Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been a few months since Cupcake had proposed to Cotton Candy. She had gone through the tradition of showing the ring off to friends and coworkers. She had also told the story of how it had happened and where and when and whatever other details she could remember. They, of course, all swooned and congratulated her. Tulip had announced how she had helped with the surprise.

Since then, Cotton had been inundated with questions about the wedding: When is it? Where is it going to be? Who are you bridesmaids? What are your colors? What’s your dress look like? How big is it going to be? All the questions left Cotton reeling. Tulip was doing her best to help, but it was beginning to feel like she was planning her own wedding. Cotton didn’t seem to get a say. She became grateful for the time when they had to work. It kept everyone too busy to even think of her wedding.

Christmas Eve wasn’t such a day, however. A storm had blanketed the whole city in snow. It was cold, yet a serene sight outside; inside Pepper Song’s, it was blustering with noise. The snowstorm had prevented the delivery of the designer outfits and the equipment to shoot the models in said outfits from arriving. It was to be the last shoot of the year, so nothing else had been planned, or was ready. Now that there was nothing to focus everyone’s attention, it was redirected back at Cotton. So, once again, she was bombarded with questions that she didn’t know the answers to. For once in her life she was feeling stressed and she didn’t like it one bit.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Tulip chimed cheerily while pushing her way through the group that surrounded the Flaffbat. “I do believe that’s enough pestering the poor girl.” Her vines unraveled from their resting place around the base of the tree on her back and began gently shooing everyone away. Slowly the crowd dispersed with grumbles until it was just Tulip and Cotton in the immediate vicinity.

“Oh, thanks, Tulip-“ Cotton began but was cut short by the Venusaur.

“Think nothing of it! Besides with them around, how’re we supposed to g over the other details of your wedding that we haven’t planned for yet?”

At this the relieved feeling that Cotton had had when her friend had ushered the others off, vanished. “Oh, right...” She kept a smile on her face and tulip seemed none the wiser; she was too caught up in everything.

“Now where were we? Ah, yes, the cake! We need to find a place that can do a large three tier with a two-tier on either side, connected with those little bridge things…” Tulip began spouting, not needing a notebook or pencil for anything as it was all in her head. Cotton thought it best to let her go and not interrupt, though she was having doubts about the whole ceremony.

~*~

The rest of the day seemed to drag, though Tulip had gone through most of what she had planned for the wedding, the reception, and everything in between. As Cotton walked home, bundled up in a puffy coat and tall boots, she was happy that she hadn’t spent any money or made any reservations for the wedding as of yet. As beautiful as it was sounding, it didn’t feel like her… or Cupcake for that matter. She smiled as the thought of him crossed her mind. A contented chirp escaped her mouth, just in time for her echolocation to show her that she was about to walk into a lamp post.

“Oh, oh my…” she halted and adjusted her trajectory, “I should probably not think about this sort of thing until I’m home.”

She kept her mind as focused as she could for the rest of the trip, making nonsensical noises to keep her echolocation functioning. She didn’t want to have to explain to Cupcake about any bumps or bruises that may occur from her not paying attention. That’d be the last time he’d let her go out alone… not that that would necessarily be a bad thing, though.

Cotton reached the door of their little apartment and fumbled around her purse for the keys. After a few moments, she found them (at the bottom, of course) and let herself in. She placed her coat on the rack and unzipped her boots, leaving them on the tile before setting foot on the slightly warmer hardwood floor. It was nice apartment, cozy enough for two and a guest, if need be. It was two stories, with the ground floor covered in a rich hard wood. The stairs had matching wood rails, but were carpeted steps, leading to the same carpet on the second floor, which housed the two bedrooms. The Flaffbat made her way towards their room, the one furthest from the stairs. After a day like today, she just wanted to rest and forget about the wedding planning.

She threw herself on the bed and lie there, a sullen look on her face and headwings drooping. The more she thought about it, the less she wanted to go through the whole thing. But she loved Cupcake so much and still wanted to marry him! Oh, what to do? She should be thinking about Christmas and the joys that it brought, not the mess that she saw as her wedding!

"Oh," a somewhat forced smile greeted Cupcake as he walked out, Cotton didn't want to trouble him with her thoughts. "I don't know..." She fumbled, trying to gather her words. She wasn't sure how much she should say. She knew he wanted to get married as well, but she wasn't sure if he felt the same about the ceremony as she did.

She rolled onto her back so she could "see" him a little easier. "Oh, do you..." She struggled again. "Do you... I mean... Oh... I don't know how to ask!" An unnatural frustrated tone escaped her. The stress of it all was really getting to the Flaffbat. She brought her hands and covered her face. She wanted to cry or scream or something, anything that might help. Instead she resigned herself to a sigh and dragged her hands down, pulling at her face and illustrating her inner torment. "Oh, hun, I love you so much," the stress was now even evident in her voice as it shook slightly. "I just don't know if I can go through this!"

She sat up right and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, burying her face in his still-wet neck fluff. "Oh I want to marry you, but this mess seems all wrong!" She sighed, though this time happily, finding comfort in his scent and being so close to him.

Cotton nodded and murmured, "uh-huh" with her face still buried in Cupcake's neck ruffle in response to his question about Tulip. She was grateful to have such a caring friend, but it seemed like Tulip was living vicariously through her in regards to planning the wedding.

Still clinging tightly to her fiancé, Cotton turned her head so that she wasn't talking into him. "Oh, everything's lovely, it really is." she gave a short pause, her tone changing, as if she were reading from a textbook. "She's thinking about having a giant cake with several little cakes connected to it with bridge decorations."

There were several minutes of silence as Cotton mulled over all the plans in her head before continuing. "Cupcake... I... I don't want any of that." The realization was bitter tasting. She didn't want all this. She had few friends that she felt close, all the guests were of Tulip's choosing. Of course she had added people that both Cotton and Cupcake had wanted there, but there were also people that Cotton had never met before. She didn't want this to be a huge show. "I don't want something big like this..." But she wasn't sure what to suggest. Should she just suck it up and go through with it?

The Flaffbat nodded as the Eevee gentleman remarked on the cake. If there was anyone she trusted about baked goods, it was him. It was refreshing to hear he felt the same about it at the very least.

Cotton nodded again and happily scooted into Cupcake's lap. "Oh, it'll be impossible," she mumbled. She'd tried to get Tulip to change the plans once. It led to the Venusaur pouting until Cotton had eventually caved. No, changing the plans was out of the question.

Her sightless eyes widened as Cupcake spoke of the eloping idea. "Oh, honey! That's it!" She cupped his face in her hand and gave him a big kiss. "You're so smart!" She hugged him tightly, her smile returning.

"Oh, why not?" She beamed, "Like you said, if Tulip wants, she can just throw us a big party afterword." She nuzzled him, cooing gently.

She blushed and kissed his cheek at his comment. "Oh, you're such a sweetheart!"

She chuckled as she got up, her chipper attitude returning, "Oh, we can wear whatever! I should wear white at the very least, though." She began changing, "Can you help me with that, hon?" Sure, she could "see" with her echolocation, but she couldn't see colors, though she knew of their existence. It was a good feeling, though, being back to her normal, smiling self. She was so blessed to have Cupcake in her life. And they were about to get married! She was sure she couldn't be happier.

"Oh, the dress and leggings would be good! Gotta wear a dress!" She giggled, covering her mouth with a hand. "Is my button up sweater white? The long sleeved one that has a short torso section? Kinda shows up my midriff... If I didn't wear anything under it, of course." She pantomimed the what she was trying to describe, moving her hands down each arm to symbolize long sleeves. She went so far as to pull the shirt that she was wearing up to show her stomach. She'd have to take it off anyhow, but this got her point across.

Once handed all her clothes, she pulled it on with relative ease. She spritzed herself a few times with her favorite perfume and she was sure her makeup from work would do just fine for the wedding. She patted her hair a bit and was thankful that it was still in place. She liked her curly hair, rarely did she have to do anything with it.

"Oh, I'm so excited!" she wriggled with glee.

She bundled up, as she knew the weather wouldn't have warmed up very much in the hour she'd been home. If anything, it would've been colder. But, she didn't mind, her happiness and love for Cupcake was keeping her thoughts busy, so she didn't think about the cold.

It was a nice little walk, what with Cupcake keeping her laughing along the way with his silly Christmas tune renditions.

As they reached the chapel, her headwings were flapping at an astonishing rate. She was just so excite. "Oh, I am beyond ready to marry the man of my dreams!" she sang as he opened the door and the warm arm rushed out. She was quick to bound in and couldn't keep still once there. "Oh my gosh, this is happening!"

Cotton was positively giddy. As Cupcake spoke to the people that ran the chapel, her headwings were going full tilt. Her tail swayed back and forth and it was hard not keeping the little ball on the end from discharging any electricity. That would be a bad thing that would manage to ruin this otherwise perfect occasion.

She eagerly followed Cupcake and the staff member into the waiting room, where she took off all her outerwear. It was at this point the realization hit her; her tail and headwings stopped their fidgeting. Her smile never wavered, if anything it only grew.

She took a couple of deep breaths before accepting Cupcake's hands. "Oh, yes! Let's!" She blushed and cooed in response. This was going to be the best Christmas Eve ever!