RP:Hitched
Summary: Callum and Meri are married, and something is not quite right with Brand. Oh my!
The Tranquility
Meri is somewhere on the ship. Khitti has surely set Meri up into a room where she can change, have a mild panic attack, probably do a couple shots of whiskey. It's not that Meri was having doubts, but it was a nerve-wracking moment in anyone's life. Would something go wrong? Would she trip and fall on her face as she made her way down the isle? Thankfully they did not have much of an audience, but she has a feeling that the current audience would never let her forget the moment. Brand. Looking at you, Brand. Would Fleur manage to behave herself? Or would she have a screaming melt down in the middle of the ceremony? At some point, the signal comes for Meri to get her butt in gear and actually walk down the isle. Cal and Brand were already there waiting, and it was one of those waits were almost every moment feels ten times longer than it actually was. Meri had commented to Cal that whatever she wears to the wedding would probably not be overly flashy, and she was true to this promise...as if he had any doubts. Meri's not wearing an ounce of white. Her dress is instead a green one, Cal's favorite color green to be specific, and is a simple cut made out of flowing material. Meri makes her approach of Callum and Brand, with no falling involved.
Oh god. Ohgodohgodohgod. How’s my hair? Does it look good? Is it better than Brand’s? Did I set the table up with the jars of sand and unity tree properly? This had been going through Cal’s head for a while now. Even now as he’s able to see that yes, indeed, he did set up the table and the little jars of Cenril and Rynvale sand and the small empty vase they were to be poured in after Brand was finished Branding up the place and also put the tiny tree sapling he’d found recently (and treated like it was his own child) beside the jars. His hair was nice too. Maybe not quite as nice as it had been during the winter ball Lanara and Talyara threw last year, but still. He did not go all out for this, but he did wear his usual black suit, waistcoat, and favorite green shirt. It matched Meri’s. It’s hella cute. Meri showed up and Callum got all heart-eyes. He even started tearing up a bit. Why’s she so hot? What did he do to deserve this? Sorry, guys. Cal’s more in touch with his emotions that most dudes. He could only blink at Meri a few times, offer her a slight, cheesy grin, and then looked at Brand. Don’t frak this up, Captain Hotpants. Meanwhile, a certain redhead was downstairs making their food. She wanted to be up here, but also who the heck else were they gonna have make dinner -and- their cake? Of course she volunteered as tribute.
Brand wasn’t feeling quite himself, lately. He told himself he was coming down with something, though he couldn’t put a name to the kind of sickness that made one hallucinate growing -scales- of all things. And it was getting worse. The visions lasted longer. The scales, when he could see them, were all the way past his knees now and down both arms and coiling around his neck. They itched. Always, they itched. He didn’t know what it meant that no one else could see what was happening to him. He figured he was just finally losing the last of his marbles, and had accepted it with a kind of weary resignation.
But insanity would take some time to fully roost, and in the meantime there was a wedding to be officiated. Brand would be damned before he’d let a friend down for something so important as a wedding. Yes, he admitted a wedding was something important, even if only to himself. He was wearing his finest formal captain garb and trying not to itch too much, a problem only compounded by the scratchy fabric the clothes had been made from. Still, he looked damn good. A damn fine captain. Meri arrived, and Brand cleared his throat. “So, uh… welcome. Do we want the short version or the long version? I prepared some notes, but, well...” He pulled a sheet of paper from out of his breast pocket. It had had words on it at some point, but now there were only chickens. He didn’t know how Dominic kept getting into his office unsupervised, or how he managed to pick the -worst- possible things for him to scribble all over. He thought he’d learned to be careful after something very similar had happened at his own wedding, but… alas.
Everyone on this ship was definitely looking fine today, but obviously Meri has a strong bias toward Callum. He's the the hottest, except Meri didn't get to dwell on that for too long. The blonde was starting to think that perhaps they should have run a test run on this. Why was Brand asking questions about long or short versions. Shouldn't he have that decided already?! If Meri wasn't so shocked, she might have paid more attention to Brand's current state, you know, with the excessive itching. Even if he was trying his best to ignore the itch, it was probably noticeable enough. Except Meri was very nervous right now and Brand was only making that worse. Blue eyes end up focusing on the teary-eyed Callum for guidance. "A...version that involves us getting married?" Meri says slightly hesitantly, looking to Cal for a potentially smarter answer. If only Meri caught a glimpse at those notes. She would be both dismayed and amused at the same time, it is evidently possible.
Callum’s tears dried up pretty quickly when Brand asked his very Brand-esque question. Yes. Cal can answer this for you, Meri. He’s a fully functioning adult that can make decisions about lots of things and not just the type of hair product he’s going to use on certain days. “Short version.” His stomach growled; he could smell Khitti’s food cooking down inside the ship. “Yes. Definitely the short version.” The wolf was hungry, Brand. Give food plz. Cal cleared his throat awkwardly and looked back at Meri. He blinked innocently. Cal might’ve forgotten to eat breakfast. Cal also was resisting the urge to ask Brand about his itching. Did Brand’s wife know about the itching? Did he go to Hudson’s strip club? Callum always was skeptical of the cleanliness of that place. But, Healer-Cal does not ask. Maybe later. Or maybe he’ll be nice and send along some sort of itch relief salve. Something. Anything.
“Okay. Cool.” Brand stood up straight and tried to look as formal as he could manage. He paused to clear his throat again, but by that point he was really just stalling and he couldn’t do it for long. “Meri. Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, until death do you part?” He’d wait for the answer, then address Cal. “Cal. Uh, same question. Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, tohaveandtoholduntildeathdoyoupart?” Did he say the thing right? Did he forget anything? It was a good thing he wasn’t the one getting married, because he -still- managed to almost collapse from nervousness.
Callum would definitely be telling Meri later. He just can’t say it in front of Brand! Brand’s too much of a dudebro for emotions. He wouldn’t understand. At least, that’s what Cal thought. How could anyone like Brand have feelings beside anger? Okay, so there’s obvious anxiety too, but… that aside. Cal smooched his woman back and nodded. “Yes please.” He’d let her lead the way, stopping only for a moment on his way down into the ship to whisper to Brand, “You realize if you have an itching problem that I can help, right? Literally an alchemist.” Brand would know this. Khitti had been getting that burn salve she still occasionally needs from Cal for quite awhile now. Oh and that birth control tea too. But also, Callum was being nice to Captain Hotpants, because Captain Hotpants was nice and officiated their wedding. Cal would not linger up top for long, however. His stomach was growling again.
Well Meri, what did you expect from Brand officiating a wedding? If this was his version of 'the short version', she was semi curious to know the long version. The blonde stares at the Captain, a bit of a lift to her brow. It's right about the time that she's supposed to do that say whole 'I do' bit that Meri looks back to Callum. Despite her lowkey want to smack Brand upside the head right about now, Meri manages to focus on her very-soon-to-be-husband. It's still a happy moment, aye? So Meri smiles, "I absolutely do." Are they pouring sand now? Kissing? Doing both at the same time and making a complete mess of it? Meri revisits that thought that maybe they should have practiced this a wee bit more.
Brand asked the thing. Meri said the thing. And likely to Meri’s relief, Callum did not actually hesitate to say the thing either. “Of course I do,” he said with a smirk. They may not have practiced how this whole ceremony was going to go, but Cal remembered what to do! “So, uh…” That didn’t mean he wasn’t still nervous though. “There’s this thing… In Catal. With the sand.” He’s lying. He read it in a mushy romance book when he was ten.“I’m too nervous to actually remember any other details besides: it’s basically to represent the blending of two people’s lives.” He coughed awkwardly again, blushing somewhat because also that was a teeny tiny lie too. He read that book so many times he still had it memorized. “So, to put our own spin on it--” He motioned to the first jar, “--that one’s from here in Cenril. Meant to represent us meeting here.” This sand was very light in color, quite the opposite to Rynvale’s, which was much darker--nearly black--because of the island’s volcanic activity. “And this one is for Rynvale, which is where we’re going to plant our roots at.” Haha, get it. Plant joke. “Er… again.” He meant they’re getting a second house there. “And the tree is to replace the one Khitti got rid of. As a new start.” The Caiburne tree. The tree that Callum will not actually go into further detail about for obvious reasons. So, whenever Meri was ready, he’d pick up whichever jar of sand that Meri did not, and start pouring his in, alternating between the two so they layered together. And when they were done? Brand could say the thing. You know. The whole “husband and wife” bit.
Brand didn’t remember any such custom about sand or dirt, but thankfully for Cal he’d written it off as perhaps something specific to a particular region. Catal was a pretty big place, after all, and Brand hadn’t been to all of it. Perhaps Cal was from a remote fishing village somewhere. Anyway, Brand would wait until all the sand had been poured before taking one each of Meri’s and Cal’s hands and joining them together. “By the power vested in me by the harbor city of Cenril and by my role as captain of the Tranquility, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” Congrats! You did the thing!
Brand didn’t remember any such custom about sand or dirt, but thankfully for Cal he’d written it off as perhaps something specific to a particular region. Catal was a pretty big place, after all, and Brand hadn’t been to all of it. Perhaps Cal was from a remote fishing village somewhere. Anyway, Brand would wait until all the sand had been poured before taking one each of Meri’s and Cal’s hands and joining them together. “By the power vested in me by the harbor city of Cenril and by my role as captain of the Tranquility, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” Congrats! You did the thing!
Wow Cal! Starting the marriage out with tiny lies! It's fine, Meri's pretty oblivious right now. One might hope that she knows Cal well enough to pick up on any subtle hints that he might be telling even tiny white lies...but! This is a happy moment, so she's not overthinking it. The sand is poured in layers, the two creating a lovely little piece of sand art that would find a place in their home. Probably in the living room, or maybe in their bedroom...but probably the living room. Brand declares them husband and wife, and Meri cheers and then promptly plants a smooch on Callum. After said smooch, she asks, "So we're off to eat and drink now, hm?" Cal's stomach is probably about to answer with a resounding yes, eh?
Callum would definitely be telling Meri later. He just can’t say it in front of Brand! Brand’s too much of a dudebro for emotions. He wouldn’t understand. At least, that’s what Cal thought. How could anyone like Brand have feelings beside anger? Okay, so there’s obvious anxiety too, but… that aside. Cal smooched his woman back and nodded. “Yes please.” He’d let her lead the way, stopping only for a moment on his way down into the ship to whisper to Brand, “You realize if you have an itching problem that I can help, right? Literally an alchemist.” Brand would know this. Khitti had been getting that burn salve she still occasionally needs from Cal for quite awhile now. Oh and that birth control tea too. But also, Callum was being nice to Captain Hotpants, because Captain Hotpants was nice and officiated their wedding. Cal would not linger up top for long, however. His stomach was growling again.
Brand smiled weakly. “The salt water dries my skin out this time of year. It’s nothing to worry about.” His throat felt dry, too. He’d down an entire jug of water after the newlyweds left, then spend some time itching in the privacy of a bathroom before joining the reception. Nothing to see here. No problems at all.