driftfleet | ( open ) you are cordially invited...

Entry tags:

( open ) you are cordially invited...

Who: EVERYONE!
Broadcast: Nope
Action: Jim Kirk and Victor Frankenstein's wedding, and everyone is invited!
When: March 30th

The Bachelor Party (( CLOSED to invited CR ))

The evening before the wedding, Jim and Victor gather up their closest friends, admittedly not many when they haven't been on the Fleet for that long. Bachelor parties would usually happen in separate, but that's difficult to do when they share so many friends, and so they decide to throw the party together.

The setting is simple but cozy; they've picked out a small pub in town, and reserved a rustic little room in the basement. There's a large table with a few games, most notably a chessboard, and a sitting area with couches and chairs gathered around a coffee table, in front of a lit up fireplace. On a small bar by the corner there are a few drinks on offer, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, and on a table next to it there is a selection of snacks and various kinds of finger foods to make for a light but hopefully filling dinner.

Courtesy of Kirk 1.0, there's also a music system and a microphone set up next to the sitting area, and you know what that means... karaoke! It's guaranteed to be more fun the drunker you get. Speaking of drunker, someone will definitely be tossing around the idea for strip chess, so hopefully you won't get too embarrassed if people start losing pieces of clothing. But hey, at least everyone's a winner.

The party will go well into the night, and Jim and Victor likely won't leave until everyone else does. So feel free to stick around, play games, sing songs and get drunk... if you get really drunk, you can always make yourself comfortable on one of the couches and fall asleep there. (The patrons can just kick you out eventually, it's okay.)

You Are Cordially Invited... (( OPEN to everyone! ))

The preparations were rushed and the invitations sent out in a bit of a hurry, but it's not like there's ever a lot of time to prepare for a wedding, when one doesn't want to do it aboard one of the ships. But everything seems to be well put together, and there's a very rustic and homely feel from the moment you arrive.

The ceremony proper happens at the lodge, a spot that has been set up with a few seats and a set of stairs leading up to a small canopy, all of it decorated with white fabric and an abundance of flowers. It's short and sweet, and after vows are exchanged and a few words from the one performing the ceremony (hopefully no one will find it too weird that it's the other Jim), they slip on their rings and share a kiss, delighted to let the celebrations continue onto the reception.

With Jim and Victor taking the lead, the guests are walked across a bridge, lit with candle lanterns, strings of white flowers embellishing the wooden frame. The good portion of the reception is outside, and everything is decorated with lanterns, string lights hanging everywhere and resembling stars more and more as the sun starts to set, and (yes, you guessed it) more flowers.

As a matter of fact, there are flowers a little all over the place. In jars hanging from trees, tied to the backs of chairs, bundled up in crates that are spread out all over the area. The food is set up on large tables, divided by starters, main dishes and desserts, the wedding cake having its own smaller but more prominent stand near the dessert table. There are no assigned seats, however. After all, everyone was invited and it's not like there are that many people on the Fleet, so just grab a plate, help yourself, and take a seat wherever! You might even find a few of the locals joining in on the party a little later, but both grooms seem more than happy to welcome them too.

The party goes on a little into the night. Everyone is free to hang around for as long as they want, or leave early if you're scared of the dark...

but don't worry, there are lights all over the place! There are also plenty of cozy little nooks and corners where guests can make themselves comfortable, and if you start to get a little chilly, feel free to borrow one of the many blankets on offer, or simply head into the indoors portion of the reception. It's small but there are a few seats and even a fireplace to keep the place warm.

If you like sitting by a fire but would much rather stay outside, a small campfire will be lit up just before the sun starts to set, and a small table with plates of something that looks close to marshmallows, chocolate and biscuits set up nearby. Have a seat around the fire and build your own s'more, and toss in a campfire song or two if you're feeling inspired.

And of course, can't have a wedding without a dance floor! Or two, as it so happens: one indoors, and another one outside, the latter far more enchanting, with endless string lights hanging high above a flat wooden platform.

There's a fairly modern music system so you might recognize a lot of late 20th and early 21st music playing, but for those more musically inclined there are also plenty of local instruments you can pick up and try your luck at playing a song, or even sing.

The party is very loose and carefree. Do what you want, come and go as you please, steal either of the grooms away for a dance, or find a pair among the other guests... whatever you want to do, and however long you want to stay, feel free to do as you please!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Fortunately, I think the cryptids are pretty limited to the forest. Maybe don't go camping for your honeymoon, [Bucky chuckles, even if there's something a little tight in his voice. He had a really bad experience with a cryptid, okay. He'd rather the same kind of thing not happen to anyone else.

Still, he nods, and the smile gets a little more relaxed.] Honestly, I think that's probably how you're supposed to do it. It shouldn't change much, you know? So - that's a good sign.

You two gonna move in together? Or are you already sharing a bunk?

[Is this too personal? Oh well, it's out of his mouth now. He swears to god, he used to be tactful, once upon a time, Then again, that tact is mostly - old-fashionedly - reserved for women.]

Oh, don't tell that to Victor, he'd get all kinds of ideas.

[ He laughs, but actually he is serious. Sounds like the kind of stuff Victor would love to do, and Jim would've been all too happy to oblige him. Well, maybe not for their honeymoon, he does have a special surprise set up for that.

The question gets an amused smile from him, and he shakes his head. ]

We've been living together for nearly a year now. We had a house and everything, back in Riverview. It's... a bit of a tight fit here by comparison, but yeah. We share a bunk. The two of us and our dog.

Hopefully you'll be able to distract him from any bright ideas he might get, [Bucky teases, though he kind of means it, too. He has had some not-so-great encounters, and he doesn't want anyone else to have the same.

At the explanation, he nods, blowing out a breath.] A whole house, wow. That's a good deal. [Of course, it's a great deal, he figures, just finding each other again here. He knows how that feels, a little, if not in the same context.] Wait - you've got a dog? On a spaceship?

[Well. They are decently sized spaceships...]

Well, I am pretty good at distracting him. [ He winks, then laughs, shrugging it off. Victor's got a thing for the macabre as much as Jim has a penchant for risk and adventure. It means that a planet like this is perfect for them... they just have to remember to keep each other in check, so they don't get themselves into any serious trouble. ]

Oh, yeah. We've got a dog. [ He looks around briefly, then points towards the German Sheppard currently lounging underneath one of the trees lit up with string lights, cuddling what looks to be a favorite toy of his. ] That's John.

[That gets a chuckle out of Bucky, until he follows Jim's indication and -

He whistles.] I was thinkin' one of those little dogs. That is a dog.

A handsome one, though. Where'd you get him?

[ Jim snorts. ] Really? We look like tiny dog people to you?

[ Not that Jim chose John, to be fair. It was more the other way around. But details. ]

Back in Riverview, originally. He was a stray that followed me into work every day. I thought he'd been left behind when we came here, but on our first planet here there was this... wishing tree? And Victor got him there.

Not at all, [Bucky admits, grinning.] But the bunks sure seem like tiny dog homes, is all.

[Still - ] Wow. That's sure something. [Something good, really - it seems like things are coming together for these two, and that's a good thing, in his book.] Sounds like a damn useful tree. And he's the same dog?

Yeah, they're a little small, but we manage. [ And John's a very obedient dog, he doesn't tend to be all over the place. Plus, whenever he and Victor want some alone time, John will happily sleep outside the room, or elsewhere on the ship. ]

So far as I can tell, yeah. I couldn't tell you how the tree worked, but it seemed to be able to gift people with various personal items, so probably some sort of materialization mechanic? We didn't have much time to look into it. Besides, it was... special, for the locals. We were just grateful for what it gave us.

[Bucky glances at John again, but he smiles.] There is something about not looking a gift horse in the mouth - gift tree, I guess.

I'm glad it gave you something you wanted, though. [Honestly, their situation sounds almost downright domestic, given the circumstances - but then again, they did just get married. Bucky isn't surprised.]

You know, two fellas couldn't have done this, when I was a kid, [he points out softly, in a way that hopefully says he's glad it's changed, that it's different here, too.]

Yeah, me too.

[ Then again, that was how the tree worked. So long as they gave something, they'd get something they wanted, even if they might not know they wanted it at the time. ]

That so? [ He looks around them, humming thoughtfully. ] That's too bad. Thankfully, times change. And I'm glad we could get married here, too.

[Bucky shakes his head.] They would've been charged and jailed... if they'dve made it to the police station alive.

[It's certainly not that people weren't queer, they just had to be very, very quiet about it. Or, at least, it had been in their best interests.

But,] I'm glad, too. And that's on top of this being the best party I've been to in decades, [he adds, with a smile.] Sometimes the world does change for the better. It's good, getting to see that. Maybe being a part of it - at least, a guy can hope.

I probably wouldn't have done too well in a time like that.

[ He's honest about it, at least. He just wouldn't have given a shit, or he'd at least have been more open about it than most everyone else, which would no doubt have gotten him in plenty of trouble.

He's very grateful he didn't have to live in a time like that, though. For all that he loves the past, he's realistic enough to know that he wouldn't have enjoyed living in it. ]

Sorry, [ He chuckles, smiling apologetically. ] Bit of an unfortunate topic. Ah... not going back to your world, then?

Some guys didn't, [Bucky agrees. Most kept their heads down. But not all. He'd met a couple, back home and in the Army; never had a problem with what they did, biblically, but he'd wanted no part in the trouble that had been more than likely to rain down on their heads.]

Nah - my fault for bringing it up. Sorry, I used to be better at parties, [Bucky says, a little ruefully, and certainly a bit apologetically.] No, I - definitely need to get back. There's a lot to do. Now I know some of it, if it's going to be anything like what's happened to the people in universes similar enough to mine. That's weird, too - well, maybe you understand. Finding out your life is the same, but different, somewhere else.

[Although,] Wow - I really am shitty at parties. You're supposed to be paying attention to the here and now at your wedding, I'm pretty sure.

[ Jim lets out a soft chuckle, shaking his head at the apology. ]

It's fine. And yeah, I do understand. I'm... from a diverging timeline, myself, so I know all about another me having a similar but still different life from my own. Some things are a comfort to learn, but others... not so much.

[ He shrugs. ] It was hard to wrap my head around it at first. I was angry at some things, hurt by others. But you just learn to live with the knowledge. Can't live with 'what if's all the time, or else you'll never be moving forward.

[Bucky nods.] That's not living, second-guessing everything. [He's been through it, and come out (mostly) okay on the other side.

Besides... it appears, based on what he's learned, that he was wrong about some things, and some things? He's very, very glad to be wrong about.]

Knowledge is supposed to be power, right? Even when it hurts. I think I've gotta believe that, or nothing really makes sense anymore.

Besides - seems like you've done pretty well, moving forward. [He sweeps his hand at the party, definitely smiling again.] I'm thinkin' I should follow your example - I mean. Not literally. I haven't even been on a date in... two years, or seventy. I'm not sure which to count.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( open ) you are cordially invited...

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