Bachelorette
"Have I said 'I told you so' yet?" Krissy asks as the seamstress fits her for the bridesmaids dress.
"Oh shut up." Claire blushes and looks away.
"At least Bree didn't choose ridiculously hideous dresses. I was almost sure she would." Alex interrupts, looking down at hers. "Of course we probably have you to thank for that." She nods to Raphael who gives a slight smile. While she would certainly have humiliated her friends in the traditional manner, her older stronger brother is another matter entirely.
"These are fairly traditional dress robes." He shakes his head. "Or at least the best physical representation of them. She's taking this very seriously, much to my surprise. I'd be concerned if she hadn't been making up for it in other annoying ways." He gets not a few curious looks, but declines to comment.
"You're next, so I'd go change." Krissy informs Claire, who scowls and gets up, grabbing the dress and stalks off to the changing room. "At least Hela didn't come today."
"She was supposed to. That's why I am here." Raphael looks at the clock. "Gabriel cares about both of them too much to effectively referee. Whereas I care as equally little about either of them. Though in truth she's as capable of making her own alterations as my sister and I. I'm not sure why we're even here having this done in this way to be honest."
"It's part of the experience." Alex explains. "It's also the difference between painting your own nails and getting a manicure. Plus I'm pretty sure she's trying to get Hel and Claire together to interact and possibly talk and make up, which is probably not going to happen now thanks to Hel's little bitch fit at the christmas party."
"I hate dresses." Claire complains as she comes out. Though the soft blue fabric with gold trim is very flattering. "I feel so exposed. Especially my back. I keep expecting to find a dagger in it. "
"Keep locking me out of our hotel room at night and you just might." Krissy retorts.
"You could always wear leggings underneath." Alex suggests. Her light pink color complements her as well as Krissy's light yellow does her. Raphael's is light green of course and the one on the hanger, a light purple waits for Hel.
"Or, you know, not put it on inside out." Krissy grins.
"Fuck." Claire sighs and goes back.
"Sorry I'm late, a million thing to do." Babe runs in and sits down next to her brother.
"Given you can bend time there's no excuse for being late to anything ever." Raphael reminds her.
"Weren't you the one to tell me not to do it so frivolously for such mundane unnecessary reasons."
"The fact remains."
"Thanks for coming anyways. Is Hel here yet?" Babe looks around for her daughter.
"No, and Claire is in back changing."
"Alright, so how do we get Claire away from that tramp Persephone and back with my daughter where she belongs." Bree leans forwards expectantly.
"Bree, please don't. If you value your friendship with her at all you'll just... not." Alex makes a face. "I'm pretty sure Hel wouldn't appreciate your meddling either."
"Especially since the whole damn things her fault." Krissy grumbles. Babe just ignores her.
"I'm even more sure that my daughter would appreciate anything that gets Persephone away from Claire."
"Your daughter does not care in the slightest what those two creatures do with each other or anyone else for that matter." Hel says frostily as she enters the shop. Not a single person in the room believes her.
"I can't believe she's making me wear a dress." Claire comes out again, awkwardly adjusting the sash. There's dead silence as she and Hel see each other.
"Claire." Hel's cool greeting makes the girls tense slightly who looks to Claire, who looks away from the goddess.
"You know you're becoming a real bridezilla, Bree." She walks past Hel to Babe, ignoring her completely.
"You're such a spoiled brat."Alex chides her also ignoring Hel to show where her loyalties lay. Krissy gives the goddess a little wave to show the same. "You can handle a dress for one day."
"Ma'am, are you the last bridesmaid?" The seamstress asks. Hel nods. "Your dress is hanging up. Give me a moment. I'm almost done here. But feel free to change into it." She informs her.
"Take your time." Hel walks over to Alex, "Rhys asked me to give this to you when I saw you." She hands her a small jewelry box.
"I told him about gifts." Alex frowns, taking it.
"It's for the wedding." Hel informs her. "He'll be wearing one to match."
"Oh. Look at this. This is beautiful." Alex takes out the pink and gold flower pin.
"Are those diamonds?" Krissy asks.
"I hope not. He knows how I feel about diamonds." Alex wrinkles her nose. With the monopolies, the price fixing and all around devestation of entire countries for them she absolutely hates them.
"It's rose quartz." Raphael informs them. "Set in pyrite. It's fairly cheap jewelry just a step above costume jewelry."
"Wow, he does listen." Alex smiles and pins it over her heart.
"It must be love. And what do you mean he does listen?" Babe frowns. She didn't think to ban phone calls.
"Rhys and Alex are pen pals, didn't you know?" Krissy squeals, the little squealer.
"No, I didn't. Dammit. I'm missing everything. That's it, I'm initiating operation TOP officially."
"TOP?" Raphael asks warily, not entirely sure he wants to know.
"Transition of Power. We just need to find someone Hannah's closest to to go wake her. She doesn't seem to want to come out." Babe drums her fingers on the arms of the chair.
"Are you serious about having Heaven become a democracy? Our brothers are for the most part, not leaders."
"Sort of democratic. I'll stay on and the judiciary branch. The fact that I'll be the one issuing punishments should be deterrent enough for the most part. I'm putting Cas as the generael, sort of a Ceasar position, to take control in emergencies. But everything else, yeah, representative democracy. I've been talking to everyone to refine the system. I'll also be the go between for Pagan and human affairs. That'll help keep the pagans in line. I hate all of this. I don't know how you and Miqa did it, Raph."
"With discipline, consistancey and strict adherance to the rules."
"Yeah, which part of that involved helping the demons free Lucifer from the cage to bring on the apocalypse?" Claire comments.
"Claire.." Alex sighs as Raphael just leaves without a word.
"Trust me, securing Luci is freedom was not exactly the end goal Raphael had in mind." Babe shakes her head.
"And how'd you like it if we kept casting up your mistakes to you?" Alex continues.
"You don't get to judge my personal life, Alex. Krissy. Bree." Claire shoots them each a look.
"Um, we're your freinds, so yes we absolutely do." Krissy reminds her.
"I was actually talking about when you tried to get those people to kill Dean." Alex crosses her arms.
"But interesting your mind went straight to your love life. Regretting breaking up with a certain someone?" Babe pensively taps her chin.
"YOU WHAT?!" Krissy exclaims.
"Actually I was thinking of ever starting that relationship in the first place." Claire retorts. "And after what he did to my almost boyfriend and the man at the time who actually gave a shit about me, do you blame me?"
"What the hell, Claire?!"
"I'll just... give you some privacy." The seamstress says nervously and quickly heads into the back.
"You mean the man who tried to sell you to pay his debts? That wonderful man? And the boy who was using you?" Alex reminds her.
"I'll never believe that and it's complicated. And Dean was scary as fuck. I don't understand why you don't understand. Given he killed your entire family."
"You mean the vampires who abducted me when i was a child? I do understand, Claire. It was a moderately reasonable mistake, but it was still a mistake and a big one. So don't be so bitchy and self righteous."
"You know..." Claire turns to her.
"Alright, everybody's in time out." Babe snaps her fingers sending everyone to seperate rooms in seperate states and or countries.
"Father, I am not a child." Hel returns instantly. "And I would appreciate it if you stopped meddling in my love life. I understand she is your friend but if you don't leave it alone I swear I will no longer take part in this wedding. I mean it."
"Fine. just please don't start any more fights with anyone." Babe sighs.
"I didn't start it. I simply finished it." Hel replies cooly."Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to get my gown fitted. " She sweeps back to find the seamstress and bring her out of hiding.
"Are you alright?" Babe sits beside her brother on the frozen moon.
"I understand why it took you so long to come back. It all seems to pile up into a huge insurmountable heap of failure and disappointment." Raphael stares at the storm raging on the surface of Jupiter. He's tempted to alter it's course but humanity's likely watching. They can see so far out now. "All your mistakes and misjudgments just burying everything else you ever were or could be."
"I still love you, Raph. You're my brother and at least you realize you fucked up. i don't care what anyone thinks. I'll stand by you and support your attempts to make amends." She rests her head against his shoulder.
"I don't even know where to start." He rests his head against hers.
"What do you regret the most?"
"Chasing you away."
"It wasn't you, Raph. It really wasn't."
"I wasn't enough to stay for."
"Oh, come on. You know I only made things worse. You know it was much more peaceful without me there."
"Yes, it was but that doesn't mean it was a good thing."
"Well, you've been great about all of this so I consider us even for anything you could feel bad about. What else?" She asks. Raphael is silent for a very long time. Either he can't decide or he can't bring himself to say it. Raphael isn't much better at admitting his mistakes than Michael is, at least not to her.
"Meli. I was supposed to take care of my vessel and it's soul. That it's lost..." This distress in his voice is palpable.
"Well, that's not insurmountable. Especially not now." Babe smiles brightly. "You can search the abyss as it's probably there. But if it's not, then I'll arrange it so you can go search the various underworlds in case Meli was snatched up by one of their psychopomps."
"You would do that?" Raphael looks at his sister.
"Yeah, Of course. Hela's a big player in the underworld circuit. There aren't many left and a few aren't part of the alliance but we'll save those for last. But I'll talk to uncle or you could ask Billy." She suggests.
"Billy?"
"Azrael. She changed her name after one too many smurf jokes apparently." she considers and gives a small smile. "I wonder how many ninja turtle jokes it'll take to make you change yours."
"More than it would take to make me remove your wings feather by feather." He narrows his eyes at her. She just gives him a broad sheepish smile. "Do not."
"Ah you're no fun. It's not fair anyways. Your name is the only one anyone ever says correctly."
"The only one humanity says correctly. Even after that Labbiel nonsense of yours." He scowls at her. Babe just sniggers at this.
"Anyways, you know it won't go well if Michael or I ask her. And as long as you stop by to say hi every now and then, and play with the fledglings and come to my bachelorette party, we should be fine." She looks at him out of the corner of her eyes.
"Absolutely not."
"Why not, the babies adore you." she deliberately misses the point.
"I'm not going to your bachelorette party. Sam has already invited me to his. Since I identify as male, despite this vessel, it seems more appropriate." Raphael declines to comment on how well the last party of hers went.
"Aww. I wanted at least one of you to come. I'd ask Michael, but you know how she is." She sighs. "I wasn't going to at first, given what party poopers I was sure you'd be, but I kind of want you anyways."
"I think if you personally asked her...."
"She'd decline politely but be very touched and I'll be miserable and disappointed because she doesn't love me as much as you. You ask her for me."
"Why on earth..." Raphael frowns. Did she mean Michael doesn't love her as much as Raphael loves her or that Michael doesn't love her as much as Michael does Raphael? Maybe she meant both. "She does so."
"She's go to your bachelorette party."
"If I were ever to have a bachelorette party it wouldn't be nearly as wild and debaucherous as yours will be, I'm sure. But I will never be anyone's bride."
"Oh, Raph," Babe gives a sigh and puts a comforting arm around his waist, "I know sometimes it feels like your prince charming will never come, but Bia is still very interested and he did give me that goat."
"Never speak of that again." He narrows his eyes at his pain in the ass little sister.
"Oh, please. Please ask Michael for me. Please. Pleeeaaase. Raphi, please." she hangs off his arm looking up at him beseechingly. "Oh, please, pretty please, pretty pretty please with a cherry on top."
"Oh, very well, you brat, just be quiet." He grouses as annoyed at himself for giving in as he is at her for being so annoying.
"Thanks Raph." She kisses his cheek. "Want me to freeze time so you can play with the storm?"
"I would, actually." He confesses.
"Just remember where it was when you started." Of course it doesn't take long for his sister to start to play too though she turns the surface of Jupiter into a maze of date and fruit and the storm into a strange yellow face and odd squiggly blobs that chase after it. It's surprisingly fun.
"Are you going to behave yourself?" Babe asks her daughter as she enters the corded off section of beach.
"Not if I can help it." Hel winks and walks over to the nearest beautiful woman. "Bast, it's been too long."
"Don't worry, Gabriel, I won't let things get violent." Michael pats her shoulder.
"Oh, well, I don't care about that I just don't want my bridesmaids getting hurt. You came!" She grins at him. "Oh, you're not wearing a bathing suit." She looks over his white t-shirt and jeans.
"You know I can't swim."
"We could teach you." Alex comes over to put the lei over his head. "It's not that hard."
"No, he means he can't, as in... well, observe." Babe takes a glass of water and tosses it onto Michael's torso. It evaporates before it even dampens the cloth.
"It takes a portion of my concentration to contain the heat of my grace, especially in a substandard vessel, though this is sufficient to last in my current state."
"Oh, well, there's other things to do." Alex looks around the beach. "Do you play volleyball?"
"No."
"Good, then you might not win." Babe pulls him over to the court. It's a close match. Babe's faster but easily distractible and Michael uses it to his advantage. He only wins by a point because it takes a few turns to keep from destroying the ball on impact.
"Well of course he won against a puny little thing like Loki." A burly samoan scoffs from the side.
"What's he doing here?" Babe asks Claire as she runs over.
"It's his island. I had to let him come. He said you old freinds."
"Yeah, old' freinds'." Babe makes quotes. "Who the hell... never mind. Actually this should be interesting. Mauii, this is my brother Michael. He's chaperoning."
"Brother, huh." The look on Mauii's face makes it clear he misunderstands. "This little pretty boy? I thought you had higher standards than that."
"Gabriel, is he a freind of yours?" Michael asks politely.
"Not exactly."
"We were lovers. Granted he was not in such an adorable little body as this at the time."Mauii pinches her blushing cheeks. "Oh, he's bashful, he must really like you."
"She is my sister." Michael's voice gets dangerous. "My younger sister."
"Oh, I see, So that means you're available tonight." Mauii puts his arm around her.
"No. This is a bachelorette party. I'm getting married."
"If I recall you were married the last time."
"I believe she said no." Michael grabs his arm and twists it up behind his back.
"Stronger than you look. Are you a demigod too?" Mauii looks impressed.
"No."
"No, no fighting. It's not that kind of party." Babe pleads. "Fun only. And I can take care of myself Miqa. I did for several days."she says quietly to her overprotective big sister.
"Very well, it is your party." Michael releases the demigod.
"Shall we dance then?" Mauii challenges.
"No." Michael shakes his head. "I am here as chaperone and to keep the peace."
'It's better this way. Miqa would kick your ass at anything physical. Even dancing." Babe grins that mischeivous smile that Michael doesn't like the looks of. He should never have agreed to attend but Raphael asked with those big sad eyes. If he didn't go, Raphael would have to so as not to hurt her feelings and please don't make him do that. What exactly was Michael supposed to say to that?
" 'Even' dancing?" Michael frowns returning his focus to his sisters inflamatorry statements and irritating slightly insulting inflection of those two words.
"Well, I figure you're probably out of practice. Did you even dance at all after the moon formed?"
"I had responsibilities." He says stiffly. She would have to bring that up.
"So you haven't danced in Days, so maybe he's a better dancer. Mauii is a hell of a dancer." Babe shrugs.
"In bed and out of it." the demigod winks at them.
"Speaking of which, the dancing, I wouldn't mind a turn on the dance floor." She turns and leads Mauii up to the clearing by the band where a few people are dancing already.
"I can do anything as well or better than any of your pagan freinds." Michael follows them, bristling at the challenge.
"Yeah! Dance off!" Babe raises her hands, excitedly. "This is going to be fantastic. Mauii you go first."
"You look happy." Sam smiles as his fiancee appears beside him with a wide smile.
"I am. Claire held my bachelorette party on Mauii's island so he was there with his handsy boastful self in front of Michael. but I managed to manuever it into a dance off as I wanted the island to stay in tact. She kicked his ass and we danced for hours. I haven't danced with Miqa since I was a fledgling. And even then, Luci kept cutting in."
"I didn't know Michael could dance." Sam puts an arm around her.
"Of course he can. It's athletic patterned movement." She dismisses the observation. "Of coures, Claire brought Persephone and Hel flirted with every woman she could find which make that idiot girl get even more lovey with Persephone, but fortunately that was as bad as it got. Except for the hillariousness of every other goddess throwing her self at Michael. She ended up dancing with everyone just to be polite. I'm still not sure if she was oblivious to their flirtations or just very good at pretending to be. How was your night?"
"Great. We had a bonfire ont he shores of the lake, where we cooked the fish we caught earlier, had a few beers and looked at the stars while we made smores."
"Told ghost stories?" Babe asks, running her fingers through his hair.
"No, we decided not to tempt fate. It was very quiet, very peaceful. Garth talked about raising the young weres. Raphael told stories about the various fledglings and how they're doing."
"No one and nothing attacked you? I don't believe it."
"No, it was a wonderful evening. even with Dean teasing Raphael about his vessel. He even went so far as to ask why he always has a black one. "Sam cringes slightly at the admision of his brother's idiocy.
"He just ignored him or did Raph actually answer?"
"No, he saves his impressive ignoring skills for Castiel. Which he did so thoroughly I began to wonder if Cas was actually there. No, he said he simply preferred the classic models. Which started a whole discussion about how white skin was a mutation, which Dean thought was cool, of course."
"Of course. Adam and Eve, black as sin. Though Adam was a little lighter and alot more dull."
"The well behaved ones often are." Sam kisses her nose. 'Still think we should elope?"
"Nah." She shakes her head. "I'm good." Plus Claire would kill me if we eloped after making her go through that fitting. I am still a little nervous about the reception. Maybe we should cook everything with a generous helping of pot butter. What do you say?"
"No."
"No?"
"No."
"No?"
"Yes."
"Really?"
"No. Now come here and make a great night into a perfect one."