Disclaimer: Still own nothing. But I did get a nifty membership to
WeddingChannel.com, where I did some of my gown research. Woohoo.
Notes:
sound
*thought*
} telepathic conversation {
Setting: A mid-November morning in Westchester.
Susana stumbled, bleary eyed and still in pajamas, into the kitchen,
where she promptly grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee. After about five minutes of communing with
Juan Valdez, she felt human enough to acknowledge the other occupants of the
kitchen. "Mornin',
Bobby...Warren."
Warren grunted and didn't look up from the front page of the
Wall Street Journal. Bobby waved
distractedly from his seat on the bench beside the table, then froze the
spoonful of cereal Warren was about to eat.
Susana debated pointing it out to Warren, then shook her head. *If he can't look up long enough to notice,
that's his own fault...plus, this is gonna be funny.*
clink
"AH! Dammit, Drake,
that hurt!" Warren unfolded a wing
and reached across the table to thwap Bobby, scattering a few feathers across
the table. Bobby retaliated by freezing
the entire bowl of cereal, and Susana gulped down more of her coffee before it
got caught in the crossfire...or, more accurately, before the weapons of the
crossfire got caught in it.
It was this chaotic scene that met Jean's eyes when she strolled
into the kitchen. Susana waved her over
to the breakfast bar, a safe distance away from the mini snowballs and downy
feathers that were by now flying across the table.
}How long have they been at this?{ Jean inquired, holding a hand over her nose and mouth to avoid
inhaling any feathers.
}Long enough. I didn't
want to get in the middle for fear of endin' up with feathers and snow up my
nose.{ Susana rolled her eyes, then
sneezed as a passing feather tickled her nose.
}Hey, do you have any interest in going in to the city? I want to look at wedding dresses. Jubilee's going- she better, she's my maid
of honor-, and I thought I might ask Kitty, Rogue, and Storm, and maybe even
Psylocke,{ she shuddered minutely, }if they wanted to join us. Oh dear.
Why does your expression really scare me?{
}I can't imagine why. I
know Storm's out in the greenhouse and Jubilee's still asleep, but have you
seen Rogue or Psylocke this morning?{
Jean watched the two men at the table, and when Warren was distracted,
she used her telekinesis to stuff a small snowball down the back of his
shirt. }And why the reluctance to take
Betsy along?{
}Three words: psychic
knives, salesmen. Or does that count as
four words?{ Susana was barely able to
restrain her laughter at the sight of Warren scrambling to get the snow out of
his clothes.
}I see your point. But I
think she might be able to offer some good advice.{
}Like what? Get married
naked, save a step? No thanks.{
}Her costume's not that bad.{ The only answer was a disbelieving snort as Susana carried her
coffee cup over to the sink. She rinsed it, then filled it partway with
water and looked back and forth from the cup to Bobby.
}Well, Jean? Do I
dare? S'only fair. You got Warren....{ And with that, she tipped the mug over Bobby's
head, pivoted, and raced upstairs to wake Jono and get dressed.
Two hours later, the X women- Kitty, Psylocke, Jubilee, Jean,
Storm, Rogue, and Susana- had all gathered in the mansion's entry hall. Jean was armed with the addresses of several
couturiers Xavier had accounts with, as well as what Jubilee had affectionately
termed "the matrimony mission book"- an oversized spiral notebook
full of notes, ideas, and plans for the wedding. The chauffeured limo that Xavier had provided pulled up to the
front door, and they all claimed seats.
Angelo and Jono watched from the upstairs landing as the women filed
out.
"Hombre, I'd be scared."
}Why's that?{
"She's takin' Betsy with her to buy a weddin' gown. Chica's straight up loco."
}I'm not so sure I'm the one who should be scared here,
Ange.{ Jono turned his attention from
the limo pulling out to his friend.
"Qué?" Angelo
raised an eyebrow in question, the gesture exaggerated to cartoonish
proportions by the stretching of his skin.
}Well, y'see, I've already committed to gettin' married. You, on the other hand, oughta be
worried. I mean, Jubes may come back
all googly eyed an' talkin' bout flowers and white silk, or the differences
between fifteen shades of cream and ivory and off-white.{ Jono lifted a hand to his left temple and
rubbed lightly. }Think I could get ya t'let
me leech an aspirin off of you? Just
thinkin' bout it gives me a headache.
Who knew there was so much planning involved?{
"She did. Chicas
are like, born knowing these things.
It's in their blood, I think."
With that bit of dubious wisdom, he sauntered off down the hall.
~*~*~*~*The limo, en route to New York City~*~*~*~*~
"Remind me again why I, the damn bride," the
tone of Susana's words indicated that she thought 'bride' equivalent to 'Medal
of Valor recipient' "am stuck sittin' on the floor?"
Jean looked up from the list she was making in the book to
answer. "Because your maid of honor took your seat?"
"Of course. How
could I have forgotten." She
glared at Jubilee, who grinned, then turned to stare out the window. "So, oh great keeper of the agenda,
where are we heading first?"
Jean consulted a previous page of the notebook. "We're going...to Madison Avenue,
because that's where all these places are." Susana nodded, then pulled out a book and stretched her legs
across the floor.
"If we stop suddenly, anyone who lands on me will die. That
ok with everyone?" She looked up
and around at the seated group, then nodded contentedly and began to read.
~*~Three hours later, in the private showroom of a Madison
Avenue bridal boutique~*~
"No. Nuh-uh. Not happening." Susana crossed her arms, shook her head, and
scowled balefully at the new dress a store assistant was holding up. The stance would have been far more imposing
if she were wearing more than one of Jono's shirts over white satin lingerie.
"But Susana," Jean soothed, "it's a gorgeous
dress!"
"Yeah, on you it would be perfect, but I'm too short for a
dress like this. It would swallow me
whole. I said I want something
simple. Simple, as in no 80's prom
dress big taffeta skirts. No trains- I
do not need something new to trip me up, plus I'd probably get grass
stains on it-, no bustles- my ass is just fine the size it is, thank you
very much-, and most definitely NO poofy stuff!"
Some time during this tirade, the assistant had disappeared with
the offending garment. She slipped back
through the curtain again, this time holding a hanger with a definitively
non-bustled, trainless, taffeta-free dress.
Susana looked up at her soft cough, and her eyes lit up. She bounced happily across the room to
examine the dress more closely, then grinned.
"I like. May I?" The assistant carefully extracted the hanger
from under the thin straps, then unfastened the back of the dress. Susana dropped the stolen shirt to the
ground and stepped into the dress, then stood patiently while it was
refastened. Once the woman stepped
back, she did a little spin and was happy to note that the dress didn't touch
the ground at all. In fact, the lowest
of the asymmetrical layers of the dress hit at about ankle level.
"Well, maid of honor?
What do you think?" She
gave a slow twirl in front of Jubilee, who nodded approvingly.
"Jono'll definitely like it." She gestured to the low, princess-style
neckline of the dress.
Susana shrugged, then walked across to the curtain. She pulled it back and stood in the empty
space, posing and turning slowly so that the other X-women, seated on couches
in the waiting area, could see the dress.
Storm smiled in approval, Rogue clapped, Betsy gave a sort of grudging
nod, and Kitty started in surprise when Rogue kicked her in the ankle. "It...umm. It looks nice!" She
recovered quickly from the surprise, then kicked Rogue back as soon as she saw
the opportunity.
Susana pushed the curtain of the dressing room back and stepped
back in, then went to stand in front of the mirror. She spun slowly and craned her neck to see all of the dress. "Jubes, camera. Now."
Jubilee dug through Susana's oversized purse and pulled out a digital
camera. She directed Susana to stand
against the dark background provided by the curtain, and then proceeded to take
several pictures showing the view of the dress from multiple angles. Once Susana thought they had enough pictures
to satisfy her mother's inevitable questions about the dress, Jubilee put the
camera away and Susana changed back into her clothes. The shop assistant reappeared with a notebook, and they filled
out all the appropriate order forms.
Once the last size chart had been consulted and the appropriate pages
had been signed, they left the boutique and headed to what Betsy called
"the best deli in New York" for a big lunch before they began the
non-wedding shopping they all wanted to do.
Now that they had provided their opinions as amateur bridal
fashion consultants, the X-women were ready to shop...just as soon as
they could pry Jean out of the baby clothes section of Macy's. "Ro, look at this! It's adorable!" She held up a hideously ruffled pink and
yellow pair of overalls and the matching t-shirt. Susana made a gagging sound, and Jubilee nodded emphatically.
}Hey Jubes, wanna have some fun?{ The corners of Susana's mouth curled up in what Jubilee thought
was possibly the most evil smile she'd ever seen.
}What're we gonna do?{
}Nothing much...just let's each build a baby outfit.{
}This is fun how?{
}The fun comes when we go home and talk about the unbearable
cuteness of baby clothes...and babies.
At length and in excruciating detail.
In front of Ange and Jono.{ She
grinned at Jubilee, then began sorting through a display of brightly colored
onesies. With a slow nod of dawning comprehension,
Jubilee began sorting through the other side of the display.
~*~*~*two hours later, Inside a large music store~*~*~*
"Ok, Jubes. Did I buy everything I needed to?"
"how am I supposed to know? I'm no musician. Just...ask
the sales guy, then read his mind so you know if he's trying to cheat
you."
"Tried. He doesn't
seem to be cheating me. But is this all
the stuff Jono'll need to set up?"
"Good lord, woman.
You've spent how much on his birthday present?"
"About three days worth of interest on my stocks-god bless
my financial planning professor. The
money's not an issue. Making sure he
has everything he needs to produce on a small scale...that's an
issue." Jubilee was about to
respond when an unfamiliar voice cut in.
"He's got everything he needs for just playing around with
producing, learning techniques and stuff.
You don't want to buy anything too complex for a first setup. What you've got is good, he- whoever 'he'
is- can add to it in parts as he works up to needing more stuff." The girl tucked a strand of hair behind her
ear and smiled. "Hope ya'll don't
mind my butting in. But I figured it
was the nice thing to do- I'm not makin' any money off of anything you buy, so
I'm unbiased, and you two sounded...confused."
Susana gave a dry laugh and nodded slowly. "Confused might begin to cover it. This," she waved a hand around the
store at all the different pieces of equipment, "is my fiancé's area. I just sing, play a little guitar...and I
can do 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' on the piano."
"Quite the repertoire. But anyway, if he's not planning on going
professional immediately, you should be set with what you've got
there." She returned her attention
to the guitar she was considering, effectively dismissing them. Susana shifted her burden of speakers and
electronics, muttered a thanks in the girl's direction, and headed for the
register and the limo waiting outside.