[OTA] We Are Gathered Here | The Fox-Kattalakis Wedding

[headfollowheart]

A few things had gone wrong, honestly. There had been some confusion in the morning when they’d arrived to decorate the church - a few bouquets on the altar, some green and blue ribbons twined around a few of the posts - and it’d been locked. She’d managed to leave Spade Castle with her dress, veil, the coin from his mother strung on a thin leather thong, the emerald silk sash and Victor’s ring - but of all things, she’d managed to leave her shoes in their box in the closet, and Chives had had to go back for that. Hadyn looked a little green from his adventure shanghaiing Victor with Ben and Elisha, her cousin Sara had in usual Sara fashion managed to break the heel on her left shoe. Nerves finally hit as Chives was braiding her hair, and by the time the veil was settled over the smooth curls, her nails had left indents in her palms.

In the end, though, it was pretty much perfect. Two of her closest friends preceded her down the aisle in soft blue dresses with forget-me-nots in their braided hair and small posies in their hands. She’d walked towards her fiance on her brother’s arm with her hands full of spring flowers, and after the words were said and Victor lifted the veil, they were married. It only felt a little different than before, Zoe thought as their brief kiss ended. But it was different; she was Zoe Fox.

Zoe Fox knew, of course, that Victor Fox would have preferred them to just slip back to their apartment - no big party, no flowing wine and hors d'oeuvres - but she’d wanted something. And he’d given her carte blanche in the end, really; she’d chosen the small reception room that opened out into the Castle gardens, she’d picked the combination of hyacinths, hydragea, and lily of the valley for the table arrangements, the Greek-flavored menu of spanakopita, wild green and strawberry salad, linguine primavera and herb-encrusted lamb. She’d pored over cake designs until she finally picked a vanilla bean cake with strawberry puree filling, decorated in vanilla buttercream. She’d pruned the list of friends, family and acquaintances who might be expected to be invited to the wedding reception until they numbered barely fifty.

Under the strict supervision of Chives, of course the reception looked perfect, she thought as they arrived, and she smiled as she slipped her hand into Victor’s arm and the full skirt of her dress swirled against both of their legs. Perfect, though perfect didn’t matter quite so much to her right now.

Comments

[piqued]

And that Supervision? Had indeed been incredibly Strict. It was entirely possible that, after all was said and done, a few of the Twos would need to schedule a bit of time with on a therapist's couch. Knowing that the Five had killed before and feeling for a moment that one might be the Five's next victim for setting a fork wrong preparing for a wedding reception were two Very Different things, after all.

But it was over. It had been Accomplished. They were coming to the part where it was less Planned and more a matter of keeping things Smooth, which almost--Almost--meant a person could relax.

Or, at the very least, allow oneself to Smile. Victor and Zoë Fox. Wasn't that just the most Perfect thing in the world. Absolutely something to be grinning noticeably about while checking that the bride's hair hadn't fallen out of place.

[bluntforces]

There's never, of course, any reason to ruin a wedding. Why would anyone who wasn't truly malevolent? Because even if one didn't quite approve, and even if there might always be a tiny bit of doubt lodged in the back of the brain, by the time you get to a wedding, it's clearly too late to turn back.

And really, no matter his lingering reservations, seeing the smile on Zoë's face as she became Mrs Victor Fox was the sort of thing that absolutely cleared away even the most stubborn of doubts.

So there's absolutely a bright, properly pleased smile on Evan's lips when he seeks out the bride at the reception. Someone owes her a dance. And a hug. A squishy big-brother hug.

[hamelinic]

Cyrnic's not so crass as to crash a wedding, particularly not when he doesn't not like at least half the couple--and particularly when the groom isn't the sort of Spade a man wants to cross on an emotionally high day.

But the reception? Well. Free food--even in this horrible castle--is clearly an open invitation for the hungry to slip in, avoid butlers, and get themselves away from the brink of hunger.

Maybe he'll even think to congratulate the bride.

[oneirophiliac]

Being engaged doesn't prevent her from trying for the bouquet, though she sadly fails. Still, she's grinning as the wedding ends, not least because it's all gone off without a hitch. One less thing for any of them to freak out about.

So of course she'll bounce up to the happy couple and spend nearly half a minute squeeing congratulating them. Well, mostly Zoe and being a bit more calm for Victor.

And, naturally, whirling about the dancefloor.

[sirforawhile]

He still has his reservations about Victor. He still has reservations about Zoe's age. He still has reservations about how long this will last.

But he's not the one standing up when the priest asks if anyone will speak, and he's not the one who's going to ruin this wedding. Happy days should be kept happy.

And at least he's certain that Victor will endeavour to keep Zoe happy too.

[intotherough]

As best man, he'd been imbued with more than a few responsibilities. The bachelor party, for one, and getting Victor to one had required both his and Elisha's considerable skills in subterfuge. Holding the ring for the groom, as the bride had already been wearing hers, and locking the church doors behind them. And the toast, of course. That one had been a bit of a trick, since it wasn't like he could tell the gathered just how he and Victor had met.

He caught Victor's eye as he headed towards the dais, and his lips curled up as he picked out a record. "I had such plans," he said out loud, in a voice that carried to the back of the room and stopped the murmurs. "Alas, the piper called out, so the lot of you are stuck with me." And with that, he motioned Victor to pull his lady onto the floor before he set the needle in a particular spot and began to sing.

Victor owed him for this one, truthfully.

[eucre]

Piper is technically crashing the party. But surely Chives won't mind this one uninvited visitor. Especially since her only aim seems to be to slip between his arm and his side. "Isn't it pretty?"

[intotherough]

At least once, she ought to whirl around the dancefloor with a Scotsman in a kilt. Every lass ought to do it at least once, and he can's spend his entire night dancing with the bridesmaid and his date.

Eden's too much of a social butterfly for that sort of thing, really.

"Enjoying it, then?" He asks as they twirl around the floor to an instrumental Celtic song (he'd slipped a few things in). "I'm thinking it's worth Mrs. Fox's headaches."

[onlytolerable]

She hates the thought of being on display in front of all those people. She hates more the idea of tripping on her too-high heels and crashing head first down the aisle. But she loves Zoe more than she fears embarrassment, and Sophie's determined not to scream and run away, trip head over tail or do anything else ridiculous that would ruin her best friend's wedding.

By the time she gives her friend her final hug as Zoe Kattalakis and steps through the arch and onto the aisle, she's thinking only of Zoe and doing her part to make this day perfect for her. She manages the long walk with nary a wobble, head high, huge smile lighting her face and heart near to bursting with joy.

Later she'll take a moment to deadpan to Victor that it's Spade tradition for the man to take the woman's last name and ask him if he's ordered new stationery.

For now, it's all about hugs and congratulations and whispering to the Best Man that he hadn't needed to catch her after all.

[unsungheart]

That's what Dillon's telling himself. It's one of the reasons he also stayed seated during that part of the wedding ceremony, though it didn't stop a couple members of his family from giving him looks. But she wants this, and him.

Dillon will keep quiet about what he thinks.

"She looks happy," he says to Iggy as he yanks off his pomona green tie off and tucks it in his pocket. "She doesn't all that much."

[standlikestone]

It's perfect. It really is. And even though she would have scoffed at the planning and the fretting had this happened a couple months ago... not now.

Now she's just looking at all the decorations a little dreamily as she eats cake.

[piqued]

He doesn't have Time for this. There's too many Million things to be doing than actually worrying about Ejecting this brand of crasher from the wedding. So, instead, he runs a gloved hand quickly over her hair, digs muted nails against her shoulder.

"Of course it is."

[oneirophiliac]

"Dude, believe me, as long as she's not on a couch fainting or whatever and he's not off hyperventilating or- or any outward display of panic, I think we're in the clear." Oh, good, saved from tripping there.

Looking down is for her feet. Not his legs.

[headfollowheart]

It would be nice to congratulate the bride, especially since she's the only way he's going to trick one of the Spade Twos into cutting a slice of cake for him. He's here for the cake, isn't he?

"It's a good thing I calculated for Jokers," she says a little dryly. The tulle and lace veil has been put away, and her hair is tumbling mostly loose down her back, covering the lace back of her gown. "You're the second so far. Are Juliette and David coming too?"

She probably just jinxed herself.

[denythyfather]

It's also all about attending to those other duties she has that aren't necessarily Maid-Of-Honor-related. Namely not screaming when Adrien slumps on her from behind, burying his face in her shoulder. "Miss Berthier, I need your help."

[sirforawhile]

"Hopefully she still will in five years' time," he answers, not bothering to lower his Eyebrow of Judgement. "Just because she's been living over six months with him- no, I'll stop there."

[headfollowheart]

She dutifully holds still as he fixes the very few loose strands of hair that have come out of the braid after she took off her veil, her eyes sparkling far beyond the more calm sort of happiness she's usually exhibiting.

"Thank you, Chives," she says softly. She's not thanking him specifically for the braiding, of course.

[headfollowheart]

The hug comes first, of course. A big bear hug in which he twirls her around and sends all that chiffon soaring around both of them. But then he has to relinquish her to her husband, and then to Hadyn.

She has to dig through the records to find the Latin music Elisha had slipped in on the sly, and start up a tango.

"Hey," she says. "I promised."

[oneirophiliac]

Nothing had happened to stress him out, thankfully, but she'd been prepared to get him alone and calm him down if it had come down to it. So it's with a bright pleased grin that she tugs him away for a dance. "C'mon. Can't just wallflower all day to celebrate."

[intotherough]

"I canna imagine Victor hyperventilating over anything, really," Ben says, though he cocks an eyebrow consideringly. Maybe when they have children, though it's early to be thinking on that. For the bride at least.

"You've your own coming up," he adds. "Picturing fainting on a couch in your future?"

[gardenplots]

Not long ago, Zoe had taken her aside and whispered a request in her ear. Maggie, surprised and pleased, had hugged her and murmured, "Of course, Dearest. Just try to keep me away."

Charlotte Huntly might be missing one of the most important moments in her daughter's life, but Victoria Mary Margaret St. John would always be there with the smiles and hugs and love only a mother of the heart can give. She sits in pride of place, in the mother of the bride's seat, wearing a dress picked specially for the occasion.

Besides, she adores dancing nearly as much as she adores Zoe.

[unsungheart]

"Yeah, probably a good idea," Dillon says, though he's still eyeing the dancing couple a bit. It looks like from a distance, Fox is singing softly to her. "My grandmother thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread."

Of course, that might partly because Victor Fox had had the balls to actually...well, no one knew what he'd done to Aunt Charlotte except that it'd freaked her out but good.

[intotherough]

He hadn't, indeed, though he'd had to save Annie Riordan from tripping over his feet once, so it likely counts as his carrying for the day.

"I doubt Zoe would notice if you kicked off the heels now, Sophie," he tells her as they slow dance to Nat King Cole. "You know, if you were having thoughts in that direction."

[oneirophiliac]

Groan. Groan and also the most agonised face. "Oh man. I don't think there'd be space to even lie down- definitely not. But Declán'll be prepping the smelling salts just in case anyway."

[onlytolerable]

She doesn't scream, but she does jump just a little before the weight and scent and voice hit her senses. She purses her lips to hide her smile. "Mr. Fitzgerald, I'm uncertain whether anyone can ever provide you sufficient help."

She pulls his arms around her waist. There's not really a crisis, is there?