It took one day for the upper house to pass the factionless ultimatum. It took them two more to get all their people together. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised; they're loyal to their cause. I'll give them that much credit. But it also disturbed me at the same time; that means that nothing was random. All of it was planned and it all came down from one person: Edward. I still don't know how he got them all to follow him despite being only a year older than I am; then again, I am a leader, it's not impossible. Just unexpected when he's compared with some of the other, older factionless. However he came to power, he's definitely in control. The only thing left to do now is wait for four weeks and then we'll finally meet with the factionless. I can't help but question my decision; do we really want someone like him in the house? Someone who was willing to attack innocent citizens to give himself voice? But this was my idea, I'll have to stay with it.
"Do you not like the cake?" Eric asks. I finally come back to what I'm supposed to be doing right now; tasting cake for the wedding. We had to reschedule it after Eric and I had our argument.
"No, it's fine. I'm just a little distracted by work." I have to stop dragging my work into everything. I get my fill from meetings and paperwork, I don't have to add it in to any other aspects of my life.
"You are finding your perfect cake right now," Coraline says with a mouthful of the stuff, "Forget about work and try this one." I start to eat some of the one she's pointing at and shove all thoughts of leadership from my mind. I am planning for one of the happiest days of my life; I will not think of anything else.
"You know, this is the one part of planning I don't mind," Eric says as he grabs more cake. This really is the only part he's been enthusiastic about. Otherwise, he's left all of it to Coraline, Christina, and myself.
"Don't eat too much," Christina says, "I still have to fit you." Eric just takes the whole slice of cake he had on his plate and defiantly shoves all of it in his mouth.
"Beautiful," Coraline says with a laugh. This really is more fun than I thought it would be.
"You know, moving at this pace, we'll definitely make the date," Christina says, "Everything is coming together nicely; in two weeks, you'll be walking down the aisle."
"I'm so glad," I say, "Hopefully I don't expand too much in that time."
"Don't worry, I'll resize the dress right before, so it'll be perfect," Coraline says, "For now, eat more cake. We still have to find the right one."
"Well, I really like this one…" It's the one that Coraline showed to me. It has a flavor of banana to it with bits of almond in it; it's easily my favorite flavor.
"It is really good," Eric says, stealing some from my plate, "I wouldn't mind this."
"I'll call Uriah over," Christina says and she goes running off.
"As a guest, I prefer the chocolate. But it's your day," Uriah says, "Now, how many layers would you like and what sort of decorations would you like on top?"
"How many layers do you think we'll need?" For a leader wedding, all of Dauntless will be in attendance, but the reception is usually a smaller affair with everyone personally knowing the bride or groom. Although smaller in this case means we'll still be having at least fifty people.
"For yours, I'd say three layers in a 12-8-6 sized cake," Uriah says, "Now for decorations, do you want something simple or ornate?"
"I want simple, but I want a few flowers like I'll have in my bouquet. So if you could put on some lilies and orchids, that would be lovely. If that's okay with you." I direct the last sentence to Eric; this is his cake, too.
"Whatever you want," Eric says, giving me a kiss.
"I can make some sugar flowers," Uriah says, "We also do cake toppers. Would you be interested?"
"Yes, I would." Eric said I can get what I want and I want this. It will also give me something to keep.
"Then I need a few pictures of each of you in your respective wedding outfits. I'll need front, back, and each side."
"I'll provide those," Christina says.
"Then unless you have any more details to add, I'll put in your order," Uriah says, "I guarantee I'll have it ready for your wedding."
"I was surprised you chose baker," Christina says as she grabs more cake, "But I'm starting to see why."
"My love of cake knows no bounds," Uriah says, "And I still get to be an instructor, anyway." He starts to clear up the samples.
"Alright, enough freeloading."
"Thanks," Coraline says as she grabs one last slice of cake before Uriah can clear it all away.
"I'm going to take you to get fitted," Christina says as she grabs hold of Eric, "Coraline, you and Audrey should go and pick out the maid of honor's dress. It's the only one we haven't found yet."
"Save me," Eric jokingly calls out as Christina drags him away.
"You'll be fine." I follow Coraline as we head over to the dress shop. I've already decided on traditional Dauntless black for the bridesmaids, but I want Coraline's dress to be special. I want it to somehow connect the black of their dresses with the pure white of mine. We start to go through dresses like we always do. There are some black dresses with white accents here or there, but none of them seem to fit. But then one catches my eye. It's a sleeved dress that starts out white on top, but steadily darkens until the skirt is black. This is what I've been looking for. The material and design even matches that of the other bridesmaid dresses; it's like it was made for the wedding.
"Coraline, try this one!"
"Oh my gosh, this one is so nice!" she exclaims, "And it matches so well! You really have grown an appreciation for fashion."
"I know a good dress when I see one. Now go put it on," I say as I practically shove her into the dressing room. She comes out and it looks marvelous on her. It fits her curves perfectly, the skirt a beautiful cascade of silk. The white top also makes her hair stand out more compared to the black we all usually wear. Even the back is open so her trees are exposed; for any Dauntless celebration, showing off tattoos as much as possible is a must.
"We found my dress," Coraline says with a smile, "You sure you want someone else in white?"
"It's not technically white," I say, "Anyway, the majority is colored so it's fine."
"This is too fun," Coraline calls out as she changes back into normal clothes, "I'll take this with me over to Christina's for a fitting. What do you want to do for now?"
"Well, there's no ban on the bride seeing the groom's outfit before the wedding…" We both head over to Christina's shop. As soon as we're inside, we can already hear them.
"Would you watch it with the pins?"
"They wouldn't be a problem if you held still."
"I am, you just don't know what you're doing."
"I know what I'm doing. Either we're experiencing an earthquake or you're moving."
"Just get it done."
Coraline and I can't help but laugh as we hear them. They're always going back and forth, but it never escalates; it's just the way they are. We go into the fitting room where Eric is, surrounded on one side by mirrors. He's shirtless, of course; Dauntless guys almost always have some upper body tattoos, so they traditionally don't wear a shirt in order to let them be seen. It's very different from the Erudite style which is like our ancestors where the men wear suits and ties. He also has on a black pair of slacks that Christina is in the middle of fitting. That's the only exception as far as tattoo displaying is concerned, otherwise there are many people who would probably be getting married in only their underwear or less. He also has on a leather belt with the Dauntless symbol for the buckle and a very shiny pair of leather dress shoes. Eric turns a bit to face me.
"Hey Aud—shit!" It seems he turned directly into Christina's pin.
"Those damn pins!"
"I told you not to move," Christina chides him while smirking. She seems to be enjoying herself a bit.
"You know, it's almost unfair," I say, "I have to worry about a dress, shoes, hair, and makeup and you get to show up half naked and it's fine."
"That's because everyone will be looking at how beautiful you are," Eric says, "I could be naked and no one would even notice. And that's starting to seem like a great idea at this point."
"Do that and I'm skipping my own wedding," I say with a laugh.
"And I already have you fitted now," Christina says, "Take those off without letting the pins fall out and you're free." We're exiting the room and Eric's already working them off.
"With this, all the main details are done," Christina says, beaming, "Now we just have to follow up with the decorator and caterers to make sure everything is going according to plan."
"I would never have gotten this done without you two," I say, giving them a hug.
"We're just the ultimate power duo," Coraline says, smiling, "Fashion extraordinaires, make up savants, and now superb wedding planners."
"You're too humble," I say laughing, "But I think you two really could expand the boutique with skills like yours."
"I'm actually thinking of it," Christina says with a gleam in her eye, "I could make an empire."
"And I'll be your second-in-command," Coraline says and they laugh. Eric finally comes out of the fitting room.
"Stuff's on the hangar," he says and he takes hold of me and heads to the door.
"Where are you two going?" Christina calls after us.
"Doesn't matter, we're escaping," Eric says and I just laugh. After a while, I start to wonder exactly where we're going. Eric seems like he actually has a destination in mind.
"You're taking me to…?"
"It's a surprise," he says, smirking as we ascend the Pit. He ends up leading me to a dress shop.
"I thought you were fed up with clothing," I say, smiling.
"I'm over it," he says and then directs his attention to the store's manager, "Do you have what I asked for?"
"Right away," the manager says and then leads me to the dressing room and hands me a dress with a pair of heels. It's a tight black dress that has a long skirt that's cut up to my thighs with a shoulder strap. It's fancier than anything I normally wear. What is this for? As soon as I'm out, I see that Eric has a collared shirt on. If it weren't for the choice of dress, I'd think we were headed to the club. Eric thanks the manager and then leads me out of the shop to a higher level of the Pit.
"Where are we going now?" I ask with a smile. I'm starting to get anxious.
"Another surprise," he says, smirking again. I keep trying to figure out where he's taking me when I see the sign. It's the Cave Café; this is the single most desired restaurant in Dauntless. As the name states, it's in a cave and it's supposed to be the ultimate date spot. The waiting list is so long, even if someone's a leader it can take weeks to get a spot.
"How did you…" I have no idea how he pulled this one off.
"I know some people and had a few strings pulled," he says with a smile, "It's been a while since we had an actual date. And after my little mess up, I thought I owed you one." I can't find words, so I kiss him instead. To do something like this is amazing. I almost think we should argue more often if this is the end result.
"You're amazing." Those are the first words that come to mind. I'm slowly coming to appreciate exactly how lucky I am.
"I know," he says as he gives me another kiss, "And you are, too, for always putting up with my bullshit."
"I love you…and your bullshit," I say with a smile.
"I love you, too."
We go inside and it's absolutely beautiful. The cave is filled with naturally occurring crystals. The Erudite in me can't help but identify them; fluorite, barite, and calcite to name a few, all slightly refined, but left in the walls of the cave. They provide beautiful and natural decorations. Lights have also been placed in a few, lighting up the restaurant and helping make the place sparkle. We're led to our table and the chairs are black with a modern design. The table has a black table cloth on top and has a crystal on the table with a light within it making glow like the larger ones around us. I absolutely love it here.
"Like it here?" Eric asks with a smile that says he already knows my answer.
"Yes," I say, "It's so beautiful!"
"How can I help you this evening?" I haven't looked at my menu since we got in and I start to flip through it, lost.
"If you don't know what to get, may I recommend the chef's choice?" The waiter asks nicely.
"Sure, I'd love that," I say. Whatever it is, it's bound to be delicious.
"I'll have the same," Eric says and he smiles at me across the table. This whole experience is just amazing. It doesn't take long for the food to come out and it's absolutely divine. Even my weird pregnancy taste buds love it. I almost can't believe that human hands cooked this food.
"I love this so much." I don't know how I stop eating long enough to say something.
"It's almost as good as your food," Eric says, "Maybe a bit better."
"You've already won me over," I say, "You don't have to flatter."
"It's true." How I ended up with a guy like this, I don't know. I finish my food and as much as I will myself to eat more, I just can't. Eric pays the waiter and we head out of what is now easily my favorite restaurant.
"Any more surprises?" I ask with a smirk. If he finds any way to top this, forget the wedding, I'm just going to have us elope.
"Not quite," he says, "But I'm thinking it's about time we got you out of that dress." He kisses the side of my neck and I feel my face fill with warmth while the rest of me fills with desire.
"Then what are we waiting for," I say, smirking. He really has made the perfect date tonight.
A/N: Wedding's coming together :D Busy day for me tomorrow, so I may be late with an update :p As a reminder, if you liked Becoming Fire, go to my profile page thing and take the poll for which two chapters you want to see from Eric's POV before the month-iversary (9/14/2014)