Oh, can't you see that you were born to stand by my side

[chiefdefense]

Who: Diego Armando, Mia Fey and guests.
When: Saturday March 2nd
Where: Siren's Port District Courthouse, then onto the S.S. Kahve.
Summary: Going to the chapel court house and they're gonna get married.
Warnings: Gratuitous amounts of love and waff.

Some might say that two lawyers choosing to marry in a court house was perhaps a little uninspired, but there was a certain appropriateness to it that bordered on amusing. For a couple who had experienced more than a fair few dramatic moments in their relationship inside the walls of a courthouse, it seemed only fitting that they buck their trend of bad luck and make it a venue for something positive.

At three fifteen, the doors to the courtroom reserved for the Armando-Fey wedding are opened, guests are invited to take their seats, the bride is waiting in an ante room checking and double checking that everything is perfect and she's not forgotten anything while the groom is taking furtive sips from a coffee flask in the main room, eager to get the show on the road.
 

Comments

Before the ceremony

[chiefdefense]

Groom

[beenwaitinglong]

Diego Armando does not get flustered. That was one of his rules. A lawyer always smiles even when his guts are tied up in knots and he feels like he's going to pass out at any second. That is the mark of a true professional.

He wasn't managing a smile just yet. More of a neutral, slightly grim frown as he paced through the waiting room, sipping #102 from one of his many thermoses (they may have originally been hip flasks.) But he figured he was still doing pretty well, considering.

After all, here was a day he never thought would come, for one of at least six or seven reasons.

[awakenings]

Re-l had managed to slip away from the others to go find Diego, mostly because she was here to be his best man. The concept of marriage was one she was never very good with, and who could blame her? Marriage didn't happen because of love in Romdeau. In Siren's Port, it seemed just another hassle; so many were divorced before long. Finding love in a place like Siren's Port was a blessing, she supposed, and also an act of defiance. That Diego had lived long enough to triumph in even this small way was monumental.

She knocked on the door as she approached, giving him a brief smile. "Look at you. Perfectly handsome."

[cowboycop]

Diego's alter-ego, however, knew that despite what Diego might have been showing to the world, that this was ultimately a nerve-wracking experience. He could only imagine what it must have been like to be in his best friend's shoes - the love of his life, only a few hours away from saying "I do"? He knew he would have been shaking in his boots, no matter how cool he tried to remain beforehand.

So it was that Jake poked his head in, dressed in his Sunday best - he'd even been courteous enough to ditch the hat and wear actual shoes (and not those damn cowboy boots). "Ain't a man s'posed t'look happy fer his weddin'?" Jake teased, grinning and stepping up behind his friend, and clapping him on the shoulder a few times. But before he could say anything else, he paused, noting the container in Diego's hand - and after thorough inspection of it, he asked, "That one'a mine? I've been lookin' fer that."

Bride

[chiefdefense]

Mia is definitely not pacing. Pacing is not in her vocabulary but she's checking her hair for maybe the third time in five minutes to make sure that her hairpiece hasn't slipped- it hasn't- and she finds herself torn between wanting to laugh or cry. She's happy, of course she is, but she keeps looking over at her bouquet and at the empty chair in the corner where Maya should be and she keeps telling herself that her baby sister would be furious if she started to cry and ruin her make up because of her.

So instead, she smooths down the skirt of her dress and picks up the photo she brought with her and laughs at the goofy face her sister's pulling. It's no substitute for the real Maya, but she's keeping her with her today in the only way she can.

There's ten minutes to go and she's got butterflies dancing in her stomach, but she swears the darn clock seems to be moving slower than is strictly necessary and she just can't keep from fidgeting.

[cowboycop]

After having checked on the groom, Jake goes next to the bride - after all, they're both his dear friends, and because he knows so intimately how Diego must be feeling, he figures that Mia has quite similar feelings - and perhaps others. Missing a sibling is also something Jake is sadly too familiar with; and having grown close to Maya in the year and a half he was here, he assumes it's hard for Mia to go through this.

Which is why he was knocking now, though not simply opening up the door as he would with Diego - Mia was a lady, and it wasn't polite. So he just stood at the door, and after a moment called in. "Hey, Mia? Y'decent?"

Mawwige! Mawwige is what bwings us togewa!

[chiefdefense]

[chiefdefense]

Well. The clock finally gets around to 3.29, an usher taps at the door to fetch the bride, and Mia supposes that it's now or never. She tucks Maya's photo into her bodice, reaches for her bouquet and makes her way out the doors to make her entrance.

She takes a sobering breath, hears the beginning strains of the music they chose to open the ceremony with, and it's showtime. The doors open and here comes the bride.

[beenwaitinglong]

Diego has stood here in the courthouse several dozen times. He's stood at this place in any courthouse hundreds of times. And no matter how nerve-wracking the case, he's never been quite this nervous.

He does his best not to pace, though, keeping his feet firmly planted on the floor and his expression carefully neutral. He turns to Jake and Re-l behind him, smiles at them briefly, then chews on his lip as the music starts.

The moment the doors open and he sees her, looking like something out of a fairy tale, he feels tears welling up in his eyes. He carefully keeps them back, however, expressing the emotion instead with a smile that's as genuine as they come on the lawyer's face.

For once, he's entirely sure that it's white that he sees.

Reception

[chiefdefense]

The very idea of hosting a reception at a coffee house isn't exactly the most orthodox of plans, but then again not many grooms have fashioned as much of a codependency on the drink as one Mr. Diego Armando and so it's not entirely unexpected that he and his new wife should choose to celebrate in somewhere that is so very fitting to his needs.

The place is nicely decorated with simple white flower arrangements to echo the bride's bouquet on the tables and tea lights in glass jars, while a buffet table is set out with an assortment of tapas and finger foods, and of course, in honour of an absent member of the family, more than a few platters of mini hamburgers.

The wedding cake takes pride of place on a separate table while a space has been cleared for dancing once the guests feel the need to get to their feet and cut loose.

[motioned]

Though it wasn't her wedding, she's still wearing a mile long smile as she makes her way towards the table of food after the ceremony. Any time she gets the privilege of seeing a couple who truly loves each other come together like this, it's exciting, to say the least. And it had been a beautiful ceremony, too.

She's reflecting on how lovely Mia's dress looked as she takes a plate and loads a small amount of food onto it, absentmindedly looking around to see if she can catch sight of a familiar face.

[beenwaitinglong]

Diego had been in the Port for nearly three years already. Mia had been around for much less time, so he had worried that she might feel alone on her special day. Fortunately, there were people like Ahiru who befriended whoever they met, and he had been pleased to hear she would be one of the people standing by Mia's side today.

"Hey sweetheart." Diego comes up behind her, setting a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks so much for helping out today. We really appreciate it."

Reception

[gaveherwings]

Not one but two weddings within the span of two weeks, and Doctor Yumeno should be slightly more used to the ordeal by now. At least this one's between two adults with their professional lives in line, which makes it a little easier for Daedalus to relax about their future- Mia will help keep Diego's health in order, and there will be plenty of other surprises along in short time for the both of them.

It's a happy affair, as far as weddings go- a simple array of food, tasteful decorations, a nice cake. He's looser at this wedding, with less on his shoulders to worry about other than making sure the groom doesn't fall into any surprise seizures. He jokes a little more, smiles a little more.

It's a rare side of one of his favorite patients that he's getting to see. Most of the time, Armando's in because of some health crisis, or a checkup, and he's in a grumpy and difficult way. It's a treat to see a glow about him, with his happy bride.

He isn't one for making elaborate wedding toasts, but after awhile the coffee mugs get passed around and everyone's casually carousing- Daedalus is relieved that it's for the most part a dry reception... that it caters to other vices.

Eventually he does get his moment to congratulate the two, and when he does it's with a slightly mischievous smile, shaking Diego's hand first and then the bride's. He hasn't know Mia so well, not until the past few weeks, and now there's something undeniably comfortable with familiarity between the two.

"So, Mrs. Armando... how does it feel, being married to two lawyers?"

Re: Reception

[chiefdefense]

Mia is delightedly sipping on sparkling apple juice and considering a quick trip to the buffet table- she was so tied up with pre-wedding nerves this morning that she'd only managed a slice of toast for breakfast. Even so, she's not about to ignore her friends in favour of food. It's not reached that point just yet.

When Daedalus comes over to offer his congratulations and calls her by her new name, she laughs and greets him with a quick kiss on the cheek after she shakes his hand.

The gently playful tone in the young doctor's voice is familiar and welcome, but Mia's not entirely sure what exactly his joke means. Two lawyers?

"Well I'm pretty happy with just the one to be honest..."

[pullsheavendown]

Roxas was considerably more nervous at this reception than the last one he'd been to. Sure, he'd had a more official role at Jinx's wedding, but as a bridesman he hadn't had to actually do much once she was successfully married.

This was a little different, since he was sort of the host, although thankfully not the only one working the event. Mr. Armando had done a lot for him; he didn't want to be the one to mess up the man's wedding reception. But so far things were going pretty well, so about 45 minutes into the party, Roxas finally relaxed a little and had some coffee and a mini burger.

[beenwaitinglong]

Diego was making the rounds, shaking hands, saying thanks and offering coffee recommendations all in turn. At last he made his way around to Roxas, having a seat at his table and extending a hand to shake with a big smile on his face.

"Thanks again for letting us come here," he said. "It was going to be astronomically expensive catering in the coffee everywhere else we looked, so you're really doing me a favor."

[OPEN]

[laurice]

Larry, clad in a white suit and a black tie, is in a very good mood today. While getting married was still pretty far from his mind, it was a nice future to look forward to if and when he finally found "the one", a girl who wouldn't dump him like a hot potato and love him for who he is. Who knew, really? Still, his own happily ever after walking down the aisle is not what's on his mind right now.

What's on his mind is the buffet table and how great it looked right now, but he glances at the wrapped present under his arm; he had to get this to the newlyweds first.

The sight of the mini hamburgers stir nostalgia from beneath all the elation, though; his eyes flicker as if he was, for a moment, unsure whether it was good to be this glad or not.

[wingedcrown]

Dani's not far off, mostly just mingling and meeting people. She's in a light blue dress and heels, her hair hanging down and clipped with a silver pin to hold it back. She's brought a gift as well even though she hardly knows many of the people there. It's her first wedding and she's not sure what to expect. All she knows is that the music is good, people are smiling, and that's enough for her.

She sees Larry and cross the room to put a hand on his back. "Thanks, again, for inviting me. Everyone's so happy. It's good to see smiling faces around here."

Open, but surprise for the bride and groom :D

[cowboycop]

Jake had been standing on the periphery of the reception for the majority of it; his guardian instincts hadn't changed much since he left the Port, and they certainly weren't going to change now, not on the best day of his best friend's life, and certainly not on the best day of his new bride's life.

But after a few hours of remaining on the periphery and occasionally helping himself to the buffet, he sauntered over to the DJ for the evening and had slipped him a tenner to play two songs in particular. Despite initial protests, Jake had pleaded his case, and eventually the DJ had relented. He went back to the place he had been standing in for most of the night, mostly because it gave a good overview of the whole of the shop - and it also gave him a nice view of the dance floor, where he hoped Diego and Mia would be when the DJ announced that there was a special song set requested just for the bride and groom.

He sat there almost in excitement, waiting to see their reactions - granted, he had promised them both only one country song at the reception, but he had justified two with the fact that the first did not sound at all like a country song. And as for the second, it had more of the country twang present, one that was undeniably his doing - though for both songs, he was happy to quietly sing along to them, in his baritone register, as he hooked his thumbs on his tuxedo's pants pockets and gently tapped out the rhythm on his outer thighs.

Shenanigans involving lacy things and floral bouquets

[chiefdefense]

The party's in full swing, everyone seems to be having a good time, and the cake is sitting just asking to be cut and plated up.

...which would be a perfect time for some traditional hijinks to get underway.

[chiefdefense]

It's getting towards the end of the evening, Mia's got herself a second helping of cake and she returns to the table to sit next to her husband.

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen you look so happy, Mr. Armando," she muses as she cuts a piece of cake and loads it onto her fork, offering it to him. "And I have a present for you."

[beenwaitinglong]

It's funny. Every time she sits next to him, he wants her closer. He scoots his chair right up next to her, leaning on his elbow to accept the cake.

"I thought you were my present, today," he teases.

[chiefdefense]

"I thought you already used that line on me," she retorts, kissing him on the lips once he's taken his helping of cake from her. "Just because you've married me it doesn't mean you can let your material get stale."

She pulls out a little wrapped box tied in ribbon and puts it in front of him.

"This is your present for now."

It had taken her a little bit of effort to find it, but she knew the moment he had asked her to marry him that his wedding gift would be a magatama of his own, made of amber and custom ordered way back before New Year. She was relieved that the order had still been processed after the ugly business with time travel.

That bouquet and garter thing

[pullsheavendown]

[So Roxas has only been to a couple of weddings, and he spent most of Jinx's standing where she wanted him to for pictures, and then did some dancing afterward. There had been nothing involving a garter, or trying to get it. He hadn't even wanted to get this one, but someone had shoved him up with the crowd.

So he had it now. And Ahiru had caught the bouquet.

Welp.]

[motioned]

[She actually has no clue what this tradition is, so she's just going to stare at him in confusion as she catches him looking in her direction.]

Um... Roxas?