Day 19 - Time for a Wedding

[achickenformylove]

Who: Lan WangJi, Wei WuXian and anyone else who wants to attend!
Where: Garden carriage and then gym car
When: Day 19 of Egret
What: Wedding! Wedding reception and lots of food.
Warnings: Pretty much up in the air. But there will likely a lot of PDA's from the wedding couple during the reception... because that's how they roll

Finally, it was Day 19, the day that WangJi and WuXian had chosen for their wedding.

Ceremony
Inside the garden, everything had been decorated in red and gold, traditional colors for a wedding in China. There were flowers and a low table set up.

As the ceremony begins, Lan WangJi and Wei WuXian enter with Lan Sizhui and Wen Qing as their attendants. The wedding clothes for WangJi and WuXian are also red, with designs of forest animals in the designs sewn in, including frogs and rabbits. All of this was courtesy of their friendly neighborhood spider. WuXian was also wearing a red veil over his hair and face. Even WangJi’s ever-present forehead ribbon was red today instead of white.

As the pair approached the table, WuXian on one side and WangJi on the other, they alternated bowing to each other three times before kneeling. With the help of their attendants, they each drank a cup of tea, which they used their long sleeves as though hiding that they were doing so behind them. Once they had put the cups down, WangJi reached up, pushing the veil back so that he could see WuXian’s face before removing the forehead ribbon he’d been wearing. Taking WuXian’s hand, he used to make kind of a loose knot between their two wrists, a Gusu Lan symbol that WuXian was his fated partner. Then as they carefully stood, WangJi leaned in to kiss WuXian before they both bowed to their attendants, thanks for assisting them and being there for them.

Reception
Following the wedding ceremony itself, the party then moved to the gym car, where the reception and feast were being held. Like the decorations for the wedding, it was also a lot of red and gold. To those who didn’t know beforehand, it would likely be obvious that red and gold here very important.

Lots of food cooked by wonderful volunteers from the train. Of course, there had to be dessert, which was the cake baked by the couple’s son, Lan Sizhui.

As the wedding couple, they were rather happily seated together of course. WangJi had since replaced the forehead ribbon on his head, but there was a high likelihood that sometime during the party WuXian was going to end up wearing it around his wrist.

[ooc: Mingle post! Feel free to make your own top levels and tag around and have fun. Also, in the picture, ignore the hat for WangJi’s robes. He’s not wearing a hat]

Comments

[pleple]

Usually, they have parents to use as a foundation - those that don't are often lost to tragic fates. Ple Two has been able to find parental figures just in time, by arriving here.

Curufin's mother in particular has become something of a lifeline. "He's quite a layered individual, I think." Pleasant to talk to. Youthful but cynical, like Ple Two. "I don't know about things like... color matching complexion."

[so_dark_a_road]

True enough. Parents are really important for that foundation, a baseline of values to start from. Pie Two is welcome to adopt Curufin's mother as a parental figure. Nerdanel is kind, loving, intelligent, talented, and she raised seven rambunctious boys without a misstep. No one could be more qualified!

"Joss is certainly complex. I don't know him well, even though he's my roommate, but I know that. There's much more to him than some people seem to assume. Bright and cynical, yes, and sometimes sarcastic. But also, devoted to anyone who befriends him."

He chuckles. "Fashion is a mystery. The only reason I know anything about how colors go with a particular person's skin is because I'm a craftsman."

btw thats P L E

[pleple]

"He's worth befriending, certainly." And the mystery of people seeming to like her continues.

"What manner of materials do you work with?"

Ple Two, got it! Sorry! Sent you a Plurk friend request, btw.

[so_dark_a_road]

"He is. And so are you."

Materials, then. "I'm primarily a metalsmith, but I'm also a carpenter, a stonemason, and an architect. Do you have any crafts?"

o/

[pleple]

"If you're so... so sure of it." Accepting affection isn't easy, but she's not as bad at it as she was?

"A broad set of skills." Of course, with however many centuries to practice... "I'm... not so productive, myself."

\o

[so_dark_a_road]

"I am sure," he answers, with a smile.

"We Elves had to build a civilization. Twice. So it paid to learn those kinds of skills. And anyway, I love making things. If the crafts don't interest you, do you have other interests?"

[pleple]

Everyone is sure. It feels... nice. People like her.

"...I just want to... learn how to be a person. My talents are as a soldier." Unsettling, to be sure, coming from a child.

[so_dark_a_road]

People do like her!

"Wanting to be a person is a noble aspiration. Being a soldier is useful, and sometimes essential." Her being a child-soldier would unsettle a lot of people, but not Curufin, whose experiences include more than five and a half centuries of war.

"My son was a soldier when he was no older than you. What kind of a person do you aspire to be?"

[pleple]

He's seen all kinds of war, all the ways it can destroy. ...she'd imagine he's seen people build themselves back up as well.

No older than her physically, or literally? She wonders, doesn't know much about his people. "Even that... I know I would like it if people can rely on me. That's all I know."

[so_dark_a_road]

True, he's seen both the destruction and the re-creation. And he's been a part of both.

His son was no older than her physically. Elves are on a different timeline both in adulthood and in childhood. "I can't imagine a better thing to wish for, if you are thinking of who you might be in a community. And that's a thing others can help you with, mainly by letting you know they believe in you. I do."

[pleple]

And that's something Ple Two is going to be curious about, if she spends more time with them.

Not that the timeline here should matter terribly much. They won't be here for decades. Right?

"I... still feel like I need to earn a lot of people's trust. Yours, still, certainly, even if you have good reason." Anyone she hasn't personally seen to fighting alongside. "And hopefully in ways beyond just... war, I think."

[so_dark_a_road]

The Elves will be pleased to have her spend more time with them!

Most people are probably hoping they won't be here for decades. The timeline of Elves and mortals shouldn't matter much, in that case.

"I understand. The trust of a person's community is important. We all feel that way. But remember that what you think of yourself is important, too. I feel that you already have earned my trust, and I'm mostly concerned that you choose your own goals and decide your own actions. But yes, trust goes beyond the goals of war, I strongly believe that."

He smiles. "You're talking to an Elf who had to work pretty hard to gain the trust of others. So, I can sympathize with your concerns."

[pleple]

It is perhaps even easier to ignore the differences between their lives here. They're all in the same boat.

"I can't tell you not to trust me at least." She's putting higher standards on herself than others. Even to Ple Two it's obvious what she's doing, but that doesn't mean she'll stop doing it.

"I'll work on determining who I am, and what I want... bit by bit. I do trust you too, by the way." Important to add, she feels.

Good place to wrap?

[so_dark_a_road]

They are indeed all in the same boat. . . er, train!

He smiles at her. "If you did, I'd ignore that and trust you anyway. And thank you for your trust in me. It makes a difference." She's wise enough to speak of her trust in him, and that intuitive wisdom she possesses is another reason he has a positive view of her.