Chapter 29
Misty
This was not at all how Misty ever planned her wedding day. Literally, nothing that was happening was anything like what she would have once picked for herself.
But she also wasn’t upset about a single change.
That morning, she got ready with Jeanie. The only other human mated to a kreecharma was serving as her defacto bridesmaid, and she took to the role like she was getting paid to make sure it was done absolutely right. They spent the morning getting a full spa service from a lady Davard had hired. She was a domini female who lived on Kree, and she knew more about how to take care of skin and hair than a furry kreecharma would. Misty had to give her some details on how to do her hair specifically, but domini hair wasn’t exactly similar to either Jeanie or Misty’s type, so she had already done research on how to take care of both of them. So, mostly, Misty just relaxed, sipped not-wine with her human friend, and talked about their mates.
Misty really thought weddings were supposed to be stressful. But maybe that was just when you couldn’t afford to hire someone to take care of everything stressful for you. She just relaxed through her morning without a care in the world aside from her building excitement as it came closer and closer to the vows.
And sure, the mating part was still a day away, but she was getting married today – lack of wedding night not-withstanding. It was a big moment, and she was excited.
Planning had been so easy, and making decisions for pretty much everything had come easily to her. It probably wasn’t wrong to call her opinionated, but she knew what she liked, and she wasn’t afraid to ask for it.
The only thing that had really been in question was the wedding dress itself.
If she had been on Earth, she would have picked a black dress. No question. It fit with her aesthetic, she loved the color, and it made her happy. But also, on Earth, the black dress would have been very obviously a break with tradition. Everyone would see the black dress and still be able to appreciate it as a wedding dress – just one made in direct opposition to the traditional white.
But that was the problem.
Kree wasn’t Earth. If she wore black to her own wedding, no one would be able to recognize what she was doing. They might just associate the color black with Earth weddings, and that simply wasn’t the truth. Misty loved the color black, but she didn’t want to misrepresent the entirety of a human wedding when white was The Color of a bride. It was one thing for her to wear black and that be recognized as her choice to buck tradition, it was another to wear black and misrepresent what that tradition meant in the first place.
Maybe she was putting too much thought into a color. There was no guarantee that the people of Kree would even associate the color with weddings like the color white was with humans. But it was still something that, unexpectedly, meant something to her.
Did she pick black because she liked black and this was her wedding?
Or did she pick white because she was human and this was her tradition?
Both seemed correct, neither seemed wrong. She had debated it for a long time before coming to her decision, and she still wasn’t sure it was the right one.
Not until she revealed her choice to Jeanie. Maybe the other girl was just supportive and she would have fawned over anything, but her appreciation seemed genuine. She insisted that the dress was beautiful, that she had made a great choice.
Jeanie was really good at piling on genuine compliments. She was very high energy, and that might get tiring after a while. But on a day like today, Misty could only appreciate it. Especially when that energy was one hundred percent channeled into being the best hype woman possible.
By the time the event coordinator summoned her down to begin the ceremony, she was feeling pretty good with herself and her choice.
Today’s event was probably the most similar to what would be a human wedding – not including the reception afterwards, just the ceremony. There was to be a party afterwards, but she’d compare it more to a formal gathering of colleagues than the party she’d have chosen for her reception. The party that would take place tomorrow among their closest friends and family was closer to that.
The order of events wasn’t the same either. Though they’d taken the vow part of the ceremony from humans, the rest was going to be from old Kree ceremonies.
That’s why, instead of coming to the end of a hall and walking down an aisle towards her waiting groom-to-be, Misty instead came walking into the room by herself at the top of a balcony. It was a small landing without rails or any way down, but it put her high enough over everyone that the entire room could turn at once and face her.
And it was a lot of people. Jeanie was down there already – because despite them hanging out for the morning, there actually wasn’t a bridesmaid role for this ceremony. So, she had returned to her mate’s side for Misty’s entrance. She could see both of them from here, and right nearby was Boktare and Fia, both of them smiling approvingly at her. Davard was there, as was Flik – who beamed and waved at her like the absolute puppy dog he was. Aside from them, the room was filled with all the seniors and lawmakers she’d ever met, and more than a few that she didn’t. She saw many other famous faces she recognized from her time attending events with Tsok, but many she didn’t know at all. Interspersed among them, however, were many of her friends from her salon – including everyone that had been at her ill-fated party along with many of the clients she’d served.
The event hall of Glass Manor was packed, but it was so large, it didn’t seem crowded at all. This hall really paid homage to the glass part of glass manor – though, maybe it was more accurate to call it crystal. The walls and ceiling were all covered in panes of glass, like they were in a massive greenhouse, with each pane being outlined in stained glass, varying colors of purple and blue combining together in a way that shined like a galaxy. Rough crystals, glowing like salt lamps, formed six, massive, white columns that ran down the center of the room. The floor was made of more rough, white crystal, though it didn’t glow, it was marbled with gleaming gold.
Overhead, Tsok’s little lightning bulbs that he used to make mood lighting were drizzling bright sparks down from the ceiling that fizzled out to nothing before they reached the ground. Fellbud flowers filled golden basins that hung from above like chandeliers, while brightly glowing bugs, the same ones she had been fascinated with at her first party, flitted amongst their petals.
It was like walking into a scene from a dream. Too bright and beautiful to be real. Filled with gorgeous kreecharma all wearing bright, gleaming silk robes in a variety of colors depicting so many styles and techniques of gorgeous embroidery, it was like looking out over a gleaming tapestry the size of a football field.
And there, at the front, floating a head above the others, was the High Imperium themselves. A being of such grandiosity, they eclipsed everyone with their sheer presence. Their black shroud seemed to sparkle today, and the cloth covering them was so bright, it seemed like it must be real gold threads that had been woven through it. Misty wasn’t sure what the pink, orange, and light blue scene depicted, but it looked almost like a crystalline heart was shining in the center of the fabric.
The most important people in all of Kree, the most important people in her life, and the singular most important person in all of the known universe – all of them spread out before her in a glittering wave, staring up at her with wonder and appreciation.
And thanks to Jeanie building up her confidence, Misty didn’t feel a bit out of place as she held up her arms, calling for a silence that was already falling.
“Welcome all!” She called out, her combot floating in front of her neck, picking up and broadcasting her voice like a microphone. “I thank you all for gathering. As you can see, I am whole and unharmed.”
She held out her arms, twirling in place. Sending her skirt flying. Showing everyone that she was untouched. Unclaimed. Once, this presentation was done immediately after the mating, to prove that the female had not been harmed during the rut. But now, it was to prove that she hadn’t been rutted at all. Yet.
Misty was so focused on her part, she almost missed Tsok standing there in the shadow of the balcony entrance.
Almost. She came to a halt. Looking over her shoulder. Smiling as she gathered her skirt in her hands, heart thumping excitedly in her chest.
The way he looked at her. Like she was every fantasy come to life, like he wanted to treasure and devour her in equal measure. It tingled along her skin like a caress as she laughed, her own gaze moving up and down his body, appreciating him.
His black fur really did look good in white. The robe he wore was half off, one shoulder completely exposed, revealing the arm she had worked so hard to braid. Displaying, with pride, the marks she had placed upon him. There was only a small bit of embroidery on the sleeves of his robe, but she recognized fellbud flowers depicted in black thread. His jewelry was all silver, encrusted with diamonds, including the nasal filter that seemed so prominent on his face today.
He stepped towards her, a gleam in his eye that heated her all over. She almost forgot their script as he reached for her.