Chapter 51
“Thor, honey, you have to wear a suit!”
“Jane, please, allow me to attend in my armour. It is formal and elegant.”
Jane put her foot down. “This is an Earth wedding. Not only am I officially Earth nobility in my own right, but you are attending as a foreign dignitary. Thor, it’s always been a sign of aggression to wear anything that classified as weaponry related to a peaceful event on Earth. And that includes armour. It’s like symbolizing you are expecting an attack. Your clothes have to be made of cloth and cloth only. So you’re wearing a tuxedo.”
“Jane, please do not make me suffer so.”
“If thirteen year old Magni can suffer in a suit, so can you.” Jane stated firmly. “Regina and I are going dress shopping tomorrow, I got us an appointment with Jessica Montrouge herself, so you might want to tell Heimdall to prepare the bifrost.”
“Jane-”
“Thor, you are wearing a suit. Get used to the idea.”
“Fine. Only for you.”
Jane gave him a blinding smile. “Good.”
“Well, good news Женечка*.”
“What is it?”
“Our dearest king is getting married., and we’re invited.”
“Great,” she paused then asked, “to whom?”
“Lady Shuri of Wakanda. Don’t know who that is, but someone he likes.”
She pecked him on the lips. “Are we going shopping here or there?”
“There, of course. Our portkey is for a week before and a few days after, for after parties.”
“And visiting family.”
“That too. Might want to choose a temporary replacement ambassador who wasn’t invited though.”
“I will.”
*this is a pun because Женя is a nickname for Eugene or Eugenia in Russian, but the word for wife in Russian is Жена. So the end result is both a nickname for Eugenia and the direct translation of a mix of Eugenie and wifey, basically. I couldn’t resist (no google translate used, genuine pun by a native speaker).
“Hermione you would not believe it.”
“What is it? I’ve been dying for news for a year.”
“You heard that Teddy is now King of Earth, right?”
“Yeah, you barely managed to tell me last year through your excitement. You act like you’re still seventeen.”
Lilith gave a pranksters smirk and peeled off her glamour layers. She looked as if she were still seventeen. “Well I look the part, don’t I?”
“A few millennia and you’ll age. I get to be sixteen forever.”
“Enjoy. Did I forget to mention though that your blood adopted son is getting married?”
“Teddy’s getting married?”
“Edward I of House Stark, King of Earth is getting married. But yeah, he’s still the Teddy you told the witch and the hopping pot to.”
“That was Ron withGinny interrupting every few words. I told him about King Arthur and the knights of the round table.”
“Well he seems to have taken it to heart, anyone who thinks past the fact that he conquered them loves him.”
“You set it all up for him.”
“We all did.” Luna said sagely as her visage materialized. “For the greater good.”
“For the greater good.” Agreed Ron, entering, after him Neville and Ginny, who might not have been the original planners but they were the faces of the rebellion.
“Hermione, your namesake is older than you ever got to be. It just hit me. She turned 18 a month ago.”
“You know how strange it feels.”
“You forget to tell me these things, you know. Whose Hermione’s namesake?” Ginny asked.
“Hermione Stark II. Hermione Morgan Stark.” Lilith said. “My daughter.”
Ginny was still confused. “Your daughter?”
“Yeah, sorry, I didn’t have enough kids to name after you. Anthony Ronald Stark, Ron, he’s 24, and Hermione.”
Ron was blinking away tears. “Flattered, Lils.”
“You say that every year.” Luna said, smiling fondly.
“You married Tony.” Ginny said.
“Yeah. Married. Separated.”
“Going to get the separation rescinded sometime soon.” Luna said.
“What?”
“You don’t notice it? You two are drawn to each other. Kindred souls.”
“I soaring him. I haven’t even aged a year in the time he’s known me. My natural lifespan is millennia, and then I will live until the end of time. I’m immortal. He’s not.”
“Lilith, you swore an unbreakable vow. To have it to hold. For better or for worse. Until death do you part. It’s truer than you realize. You are death. If you want to stay together, he’ll be with you forever.”
“And everyone else will die around us.”
Luna chuckled. “Lilith, your bloodline is death. Teddy, Ron II, and Hermione II won’t die. Not unless you kill them.”
“I’d never.”
“So they’ll live. As will their descendants. Ya the Stark family blood now.”
“Merchant of Death, they called Tony. It’s never been truer.”
“Aside from the joyous news, Hermione, May I introduce you to your namesake?”
“Lilith, I would love to meet my niece, my best friends daughter.”
“Honey?”
Hermione Morgan Stark walked into the temple her mother had built. A temple for the dead. “Aunt Hermione?”
“Hello. Nice to finally meet you.”
Bucky and Steve had been exiled from where their wives were getting fitted for dresses for the royal wedding.
“You know, it still feels strange sometimes.” Steve started.
“What does?”
“Here we are, guys raised in the 1930’s, who used to be the two orphans barely making enough for a living, now married to stunning women who are literally royalty, a century later.”
“Well, shit happens, Stevie.” Bucky said, patting his friends shoulder. When Steve started to open his mouth, Bucky gave him a look. “Don’t tell me to watch my language. I know you, punk, you cuss more than anyone I know.”
“Fair. Six languages.”
“That’s what you get, leading such a strange group of army troops back in the day.”
“That and being the actual fucking prince consort of an empire.”
“Yeah. I remember when we learned ‘bout how the Russian empire’s royal family got overthrown, we didn’t think you’d be the one to be at its head when it got reconstructed.”
“Or that you’d be the uncle of the literal king of earth, Buck.”
“Or the brother-in-law of Howard’s son.”
“Yeah, that too.”
They fell into a companionable silence, before Steve asked, “does your version of the serum allow you to get drunk?”
“Not on normal stuff. But there’s this shit called fire whiskey…”
Steve smirked and Bucky was reminded how false the stories of Steve being a flawless perfect example of American virtue were. Steve Rogers(-Romanov) was a little shit.
“Hey, Carol.” Janes Rhodes asked,
“Hey, Jim. I just got back from a little excursion, Kree needed a reminder about where their territory ends. What’s up?”
“Teddy’s wedding is coming up. I wanted to ask if you on wanted to go with me? As friends.”
“Friends works. Though if you want to go as dates, I’m down.”
“Yeah, of course. I was uh..,”
“Dates it is. You looked good in your tux at Tony and Lilith’s wedding. I still have my dress and they match perfectly.” Carol mused.
“Great. Mind if I pick you up?”
“Of course not. I look forward to it.” She gave him a small peck on the cheek as she walked of.
Well, any worries he had about a date leading to nothing like they had the first time fizzled out. He just realized her grey eyes had that pretty sparkle to them, and the corners of her mouth twitched just in that certain way when she smiled. He really needed to talk to Tony, because Jim had no clue how to handle a crush, or a real more than friends date for the matter.
“Mom, I know you look 17, but if you don’t mind me asking, how old are you anyways?”
“Bloody hell. I’m actually 54. No way.”
“You still look 17.”
“So do you, Ron.”