strangetrip | [GP] The De Rolo Wedding Reception

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[GP] The De Rolo Wedding Reception

The calendar of "Kahl-ee-Fornea" was very different to that of Tal'Dorei. But the spring dance had been a good reminder for the Exandrians (one of them, anyway) that the Renewal Festival would take place more or less this time of year, landing always on the thirteenth day of Dulahei. It seemed a fitting time to set the 'small family dinner' in celebration of the marriage of Vex and Percy.

...Yeah, but no. Because Vax'ildan didn't mind a bit of revenge for their having done the thing without so much as telling him for several weeks, and because his sister always deserved the best of everything anyway, the garden had a whopping lot more than that for the happy couple as they opened the doors onto what first looked like pitch blackness. Until the big, white-hot spotlight snapped abruptly on to glare down on top of the pair with blinding scrutiny.

A familiar voice sang out from beyond, his ever-charming booming and crooning amplified to fill the whole of the outdoors by something called a 'microphone,' Scanlan using all his singular panache to belt out a melodic tune:

"There she is, Mrs. De Rolo
There she is, your ideal
The dreams of a million boys and girls who want to find love in Emon City
For Vex may turn out to more than Baroness of the first house of Whitestone and Grand Mistress of the Hunt
There he is, Mr. De Rolo
There he is, your ideal
With so much brooding and tinkering he took the town by storm
With his all-Whitestone face and form
And there they are
Walking on air, he is
Fairest of the fair, she is
There they are - Mr. and Mrs. De Rolooooooooooo~"

A resounding wave of applause, murmuring, cheers, and laughter broke out all around the newlyweds - one such unbridled merry cackle absolutely coming from the bride's brother - and Scanlan's tone changed immediately to a much more vibrant, excited, sporting-event-enthusiasm style of announcement: "Ladies and Gentlemen - it's the DE ROLO FAMILY!"

The strands of bulb lighting popped into yellow-soft brightness all at once, revealing the guests gathered around dozens of tables artfully set with dinner places enough for everyone at the Inn. Each table included flowers, linens, and garlands all matched in smart Whitestone-Blue, darker Owlbear-Blue, black and white with touches of gold accents, all thanks to Caroline's management. The outdoor area so far as one could see had been dressed in one of Lillith's illusions to mimic a beautiful forest clearing at purple-dusk with fireflies dancing, the shapes of buildings and foothills in the distance distinctly cast to look like the city and castle of Whitestone. Ignis and Emma stood by putting a few final touches on what they'd all started calling 'fancy barbecue,' an enormous buffet of haute cuisine smoked and grilled meats with artful sides, a table beside them holding up the massive layer cake Pike had tirelessly fussed into perfection. So many others had come together to help or to wish the de Rolos well - but there would be plenty of time over the evening for them to be thanked and recognized with food, drink, song - there was even an area marked out as a dance floor.

A freshly bathed Trinket in his very own bowtie lumbered up to Vex'ahlia to rumble and lick her face as the pair finally had a moment to react to the spectacle. At ground-level, a small disc-like device with a large serving spoon taped to it had been labeled with marker as Ensign Stubby, rolling its way between tables and chairs while balancing a large, many-times-stabbed basket of flower petals (with a handful left nestled in its giant spoon) on top of its flat surface like a drunken flower girl to finally bump into Vex and Percy's shoes. ...And possibly the best thing about their stunning surprise? That Peter boy had got the whole thing on VHS.

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"Yeah," Peter says, nodding. He hands the camera over. "You just press this button to make it record, and you have to look through this to see what's being filmed."

Peter gestures to the appropriate parts of the camera. "You'll see a little red dot and the letters R-E-C in right-hand corner of the viewfinder while you're recording."

"This is wild," Vax suggested, taking stock of the clunky thing for a moment before lifting it back up eye-level. He tapped the button, and the red dot with those letters showed on the viewing glass.

But instead of pointing the dark, shining eye at a subject from afar, Vax first spun the device around at what Steph had taught him was an appropriate distance and angle for her beloved 'selfies.' "Let it be known, de Rolos, who it was did all this to make you a movie of your very special day."

Then he turned the camera back around again, this time pointing it directly at Peter. "This industrious slip of a fellow here is young Peter Parker - Peter, how old are you even?"

Peter feels his cheeks flush with embarrassment.

"I'm uh," Peter says, the awkwardness quickly spreading from his words and out throughout his entire body. "I'm sixteen."

"Sixteen! And he's doing something useful, can you imagine? Peter, with all your years of romantic experience," Vax grinned from behind the camera, "what words of wit and wisdom have you got for the bride and groom?"

"Um, well," Peter says, suddenly struggling. He'd thought about what he'd say all day, but now, almost everything he thought of had suddenly escaped his thoughts. Now, he could acutely understand the nervousness of some of the people he had interviewed so far.

"I just -- you know," Peter stammers, trying to suddenly come up with something intelligible to say.

"My parents," he says. What about his parents?

"They were always good to each other," Peter says. As far as he can remember. "But when they got into fights, they always talked about it and were always honest with one another. So--"

Peter attempts to steady his gaze on the camera with middling success.

"--I think that no matter how mad you are with one another, you should always try and talk to one another and be honest about your feelings. And you know--"

Peter takes a breath.

"--when you do that, think about them as your partner and not your opponent."

Peter exhales and looks at Vax wordlessly for validation.

"Well, shit," was what Vax said after a beat, not having expected all that. "Can I change mine? I mean, that's pretty good there! 'Never go to bed angry, never point the business end of the pistol we all know Percival sleeps with in the direction of the wife,' something like that."

Vax turned and lifted the camera once more to 'selfie' them together, slinging an arm around Peter's shoulders. "This is me, Vax'ildan, saying thank you, Peter, for all of your help capturing this VHS record. And you can be absolutely sure that when it comes time for you to get married... I dunno, I could stab some people for you I suppose, but you might just decline to invite them to the wedding."

Peter smiles awkwardly at the camera when Vax throws his arm around his shoulder.

"I don't think that'll happen soon," Peter manages. "I'm just sixteen."

And he's not entirely sure he'd want anyone stabbed at the wedding. Or at the wedding reception.

"You're right. Don't rush it. You've got plenty of time. And also, who knows when you'll be whisked away to another world anymore." Vax shifted back, the camera eye waggling around wildly as he righted the thing. The feed cut out abruptly as he seemed to have turned it off.

Peter takes the camera into hand, smiling. It's weird, but he's really happy to have another guy being so friendly with him. It's not something he'd be able to explain to somebody else. It just was.

And naturally, even with the camera off, it still made him a little nervous.

"Your sister having a good time? Are -- are you having a good time?"

That seemed important to ask, too.

"My sister and Percy would never have chosen to do this freely," Vax explained with a quirk of his lips. He was sure that the VHS would show subdued but persistent cringe-smiling on behalf of the bride and groom. "But yeah, I think they'll enjoy it for what it is anyways. And I'm glad I got a chance to do something for my sister's wedding after all." Even if it was after the fact.

Peter continues to fiddle with the camera as they talk. It might not be as compact or have as many features as even his cell phone camera, but he finds himself really liking it. And it kind of pulled this weird feeling out of him that he couldn't really describe. It wasn't nostalgia, because he didn't grow up with VHS and the only thing he ever watched on May's VCR were old family videos of his mom and dad. But it was something. And maybe someday Peter would figure out what that feeling was.

"A reception's important, though," he says. "Did you put this together yourself, or was it just your idea?" It seemed like a lot of work, but Peter was sure that if you and your sibling were on good terms, you'd basically do anything for them.

"Caroline did all the planning," Vax explained. "Everyone else took care of what they were good at. Ignis and Emma for food, Pike with the cake, even Kashaw did the little stone figures for the top of the cake. Corbie did some sewing, Zahra helped say what my sister would prefer, Lillith cast the illusion, Scanlan and Curnen agreed to perform the music... I just told them it was for Vex and Percy, and everyone wanted to pitch in."

The part where it was an embarrassment of a surprise - that was his real contribution.

"Yeah, it's great. If you ever need me to film anything, let me know." Peter holds the camera up at an angle. "I used to make movies back home. And it was really fun doing it for someone who's going to watch it and enjoy it."

Well, he hopes they'll watch and enjoy it.

"Would it be possible to have more than the one VHS?" He had no idea what was available to them here, but it had been explained to Vax that there were many copies of movies and music recordings for most people these days. The seemingly endless shows and movies on the teevees still boggled him a bit, but others said there was hardly enough to watch. "So they could have the one... So I could have another?"

Because he had a feeling he would be watching it more often than they would. With a big bowl of popcorn and a whole lot of cackling along the way.

"Y-yeah," Peter says, nodding vigorously. "There was some sort of VHS transfer device in the A/V room." He'd seen it there, but he hadn't had a chance to really fool around with it. "If you're okay with me hanging onto it for a couple more days, I should be able to get you a copy of it, too."

It probably wouldn't take that long for Peter to figure it out, but he didn't want to say that he'd have it ready tomorrow and then find out the thing was broken or the process was more complicated than he thought it would be.

"You want me to drop them by your room when I'm done?"

"If all of those words put together mean that I get a VHS of this day for my very own, I'm for it," Vax assured him. "Take whatever time you need."

Peter smiles. "Great," he says. He looks behind him, then holds the camera back up. "I really should get back to filming stuff." He's been worried about missing something all day, even though he hasn't yet and he's sure no one would fault him if he did.

"So I'll uh--" Peter smiles. "I'll see you around."

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[GP] The De Rolo Wedding Reception

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