I'm getting married in the morning? ((locked to isabelle_munoz))

[immortalmacleod]

Duncan got the call from Isabelle reminding him of their dinner "date", and decided to turn his phone off for the next few days. Phone calls, left and right, were all he'd been getting lately, it seemed. He was glad that Methos and Alexa had some time to talk, though, since they needed it. He wanted to talk to Athos, since it seemed the Musketeer

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[immortalmacleod]

She had something up her sleeve, he just knew it. His suspicions were confirmed when she decided to settle herself in his lap. Yeah, he should have known better. The room service, the candles, the wine and steak... casual conversation? It was all part of a plot. Somehow.

He'd narrowed his eyes at her as she'd spoken about her outfit, trying to figure out what she was getting at, when she pretty much dropped a bomb on him.

"What?"

Duncan stood up, his arms around her waist so that he pulled her with him and didn't drop her on her little ass like he should have. "Bella, are you drunk or... no, that can't be it." He was pissed off, and he couldn't figure out why. Duncan started pacing back and forth, then abruptly stopped, pointing a finger directly at her, almost touching her nose. "You... you're just like Amanda... no, worse! Because..." Duncan's hand dropped, then went back up to his hair as he ran his fingers through it nervously.

He ended up sitting on the bed, calmed down finally, but with a confused expression on his face. "Bella, you can't be serious. Why the hell would you want to marry me? Why get married? Trust me, it's not all it's cracked up to be," he sighed, then shook his head.

"Why would we get married anyway? I haven't seen you in decades. We're not in love. You just want to do it for the damn party?"

[isabelle_munoz]

It was not going as well as Isabelle hoped. Duncan had all but tipped her off his lap before the man literally started pacing the room, throwing question after question at her, clearly upset by the very idea of marrying her and uncomprehending of why she'd ask.

"I assure you, Duncan, I am dead serious," she answered, not afraid to let more than a little pouting into both her expression and her voice.

"Like I said, after five hundred years, there's precious little left in this world that's a novel experience for me, but marriage-- well, a wedding and marriage-- would be!"

Isabelle dropped herself on the bed beside Duncan, but deliberately leaving a few inches' separation.

"And what girl wouldn't want to marry you, Duncan MacLeod? You're a good man, honest and brave and all those wonderful fairytale hero things, and you're funny and smart and handsome and... hopefully, still modest after all that." She giggled. "And I like you very much, and I trust you completely. And that sounds good to me."

She scooted closer. "Besides, I'm not asking for a twenty-four/seven marriage. The wedding and all the frills, and then a few days a week or a couple of weeks a month, we play house. Other than that, you can have your life and I can have mine. It seems like fun." Isabelle leaned over and rested her head on Duncan's shoulder, wide brown eyes gazing up at him.

"Besides," she whispered, "there's the honeymoon, and all the other bonuses..."

[immortalmacleod]

She was serious. She was serious. She couldn't be serious. Duncan just stared at her, but everything about the way she was talking told him that she was serious.

Why was he repeating that in his head?

"I'm no hero," he mumbled more to himself than back to her, although a little smirk crossed his face when she started rattling off compliments.

"All right, let me get this straight, then," he said, holding her gaze in his. "You want to get married... for fun. To me. And, I don't have to do anything? It's, what, a marriage in name only because you just want to write down in some little book of yours that you got married? Just check it off the list?" He was calming down, at least, but it was all a little weird, still.

"So, all your girly-things aren't going to get moved into here, and... if you're in town and we see each other, then we see each other." Overall, that didn't sound so bad, he had to admit.

Obviously the perk of spending "quality" time with Bella wasn't anything new, though, so he kept his mouth shut on that part.

[isabelle_munoz]

Isabelle shrugged, her demeanor quieting a few degrees. "Duncan, when I was a girl, marriage was a business contract, a... a merger between families. The idea of it being about caring and compatibility and genuinely wanting to spend time with another person rarely entered into the equation. But it's become something different, and I'd like to experience that."

"But," she added, "I don't need every little bit of a mortal marriage. I just want, yes, okay, the fun parts."

She giggled behind her hand. "My 'girly-things'? What, are you worried about cooties?"

"I will find myself a nice apartment-- I did like that Newbury Street area when I went shopping this week, very me-- but we will also have to do at least a little playing house, otherwise it's just not any kind of marriage. Even if it's not any kind of regular marriage." Isabelle laughed, and moved on.

"So, yes, two lives that on a sort-of regular basis, happen to intersect in being married. And you don't even have to worry about a thing. I'll handle the wedding, the ceremony, the reception, the honeymoon, all of it. You'd just need to bring your ass to a fitting, the rehearsal dinner and the wedding day."

Isabelle batted her eyelashes. "So...?"

[immortalmacleod]

"Wait... did you just say 'playing house'? I'm not playing house. I don't play... Bella," he sighed, rubbing his temples again. "You almost had me there, especially once you said you'd do it all and I wouldn't have to do anything."

And the tax break, Duncan thought silently. Even Immortals needed tax breaks every now and then.

He shook his head. "I care about you. I do. You know that, I know that, we've always known that, but..." But what? What, exactly, was stopping him? Tessa was gone again, and for all he knew had never truly returned. He'd had quite enough of "moping" as everyone else liked to call it and -- no, no, they all called it "brooding".

Hmph.

"You know what? Fine. You're on." He waved a hand at her. "You just... do whatever the hell you think you need to do and no big production numbers, got it? We're both doing this as something fun and silly to escape our..." He sighed. Why did he have to explain it to Bella? She probably already knew.

"Just... don't ask Lorne to help you decorate."

[isabelle_munoz]

Isabelle squealed, throwing both arms around Duncan's neck and squeezing him tightly.

"Thank you!" she shouted before peppering his face with kisses. "You are so very much not going to regret this. I assure you that I have a very elegant, very classy ceremony and reception in mind. Not even the least little bit of Vegas." For emphasis, she crossed her heart.

"Not that I would look for help, but who's Lorne?"

Shrugging, Isabelle returned to topic. This was perfect. In the other room, already waiting, were her wedding planner book and a massive stack of bridal magazines. The next step, according to the book, was to start picking dates and scouting potential locations. She was more than happy to do the legwork and logistics, but there was one last detail she'd nearly forgotten.

"Oh! Don't move!" Rushing as best she could in her heels, Isabelle ran into the bedroom and returned with her hands behind her back.

"Like I said, you've got almost nothing to worry about, because I'm taking care of things. Such as this," she said, presenting Duncan with a small light blue box, tied with a white ribbon. Inside was a 1920's Deco-style diamond ring. Isabelle handed it to him and then presented her left hand. "But I think it's bad luck if you don't put it on me."

[immortalmacleod]

Duncan practically had the air squeezed out of him by Bella's enthusiasm. He patted her back a few times as if to let her know, "It's fine, it's all right." Of course, there was also the lack of oxygen, so maybe he was patting her back to tell her to let him go...

"Lorne," he finally said once she released her death-grip, "is a good friend of mine. Roommate. Big... green... demon," he added under his breath for good measure. He figured he'd tell her about Athos and Methos later. There'd be plenty of time for that.

She ran out, then ran back carrying what looked to Duncan like a suspiciously expensive ring box. One eyebrow shot upwards at her as he took it from her. "You bought yourself an engagement ring?" He opened the box and, sure enough, there it was. Very tasteful, he had to admit, as he took it out and looked it over a few times. Shrugging, he placed it on her finger and crossed his arms.

"There. Happy now?" He was not going to ask her to marry him, not since she had been the one doing the asking. But, he did ask, "How did you know for sure I'd say yes?"

[isabelle_munoz]

A crooked frown formed on Isabelle's face. "A demon? You do run with an odd crowd these days, Duncan. But I suppose every fellow needs his men friends."

Isabelle raised her hand to the light, admiring the twinkle of her new ring. She shrugged. "You dress about as well as a straight man can be expected, but even you couldn't be trusted with this selection." She laughed brightly. "And it's a nice ring. If you'd said no, I'd have just kept it... probably made up a story about how I ended some terribly dramatic relationship with a bad boy I couldn't reform, but kept the ring anyway."

With a sigh, she lowered her hand again and regarded Duncan. Things were going pretty much according to plan, and he was definitely coming around to her opinion of just how much fun this arrangement could be for the both of them.

"Now if you don't mind, even though there'll be an announcement, I'd like to hold off on setting the date. I'd like an actual engagement for a bit." Isabelle bit her lip, thinking. "Do you know where we could throw an engagement party?"

[immortalmacleod]

He grinned and shook his head at her. She was incorrigible. Simply incorrigible. Then again, that was what most of the women Duncan knew were like.

"Cassandra," he muttered. Damn. He'd have to tell her... well, tell her what? It wasn't like this was a real marriage. And it sure as hell wasn't like he was in love with either Cassandra or Bella. Things would be fine... as long as Bella didn't make a big deal about it.

"No date sounds fine," he smirked. "And I know just the place. It's here in town, and Lorne happens to run it. It's called Focus. Karoake bar. No violence allowed, so Immortals should be safe to mingle." Not that Duncan was expecting a large crowd, though.

[isabelle_munoz]

Isabelle's eyes narrowed, eyes going just a shade darker. "Cassandra? Someone I should know about?"

She wasn't jealous, at least not exactly. But if he had a girlfriend or something, it would make for a bit of an awkward situation at the wedding. Then again, it's not like she didn't understand how Duncan could be. The man always had a woman, even if he didn't exactly realize he did.

"If you're going to have lovers, Duncan, I will insist on knowing about them. So I can plan my visits accordingly."

Her mood picked up at the description of this Focus place. "Sounds splendid. I'll just get in touch with this Lorne, and give him the particulars." Isabelle sat down at her side of the table again. "Now that's out of the way, shall we go back to dinner? Or," she added, smiling sweetly, "maybe we should just skip to dessert."

Yes, she decided, Duncan MacLeod would make a fine part-time husband.