vdistinctive | At the docks, then out to sea, Sunday

The colors from the previous days were still holding, if maybe slightly more muted, Fandom's magic slowly fading but still managing to hang on for another day.

Seemed like a good omen as any for a wedding that Eliot still couldn't quite believe was happening.

Eliot's boat wasn't big enough for all their guests so they had "rented" (long story) a well-appointed yacht for the day. It was docked in the Port of Fandom, waiting for all the guests to board. Once the last person had crossed the gangplank, it sailed almost to the edge of the island, where blue water lapped with gray. Eliot's boat was already there, anchor down, Hardison in a tux, playing around with a sound system.

A few minutes to futz with mics and the speakers set up discreetly around the yacht came to life. "Testin'...Testin'..." Hardison murmured. Good. Everybody would be able to hear the ceremony on the second ship.

Looks like it was time to begin.

[TIME FOR A WEDDING! If you think you were invited, you were. Some OCD coming]

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"So," Anders said lightly, sipping from a champagne flute of his own, "does this count as getting two new stepparents for you?"

"Only by the barest of technicalities, I think," Kathy said, turning to give him a lingering look and a smile. "Hardison is more like the younger uncle type and Parker breaks out in hives whenever you mention the word 'parent' in relation to her."

She leaned in to kiss him. "I'm so glad you could make it."

Edited 2019-06-30 19:08 (UTC)

Anders returned the kiss, sweetly. "I wouldn't have missed it," he said. "I feel guilty enough about missing pride, and that'll happen again next year."

"They're just so happy together," she said, twining her fingers through his and looking at the three of them, standing close together, dipping fruit in a chocolate fountain and laughing. "It makes me happy to see it."

She squeezed his hand. "We were bummed you couldn't make it," she admitted. "But also so proud of you for taking care of all those people."

"Maybe that could be us in ten years," Anders said as he looked at the threesome, and somehow it didn't seem scary. It seemed sort of perfect.

He squeezed Kathy's hand back and smiled at her in return. "And thanks. It's rewarding, even if I do hate when it means I miss things."

"We have a lot work on Dante before then," Kathy said, twining her hands through Anders'. "He doesn't want to be married. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't, either."

"I'm not in a hurry," Anders quickly clarified. "You have to finish school, I have to figure out what I'm doing ... loads of things. But if we're still in love the way they are a few years down the road" -- he shrugged. "Why not? I'll help you work on Dante."

Kathy grinned at him. She wasn't sure there was any amount of 'working' on Dante that would really work, but that didn't mean she didn't like the sound of it anyway.

"I spent my whole life thinking I was gonna get married," she admitted. "All the traditional American trappings, even. I mean, I know marriage is a lot of work and weddings don't mean more than just, like, you wanted to spend a lot of money on a fancy party, but...There's something really beautiful about standing up in front of your whole community and saying, 'I love these people and want to spend the rest of my life with them.' Having a ring that's actually a promise that no matter how bad things are, we're gonna work through them. You know?"

"I know," Anders nodded. "And I'm with you. I always thought sooner or later, I'd end up with somebody I'd want to make that kind of promise to. I didn't think it'd be mtwo somebodies, but that just means we'd get a bigger party."

At the docks, then out to sea, Sunday

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