Work Text:
Rhys woke up to being slapped lightly by Fiona’s manicured hand on his cheek. “Mnng?” he mumbled as his eyes opened and he looked up into the Vault hunter’s bright green eyes. The confusion of his sleep addled brain rested on his face. This was not his room.
“Come on, sleepy head. We have a ton of things to do today,” she said in an abnormally sing song voice as she reached out and wrapped her hands around his flesh arm and tried to pull him up. “I am so glad I made you bring your own pillow. Do you ever not drool?” She was dressed in what served for pajamas for her; some loose, long tan shorts and a T shirt a few sizes too big.
With the back of his flesh hand, once he pulled it from Fiona’s grasp, Rhys wiped the trail of drool away from his cheek. “Sometimes,” He insisted, but only half heartedly. Though he had not had too much to drink last night in the grand scheme of things he still felt a little off.
For their sleepover, he had worn a pair of baggy orange pants with the Atlas logo down the side of legs. His T-shirt was black and emblazoned on the front with a white outline of the mythical Atlas holding the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Instead of having separate Bachelor parties, Rhys and Vaughn had settled on a group party to play cards and watch movies. They had gotten together in the couple's newer, larger accommodations in the former space station for a party planned by their respective Maids of Honor, Fiona and Yvette.
Janey and Athena had come out from Hollowpoint to join them both for the party and the wedding itself. As usual, Janey did most of the talking for the couple with Athena’s sparingly given terse commentary.
Loader Bot and Gortys, Helios’ hottest robot couple, had been in attendance as well. The former was to serve as Rhys’ groomsman while Gortys was to be a most enthusiastic flower girl.
Lastly, Sasha had dragged August a long from Hollowpoint and in spite of his best efforts to dislike everyone and look grumpy, they got enough liquor into him that he actually seemed to have a good time.
At the end of the evening everyone went to their appointed rooms except for Rhys and Yvette. Rhys was dragged off to Fiona’s to sleep and Yvette stayed with Vaughn so that they might enforce the old tradition of not seeing each other until the wedding.
On the small, two person table that rested in Fiona’s room was a platter of those strange, but delicious speckled Pandoran eggs, fruit, toast and a steaming mug full of what smelled like coffee. There was also a pitcher of water.
“Awww.” He said as he glanced over at it. “You brought me breakfast.”
“And some painkillers. I know you’re a light weight… I brought you water too.” She got up and moved over to the table to take one of the seats.
Rhys stood and stretched himself out lifting his long arms up into the air and going up on to his tiptoes while yawning. “Thanks… thanks for not letting me drink too much either.” He was frankly, shocked, that she was taking her Maid of Honor duties so seriously. “No matter how many times I see them, I still can’t get over that Sasha and August are dating again. It’s… weird.”
Fiona shrugged, “Don’t ask me… all of it is weird to me. Being tied to another person? No thank you. I mean, it’s great that you're doing it. You need it. ”
Rhys ran his silver fingers through his hair and yawned before sitting down across from her. “I’m not even going to pretend to be offended by that.” He grinned wryly as he picked up his fork and made to serve himself some of the food.
When he was done Fiona pushed some onto her plate as well. “Are you nervous?” She shoveled a fork full of egg into her mouth.
“Hah… uhm… yeah? I’ve written and rewritten my vows like … a dozen times and they’re still terrible.” Rhys poked at the eggs with his fork, fretting obviously.
“They’re not terrible,” She insisted, “In fact they’re pretty good.”
“Vaughn’s will be better. He’s so much better at talking about how he feels than I am. I shouldn’t have let him convince me that we should write our own vows.” Many things became a competition to Rhys that were not intended to be so.
Fiona rolled her eyes and said in her low, smooth voice, “ Calm down , Rhys… your vows are fine. It’s going to be perfect… besides he’s not marrying you for your writing skills.”
They both focused on eating for a few minutes, falling into a companionable silence of the sort that they shared often when they were lost to the Vault. Having spent so many months with only one another for company, they ran out of personal stories to tell and often times just sat together in silence. There was no longer much awkwardness between them. There were scant few secrets.
Rhys spoke up first. “I never understood this… tradition of not seeing the person you’re going to marry on the wedding day. I saw him last night. What does it matter? If I go pop in on him now am I going to find he’s secretly had a fish tail the whole time? Or the key to the room that houses his 6 previous dead husbands?”
Fiona shrugged as she chewed and swallowed. “Sometimes I think you like fairy tales way too much for a grown man.”
He set down his fork to flip her off with both hands.
She did the same, before adding, “I guess it just seems more romantic that way… so that when you finally look at each other you can be like, ‘ Bro. ’” She put a hand over her heart. “And he’ll look at you and say, ‘ Bro .’ It’s going to be magical.”
Shaking his head and chuckling, Rhys said, “You’re stupid... I thought you didn’t understand romance and all of that, Miss Spinster.
She lightly shrugged her shoulders by way of response and continued to eat a piece of fruit so she had a little extra time to think of how she wanted to respond. “That kind of thing seems to be important to you... and I want you to have a great day.” Before the emotion could get too genuine, she squinted and banged her fist on the table, “I’m doing the job you hired me to do. You’re going to pay me with the open bar… though honestly, an open bar on Pandora is just asking for trouble.”
Rhys narrowed his eyes into his most suave and sexy look, “We live dangerously.”
* * * * *
Vaughn awoke early, well before Yvette. Though it was entirely expected, he was distressed to find himself so full of anxiety.
By the time her alarm chimed the hard bodied money man was in the midst of a binge of push ups. His clothing was simple and was what he had slept in: gray yoga pants, a clingy electric-blue tank top and argyle socks.
The secret Vaughn had long ago learned to deal with his anxious nature was to channel those tendencies into physical activity. It was part of what helped him lose weight after college and tone up his body. He was anxious more often than he was not.
Today was worse than usual. Beyond the eternal worries and pressures of a man helping to run a newly reemerged company on a hostile planet, he was getting married today. It was literally happening in a few hours.
Sweat rolled down his face and his straining, muscled arms. A small grunt emerged from his lips as he pushed himself up and lowered himself down over and over again.
Yvette yawned and sat up to watch him a while. “Looking fine, Vaughn. Damn , look at your ass.” She was dressed in a fashion similar to him, only with an orange tunic that slid off one shoulder in place of a tank top.
As his other best friend, she was used to his patterns and routines. She slept alongside him frequently; both on the first occasion Rhys went missing when he was presumed dead and then more recently when he and Fiona had disappeared into the vault of the Traveler. They were easy and comfortable in each other’s presence.
“Can’t. My eyes only face one way. I’m sure it's still as I remember it,” Vaughn replied.
“Hmmm. I just want to bounce coins off of it.” After a moment more she said, “Knock out all that cardio. What you need to be concerned with is being flexible .” Yvette drawled it like it was a distinctly sexual word. She joined him on the floor and started to dip down into a downward dog yoga pose on the floor.
Vaughn went down a final time to the ground and shifted himself onto his butt on the floor. Reaching for his towel, he wiped his wet face and hair. “I’m plenty flexible. But you know… it’s meditative. It probably wouldn’t hurt.” He took a few moments to catch his breath however.
“No no no. You don’t get it. This is wedding night sex. You’re going to be exhausted by the end of the day because everyone that ever gets married is… but you’re still going to need to provide some mind blowing sex because you are setting the entire TONE for your marriage. You need to rock his world, Vaughn.”
Vaughn gave her a dark look, “Wow… no pressure there!” A pause, “And I, for one, happen to think our sex is… frequently… mind blowing… partially because the gorgeous fool keeps disappearing and reappearing so we’ve barely had time to have too much of it.”
“I hear you.” Yvette opined, “You need to just pop open that metal arm and slap a tracking device up in there... or get him one of those ankle monitors for house arrest. Or maybe just one of those leashes you put on kids to stop them from wandering off in public.”
“I will tie him down if I have to.” He set the towel down and tried to copy her yoga pose.
Yvette rose carefully to her feet, “That sounds like a win-win for both of you.” She laughed warmly. “Alright… you keep at it and I’m going to go grab breakfast for you. At Breakfast we’ll go over the morning’s agenda and start getting you absolutely fabulous for your big day.”
* * * * *
The two women had coordinated everything from the use of the one functional set of showers so that the two grooms would not cross each others paths until the appointed minute. Rhys showered, shaved and fixed his hair first before he returned to Fiona’s room.
Loader bot was waiting with his and Fiona’s suits. He was wearing a black bowtie as his sole nod to clothing for the occasion.
“Hey LB! Lookin’ Sharp.” He wandered by the yellow robot to take his suit hanger and bring it behind the dressing screen in Fiona’s room.
“Greetings, Father,” LB said in his robotic monotone. “Gortys and I approve of your fashion choices, this time.”
“Thanks!” Rhys ignored the part of that compliment that was back handed. “Ho ho ho. I forgot how nice this suit was.” He hung it on the screen and took a moment to fondle the fabric of the suit coat. “I am going to look so good. I was going to do gloves with it but I couldn’t find a pair that fit over the old robot hand and looked right.”
“I’ll file that under cyborg problems.” Fiona teased. “Stay behind the screen until I tell you. I’m just going to get dressed while you are really quick… and wouldn’t gloves make putting the ring on hard anyway?” She enquired.
“Oh god the ring…” Rhys gasped suddenly.
Fiona exploded in exasperation, “For the love of… Rhys… I have it! I also have your boutonniere and your written copy of your vows. Stop Panicking!“
* * * * *
“Is Alistair here, yet?” Vaughn panicked to the small, round robot who let herself into his suite. He was tying his simple, elegant black bowtie and was quite concerned with it looking perfect.
The suit coat he chose for the occasion was black and tailored to make the most of his body. It was simple and classic with clean lines. The lapels were slim. Beneath it he wore a pressed white shirt and a waistcoat made of silver-gray fabric with a faint triangular pattern over it. His shoes had a slight heel to give him a little extra height.
Gortys rolled in throwing up her skinny, metal hands up in the air. “He’s here! You didn’t tell me he was going to be so cool! He has a cool arm and a cool leg… and that accent! Raaaawer!”
Vaughn exhaled, relieved. “Oh good. We like him as well. Interesting guy. He got EchoNet ordained just to marry us. Did you get him settled?” He eyed his work on the bowtie as he spoke.
“I did! Relaaaax Vaughn. This is going to go fine. You're worrying about nothing. Even a rakk hive couldn't stop this wedding.”
Vaughn snickered. “Let's not tempt fate… though with this many vault hunters coming plus the moon laser we would totally win that fight.” With a sigh he untied the bow tie and started again.
The door whooshed open and the sound of heels clacking against the floor were heard before Yvette’s well dressed visage appeared behind Vaughn in the mirror. “Everything going well?”
“Yes! Stop worrying.” Yvette smiled placidly trying to help calm him, “Everything is going fantastic. It’s getting darker and cooling down… the lights are all turned on. The arch looks amazing.”
Sighing, Vaughn said, “I just want everything to go smoothly. I know it’s stupid but this is…”
“It’s not stupid, Vaughn,” Yvette cut him off, her voice serious, “You’re a typical, nervous groom. It’s going to be okay, alright? The children of Helios adore you both and they have gone mad with effort for you guys. Just relax your muscular shoulders and chill out.” She walked up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders and squeezed them lightly, looking at his eyes in the mirror.”
The bowtie was once again tied. He adjusted it slightly before turning around to face her.
She looked lovely. She was wearing a sleeveless, form-fitting dress of silver-gray cloth with geometric pattern of small triangles outlined in slightly darker gray. It was the same fabric of which the waistcoat of Vaughn’s tuxedo was made. In her ears were large silver hoop earrings. About her neck was a lacy, gray choker necklace. On her feet were modest gray heels.
“You… look fantastic .” She bore rare hint of emotion in her light brown eyes. It was not that Yvette did not feel things strongly, it was that she tended to keep her emotions to herself. Even being away from Hyperion for a couple years had not changed that tendency in her, except in moments like this. She smoothed her perfectly manicured hands over the lapels of his tux.
“Thank you, Yvette… you look… just… incredible as well.” His emotion was much more obvious on his face as he smiled at her. “Thank you for everything. I don’t… think I’d have made it to see this day without you.”
There were times, dark times, when Vaughn had felt himself slipping into despair when he had thought Rhys was dead and later when he was missing. Though he would never have thought of self harm, there were times when the thought of just staying in bed and not eating until the pain of his existence would just end became appealing. Yvette had never allowed him to succumb to that depression. She was always there, reminding him of the people that still needed him and supporting him while they did the things that had to be done.
“You’re welcome,” She said with a warm and loving smile before she hardened up again. “Now don’t go crying or you’ll have to wash your face again.” She gave him a little pat to his cheek before turning. “Gortys, sweetie?” she looked over at the small robot. “Would you grab Vaughn’s boutonniere for me?”
“I sure will!” Gortys said with her typical enthusiasm. She rolled herself over to the small, black box on the side table. Once she picked it up she rolled to their side and offered it up to the woman.
Yvette opened the box and lifted out the boutonniere before handing Gortys back the box. It was a lovely, though odd purple flower native to Pandora with its stem partially wrapped in silver ribbon that was tied into a bow. She pinned it on him. “You, sir… are ready to get married.”
* * * * *
“Rhys!” Fiona exclaimed, raising her voice more than was perhaps warranted. “Stand still or I will pin this flower right into your chest.”
They were alone in the room now. LB had gone to make sure the guests were seen to and seated. The clock was ticking down on the appointed time for the ceremony.
Rhys let his head hang back and groaned as he stared at the ceiling, “I’m still!” He exhaled, straightened, and tried his best stop fidgeting. “Sorry I’m just… freaking out. My vows suck. I suck . Vaughn could do so much better. Don’t you think? Sir Hammerlock is single. He could marry him and be some sort of… space nobility? Dame Vaughn,” He snickered, though there was an underlying hysteria to it.
Fiona spoke with little patience as she pinned the flower on, “Don’t make me slap you to snap you out of this… you don’t want to get married with my hand print on your stupid face.” She stood back to observe her work, “Ok. I got it… and it’s straight enough.”
“Unlike this wedding,” Rhys quipped while raising his hands in fingers guns aimed at his Maid of Honor.
Fiona gave him an amused look as he grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him to face the mirror. “Here. Stare into your reflection and get lost in your own eyes a while so you get distracted enough to not be so frazzled.”
The tall man looked himself over in the mirror. The suit was relatively simple, but classic. The jacket had no buttons and relatively slim lapels upon which the purple flower was now pinned. It was solid black in color and fitted his long, slender body perfectly.
The foundation upon which it was built was a pure white shirt over which was worn a purple and gray, vertically striped waistcoat with silver buttons. A purple pocket square poked out from the top of the pocket. The tie was a solid purple and was tucked into the vest beneath. His slacks were crisply pressed.
In the service of not making Vaughn look extra short, he made a point of wearing flat dress shoes. They had a slender toe like he fancied and were made of black skag skin. His preference, of course, was for at least a few inches of heel to make himself stand out. He would stand out just fine today without it.
Fiona’s suit was similar to Rhys’ except for that in lieu of a tie she had her collar pinned closed at her throat with a pair silver pins and a cut out at the front which gave a window in on her chest and cleavage. Her hat was black with a purple band around the brim. Her waistcoat was a solid purple instead of bearing the gray stripes like the groom’s. She wore black boots with heels.
“Not bad.” Rhys observed with a small nod as admired his reflection. He was sure Vaughn was going to love it.
One of Fiona’s hands came to rest up on his shoulder. When she spoke, her voice was a lot more serious than normal. “You look good, Rhys. Better than good.”
Rhys beamed a smile over at her, “You do too.”
“I always look good,” Fiona grinned and patted one of her pockets, “Now… I want you to observe… the box with the ring. It is in my pocket here.” She produced a notecard from her other pocket. “Here are your vows, put them in your pocket. If you lose them, I do have another copy… but try not to lose them. I also have a handkerchief for when you inevitably cry, like a big man child.”
“I’m not going to cry.” His eyes rolled before he smiled again. “ Seriously , Fiona, you are the best . Thank you for doing all this for me. I would hug you, but I don’t want to crush my flower.”
“You’re welcome. I’m sure we’ll be drunk hugging by the end of the evening. It’s tradition. Now… deep breaths and sit tight.” She sounded a bit like a coach going over the game plan right before the final game of the season. “I’ll be back to get you when it's time. Remember. There is nothing to freak out about. You’re going to take my arm. We’re going to walk up that aisle… Moustache guy is going to do his thing. You read your vows to Vaughn. He reads his to you. You mash lips. You’re married. The bar opens.”
Rhys nodded as he listened to the pep talk. “Okay… I’ll be here… not freaking out.” He paused and asked her when she was almost out the door, “Could you maybe… bring me a drink?”
Her green eyes turned a baleful look on him as she said, “Hell no. No drinking until after you’re hitched.”
* * * * *
The long Pandoran twilight was in full swing by the time Vaughn stepped outside into the air. Elpis hung fat in the sky, the view of her no longer marred by the space station that presently still served as the home for the Children of Helios and now as the headquarters for the Atlas Corporation.
The processional began with the music of a single violin played skillfully by a diminutive woman. She was soon joined by a man with an acoustic guitar. They played a piece of classical music that Vaughn couldn’t recognize, but it was lovely nonetheless.
Side by side and arm in arm with Yvette, he walked through the expanse of courtyard to the place where the wedding was being held. She smiled at him as they walked their slow and measured walk towards the place appointed for the festivities.
The children had done a lovely job. There were trellises erected across the borders of the large, square area set aside for the ceremony. Strung between them were long strands of white lights that formed a loose canopy of lights above the guests. Seating came in the form of long pew-like benches, built specifically for the occasion. They were divided down the middle by the aisle, which ended in a tall wooden arch that was covered in the same lights as well as being bedecked with as many of the scarce, but hardy, Pandoran flowers as could be gathered. None of this would have been possible without the resumption of off world supplies that they had finally been able to arrange.
Standing in front of the arch behind the wooden podium with its built in microphone was the ceremonies officiant, Sir Alistair Hammerlock. Though he was wearing a smart suit for the occasion, he still wore his typical beige hat and broken pair of spectacles.
It was strange. Vaughn had spent so much of his life being an absolute nobody that it felt uncomfortable still to feel important. Yet here he was, getting married in front of an audience of some two hundred people. As he walked down the aisle, he passed so many familiar faces. Most, of course, were the faithful children of Helios. There were, nonetheless quite a collection of guests from other parts of Pandora.
Towards the front he was pleased to see Scooter’s sister Ellie. She sitting with her mother, Moxxi, on one side and her date, Axton, on the other. In turn, sitting by Axton was the blue haired Siren, Maya. A few aisles down Mordecai was sitting next to his friend, the massive Brick. He already had a bottle in his hand and a small, hideous bird like creature perched on his shoulder.
Vaughn had worked hard to ingratiate himself with the people of Sanctuary while Rhys was missing. In spite of being ex-Hyperion he had earned a fair amount of goodwill with charitable and neighborly actions towards fellow Pandorans that previous associations were overlooked and ties were established. Since Rhys returned things had only improved.
As he passed the last of the pews he saw August sitting alongside Sasha, Springs, and Athena on the left hand side. The right was front row consisted of his and Rhys’ personal assistants and closest staff members of the Atlas corporation, such as it was.
He smiled at Hammerlock and went to stand at his space at the right side of the Altar. Yvette stood a few paces out from him and folded her hands.
It was worse than he expected when he turned. There were so many people there. So many people all staring at him. He looked good, so there was at least that to consider, but part of him regretted not eloping.
Sitting at Athena’s other side was man wearing a thick beard and aviator Sunglasses. He wore his long, brown hair down for the occasion. Nonetheless Vaughn knew exactly who he was and was thrilled to see that his friend Timothy had made it after all. They had become fast friends after he had helped the body double get the medical help to remove the voice modulator that made interacting on Pandora difficult.
The robots followed next in the processional. LB walked at a slow and even pace alongside Gortys as she happily rolled along tossing handfuls of flower petals from a large basket.
When they reached the front of the aisle, Gortys rolled to her spot a few feet out from Yvette, while LB took his spot opposite his small, silver companion.
* * * * *
“I'm gonna throw up.” Rhys insisted to Fiona as they walked arm in arm out of the base and toward the sea of humanity.
“You are not . Buck up, Rhys. This is happening.” Fiona said lowly.
Rhys saw people turn to look at him which made him even more nervous. He set his jaw, lifted his head, and did his best to make their walk up to the altar as graceful as possible. Faking confidence was far easier than having it, so he went with it.
Tears gathered at the corner of his eyes the moment he saw Vaughn waiting for him at the podium. He blinked them away. There was no way he was going to let Fiona be right.
When they reached the podium he winked at Vaughn, smiled at Alistair, and took his place. Fiona went to stand between him and LB.
The music drew to a graceful close.
“Dearly Beloved,” Alistair intoned with his crisp, fine accent and in a very traditional fashion. “We are gathered here this evening under the light of the moon, Elpis, to witness the union in of these two gentlemen in the bonds of matrimony. Marriage is an institution as old as time itself… probably.”
“It has been my pleasure to have come to know first Vaughn and later Rhys both as individuals and as a couple. They have been with each other for a period some twelve years, living with each other almost exclusively for the length of that period since they first met each other in college. Though it took time for their love to bloom, they have long been loyal and steadfast friends to one another. From all I have seen of them, they do appear very well and happily matched.”
Both men smiled at that, glancing at each other with sly grins before looking back to Hammerlock.
“Marriage, however, is not just about the happy parts, the pleasant parts, or the pleasurable parts. Marriage is a commitment to one another to be there not only in the times of plenty but in the times of little. You must be committed to each other as much in the dark times as in the light. You must cease to be as two individuals and become as one unit. You must let your individual strengths cover each other’s weaknesses so that the whole of your union is greater than the sum of your parts.”
Hammerlock made a sweeping gesture with both his robotic and flesh arms, “And now it is time for the speaking of the vows that these two men have prepared for one another.” He turned his gaze to the taller groom. “Rhys. Take Vaughn by the hands and speak your vows.”
The auburn haired man’s hands reached out and took Vaughn’s in his. His white skin looked exceptionally pale, almost bloodless, as he glanced nervously at the crowd before looking Vaughn in the eyes. He cleared his throat, suddenly finding that his mouth felt so dry.
Vaughn’s waited patiently. It did not matter to him if this moment stretched out forever.
“Whenever you’re ready…” Hammerlock added once the silence became too drawn out.
“Sorry.” Rhys murmured and his face went from white to pink in an instant. He forced himself to speak. “My dear Vaughn. I feel like I have already known you a lifetime. Maybe even a past lifetime. Since I met you, there have only been two times where we have been apart for any length of time. Neither one was voluntary and both occasions were the hardest times in my life. I never want to experience that again.” His delivery, though it started out stilted, had gradually shifted to a natural tone. He was surprised to find he did not need to refer to his card.
“Since you walked into my dorm room and subsequently my life, you have taken up a central role in in my world. It took me too long to realize what I had in you and I will always regret that. I always knew I loved you. I just did not know that I was in love with you. I did not even really know what love was until you showed me what it was supposed to be.” He was shocked that he had memorized it so well. Just knowing he had the copy in his pocket made him feel confident enough to not need it.
Vaughn’s eyes shined with wetness as he looked up with nothing short of adoration.
Rhys almost lost it before he restrained himself enough to carry on. “You are so many things to me. You're my best friend and my lover. You're my bro. You're the shoulder I cry on when I can't take the bad memories that too often intrude. You're the person who knows me better than myself, and in spite of that, keeps on loving me. You're my financial advisor, my confidant, my rock.”
Vaughn laughed softly at the financial advisor bit, which was good because he was otherwise on a trajectory that lead straight to weeping and he did not want to weep.
A brief flash of a grin appeared on Rhys’ lips before he said, “Now I am asking you to be even more to me. I am asking that you marry me and become my Husband from now on until the end of our lives. In feast or in famine, I want you to be with me forever.”
Unable to help himself, Vaughn nodded at Rhys’ words. He looked at his friend and lover like he was trying to remember every single details of this moment.
“In turn, I vow that I will never take you for granted. I will respect you and cherish you. I will honor and obey you. I will tend to the needs of your heart and soul like they were my own. For better or worse, in sickness and in health I will be yours if you will have me. Will you be my husband?” Rhys concluded as he blinked away more tears.
“I will!” Vaughn spoke the words they had both agreed on in response to the question asked with unbridled enthusiasm. His head bobbed in a vigorous nod.
Rhys beamed in response, all teeth and squinty eyed and full of nervous joy.
Hammerlock smiled sedately and then looked to the shorter man and spoke, “Vaughn. You may speak your vows to Rhys now.”
Vaughn stood up as straight as he could. He looked into his beloved’s brown eye and golden eye in their mismatched glory. After a deep breath he said, “My darling Rhys. I still remember the first thing I thought when I saw you for the first time. It was something along the lines of ‘Oh, Crap this guy is incredibly hot.’ I was so relieved to learn that you were every bit of a match for me in nerdiness and I was glad we quickly became best friends.”
Rhys laughed softly at the bit about him being hot.
“By the time we graduated, we both made plans to work for the same company because even then, when we couldn’t put a name or category to what we felt for each other, we knew we did not want to be apart.”
“Then we came to Pandora. To say that I’ve learned a lot about myself and grown as a person since we moonshot our idiot selves down here in that stolen car would be an understatement. It was here I stopped being afraid of life and I stopped letting all the things that had held me back in life continue to do so. Most importantly, I finally got up the courage to tell you how much I loved you while we sat, captive on the bumper of that bandit truck. I can’t possibly describe the joy I felt when you said you loved me too.”
Vaughn’s smile was so sweet and so earnest that it made Rhys’ heart ache.
“We have been through so much together and in so many ways we have changed from the people that we used to be; but I am so glad every day that our brotherhood, our deep and abiding friendship and love for each other, has remained unbroken. I know that we are going to keep changing and growing. I also know that the bond we share is strong and will endure any future trials. I am so comforted by that.” Vaughn’s eyes welled up and overflowed with tears as he spoke.
In short order Rhys followed suit. It moved something deep within him to listen to Vaughn talk about him this way. Even though there was nothing here he did not already know. He was proud of this man in front of him. He was proud of who he was and who he had become. He was proud to belong to such a man as this.
After clearing his throat Vaughn continued, solemnly, “I swear to you today that I will always love you. I swear I will always counsel you and protect you. I will stand beside you in the face of all challenges. Your joys are my joys. Your sorrows are my sorrows. Everything that I am and everything I will become is yours. It was always yours. Will you be my husband from this day until the end of days?”
Rhys cursed himself as he started to cry in earnest. Damn Fiona, she was right. “I will!” He managed to force out.
Sir Hammerlock smiled pleasantly and said, “And now for the exchanging of the rings.”
They reluctantly released each other hands and in a flash Fiona was at Rhys’ side to press the handkerchief into his palm before returning to her spot a few feet away. She was good at this.
The handkerchief was immediately dabbed against both of Rhys’ eyes and briefly under his nose and he sniffled. It was stuffed into his pocket when he was done.
Yvette stepped close to Vaughn to offer him the ring, grinning.
He took it carefully and reverently into his hand before he turned again to Rhys. With his other hand he took Rhys’ flesh hand.
The mustached officiant stated, “Place the ring on his finger and repeat after me: With this ring I thee wed.”
Vaughn slid the ring down Rhys’ long finger, “With this ring I thee wed.” He could not stop himself from smiling.
“Rhys,” Alistair turned to the tall man. “Place the ring on his finger and repeat, “With this ring I thee wed.”
Fiona stepped close to Rhys and opened the box with the ring so he could take it in his flesh hand. They exchanged a quick grin before he turned back to Vaughn.
Rhys took Vaughn by the hand and in turn placed the ring on his finger. “With this ring I thee wed.”
Alistair took in a deep breath so he could proclaim loudly, “Now, by the power invested in me by the First Echonet Church of Pandora, I pronounce you married. You may kiss the Groom.”
Rhys leaned down and Vaughn bounced up. They were perfectly used to meeting in the middle. Rhys put his arms around Vaughn while the shorter groom lifted his hands to hold his husband's face as they shared a long kiss.
In the front row Janey Springs whistled loudly while others clapped or cheered. Timothy briefly showed a flash of blue and green eyes while he lifted the sunglasses to blot at his eyes.
When their lips parted Vaughn took Rhys by the hand.
Hammerlock made his final pronouncement, “May I present to you Misters Rhys and Vaughn Atlas.”
There was more cheering as the recessional music began to play and Rhys Vaughn walked out with their arms linked. Yvette and Fiona walked together next. At last the Robots followed. Gortys waved at everyone she passed.
Immediately following the ceremony the wedding party gathered to take the traditional wedding photos with Sir Hammerlock, Sasha and August as the majority of everyone else got the the business of drinking.
For the Grooms, it would be no exaggeration to say that the rest of the day passed by in something of a blur.
First there was dinner with its rounds of food, toasts and speeches from the maids of honor. Both women took advantage of the occasion to roast the men good naturedly. Vaughn laughed so hard at Yvette’s observations about his relationship with Rhys that sparkling wine came out of his nose; which in turn made Rhys laugh so hard his stomach hurt and he briefly couldn’t breathe.
Fiona only had to kick Rhys once under the table to convince him to slow down his Champaign consumption.
Following dinner there was dancing. The first dance between the grooms had been planned for weeks. Both Rhys and Vaughn had learned a simple bit of ballroom dancing so that they could make a decent show of themselves. Rhys lead, though mostly only because he was so much taller. They comported themselves well beyond a few missteps, but even those just made them laugh. They were too giddy with love and alcohol now to care even if they did make fools of themselves.
When they had their fill of dancing there was endless greetings of endless people. They made the rounds, pulled from person to person for a blur of pleasant small talk interrupted for matters of cake cutting and and present opening.
When they at last decided they had had enough of the party, they bid farewell to their closest friends and gave the maids of honor gifts to thank them for their assistance. For Yvette a gorgeous set of matching earrings, necklace and bracelet from a well known designer on Eden 3. For Fiona, the newest, best shield Atlas had to offer. It was not even on the market yet. They kissed their goodbyes and departed.
They wound their way into the Helios complex, up several flights of stairs and to their suite of rooms. Vaughn held Rhys’ hand or kept an arm about him to steer him the whole way up as he was tipsy and tired.
Their suite had been cleaned since party last night. There was another bottle of sparkling wine chilling in a bucket on the table. Two wrapped boxes sat next to the silver bucket. One had a tag ‘To: Vaughn and Rhys, From: Yvette.’ The other had a tag, “To: You guys, From: Fiona.’
“Uh oh, Private gifts.” Vaughn raised his brows as he looked at his new husband.
“Hah… Yeah… I am almost afraid to look.” The taller man picked up the one from Fiona.
Vaughn chuckled as he opened the box from Yvette to find coils purple and gray rope. “Awwww, look, rope … and in our wedding colors.”
Rhys laughed, his cheeks were already a bit rosy from drinking, but the blush deepened, “I’m simultaneously touched and disturbed.” He opened up the parcel from Fiona and snorted at the box’s contents. “I hate her so much,” he said, insincerely. “I’m just going to pretend that’s a bread cutting board.”
“Oh you know it’s not.” Vaughn was smirking as he picked up the paddle and lifted it out of the box. He smacked it against his other palm and wiggled his brows at Rhys declaring, “ Nice .”
“Hrmph,” Rhys grumbled and said, “I need to get this suit off or I will die .” He wandered off towards the bedroom.
Vaughn followed him in and set the paddle on the dresser. He yawned as he chivalrously helped Rhys out of his suit coat and other clothes.
Rhys was quiet, a little drunk and a lot tired. His husband's yawning got him to yawning as well as he stripped and dumped his clothes on the floor.
“Sorry… I’m just kinda… beat.” Vaughn removed his own clothes just kind of tossing them aside for the moment. Such carelessness was normally not his style but he was too tired to care right now.
“I know, me too… would it be terrible if we actually just… went to bed?” He looked over at Vaughn apologetically as pulled back the corner of the bedspread. He sat down in his black boxers on the edge of the bed.
“No, baby. I am tired and my feet are killing me. Those shoes were like torture” Vaughn untied his hair and set ran his fingers through it before he padded over to his side of the bed. He climbed in under the covers, scooting close to the middle.
“Thanks. We’ll totally bang before brunch though.” Rhys insisted. He slid an arm around his spouse and leaned down to give him a nice long kiss on the lips.
Vaughn kissed him back and smiled at him gently with half lidded eyes as they parted. “Cool Pre brunch banging. I’ll hold you to it… You know, you looked incredible tonight.”
“Yeaaaaah,” Rhys agreed as he nestled against the other man. “You looked great too. This is... the happiest day of my life.”
“I’m glad, sweetheart. It’s third happiest for me.”
Rhys squinted at him, judging whether or not to be offended. “What are the other two?”
“Both the days I got you back after thinking I wouldn’t see you again.” Vaughn turned to face Rhys and put an arm around his waist. “Today though… today was pretty was pretty dang good.”
“Awwwwwww,” Rhys crooned sleepily before he let his eyes close. “I love you, Mister Atlas.”
Vaughn kissed his temple before saying softly. “I love you, too, Mister Atlas.”