That Sacred Arrangement....

[all7seas]

Who: wise_maiden and lists_to_port; We are leaving this log WIDE OPEN. So if you are family or friends, you are invited and may mingle or gossip or be all dressed up or get drunk or do the electric slide or WHAT HAVE YOU. Are there any Wedding Crashers in Luceti? Ha!
What: Wedding
When: Monday afternoon
Where: That spot with the lilacs by the river in that meadow west of the village. You know that spot---we know you know that spot.
Summary: Jack and Raine get married, and everyone ships it hard forever.
Rating: G I expect? It's so hard to tell sometimes.



On the morning of his wedding, Jack sat bolt upright in bed and then vomited onto the floor. Several minutes after that were spent dry-heaving and gasping for breath, and then another several minutes crawling to the bathroom to put his head under the shower. Cold water---it brought back reality and rationality, and erased dreams of being a pirate and dying in some war and having a best mate and a lover who had always been forbidden him---ever since Jack Horner's lesson and the two weeks following it.

Sparrow figured it was a case of wedding nerves. Strange dreams were a new thing for him, after all--normally he slept dreamlessly and woke up alert.

Later, as he stood in the quiet meadow he and Raine had chosen for their ceremony among the fragrant lilac trees, that morning dream was forgotten. Sparrow was calm. Happy. Clean-shaven and dressed in the attire Buffy had picked out for him and eagerly waiting for his beautiful bride.

Comments

[all7seas]

"That IS a bit odd." At the mention of Jilly again he squirmed uncomfortably. "Sounds like a bit of the nerves, to me. What with----everything."

He meant her revelation to him about Horner and her future, but as stated it was rather wide open in its implications.

[herotypical]

"...If it is, then it's the most widespread case of nerves I've ever had the extreme displeasure to be a part of."

[all7seas]

"Maybe it's something to do with the Great One. I've always been a bit...

Nevermind. I should dress, perhaps...got my cufflinks and all."

[herotypical]

"Which is probably my cue to leave, right? Go away, Buffy, stop being the bearer of bad news on this happiest of happy days."

[all7seas]

This amused Jack. "What? Bad dreams aren't bad news, Buffy. Unless there's something else you've forgotten to tell me...?"

[herotypical]

"Nothing I've forgotten."

Plenty she simply chose to leave out. And she wanted to argue with him on the bad news classification of nightmares but that would involve dredging up how often her nightmares had come true, in the past. Premonitions of Shifts, mostly. But now other people were having the same dreams and that made her doubt the futureness of them. She curled a strand of hair behind her ear and looked in the direction of the door.

"Don't forget to tuck in your shirt, Sparrow."

[all7seas]

She was looking out for him again, as she always had. But now? Now Raine could take care of those things. "Aye; I'll....thank you, Buffy." He had tried to think of a sarcastic, joking reply, but nothing came except the gratitude. Sparrow wondered if she knew that he meant it in a much more large-scale way: not just a thank you for the throwaway advice, but for everything she'd done for him over the years.

[herotypical]

Buffy had a tough time discerning whether it was a wider thanks than it sounded. Maybe it meant very little and maybe he would simply be glad to be rid of her. The last week had felt so exceptionally strange in comparison to the rest of their lives -- like extra weight settled on their friendship and instinctive tension that she never remembered feeling before. Not like this. Not around him.

She didn't really want to say it but the sentiment and name came out a little too easily: "...Anytime, Jack."

[all7seas]

"Perhaps you should go, now. Not certain Horner would want you at mine for so long on a social call." There was also the matter of all that gold hidden in the fireplace and Buffy not being a fool.

[herotypical]

She took the implication rather heavily -- the dreams, of course, hadn't helped. And neither had all her talk of leaving her husband. Although it was a move she planned to make in a year or so, she took offense at how terribly Jack was suggesting this visit could be taken.

"This is me, leaving." Buffy shrugged as nonchalantly as she could and strode her way back to the door -- barreling right over that stain on the floor.

[all7seas]

So he'd somehow offended her, which added to Jack's confusion. He would have thought Buffy would agree with him on that account. For some reason, though, he could only look at the stain she'd crossed over.

"Right. Goodbye, Mrs. Horner."

[herotypical]

"Mmhm. Goodbye. Aye aye, cap--" Captain. She swallowed the word up and her shoulders shook a little with the effort. What was happening? It was as if stitches were coming undone and and all sorts of things were spilling out. Old habits that ever existed before and would never have a chance to exist again.

Buffy did not like this kind of confusion. She pulled the heavy wooden doors open and saw herself out without another word. Not even an attempt to correct herself. Not even a good-luck wish or anything sweet and kind and lovely like how she had somehow hoped to be. But this unsettling, possessive discomfort felt a whole lot more natural than that fake sweetness. And that confused her even more.

[all7seas]

And that exit left Jack Sparrow with many more whirling questions and confusions in his own mind, principal among them the whole "Was I a pirate and just FORGOT or something?" issue. Because Buffy's farewell had brought a somewhat similar discomfort to Jack's heart as well---one he felt he could banish by preparing to meet his bride.

So the groom began to prepare for his wedding day.