Chapter Thirty-Six
The Brief Moment of Peace
Ariel feels surreal as the next few weeks swirl by, everything seems to pass by in a blur. Even with the speed she possesses, she has a difficult time keeping up. Such a different and unexpected routine starts to set itself in place - one where she wakes up with Carlisle, goes to work with Carlisle, and returns home with him where she'll have to break up any fights between the 'kids' and sneakily join any going bet pools that Emmett has with the other members of the coven; his last bet was on who was the strongest at arm wrestling, she's happy to say that she blew them all out of the water.
She still has to get used to the lack of birds - a part of her misses and mourns them greatly - and to the constant noise that seems to fill the Cullen household. It is nothing like her quiet nights spent with wine and softly graphic romance novels. Yet as much as she misses her solitude, she would hardly trade this new lifestyle for anything.
While the others are hunting, she tends to the steadily growing rows of plants she's adopted; Carlisle has developed a habit of gifting her new small seedlings that he finds and bringing her bundles of flowers that he claims reminds him of her. She glances at the flowers in the watered vase with a smile, fingering the soft velvety petals with a warmth blooming in her chest. She's well aware of the others returning from their hunt, spotting them emerging from the treeline. Carlisle makes a straight line toward her, wrapping his arms tightly around her as he presses a soft kiss to her lips; there's the faintest metallic taste to his mouth that she doesn't think about too hard.
"Ariel," Alice sweeps her up next the moment that Carlisle lets her go, "Ariel, Carlisle gave us the okay to go dress shopping today!" She lets out a high-pitched squeal, bouncing with excitement as her yellow eyes gleam, "We just have to go into Seattle, the forecast is perfect."
By perfect, Ariel knows that she means dreary, cloudy with no sun in sight, and likely even wet. She still gives a soft smile at Alice's enthusiasm, while Carlisle glances at his daughter in confused amusement.
"I did?"
"You would've if I asked," Alice states simply, "Close enough."
"Visions are not the same as actually asking, Alice," Carlisle lightly scolds, ignoring the pout he gets in return, as he wraps an arm around Ariel's waist, "So I suppose I'll have to simply join you -"
"-Ah, no you don't," Alice immediately shoots down that idea, "It's bad luck for the groom to see the dress before the wedding~"
She draws out her words in a small whine, causing Carlisle to chuckle as he releases Ariel, raising his hands in a peaceful gesture. The selfish part of him still wants to go, but he yields for now with the knowledge that he will see it soon enough.
Alice practically tosses Ariel into the car, with Rosalie not that far behind. Despite Emmett's best efforts, he is evicted from the car in his attempts to join them as Alice insists that it's good to keep the group small. Ariel watches her with amusement as Alice continues to vibrate with excitement as she speeds away to the city. She absently sends a few texts to both Chloe and Linda of her spontaneous plan for the day, hoping that if she keeps them up to date that neither will feel bad about being left out. Chloe seems to be fine with the plans, if a bit disappointed, as a big case is stealing most of hers and Lucifer's time already while Linda just demands many pictures of all the dresses she tries on.
"Just to point out the obvious," Rosalie speaks up from the backseat, leaning forward into the space between Ariel and Alice, "Can't you just see which dress she'll go with? Haven't you already had a vision of the wedding anyway?"
Alice huffs as she makes a sharp right turn, "That ruins the fun, Rosie. Just because I know which one is the end goal, doesn't mean that Ariel does and I am not going to let me or anyone else ruin this experience."
Rosalie snorts, making a face as she leans back into the seat, mumbling a bit at Alice's aggression about a simple question.
By their third boutique, Ariel can feel herself getting tired from being dragged around the smoggy, crowded buildings. She almost can reach the point where she just wants to say yes to something, but knows in her heart that if she did that, she would end up regretting it later. She entertains herself instead with any champagne or wine offered, critiquing it with Rosalie as Alice adds every dress she sees to the growing pile of things to try on.
"What about this one," Alice suggests with a large grin on her face, spinning around with a lacy dress covered in decals.
Ariel crinkles her nose, reaching out with her free hand to feel the small little papery 'flowers' scattered through the lace of the skirt, "No thank you, I prefer my flowers to be a bit more - real."
Alice just laughs - the melody filling the room, "I know silly, this is just to try on! I know that you wouldn't actually get this one."
Rosalie raises a single brow, leaning against the wall with a champagne glass in hand; her inability to enjoy the wine, much like Ariel, doesn't stop the fact that she finishes the glass off in one go before asking for more.
"Why don't we stick the selection to ones that she at least likes?"
Both Ariel and the assistant helping them - whose arms are already full of dresses - send Rosalie a thankful look. Alice huffs, but doesn't put up too much of an argument as she just looks at the dresses the attendant is holding with a dreamy, all-knowing smile. Ariel hopes that that is a sign that the dress hunt will end soon; there's only so many pictures she can take and she's already been on four face calls with Linda, who had much to say about a few of the choices.
The first one in the attendant's arms is something that she refuses to even leave the dressing room in. She feels it's too much for a wedding immediately and while someone out there will love it, she is definitely not that person; the dress barely covers her, stopping just after rear before flaring out in a fluffy half skirt to save some decency, it doesn't help that it's covered in tacky decals and sparkles. She's forced to show Linda, who insists on yet another facetime call for the entire process. She's not completely ignorant to Amenadiel in the background; despite his best efforts of trying to be sneaky. She feels flattered that he even wants to be included in the process this much and is tempted to say something, but holds her tongue to let him have this moment.
The second one she at least shows off to both Alice and Rosalie; the phone, still on facetime with Linda, is also handed off for a better effect and to save Amenadiel from hearing or seeing anything about the process of actually trying on the dresses. This one catches Rosalie's attention the most - with the classic details, simple silhouette and sleeves that puff at the shoulders but are sleek down the arms. But just when she thinks that Rosalie finally likes at least one dress, Rosalie venomly rejects it and insists that she can do better.
She's four dresses into the appointment before she finally finds one that makes her pause. She's prepared to not like it, with the fabric being a bit more translucent than she expected to like, but it is softer than the others and feels more authentic. She looks herself over in the mirror curiously, hands running down the front of the dress in apt wonder.
"You have a good eye, miss," the attendant says, smiling and looking relieved that the appointment may finally be turning around, "This skye dress is made only from organic materials. All genuine cotton and bamboo fabrics, completely eco-friendly."
Ariel hums, a bit pleased at the information, before she makes the decision to show it to the others. As stands on the platform in front of the small group, Linda already clapping on the screen, she spins and catches her reflection in the mirror. The entire fabric clings delicately to her body, leaving little to the imagination especially with the light sheerness of the fabric itself, but the lacey flower details that are embroidered into the dress save her a bit of modesty. The low neck line is just enough to be enticing with long bell sleeves. The simple silhouette still does her justice with the stitching in the waistline and ribbing along the top. She smiles brightly, having already made the decision as she turns to face the group again; Rosalie, as hard as she tries to hide it, smiles at the decision, her expression softening while Alice is being so bouncy and excited that it makes Linda dizzy as the screen distorts.
"Ahh it is so perfect for you, this is going to be a great wedding," Alice already gushes.
Linda starts to chime in, happiness in her eyes, but gets cut off as Ariel's phone starts to ring with a different call. She gently lifts the edge of the dress up as she delicately steps down from the platform to take the call; the devil emoji on the caller ID is all she needs to know who it is. She politely parts from Linda before accepting the call, putting the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she still can't help but look at herself in the mirror.
She can't remember ever feeling this way; this sort of light, fuzziness that makes it feel as though she's floating. It's a strong enough feeling that she checks to make sure that her wings haven't ruined the back of the dress. The warmth blooming across her chest shows in her voice as it wavers in a soft whisper.
"What is it, Lucy? You do know that I have a wedding to plan, don't you?"
"Terribly sorry for interrupting, darling," Lucifer's voice rings through, "But I'm afraid any wedding plans might have to wait."
She can hear the regret in his voice, but she swallows down the disappointment and tries to believe that it's just some sort of joke of her brothers; that he doesn't really mean it. She waits for the punchline, for him to say something along the lines of how she can't plan the wedding without having the bachelorette party yet or that it's not a wedding without some high-end ecstasy and he knows just the right one -
"-It took a while, I'll admit, unfortunately we've had our hands full with cases. But I was able to find out which demon owns that knife that did you in."
Her wedding dress is inspired by the Skye dress by Wear Your Love.
