And at long last!!!

[pineapplesalmon]

Who: Magne Salazar Hikiishi (sistermagnetic) & César Salazar Hikiishi (pineapplesalmon) and the entire frigging village
What: Marriage so they're finally legally married, too
When: Monday, March 31st, year 16:55, afternoon into evening
Where: Ceremony at the Village Green; Reception at Velvet, Ambrosia, and Silk
Warning(s): Sap! Also anyone proposing during the reception will be ejected no seriously don't do it, it's tacky.

The invitation has been pinned to the Bulletin Board, and several people that are closest to Magne and César have been handed the invitation in person.



And people wonder what took them so long.

The Setup

Soon it will be time. And that means everything has to be ready. Anyone can be conscripted into putting chairs out into neat short rows and making sure they're picked free of any stones or other LEGO-like implements. The rows are split in the middle by a red carpet (can't get Magne's Kimono dirty!). Three colors of ribbons—white, pink, and red—need to be made into bows for the backs of chairs. A living archway at the back of the aisle needs to be intertwined with flowers. The Velvet, Ambrosia, and Silk needs to be deep cleaned so that it practically gleams. There's so much to be done, and the happy couple will need everyone's help to finish it. If you've got the time, you can pitch in! After all, everyone's getting getting fed later, and people who help can definitely take home leftovers... Rex can't eat them all.

The Ceremony

. Once everyone is seated and the clock reaches the appointed hour, the band begins to play. It's a soft tune, fairly traditional sounding for the occasion, light and floaty. Father Mulcahy, as an officiant of César's, walks down the aisle first and heads to the simple altar. He is followed by César in a tuxedo with golden embroidery at the lapels, followed by the wedding party: Rex, then Max, Lev/Lyubov, Anzu, Drelasa, Ylva, and Mairi, all dressed as they had felt appropriate for the occasion. After all, neither Magne nor César had imposed any kind of dress code on them, just letting them know what the color scheme would generally be and let them play with that as they chose. Amaterasu trots forth as the flower girl, scattering her quickly growing plants and flowers with merely her passing, looking fluffy and majestic and settling right at Mulcahy's side as the second officiant, a favor to the bride.

Then the music changes, growing more dramatic. Its gravitas swelling as Magne herself steps forward in a stunning wedding kimono, with her hair pinned up in pink and white magnolias that her groom-to-be had grown specially for her. Her arm is looped around Touya's, and the two of them fall into step as they take their place on the carpet. It takes all of her restraint not to run straight down the aisle.

Neither the bride nor groom have dry eyes or steady voices when they exchange their vows after a short service. They're about as sappy as everyone would expect them to be.

Magne's boil down to the fact that not only did the village accept her at face value, so did he, and every step of the way he's continued to do exactly that and make her feel beautiful even though she has a really hard time with that. That he always looked to her with love and compassion, never fear.

César's are along the lines that she saw him for who he was from the very beginning and she helped him see the man he was through her eyes. She made him feel like a person, like himself, again instead of just a commercialized product that made work units. And he's very gracious that she tolerates and maybe even enjoys his information dumps. Thank you for listening to him, Magne. She kisses his forehead, murmuring how she loves his infodumps, and they both share a laugh.

The ceremony concludes with the exchange of rings and a deceptively sweet, gentle kiss, though this changes for the humorous as Magne dips César, his arms going quickly around her shoulders automatically. They are reintroduced to everyone as Mr. and Mrs. Salazar Hikiishi.

The Reception

The ward on the entrance of the Velvet, Ambrosia, and Silk has been moved to allow their youngest partygoers into the parlor. The baths have likewise been opened to the public. But not everything is open to everyone: the ward that turns The Youth away has been placed in front of the hall that leads to the private rooms. There's a veritable mountain of food, as the only real requirement for attendance had been for people to bring what might have been considered a traditional wedding dish, or else something that they would want to eat, or share with the village at large. Magne and César had insisted that they didn't need gifts, but in the event that they had accumulated any, a table was set back away from the bulk of the party to hold them.

Much larger tables, moved in from around the village, were laden with those offerings of food from everyone in attendance. Magne had thrown open her property so the party can spill out onto the front lawn, around the side garden, and into the back yard lit by glowing lanterns colored with gold and pink paper once night falls. The band had been moved back here to this open air space, and César taught them the opening notes of a song that only the non-natives were likely to recognize. That will happen randomly partway through the night.

Max, as both a professional baker and a very good friend of Magne's, had knocked it out of the proverbial part with the absolutely beautiful wedding cake in multiple natural flavors, heavily favoring vanilla and berries and even floral extracts. The flowers are delicately sculpted in fondant and glittering with crystals of sugar. There is no smashing of the cake in one-another's faces, as César knows better than to even think about ruining Magne's makeup regardless of who had done it. He didn't even need to be warned not to do it.

The rest of the food on offer is an eclectic mix, everything from kosher to vegan, an absolutely massive challah having been brought and put on its own table, to the utter delight of the bride. Speaking of, Magne has removed her kimono in favor of a light, fluttering sort of dress that allows her a good deal more freedom of movement, like a tea gown with half the length shorn off. She dances with anyone and everyone, but always goes back to César's side to breathe, to cool down, to simply dance with him when the songs were slower so they can stare into each other's eyes.

When the band finally retires... well, someone else can grab the stage and put on a show of their own in the parlor. Good luck at karaoke, because there's an OPEN BAR (which Magne and her staff stress is for the adults only). The bride will launch anyone that gets too horrifically drunk out the door.

Afterparty

Eventually, the party has to come to an end. Magne and César are lucky enough to be able to retire for the night in the apartment above it, and Rex and Touya live in the house next door. For everyone else of adult age, though...well, if you want to stay a night in one of the empty rooms, you are welcome to it. If you want to spend the night sleeping it off in the parlor, that's also fine, just don't be a jerk to the rest of the hangovers in the room.

Once the public has eventually been cleared out, the business business will be put to rights again. For a few days after the newlyweds will be 'vacationing' elsewhere on the island, but not before César makes sure the flower archway is permanently transplanted into his backyard in sight of the windows of Magne's apartment.

Comments

[pineapplesalmon]

César looks shocked. "Oh........ wow, that's impressive you got all the way back. Might've been easier to die and end up back here, but where's the fun in that? And I'm planning to only go with a lot of help."

"I think that suit could get a few more wears, but there's nothing wrong with getting some more everyday clothes." César grins and shrugs. "Still farming for now. Might eventually do some more experimental, but it's good for me for now. Getting that urge to experiment, you know?"

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

There's a moment where Leon just looks blankly at César after that first part, the proverbial gears turning in his head before clicking into place.

"I'm gonna be honest, César. I forgot that was an option." Which is probably a moderately healthy response, at least? Taking the inability to die permanently here for granted seems like a real good way to start having all sorts of problems really fast. Even so, he does feel kind of stupid for forgetting the reason Mortanne brought him here in the first place. He shakes his head.

"Anyway. Farming's a pretty noble cause, as far as those go. What kind of experiments were you thinking of, though?"

[pineapplesalmon]

César politely waits to chuckle until after Leon reboots. "Probably better that way."

The eagerness to info drop is thankfully resisted. "Quite simply? I'm thinking of vertical greenhouse gardening using a mixture of pipes and druid magic so we could have some vegetables year round that we normally can't."

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

"Yeah? Kind of like a - what's it called again? A hydroponic farm?"

That does sound pretty handy. Leon never realized how much he took being able to get basically whatever fruits and vegetables he could think of at the grocery store year-round until he wound up here.

"I keep forgetting you're studying magic. I bet that makes farming a lot more interesting." He won't say easier, out of respect for what Fever's told him about magic having its own challenges, but he imagines druidic magic adds a whole different dimension to things.

[pineapplesalmon]

"Hydroponics but with more steps." César's eyes twinkle with mirth. "And magic makes things so incredibly more interesting. More successful, too. The underground is an option, but that still has transport issues. Things can get frostbite by the time they arrive here or we can be attacked. And we don't want to reduce natural habitat."

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

"I wouldn't have even thought of that," Leon admits, sounding impressed. "I guess it must be a pretty delicate balance down in the caves, there. Huh."

A thought strikes him, and he grimaces a little. "Hope what I've been planting down there doesn't cause any problems. It might be a little too late to put a stop to it if they turn out to be invasive or something."

The goddesses did give him the seeds and the instructions though, so it's probably fine? Probably. He shakes his head.

"Anyway. Always good to have more options and backups for this kind of thing. Who was it that you were learning this stuff from, again?" He's pretty sure there's at least two other druids hanging around just counting the people who got here by the ferry, and very probably more that he just hasn't run into yet.

[pineapplesalmon]

"Isolated ecosystems are easy to throw out of whack with invasive species." César pauses for a moment. "Hmm. Well... surveys to make sure it doesn't cause issues would be a good exercise. And there's no better safe and effective pesticide than human hands. We could probably devise a system to make sure animals don't start spreading your crops with their fecal matter."

Sorry, he's in scientist mode.

"Mairi Mann, another one of us. I considered wizardry briefly, but they utterly lack the appropriate amount of literature on theories and laws for me to be comfortable practicing. How does a fireball even work? I like my insanity well documented, thank you." César gestures towards a window. "But for druidry, much of the proof surrounds you. You can feel it."

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

"Right," says Leon. "I did try to keep it contained to one area. I can show you next time you head down there and we can try to figure something out."

Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be an issue, but if it is they can catch it early on, at least.

"I think I've met Mairi, too. Haven't spoken to her much, but she helped me out while we were on that boat full of spiders last year. And I would've thought it'd be the other way around. You always hear about wizards writing big books of spells and whatever, while all I ever heard about druids back home was that I think they built Stonehenge?" He pauses, thinking about that, then after a brief moment adds, "I guess that probably required a lot of math and coordination, though. Hm."

[pineapplesalmon]

"It'd be nice to take a walk there again anyway. I'm still not that confident in fighting... and my brother could join us." Right, Rex is here; he's so used to Magne and Dabi being busy or not having someone with him that he didn't even reconsider the parameters had changed.

"I'm sure the big libraries have all I need for wizardry, but we might be waiting for years for access. And since I've done close enough to the science version of it, I wanted to try something else out."

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

"That makes sense. But - your brother's here, too? Like, not just visiting this time?" He's pretty sure César mentioned something about a bunch of people showing up in the short term a ways back after the first time Leon disappeared, but from the sound of it there's nothing like that going on right now. "Congrats - and, uh, condolences, given how we all get here in the first place."

He grimaces a little, sympathetically. "Glad he could be here for your and Magne's big day, either way."

[pineapplesalmon]

There's definitely a variety of emotions going across César's face at once. He's happy that Rex is here. But he's also still upset about how the journey had to be made. But his gaze turns to see Rex at a table eating another round of food.

"... I take comfort that he's a Schrodinger's cat." César says quietly with a bit of a shrug. "Rex's fully functional nanites keep the death process from starting. He's clinically dead only until he can breathe again." A breath. "... Rex is glad he made it to the wedding. And he's enjoying his break from fighting and curing the Monster of the Week, even if he gets bored sometimes."

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

"Yeah? That sounds handy," says Leon, though he can't help but let a little bit of wariness creep into his voice at the idea despite his best efforts. Nice as defying death with science or magic sounds, his own experiences with how wrong that can go have left him a little gunshy about the subject.

Now's not the time to grill César about the ethics or ramifications of the thing saving his brother's life, though. He moves on, quickly, before they can get deeper into the subject.

"Glad he's able to treat this as a vacation, though - sounds like you both deserve it. It is an awfully nice place most of the time, especially considering the company."

[pineapplesalmon]

"It certainly makes me worry less."

César would honestly not mind the grilling if it was any other time. And honestly, Rex's nanites pale in comparison to how his team unlocked the secrets to manipulating the universe around them. Then put that code into nanites. And then the world nearly ended because their ultra-rich billionaire benefactors wanted all that power for themselves. Long story!

"It's honestly less stressful than home. We've both definitely needed this. We haven't had much of a chance until now to really be like a family in years. That's more Rex's story than mine, though."

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

"Yeah? I could see that. Most of the time it's a lot calmer here than it is at home for me, too."

Occasional demon problems aside, it's genuinely kind of idyllic in its own ways. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't going to miss it a little when all was said and done. He smiles, going quiet as he glances out over the gathered crowd, before looking back at César.

"Well, unless you've got anything else you wanna talk about, I'll stop monopolizing your time - I'm sure everyone wants a piece of you today. That, and I'm pretty sure there's a piece of challah that's calling my name."