[GP] The De Rolo Wedding Reception

[st_abby]

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.

Comments

Re: Lillith & Sunny

[st_rangepalette]

"He hurt you," Lillith deduced without much difficulty. "I am sorry for it. You deserve far better than such a man. Both as a friend and as a lover." If Sunny liked women that way, Lillith would certainly be attracted to her and she already loved her, but she did not think that Sunny did.

Re: Lillith & Sunny

[st_igmatized]

"I learned a lot from it," Sunny said with a shrug. Not least that if her gut was telling her that a man wasn't worth it, she really should listen the first time. "And I've reached a point where I could punch him in the face without regret."

Re: Lillith & Sunny

[st_rangepalette]

"I suppose that is something." Lillith lifted a slice of pear off the plate and raised it to her lips. She'd chewed and swallowed before she said, "I have never had a lover who was more than what I have heard called a 'fling'."

Re: Lillith & Sunny

[st_igmatized]

Sunny licked her fingers clean of lingering juice from the apple slice. "I had one fling, one disaster and..." was there even a word for the only one of them who had really mattered, after everything? "Orlu."

Re: Lillith & Sunny

[st_rangepalette]

"Orlu," Lillith repeated. It was a name she knew, like Chichi and Sasha. "You mention him often but speak of him rarely. What is he like?"

Re: Lillith & Sunny

[st_igmatized]

How did she even begin to explain Orlu? How did she explain any of her coven, really, but Orlu had been the first and deepest bond. "There are four people in my Oha coven. Sasha is our unbound curiosity. Chichi is our ambition. The three of us in a conflict tend to ramp things up further and get confrontational. Orlu... Orlu on the other hand is our sense. Our peacekeeper. His instinct is always to first try an even tone and a gentle hand."

Re: Lillith & Sunny

[st_rangepalette]

Lillith did not think she would be able to explain Vox Machina or even Kash and Zahra that succinctly, so it was both interesting and informative to hear Sunny's insights on her Oha coven. Another time, she would ask more about the coven, but for now she focused on Orlu.

"He seems like he would be good to have around. Someone kind and steady and reliable." Like Coby, a little. Or maybe Kitty. "Were you together?"

Re: Lillith & Sunny

[st_igmatized]

"Not in the way most people would think of it," Sunny murmured, letting herself think of him. "We were more than friends, but never quite lovers." They were never as heated in their connection as Sasha and Chichi. Their fire burned low and steady. "Whatever we are to each other, whoever else we find, we've been connected since we were children and we always will be."

Re: Lillith & Sunny

[st_rangepalette]

"You must miss him terribly," Lillith murmured gently and reached for her friend's hand to squeeze it in sympathy. "I am sorry he is not here."

She had been more fortunate than anyone deserved in having all of the people in the world whom she cared for here with her, with the minor exception of Beatrycze, who she preferred to imagine her other self getting back to her people instead of here.

Re: Lillith & Sunny

[st_igmatized]

Sunny squeezed back and gave Lillith a wan smile. "Constantly." It wasn't like missing her mother or her brothers. It wasn't even like missing Chichi and Sasha. She had missed Orlu when she'd been in London, but he'd always been a Skype call or a text message or an email away, and she could handle that. She didn't entirely know what she was doing in a world where she didn't have him at all. It felt like suddenly being abandoned on one end of a seesaw. God, she even kept an old voicemail on her phone just because she wanted to keep the sound of his voice.

Re: Lillith & Sunny

[st_rangepalette]

"I understand. Beatrycze has been so long with me, even now I still look down at my hand and wonder why it is not being held. It can be...disconcerting, yes?" As much to be without a purpose as a person, but at least she and Sunny both liked to learn. If not, she would be quite lost.

Re: Lillith & Sunny

[st_igmatized]

"It is," Sunny agreed, giving Lillith's hand a last squeeze before she let her own fall away. "But you keep going. What else is there?"

Re: Lillith & Sunny

[st_rangepalette]

"Death," Lillith replied, neither morbid nor particularly perturbed by it. "I prefer the painful alternatives. At least there's always something new to learn."