To walk down the aisle of a masquerade

It is less than an hour from her meeting with the Allfather that Brother Sophis is admitted to the medical bay. In desperate need of urgent care. Only moments later Maya is placed on a pedestal in an oval room filled with unfinished tapestries, unfinished faces looking at her with unfeeling eyes. Her gown is draped over the backside of a chair, her body is draped with layers of shimmering pearl white silk. To the right of her a woman is pulling thick gold hem off a roll and measuring it around her neck arms, over her bust and around her waist. It is soft and beautiful, but she knows when this dress is worn in its completion it is the equivalent of an orange jumpsuit. The gold ring like a steel bar to be folded around her small slender finger.

She breathes deeply in an effort to push back whatever it is that's piling up in her mind.

Panic

fear

anger

anxiety

horror.

Her eyes fall closed and she concentrates on the sound of her own breathing, the snapping of scissors and thread. Hushed voices whispering this and that as their bearers hold up swatches of fabric, their hands motioning to various parts of her body. With her eyes shut like this she cannot see the grief in the eyes of her father who stands in doorway. He looks at her and finds her posture, her appearance in that dress similar to a standing corpse, so beautiful at its wake. She resigned herself to this, she didn't even fight it. Not really. Her reaction was that of a soldier marching into a battle he knew he would not return from.

The way they bind her with these silks and ribbons, to conform to her body, to mask the definition of muscle in her arms and stomach. To purposefully hide her strength. Her strength, he hopes that it will hold true that she will withstand this in stride. The man worries deeply for her. People skills are not her specialty, she is deeply distrustful of almost every person in this place. How will she survive on a planet of strangers, who don't know how to handle her. The man finds himself desperately wanting to write a list of things that are allowed and not allowed to send with her, but he cant.

She will be on her own.

In Sanctuary Mordecai sighs heavily while he sits in a chair tilted backward, so that most of his thick dreadlocks are submerged into a basin of water and some white stuff. His chest is bare and the room is slightly chill, how unpleasant. He can hear the sound of Daisy's foot steps while she carries various bits of scavenged and washed fabrics to the center console. Drearily he opens his eyes and sees stress rolling down the sides of her face in little droplets, she holds up the shirt he was wearing earlier for comparison. The sound of chalk sliding over the fabric of her choice makes his ear twitch. Lilith returns a moment later to pull his hair from the basin and rinse it through with the scarce supply of clean water before patting it dry with a torn bit of towel.

"your bath is ready okay?"

He just grunts at her before gripping his damp hair and pulling it into a folded ponytail on the back of his head,tying it off with one his dreads. Lilith makes a face at him before he walks out of the room and down the hall. When he shuts the door behind him he surprised to find a large steel tub moved from the corner where it usually sits. From the surface of the water steam rises, she must have boiled the whole damn thing. Beside the tub sits a small broken and repaired stool, on top of which sit a single unwrapped bar of what looks like hotel soap and the usual gray washcloth.

He tosses his remaining clothing onto a hook on the wall before going back and stepping into the large tub. Warm. Very warm but not unpleasantly so, the warmth seeps into his skin allowing stress to ebb into the water. What is she like? What does she like?

Will she be disappointed when she sees him? Will she want something from him? What will she expect?

His eyes close slowly as he lets various scenarios play out in his mind. None of them are good or kind to himself. He knows this is unwise on his part. He is still angry and hurting very much because of Moxxii, he won't say it out loud but he misses her already. Water rises up his face as he allows himself to submerge fully into the tub, the sound of water canceling his thoughts. In this way, he can only hear his own heartbeat.

For some reason it does not cross his mind that she is unwilling, just as much as he is. That she is scared, that she is wondering all these things of him.

The night drags on for what feels like an eternity for many of the people involved, but for two it passes in a blink. There is not enough time before the event, to come to terms with what is about to happen what they are about to do. It is that morning that Lilith is informed that the invitation to the ceremony and reception is open, that any member of them is welcome to attend. The bar shuts down the garage closes and even the medical bays 'open' light flicks off. A long line of people as washed up as they can get, all wearing their best as they stand in front of Sanctuaries fast travel station. On the balcony to sanctuary Mordecai stands watching the citizens smile and chatter with each other. They are loud and rather obnoxious, he finds himself glaring down at them. Why are they so damn happy about this?

As the line begins to shrink, Lilith steps up from behind him gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

" we have to go now."

He shrugs her hand away, walking past her like she wasn't there. She watches him disappear through the doorway, for moment there is nothing. Then she see's him step out the main door and trudge to the station, so much slower than usual.

Like usual his vision blurs and it takes a moment for his eyes to readjust, he blinks a few times as if that will help. Everything is white. For a moment he continues blinking, as if he is seeing incorrectly. As he looks around, the walls are white floor is only slightly off white in square tiles. Wood trimming is painted white as well, it is only by the shadows that he is able to find the door. The way out. Outside the room the floor is stone,the railing is made of short elaborate columns behind which grow small bright green bushes. He only notices the vines that creep across the railing, looking ahead he finds the trail of Sanctuaries citizens rounding a corner far ahead of him. He follows them, looking around all the while. Grass, lush green grass. All this green and not a single flower in sight. How weird even Pandora has a few pointy and mildly dangerous flowers, he can't find a single one here.

As he round the corner he finds a tall man waiting for him, Allfather smiles weakly at the man who is taking his daughter from him.

" good morning, you must be Mordecai."

Mordecai look at the man curiously, assessing him like he where another target. He mentally shakes himself out of this.

" yeah, who're you "

Allfather smiles, his interest piqued. A curious thing, this man in front of him- his formal attire more like a casual kind of militaristic uniform. The upper portion is mostly black,stopping just before his elbows. A streak of dark red fabric winding around his neck and following the seam line left before wrapping around his shoulder and winding all the way down to his elbow.

" I am the man who is going to be your father in law."

Mordecai raises an eyebrow at the comment, grunting instead of giving a proper response. Allfather merely gives a light chuckle.

" I will go over the ceremony with you, we only have time to go over it once befo-"

" say 'I do' put the ring on her and kiss her right?"

Mordecai shoves his hand in his pocket, touching the slender gold band as he looks at his soon to be father in law, waiting for an answer. No response but the sound of the man trying to stifle his laughter, one hand clamped over his mouth, the other gripping his stomach. Mordecai just watches him.

" is that wrong?"

The older man struggles to stop laughing, waving at Mordecai all the while.

" no! No, no its not wrong- Its just, oh it doesn't matter."

He wipes the remaining moisture from his eyes and motions for Mordecai to follow him. The gardens are beautiful, various shades of green grass and vines climbing up well cared for statues of angels in various stages of wingspan. For some reason he is surprised to find quite so many people seated in the rows and rows of wooden pews which where brought outside for this occasion. He follows the Allfather to the front where he meets a skeletal priest and shakes his bony hand. When turns around he finds Lilith scurrying to the front row where she wiggles in between Scooter and Zed. How stunning to see neon green eyes glaring at him from beside Scooter. What the hell is Moxxi doing here?

Instantly the little bit of calm he has is shattered,his brow furrows and he watches the corner of her mouth twitch into a crooked smile. She mouths at him 'good luck'. Lilith watches in horror at his reaction to Moxxi being there, she finds herself panicking inwardly, hoping he doesn't lash out. He glares past the priest, Allfather blinks surprised at the quick change in Mordecai's demeanor. With a sigh he pats Mordecai's shoulder and walks back down the aisle to find his daughter. Lilith hisses in a whisper over Scooters chest.

"Moxxi will you quit your shit?!"

The woman merely smiles coyly at Lilith,she pushes loose bit of hair behind her ear before responding in the voice she knows used to get Mordecai all riled up.

" oh sugar, I dunno what you're talking about."

She glances over to the groom expecting to see him getting hot under the collar, she made sure he could hear her. All she gets unfortunately, is a murderous glare. Her smile falls slack as she looks at him, she never though that look would ever be aimed at her. Their moment is broken by the sound of singing harps. Mordecai turns in place to see Allfather walking along with a woman all draped in white and gold, almost gliding toward him.

Her figure is one that would make an hourglass jealous, wide hips a minute waistline trimmed in gold and a full bosom. For some reason he finds himself intrigued by the fact that a single bit of skin is visible, her hands are closed around a modest bouquet of white tulips and baby blue bell flowers. Her dress is iridescent, just like a pearl. Peeking out from the long dress is the tip of her gold colored shoes with every step she takes, gold crosses on her shoulders and on her neck. Each cross adorned with a large polished oval ruby. More importantly than all that is the blue, her cerulean blue hair. The top of her hair is brought into a bun wrapped with narrow braids and a small white rose, from beneath that bun the remainder of her hair hangs loose. It spills down her back in half finished curls, looking the way a breeze feels. A cloudy white veil obscures her face from his view, Allfather steps away from her to sit down in the pews to the right. She continues forward, slowing to a halt only when she stands directly beside him. He finds it hard to look away from this woman whose face he doesn't yet know.

However a small cough from the skeletal priest, informs him that he must. The mans voice is dusty like the top shelf of items you either can't reach or more likely don't care to. This unpleasant voice quickly fades into nothing but background noise, his heart races thundering in his ears.

Behind him Moxxi stares stunned at his response to this woman whose face no one has yet seen. Whats under that veil? Lilith places her hands over her mouth, so happy- she can't believe the way he looks at his bride. With a wide smile Lilith looks over at Moxxi and waggles her eyebrows in a soundless victory.

The skeletal mans dusty voice pauses and all eyes sit heavily on Mordecais back. His mouth curves into a smile as he pulls his eyes off her veil and looks to the priest.

" I do."

An audible sigh of relief is heard from the Pandoran half of the audience. The mans voice drones and suddenly it occurs to Mordecai that when this voice pauses again, he will get to hear her's. The thought makes him smile a bit more. Then the pause is there, the weight of everyones eyes now rests on her, he sees her back stiffen and her shoulders tighten up.

" ah, I- I do?"

Mordecais shoulders shake slightly in a silent chuckle, she turns her face away when she realizes he's laughing. Her embarrassment is charming to him, he can't see her face, but her body language makes everything obvious. He pulls what he can from these minutes with her. He can see that she very expressive, hopefully that will be a good thing. The priests voice stops again, Mordecai reaches into his pocket for the thin gold band, dotted with a little red ruby. She pulls one hand away from her bouquet where she lays it in his wide palm. The sleeve of her dress extend to a sharp point just over her knuckles, where he sees the colors of their skin contrasting. Her milky white hand laid on his earthy tanned palm, he slips the light ring on her slender finger. Shes cold and her palms are sweating with her anxiety. Her hand folds over his and he watches her shift the bouquet into the crook of her arm. How ungraceful, she places the ring on his hand and then replaces her hands back around her bouquet.

Mordecai can hear her breathing, shes getting even more freaked out the closer they get to the end of this. He only glances at the ring on his own hand before he hears the words.

"you may now kiss the bride."

They turn to face each other, he can hear the flower stems crumpling in her slightly quaking hands. He reaches over to lift her veil and is stunned to see brilliant crystal blue eyes, glassy and framed with wet indigo lashes. She is terrified and so depressed. Leaning down to her small ear he whispers.

" I'm sorry "

He brushes his lips over hers, lingering for only a moment. Something wet and warm falls to his face. He pulls away to see that while she has steeled her expression, the tears flow without her consent. As he is supposed to he raises he elbow and feels her small delicate hand take hold, together they walk back down the aisle. As they go he realizes that while Pandora celebrates this union, Athenas is mourning her as dead. The entire left side of the audience is cloaked in black from top to bottom, all faces turned to the floor, on the right they clap and cheer for them.

As the couple marches past, Scooter blinks in confusion.

" why was she cryin' like that momma?"

Moxxi stares at the floor, her expression blank. Her mind is racing and all she can feel is a cold empty pit deep in the core of herself. Zed sighs as the two finally leave from view.

"these people think that she's gonna die, look at em. Treating her like she's already dead."

While the crowd is ushered away to where the reception waits Mordecai finds himself alone with his new wife. She swipe at her face with her back turned to Mordecai, he wants to help but hasn't a foggy clue how. All he can think of is how mad he was earlier, grimacing about what kind of woman he was going to be stuck with. Now he's looking away from her feeling so far beyond ashamed he doesn't know what to say. A small voice jerks him from his thoughts.

"I'm sorry about this, I don't mean to disappoint you-"

He looks at her curiously, her face turned over her shoulder. An arc of bangs obscuring her eyes, all he can see are full plump lips, her softly pointed chin and the smooth profile of her nose. Most noticeable is the way light reflects off the still wet portions of her cheek.

" why would I be disappointed... why're you cryin like this?"

Her face turns away with a slight huff, again she rubs her face- this time she quickly whips around face him.

" it is not of significance, pay it no mind as it will not happen again."

This time her voice is not so small and meek. Its solid,almost heavy, weighted with her confidence that she would never be seen in such shameful way again. She stares at him as if he is nothing new, waiting for his answer.

"eh? You sure cause you seemed kinda freaked out up there."

Her expression become thoughtful for a moment before she tilts her head to the side slightly, then back up again.

" I am sorry about, truly I am. It is simply quite jarring- I was unaware of this until yesterday afternoon. Please understand my reaction has nothing to with you. I will be leaving here and it is very unlikely that I can return. This is my home and while I am far from fond of most of it- I will miss my father and brother."

Nope, that was not the expected response. She speaks quickly as if time is somehow being wasted, now her body language is quite different. Mordecai grumbles under his breath and scratches at an itch that isn't really on his head.

"ah. Sorry I guess."

She gives him a strong nod of approval before pitching her handful of flowers over a the rail where they land in a bush.

" thank you, your condolences are very much appreciated- I believe our attendance is required at this reception for the others to eat."

He sticks a hand in his pocket, letting the other hang off to the side.

"you're not hungry?"

She stares at him rather intensely for a moment.

"honestly?"

He quirks an eyebrow at her before giving a small nod.

" I am far too angry to eat and I feel like vomiting but I would prefer to hurt something that likely does not deserve it. So now you have that little tidbit and we're probably holding things up."

She shoves past him angrily holding up her dress to keep from tripping on the damn thing, her gold heels clacking under her and giving her a headache. Mordecai stays standing there for a moment rubbing his temples, by the time he catches up to her shes yelling in a window.

" you shut your trap or I'll break that other leg you lousy-"

As he walks along he hooks one arm around her waist and keeps moving while she yells threats over her shoulder. After a while she swats his hand off her and marches alongside him-until they find a wide set of open double doors.

" is that the brother you're going to miss?"

She looks at him bewildered. A flurry of things she wants to say fly through her skull too quickly for any to take hold. He snorts at the waves of fury she radiates, this is going to be fun- or a complete disaster. They stand in the doorway where he tries not to hear the obnoxious voices of Sanctuaries citizens, Mordecai leans down to her ear and asks.

"is there alcohol? At all?"

"pfft good luck getting that crap here"

As he stands up again she hears him cursing under his breath.

"puta madre? What does that mean?"

"nothing good, lets get this crap over with. I want my stash."

The pair makes their way into the room, one side of the room welcoming them in with a loud cheer, the other staring silently. Allfather stands beside the long table at the front of the wide room, ushering them to their seats.

" feeling better Maya?"

"no"

He laughs as he pushes her chair in, Mordecai looks at her sideways as he sits down and scoots close to the table.

"what?"

"thats your name- Maya?"

" Indeed it is and what is yours?"

"Mordecai"

" very well then Mordecai, I presume we should get used to each other as this is going to be a long as hell mission"

"MAYA!? Watch your language!"

" apologies father."

Mordecai watches her roll her eyes as she apologizes, her fingers drumming on the table top.

" don't roll your eyes at me."

" their round so they roll."

Mordecai places his elbow on the table and props his chin on his hand so he can look at her. A few small gasps and sudden muttering is heard from the otherwise silent portion of the room

" oi mami- I think we're gonna get along just fine."

"mami? Is that some sort of pet name?"

" I guess"

" why do you choose 'mami'?"

"cause no one can give you a beat down like your mami, you know? No matter how big a guy gets- if his mami come in an' tell him to get the fuck over there- that guy is gonna trip over himself to get wherever she's pointin'. "

" I'm afraid I do not know. My own mother died when my brother and I where born. I never met her. You see me as motherly?"

" nah nah nah, your getting it wrong- you got that attitude problem. I like it. Maybe you'll be a mami for real one day but how the fuck would I know? If I was gonna have any little bastards you'd think I'd have em by now."

" so you're saying that if your mother just showed up and pointed to a door and said 'get over there' you would go?"

"my ma died a while back- so if she showed up I'd get the fuck out before she started talking."

" right. Wait."

Mordecai watches her stare at the table in thought before looking at him with a seemingly serious expression.

"you say if you where going to have children you would have them by now? As in, you have had relations? Unprotected relations?"

He looks at her realizing that she is likely a virgin, so this is probably significant.

" most of the time no. I ain't stupid, but you know I never get with a woman unless I really mean it when I'm touchin her you know?"

" you do not make love, unless you are in love?"

Well that's... pretty much true, but he doesn't like the way it sounds so he snorts at the words, looking away for a moment. He returns to look at her finding she never looked away. Ah right- she's supposed to be doing that next.

" yea, yea. You see when I was with these women, I tried to keep some on hand cause I never wanted to have to say no, I hate telling 'em no. but sometimes I just didn't have any and they make that face and talk like that I couldn't say no if I wanted to."

" make what face? talk like how?"

"they just let me know they're in the mood you-"

"if you say 'you know' one more time I will incinerate your brain for lack of use. You keep saying 'you know' but I don't! I don't know what you're talking about. I have never had these encounters that you speak of. I can only compare your encounters to what I have read in various love poems. They speak of love of the physical form but that doesn't really say anything. I find you amusing so far, so at the moment I want to be a good wife. That means I want to please you, I do not wish for tonight to disappoint you. That means you need to give me more of a clue than 'you know'. Dammit. "

She punctuates the last part by slapping her palm against the table. He just stares at her with a strange kind of lopsided smirk.

" you read porn poems?"

Maya huffs heavily and glares upward at the vaulted ceiling.

" is that really all you acquired from that?"

Behind her Allfather motions from the servants to just start serving people as these two appear to have so much to talk about, he plops down a short distance away snickering slightly to himself. Maya looks back at Mordecai she finds he is still wearing the ridiculous smirk.

" you want a clue mami? What you want me to tell you a damn dirty story or somethin'?"

"stories always have a lesson to be learned, why not tell me a story and why may I ask would it be considered dirty at all? If it is as you say making love- I cannot fathom how that kind of expression could be filthy at all."

" I think its dirty when you don't mean it."

"have you ever been... 'dirty'?"

"no"

She gives him a small smile.

"well I suppose there is a first for everything, so tonight will be that... I suppose."

"mami you think I wont mean it when I touch you?"

"you don't know me."

Her smile fades, he reaches over to touch her cheek, pushing a bit of hair over her ear. Small unpierced ears, he runs his finger over the lobe smirking at the way her face flushes pink.

" I know I'm gonna mean it Mami, will you?"

" I don't know you."

When did he get so close? When did she start leaning like that? Very suddenly she feels his lips pressed over hers, for just a moment before he pulls away. How unpleasant. Quickly she leans back in her chair not wanting to linger in that pose as if she wanted more. Her face burns bright red so she looks away, at the table. Where a cold plate of food has apparently been sitting for quite some time.