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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Vex had understood why Curnen hadn't joined them for the girls' spa day. One good thing about her beloved brother's retribution was that Curnen and Zahra could both be here, with the cushion of most of the inn to make things less awkward. She wasn't sure, if he had thrown the small family dinner they talked about, if Curnen would have come.

"Not going to scold us for running off on our own?"

Curnen shrugged and waved a hand as if to say 'yeah, well, what can you do?'. "Weddings are a bitch. This way you got married on your terms and you didn't have to do any planning for this. Sounds like a win all around to me."

Oh sweet Sarenrae. Someone who understood. "If we had been in Whitestone, Percy and I marrying would have meant a series of formal, and very public events. We would have owed it to our people. It would have been less about the two of us and what we feel or want. More a way to help our city rebuild and begin anew. Those are important things, and there is a part of me that knows we should be there to help.

"But gods, that is not the wedding we would have wanted."

"It's a rare person who really wants that kind of wedding." Big, yes. Public, sure. Symbolic? That was a hard sell. Curnen's hadn't been like that, but she'd seen it happen to a few of the women who had taken Radella's role. "You ain't a person no more in situations like that."

Not a person, but a duty. Noblesse oblige. "This was better. Although my brother should have been there. That is my one regret about how we got married. I needed Vax at my side."

Curnen nodded. "I ain't a twin, but I couldn't imagine my wedding without Bliss being there." Bliss, who had eons before Curnen was even born accepted her lonely existence. She'd never begrudged Curnen her freedoms, and it made it all the easier to forgive Bliss in turn for everything that made her as special as she was.

"I did try to call him, so he could be there." She really had. But she felt like she had to explain that to everyone anyway. "But I think that was about the same time Steph was getting in trouble with the law, so he was busy, and it wasn't like he found us to help with that either. It was almost impossible to find anyone on the station. It was bigger than most cities back home."

"Of course you did," Curnen said, not in the sarcastic way those words were usually said, but with genuine sympathy. Even the most upstart couples rarely wanted to get married without their people around them. Well. Maybe Jeff and Bo-Kate, but they were fucking crazy.

But in any case, Curnen didn't need convincing.

"And we were all busy getting into some shit there, I reckon."

"After months of sitting on our thumbs here, anybody not finding some kind of shit to get into there would have been a surprise."

Really, no one was all that surprised that Vex and Percy would get married. It felt like most people had expected it of them before they had considered it themselves. Or at least before they had talked about it. It was only the how that had been a shock.

"But at least my brother found a way to involve everyone in our too private wedding. Or the simple family dinner I agreed he could arrange to celebrate."

Curnen didn't let her smile falter, though something may have changed in her eyes at the mention of a smaller gathering she wouldn't have been able to come to. It was her wound to nurse, not her day to ruin. "Fucking with you is how you know your brothers and sisters love you. And by that measure," she looked out at the party, "he loves you like crazy."

Vex scanned the gathered guests, looking for her brother, but not surprised when she didn't immediately find him. He was the stealthiest sneak she'd ever met (Okay, except Seeker Asum. Maybe. But she was understandably biased.), and he deserved to have his fun.

"That I have never doubted. And I love him just as much. Even when we're idiots showing it sometimes. He's the other half of me."

Curnen shook her head. "Is it real love if you ain't an idiot about it?"

She smiled as she brought her gaze back to Vex. "Would you be terribly mad if I shoved cake in your other half's face? He's all but dared me to do it."

"You have to." Vex laughed, delighted by the idea. "And talk to Peter first, the kid running around with the funny... uh, camera thing." Percy had tried to explain to her what it did, when they saw him pointing it most of the guests and talking to them.

"Dares are something we take very seriously in Vox Machina. Including implied ones." She didn't add that Percy had practically dared her to propose, but she smiled a softer, slyer smile at the memory.

The only way Curnen's grin could have been any sharper would have been if she literally had pointed teeth. "Excellent."

She softened a little when she said, "I already talked to the kid. I don't think he appreciated my heartfelt advice, but he'll live."

"Talk to him so he will get his moving pictures of Vax getting a faceful of cake," Vex clarified, wondering what exactly advice Curnen had given. She could ask, but it would be more fun, she decided, seeing it along with all the others, with Percival later on.

"Ahhh..." Curnen considered that, made a show of considering it, even. "I'll do my best for the bride, but he's a sneaky bastard, so I can't promise that's something I can arrange." And Peter was such a rabbit. Sweet, but easily startled.

"He is the sneakiest of bastards," Vex agreed, pride in her brother and pique at his latest sneakiness mingling in her voice.

"Trying your best is the most I can ask. Good hunting, and may your aim be true."

Curnen laughed, swept an exaggerated bow, and snatched up a plate of cake as she turned away to make good on her promise.

[GP] The De Rolo Wedding Reception

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