( OPEN ) | something borrowed, something blue

[indissection]

WHO: Byerly, Sidony and guests (everyone is invited)
WHAT: The best sham of a wedding Thedas has ever seen
WHEN: Now
WHERE: the Toad and Flagon
NOTES: The Best Wedding Ever ft. a kidnapping

You are hereby invited to the wedding of Byerly Rutyer and Sidony Celogera Allegra Venaras. The venue is not quiet nor is it beautiful; the gambling hall is loud and intense, with all kinds of smells and dirtiness to carry along with the strangeness of their wedding. There’s some attempt at draping, some attempt at making it look as though some kind of party is taking place here, but it certainly doesn’t look like there’s going to be a wedding at all. It’s hastily done, hastily put together, but at least it’s something, which is better than nothing. There’s about an hour until the wedding is due to start and both the bride and groom are getting ready - whatever that means to the two of them. Food is not provided. There are no drinks bought. There's a table for gifts to one side, with a little plaque with their names on. Prostitutes and gamblers wander between the aisles and chairs, laughing and making jokes with one another, completely avoiding setting the scene of a proper wedding.

Comments

[heirring]

"I don't suppose anything, except that Miss Venaras' family will be horrified when they discover what their daughter has done."

(Later, in some passing moment when Sidony has been recovered from her would-be kidnappers and Byerly is not bleeding all over anything, they may cross paths and Wysteria will say 'I said so, didn't I?')

"But I believe you may be on to something regarding the gifts, sir. There must be some profit to be made of this - some benefit they are both expecting -, and if it were truly monetary as Mr Rutyer suggested in his announcement, then I would have expected a little more advance warning than what we had." Someone over there is getting kissed performatively on their cheek. Wysteria wrinkles her nose. "I just hope they're both aware it's a ruse."

[hornswoggle]

What a foreign thing to contemplate. John lets the strangeness of semi-normal family dynamics wash over him as he turns his gaze towards the gift table.

"She expects to be happy," John says, though he's still baffled by Sidony's assurances on that subject. "Only time will tell on that front."

There's a pause, in which John sips from his cup, leans in and asks conspiratorially, "Would it be crass for us to begins bets on the longevity of the marriage?"

[heirring]

"Oh Captain! That would be very crass."

And she does sound just slightly appalled by the suggestion. Ever so slightly, really. To the point that after a small sip from her cup, Wysteria allows in very careful and conspiratorial tones: "But lets say for the sake of argument only that it wasn't. If that were so, I might be willing to bet five gold pieces on it being over before winter. Theoretically."

[hornswoggle]

That gets a laugh out of John. He had expected to scandalize her and then move on with the conversation, but the exceedingly delicate return of an offer is delightful.

"That seems generous," John observes. "I personally wouldn't have given it a month. If we were actually considering a little light gambling."

Bold words from a man who hasn't seen his love interest in over a year.