That Sacred Arrangement....

[lists_to_port]

Who: wise_maiden and lists_to_port; We are leaving this log WIDE OPEN. So if you are family or friends, you are invited and may mingle or gossip or be all dressed up or get drunk or do the electric slide or WHAT HAVE YOU. Are there any Wedding Crashers in Luceti? Ha!
What: Wedding
When: Monday afternoon
Where: That spot with the lilacs by the river in that meadow west of

Comments

[wise_maiden]

The previous few days had been a blur for Raine--making all the arrangements to have a few days off from work after the festival, spending the weekend on finalizing details, finding just the right dress--something simple enough and yet elegant, for her.

When the morning--that morning arrived, it was after the second night of vague, disconcerting dreams--though she was no stranger to dreaming strangely. She knew that she was simply anxious for the day to come. It truly had come quickly; it was almost hard to believe that it had been a week ago since the proposal itself, looking back. Her bedroom was still very empty, as most of her personal items had already been moved to the Cullen House. An empty room, the last night she would have spent truly single, waking up to a strange emptiness. That night would be the first in a new home. She breathed, and continued to prepare for the rest of the day

[lists_to_port]

Once she appeared before him, Jack Sparrow could not look away. Now all mysterious morning dreams were firmly erased from his mind. The only thing he could see was a delicate woman who was more beautiful than starlight or the sunset over the lake or any thousand other very beautiful things.

He took a few halting steps toward her before he remembered it was customary for the groom to wait for the bride. "Hang the customs," he muttered, but forced himself to stand still. He knew Raine observed customs carefully. It was one of the things he loved about her.

[wise_maiden]

He would have to wait for Raine to make the walk. Not that it was too much to ask, in the face of all that had happened. The patience of that walk, the spacing and timing of it--it was rather that she floated to him instead of stepped. Her feet felt very light, and the faces of surrounding friends and family all did seem to blur. There would be time for talking to them later; seeing them and mingling, after she became wife to the man standing.

Closer now. She is thankful for the bouquet that hides her trembling hands---but her smile and eyes remain bright and unwavering.

[lists_to_port]

Like an angel, really. You don't deserve her, Sparrow. Jack clenched and unclenched his fingers, a gold ring held tightly in one fist. He didn't deserve her, did he. He suddenly felt afraid of the kind of power Jack Horner had over him, now: it never felt comfortable when another man knew your sins. It was always best to hide them.

Hiccup, too...

She could never know.

[slaying]

It was early Monday morning and Buffy told herself that she was knocking on Jack Sparrow's door because he had promised her answers. She pretended with the full might of her mind that she was not, in fact, here because today her half-brother-in-law was supposed to be getting married. She had a sister to protect and that was all.

Her knock was a distinctive one from long, long ago before Sparrow had owned this house. The same rhythm and intensity as when she used to invite the brothers out to play. It was instinctual and it startled her to hear it play out against the wooden door. Buffy frowned; now, she had experienced dreams that had directly contradicted that past. A world so wholly unlike this world. But the dreams about him hadn't been much different -- more specific, though. More real. And her mind had invented an origin story for that troublesome, smudged bird she had found on her shoulder a week ago today. Unsettling -- all of it.

[lists_to_port]

"Buffy?" Sparrow could not keep the surprise out of his voice when he opened the door, even though that knock had told him more than speaking could have who it was. She'd always knocked like that, after all. "Hallo, lass---is everything alright?"

He wondered, then, about what she'd shared with him at the festival: that one day she might leave his brother. He'd thought it would be far in the future, though, if it happened. Then there was the fear---had she found out about their crime together?

[slaying]

"Just, uhm..." She peered around his shoulders at the rest of the house. She hadn't been inside it too too often but it seemed more familiar now. She had seen it too, the night before.

"We've got some business left over, I think."

[lists_to_port]

"Leftover business?" He stepped back so that she could come inside.

[fortunefail]

A wedding... It'd been a while since Yuan last attended one. He still felt a bit out of place being here, with this side of the family. Once the estranged brother, always the estranged brother. As such, he really had no right to judge Jack's Sparrow's worth, either. All he could do was show up for face value and congratulate the couple to ensure the relationship between himself and his sister didn't worsen.

He was dressed for the occasion, of course. A neat black tuxedo with dark crimson necktie. He'd also made sure not to sit too close to Mithos and Sayo, rather a few benches behind them. Especially after his last encounter with his younger brother, Yuan had no desire to risk starting more conversation with him and ruin Raine's big day.

[wise_maiden]

After the ceremony is completed, and there's an opportunity for some mingling, it doesn't take long for Raine to spot her older brother amongst the guests. She is surprised to see him there, despite being the one to deliver him the news personally. She can only suppose that it's a gesture on his part, and she certainly can appreciate that, so she'll move toward him, to greet him before he can go.

"... Yuan."

[fortunefail]

He'd told himself he would stay at least 30 minutes after the ceremony ended before leaving, so he wasn't about to make a swift escape. Even so, he'd hoped he wouldn't actually have to strike up conversation with anyone from his family. The situation was just so awkward.

"Raine. ... Congratulations."

[sittingtype]

John is in attendance for his older brother's wedding of course. He wouldn't have been that much of a best man if he had skipped the whole affair and he couldn't be more proud than Jack than he is right now.

[lists_to_port]

"John? Today your brother becomes a real honest man." Jack sounded 99% convinced of his own words and 1% completely confused and petrified.

/considers giving up and calling them thing 1 and thing 2

[sittingtype]

"I always knew this day would come." John mused although in actuality? He didn't. The union between Jack (the fat one, not the mess of dreadlocks in front of him) and Buffy had not changed the oldest brother as much as he hoped it would have.

that is what I call my kids.

[lists_to_port]

"Is it...normal to feel.......different? Afterward? After the marriage?"

[whats_a_sneeze]

Sayo wouldn't miss this for the world, of course-it's one of the things that held firmly in her memory; Jack, Raine, marriage. Even so... she feels like she's forgotten something very important. Something... Someone...

But she just writes it off as jitters from knowing her little girl's a woman now. It's hard to give her away, but... she trusts in the both of them. She's dressed up in this dress, and admires the setting they'd decided to do the wedding in.

Ah. Better check in with the bride and groom.

[lists_to_port]

Sayo. Jack, as always, felt a bit leery around her, not least because he had abandoned her daughter so many years ago. He approached his mother-in-law with an ingratiating smile.

"'Allo, Sayo; are you enjoying the festivities?"

[whats_a_sneeze]

Silly man, Raine inherited her ability to forgive from her. Not to mention, she's probably forgotten you even left to begin with (orz). When she sees Jack she casts him a soft smile, offering a wave of the hand. "Ah, Jack! I am-this is all very beautiful, deciding on a place like this. And don't you look handsome! Raine must be very happy with everything here..."

[lists_to_port]

"That is my only hope, Mistress Sayo--Raine's happiness. Of course. How are you keeping these days?"

Jack had always felt a pang of pity for his mother-in-law's forgetfulness. It had always made his own abandonment of Raine that much more guilt-inducing as the years went by.