faderift | Swing Me On Your Trapeze

WHO: Friends of Nathaniel Howe and Anders.
WHAT: An informal Wintersend wedding
WHEN: Wintersend Day
WHERE: Camp Shady
NOTES: Open invitation to all Wardens and anyone who considers themselves a close enough friend of one of the grooms. We're not policing the invite list.

There's scarcely an announcement, though the men have had their minds made up for a while. It's assuredly not formal, invitation spread only by word of mouth. It is, due to the people involved, tactfully swept into Wintersend where it will be camouflaged by a number of other Wintersend celebrations.

No it's not a surprise. No it doesn't really make sense. But Anders and Nathaniel are getting married anyway.

Decorations are simple, mainly winter flowers and evergreen, whatever is colorful at this altitude. Those same winter flowers are made into crowns for the grooms, which is a tradition from the Anderfels. Nathaniel wears his dress uniform, a tradition everywhere. Anders wears a striking set of blue robes to match, though mages have no marriage traditions. Miraculously, a priest has agreed to perform the ceremony. She is content not to make this more or less than what it is: a celebration of the love of two people.

Vows are spoken, the ceremony kept short, and soon enough the grooms take hands and jump over a broom together--a tradition from Amaranthine which puzzles people to this day. And so they are now married, and the party can begin.

The party has simple but abundant fare--mostly meat and bread and plenty to drink, none of it nonalcoholic. There are fires and torches and lanterns casting their warm glow. A couple of Wardens provide the music for dancing on drum and fiddle. Anyone who pleases (Kaisa) is welcome to stand (if they still can) (Kaisa) and propose a toast to the husbands, to the Maker, to the Grey Wardens, to their right buttcheek that's gone numb from sitting (Kaisa), anything they wish. The drunker people get, the funnier everything is. No fighting is allowed, however (Kaisa).

Tonight, the moon is high and the stars are bright and the music is merry. It's easy to forget, for a short time, that the world is in such peril. It's easy to believe all will be well when you're celebrating a wedding.

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Sina sits toward the back, smiling the whole time, a jar of something clutched in her thin hands.

She finds Anders after the ceremony and holds it out to him, announcing, "elderberry jam," in a tone that indicates she is both a) proud and b) nervous to be giving it to him. "I made it," she explains, "it was my first time doing this sort of thing, so-- so I hope it's good. And gifts are... this is appropriate, for a human wedding? I'm amazed at how similar it was to a Dalish bonding, and--" She realizes she's rambling, and quietly touches her fingers to her own mouth.

"Happy..." she begins, trying to find the right word, "...marry?"

He takes the jar, smiling widely back at her.

"I've... I'm not entirely familiar with wedding ceremonies myself," Anders confesses. "I think sometimes gifts are involved, yes. But they don't typically invite mages around, and mages haven't been permitted relationships in the past, forget weddings. So anything you're doing is fine. And thank you." There's nervousness in his voice too, but through it all he's clearly happy.

"I think people say congratulations, but I'll gladly take Happy Marry too."

The world influenced by the Chantry is deeply confusing to Sina, and every time she thinks she's caught the gist of it, something throws her off again. She tilts her head perplexedly when Anders explains the situation between mages, but at least Sina has become socially apt enough to not point out that Dalish mage bondings are probably the most important among them. But that's different.

Pleased that she hasn't completely destroyed the gesture of good will, she continue to smile, laughing a bit when he gently corrects her. "What does that even mean," she says with a giggle, but quickly quiets herself when she looks around. Don't make fun of the shem'len in mixed company.

"I've never actually been to a bonding before," she confesses, "but I suppose we might say on'himasa." Not too long ago, she'd never have considered using Elvhen in a conversation with a human. But... things are different now. It feels a little rebellious, not to her People, but to... those people. The ones who called her traitor.

He grins at her. "How should I know what Happy Marry is? You're the one that said it." Why she's looking around, he's not sure, but he gives her the break to do so.

"Can I ask what on'himasa translates to? I don't know if it's rude to ask, but I hope it's not." They're Dalish words. The Dalish might not want them translated, but he won't know if he doesn't ask, at least.

Sorting through her mind for word correlations, Sina abruptly suppresses another giggle. "It means happy bonding," she explains, visibly finding the circular nature of their conversation amusing. Happy marry, it seems, is the common linguistic denominator.

"Well then. I'll remember that Happy Marry is basically traditional everywhere." Varric would say Happy Marry, and then write down that he said something far more charming and eloquent, so that covers Dwarves. Qunari? He can't see any here, so they don't count.

Sina nod again, falling silent for a moment or two. Then, looking back at Anders, she knits her brow in a slightly sheepish smile. "Have you been having fun? Or a nice time at least?"

His grin turns a mischievous. "Well. You could say that. I am marrying someone, and that often involves a bit of fun. And holding his hand is nice too." Then the smile returns to the ordinary. "But yes. I've been having a surprising amount of nice time."

There'd been the captivity recently, but it's surprisingly easier to heal from something like that with friends around.

"How have you been? Feeling, as well as the other, having a nice time."

"Oh, you know," Sina says with an evasive shrug, tucking an errand strand of hair behind one ear, "the usual." Nothing she wants to talk about at Anders' wedding, or... at all, really, though she's sensible and knows that eventually it will need to be talked about.
Just not, you know. At a celebration.

"It'll be my turn soon," she says absently, looking around at all the guests, "though I'm not sure how that'll be different." Clan Ashara's customs no doubt deviate from Dahlasanor's, though how much she won't know until she sees it.

Because tonight is tonight, he's going to let 'the usual' pass as an answer. Pushing isn't a thing that needs to happen right now, and he sees Sina often enough already. Following her gaze, he winds up raising an eyebrow.

"You don't know? Do the Dalish not have a sort of set, traditional thing? I thought it was all about preserving the old ways."

"Well we..." Sina begins, then realizes yes, they mostly do, she's just never seen it before. "...I don't know if it'll be different with Clan Ashara," she concludes, folding her hands behind her back, looking shy and uncertain.

"Oh." He's quiet for a few moments, not sure of what to say.

"You could ask, couldn't you? Your intended would know, or there are several who used to be with Clan Ashara here. Or still are. I don't... I'm not sure of any standing; the Dalish I'd met before coming to Skyhold all seemed to think that if you left the clan you'd left for good. But either way, they should know Ashara traditions?"

"I could," Sina says with a lopsided smile, still a bit sheepish. "I suppose I've had other things... to worry about." She shrugs. "And Beleth knows everything, so there's that. ...but this is your time, I shouldn't ramble about mine. It's so nice that you chose each other, too."

Other things to worry about indeed. Anders glances down before giving her a small smile back. This is a day for him and celebration and he's working on not letting things get too down.

"I'm a strong believer in choice," he says gently. "It's important, I feel, for all people. Choice and freedom are strongly interrelated." Now's not the time to lecture someone who might not feel like they have choice, though. "To have an option at all is not something I'd ever expected, and to be an option I'd choose a blessing beyond that. And I hope options and choices only become more common in the future."

Swing Me On Your Trapeze

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