dip and a kiss that straddles the line between the intensity she's usually willing to dare in public and in private. Aware of the party around them and yet her focus so tightly on Erin.

[ss_buttcrack]

He is already regretting letting the inside thoughts be outside thoughts now. He didn't mean to attract this much attention to it.

"Do I look that old to you?" A beat. "Don't actually answer that." He was upset enough already that he found some grey hairs on his head. Thank God Arthur won't ever see them.

"No, I'm not a damn vampire." He scrubs his hands down his face. He knows Klaus is just trying to lighten the moods but... agh.

"I don't know how old I am anymore. Okay? It was 1999 on Earth when I left it, but I have no clue how long I've been out in space. And, what's even worse is I don't know how long it's been on Earth compared to how long it's been for me." Time dilation; his greatest fear is that it's already been too long and even if he did manage to make it home, it would be to an entirely new Earth with all his family long dead.

"I just... have to guess. I'm probably somewhere in my early thirties. Thirty-three maybe."

[crushed_pearls]

"The only one here!" Erin offers up a little twirl that ends in a picture perfect curtsy. "You weren't kidding about the finery of Exandria, Cass. 's a good look on you."

[not_the_last]

"I haven't been to very many myself," she agrees, and her gaze flicks to follow his, just long enough for him to notice.

Neither of them is telepathic, but nonetheless a thought is almost certainly being shared right now.

[konpeito_aji]

[Yes. She still is human, after all.]

You're overthinking it. So this is what it is like to be as genius as Mitsuhide, but with Hideyoshi's dedication, is it?

[A one-armed hug, and gently squeezes her hand.] You will never find the time to be as strong as you wish, and if you put it off until later, you will regret it and miss the things that could have been.

Come, I will show you, and it will be more easy than you think. You trust me, do you not? Despite me telling you not to? Because I will take advantage of it, just as I do to my right and left hands back home. But I promise if in fifteen minutes, I fail, and you are more nervous than before, then I will go with you and we will do whatever you wish instead. Very serious patrol around the perimeter. But this is risk free. And it is better to take advantage now and seize the opportunity than later when it matters more.

Do you know how many muscles you use in dancing? Or how keeping track of the beat helps you in war?

You know some dances already, so I will show you how to assess everyone else's dances, while still engaging in your own. It is just like a battlefield.

[konpeito_aji]

He will take that risk!

Oh no... hugs... Americans and their hugs! Okay he still... doesn't do the bro-hug thing yet, kind of with Teyrey, but that's cheating because Klaus is constantly cuddling on her, and stuff, but yes! A vague sort of leaning into Crichton. That counts, right?

And Nobunaga laughs. "Good! I got eaten, but it was fun. And the others in my army won't let me do it again," a small pout, but his red eyes sparkle with mirth. "Apparently friends are supposed to avoid dying so their friends don't worry, right?" Yes, see Crichton? No more dying.

OTA! Join in!

[ss_buttcrack]

At first, he doesn't have a damn clue why she's doing that with her eyebrows at him. Like, is she coming onto him right now? But then, after a very confusing moment, he realizes he recognizes that pattern. Christ, it's been a long damn time since he had to translate Morse code. Did... did he translate that right? Chicken? Did she say chicken dance?

OH. It all becomes clear when she starts playing that song.

"Yeah!" he shouts above the crowd, "Let's to the funky chicken!" And, to the potential horror of anyone nearby him, he will indeed begin to dance like a funky chicken.