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"No, it needs to suit you, you see, because my ring will be placed on your finger. And it needs to be solid and strong, just like me. Because I am also suited for you. Sensible, isn't it? Dreadfully sensible."

He chose the Hatter constellation, as he always did, and always would. But now it was time to scavenge for booty!

"Let's see, what would go with Mercurial cake.."

He had no idea what Mercurial cake really was, but it seemed very metallic. So he chose the small silver key, a chipped cameo, a red heart cut from paper (which wasn't very metallic at all, but he had to), a spoon, a Wonderland star chart, a letter opener, an earring with a white stone, a metal d12, and a variety of coins! He only picked the Mad Hatter and Cheshire cat ones, though.

By the time he was done, his basket was full. "This will make the grandest ring of them all!"

"A good point!" With a thoughtful hmm, Mimsy scrunched up her nose. "I should be more considerate of what suits you best, in light of this correction."

Despite this decision, she couldn't choose anything other than the Jabberwock again. Svensyl insisted that he was suited for Robert, and was half the reason she was, but she found his statistics somewhat questionable. It made enough sense, though, in the same way that Wonderland did.

The approach to selecting the items this time was more scrutinizing and focused than all attempts before this. She considered the merits of each of them, turned most of them over in her hands, and only selected when she was certain that she had ranked them all, one by one. That was how she placed them in the basket, too: one by one, a sturdy screwdriver, a container of very strong glue, a pebble that was warm to the touch, a red paper heart (of course, just as he had), a set of instructions, a gardening spade, a gardening glove, a tube of balm, a nine of hearts, a plastic baby, a set of bandages, a letter tile marked 'R', a pair of reading glasses (whether he liked it or not), a silk sunflower, a lightbulb, a puzzle piece with a shiny red heart on it, and a d12 die like his.

"All right." She exhaled slowly, looking over everything in her basket. "It may not be grand in your eyes, but it will be in mine! I feel confident that it will suit you best."

Before she moved on to the teapot, she briefly wandered off to collect someone else from the side of the 'aisle'. When she returned, arm hooked in his, he did nothing but smile.

"His approval is suitable for both of us," she explained, gesturing up at his expression.

Ian avoiding the question did not make him happy.

Picked up and piggy-backed, he held onto Ian, resting his chin on his shoulder. Cake made him happy, he thought, but that was far too simple, cake alone couldn't sustain him and he certainly couldn't marry cake. Well, he supposed he could, in Wonderland, but Ian made him happy too, as he carried him to the next station and seemed a far better suitor. He blew out a little sigh, supposing that happiness certainly wasn't achieved through the detriment of others, he knew this and he knew that Ian cared about him, even if he couldn't say those words.

But did he love him?

Did it really matter, he wondered, as Ian set him down and reached into the box in front of him. This wasn't real marriage anyway, it was a dream wedding, sort of like going to Vegas and getting drunk and forgetting that you married someone the night before. There didn't have to be love, it didn't have to be perfect, so long as there was happiness.

And he was happy but... He wanted to know. Wanted to prove his self wrong. He reached into the box himself, distractedly pulling out an assortment of items, a small silk sunflower, a bobby pin, a jar of rainbow candy.

"I think we're supposed to put it into the teapot," he said and did just so, watching as the teapot clanked and whistled, wobbling around until he tipped it over and poured it out. But what came out wasn't tea but instead a ring, clinking as it dropped into the cup. Shiloh picked it out, rolling it in his hand as he glanced at Ian.

He didn't want to do something that would make him unhappy but...

"Can't you say it, just once? It's just a dream, after all, and dreams don't come true. I'll forget about it when I wake up, I won't tell anyone, not even me."

Dreadpirate wasn't sure what to make of the first private message asking about the marriage side quest. He's heard of it, of course, but was planning on avoiding it. After several days, though, everyone seems to be treating it as a game, rather than an in-dream-game romance, so his hesitance is somewhat lessened.

It helps that he feels like he knows Raze fairly well by now. Not in a personal sense, but they've done side quests together and hung out in the tavern and it feels very... comradely. Like she's one of the Hunters already.

He means to reply, but loses track of time and a new private message appears.



He arrives at the 'giant a** Tea Cups' as requested. It's pretty busy - he guesses everyone wants to play around and do something utterly silly rather than soul-wrenching for a change. He scans the crowd for Gryphons. After spotting Raze, he makes his way over to her.

"So how does this work?" he asks, dodging an extremely enthusiastic dormouse who appears.

Raze waved the other Gryphon on over, "About time you got here, Cap'n," the grin on her face betrayed any attempt at impatience, "So I've been watching the other players go through it annnnnd it's pretty much like a paint-by-numbers thing," she explained. She continued, talking over the doormouse's spiel on purpose, what the little NPC was saying wasn't really very important to the whole process. "Nothing at all like a real wedding. No reception, no engagement ceremony, and best of all, no parents insisting we invite more guests making use overspend on the budget."

Dreadpirate stares at the mass of about-to-be-wed players while listening to Raze's description of the process. He tries very hard not to think about the woman he would have married if he'd stayed in his old life.

He forces a smile. "Well, as long as there are no in-laws involved." It's not the funniest joke in the world, but... well, he's not that funny a guy.

The NPC ushers them along and Dreadpirate approaches a table of cakes. "They're not going to have funny effects, are they?" he checks with the dormouse before trying some. He likes the rainbow cake and the jam toast one, but checks with his 'bride' first.

"Any preference?"

Raze's lips curled at the thought. "But I didn't see anyone getting all weird or anything."

She didn't hesitate with her choice, she'd had enough time to look earlier and pointed at the Rainbow Cake. "I, uh, have sentimental reasons for wanting the rainbow cake. Oh! And we don't gotta have the same choice, so I'm oks if you wanna go pick something else for yourself."

Her tone was sincere because while she loved colors and pink and girly things, Raze also knew most guys had a clear aversion to them.

kalindara

MY STATS

My character's username: RazerHead
My character's level: 30
Character's HP: 40
Character's Job Class: Royal Gryphon
Current party: None
Current Guild: None
Location:
Small IC description of character: Brown-haired, 5"6, tanned Royal Gryphon wearing the black and red outfit. Got some scars on her too.
Character journal: RazerHead