Dearest Fiends: The wedding of Prumathe Brignole and Sekhmet Octothorpe

[Earl of Purple]

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Sophie. Sekhmet's spoken highly of you." Which is probably true, and not just an empty saying. "Yeah, it went great. I'm married." Prumathe's going to be riding that high for a while, it seems.

[Morty]

"You'll be waking up surprised to realize that for a while yet. Savor it," Sophie tells Prumathe with a knowing smile. "I helped Sekhmet with a thing or two when she first came to us, but I'm hardly the only one who's had her back. I'm still happy to have done my part in getting you here."

[bc56]

Sekhmet has indeed told both of them a lot about each other. "Yes, it's, uh, really hard to believe," Sekhmet fingers her new wedding ring and twists it around, "But it's good! Really good! I've been, uh, waiting for this for a long time." Considering she encouraged Prumathe to propose, she's been waiting for it longer than he has. "Thank you, Sophie. Uh, without you I, uh..." Would probably have been completely ruined by her experience with the Hive, and died in her despair or converted fully to their side. "It, uh, wouldn't have been good."

[Earl of Purple]

"I look forward to waking up surprised. And... Well, being surprised quite often, every time it pops into my head." Prumathe glances at his finger, with the ring on it. It still feels odd, to be wearing a finger; he works with his hands, so rings have usually not been practical for him to wear. If a ring catches on something whilst he's moving a heavy block of stone, he could break a finger- or worse, lose one altogether. "Thank you for helping her, Sophie. You've been very kind and good to her. Don't downplay it- you helped a lot."

[Recaiden]

Honeysuckle prances up to the couple (she had to look into getting a slice of the cake first, of course), tails waving happily.
"Congrats, you two! Seems just the other day Sekhmet was fallin' into the Nexus, and look at you now!"

Spike has gone to try to visit with Prumathe's family, though they do try to keep an eye on Geneva.

[bc56]

"Thanks Honeysuckle!" Sekhmet says cheerily. "It's actually been over a year and a half. Can you, uh, believe that?" And she's been courting Prumathe for most of that time. Wow. That's kind of incredible. Her own tail is also happily waving and hasn't actually stopped since the wedding.

[Earl of Purple]

"Time certainly flies." Sekhmet doesn't know who Honeysuckle is, and Earl can't remember either.

Prumathe's family is quite a large group, clustered around three elderly halflings, all male. Mostly they're chatting amongst themselves; they grew up together, but mostly don't always get to see each other all at once. There's a few notable individuals; a twenty-year-old human girl with very pale skin, watery blue eyes and limp blonde hair wearing a dark blue dress that doesn't quite fit is standing a short distance away from the others, not very included in the group. A brownie with thick brown fur that's hard to look at, though several of the people around her seem able to do so just fine. An obese, middle-aged gnome sat in an antique armchair with long spidery legs and wearing a fine toga.

[Morty]

[Sophie]

She won't show it, but the thanks do appeal to Sophie. There's a proud streak in her that delights in knowing her help was fruitful and appreciated.

"You're welcome. And if you ever need more help... you know where to find me. I shouldn't hog you all to myself, though. Best wishes once again," she says, before leaving to rejoin the other guests.

[bc56]

"Bye Sophie! Thanks for everything!" Sekhmet waves farewell to her friend.

[Recaiden]

Honeysuckle is one of the first people who met Sekhmet in the Nexus, and got her to GLoG. She's a vision-impaired fox-girl, and I don't think she's met Prumathe before this.
But congratulations to Prumathe too.
"Guess that's a pretty good while. Sure went by fast, though."

Spike of course strolls up to the pale girl who's isolated from everyone else.
"Enjoying the reception?"
"I'm Spike, Sekhmet's best friend from her other job." They offer one of their slightly weird hands to shake.

[bc56]

Sekhmet turns to Prumathe. "Can you believe we courted for over a year before you proposed to me? It certainly doesn't seem that long, uh, looking back." If he's willing, she'll give him a peck on the cheek. "I, uh, think it was long enough."

[Earl of Purple]

"I'm Nocri, Prumathe's sort-of sister. Other job? What's that? I just know she works with Prumathe with the gnome in the fancy chair, making stuff move." She shrugs when asked if she's enjoying the reception; she's taking the opportunity to scout some options. "It's a good reception, I like the venue. Haven't been to a wedding before. Well, not since Harryfoot and Slimwise married Bobbium." She nods at the three halflings in the middle of Prumathe's family gathering, who look very happy together.

-

"It really doesn't seem that long, no." Prumathe smiles and kisses Sekhmet back. "So how do you two know each other? Do you live here, Honeysuckle?" Prumathe knows very little about this person, though apparently they know Sekhmet well enough she invited them here.

[bc56]

"Honeysuckle was, uh, the first person I met after I, uh, arrived in Trog's," Sekhmet begins, "And she, uh, introduced me to Message." Not at the same time, there was almost a year between those events.

[Recaiden]

Honeysuckle nods cheerily at Sekhmet's explanation.
"That's right. Message totally took me in after got outta Skyside."
"Nowadays, live down by the ocean." She points Inside-ward to indicate.
"Good to finally meet Prumathe."

"Well met, Nocri."
"We get up to exploring the underground, foiling demons, saving life. It's complicated."
Options for what, we wonder.
Spike turns to look at the halflings.
"All three of them, hmm? So what's a sort-of-sister mean here?"

[Earl of Purple]

"Oh, really? I love the ocean. It's so peaceful. And there's sand enough for sandcastles." Prumathe smiles, though the ocean wasn't peaceful when he and his family were around, growing up. A large number of children tend to do that to an area.

-

"Yep, all three of them. They've got a foster home, took in anyone who needed it. I'm not related to Prumathe, not by blood, but... We grew up together. If he needed a sister, I was there for him. If I needed a brother, he was there for me. We all were. Not so much now, but... that's mostly my fault." Hopefully that's enough of an explanation of 'sort-of' sister. She sounds a little sad, though. At one point, she was hoping for more than being Prumathe's sister.

[bc56]

"The ocean is nice." It's where Sekhmet asked Prumathe to ask her to marry him. "Uh, thanks again, Honeysuckle!"

When Honeysuckle is gone, Sekhmet finds herself looking over at the marquess again. No doubt other partygoers have noticed the resemblance there. Why did she come? She beckons the hiveling over. "Hi. Uh, you're one of my, uh, daughter, uh, sister, uh, nieces? I, uh, didn't expect to see any of you here." Also Prumathe should probably get used to seeing them, because this is doubtlessly not going to be the last time. As much as Sekhmet wants to not deal with hive stuff, it's pretty solidly part of her life at this point, if the Hound, "Ellie" lounging nearby is any indication.

[Recaiden]

"Yeah, great place to live. Good luck you guys!"
And Honeysuckle slips off to linger by the lake, questioning what she's been doing for the past year.

---

Spike nods. "And now things are different."
"I haven't known them for much time, actually. But I hope things work out."
"But anyway, what are you like nowadays?"

---

Kiun comes over right when indicated and gives a slight curtsy. She's wearing that same plain brown dress, grown rather ragged, which is just terrible in comparison so Sekhmet's splendid wedding dress.
For Prumathe's benefit, Kiun looks a lot like Serket.
Which means that she looks a lot like Sekhmet used to look before she got tall and continually on fire. The differences: another pair of wings instead of arms, more prominent horns, (shorter hair, by coincidence). And in Kiun's case only, being prettier. Much prettier. Impossibly prettier, with only a sprinkle of haughty coldness to detract from it.

"Your flightmate? Fellow marquess? Yes." Because Kiun is from Ell and Sekhmet counts as being from Eurus, you might call her Sekhmet's cousin once removed. But this might be a foolhardy endeavor."It was relevant to my job. I think this has been very educational on the nature of love." Kiun does a happy little twirl.

[Earl of Purple]

"I'm... not so good, right now. Things are not too great, but... I'd rather not talk about it, if that's OK." Sekhmet knows Nocri's in a lot of debt with the Fairy Godfather, but I don't know if that's information that the Hive would be interested in learning. "How about you? What're things like with you?"

-

"You're, uh, learning about love? Why?" Because they don't understand it, Prumathe. He doesn't trust her, particularly since she's prettier than Sekhmet whilst being a copy. That just seems unfair to him.

[bc56]

Sekhmet can't help but be jealous of Kiun. She's so pretty, what if Prumathe... No, he wouldn't. That would be silly. "They asked you to study love? What do they want to understand?" She understands a little better what's going on here. Was Kiun made beautiful in an attempt to understand the concepts associated with love and beauty?

[Recaiden]

Spike nods in acceptance of that. Wasn't Prumathe's Nocri in some social trouble?
"I suppose I've never been better." They say without much conviction. "But life is getting too complicated."

---

"To understand it, Prumathe!" What a silly question. But Kiun elaborates. "Love is important after all. It brings individuals together, but it also is part of Form."
"Basically I'll want to understand the whole thing. A big project."

[Earl of Purple]

"Ugh, complication's the worst. If only things were simpler, the world would be happier, don't you think?" Nocri can totally sympathise with that, her life is very complicated at the moment. Saving money to pay off the debt, or buying food; figuring out how to ask for help without deepening the hole she's in, all sorts of difficulty there.

-

Prumathe holds Sekhmet closer and puts an arm around her, hopefully reassuring her. She's the girl he picked, not the one opposite with four wings. "Good luck with that, I guess." He still doesn't really understand why they're interested, and he's suspecting the worst- and isn't sure what the worst is.

[bc56]

"Good luck! I'm sure you'll find a true love of your own." Sekhmet is very glad that Prumathe's holding her close. It's very reassuring to know that this prettier girl who's a lot like her is not distracting him from her. She wraps her own arm around him gently.

[Recaiden]

"Maybe."
"I don't have all the practice you do."
"And my investigation has shown that love often comes with a really high price. Especially when people have trouble telling whether a love is real."
Kiun waves her tail anxiously. More hostility on account of her nature. It's hard being an alien mutant tiefling clone. It's hard and no one understands.
"I'm glad you believe in me, though."

[Earl of Purple]

"Neither did we, when we started. Practice makes perfect, they say." Prumathe smiles, somehow finding himself giving useful advice. He still doesn't trust her, or the Hive in general, but he's doing it anyway. Maybe learning about true love will make the Hive more trustworthy, or at least more human? Who knows.

[bc56]

"It, uh, just comes naturally. You'll, uh, figure it out when you meet the right person." Sekhmet might have a bit of an unrealistic view of romance. Her case is far from usual. Hopefully Prumathe is a bit more grounded in that respect.

[Recaiden]

"I should probably start practicing." Kiun chimes. She gives the newlyweds a nod, then hops into the air and starts to fly away.
Really depends on what you love as to whether it makes you more or less trustworthy.

---

"I definitely agree. Here's to things getting simpler in the future." Maybe they can even help with that. Look after the family of their family, and all. It was something about a 'fairy godfather' that was troubling Nocri, right?

[bc56]

"That's, uh, either very reassuring or, uh, very worrying." Sekhmet comments to Prumathe after Kiun leaves. By now, it seems that the guests are dispersing and cleanup is beginning. "I, uh, have something for you," Sekhmet says, "As a, uh, thanks for, uh, everything." She holds up a hand to stop Prumathe from protesting. "You, uh, don't have to get me anything in return. Today was, uh, enough. The most beautiful day of my life. So, uh, just wait here while I go get it?" She runs off towards her cabin.

[Earl of Purple]

"I... Kinda hope that goes well." Prumathe can't see how it could go wrong, but is sure somehow it will. Even if he hopes otherwise.

"Oh, a gift? Uh, sure." Was this something normal at weddings? He was expecting gifts from the guests, he'd heard those were usual. Blue things, old things, new things and some things that maybe should be given back? He's not sure how the rhyme goes, or what it means.

---

It was a Fairy Godfather, yes, but Nocri hasn't mentioned them yet, and might get confused or defensive if he's mentioned. "Oh, definitely. I'll drink to that." There's drinks, right? Should be. She'll take a sip of her flute of champagne as she does.

[bc56]

No, it's not normal, but Sekhmet (and her player) had a great idea that she didn't want to go to waste, and this seemed like the perfect time. She comes running back with something like a mechanical backpack in her hands, made from bronze, wood, leather, and canvas. "I, uh, made it myself, uh, with help from Pontius and the other apprentices. Mostly I, uh, did the metal fittings." She says, somewhat ashamed. She wishes she was better at enchanting so she could have done more. "Go on, uh, put it on!"

[Earl of Purple]

Prumathe's eyes widen when he sees it, and he takes it quite cautiously before putting it on, like he was told. "You designed it, though. Right? Your idea, they just put it in practice? And Pontius thinks you're really good at the metallurgy." Probably true, since Pontius is very much a good boss. Even if not always a good merchant. Sekhmet's probably heard his idea of 'haggling' when somebody tried to negotiate a lower price on a golem.

Hopefully Sekhmet tells him what it does, and how to use it. I'm assuming it's to fly, and Pontius is thinking that way too, but isn't sure enough to ask.