The Price Family Compound, Somewhere Near Portland, OR, Christmas

[arboreal_priestess]

It was funny. Verity had somehow thought that coming home with news of her engagement to Liam was going to make for a festive occasion. You know, the family coming together in delight to coo and plan, her mother might take some time off from making house calls to ailing cryptids, and maybe even Antimony taking a few minutes to stop being a brat and be happy for her.

Verity	Instead, there was squabbling. Antimony had turned a rather horrifying shade of puce when Verity had casually mentioned asking Sarah to be her Maid of Honor (okay, yeah, in retrospect, Verity could see why that would upset her sister), her mom had barely glanced at the rings before rushing out the door to handle a ghoul with a bellyache (which, sure, considering what ghouls ate, finding one that had eating something bad was probably a cause for alarm), and Elsie and Aunt Jane had started arguing about where the ceremony should be held - and it had just spiraled from there over the past few days, culminating in her and Liam squabbling over some minor detail on Christmas Eve. At this point, Verity was getting damn near ready to call the whole thing off. Now it was Christmas Day and the last thing Verity wanted to do was head downstairs and deal with any more bickering. Hell, the last thing she wanted to do was get out of bed. Maybe she could just stay here until it was time to go home.
Liam	Liam too was feeling unsettled; he'd hoped that this year, there would be none of that underlying awkwardness that he’d experienced last year, when he'd been new- and therefore an unknown factor- to most of the extended Price clan. No such luck. He'd been awake for a few hours by time he felt Verity finally start to stir. "Very?" he asked, a little tentative. They hadn't exactly gone to bed angry, but arguments between them were few and far between enough that he always felt somewhat off-kilter even after they'd worked out whatever they’d been arguing about.
Verity	"I'm awake," Verity said softly. She didn't sound cross, not even before-her-coffee cross. Just resigned. "What time is it?"
Liam	"Just after eight," he shared. "No one else is up yet." Except Antimony, who'd been up for an hour herself but was playing the 'I'm an adult now and can totally wait until other people are awake' game. Which would become the 'But it's Christmas and you'd all better get your asses downstairs' game the minute she heard anyone else begin to stir.
Verity	"Ugh, too early to be awake, especially on Christmas." At least for any Christmas that didn't involve children under fifteen. She glanced sidelong at Liam, trying to gauge his emotional state. "How'd you sleep?"
Liam	Okay but what about the non children who were under fifteen? Because as someone who'd never had the full Christmas experience until fairly recently, there was a part of him that ached to give in to that childish excitement. But as for his emotional state on this particular Christmas morning? "Would've slept better if we hadn't been sniping at each other half the night last night." An exaggeration, really, but given how rarely they argued it had certainly felt like it.
Verity	"Why should we be the only ones not bickering?" Verity asked with a snort. "Everyone else was."
Liam	"You know, that's usually the reasoning you use to defend why you didn't do something," Liam pointed out.
Verity	"That was sarcasm, Liam," Verity said with a sigh, flopping back and bringing an arm up over her eyes. Ugh. Everything about this was terrible.
Liam	"... Oh," he muttered sheepishly. And he'd been doing so much better when it came to not taking things literally. Or so he'd thought. "Think anyone'd notice if we just stayed up here all day?" he asked plaintively.
Verity	"It's Christmas Day," Verity reminded. "We've got about a half an hour before Antimony gives up and starts banging on doors, demanding we get our asses out of bed." Or worse, sent the mice to do it, because then they wouldn't have spite to motivate them to stay put a little longer. "Also, I'm half-afraid of what they'll have decided about our wedding if we're not there to say no."
Liam	"Babe..." Liam said slowly, as something dawned on him. "Say that again."
Verity	"Our wedding," Verity said with a sigh. Sorry, Liam, she just wasn't seeing the magic in the phrase right now. Hell, she was half-considering just tossing the whole thing if this was how it was going to be for the next year or whatever until the damn thing happened.
Liam	It wasn't so much about the magic as it was a reminder about who this wedding was for. "Exactly," he said, one hand stroking her hair. "It's ours. Screw what everyone else wants."
Verity	"You gonna march down there and tell them that?" Verity asked, curling up around him. Because, yeah. Even in the last fading vestiges of annoyance, he was still her main source of comfort.
Liam	Liam cast a glance towards the window, raising an eyebrow in an unspoken question that was really only half a joke. "Hell yes," he said firmly. "I love your family, Very, and I know at the core of it they mean well, but you're always going to come first. Always."
Verity	"At this point, I'm half-ready to call the whole thing off," Verity muttered. Sure, it had only been a few days of this, but like...it had been a lot. She was feeling overwhelmed in a way that she never did when they were fighting snake cultists or staring down a Covenant purge. "Go get married on Jupiter or something."
Liam	Liam's heart skipped a beat as she spoke, but then he heard the rest of what she was saying and relaxed. "Oh, you mean call off the wedding," he managed. Not the being-married part.
Verity	"Yeah," Verity said, deciding to skip over the part last night when she'd thought about calling of everything. Not because of their fight, but like...if she couldn't handle wedding planning, was she really ready for marriage? Fortunately, that had been a fleeting concern. "Definitely just the wedding. Or just push it back a few years? We could just keep living in sin for awhile, right?"
Liam	"Not a fan of that second option, personally," Liam admitted quietly. He was reasonably sure she was exaggerating just a little, but the idea of pushing it back years sent a dull ache thrumming through him.
Verity	"Well...we gotta think of something," Verity said. "Because I'm not dealing with several months of that." She gestured towards the downstairs. "But first kid of this generation to get married means it's gonna keep happening, whether we like it or not."
Liam	"Honestly? I'd be perfectly fine with skipping right to the being-married part," Liam admitted. "I mean, I know there technically has to be a ceremony, but forget all the shit about invitations and venues and menus and whatever. Just you and me." And the required-by-law witness.
Verity	"Like...just go courthouse it somewhere?" Verity asked, sitting up a little. "You won't feel...I dunno. Cheated out of a whole big thing? If we go up in front of a judge?"
Liam	"No," Liam said, without hesitation. "Would you?"
Verity	"Not if that is the alternative," Verity said with a shudder. "Hell, maybe we can even do the big fancy thing later." Maybe it would all be easier to deal with once they were already married.
Liam	"At which point, it'll just be a big fancy party, and therefore not something to get stressed-to-the-point-of-arguing about," Liam pointed out, a slow smile spreading across his face as he considered this.
Verity	"I can deal with that," Verity said. "It also means we don't have to wait. We can get hitched pretty much whenever, since we're not worrying about invitations and locations and tasting menus and shit."
Liam	"How do you feel about sooner rather than later?" Liam mused. Which would mean choosing someplace that allowed for a relatively quick turnaround when it came to going from license to ceremony, something that would narrow their options a bit.
Verity	"In favor of it," Verity said. "But that means we're going to need to get you papers. Real ones, for this world. Better than even Artie can do." She chewed on her lower lip. "I know you normally go to Street for this kind of thing, but I know a guy who can get you air tight papers within the day if we ask nicely."
Liam	"Street's good, but she also doesn't have access to this world's internet," Liam pointed out. "Which you kind of need to build enough of a trail, these days. We'll go see your guy."
Verity	Verity nodded. "...If we didn't wanna fly, Uncle Al's on the way home," she said. Sorta. In a manner of speaking. He was southwest of Portland anyway. "How much of the rest of the country have you actually seen, anyway?"
Liam	"I was Protector to the North American Companion," Liam pointed out, eyes narrowing a little in suspicion. "Da'an attended functions all over the continent."
Verity	"Yeah, but how much have you seen," Verity repeated. "Experienced? Actually enjoyed? How many monuments have you visited, how many landmarks have you admired? How many terrible roadside attractions have you stared at in horrified confusion at?"
Liam	"Uh," Liam said slowly. "I mean. I guess I... haven't, really, when you put it like that?" There were a handful of cities he knew pretty well: Seattle, New York, Austin, but beyond that?
Verity	Verity nodded once, decision made. "Okay," she decided. "We're renting a car. We're gonna drive home. All the way across the country." She smiled at him. "Let you get to know my America, with giant balls of yarn and chupacabra breeding grounds and all that good stuff."
Liam	"Giant... balls of yarn," Liam repeated, a little dubiously, but with a hint of a smile playing at the edges of his mouth.
Verity	"Exactly," Verity said. "No husband of mine isn't going to be ignorant of the glory that is cheesy roadside attractions." Especially since most of them were run by cryptids or the cryptid-adjacent. Outside their room, Antimony began pounding on doors, her vaunted patience worn thin. It was Christmas, dammit, this was no time to sleep in. "...How do you feel about leaving tomorrow?" Verity asked, voice wry.
Liam	"You've seen how fast I can pack," Liam grinned back at her. He was scarily efficient.
Verity	In the hallway, Aunt Jane and Antimony began to squabble. Verity covered her head with a pillow. "Okay, we're doing this," she said. "Heading out bright and early tomorrow, just grabbing the mice and going." Everything else, they could figure out on the way home, dammit.
Liam	Liam gently pried the pillow away from her face and leaned in for a slow, lazy kiss. "We're doing this," he agreed. "Merry Christmas, babe."
Verity	"Merry Christmas, Liam," Verity said, smiling up at him. "And look. I just got everything I wanted."

[Preplayed with the wonderful firstofitskind, who has been a coding CHAMP! NFI, NFB Happy Holidays!]