There was something about the knocking on the door that seemed urgent, something that made it sound like whoever was doing it really had important news to share. And if it weren't for the fact that he could hear the person's voice calling for him every few seconds, it would have been possible for Brady to think that the person was there for important reasons. But thanks to having heard that voice every day for the entirety of his life, he knew that no matter what it was, there was nothing important that his mother could possibly be needing to share with him. So, naturally, he ignored her knocks and continued staring at himself in the mirror of the tiny dressing room, glaring at his reflection and simply how dumb he felt he looked wearing a suit on just a normal day of the week.
"Brady, dearest, are you going to be done in there anytime soon?" The voice was shrill as always, and based on how loud it was, he could guess that his mother was pressed up against the door, ceasing her knocking to try talking instead. "Everyone is beginning to show up, and it looks very bad for the guest of honor to be unavailable…"
He gave a deep sigh, eyebrows still furrowed in anger at his reflection. There were so many things he wanted to say, both to himself and to his mother, but he kept them in, choosing only to glare at what she had insisted he wear for the event. "I'll be out soon, Ma," he finally said, sighing again as he ran a hand over his heavily gelled, almost frozen, blue hair. He couldn't do a thing about what he had to wear, but his mother had no choice but to go along with what he chose to do with his hair.
"That's lovely to hear! I'm sure your father is quite tired of having to answer people asking where we both are. You know, a young man only turns twenty-one once, and it is a tremendous honor to be allowed to celebrate you on this day." He could hear his mother sniffle, overcome by emotions related to her son finally being the age to do virtually anything. "More people have shown up already today than when your sister became of age." Another sniffle, followed by a loud chuckle. "Oh how she must be jealous of the attention you'll be showered with here today!"
"Really doubt that, but okay. Lucy don't care about this kind of thing, especially not enough to get jealous." Thinking about his sister, Brady was caught a bit by surprise when he heard the doorknob to the closet-like dressing room he was secluded in start rattling. "Hey, me sayin' she wouldn't be jealous isn't any reason to be tryin' to break in, Ma!"
Sputtering a bit at the accusation, his mom replied, "It is most certainly not me trying to get in there! That honor belongs to that no-good—er, I mean, that charming cousin of yours."
"Thanks for the lovely vote of confidence there, Aunt Maribelle," Owain could be heard saying, before resuming tugging at the doorknob. "Lemme in, Brady! We need to discuss something more important than anything else that may happen today!" Now Brady was typically not one to ignore his mom, but keeping himself locked in the room was doing just that; opening the door only to let Owain squeeze in, before slamming it shut in his mom's face, was another instance. "Good, you actually listened to me on this matter."
"Hush your voice," Brady snapped, staring at the door, where he knew his mom was still standing and most likely fuming on the other side. "Don't need her overhearin' every damn thing you feel you've got to tell me."
"I don't feel like I have to tell you anything," Owain retorted, his voice barely above a whisper. "I actually do have to tell you something. Well, technically, it's ask you something, but specifics aren't necessary on that wording."
"Well get to it, before Ma out there tries gettin' in here to pull me out." Hearing the knocking start once more, Brady took his eyes from being focused on the door to staring right into his cousin's face (not a hard feat, as the room they were in was barely big enough for the two of them). "Givin' ya like five seconds to say whatever it is."
Opening his mouth to speak, just to close it again when he realized he didn't know how to word what he was saying, Owain waited until Brady was reaching for the doorknob to finally put an end to the nonsense to say his piece. "Don't open the door quite yet! Your persuasive tactics have broken me to the point of being ready to share this with you!" His voice had raised just enough to catch Maribelle's attention on the other side of the door, causing her to cease her knocks, to which he gasped and covered his mouth with one hand. "Shouldn't have gotten so careless with that exclamation," he mumbled, eyes going wide. "At least I didn't yell out the important part."
"Seriously, she's not going to just let us sit here and chat all day. Say what you've got to say and then beat it, because it's clearly an important day 'round here and she's not going to let ya take up all my time." Once again, Brady was reaching for the doorknob, but his cousin grabbed his wrist and stopped him.
As quietly as he could manage, Owain said, "Brady, my most dearest cousin who loves me like a brother, I need you to do something for me. I need you to use your righteous powers within the church and tie me and someone dear to me together in the bonds of holy matrimony or whatever it's called."
"You want me to do what?" He wasn't asking for clarification, because even with the words being said in a quiet voice, Brady had heard every last syllable, and he knew where the request was coming from. When he had turned eighteen, he had elected to become an ordained minister within his church (although there had been very heavy involvement from Maribelle leading up to that decision), and this was done with the purpose of someday being able to preside over the weddings of his close friends and family members. He had completely expected Owain to come to him with this question someday, but not while they were still so young, and definitely not in the closet-slash-dressing room of the church. "Dude, you sure you want me doin' that for ya?"
"I wouldn't be asking you here if I didn't. I've really been thinking about it, and…" Owain took in a deep breath, uncovering his mouth to allow his voice to be a little less muffled. "It's what's best for me and Noire right now. She's stuck with her crazy mom until she's married, and I'm stuck living with my parents until I'm married, and this just means we can both get out and be together. It's foolproof!"
"What's foolproof?" Hearing the last two words, Maribelle had pressed herself up against the door and was trying to eavesdrop. "You boys better not be discussing anything that would not be approved of! This is a sacred place that we are in right now!"
"We're not talkin' about anything ya wouldn't approve of, Ma," Brady started, but before he could tack on that they were talking about something she had intended for years ago, Owain shushed him, squeezing his arm tightly. "Hey! What gives? I'm speakin' the truth!"
At the same time that Maribelle gave some lament under her breath about how her son spoke like an uneducated fool, Owain shot his cousin a wide-eyed, worried look and said, "The truth, sure, but can you imagine the horror if your mother found out I just asked you to do this for me? She'd go straight to my mother, and I don't need her knowing about this!"
"Hold on, she's not going to know you're gettin' married to your girlfriend?" Brady made sure to keep his voice low, and judging by how he could still hear his mom going on about how she hated how he spoke, she wasn't overhearing him at all. "You can't have a wedding without your mom there, dude. I'm not allowin' that."
"If we involve her, she'll want to make sure it's a big deal, and I don't want that. We don't need that, not right now. This is just so that Noire and I can live together and be on our own." Owain let go of Brady's arm and used that hand to instead scratch the back of his head in a bout of sheepishness. "You've got to do this for me. I'll pay you back somehow for this, if you'll just help me out here!"
Brady looked at his cousin, at how desperate he seemed to be for this, and gave a deep sigh. "Ya know what, let me think on this a bit, and I'll get back with an answer. It's not right to drop something like this on a guy when he's already got so much goin' on." Owain gave a smile and a silent thank you, knowing that the answer was better than a straight-up no, and that was when the door finally opened and the two boys filed out of the small room, Maribelle still waiting for them on the other side. She took one glance at her son, ignoring his companion entirely, and wrapped him in the biggest hug she could manage, her head pressing up against his chest. "Er, Ma, you're actin' like you've never seen me dressed up before or something."
She proceeded to hug him a bit tighter, causing him to gasp for air in her grasp. "I've seen you dressed up many times, but this time is so much more special than most of those other instances." Letting go and stepping back, she examined him from head to toe, eyes lingering on how he had chosen to style his hair. "You really should have done something different with your hair today. No need for something so dull on a day like today."
"Figured you'd have something to say about my hair," he replied, putting a hand to his head, feeling the stiff hair beneath his fingers. "Too bad that I'm not doing anything to change it. You got me into the suit, so I get my hair the way I want it, Ma."
Still standing beside the two, Owain cupped his hands around his mouth and called out, "Come on, he's an adult, Aunt Maribelle! Let him live his life the way he wants!"
"Says the boy who is only here today because his mother brought him, kicking and screaming the whole way, I presume." She stopped staring at her son just to turn to Owain to give him a stern look, as he dropped his hands and gave an awkward shrug. "By all means, I fully expected her to show up alone today, knowing how you and your father both feel about these 'high-class' events that this family puts on. Your attire shows your lack of caring, by the way." She was, of course, referring to the fact that, while she was in a rather formal dress and Brady was standing there in a suit, Owain was wearing a pair of stained jeans and a wrinkled shirt that looked like it had just come out of a pile on the floor. "Still, you showing up shows that you have some care about your family."
"I care about my cousin, and since it's his birthday, I figured I'd come and celebrate with him. Mom never mentioned that it was a fancy party at the church." Shrugging again, Owain leaned a little bit to one side to look past where his aunt and cousin were standing, hoping to see anyone out in the entryway of the building. When his eyes lit up and he stood back straight, it was clear he had found someone. "Sorry to disappear on you like this," he said, taking a few steps away, "but I think I just saw my mom and I'd rather spend time talking to her than being complained at by you, Aunt Maribelle." He flashed a smile as his aunt started trying to come up with a response, and before they knew it he was gone.
"He made like a pair of old pants and split, didn't he?" Brady asked, watching his mom still reeling about what Owain had said. He knew he was going to have to thank his cousin for that beautiful display at a later point, preferably one where no one would be around to hear them talking. When he saw her turning red from anger, he knew that he needed to do something about it, but badmouthing his cousin to get back at him, which he knew she would have loved to have heard, wasn't anything he felt up to doing. "C'mon Ma, let's go find some people to talk to that aren't each other. Maybe Lucy's around, and we haven't seen her in a few days, so maybe she's got something cool and nerdy to talk to us about."
"We are not going to spend your birthday indulging your sister in nerd talk, but I understand where you're going with that idea. We definitely should go mingle with the guests who have gathered here today for your birthday celebration." Taking a few deep breaths to restore normal color to her face, Maribelle smiled at Brady, who reluctantly smiled back at her. "Oh, don't look so displeased to be here. I know you aren't one for being the center of attention when you're doing anything but play the violin, but today is the one day of the year where you're meant to be the topic of discussion!"
He cringed at how excited she sounded about pushing him out of his comfort zone and into the spotlight, but after twenty-one long years of living with her, he knew that the only way to deal with her was to go along with what she wanted. That meant that she led him into the entry area of the church, where chairs and tables had been set up for the occasion, and forced him to stand near the stained-glass doors to the building as she called everyone to attention, to remind them all why they had gathered there today. As she was busy yelling and trying to be heard over all the conversations happening, he took the opportunity to look around and see who really had shown up.
The first person he saw was Owain, who actually had gone and found his mom; they were both looking in his direction and when she noticed that he was looking at her, Lissa gave him a small wave, which he returned. Moving on, he saw his father and sister sitting at one of the tables, in the middle of some discussion that was not getting interrupted by the calls to attention. Right next to Lucina was her boyfriend, someone he didn't even recognize at first until he caught a glimpse of the guy's face and realized he was the normally hat-wearing guy Lucina had been dating for years and years. He seemed to be as invested in the conversation between her and her father as the two participants were, which made Brady wonder if it was actually something interesting or if it was boring like their conversations tended to be.
A fair number of the people who were there weren't people he recognized, mostly due to the fact that it had been his mother who had put this all together, and she would have only invited people she knew and cared to show off to. He did see some of the other city officials that worked alongside his father, all sitting off to the side talking between themselves, and his first thought when he saw them was to ask why notable people like the head of police and high ranking officers were at his birthday celebration; once he remembered that he was the son of the mayor and one of the city's magistrates, it made a lot more sense to him. They were there to keep up appearances, nothing more and nothing less.
By the time Maribelle had gotten everyone focused on her so she could talk everyone's ears off, he'd looked around the whole room twice and made eye contact with nearly everyone, minus a few people who seemed to care very little about what was happening. One of those people, sitting alone in the corner, caught him by complete surprise to see, and the second he was able to move around and go talk to people on his own, he was headed straight to her side. "Wasn't aware I invited you today," he said, pulling up a chair beside hers. "Pretty sure I won't supposed to do that."
"I came as a guest of my mother's, actually," the girl replied, looking at him and flipping one of her long orange pigtails off of her shoulder. "She just had to be here, and since she's not one to associate with my father in public, I came with her. Worked out that way." The corners of her mouth turned up in a small smile. "Happy birthday, by the way. Wish we could spend it together somewhere that isn't here."
"You're tellin' me, Sev. We'll get to spend time together tomorrow or something, I'm sure." The way she was smiling at him was enough to get him to crack a grin of his own, one that quickly faded when he remembered where he was. "Hey, can't be doin' that to me here. If Ma sees me talkin' to ya, she'll start askin' questions."
"Seriously? Your mother still doesn't know about me? About us?" Her smile disappeared as well, replaced with a scowl. "What's the problem with telling her that you've got a girlfriend, huh? You think she'll grill me to the ends of the earth and back? I'm not scared of her. I've got an officer for a mother. I can handle some stupid questioning."
He gave a forced laugh, but quickly went into panic mode when she started to stand up, the intent of going to Maribelle and telling her things clear in her eyes. "Severa, please don't do anything! She'll make a huge scene of it, and trust me, you're not wanting to cause nothing today." He watched as she paused to consider his words, before she shrugged them off and finished getting to her feet. "Please, I'm beggin' ya, don't do it."
"Gods, you're so scared of what your mom would think of me. It's almost like she's got her grown son just wrapped around her finger, making sure he'll only do whatever pleases her." Severa stuck her tongue out at Brady, the silver bauble that pierced it catching right in front of her teeth, something that made him cringe to look at. She saw his reaction and snorted. "Oh, right, I'm too rough-around-the-edges for her, aren't I? Can't let the mayor's little boy be associated with some criminal's child, can she?"
"That's not it at all," he started, before realizing that it was exactly that. He had been brought up in one of the most prominent families in the city, raised by two people that had power and respect by the townsfolk. She, on the other hand, was the child of someone who enforced the law and someone who quite frequently broke it—he had heard his mother talk about Severa's father many times, about how he was always ending up in her court, and she never once had anything nice to say about him. How would Maribelle handle it if she found out that her precious son was dating the daughter of that man? "Okay, maybe it's that a little bit, but we're not going to drop that bombshell on Ma today."
"So what, do you expect me to just sit here and act like I don't know you, like you aren't the guy that means the world to me?" Now flipping her other pigtail away, Severa huffed when Brady gave her a quiet yes in response. "Come on, that's not how things are supposed to work. We shouldn't be forced to be private with our relationship. Your parents can just deal with it that we're together."
He got to his feet, hugging her once he was standing. "I'll think of some way to tell 'em that we're a thing. Not today, though. Can't do that to Ma, not when she's done so much to make this day perfect for…well, me." He let go of her, stepping back a bit and looking down into her eyes that were shining with anger. "Hey, Sev, don't be like that. I'm promisin' ya, we'll be able to be together and public about it soon enough. Just as long as that don't mean we'll be gettin' kissy in front of people."
"Ew, no way. Showing affection in front of others is one of the dumbest things in the world." Despite that, she leaned up onto her tip-toes and kissed him softly on the cheek. "Go on and do whatever stupid stuff your mom wants you to do today. We'll definitely have to do something for us sometime soon."
Brady rubbed at where she had just kissed him, his face heating up underneath his hand. "Er, yeah, definitely going to have to do that. Sorry that we can't be seen together today."
"It's no big deal. Like you said, you weren't supposed to invite me, yet here I am, crashing your party or whatever the hell this is supposed to be. It looks like a city officials meeting with a few strangers." She sat back in her chair, kicking her feet up into the one he had drawn for himself. "Some party this is. Glad I'm not meant to be here."
He couldn't help but crack a smile at her comment. "Yeah, sure is great that you're not meant to be here, but that you showed up anyway. Thanks for understandin' why you weren't invited and all that, because let me tell you, if Ma had found out I was invitin' a girl that she don't know to my party…man, I'd never hear the end of it!"
"Uh huh, I'm sure that's exactly the case." Severa turned her head to look over at some of the other people who had gathered, and she gasped and started pointing at someone, worrying Brady to the point that he hurriedly turned and expected to see his mother standing behind him. But when there was no one there and he was looking like a fool, she started laughing. "Oh man, got you good on that one! Do you really think I'd start overreacting if someone was headed this way? I'm not scared of showing your mom what kind of ladies you like."
"That makes one of us," he mumbled, still rubbing at his face while simultaneously trying to calm himself down from that scare. "Just don't be gettin' into any trouble today and drawin' attention to the fact that you're here, got it? Ma won't worry too much about someone comin' along with one of her friends, but if you make things 'bout you instead of me, then there'll be problems that we don't need to be dealin' with today."
"Problems like what? The fact that you've got to keep up appearances to keep looking like the perfect child your parents think you are?" She gave a dramatic sigh, rolling her eyes as she did. "Seriously, don't worry about me causing any problems. I'll just be sitting here, pining after you with every bit of my heart because you're too dense to let your mom know that we're together."
He turned back around to look at her with the most serious expression he could muster, which only caused her to burst into laughter. "C'mon Sev, this isn't any joking matter. Just behave and when we get the chance to do somethin' alone together, I promise ya that we'll do just that."
"I believe you," she told him, stifling more laughter, "but it's so hard to take you seriously when you're dressed up like you're going to a funeral. It's your birthday! Why are you doing this to yourself?" He would have loved to answer her with the honest truth, getting into detail about how it was entirely his mother's idea, but he knew that every moment he stood there talking to her was risky. How could Brady talk so much about her needing to be careful about drawing attention to herself when him being there was automatically going to garner so much more attention?
After apologizing a couple of times and giving her a small hug, he set off to find someone else to talk to, two things heavy on his mind: one, when was he ever going to let his mother know that he was dating Severa; and two, what was he going to do about what Owain had come asking him about earlier in the day? Neither question was something he wanted to be worrying with on an already stressful day, but they were both important and meant more than they needed to.
Somewhere during the events of that day, between being re-introduced to people he'd met many times before and the public embarrassment that such a big birthday party entailed, Brady decided that he was going to take action on at least one of those questions. The fact that he felt it would be easier to assist his cousin than it would be to let Severa be seen through Maribelle's judgmental eyes should have spoken novels on how he viewed his mother, but that was not what was important about the decision. The big part was that he was going to use his church-given powers in a way that his family would most definitely not approve of, and he was going to do it without any regrets.
When he got the chance to tell Owain about this decision, there wasn't any time for celebration and excitement, for they went straight into getting things set up for what was to come. In utmost secrecy, with complete care as to not alert anyone who would ruin the hush-hush nature of the event, the preparations were made for the wedding over the course of a few weeks. What was assumed to be the most difficult part, acquiring a marriage license without anyone who would recognize the boys and their names being at the courthouse, went off without a hitch; therefore, on one brisk March morning, in the pale light resulting from the sunrise, the small ceremony went completely according to plan. Aside from the bride, the groom, and their officiant, there were only a couple others in attendance, a close friend of each of the participants and the girlfriend of their acting minister.
That afternoon was spent with the entirety of the wedding attendees going out and celebrating the secret union, and the night, after making sure that Owain's parents weren't around to know what was going on, was spent moving his belongings from his bedroom to his new home that he was going to now be sharing with his new wife. After everything was moved and the tracks were covered, it was time for the newlyweds to get to spend quality time together, and for everyone else to go back to their lives as if nothing had happened. For some of them, this would be an easy task, but for others, not so much.
Gathered in the dining room like they did every weekend for a family breakfast, it wasn't even two days after the secret ceremony that news was being shared amongst the older members of the family. "So it turns out that all of Owain's stuff is missing from his room," Lissa said, picking at her fingernails as she spoke, "which leads me to believe he isn't just 'staying with a friend' like we all thought he was."
"I told you, that boy of yours wasn't ever right in the head. What nerve, thinking it's proper to just disappear from under his parents' noses like that!" Shaking her head in disgust, Maribelle looked at Lissa, who was still fidgeting and messing with her hands. "Stop taking it out on yourself, dearie. Just because he felt it was okay to leave like this doesn't mean that you deserve to scuff up your hands."
Lissa gave a small nod, setting her hands down in her lap. "You're right. But what else am I supposed to do? He hasn't answered any calls, and we have no clue where he might have gone! The first place we thought he may have gone was here, but you would have told us right away if he was staying here!" She was visibly distressed at what she was talking about, to the point that a reassuring hand from the person next to her had to be placed on her shoulder, at which she leaned her head on it and sighed. "This is the worst thing that could ever have happened. Ever."
"Now, now, Lissa, there are many worse things that could have happened." Looking up at his sister from whatever work bulletin he was reading, Chrom managed a small smile in hopes that it would help calm her down. "After all, you're fairly certain he's still alive, right? He just left home without telling anyone. He didn't flee the country, or find himself six feet under, or anything like that. He's just on his own."
No matter how helpful he was trying to be, Chrom only managed to make Lissa get more fidgety, the hand on her shoulder having to grip her harder. "Don't listen to what he's sayin'. We know he's alive. Know it. Even if he ain't bothered with tellin' us where he's gone, we know he's fine." Loosening how he was holding her a bit, Vaike tried to make eye contact with Lissa, but she had cast her eyes downward as they were beginning to well with tears. "Hey, none of that cryin' business, okay? Sure, that boy shoulda told us he was doin' anythin' of this nature, but he's got his mom's smarts and his dad's charmin' personality, and those things'll get him anywhere."
Maribelle, cringing like she usually did whenever her brother-in-law was speaking, felt that she needed to add something to the conversation to try and make the situation better. "Those things could quite easily end with him in my court, especially since he felt it was a bright idea to leave without warning in the first place!" Within seconds, Lissa was actually crying and Vaike was trying his hardest to console her, which left Maribelle sitting across from them feeling like she had done the exact opposite of what she wanted to do.
"I d-don't want him being out there, alone and in trouble," Lissa choked out, covering her mouth, "because I don't like knowing I'm a ba-a-ad mom!"
"You aren't the bad parent in this situation, my dear." It was said under her breath, but the fact that Maribelle shot a somewhat disgusted look in Vaike's direction gave away what she had said and who it was about. He started shaking his head and went to stand up to come around the table to teach her a lesson, but Chrom loudly cleared his throat to stop them.
For a moment, they were in silence (minus the sniffling that Lissa was still doing), but then Chrom chose to speak. "Well, I can say with complete certainty that he's alive. Not entirely sure how well the rest of this information is going to go over with you, but he's alive." Once again, the silence overcame everyone, until Lissa stopped crying long enough to ask her brother to elaborate on his point. "Er, I think it would be best if you read this for yourselves. It certainly answers why he's left home, at any rate."
"We're all invested in this topic, so why don't you just read it to everyone?" Maribelle smiled at Chrom, who was still looking at his work bulletin. "Besides, it's not exactly lawful to let someone not in your position look at your documents, and I would hate to have to inform the city council about you doing that."
He sighed. "Right, good on remembering the rules, Maribelle. Guess I'll read this to everyone." As he cleared his throat again to begin reading, footsteps coming down the stairs could be heard, and at the same time that he started to read, Brady poked his head into the dining room, trying to see what was going on. He went wide-eyed as he heard his father say, "According to this, which I have every reason to believe is true, it looks like Owain decided he's a big adult now and got himself married without letting anyone know."
"He did what?" both Lissa and Vaike asked, looking to each other to make sure they weren't dreaming about what they just heard. After Chrom repeated it, she moved her other hand so that they both were covering her face, and he put a hand to his forehead as he thought about what that meant. "I can't believe this," she mumbled, voice barely audible. "So much for him having my smarts, I guess."
"Next time I see that boy, he's gonna be gettin' an earful from his old man. Nobody goes behind the Vaike's back to do things, especially not his own kid!" Vaike took a deep breath to calm himself, and before he got too deep into rambling, he happened to notice a blue head of hair pulling itself out of the room. "Hey, wait a second, you get in here!" Everyone else, confused at who he was yelling at, looked to the doorway, where Brady had frozen. "He might know somethin' 'bout all this that we don't."
"Are you insinuating that my son would be involved in your son's foolish ideas? I happen to have raised my children very, very well, thank you very much." Maribelle waved for Brady to come into the room, which he begrudgingly did, feet heavy with hesitation. "Now, dear, why don't you let us all know what you know about Owain's new life decision?"
"What I know…? Ma, I didn't know a thing 'til I overheard what you just heard!" Trying to lie to his mother was one of the hardest things Brady could think of doing, but he wasn't going to tell her that he knew what had happened the moment that he did. "Trust me, if he'd told me he was plannin' on getting married, I wouldn't have let him. It's not right to do that without making it a big family deal." He kicked at the floor, clearly not wanting to be there. "Can I get goin' now, Ma? Kinda got a friend to go meet with."
"It's not your cousin, is it?" Lissa asked, dropping her hands from over her mouth. He gave a quick shake of his head, and she looked slightly crestfallen. "Oh. Well, next time you see him, can you please pass on the message that his parents definitely miss him and that we'd love to talk to him about what he's done?"
"Yeah, can do," he replied, slowly backing away towards the door. "I'm just going to…get on out of here before I'm late."
He was just about out of the room, out to safety, when he heard his uncle say, "Y'know, not judgin' or anythin', but it sounds a bit like Brady there's got somethin' he's hidin' from us all. Ain't ever seen him that eager to go out and socialize."
"In all honesty, that did catch me a bit by surprise too, but I trust him and his word." That was Chrom speaking in response, and hearing his dad (wrongfully) defending his honor made Brady feel a bit of pride, something that was immediately squashed out of him when he heard what came next. "That being said, if he is hiding something from us, I would hope that he'll come clean about it when the time comes, instead of us finding it out some other way."
On the other side of the wall, Brady was about as pale as a ghost and was starting to tremble in fear of how they could find out that he had just lied to them. "He's not a liar, something that I hope everyone here would know after having spent so much time with him!" Maribelle said, and despite not watching her, he knew she was most likely holding up a stern finger at the naysayers. "My precious little boy would have told us if he knew what was going on, and if you want to believe otherwise, you simply do not know him!"
"I think Maribelle's right. Brady wouldn't have just lied to us, he's too good of a kid to do that. And I know Owain knows that…" Hearing his aunt's voice trail off, Brady knew that she was going to suggest doing something that would get everyone off his back on the matter, and while he would have loved to have stuck around to hear it and sigh in relief, if he didn't get out the door soon they'd begin to question if he really was leaving or not.
He was grabbing his jacket and keys, headed towards the front door when it opened in front of him, catching him by surprise. "Who goes there?" he stammered, still shaking from his lies and now startled by someone's appearance. "I'm armed, ya know!"
"Gods, Brady, you're such a scaredy-cat sometimes." After he actually looked to see who had opened the door and was now standing in front of him, he was able to take a deep breath and calm himself a bit. "I know, I know, coming over unannounced isn't the best plan, but I know everyone's here and I've got to tell our parents something rather important."
"Couldn't ya have come at a better time, Lucy?" Now more comfortable with the situation, Brady stood as tall as he could and crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at his older sister with a slightly worried expression. "They're talkin' serious stuff in there. Owain's done something really dumb."
Lucina tilted her head to the side and smirked, a hint of their mother's sass showing in her face. "Something dumb like getting married, I know," she replied, her smirk growing a tiny bit. "It's common knowledge to almost everyone now, I guess. What's not as common, that I'm pleased to know because our cousin trusts me so much, is that you knew of this before anyone else did." That was when her smirk faltered, as her brother dropped his air of confidence and was shrinking down to more her size. "But I don't know to what extent you knew things, since he wouldn't tell me. I'm just here to share what I did learn."
"Well great for ya, I guess. Bet whatever you've got to say, Aunt Lissa will love hearin' it, especially if it means she knows he's okay. Dude didn't even bother lettin' her know he was leavin' before he did." He looked at Lucina, who was clearly trying to figure something out in her mind. "What're ya thinkin' about? It's not something I said, is it?"
"I just find it weird that I've seen and talked to him since this happened, yet you, someone incredibly close to him, haven't. At least, he didn't mention having been visited by you." She put a finger to her lips in thought. "He could have withheld that information from me, knowing that I'd—where are you going?" Her abrupt change in thought came from him realizing she was onto him, and deciding right then to push past her and head out the door. "Brady! Get back here!" She chased him outside for a few steps, but as he was starting to run down the driveway faster than she'd ever seen him move, she realized following in pursuit was pointless. Instead, with a suspicion residing within her, she went back in the house, closing and locking the door behind her.
Standing there waiting for her, having heard her call after her brother, were her parents and aunt and uncle, all four of whom were looking to her with expectations of answering what had just happened. She looked back towards the door, fully prepared for him to be trying to get back in, but when there was nothing she knew that she had to answer to the family and drive some nails into the coffin that was her brother's innocence in this matter.
"Okay, so they found out about it. Big deal. When I ran into Lucina yesterday, I told her what had happened, so that she could break it to my parents before anyone else did." Leaning up against the wall in his mostly-bare living room, Owain shrugged at the out-of-breath Brady who was laying on the floor in front of him. "I, uh, figured you would appreciate someone else telling them before you did. Didn't think you'd get so scared that you'd run the whole way here."
"Wasn't scared," Brady corrected, his voice heavy with his pants and gasps for air. "Terrified. Never lied to Ma like that before. Didn't wanna see how it turned out when Lucy told her what's up."
"Still doesn't explain why you ran over here. It's like five miles. I would have come and gotten you had I known." Thinking for a second, he then recanted his statement: "Actually, maybe not. My parents would have known I was somewhere nearby and hunted me down."
"So you're allowed to be scared about what they'll do to ya, but I can't be terrified for lyin' to Ma? She's scary when she's mad, Owain!" Brady lifted himself up off the floor just enough to realize he was still too tired to get up, and he promptly collapsed back down. "Granted, she's only got her words about her. Your dad would find somethin' blunt and beat us both with it, pretty sure."
Owain stared off into space for quite a while after that, most likely processing what his cousin had just said, while Brady still lay there trying to find the energy within him to look like a normal person. During this time, the other occupant of the small apartment came out from where she was hiding, bringing with her a tray of freshly-baked cookies. "I, er, heard you two talking about people's negative reactions and wanted to help somehow," the soft and hesitant voice of Noire said, "and the best way I could think to help was to bake." She looked between the two guys, neither of whom seemed to be paying attention to her, and when she spoke again, her voice had gone deeper and more terrifying. "I said, I baked for you ungrateful beasts!"
The sudden change in her behavior caught Brady off-guard, and he quickly pulled himself up from laying and into a sitting position, staring at her with worry. Owain, on the other hand, blinked a few times to bring himself back to reality, before seeing Noire standing there, cookies in hand and a scowl on her face. "Hey! How long did it take you to make those? They, well, smell absolutely delicious!"
"Really? Thanks!" All signs of her dark turn faded, and she was now smiling at Owain over her tray. "I started baking them when Brady got here. Thought it would be a nice gesture, to offer our guest something sweet."
"Thanks, that is kinda nice, yeah." Noire walked over to in front of Brady and bent down to offer him the tray, and he took one of the cookies off of it, noticing how perfectly round they all were. "Wow, you bake for a livin' or something? These look professional, not like some girl in the kitchen bein' nice."
The look in Noire's eyes, one that had been of joy at how kind they were being towards her baking, went cloudy at that backhanded compliment. "Just because I'm not a professional baker doesn't mean I don't know how to make things the best I can!" she hissed, pulling the tray away before Brady could take a second cookie. "You're a horrible person and you have no place in my household!" She looked to be about to throw the tray straight at Brady's face when Owain wrapped his arms around her and stopped her, not letting go of her until her expression went back to her kind one.
"You can't be doing that to our guests," he told her, loosening his grip but still having his arms around her, despite how confused she looked as to what she'd done to earn being held so tightly. "I get it, you're still way too used to your mother's cruel tactics against you, but this is a safe place and we care about you. Don't slip into being mean just because someone like my cousin doesn't know how to word things."
"I s-slipped into being mean?" she asked, looking down at how the tray in her hands was shaking wildly, cookies falling off of it; when she looked up and saw how Brady was just staring at her in fear, she gasped. "Oh, I didn't mean to! I must have scared him so much! I'm so sorry, Brady!"
Although he was still shaken at what had just transpired, he found it in himself to forgive her. "No big deal, Noire. Wasn't anything worse than what Ma can dish out back home." Just mentioning how his mother could punish him reminded him of why he was there at that moment, and he cast his eyes downward. "Like what's comin' to me whenever I get my sorry-self back home, honestly. Ma's going to kill me since Lucy's told her what's up."
"She won't kill you, because she'll have no reason to!" Owain laughed. "I made sure to only tell Lucina that you knew what had gone on, but I didn't tell her that you were there, or that you were who ran things! Anything she says on that matter can't be proven without paperwork, and trust me, I'm not stupid enough to show them that."
"I don't know, you were stupid enough to rush into gettin' married without tellin' anyone, so it wouldn't surprise me if you just kinda…let it slip that I'm the one who did the weddin' for ya." Sighing and closing his eyes, Brady wished with everything he had that the situation wouldn't get any worse, that certain people would keep their word and no one would ever find out the extent of his involvement in the secret marriage.
And then the door to the apartment came flying open and an orange-pigtailed woman came storming in. "I knew you'd be here, Brady!" Severa called out, not even caring to close the door she'd just rudely opened before going to her boyfriend's side. "Your sister is super suspicious about your behavior, by the way. I told her to ignore it, but you know how she is. She's always got to know what's going on."
"Severa? Who said you could come in?" Owain, letting go of Noire, shook a finger in the newcomer's direction as she nestled herself up next to her boyfriend. "I cannot allow this. Us getting caught is one thing, but if you're here, it only makes the situation stickier."
"What, that I'm here because I'm madly in love with this guy here?" she replied, nudging Brady in the side a bit. He responded with a small groan of pain, and she giggled. "Trust me, Owain, I know exactly what I'm doing here. We've got maybe ten minutes before your parents come in and bust us all. Figured it would be polite to give that sort of warning."
"Ten minutes?" Dropping his hand slowly as he processed what that meant, Owain gave a rather feminine scream and pulled both hands up to his hair, which he began tugging on. "Damn it, Severa! How are Noire and I supposed to pack up and move in ten minutes? Couldn't you have given us more warning than this?"
She grinned at him, watching his freak-out as if it was something to be enjoyed. "I'm not here to warn you, dipshit. I'm here to warn Brady." At that, she got back up to her feet and helped her reluctant boyfriend to his, making sure to kiss him on the cheek while his head was within her reach. "Can't let him be implicated in all this," she motioned to the mostly bare room and the married couple within it, "when his name's still in the clear."
"But you're going to let us get in trouble for true love?" Watching as Severa was starting to make her break for it, Owain ran over and slammed the door closed. "I'm not going to let that happen. You told Lucina where we live, didn't you? And she was going to go tell my parents about what happened today, so you've made her telling them into something bigger than it needed to be!"
"To be fair, I didn't know she was telling your parents when I sent her this address. I figured, hey, it's been a few days since we moved you in over here, maybe your other cousin would love to know where you are." Severa giggled again, sounding very pleased with herself. "And now here we are, time ticking down before we all are punished for, as you called it, 'true love.' Isn't that great?"
"Let them go." Noire, standing back by the kitchen, looked to Owain with a scared expression on her face, but when he turned to face her and see if she meant what she said, all she did was repeat her words, followed by, "What they deserve will come to them eventually. That's what I've learned from dealing with my mom. Karma gets back at people."
He swallowed down a rebuttal, nodding at his wife before opening the door to the apartment. "Let's hope Noire's kindness really does lead to karma getting back at you guys. That's more aimed at you, Severa, than anything." The orange-haired woman laughed before bolting out of the apartment, and after exchanging a sad wave, Brady was following her, through the building and down the stairs out to the front steps.
"I can't believe that worked," she said, as she was hunched over catching her breath. "Didn't think mentioning his parents showing up would let me get you out of there so easily." It was odd for Brady to hear that, so he asked her to elaborate on her statement. "Do you really think I'm such a bitch that I told your sister where he lives? That would be cruel, even for me. I haven't talked to her since she saw me at your birthday party."
"Ya mean you just went up there and lied to my cousin to get me out of there? What if I wanted to be social with him today, huh? That ever cross your mind?" Brady would have loved to have gotten mad at Severa right there, but when he looked at her and saw her smiling up at him, he knew he couldn't spare the effort. "Eh, ya know me too well I guess, Sev. I only came here because I had no clue where I'd be able to find you."
"I had a hunch you'd be heading this way," she explained, standing back up straight before descending down the cement stairs, "and when I saw you running for dear life I knew that I had to do something about it. Sure, I could have called you or something, and maybe barging into Owain and Noire's apartment with such a bold-faced lie was a bitch move, but," she threw her hands up and gave a wild gesture, "what else was I going to do? Heat of the moment, after all!"
He followed her down the stairs and soon they were just casually walking down the street, talking as they went. "I get ya, but think about how scared Owain's got to be up there. He acts like he's not worried 'bout what his parents'll do to him when they see him next, but he is. Sucks, since he works for his dad and all that, but that's his problem. I wasn't the one who told him to pull this stunt."
"You sure weren't, but you used a power that I didn't even know you had to help him with it." Under the shade of a tree in the cool morning air, Severa stopped walking, holding her arm out to stop Brady once he got to it. He gave her a confused look and she grinned. "And, thanks to some questions I asked when we were helping your cousin move his stuff, I know he's got that same power."
"Yeah, he sure does." While Brady had been given his marriage-officiating powers through the church his mom had so heavily involved him in, Owain had gotten his own ordainment through an open-to-everyone online church he found one day, which was just as legally binding as anything the real church could have given him. He had done this to someday be of use to someone he cared about, much like Brady had, although one of their decisions heavily influenced the other's. "Why does that matter to ya, Sev?"
She grinned a bit bigger, sticking out her tongue as she did, the metal ball sticking through it reflecting some of the shaded sunlight. "Marry me, Brady."
He went through a variety of emotions as he words sunk in: first it was shock, his eyes going wide as he had never expected to hear someone say those words to him; this was followed directly by a feeling of wanting anything but her proposal, as he started to shake his head and look to anywhere but her grinning face; and finally, it was acceptance, when he stopped telling himself this was a bad idea. "Marry you? But we're too young, don't ya think? And Ma will murder me instantly if I take ya home right now and tell her we're gettin' hitched."
"That's why you're not going to tell her anything." Dropping her grin, Severa took on a stern expression that looked deathly serious. "We're going to do just like your cousin and have everything be under the table, down to the ceremony and you moving into my place. I've got it easy, since I don't talk to my mom and my dad's probably still in jail right now, and you've proven that you can lie to your parents if need be. So we're going to do this to benefit us."
"But I don't like lyin' to my parents," Brady retorted, beginning to shake his head at the proposition again. "I can't marry ya right now, Sev, I just can't."
She pursed her lips together and gave a huffy sigh. "I get it, you love your mom more than you love your girlfriend. It's cool. I'll just chalk the last, what, seven years of my life to being a huge waste." Letting her shoulders drop, she flipped her hair behind her and resumed walking down the street, leaving him standing there wondering what he should do. Half of him was ready to turn around and head back to Owain's place, but the other half wanted to follow her and continue talking through this idea. He wasn't opposed to getting married to her, it was simply her method that he was against.
"Get back here, Sev!" he called, and while she turned to look at him, she had no intentions of stopping her movement, so he quickly caught up to her, grabbing both her shoulders and holding her in place once he could. "I'm not sayin' that I don't love you or anything like that. I just can't marry you the same way Owain married Noire. It's nothin' but trouble to do it in secret like that."
"Then you better get on introducing me to your parents, because we are getting married, and we are going to do this soon." There was a force behind her words that made him simultaneously scared and slightly aroused, although he'd never admit to that second part, but by the way he inhaled deeply at what she said, she knew it had caused some sort of reaction. "Don't you just love it when I get bossy with you? Now get to letting your precious mommy and daddy know that you've got me as your girlfriend—wait, no, your fiancée—or else there'll be trouble."
Brady gulped and nodded. "I'll be right on it, Sev. Anything for you."
Just like that, she was back to being smiley, pushing up against him with that irresistible grin on her face. "That's what I like to hear. So, how shall we let people know about our totally-not-secret engagement? I was thinking about you maybe taking me to the jewelry store and letting me pick out a ring, so I can show the guys at work that I'm not available to them. Ooh, or maybe we can go look at some dress shops to see how much we're going to be shelling out for this wedding I'm sure you're expecting us to have."
"Whoa, whoa, I don't have the money for that sort of stuff right now. You're going to have to let me talk to my folks before we get into that kind of business." Her smile turned to a frown and he felt slightly guilty that he wasn't going to be able to let her live out these fantasies. "Sorry 'bout that. Kind of what happens when you live at home and don't have a job."
"If we're getting married, you're really going to have to fix that job problem," she told him. "I can't support both of us on tip money. And don't start trying to tell me that playing the violin at church is enough of a job for you, because unless you start getting paid for that, it totally doesn't count."
He gave her another nod, a small grimace on his face. "Hearin' ya loud and clear. When we finally get married, I promise ya I'll work on gettin' a real job to help pay the bills and all that. But we aren't getting married for a while, so there's not a real rush on it." She stomped her foot down hard on his, causing him to yelp in pain. "Ow, Sev! What the hell's that for?"
"We're getting married as soon as possible. If that means we march into your house right now and you introduce me to your parents as your girlfriend in the same breath that you mention you're marrying me, so be it. I'm tired of living on my own and I need my big, strong Brady to come take care of me when I get lonely." She bat her eyelashes a few times, hoping that he'd find it suggestive, but all it did was make him frown more. "Okay, you're not taking me seriously and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to change that."
"I'm takin' ya plenty seriously! You're just springin' things on me that I'm not ready for, that's all!" Inside, he was screaming about how dumb the situation at hand was, but on the outside Brady was trying to be as accepting as possible. "We'll come up with somethin' to get you what you want as quickly as we can, but I'm not thinkin' it's going to be anywhere close to as fast as you want it."
"As long as we're married, and as long as it's sometime soon, I don't care about anything else." She got up onto her tiptoes and puckered her lips for him to kiss, but he took a moment to stare down at her and ask himself if she was really worth the struggle of introducing her to his parents before he decided that yes, she was, and he gave into her simple kiss request.
Giving into the request of getting married wasn't something he would do as easily, but as the days went by and he realized that he didn't want to talk to his parents about the girl he was (now) engaged to, the idea that she had initially proposed of everything being under the table began to sound better. Whenever he'd be around his parents, they were asking questions about what had happened with Owain (which was no longer a secret after about a week, and while they didn't know Brady was the one responsible for it, they knew every other detail), and one of the points they made was to make him promise he wouldn't do the same. Making that promise came naturally, but the idea of breaking it was present, to the point that after two months of doing nothing but dwelling on the idea that Severa had suggested that day, he decided that they were just going to have to go for it.
It didn't take very long to get Owain in on their plan, and he was more than excited to help his cousin out. "After all, you did this for me, so it's only fair if I do the same in return for you," he said upon hearing the news. "It would be the greatest honor to be the officiant for your wedding to your dream girl." With him being so open to the idea, it paved the way for all the details to be squared away, and everything to be set up for yet another secret wedding that would be even harder to keep hidden from family members.
Thankfully, all the paperwork was obtained and all the physical necessities were purchased and ready just in time for the wedding to happen while Brady's parents were away for a romantic weekend to celebrate Chrom's birthday. While having their anniversary be just days after his father's birthday was a bit weird to Brady, he couldn't have imagined it being any other way with everything needing to be under the radar. The ceremony, while attended by a few more people than Owain's had been, was still incredibly small, although there were enough people there that when they went to lunch afterwards, they had to have two tables pushed together. Aside from him and Severa, and Owain and Noire, they each had a friend in attendance, plus Lucina had shown up to play the role of supportive sister, and she had sworn to keep things secret, saying that she hadn't yet let it slip that she'd been living with her boyfriend for years rather than a female roommate, so she could be trusted.
Like they had on the evening of the day Owain got married, they all went to move furniture and belongings from one house to a new one after the celebrating was over, although this was a much easier endeavor as Severa already had her own place and didn't need much added to it in way of heavy furniture. This meant that Brady was able to leave his room somewhat intact, and he hoped that his parents would see it, and the hasty note he left for them, and think that he really was just spending some time at his cousin's place.
But after a week of hearing nothing from his parents, not even a call making sure he was okay, he grew a bit worried, and decided that he should maybe go and fess up to what had actually happened. "Come on, are you serious?" Severa asked, punching him in the arm as she did. "We worked so hard to keep this from them, yet you want to just march in there and tell them what we did?"
He nodded, rubbing at where she'd just hit him. "Yeah, yeah, the guilt's eatin' too much at me. Can't keep lyin' to Ma like this, I just can't." Bending down to get more on her eye level, he cracked a smile. "Let's just go in there and do this the best way we can, and maybe we'll both come out still breathin'."
"I can't promise that I'll do this the best way I can, but I'll make it a fun time for us both." She smiled back at him, hints of mischief in her eyes, and he hoped that she was just being silly for the sake of making him smile more—rather than mentally preparing herself to make the biggest scene possible in the living room of the mayor's house.
The front door was unlocked when they got to the house, something that Brady immediately noticed was odd for his family, but because it was after work for both of his parents, he chalked it up to them being tired from a long day helping keep the city running smoothly. He was definitely not expecting his parents to be standing there, as if they had been waiting for them to walk right on in, but when his mom shrieked and his dad's jaw began to hang slightly, it hit him that it hadn't been them they were expecting. "Brady, darling, you've come home!" Maribelle exclaimed, opening her arms wide for a hug that he wasn't planning on giving her. When he didn't rush towards her, she let her arms fall and her attention became focused on the woman beside him. "Who's this? A friend?"
Her eyes narrowing, Severa scoffed, "What, do I look like a friend of his to you?" She stepped forward, extending her arm so that it her left hand was right before Maribelle. "I'm his wife, thank you very much. Pleased to finally meet you, new mother of mine."
Maribelle grabbed what was right in front of her face, looking closely at the small ring that Severa had on her finger. "W-wife? I won't hear a word of this!" Pushing the hand aside, she looked back to Brady, who was hanging his head in shame. "Brady, you explain why you've brought this low-rate prostitute into my house, masquerading her as your wife, right now!"
"She's not a prostitute, first of all," he mumbled, "and secondly, she is…kinda my wife, actually." He began to fidget, grabbing his own hand that he was wearing his own wedding band on. "Trust me, Ma, this isn't how I wanted you to find out…"
Maribelle's eye twitched as she looked back to Severa, who was grinning smugly. "Not a prostitute? She certainly looks like she could fit in with that sort of street filth." After giving her son's supposed bride an once-over, she gave a very forceful shake of her head. "No matter, I know this is all some dirty ruse or prank that you're just trying to pull on me. I raised my children to be better than others, and neither of them, especially not Brady, would do this sort of thing."
"Well he did marry me, so it looks like your definition of 'better than others' might be a bit skewed," Severa snapped, putting her hands on her hips. "Might want to look into what you were doing so wrong that you drove your son to exploit your 'no moving out until marriage' rule you set for him."
"As he's not actually married, he didn't exploit anything at all." Now trying to ignore Severa entirely, Maribelle walked around where the orange-haired woman was standing just to get to be beside Brady, whom she grabbed onto with a firm hand. "We need to discuss this sort of behavior and where you've picked it up. A week with Owain is a week too long of absorbing his terrible habits!"
He shook his mom's hand off with ease, causing her to gasp in shock at his rebellious behavior. "Aw, cut it out, Ma! I didn't pick this 'habit' up from Owain, because I really did marry someone without tellin' ya! I couldn't bring myself to introduce you to her before we got hitched, okay?"
"You wouldn't actually do that," she replied, trying to grab him again but he pulled away before she got the chance. "I spent so much time priding myself on the fact that you were better than that, better than that cousin of yours, just for you to do the same." Her voice went cold as she finished her sentence, and when she spoke again it was with a chilled voice he'd never heard her use before. "I am going to do my best to prove this union to be unlawful and get you back under this roof."
"Well it's a damn shame that we got all our paperwork taken care of," Severa said, earning herself an icy glare from Maribelle. "We made sure to be as lawful as we possibly could while doing this. Just so that you couldn't raise hell."
"It certainly wasn't a courthouse wedding, and if it had been at the church I would have been alerted to it happening, so you must be lying." Maribelle held her glare as she figured where she'd seen this girl before, despite how Severa was now beginning to laugh. "No one in their right mind would officiate a wedding between the mayor's son and a criminal's daughter—"
"I'm not defined by who my dad is, thanks." Spitting the words like she was disgusted by the comparison, Severa smirked. "And okay, I'll give you part of that last point. No one in their right mind would officiate it, but you know who would? Owain."
That was where Chrom spoke, raising an eyebrow at what he'd just heard. "Is that true, or even possible? Last I heard, Owain wanted nothing to do with the church."
"It's true, trust me." Taking in a deep breath, Brady quickly admitted to the thing he'd been hiding for months. "He did for me what I did for him. Can't have a wedding without some guy runnin' the show, and he was my guy, like I was his."
"I should have figured I was wrongfully putting faith into you for telling the truth back then." Chrom took a deep breath, exhaling as he tilted his head back to look at the ceiling. "What's next, you're going to tell me that your sister's in on this too?"
Before Brady got the chance to break his dad's heart further and tell him he was right, Maribelle interrupted by clearing her throat loudly. While the men were able to be civil with one another, it was clear that the ladies couldn't quite reach that level of kindness. "I cannot let my precious little boy pretend to be married to such a low-class woman," she said, daggers still being shot at Severa with her eyes. "I'll be issuing you both a court summons in due time, to put an end to this charade."
"Okay, listen here, 'mom,' I am very rightfully married to your son, and I'll be flaunting the fact that he chose me over all the ladies you'd have wanted him to pick." At that, Severa once again put her hand in Maribelle's face, wiggling her ring finger a bit. "See this? He bought this for me, not because he wanted to stick it to you, but because he loves me more than he loved being stuck here under your care."
That assertion gave Maribelle an idea, one that she decided to throw into action by grabbing Severa's hand and tugging it to pull the younger woman closer to her. "I doubt that you can show him even half as much love as I have given him for his entire life," the blonde whispered into Severa's ear, "and I will not tolerate you disrespecting me and my parenting skills in my home."
"Let go of Sev, Ma!" Brady's voice raised without him wanting to, and while his mom did heed his command, she did it with a look of complete disgust on her face.
"What kind of foul name does this creature have?" she asked, eyeing the backing-away Severa with contempt. "Whatever it was you just said, it sounds like the perfect name for a street rat like her."
"My name is Severa. Better get used to hearing it, since I'm your darling street rat daughter now." The grin she put on only made the look Maribelle was giving her get dirtier. "Glad to know that the family accepts me so easily. I'm sure I'm going to just love the rest of forever."
Noticing that his wife was beginning to get far too angry, Chrom stepped closer to Maribelle in an attempt to calm her down, but she raised a hand to stop his progress. "No, dear, I don't think you getting involved in this is the right move. I'm the one who failed as a mother to our son, I will be the one handing out punishment." He reluctantly let her have her way, if only because she wouldn't allow it otherwise. "Now, for said punishment…I guess I must assume that my son no longer lives here."
"That would be correct. My little apartment is so much better than this place." Severa took a look around at the decorated walls and color-coordinated furniture and shuddered. "Can't imagine what sort of dumb rules you implement in here. No one under the age of forty allowed to sit on the couches, perhaps?"
Judging by how absolutely enraged that snide comment made Maribelle, it was clear that Severa had gone past the point of no return in the argument. A shaky finger was pointed in the direction of the staircase, followed by Maribelle saying, "Upstairs. Now. No child of mine marries a stupid and barely special whore like this girl without proving they love her."
"Ma, I've been datin' Sev for years! She's not stupid and she's definitely special to me, so what's sendin' us up to my old bedroom going to do for that?" Brady wrapped an arm around Severa, holding her tightly as they both watched Maribelle still standing there, her pointed finger wildly shaking from anger. "You want us to talk about our feelings or something?"
"If you two are as married as you like to pretend you are, you will go up there and consummate this marriage. If you're lying, I expect nothing but an apology." Maribelle spoke like what she was saying was perfectly reasonable, although it was anything but, and despite her son's multiple pleas to get her to rethink what she was asking, she did not drop the subject until she was marching behind them up the stairs.
For the following six hours, she stood inches from the bolted shut bedroom door, waiting for them to come out and tell her it was a joke and that it had gone too far. After that, Chrom told her it had been long enough and she needed to drop the subject, and so she unlocked the door and opened it, ready to pretend to forgive what had happened—and she was greeted with two nude bodies lying curled together on the bed, a sheet covering their lower halves. Even still, she wasn't sure what was worse: the fact that she walked in on them after they had (presumably) done what she'd demanded, or the fact that they really were married.
A/N: Posting this today because happy birthday Severa! I can't wait to get to ruin your life through this story! This should, theoretically, be finished in a few weeks' time, but we'll see how it goes. c: