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

OTA

[configuration_birdwatcher]

When they got the invitation, Bastion wasn't sure how they were going to fulfill the 'please wear clothes' request. Even if the human clothing stores had something large enough for them to wear, they'd probably have to modify it to account for their shape. They thought about asking the bird-human, since he also has anatomy requiring him to alter the back of his shirts and sewing is a difficult task for them, but before they made up their mind they were rummaging in the closet of cabin 144 to get some of Lloyd's stuff out of the way and they found the bird-print dress from the August excursion. It came with a hat and a set of white gloves, one tailored for a hand and the other for a gun barrel, but they left those in the cabin. They find a seat toward the back where they're obstructing as few attendees' view as possible.

The ceremony goes... adequately? They've never been to a wedding before but this is probably the best it can go with the Captain officiating. He doesn't look like he wants to be here, but he must have voluntarily decided to do so given the properties of the ship. It's also jarring to hear that many words spoken in a language that isn't English, after nearly five months on board. (They notice him kissing Skullduggery on the dance floor later, too.)

They can't eat, they can't drink, and they don't know how to ballroom dance, but they can certainly socialise at the reception. Which is not to say that Bastion's not going to dance; either they'll substitute a solo dance that they do know, or they'll find someone who looks knowledgeable and ask to be shown the ropes.

Dancing!

[konpeito_aji]

Nobunaga loves dancing, actually. For obvious reasons, he's more used to it being a spiritual than romantic thing, but so long as it's not on stage, it's not so intense. "Here, this one is probably going to be the most popular since it doesn't involve touching." A big deal to everyone, even if they weren't as war weary as some other ex soldiers. And Nobunaga cheerfully glides through the moves waiting for Bastion to copy and fall into pace.

"And you can even experiment with it, and add your own moves or poses." Nobunaga does indeed, strike a J-Idol pose. When he gets taught something, he really latches on hard! "And if you're ready to go next level they blow kisses. But I did that at Halloween and instead of shocking Klaus he wasn't fazed at all! Ahhhh it was so embarrassing!" Yes. He's a grown adult. Probably.

[configuration_birdwatcher]

Bastion does a decent job of mimicking Nobunaga's motions, including about three-fourths of the J-Idol pose. (Their knowledge of both 16th century Japan and dance routines is sparse, but they're upwards of 90% sure that's a modern dance move he learned on the ship.)

// I don't mind gentle, predictable touching. Close contact isn't especially bothersome for them unless the other person starts reaching for their cables; only the strongest humans can achieve anything by grappling a Bastion unit with muscle power alone, so hand-to-hand combat wasn't a frequent locus of life-or-death experiences during the war. // Blowing kisses sounds like flirting. I don't want to flirt.

Dancing is fun! But there's no one they want to flirt with here.

[konpeito_aji]

Nice! Yeah, Nobunaga learned from whoever was possessing Tear on Halloween night. That is also when he did the kiss blowing thing.

"Huh. Flirting... I guess that explains why Klaus was able to outdo it. He always ups the ante. He pretended he caught it and then tucked it away next to his heart...." Nobunaga laughs. "I was so embarrassed! I thought he'd be so surprised I did it at all, but instead it was like he expected it! Okay here, I'm going to put my hand on your shoulder, and -- like this!" Nobunaga learns fast, but he loves sharing in it too. And if EFB can dance the night away, no one else has any excuse!

Re: OTA

[glassaxolotl]

Although they have spent a good deal of time on the deck garden together, Dedue has still barely said more than a few words to Bastion. He realizes, looking at their dress, that he doesn’t even know what gender Bastion identifies as or which pronouns to refer to them with, and at this point it would be too rude to ask.

Small talk isn’t exactly Dedue’s favorite pastime, but he feels it’s probably time to break the ice. “I see you at the garden,” he says to them. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

this tag's not late it's well-aged like a delicious cheese

[configuration_birdwatcher]

Honestly it takes some pretty egregrious offense-giving for Bastion to realise people are being unintentionally rude to them.

Oh, it's Dedue! They do indeed remember him from the garden; he's one of the few humans who enjoys spending time there as much as they do. // I'm trying to. Dancing is enjoyable.

[glassaxolotl]

“That is good. I have never been one for dancing, but it is enjoyable to watch.”

[configuration_birdwatcher]

They swivel their torso. The dress also swivels.

// I've never danced with a partner before today.

[glassaxolotl]

“Most Fodlan dancing involves a partner. I can show you, although, again, it is not my strong suit.”