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

After Party OTA

[midnightroads]

Bash let Jeff do his makeup: Intense smoky eye, dewy cheeks, nothing at all to hide his freckles. His hair's back in a tidy french braid. He's wearing a black linen shirt from Tommy Bahama with his own skinny jeans. It's a look. He knows it's a look.

But he's not quite serving the look right now, standing at the edge of the room with a small plate of sushi, people-watching. Part of him is braced for the party to go to fuck, and the rest is...just not quite up to his usual level of shiny tonight.

In fact, at some point, he goes from lingering in the shadows to lingering in the shadows, only visible to those with supernatural sight, observing the festivities while completely separate from them.

Feel free to catch him while wallflowering or notice him slipping out to the buffet for just a little more to nosh.

[cacophonish]

Jeff can't see Bash when he slips into the shadows like that, but he can sort of... feel that he's still around. So at some point, before he's too drunk on punch to function, when Bash re-emerges for some snacks, Jeff will just... reach out to hold his hand, and give it a squeeze. He's not sure where Bash's head is at, if he wants any more attention than that, or if he'd rather go back to wallflowering.

"Do you want to step out for some air?"

[midnightroads]

“Sure.” There’s a mild grimace on his face like a kid who’s been caught sneaking into the house after curfew, but he’s glad of everyone here that it’s Jeff who”s caught him. “Lead the way.”

[cacophonish]

How far of a walk is it to the deck? It's probably pretty quiet right now. Jeff starts in that direction, looking over at Bash and doing his best not to look too worried or anything. The last thing he wants is for Bash to feel like he's got to swallow back his own problems and focus on easing Jeff's worries.

"You okay? Is it just, um, too much people-ing?"

[midnightroads]

“Between Halloween and how ‘party’ meant orgy in the city, I been holding myself back from a panic attack all night, just waiting to see where something would go to shit.” He lets out a little half-hearted laugh. “Like, I know everyone else is probably, too, but. You can’t not support these guys at their wedding, right?”

[cacophonish]

As they walk, Jeff throws his arms around Bash in a hug, just to be warm and close and... hopefully safe, in the midst of all the anxiety and apprehension.

It's weird, hearing about Halloween, and knowing it was a nightmare, while having absolutely no context or association of his own to pull from. It's as removed from his experience as the Battle Royale he's heard so much about.

"Yeah... It's like, somewhere along the way, parties stopped meaning... fun." Maybe that's why he's been struggling with the concept lately, himself. Who knows. "I think, if you didn't want to go back, nobody would blame you. Like, you showed up, you showed your support."

[midnightroads]

"If you're going back in there, I am too. I'm not leaving you on your own, especially if you're not having fun either." That's a promise.

[cacophonish]

"I'm having..." Fun? Jeff trails off, because actually, he doesn't know if he's having fun or not. He's happy and occasionally overwhelmed with emotions, but as far as the actual partying goes? He's kind of going through the motions inside, then overcompensating with cheer so he doesn't start bawling randomly in the middle of the reception.

"I dunno," he admits. "I could go."

Which is pretty unusual for Jeff. He's never been one to duck out of a party before sunrise.

"I mean, there's not really any reason for either of us to stay, right?"

[midnightroads]

"Well. There's music-y sorts for you to play with. But if you're not feeling it, and I can tell you're not...it might be good to duck. Together." Because he's not leaving alone, he's just not.

[cacophonish]

"Yeah, uh." He shakes his head. "I don't think they really want or, you know, need me to play, they've already got enough guitarists."

That's not true, really. He's already had nice chats with Phil and Erin, and they seemed happy to jam with him, but. There's a lot of shit going on in Jeff's head, and his heart isn't in it, for once.

"Let's call it a night," he nods, finding Bash's hand again so he can give it a squeeze. "Cool guys duck out of parties together. We can hit the empty arcade, or take a swim, or-- fuck it," he laughs, "we could go to bed."

[midnightroads]

"We could go to the last place on the ship anyone would ever look for the two of us: the library." That almost has some appeal, curling up in the comfy reading chairs together with something.

[cacophonish]

Jeff laughs at the suggestion. It's the perfect hiding place. He leans against Bash and bats his lashes at him. "For you, my dearest love--" Look, it's a wedding, he deserves a chance to get flowery. "--I'll set foot in the library. Maybe they've got something nice there, with a happily ever after..."

[midnightroads]

"That settles it." He starts heading in the direction of the library, after a quick stolen smooch. "Maybe the next party will be one we're up for. And maybe if not, we just don't show up, and we find something else to keep ourselves busy with."

[cacophonish]

Jeff looks at Bash, wide eyed with surprise. "Wait, we can do that? Just... not show up? I thought it was against the rules."

He grins. Kidding!

"Did I tell you I tried to go to that slumber party a few weeks back? I felt so weird and out of place, I ended up leaving after, like, a half hour."

Given where they came from, maybe Bash can get it, in a way where he doesn't have to explain Duplicity and all his lingering complicated feelings in excruciating detail.

[midnightroads]

"And at the same time, you gotta be glad none of them know what aphro tastes like, right? Like, it's a good thing we aren't the norm, 'cause if we fit in here after all that, place'd be having big problems."

He sighs softly. "There's a new guy here, Max--fancy-dressed, but not metal-man Max. He ain't been through Dupe, but he...I swear, talking to him, I could almost see the stripe down his throat. He's been through it, something far too like what we have. What you have, 'specially."

[cacophonish]

That's a good point. It makes Jeff's stomach lurch, even thinking about how bad it'd be if others here had to experience Duplicity and LIES and the whole fucked up system. At least it's better this way, it only being Jeff and Bash's traumatic burden.

"Yeah..." He is glad. It's a good thing. But still, he can't help but softly admit, "But I still wish I could fit in."

With people his age, that is.

He looks at Bash as he mentions Max. The Maxiest Max, not shiny Max or roomie Max.

"Oh, Max! I met him working out. I mean, he was working out, I was just... not..." He fidgets a little at the possibility of them having the worst sort of thing in common. It at once makes him want to reach out and run away in denial. "I didn't know he... What's his story, d'you know?"

[midnightroads]

Bash hesitates, because on the one hand, it's not really his to tell. On the other hand, this isn't idle gossip, this is conspiring to make sure that Max has the support he needs.

"Live-in servant to a vampire master. Dunno much about what kind of vampire, yet, but. He acts like he's been in a bad contract for years, you know? And now that he's here, he doesn't know what to do with himself. If folks aren't careful, he's going to gravitate to whoever else feels like a potential master to him. It could get real unhealthy, real quick."

[cacophonish]

If Jeff had more self awareness, he'd realize that if it weren't for Bash coming into his life when he did, he'd have probably been just the same, and just as vulnerable. He'd see that he's the sort of person who could (and would) easily confuse love and possession--

(Literally. Ask him about his demon sometime!)

--and understand, so intimately, how vulnerable Max is right now.

But though he's not quite at that level yet, he still gets what Bash is saying.

"Oh. Oh yeah, I can see how that--" He takes a breath. "Fuck. It's fucking scary, going from having... you know, no rights or freedom or anything, to nothing but..." He waves a hand, gesturing around them. Going from strict order to chaos.

[busball]

Klaus notices the whole disappearance into the great darkness thing cause he'd been about to go over to talk to him, so he just waits until he creeps out for some food, slipping up next to him. "Hey, buddy."

"You look hot." His general everything else doesn't match the look, though. "You okay?" It's a dumb question probably when the answer is almost assuredly no. "Nevermind. Don't answer that. You want company? Distraction? Silence? A drink? I could leave?"

[midnightroads]

Bash's voice is quiet, and he leans into Klaus slightly, trying to pretend to be casual.

"Distraction, nothing sexy. And I don't drink, so that's never going to be the answer for me. Something about being the demigod who deals with 'the souls of people who die in car accidents' kinda turned me off alcohol, for some reason."

[busball]

He'll take it, nodding at the words. "I guess that's fair." They wonder actually if there's something to be said for being around so many people who are drinkers. Does it bother him? But he doesn't want to ask in case this means addressing things.

"I got some movies from Sundries recently. Do you like Disney? Bad movies? I have the Emperor's New Groove. Who doesn't like a weird and funky llama in crisis?" This is stalling until their brain comes up with something else. Was there something else to talk about? His brain is a little empty on things. "There's also Peter Pan if that's more your speed. Or Lavalantula? Giant tarantulas that spit fire? Unless you're scared of them. Then you're probably not gonna like that."

[midnightroads]

"I am all for Disney. Emperor's New Groove over Peter Pan, though, the depiction of the Native Americans always bugged the shit outta me." Good distraction topic. Bash manages an actual smile.

[busball]

"You know...that's fair. Okay. No Peter Pan." Klaus totally gets this now. Hadn't thought about it before. Now he will. They add Triassic Attack to the 'probably do not' list. "Emperor's New Groove, then. We'll have to watch it sometime. I also got Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and...Lilo & Stitch. For Disney. I got other terrible sci-fi movies, too. Velocipastor is funny."

[midnightroads]

"Oh man, how much do you want to hear me singing along to Little Mermaid or Lion King. Though honest, for that rough broad era of Disney, Hercules was kinda my favorite. Which is fitting, I suppose, given the givens." The whole demigod thing, and feeling out of place where one's from.

[busball]

"I want to hear you sing to every song now that you've brought it up." Klaus smiles a little, looking over. "Oh yeah? Maybe we'll get more Disney and they'll give us Hercules! Then we can drag Jeff into it and sing along together. We need a fourth muse, though." They are not sure Nobunaga would agree. If duets are super intimate, singing with three other people is probably a weird time. "We'll find someone for our future Hercules sing-along."