strangetrip | [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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Illyana shared a look with Kitty, tipped a shoulder, and that seemed to decide things.

No, they weren't going to be convinced.

Yes, they would drink his scotch and take the opportunity to scrutinize his living quarters.

Illyana moved past him and into the room. "It seems you could do with those fresh towels after all," she suggested.

Scotch would forever make her think of Pete Wisdom, Rachel Summers, Black Air... These days, the pain of those losses was pretty small. Her fingertips brushed against the jade pendant she wore, a soft smile crossed her face as Hathaway turned away.

"He's too polite to say no," she said to Yana with a glance toward the bathroom she fully expected to be stacked to dangerous heights with said towels.

There was a fairly decent sized stack of the towels in the bathroom, but not so many they'd made their way out of the bathroom. She would totally be able to see them as he grabbed his dress shirt (and a pair of boxers) and nodded at the bottle on a bedside table.

"Scotch, ice in the bucket." So he wasn't entirely a heathen he'd gotten ice. "Clean glasses on the chest of drawers." Then he disappeared into the bathroom. In moments they would hear the water.

Illyana left Kitty to see to the scotch. She, on the other hand, set herself to reconnaissance. Also known as snooping.

"Do you think he brought this with him, or did it arrive inside a large egg?" She found a guitar set to one side, fingertips stroking the strings without allowing them to vibrate enough to strum notes. She studied the guitar with the alien curiosity of someone that had never known much music in their lives. And while she hadn't seen a rounded vessel such as the one in question just yet, it could be hidden anywhere.

"Arrived in an egg the same day he did," Kitty reported from the chest of drawers where she was pouring Scotch. "I was carrying it into the Inn when I met it him on the road."

The guitar had been the thing that convinced him, somehow, that she wasn't completely bonkers. It had cemented the day as strange, but Kitty being the one holding it when he met her had made her a friend or at least an ally.

"He's incredibly attached to it. It's sort of sweet."

He didn't sing in the shower, and he didn't dally there or with his shaving still it took a few minutes to finish, and then to brush his teeth and shave.

Looking at himself in the mirror he muttered, "Why am I letting them do this?"

But the answer was obvious as he pulled on slacks and undershirt and came back out into the room barefoot. He was going stir crazy in his self imposed exile.

"Will I do?" The dress shirt he pulled on was steamed but no longer crisp.

Kitty and Yana had entertained themselves in his rooms meanwhile, obligingly sipping his scotch and making observations about the environment so as to extrapolate his character traits from them. Kitty's were more generous, perhaps, but Illyana knew how to make Kitty smile. She was just sharing the general rule that penis length tended to correlate with-

She ended their chitchat prematurely as the bathroom door opened, her expression as she glanced back to see Hathaway join them suggesting that he'd interrupted something, but that she would be benevolent enough to allow it this once. "...Hn. It's hardly burlap."

Be nice, Kitty thought hard in Yana's direction. She probably didn't need to, since Yana'd hear her thinking it even if she wasn't, and not because of telepathy. So when she came out with her It's hardly burlap, calling back to the sack she'd mentioned Kitty wearing, Kitty snorted a soft laugh behind her hand.

"So informal," Kitty replied, teasing. "No tie, no jacket, not even shoes?"

"I did intend to put on shoes and the jacket," he conceded, picking up on the unspoken byplay but not quite sure that it was about him.

"And the tie if you insist."

"Yes. It is a formal affair."

Not that Illyana truly cared about such small formalities. The environment of the Inn forced many residents to part ways with strict social conventions, for one thing, and she simply didn't care a great deal about social conventions in the first place as another. But he was proving biddable to their whims, so they may as well take advantage, her discretely amused expression told Kitty.

"And no one wants a cop at a formal affair," Kitty interjected smoothly. "Leave the tie and we'll see if we can find one that doesn't scream 'Detective Sergeant' in the boutique on the way to the party."

She gave Yana a look that was half sass and half apology for foiling her scheme. Besides, if they didn't find a tie and Caroline was underwhelmed, he'd have an excuse to get away.

"People don't really want a cop at any affair," he sat to pull on socks and slip on his shoes and then went to grab his jacket. Slightly rumpled but possibly only he, and Kitty who'd seen him on arrival, would notice it wasn't quite so crisp as it had been.

"Adequate?" He asked once he was dressed completely (sans tie).

Illyana shrugged at them both. "You are a cop." She didn't think it mattered if he 'looked like' what he was, and unless he intended to lie or return immediately to his self-induced isolation, it seemed likely everyone would have some sense of his occupation soon enough. But if it mattered to them, they may as well follow-through as they saw fit.

"And you're going. We are going," she demonstrated, moving to the door.

"And you're a librarian, but you're not wearing glasses and a bun," Kitty observed into the void of their leavetaking. Of course, that was because Illyana was many other things, including an ill-tempered magickal taxicab, but Hathaway wasn't ready for that.

"Anyway, Hathaway, we're going," she echoed Yana. "Prepare to smile or at least not scowl for an hour or so." It was probably all he could manage.

The face he made at her was neither a smile nor a scowl. More a completely blank but pleasant interest.

[ooc: Fade?]

[ooc: fade!]

[GP] The De Rolo Wedding Reception

Re: Kitty - for Yana and Hathaway

Re: Kitty - for Yana and Hathaway

Re: Kitty - for Yana and Hathaway

Re: Kitty - for Yana and Hathaway

Re: Kitty - for Yana and Hathaway

Re: Kitty - for Yana and Hathaway

Re: Kitty - for Yana and Hathaway

Re: Kitty - for Yana and Hathaway

Re: Kitty - for Yana and Hathaway

Re: Kitty - for Yana and Hathaway

Re: Kitty - for Yana and Hathaway

Re: Kitty - for Yana and Hathaway

Re: Kitty - for Yana and Hathaway

Re: Kitty - for Yana and Hathaway

Re: Kitty - for Yana and Hathaway

Re: Kitty - for Yana and Hathaway