arboreal_priestess | Entries tagged with what: cross country wedding spectacular

It had taken another couple of days of driving to get from Michigan to New Orleans, but Verity figured the detour was worth it. Look, they were still on their honeymoon and if they wanted to see New Orleans, they would. Liam had taken the suggestion of the detour with his usual easy grace, but their current activity seemed to have eluded him somewhat.

Possibly because Verity had refused to explain, other than by saying, 'it's a surprise.'

She kept walking along the edges of the circle she had drawn in the loose red earth, dripping candle wax into the furrows. The original ritual wanted tallow mixed with human blood, not organic soy wax and saline solution, but it was important to move with the times. Besides, finding a place high and dry enough to cast the spell had been difficult in the middle of winter, and had used up most of her ability to be picky about the little things.

New Orleans was not a city that prided itself on its high local water table, okay? Even now, over a decade later, the city still bore scars from Katrina.

( But even for Verity, this was weird )

***

Thanks to the tourist trade and the ever-looming specter of Mardi Gras - which never fully went away, not even for Christmas - New Orleans was a city rich in bars, taverns, and other forms of drinking establishment. Not even the still-visible scars left by Katrina could keep their doors closed for long. They parked the rented SUV in the secure garage of a creepy little motel Verity's family had an understanding with, owned by a friendly nest of harpies who didn't really care what folks wanted to store on their property as long as they also got to rent a room and were left a good Yelp review.

Getting a room for the night seemed like the best possible idea no matter how they sliced things.

( Drinking with Aunt Rose was an experience best savored... )

[NFI, NFB. This one's a long one. Adapted from Seanan McGuire's "The Ghosts of Bourbon Street." Preplayed and coded up by

firstofitskind, bless her patience.]

They had left the main highway behind them easily an hour ago, and were now wending their way through dense forest, traveling along roads that could have used some serious repair, and maybe a few closures. The potholes were big enough to qualify as small ponds, at least when they were full of water, and this far into Michigan's Upper Peninsula, they were always filled with water. Michigan might not be on Portland's level when it came to being damp, but it was making a good effort, and Verity wasn't ready to count it out yet.

Liam was asleep in the passenger seat when they crossed the line into Buckley Township - they'd had a late night last night celebrating the new year and he'd taken the earlier shift driving while she'd napped. Verity pulled the SUV off to the side of the road and stared into the imposing tree line that surrounded them on what felt like all sides. The sky was a thin sliver of blue overhead, already trending toward sunset. Chicago and the Carmichael Hotel were eight hours of hard driving behind them. If they didn't want to spend the night in the SUV, she would need to push on, and soon.

She didn't move.

It was strange, being back in Buckley: it was like she was a compass, forever seeking magnetic north, and had just locked on to her target, no matter how much she wanted to go in a different direction. This was where her family's tenure in America had started. This was where, for better or for worse, the majority of their bodies were buried. Her grandparents had met here. Her great-grandparents had died here. It was impossible to understand the history of the Healy-Price family as it currently stood without also understanding Buckley - what had gone right there, what had gone wrong there, and what had gone unbearably weird there.

( Unbearably weird was part of the Price genetic makeup by now. )

[Adapted from "Swamp Bromeliad," by Seanan McGuire and preplayed (and coded, yay!) by the wonderful

firstofitskind. NFI, NFB as per usual. Part 1]

Things that did not rank on Verity's list of "top one hundred things to do before you die": steering a large SUV through Chicago rush hour traffic. Horns honked all around them, and their fellow drivers seemed concerned about her education, as they were introducing her to all manner of exciting hand gestures.

Some of them were even new to her. She pointed to one of them. "Look, Liam! We're learning new things."

Look, they'd just gotten married a yesterday. Not even shitty Chicago drivers in the dead of winter could ruin her good mood.

( There was no good time to drive through Chicago, but winter was the WORST. )

[Yay they're married! Text adapted from Seanan McGuire's Snake In The Glass and preplayed with the ever-wonderful

firstofitskind. NFI, NFB]

They made it back to the hotel many hours and several bottles of champagne later, laughing as they tried to keep themselves from toppling over. Verity's knees gave out halfway up the stairs. Liam scooped her up, slung her over his shoulder, and carried her the rest of the way - and the giant horseman's glaive Al had given her as a wedding present and that she had carried all through the night. The best part? No one in Vegas had cared. Verity unlocked the door while dangling upside down and giggling incessantly. The mice cheered when they entered the room.

"HAIL! HAIL THE RETURN OF THE ARBOREAL PRIESTESS!"

"Shhh," Verity said. Her shushing was somewhat undermined by her giggles, and by the hiccups she was starting to develop. "Gotta be quiet, mice. No pets allowed."

"Verity is very, very drunk," said Liam proudly. "I am slightly less drunk." That he was drunk at all was pretty surprising, considering his usual reluctance. But it was the night before their wedding...

"Because you're bigger than me, you jerk," Verity said, doing her best to punch him in the knee. It would have been easier if his knees hadn't insisted on moving when she tried to hit them. It wasn't fair. She crossed her arms and sulked. "Stupid mass."

"I also drank more water," said Liam. He waved a hand at the mice. "Stay out here, you adorably vicious examples of the genus Rodentia. I am going to defile your priestess like...like..."

"The Normans defiled Lindesfarne?" Verity suggested.

"Yes," said Liam. "That." He raised his chin and carted Verity into the bedroom as half the mice cheered for the God of Distant Stars and the other half took up the cry, "HAIL TO THE DEFILING!" That was going to become a holiday and, dammit, Verity was too drunk to care. She barely remembered to shove the door shut at the last second. Barely. She might have been drunk, but there was no such thing as 'drunk enough to forget that the mice were watching. That was a level of inebriation that implied liver failure and death.

( Which might still be better than having sex while the mice were in the room. )

[Y'all know how this goes by now. Post I of II. NFI, NFB. Taken from "Waking Up in Vegas" by Seanan McGuire and preplayed with the glorious

firstofitskind, who manages to patiently keep me on schedule with preplays!]

Verity and Liam arrived in Vegas accompanied by the cheers of the Aeslin mice and the dulcet tones of Johnny Cash. Liam was glaring at the radio again, but, in fairness, he'd been doing that a lot recently. Liam's introduction to pop music was going...slowly.

To say the least.

They'd been on the road for pretty much the whole day, leaving the Price homestead before the sun rose. Verity still didn't know what strings her dad had pulled to have a rental car available to them the day after Christmas at oh-god-thirty in the morning; her best guess was that it was his way of apologizing for all the fighting and nagging they'd gone through during the rest of the holiday.

Liam had driven for the first few hours, and then Verity had taken over once she'd woken up again at a more civilized hour and had several cups of coffee to boot. There had been a few rest stops at weird tourist traps and now Liam could definitely say he'd seen both the biggest ball of yarn and a museum devoted to Big Foot as run by a family of yeti who were far too entertained by the whole notion.

But now it was past dinnertime and Las Vegas was in view...and yep. Liam was still glaring at the radio.

( Let's Go To Vegas )

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.

( Instead, there was squabbling... )
[Preplayed with the wonderful

firstofitskind, who has been a coding CHAMP! NFI, NFB Happy Holidays!]