Frank sat down next to Matt, while the sun outside of the museum set. They'd just gotten changed in their suits. It wasn't part of the normal night guard uniform but this was a special day after all.
"Feels a bit odd." Matt mumbled.
"It sure does."
"I've never officiated a wedding." Matt swallowed "I'm a bit nervous."
"It's not an actual wedding." Frank shrugged.
"Don't let them hear this."
Frank laughed at that. Of course he wouldn't, while Danny and Luke were just tiny tin figures, they had grown on him like the rest of the museum's exhibits had.
"You could use it as practice for our wedding." He squeezed his hand.
"I won't officiate our own wedding."
Frank shrugged "But it might help against the nerves. Besides, the two have never seen a wedding before. It will be good for them no matter what."
Matt laughed and then shook his head. Outside the sun was slowly vanishing behind the skyscrapers.
They had prepared everything for this evening. For this night.
They had spent an hour decorating the big hall and they had prepared a system of volunteers to help all the exhibits that would need a long time to get there. Now they just had to wait. Wait for the sun to set. For the museum to wake. To come alive.
It was a special night. After years of hating each other and then years of loving each other, Danny the little miniature cowboy and Lucius "Luke" the Roman warrior would get married.
It had been a long time coming. A little while after Frank and Matt had taken their night watcher job, the two had gotten close. In a way, it paralleled Luke and Dannys own relationship.
Now Matt and Frank were engaged and Luke and Danny would get married tonight.
Things surely had changed.
"Here we go." Frank hummed while the sun set behind the buildings.
At that exact moment, he heard the gigantic T-Rex skeleton behind them move.
"Be careful, Rexy." Matt laughed, "We have all of the wedding decorations set up. And we don't want you toppling anything over."
The creature made a disappointed sound and then sat down.
"That is perfect." Frank praised and gave one of Rexy's left bone a gentle pat."
"We are bringing the first guests!" Cleopatra- well technically her wax figure announced and set down a basket filled with little miniature figures.
"Thank you." Matt got up.
"And when will our grooms arrive?" Asked Sir Francis Drake.
"They have their own carriage.", Matt smirked. We set it all up.
They had. Along with the grooms clothes. They should both be dressed nicely in little suits now.
"Maybe we should make sure, everything's okay.", Matt suggested "We could help bring some of the guests."
"Yeah, the faster they get here, the more time we have for the ceremony."
The museum was buzzing with activity. Everywhere exhibits were making their way towards the big hall, or carrying around decorations or small exhibits, who wouldn't be able to make their way on their own. Matt and Frank made their way towards the miniature room. It was where they expected that their help was the most needed. Little legs couldn't carry you that far after all.
Inside everyone was on their feet. Frank and Matt had already done their best to pave the way towards the big hall with flower petals for the grooms.
Upon their arrival, a hundred voices greeted them. And then the questions and complaints began:
"Where do I put the cake?"
"The horses keep trying to eat the flowers."
"Can I take my sword?"
"Guys quiet!", Frank shouted, "We want the wedding to start soon. So let us carry you over. Keep the swords and horses here. They can eat the flowers all they want, while we are holding the ceremony!"
His command was enough. The tiny people all fell silent and then lined up in front of the prepared baskets, that should bring them over.
"Where are the grooms?", Matt asked.
"Here!", Danny yelled and jumped on the edge of the showcase of Luke's Rome. He had tried his best to make a formal suit out of his clothes.
Luke climbed up behind him and put an arm around his waist, "How do we get there?"
"We've prepared a carriage."
They exchanged a look.
"What?", Frank asked.
"Well, we wanted you guys to bring us there."
Frank looked over at Matt, "Red planned the whole thing."
"But we want you to carry us."
"Please.", Danny added.
Frank sighed, "Fine then."
Half an hour later, all of the exhibits had arrived at the big entrance hall. Now it was up to Matt and Frank to carry the grooms there. It was strange how nervous Frank was. No one here had ever experienced an actual wedding before but he still wanted this to be good. Everyone here had turned into a friend by now.
Danny and Luke more than the others. Often enough, they would sit on their shoulders and be their companions for the night shift. They had introduced them to how things were working here. Who was who and so on.
"This means a lot to me." Luke whispered, as Frank picked him up.
It meant a lot to Frank as well. He had seen Danny's and Luke's relationship grow. Had seen them run from enemies to friends to lovers.
Now they were here.
"I wish that we could be at your wedding." Luke added.
"We can't get you out of here.", Matt sighed and then picked up Danny.
"Maybe we can throw you a party in here. We can celebrate when you come back from your honeymoon."
"That won't be necessary.", Frank replied. Then he noticed how disappointed Luke looked. They had definitely been planning this for a long time.
He sighed and before he could reply Matt answered, "That would be very nice."
Danny cheered and Matt smiled at Frank.
"So are you guys ready?" Matt asked softly.
"Yes."
"Been for a while." Luke grinned.
Slowly, Frank set into motion and walked side by side with Matt. Luke was standing in his palm and he could see how nervous the miniature was.
"You are doing fine.", Frank whispered to him. "He loves you. Always has. He worships the ground you walk on."
"We hated each other at first."
"I'm sure, there was already more to it back then."
"Maybe.", Luke nodded slowly.
"There's nothing to be worried about."
It helped him a little. Luke seemed to relax. He smiled at Frank and then held onto his thumb, while they walked towards the big hall. Artifacts were already waiting along the way. Taxidermied animals, animal skeletons, wax figures and miniatures were cheering them on.
And then they reached the hall.
It was overwhelming, even for Frank.
He had helped with the decoration but everything was so much more impressive, filled with the inhabitants of the museum.
He set Luke down at the end of the aisle and then sat down, so that Matt could start the ceremony.
"And do you, Daniel Thomas Rand, take Lucius Cageius as your husband?”, Matt asked, crouching down.
"I do."
"You guys can kiss now.", Matt replied with a smirk.
Luke grabbed Danny by the hair and pulled him in for a passionate kiss.
Frank looked over at Matt. Sometimes he forgot that Matt was blind because it legitimately felt like their eyes were meeting.
Frank smiled and somehow Matt smiled back. He really had a sixth sense.
"Let's give it for the grooms!", Sir Francis Drake announced and the whole room cheered. Even Frank caught himself joining in and laughing.
The night was spent partying and celebrating. It was probably the most fun Frank has had ever since he'd started this job. Well, apart from meeting Matt. He was glad that everyone was having fun.
"I doubt our wedding will be this intense.", Matt pointed towards Sandra, one of the Raptor skeletons, dancing with Alexander the Great.
"I doubt that."
"But I would prefer a nice and quiet wedding anyway.", Matt took his hand and squeezed.
"I'm glad we are on the same page."
"Hey, guys!", Danny greeted from where he was standing next to Matt's leg. Frank looked down and notice Luke beside his boyfriend, no, husband.
"Hey.", Matt leaned down and picked Danny up, so that he didn't have to shout.
"Thanks for offciating the wedding.", Danny tipped his riny cowboy hat, that he must have immediately put back on after the ceremony.
"It was a pleasure."
"We mean it." Luke added, "You did well."
"Thanks.", Matt grinned and Frank could tell that it was genuine smile. He knew that Matt had been preparing for weeks. Maybe he saw it as a rehearsal for their own wedding. Maybe he wanted to prove to himself that he would have been a good priest but he had put a lot of passion and energy in this.
He had tried his best. Frank could see how important this validation was for him.
"Enjoying the first few minutes as husbands?"
Luke shrugged, "Not that different from before."
"In some ways you have always been like an old married couple." Frank smirked.
Luke pretended to be offended but it didn't work. He was smiling from ear to ear. It was adorable how much he and Danny loved each other. Inevitably Frank looked at Matt. Matt smiled at him and then he sat Danny back down. The cowboy immediately walked over to his husband, who wrapped his arm around him.
Frank looked at his phone. An hour until sunrise. They had to clean up.
Tonight this would take longer than usual. They had to make sure every exponat was at its place and they had to clean up all the flowers and the rest of the decoration.
"Hate to break it to you, but it's time to end this party."
Matt leaned down "Anything planned for the honeymoon?"
"The pirates invited us to spend the day and the next night there." Luke announced. And exchanged his helmet for a pirate hat.
"That's nice of them. We'll make sure not to bother you."
Danny blushed and then looked over his shoulder "The horse carriage is gonna bring us there."
"You should probably go ahead." Frank suggested.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow?" Luke asked and fistbumped Matt.
Danny waved at both of them.
Frank smiled and watched them head for the carriage.
"We should celebrate our wedding here. Just us and them." Matt suggested while he let his head fall on Frank's shoulder.
"It will be chaos."
“Yeah, you probably have a point. And decorating all of this was a lot of work.” Matt sighed. For a moment they just stood there and watched their odd friends celebrate.
The first night after Matt’s and Frank’s wedding, after their honeymoon, started completely exhausting. Frank could tell that already. His body hadn’t adjusted to night shifts yet. And in addition to it all, a pipe in the miniature room had broken. Matt and Frank spend the first two hours of the night to help the miniatures and fix the whole mess.
“That should be it.” Danny announced, putting his hands on his hips.
“You didn’t do anything.” Frank muttered.
“We cleaned up our homes.” Luke suggested and then reached out to fix some of the damage to a stable.
Matt wiped his forehead and sighed. He had gotten a little tan during their honeymoon and Frank liked that look on him.
Just when he wanted to sit down for the first time that night, he heard a sound coming from the main hall.
It was loud enough to make him feel certain that it wasn’t just something small, that had been knocked over.
“What is it now?” Frank groaned. He glanced towards Matt and then the two of them were on their way to find the source of the sound.
Maybe another pipe had broken. Maybe Rexy had knocked something over. Again.
Maybe both.
He loved his job but sometimes it was enough for his nerves.
The two of them left the miniature room and-
Found the great hall pulsating with activity. Almost all of the exhibits had gathered. The wedding decoration for Danny’s and Luke’s wedding had been reused and someone in the back was singing a song Frank didn’t recognize.
“Surprise!”, a chorus of voices greeted them.
“What is this?” Matt asked.
“You didn’t want a party.” Luke stated matter of factly. He and the other miniatures had gathered behind Matt and Frank.
“We threw you one anyway.”
“But why?”
“Because we wanted to say thank you. Because you did the same for us. Because we owe you so much.” Danny declared.
“But we-”
“We want to celebrate you. Let us.” Luke laughed.
Frank wanted to argue but then he felt Matt grab his hand “Why not? They set it up already? Why not use all this?”
Frank wasn’t a party person but he could see the color in Matt’s cheeks. He wanted this. He wanted this party. So tonight they would celebrate.