Chapter 44
Survii
Human weddings were vastly different from a proper mating ceremony.
There was a great deal of tradition and expectation and ritual to follow that involved a lot of pageantry and display.
Everything had to be considered for how it would look.
Appearances seemed to be just as important as, if not more than, the actual bonding.
Humans were strange.
But he was not going to question their culture. He’d seen stranger things in the universe than people obsessed with appearances.
Besides, he had his own flare for the fabulous as well.
He stood in the dressing room provided for himself and his groomsmen – the human term for the males who supported him on this day – and admired his appearance in the large mirror that had been provided for their use.
He was not disappointed.
The tuxedo he had chosen was not the traditional black that humans wore – he wasn’t capable of camouflaging to black. Very few domini could. Wearing black would wear his cells out and leave him stuck as dark gray for days and feeling fatigued and sick while they recovered.
Instead, to match the color Alanna had chosen as part of their wedding colors, he had a violet tuxedo made for him.
The coat was darker on the sleeves and torso, but the pants, vest, and lapel were all the brighter purple Alanna had chosen.
A color that reminded him of the forests of home – which he was pretty sure was why she had chosen it.
Golden jewelry accented his pocket and the tie cinched around his neck over the silvery gray shirt.
Since the shirt was directly on his skin, his skin and hair had changed to match it, giving more contrast to the violet of the outfit.
The sleek, trim cut accented the long lines of his body perfectly.
The human tailors were quite good at this.
He turned, running his fingers over his hair, pushing the long strands out of his face.
Golden rings shined at his fingers, staining his skin around them the same color.
He didn’t mind that, however. He rather liked the emphasis it seemed to give to the jewelry.
Around him, the other males were dressed similarly.
Their suits did not have the brighter purple like his, only the dark purple, allowing him to stand out.
Havali and Atem were handsome, as always.
Romival looked comfortable, even in the alien clothes.
Tuvo, however, though his suit was personally tailored as well, still looked like he was about to bust out the seams. He seemed so uncomfortable.
He kept pulling at the high collar, fidgeting, messing with the cuffs.
The tuxedos were sleek and sexy, but they definitely were not made for free movement, and that affected First Warrior badly.
Survii took a certain amount of humor in that, he was petty enough to admit. At least to himself. He wouldn’t dare say it to the huge male himself.
“I don’t understand why we have to dress up as well,” Tuvo grumbled, pulling at the jacket. Carefully, so he didn’t rip the fabric.
“I am the groom, and you are the groomsmen,” Survii turned from the mirror, facing them with no small amount of pride.
After all, how many domini could say that they had such a ceremony?
And how many of those that could claim to have Dominani himself at the ceremony?
Being a groomsman was a position of high honor, he had been told.
And the males that supported him on this day were the greatest of all Turv.
“We are not men, though.” Havali said, adding a white flower to his lapel. Survii wasn’t sure what the traditional meaning of the flower on the suits was, but he did know that Alanna would be carrying a full bouquet of similar flowers. “Would that not make us groomsmales?”
“Male and man aren’t used interchangeably,” Romival piped up, helping Tuvo apply his tuxedo flower since Tuvo’s hands were too big to work the tiny gold clasp that had been made for much smaller human hands. “Male and female are considered rude labels on Earth.”
“Huh?” Survii blinked, surprised. “Why?”
“They consider it dehumanizing. It’s insulting and demeaning.” Romival turned and caught all of their horrified stares and laughed. “Don’t worry. I already talked to Holly about it. The females do not take it like that when it comes from us, because they know we don’t mean it that way.”
“This is so complicated,” Havali grumbled, giving Survii a dull look. “I do not envy you the job of having to learn things like this every time you get to a new planet.”
Survii laughed. “The trick is to just be completely adaptable. Don’t be attached to any one culture and you can’t be disturbed when the rules of that culture change.”
“I am First Guardian. Being attached to domini culture is literally my job.” Havali adjusted the sleeves of his tux. “But this is rather fun, I will admit. I can almost understand why you’re so fascinated with collecting foreign outfits.”
“Everything is ready down below,” Tuvo said, checking his borrowed phone.
“There was some fuss during and after the mating ceremony, so we’re being extra careful with the wedding itself.
Things seemed to be calming down though.
The humans have been monitoring communications among the anti-alien groups.
The wedding will be completely safe and undisturbed. ”
“I would hope so.” Survii grinned. “This has to be everything my Alanna wants it to be. I will let no one ruin it for her.”
“Guaranteed,” Atem growled, claws emerging.
“Let’s make our way down then,” Havali said. “Everyone remember their roles from yesterday’s rehearsal? Anyone need a reminder?”
After confirming their purpose for the day – which essentially amounted to walking a short distance then standing in one place for a while – they left their changing room.
Human weddings, Survii was given to understand, for Alanna’s culture in particular, usually occurred in a religious building of some kind.
It wasn’t strictly necessary, however, especially if those being married did not ascribe to that religion.
Which was handy, seeing as the religion that owned and operated the large churches capable of hosting this event hadn’t yet decided if they were among those that agreed with human/alien pairings.
Apparently, they were praying and meditating on the correct answer and thus could not act one way or another.
Which, really, meant the answer, for now, was no.
Luckily, however, Alanna wasn’t interested in marrying inside a religious building.
Instead, she chose something called a botanical garden.
A garden that was there for no other reason than to offer a fine selection of various plants to admire and walk amongst. There were even buildings here built specifically to house those that required specific temperature and humidity requirements.
A beautiful place. A very Earthly place.
They were accustomed to hosting weddings. There were small homes for grooms and brides on opposite sides of the garden so they didn’t meet. A path led from his cottage to the white metal and glass building where the ceremony would be taking place.
The males were laughing, chatting, encouraging him as he made his way forward. The wedding planner met them and urged them to where they would be waiting. She had a little communication device right in her ear that she was using to coordinate everything.
“The bride is on her way,” she informed him, Romival translating, with a wide smile.
She reminded them of their musical cues and who to look to for hints if they needed before rushing away.
A male had been designated as their handler since they had no experience with this, and thus no inherent understanding of what was going to happen.
The male reminded him what they were supposed to do – though walking down the aisle, one at a time, in order of importance to the ceremony wasn’t that hard to grasp. But everything was being recorded for posterity, so the humans wanted it to be perfect.
And Survii listened because he wanted it to be perfect for Alanna.
A short time later, the planner returned.
Still beaming. She was wearing a plain, inoffensive gray suit, her golden hair tied back in a tight chignon.
She asked if they were ready and, when they informed her they were, she radioed the musician.
He was playing a large, beautiful instrument with a multitude of white and black buttons they called a piano.
It produced an ethereal, tinkling sound as it began to play, summoning them.
Romival went into the flower house first. He ducked under a shimmering, white curtain, stopped for a second, then began the slow march down.
The curtain fell back behind him, preventing Survii from seeing what was happening.
But they had practiced this at the rehearsal yesterday, before he was separated from Alanna for the traditional full day he was meant not to see her.
He was not sure why except maybe to remind him how empty his life would be without her.
The handler signaled and Havali went through.
After him, Tuvo stepped past.
It was just Atem and Survii now. First Domini gave him a look out of the corner of his eyes.
“Thank you for going through with this,” he said softly.
Survii started, surprised. “You’re thanking me? You were just as angry as I was.”
“Yes. But, despite what they asked, you still made sure to honor Alanna through the process.” Atem gave him a smirking grin. “You’re worthy of her.”
Before Survii could think of a reply, Atem was being motioned through.
Then, it was his turn. He stood at the curtains. He didn’t push through himself. Instead, they were pulled back by their handler and the wedding planner, standing just out of sight.
He paused, as instructed, then began the slow march.