(Untitled)

[all_happening]

Gideon was surprised he was coming off as calm as he fucking was with this shit. Inwardly, he was a ball of nerves, which didn't get any better as he fucking stood up front. Everyone was gathered in a halfway decent set-up on the beach, and he knew all eyes were on him. While he didn't usually mind that shit, suddenly it was all in a different

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[countyourteeth]

The last wedding Daphne attended had been her own. It hadn't even been all that long ago -- just a few years, if that. She'd yet to figure out how to account for the time differences since she'd shown up and, quite frankly, she didn't have the patience to.

Suffice it to say, she'd been married once and now she wasn't. Oh, there hadn't been a divorce, per se, but landing on a tropical island where your husband had never even heard of you before was bound to put a dampener on any relationship.

And so, though she was certainly happy for both Gideon and Penny, she couldn't help but feel a certain sense of loss, as well. Milling around the party, glass in hand, she only hoped that they would have better luck than she did.

[cantbebribed]

"So that was nice," Matt offered, a little lamely. It was a wedding, they tended to be. He didn't know either of the newlyweds, but Daphne had wanted him to come, and it wasn't like he was going to say no, since... it was nice. He hadn't been to one of these in years (not as long ago as his own wedding, but long enough) and this one had at seemed a lot less tedious (though also a lot coarser) than he remembered them being.

Of course, it probably had to be for them to be there at all, since Daphne had a much lower tolerance for tedium than he did.

[countyourteeth]

Daphne's response was somewhat delayed, as though she hadn't quite caught onto the fact that Matt had even spoken to her. After a second, she blinked a few times and looked up at him, almost looking surprised.

"Yeah," she agreed, nodding curtly. "Short, sweet and chock full of profanity. It was like a wedding on HBO; the only thing it was missing were the five other wives and a couple of gangsters."

She forced a smile on her face though it softened into something a little more genuine soon enough. It had, after all, been a nice ceremony.

"Look at you, though," she added, taking a step back as to better appreciate what Matt was wearing. "You're suited up."

[cantbebribed]

"Well, it is a special occasion," Matt said, waving it off and smiling a little in spite of himself. Whether he'd fallen out of the practice or not, he still knew his way around a suit but good.

"You look tense." He paused, not quite frowning. "Tenser than usual."

[countyourteeth]

"I don't do weddings very often," she explained, giving him an incredibly pointed look. She'd spell it out if need be, but she hoped he might get it on his own.

[cantbebribed]

"Well, me neither, but it's not like-" Matt stopped talking fairly quickly when he got it. They'd been coming less and less often these days, but there are still times that Matt acutely wishes he could still read minds.

"Right. Sorry. Well, hey, at least we're having fun, right?"

[countyourteeth]

"Right," she agreed, maybe a little too brightly. She hooked her arm through is and started to walk, dragging him right along with her. She was walking slow by her standards, not wanting to mess up Matt's suit. "Like a regular barrel of monkeys."

[cantbebribed]

"You can be a monkey," Matt said, letting himself get dragged right along anyway. He was a little leery of her chipper response, but he obviously wasn't about to complain about it. "I think I prefer the barrel."

[countyourteeth]

There was an obvious joke to be made at Matt's expense -- namely one involving being round and wooden -- but Daphne didn't have it in her to make it. Besides, she thought, he really does look good in that suit of his.

Instead she said, "Suit yourself."

[cantbebribed]

"I thought I already did that a little while ago," he said, patting his jacket a few times. "And very well, I might add."

[countyourteeth]

Daphne couldn't help but smile genuinely at that, and she slowed their pace considerably, eventually coming a stop. Turning towards him, she tugged at the lapels of his suit jacket before smoothing her hand over a few nonexistent wrinkles.

"You're thinking highly of yourself," she teased.

[cantbebribed]

"Selling myself short?" he asked in a falsely wounded tone of voice that was somewhat undercut by the way he was grinning as she played with his suit.

[countyourteeth]

Daphne just grinned in reply and pressed up on her toes to lightly peck his cheek. "So," she said, giving his chest one last pat before dropping her hand. "You getting sick of me dragging you to these things yet?"

[cantbebribed]

Kinda, yeah.

"Nah," he said dismissively. "Food's usually decent, at least. And you usually at least get me settled before ditching me," he added with a dry little smirk, wrapping an arm around her.

[countyourteeth]

Daphne didn't have to be a mind-reader to know Matt was lying through his teeth, but she appreciated the effort nonetheless. She almost considered it growth.

"Hey, it's not my fault you only want to socialize with the turtle," she pointed out.

[cantbebribed]

"Just like it's not my fault he's such great company," he replied, just this side of smug. No preconceived judgments, no expectations, no demands other than leaves, clearly fate had brought them together.

Matt frowned.

"Sometimes I think I'm sort of losing it."