Chapter 24
A year ago, holding Puck at gunpoint would have been the only way to get them back to a wedding in North Carolina. But they never could have guessed that Lena and Damon would rekindle their brief relationship—and they especially couldn’t have guessed that they’d get married so soon.
Puck was stunned to get the invite in the mail, but when they saw the location, they knew it was real.
Only Lena and Damon would have an Elden Ring–themed wedding in a bird sanctuary—the perfect fusion of both of their interests.
But the reality of it was difficult to accept: The envelope was addressed to both Puck and Robyn.
“One of these days you’re going to have to accept that people are starting to move on from what happened,” their girlfriend assured them over dinner, but it was still hard to believe.
Puck called the couple later that night to thank them for the unexpected invite, but also to reassure them they’d understand being omitted from the guest list. If they were only being invited out of obligation, they wanted Robyn to be able to attend solo.
They had spent months making amends over phone, email, and text—and with everyone except Mia, they’d reached some kind of new normal.
But no one was going to be able to pretend like last year’s disaster was just a dream, and Puck didn’t want their presence to be a sore spot.
“Well, I hate that people got hurt, but I can’t imagine where I’d be if you hadn’t sent us on that scavenger hunt,” Lena had assured them.
Damon had significantly less emotional insight to offer when he took over the phone.
“Listen, Puck, there’s a character in Elden Ring named Marika.
She’s a queen but she’s also technically the same person as her consort Radagon, a female half and a male half making up one super-powerful being.
Anyway, I was thinking that’s who you could come as for the wedding. ”
“Wait, which one?” Puck asked him. “Radagon or Marika?”
“Both, that’s the whole point,” he said, and then proceeded to launch into a lore dump that ate up the rest of the call.
Puck was so delighted to hear Damon back to his old ways that they didn’t care about being typecast as the video game’s resident nonbinary character. And after they spent some time on the Elden Ring fan wiki, they realized they could absolutely pull the look off with the right red wig.
As Puck pulls up to the valet outside the Wing Wildlife Reserve, they’re slightly less embarrassed at the thought of handing over their keys to somebody else than they were last year.
Robyn made them take the car to the dealer shortly after she moved in.
“If you’re going to be a stereotype, you at least have to make sure your Subaru isn’t a death trap,” she’d said, and Puck reluctantly took a half-day at work to get it fixed at long last.
But they are definitely embarrassed to step out of their car in nothing but a gray vest and tattered waistcloth, carrying a hammer they spray-painted gold on the balcony last night. Their butt-length wig gets tangled in their seat belt as they try to unlock it.
“Sorry, just give me a second,” they tell the waiting valet.
“Take your time, man, I’ve seen everything by now,” he says, chuckling.
Robyn, of course, had no trouble getting out of the car despite wearing a winged golden helm that obscures much of her vision.
Puck can hear her laughing as they finally free their synthetic hair from the buckle and step outside.
“Isn’t your character supposed to be a more formidable foe than that?
” she teases them. “Radagon, undone by a seat belt.”
“And what are you supposed to be again?” Puck calls out over the top of the car. “Some lady with smelly feet?”
“I’m Malenia, Goddess of Rot, of course,” she says—and Puck feels a genuine pang of affection remembering how Robyn, who has never played a video game outside of Mario Kart, spent an entire weekend researching Elden Ring lore to pick the perfect costume, even ordering a custom piece of fake armor to complete the look.
“Well, excuse me, Rot Goddess,” Puck says, producing a crumpled-up twenty-dollar bill from their wallet for the valet. “Take good care of her,” they instruct the kid, repeating the same tired joke from last year.
“Do you always have to do that?” Robyn asks as she sidles up next to them.
“What? It’s a fine piece of machinery!” Puck protests.
The valet interjects. “You take good care of her, dude,” he says with a tilt of his head toward Robyn, before getting in the car and driving away.
They intend to. Puck knows this first year with Robyn, in many ways, is still a honeymoon.
But it’s also been full of hard conversations and gradual improvements.
Puck is playing catch-up with someone who cracked the code on adulthood years before they did, but they plan to look after Robyn for as long as they can possibly keep up with her.
She has helped Puck process their remorse over last year’s wedding snafu, encouraging them to be gentle with themself without dodging accountability, either.
As the Subaru vanishes down the dirt road, Puck hears a familiar voice.
“Puck!”
Mia is dressed in an enormous white sorcerer’s hat with a matching robe, her hair temporarily dyed light blue—or at least Puck hopes it’s temporary. They have no idea who she’s supposed to be, but frankly, Puck doesn’t care. She looks impossibly gorgeous.
“Mia!” Puck calls back.
Puck still doesn’t fully know where they stand with Mia—and it’s awkward that they’ll have to figure it out while dressed so ridiculously.
Puck broke the ice three months after that day in the motel with a niche Libra meme about panda bears sent over an Instagram DM.
After Mia heart-reacted to that one, Puck ventured into more earnest territory, sending a long message reflecting on their actions but making it clear they didn’t expect forgiveness yet, or even ever.
Mia said she still needed some time, but eventually started texting them again.
Zander was much faster to forgive, telling Puck they acted like “a dumbass,” and then going right back to the tenor of their normal comms, occasionally sharing movie thoughts.
He was especially psyched when the next Nolan film turned out to be an adaptation of The Odyssey, and not the helicopter cop movie it was briefly rumored to be.
Though Mia’s not quite back to normal yet, Puck is overjoyed to hear her even utter their name out loud after what happened last year. They hurry over to Mia and bundle her up in a hug, careful not to muss up her costume.
“Thanks for not hating me,” is what Puck settles on as a greeting, but then they quickly add, “I mean, I hope you don’t hate me. Do you hate me?”
“I don’t hate you,” Mia says, squeezing Puck back.
“It’s really good to see you. Or whoever you’re supposed to be.
Do you understand any of this?” She gestures at the other guests walking through the row of ivy-covered arches that presumably lead to the bird sanctuary, all of them wearing various configurations of robes and armor, some carrying prop swords, others adjusting odd headwear.
“I’m not sure I want to,” Puck responds—and that earns a gorgeous tinkling laugh from Mia that sends a jolt of hope through their heart.
But once Robyn joins them, so does Puck’s guilt.
The last time all three of them were together, it was Mia who was happily partnered, and now, in addition to ending that relationship, Puck has stolen Robyn away to Atlanta, too.
Mia went back to Raleigh shortly after calling off the wedding, which surprised Puck.
But in their intermittent text exchange, she explained that she’d wanted a change of scenery anyway, even before dating Damon, and she managed to secure a private teaching job that allowed her to afford her own place.
Robyn remained in close contact with her, modeling the sort of friendship maintenance that Puck should have been doing all this time: long phone calls, gifts, even the occasional letter.
Although it’s been difficult, Puck has tried to respect that their own relationship with Mia has been moving in a different lane than Robyn’s, and at a slower speed.
But standing here now, Puck is coming face-to-face with all these weird, complicated, and intersecting feelings.
Luckily, Mia cuts straight through the awkwardness, wrapping Robyn up in an easy embrace.
When they eventually disentangle, after almost a full minute of swapping stories and complimenting each other’s costumes, it seems as though it’s Robyn’s turn to feel bad.
Puck notices her clocking the envy on their face and she wraps her arm around their shoulder in response.
The affectionate gesture is appreciated, even if it’s accompanied by yet another reminder that Robyn is taller than them, which they have equally complicated gendered feelings about.
But those can be sorted out another time.
This reunion is more than enough discomfort for one afternoon.
“I’ll let you two catch up, Pucky,” Robyn says, using a recent pet name that’s in dire need of workshopping. “I’m going to go find my Raleigh friends.” Then, with her typical alacrity, she heads off through the trellises, leaving Mia and Puck alone.
“Drink?” Puck asks, unsure what else to say.
“Drink,” Mia confirms. “C’mon, the bar’s this way.”