[PRP] Meddling Meetings (Alex & Yin)

[Seussi]

For once in Alexander's unlife, he was on his way to an appointment that he would not be late for, the main reason for this being the weremantis that stayed by his side as he skateboarded along the sidewalk on his way to a certain destination meeting place in Halloweentown. There was really no way in hell Yin would tolerate them being late for this, especially considering who they were to be meeting with.

Alex's mom. She wanted to go over wedding plans with the two of them.

The zomboil had a feeling that this was going to be an absolute nightmare, and not the good, delightful kind either.

He was chewing on his bottom lip as he rolled along, his hands shoved into his pockets as he mulled over what was to come. "She doesn't need to be involved in this at all, you know. She just likes to be in control of things, sometimes." It was hard to tell if he was actually talking to Yin, or just to himself, though his attention did at least shift towards the weremantis for a moment.

"What about your mother? Does Nurse Cricket want a say in anything? Family she wants to invite? We could always call her and invite her along..." He almost winced just suggesting it, because if there was anything worse then one meddling mother, it was two meddling mothers.

ramenli

idek

 

[ramenli]

Yin moved along, with few cares in the world. Of course he was a touch worried about seeing Lady Van Rotte again, for the first time since they had become engaged, but wedding plans were no big deal.

He did not even really think about Alexander's question. "If Mother wants anything I am sure we can make it happen. But I do not understand why this is such a big deal. Is not the ceremony short? How much can there be to plan?" Oh how little he knew about weddings and their plans.  

[Seussi]

It was probably Alexander's fault for not actually sitting down with Yin and explaining every little detail of a wedding to him. This was likely because to the zomboil it wasn't that big of a deal, not something to be seriously fussed over. If it were up to him, it would have just been simple, small. If he didn't have the family he did, that might have even been an obtainable goal.

But the family he had was not one that would except anything less then grandiose, something too large, too fancy, and far too overdone. An excuse for his mother to go all out. An excuse for his sisters to indulge themselves with starry eyed, to live out their own fantasies through Alex.

Well...except for the bride part, of course. Two grooms did not a majestic wedding full of frills and lace, and beautiful dresses make.

The zomboil had to hide his relief at hearing that the nurse did not need an invite to this meeting, but at the same time he was chagrined to learn that Yin still really had no idea how bad this could, and likely would, get.

"Have you met my mother? You do remember what she is like, right? Remember the uh...protection charms impromptu sexual education call over the computer? Remember how very unnecessary that was?" The look he gave Yin was full of dismay.

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[ramenli]

Yin was still blissfully unaware of what was going on in Alexander's head. To him it was as simple as a storybook ending, and that was basically what he knew. They get married and live happily ever after. Maybe some fancy clothes.

Of course that also meant he had no idea when he said it probably was not a big deal for his mother, and why he though little of how hard it might be to change some things once Lady Van Rotte had planned something.

Then Alexander startled him out of his bliss by bringing up something he had shoved under the surface. The flush in his cheeks was brilliant. "We are in public Alexander!" with no one else is heading range. "And besides, such...education has nothing to do with marriage!" There went the wedding night.  

[Seussi]

The zomboil reached up to run skeletal fingers through his hair, mentally counting to ten to try and keep himself from saying something stupid, biting his tongue, telling himself it wasn't Yin's fault that he was from somewhere completely different, that the last two and a half years was not enough time for him to have learned everything about everything.

Finally he just gave up, and his hand flopped down to his side, head tilting towards his bonded as he offered him a soft smile. "Oh come on, Yin. We're both adults, here! And besides, who's going to hear us?" He gestured around the incredibly empty street. "And also, considering you're choice to mentor under Nurse Cricket, this is a subject matter you must be willing to learn about, right? There must be plenty of diseases that can be related to it and---" Wait what?

Alexander stared at Yin. He stared as his skateboard rolled to a stop, as he stepped off of it and used his toes to kick it up into a standing position, as he scooped it up and tucked it under one arm. He stared at him for a good, long time, his smile gone and his eyebrows rising.

He shouldn't say anything. He shouldn't.

"What do you think married couples do together, Yin?" The question was blurted out. "I mean." His face began to feel suddenly warmer. "Not all of the time but, sometimes, when the mood strikes and..." Much warmer now. "You know, if both enjoy it enough to do it more often. It's not like...it's not like it's not okay to do!"

Okay that was said a bit loud, and he had to have another glance around to make sure they really were out of anybodies earshot. Realizing he had likely just gone over the line and far into uncomfortable territory for Yin, he lowered his voice considerably, "I'm sorry but it's an attraction thing, okay? And you don't marry somebody if you're not attracted to them." He hissed, before reaching out towards the other boils hand, quickly muttering.

"This is the place." And nodding towards the building at their side, with steps that led to the entrance way, and towards their doom that waited inside of it's walls. He had said too much, as usual, and embarrassingly so. But they were things he wanted to say just....this was not the place he had thought he'd be saying them.

Yin was right, this was far too public a place for a discussion like this. At least the other boil would have a better idea of where the zomboil stood on the subject now though, right?

...He suddenly realized he wanted to find a grave to bury himself in.

ramenli

lets try this again.

 

[ramenli]

Alexander was looking at it from a completely educational perspective, and Yin could handle that. Yes, from a healing perspective there were things he needed to know, but those were primarily related to the aftermath of such activities, not the activities themselves. He was just about ready to explain that to Alexander when the zomboil came to a slow halt, staring at him. Just staring.

Yin almost started to reach out, to ask Alexander if he was okay, when suddenly there was a question dangling in the air. What did married couples do? They did normal things. Hanging out, living together...things they really did already. But Alexander's skin was looking a touch darker than usual and before he could really debate the merits of taking the zomboil's temperature Alexander tried to clarify what he was saying. It wasn't until the ending outburst that Yin realized he was not just talking about what married couples did in general, and instead was referring back to the sex talk. Which meant he was probably actually referring to...

Yin's cheeks practically exploded with color. He was trying to process what was happening, choosing for the moment to just try to put it behind him since there was something else to focus on. He darted past Alexander, going to hold open the door, and finally, one, lonely, tiny little nightlight of a light bulb clicked on. As Alexander walked past he he would more than likely hear a soft query. "You find me attractive?" Sure, Alexander sometimes told him he looked nice when they got dressed up and things, and he knew without a doubt that Alexander liked him, but attractive? Really?  

[Seussi]

Alexander was turning away from Yin before the other boil even darted up the stairs to get the door, finding it harder and harder to look at him now that he had let slip so much that he thought about but never could bring himself to say. With the weremantis no longer looking at him, he closed his eyes tight and reached up with his hand to smack himself in the forehead several times, as if that would get his brain to work properly, to keep him from babbling on and on about things better left talked about on an occasion that didn't follow with sitting across a table from his mother in just a few minutes time.

With a huff of a sigh, he began to make his way up the stairs, toes scraping against the cement, and when he reached the doorway, he began to shuffle through, and then stopped halfway at Yin's soft words, quiet enough that the zomboil wondered if he had perhaps misheard him.

Continuing on another step and a half, he stopped again, and then turned, and then lifted up a hand to the top of the doorframe, not a large stretch for a zomboil who was 6'5" and hopefully now finished growing. He then leaned forward, looking at Yin for a time. He had already embarrassed himself so much that it really didn't even seem to matter what he said or did to top it all off.

His eyes drifted slowly down the boil, then back up again, mismatched eyes resting on green, as slowly a crooked little smile spread across his lips. "Of course I do. You're ridiculously attractive. I want you, but not, at least, until you're my husband." Bold words, but the truth, and one the zomboil was perhaps just tired of keeping to himself. They were going to be graduated soon, and married...this was the kind of thing they should be able to say to each other!

The smile slipped away, his gaze becoming serious. "If that's not what you want then now would be a really good time to let me know."

In the middle of a doorway. On their way to meeting Alex's mom. That's where he was choosing to have this conversation.

Yep.

ramenli

 

[ramenli]

Yin had not meant his words to cause any reaction, he was merely stating fact. That this was part of the factor as well. Obviously Alexander did not find him hideous, but attractive was a new development. He was about to follow Alexander inside when the zomboil turned, lanky frame filling most of the doorway. Lengthwise at least.

Yin wasn't used to such scrutiny. It was not a question of "do you currently think I am attractive exactly the way I stand now," and so this was really rather ridiculous, and Yin had no idea where to look. Finally his eyes caught on Alexander's, watching a smile grow, and a shiver seemed to run up his spine. Something was different here.

There was a very real possibility that Alexander was going to make him pass out. His cheeks were practically radiating heat, and he might have absentmindedly tugged at his collar as his gaze fell to a really, really interesting nick in the door. How did that get there. Then there, in the doorway of planning his own wedding, he was faced with one question he most liked to try not to think about. Something that he had only thought about in his dreams really, when not once, but twice, he had dreamed of kissing Alexander and whispering to his bonded that it was okay when the zomboil tried to pull away from it before he got lost in it all. That they did not have to stop. Dreams that had embarrassed him and he had refused to think about, even though from there it had just faded to black.

"Of course it is what I want," Yin muttered, a hint sullenly. "I simply did not realize it would be so soon as the wedding night." First anniversary, maybe.  

[Seussi]

There was no way of Alexander to know that those dreams existed in Yin's head, or that his bonded had ever had them. It was not something they typically discussed, in such as it was not something to be discussed at all. An unspoken agreement to not take things further during their increasingly more frequent make out sessions. As he stood there and gazed at his bonded, all he could really wonder is if the other boil was going to say no, and they were both, at this moment, going to realize they were making a mistake. Bonded they could be, as Alex could not picture an unlife without Yin being a part of it, but married? Not if everything that was important to make a relationship work was just going to be one sided. If they were going to go through with this, he had to know that he and Yin were at least on the same page.

When the other boils cheeks began to turn red, Alex was almost positive he was going to turn to go back outside, if only to get some air and clear his head. He did, at least, reach out towards him, offering his hand in case he needed something to hold on to, a concerned look creasing his features when he realized that he really might have actually caused Yin a significant amount of distress.

But then Yin muttered something, and while it was sullen, it had the zomboil suddenly beaming from ear to ear, moving so that he was no longer leaning against the door frame, taking a step back, offering out his hand for Yin to take. "I love you." He stated, and that was all, not bothering to argue the entire wedding night part of Yin's dismayed realization. If they had been anywhere else, somewhere more private, he likely would have leaned in to give him a kiss on his cheek, despite the fact that they looked like they were aflame.

"Now, are you ready to spend hours discussing colors, decor, food, table settings, flower arrangements, clothing, invitations, music selections and locations?" He asked, trying to make it all sound oh so pleasant when really on the inside Alexander was sobbing like a scareling.  

[ramenli]

For a moment clawed hands slipped into a cool one, squeezing a bit as his answer to Alexander's words. Then he remembered where they were, and he let go, cheeks still merrily burning though perhaps with a bit less intensity. It would be for the best if they just found Lady Van Rotte and forgot all about this conversation. And they should not bring it up again. That would be nice, other than the fact that he could not explain his reasoning to Alexander. There was no need to wait to get married, but doing things that married couples did could wait quite a bit longer in his eyes. Even if the zomboil would be cleaned up and looking his best on that day.

Except for the last part. Yin rather enjoyed Alexander expressing his feeling for him when he was happy and not upset.

Alexander's voice, per usual, cut through his thoughts. Yin finally cracked a smile, opening up a bit to the zomboil's charm. "Hours? I see your sense of humor is in full force today." He finally caught sight of Lady Van Rotte and halted in his tracks to give her an initial bow of greeting before continuing to move toward her. ""None of that should take very long." There were only a few colors after all, and he could care less about flowers. It would probably all be sorted out by the time they finished a cup of tea, if they had cups of tea at least.  

[Seussi]

For the brief moment that Alexander held a clawed hand within his own, he squeezed back, reassured that their marriage was still the right course of action to take, even if Yin was still all about taking things as slow as inhumanly possible, which was funny considering how he liked to rush around to accomplish everything else while it was the zomboil who preferred to take the slow and easy route.

Strange how these things worked.

Yin's smile, while usually a welcome sight, nearly had the zomboil face palming, though he instead opted to just keep up his own cheerful facade. Yin thought that he was joking? Really? "You have no idea how much I wish this was funny." He said, giving his head a shake, tone much less then amused as he struck out next to Yin further into the building, coming to what appeared to be a comfortable looking lobby area with large couches and a low table strewn with magazines, a large desk against one wall with a female zombie behind it, answering phones and putting creeple on hold.

It was next to that where Alex's mother stood, a warm smile spreading at the sight of her oldest son and her favorite future son-in-law. She made her way towards them with her slightly unsteady gait, inclining her head politely towards Yin as he bowed.

"Yin Cang, Alexander." Her smiling face turned towards her son and she moved towards him to give him a hug in greeting before stepping back, beaming up at him with what could only be a look of pride and excitement lighting up her eyes. "If you'll both just follow me, I am borrowing an office for the afternoon. I've taken the liberty of ordering lunch to be delivered in approximately an hour, and then when we're finished, maybe we can all go for some dinner?"

Alexander looked over at Yin, giving him his best 'see I told you.' look.

Lady Van Rotte then turned and hobbled away down a hallway, and the boils had no choice but to follow behind until they reached the office in question, where they could both slip inside and find themselves a place to sit across from Alex's mother at a large desk made of dark wood.

"Sooooo, where shall we begin then....." She muttered to herself thoughtfully, loud enough for both boils to hear though it was obviously not a question meant for either of them to answer. She settled herself down into her seat looking down,reaching out to pull open a large desk drawer.

"Ah, okay then. Location. Have you two set a date yet? Some of these nicer, newer, more expensive facilities might need a few months advance booking, though I believe all of them are completely taken for True October." Suddenly a large stack of pamphlets were laid out on the table as she sat up, and she began to spread them out in front of her for the two boils to look at.

"This one is quite nice." She reached out to tap a skeletal index finger on one with the writing 'Château de mort' scrolled across the top in fancy script.

ramenli

 

[ramenli]

Yin stood there as Lady Van Rotte took Alexander in, wondering if perhaps it would be better if the two of this had done this in private. It was definitely seeming like a mother-son moment but it was far too late to leave them alone now. He was taking in the sights, having carefully made sure to stop with Alexander between him and the strange female, when he heard what she said about borrowing the office for apparently the entire afternoon, mentioning not one but two meals. His eyes widened and he chanced a glance at Alexander, catching the look from him. Apparently this ceremony had more components than he had realized. Alexander did not have to seem so smug about it though, so when Lady Van Rotte turned Yin might have shifted away his elbow spikes and elbowed Alexander in the ribs.

He promptly scurried after Lady Van Rotte, catching up quickly and then waiting for Alexander to seat himself before taking the empty chair, a bit intimidated to be looking across the expanse of wood. Where to begin indeed. As she mused to herself he was already starting to fidget, knee jostling and fingers thrumming against his leg.

Location and date, that seemed simple enough. There were a few places around the school that could be suitable, large enough fields, or perhaps the gymnasium. Thankfully he had not voiced that opinion, but her words confused him. Facilities for the ceremony? He glanced down at the flood of papers in front of him, though thankfully most had the cover facing them, with more pictures than words. Outdoors, indoors, spooktacular ballrooms, themes of anything under the sun. It was daunting just to look at them, and before he could stop himself he found himself voicing his opinion. "It does not need to be expensive Lady Van Rotte." His eyes darted over to Alexander, a slightly worried tone entering his voice as he spoke. "Does it? Will something not as nice and newer be cheaper? If so that will suffice." The cheaper the better, even if it meant rotted floors and drippy ceilings.

Seussi

 

[Seussi]

The elbow to the ribs took Alexander by surprise, though it really shouldn't have, and he instantly reached up to belatedly defend the accosted area, eyes darting towards Yin as a wide smile spread across his face. His other hand had to come up to stifle a chuckle as he moved to bring up the rear, shuffling along slowly and rubbing at his suddenly tenderized ribs as he went.

Taking a seat, he waited patiently for his mother to begin, sighing inwardly and twiddling his thumbs together, an altogether incredibly bored already expression on his face as his head tilted to the side, his eyes rolling to look out the window, tinted against the pumpkin sun (though the room itself was well lit inside).

At the mention of a set date, Alexander let his gaze flick back towards his mom, and then towards Yin. It wasn't really something they had discussed, as the engagement itself was still quite new and it didn't seem that they really had any reason to rush.

"Uhhhh, well, after graduation, of course." Not that he had any idea when that would be, exactly. It seemed so far to be one of those things where the school just summoned them when they felt they were ready to be tested. Shaking his head slightly as his mom continued on about the various venues, he reached out to slap his hand down on the nearest pamphlet, dragging it towards himself.

"Yin is right, Mom. It doesn't need to be expensive." He slouched down further in his chair, legs stretching out beneath it as far as they could without accidentally kicking his mother as he unfolded the pamphlet and gazed at all of the pictures inside.

Of course it looked nice with it's vast expanse of ballroom, with it's curved stairs that came down from what was likely the dressing rooms up above. With it's elaborate decorations that likely weren't a part of the package deal at all.

"How about something outdoors....?" Outdoors would be cheaper, right?

If Alexander's mom had any idea what type of venue Yin was thinking about, she might have actually given him an incredulous expression, though more then likely, she would have just continued to wear the very patient smile she had on her face right now as she listened to both her son and her son to be's opinions on the matter.

"Of course it does not need to be expensive." She agreed, or at least, so it would seem. "But that is not something either of you need to worry about." She reached over to pluck the pamphlet away from Alexander, to place it back on the table with all of the rest.

"An outdoor venue? Hrm...." She looked down at what she had spread out, before selecting three, and pushing them each forward. "These locations are quite nice, and fairly local as well." She settled back in her seat and waited for the other two to take a gander.

Reaching up to scratch at his head, Alexander barely glanced down before looking over at Yin. "If it is outdoors, it should be in one of the warmer months of the year, right?" Yes, he was asking the weremantis, not trying to shut his mom out of the decision making, but feeling it was at least necessary to make sure that in the end, whatever was decided was what everyone wanted.

ramenli

 

[ramenli]

The date being after graduation simply made sense, and Yin had little to consider there. Hearing that Alexander would be willing to consider an outdoor venue was exciting though. Yin actually perked up a bit at that, waiting as she pushed a few papers toward them. With a dip of his head to her before reaching out to pull them closer.

The first one was a positively charming cemetery, with plenty of headstones to sit on or additional seating options. It seemed slightly confusing to Yin, quite probably too cluttered, but the elaborate crypt that one couple was standing in front of was admittedly stunning. There was little chance to examine it, or the others, further before Alexander was asking him a question. "Warm is nice," Yin admitted "for me. But what about yourself and your parents? You would prefer something a bit cooler would you not?" He glanced down at the other pamphlets in his hand. "And we can not be certain on when we will graduate. Unless you mean next year of course, which should give us plenty of time to prepare."

That actually sounded marvelous, and not at all like a way to cling to his virginity for just a bit longer. "If you really wanted true October we could probably even do it then," he might have pointed out. Just to make sure they had thought about the possibility. Then he was back to studying the pamphlets. The second one seemed to be in a clearing, and the surrounding woods might be great for hunting if they got hungry. Perhaps it was worth considering.

Seussi

 

[Seussi]

Alexander actually quite eagerly made a grab for the third pamphlet, feeling as though they were most definitely getting somewhere, considering they had just somehow cut the list down from what looked like at least twenty to three in one swift decision to have the wedding outdoors. Before he could have a look at it, however, he leaned over towards Yin, to eye up the first pamphlet he had taken, noting that it was quite a nice looking little cemetery. In fact...wasn't that the one that Jack, the Pumpkin King, used to frequent? The one that his ghost dog, Zero, had his own grave in? Yes, that curling landscape with the incredibly large moon in the background to illuminate the silhouette of a couple standing at it's peak was definitely familiar, and strangely unappealing, to know that somebody was marketing such a historical landmark as a place to get married.

Alexander made a face, then opened up his own. "Um, mom? Isn't this one a bit far away?" He asked, staring at the black sands that swept down into dark waters. "I'm not really interested in forcing my friends to join us for a destination wedding." He frowned, setting his pamphlet down and glancing back towards Yin when the weremantis spoke, eyebrows suddenly rising.

"It's never exactly hot weather outside, not around here, at least." He pointed out. "And no, we can't be certain I suppose but..some of our friends have already been called to take the test, and they haven't been at Amity all that much longer then we have. We could be asked to take it next week." Another dilema. How were they supposed to even pick a date at this rate? Would setting one for the next year really be the wisest choice? It wasn't that the zomboil didn't want to wait that long. He wasn't one to be in a hurry, to really rush anything along but.....

He sighed. "I don't like true October as a date. It's always far too busy with other things going on, other preparations. It's really too bad the 22nd of next October would be too soon." He gave the other boil a small smile, hinting at a moment that the two of them shared exactly a week and a day after Scarentines nearly two years before.

He gave the second pamphlet in Yin's hand another glance, but was honestly thinking what's the point unless we know when we can do it?

Alexander's mother continued to listen to them both, patiently, so very sure that they would come to the right decision on their own without any interference from her. She had so much faith in them both.

But already, for whatever reason, they both appeared to be balking, and that just wouldn't do at all.

"Oh, I am sorry, Alexander, I must have given you the wrong one." She began shuffling through her pile with a frown, before holding out another. "Here. Lac Le Strange. It's not far out of town, has a very picturesque grove nearby, and an incredibly charming lodge with such wonderful banquet rooms for dining and dancing! And the honeymoon suite, oh! It is simply to live for!" She flipped to the final page and set the pamphlet down in front of them both.

"What do you think?"

Alexander thought he was quite ready for a snack break already.

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