FICLET FRIDAY THE SIXTY-THIRD: STILLXMYXHEART
influences (Eli, Chris, Kari, mentions of Hannah [Chris/Kari, Eli/Hannah]), G
"Chris, I have a -" Eli stops short and frowns when he sees the look on Chris's face. "Dude, what's wrong?"
"I decided to Google Indian weddings, just to see what they were like -"
"Why?" Eli asks, still frowning as he sinks into the chair in front of Chris's desk.
"Because Kari's Indian?"
Eli gives him a look. "I know that, but I thought you said that her parents said you guys didn't have to go all out on your wedding, that they just wanted some influences."
"Yeah, but what do they mean by influences? I mean, look at this stuff."
Eli stands as Chris pushes back from his desk and walks around to peer at the video on his computer.
"I mean, am I going to have to do that stuff? What if I fuck it up?"
"So why don't you just ask her? You guys are one of the most communicative couples I know, you talk about everything. This is no different."
"Yeah," Chris murmurs, his brow still furrowed as he looks back at the screen, and then he looks up suddenly, like he just remembered something. "Oh, hey, it's actually a good thing you're here; I wanted to ask if you'd be my best man."
"Yeah, man, of course," Eli replies, the corner of his mouth rising.
"Awesome. In case this wedding turns crazy, I need you with me."
Eli snorts and nods as he moves back around the desk to settle in the chair once more. "How many groomsmen were you thinking?"
"I've only been able to come up with three, you, David, and Tony, but I don't know how many bridesmaids Kari wants to have. It's only been a couple of days since we got back from San Francisco and we haven't really started talking about wedding stuff yet. Although, and don't tell Han, Kari's planning to ask her to be her maid of honor."
Eli smiles. "Han will love that. I really like how close they've become since you and Kari got together. It makes me happy that Han has another best friend after what happened back in February and now with Maddie moving out to California. I like that she still has someone to do that kind of stuff with."
Chris nods, smiling too. "It's appropriate, though, you and I are best friends, and now they're best friends. We're well on our way to becoming those obnoxious couples that do everything together."
Eli laughs loudly, and Chris grins before asking what it was Eli wanted to see him about. Eli opens the folder he brought in with him, and they spend a few minutes talking about a case before Eli returns to his desk.
Chris gets home just before six that night and smiles faintly at the aroma coming from the kitchen.
"Hey," Kari says, coming to greet him after he closes and locks the front door.
"Hey," he replies, bending his head for a quick kiss. "You didn't have to cook; didn't you just get home a couple of hours ago?"
"Yeah," she says with a shrug. "I just felt like cooking. Go get changed, it's not quite done yet."
Chris nods and shuffles into the bedroom, exchanging his suit for a t-shirt and sweatpants before returning to the kitchen. Kari's in front of the stove, her hips swaying in time with the music playing as she pokes at something in a skillet, and Chris can't help smiling as he watches her for a minute.
"So, how was your day?" she asks when she glances back and sees him there.
"Not too bad. Pretty quiet."
"That's good."
"Eli agreed to be my best man."
"Well, that's even better," she says, smiling as she looks back at him again.
"Yeah," Chris says, "I was his and he'll be mine, we've come full circle."
Kari laughs and nods as she turns off the burner and bends to pull a pan out of the oven.
"Nothing fancy," she says as she sets the pan on the stove. "Just chicken and asparagus and wild rice."
"It smells great," Chris murmurs, coming to stand next to her and peering at the food on the stove.
Kari turns to get some plates from the cabinet, and as she steps back over, Chris says, "I looked up Indian weddings at work today."
Kari's eyebrows knit together and she shakes her head as she sets the plates on the counter. "Oh, baby, you shouldn't have done that. Indian weddings are crazy, that's not what we're doing at all."
"Really?" Chris says, trying to not let his relief show too much. "Your parents said they wanted influences, and I wasn't sure -"
"They just mean some decorations and maybe my dress, and maybe some of the food. My parents didn't raise Asha and me to be Hindu, though Asha converted when she married her husband. As far as I'm concerned we can just have a notary or whatever do the actual ceremony, since neither of us are particularly religious, unless you want a priest."
"No, a notary is fine. I don't think it'd really be right for us to have a religious ceremony, since we're not religious. I was just worried about like... if that's what your parents wanted. Not that there's anything wrong with that!" he adds quickly. "It's not that I have a problem with having a Hindu ceremony, I just didn't want to like, screw it up and have your parents hate me or something."
Kari laughs and shakes her head. "Don't worry about it, baby. We'll have a quick, non-religious ceremony and then get right to the party."
"My kind of wedding," Chris replies, grinning as he bends to kiss her.
best friends (Hannah, Kari, mentions of Chris, Eli, and David [Chris/Kari, Hannah/Eli]), G
"So, do you have any idea about your wedding dress yet?"
Kari crinkles her nose a little as she stares at the dress on display in the window of the bridal shop. "Not really. I can't decide if I want to do a traditional white gown, or if I want to wear a sari."
"The sari could be fun," Hannah remarks. "You can get those in like, a lot of colors, right?"
Kari nods. "Wedding saris tend to come in a lot of colors, but I don't think I want all of that, I think I'd just want a solid color with maybe an accent color. I don't know," she says as they continue down the sidewalk towards the café where they're having lunch. "My parents would love a sari."
"But what do you want?"
"I don't know," Kari says again with a laugh. "Both have pros and cons. I'm still weighing them in my head."
"Have you guys picked a date?"
"Not yet. We haven't really talked about wedding stuff, but it's only been a few days since we got back. I don't think I want to do June, though, just because it's like, so popular and it'd be crazy trying to find a venue and all of that. No offense."
Hannah snorts. "The only reason Eli and I got married in June was because it was right around our anniversary and it was right after I'd graduated. We didn't want to wait much longer to do it."
Kari grins and nods, and then shrugs. "I don't know, maybe January? I don't think many people get married in the winter except for like, Christmas or New Year's weddings."
"Yeah, stuff would definitely be cheaper then, at the very least."
"Though if we do go with January, then it's going to be the year after next, because I'm not planning a wedding in six months."
"Oh, god, no," Hannah says, grimacing as they come to a stop at the hostess stand outside of the café.
A few minutes later they're settled at their table, studying their menus, and after the waitress disappears with their orders, Kari looks up at Hannah, feeling uncharacteristically nervous.
"Han, can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Hannah replies as she takes a sip of her drink.
Kari takes a breath and raises her eyebrows. "Will you be my maid of honor?"
Hannah's eyes widen as she sets her glass down. "Me?"
Kari shrugs, picking at the edge of her napkin. "I just feel like... you and I have gotten so close ever since Chris and I got together. I've always had a lot of friends, but I've never really had a best friend, and you've sort of become that. I know you've got Maddie -"
"There's no law that says I can only have one best friend," Hannah interjects, arching an eyebrow. "Honestly, by this point in my life, I have about five, Maddie, Chris, Jules, Eli, of course, and I think I can count Dad as one. Now I've got six."
Kari smiles, touched, and Hannah returns it as she nods.
"So yeah, I'll be your maid of honor."
Kari's smile widens, her heart suddenly feeling lighter. "Thank you. I'm so happy now, I was really nervous you wouldn't want to do it."
"How come?"
Kari shrugs. "I just wasn't sure if you and I viewed our friendship the same way. I didn't want to seem all creepy by asking you and then having you be like, dude, we're not that close."
"We are, though," Hannah says, smiling gently. "I mean, go back to February, after I was attacked, you came over and spent two days with me like it was no problem. It's like it wasn't even a question, I asked and you agreed right away, even though they were your days off."
Kari shrugs again. "It never occurred to me to even want to say no. You needed me; there was no way I wasn't going to be there for you."
"And that was what, five months ago? So yeah, we're definitely that close."
Kari laughs and Hannah grins.
"Well, you and Eli will be paired up then," Kari says as she reaches for her drink, "since he's Chris's best man."
"Has Chris said who else he wants?"
"Yeah, your dad and Tony."
Hannah grins, delighted. "Oh, Dad will love that. I don't know if he's ever been in a wedding beyond his own. Well, I guess technically he was in mine, but it was in that dad capacity, 'who gives this woman' thing."
Kari laughs again as she nods.
"Did you have anyone in mind for your bridesmaids besides me?"
"Yeah, you for my maid of honor, and then Asha and Zoe as my bridesmaids. I wasn't Asha's maid of honor, so I don't think she'll expect to be mine."
Hannah nods and then smiles broadly. "I'm even more excited for your wedding now than I was before."
"Me too," Kari replies, smiling too. "I'm really happy knowing I'll have you there to help me with this stuff, and hopefully keep me from going crazy."
Hannah holds up her hand. "I take my job very seriously and will do my best to be as helpful as possible."
Both girls giggle and the conversation shifts.