Planning

Date/Timing: 30 November 20
Setting: Hermann & Edan's flat; Battersea, London, England, United Kingdom
.
Edan wiggles over, presses himself tight to Hermann's side, drapes an arm across his back beneath his wings, and sighs happily.
Hermann smiles, eeeeeeases a wing across Edan's shoulders.
Edan exhales a deep breath he must've been holding.
"Relax, dear. I save tickling for special occasions."
""Sadis',"" Edan mumbles against his neck.
"Is /this a special occasion?"
A beat as Edan searches his memory.
""'s Sain' Andrew day.""
"Which means what, exactly?"
""'ank 'oliday.""
"Not in this country."
""So? 'm S'ottish.""
"You're also mostly asleep."
""An' you know 'ow t'wake me up.""
"Coffee?"
Edan 'pfft's.
"Ohhh ... you mean the /other way to wake you up."
""Mmhmm ....""
Hermann hums, pushes to lie on his side, tucks his wings to his back.
Edan shifts his hand to Hermann's waist, hums into a deep kiss.
In answer, Hermann presses their hips together and tangles his fingers in Edan's hair.
.
After they finish and a leisurely shower, Hermann saunters to the big room—wings loose beneath his baggiest t-shirt and knee flexing almost properly after the hot water—to wait for Edan to finish his washing up.
Dottie meets him at the door, tail wagging and bells jingling, and woffles.
"Do you want a change of clothes?"
She /whuffs and bows.
"Please bring a cape."
She bounds off to the bedroom as Hermann settles himself in his favourite armchair.
Dottie trots in, a triangle of dark fabric in her mouth.
"Thank you. Please give."
She drops it in his extended hand.
"Thank you." He checks the attached tag. "Hmm ... 'garnet'. I'm told this is /especially pretty with your eyes."
Dottie noses his hand, wiggles.
He smiles, unsnaps the current cape ('fuchsia') from her collar and fastens the fresh one in its place. "There you go, Dottie. You look lovely."
She pants happily, gives Hermann's face an enthusiastic lick, then spins and races for the kitchen.
Hermann shakes his head fondly, settles back into the chair, checks his email with his mobile and skims the news items PAIGE flagged for his attention.
Dottie pads in, hops onto her blanket, curls up, yawns.
A few minutes later, Edan returns, hair still damp, sits on the sofa next to Dottie, and announces, "We need t'talk wedding."
"What about it?"
"A little thing called '/actually planning it'?"
"Oh, right." Hermann chews his lip. "Do you have any ideas?"
"Do I /ever!" Sits straighter, beaming. "I humbly suggest we make official the union of our lives in Glasgow during the Olympics this coming summer."
"I understand and approve of the 'where', but why that 'then'?"
"Gets us far, far away from the shitshow this town'll be."
"Very good point."
"/If we take some time to prepare beforehand at my old homestead and then a leisurely honeymoon, we can miss the entire fucking thing."
"I wholeheartedly support this plan."
Edan beams—
"But—"
—dims.
"—we need to pick a specific date."
Edan consults his mobile. "Umm ... how about the sixth of August? It's a Monday and a bank holiday, so all the Brits could come without losing a day's work."
"Wouldn't that mean the government offices we need would be closed, as well?"
"/Shit."
"We could sign the paperwork on Friday the third and have the celebration on Monday?"
"My fiancé is the smartest fiancé," coos Edan.
Hermann clears his throat. "So, we have a date and a general place ...."
"Trinity wants to pick the places and the décor."
"She can /have it," declares Hermann.
"I'll make her day, then." Edan taps at his mobile.
"What about attire? Or is that part of Trinity's domain?"
"I, uh, think that's us. So ... casual?"
"What about Highland dress?"
"Oh /God no."
Hermann queries.
"That sort of kit's /expensive." Grimaces. "Not to mention my skinny little legs and knobby knees would look positively /ridiculous. I'll stick to jacket and tie, for everyone's sake."
"I'd still like to see you in a kilt at least once."
"In your dreams maybe."
"You're telling me a proud Scotsman such as yourself has never worn a kilt."
Edan cocks an eyebrow. "You ever worn /lederhosen?"
Hermann smiles. "Point taken."
Edan sniffs, glances at his phone. "Aaaaaand Trini's apparently a sentient cloud of sparkles."
"Hopefully, she can complete her mission in that state."
"I have no doubts she will."
"Good. Still ... I'm curious. What does the Clan Reid tartan look like?"
"Dunno. Lemme check."
"You don't know offhand?"
"Uh, no?" Thumbs away. "We've never really bothered with that sorta thing. So I'm asking PAIGE."
"Why don't you use a regular search engine? They're faster?"
"Because she /likes to he—whoa."
"What?"
"Information overload. We're, uh—stop sending stuff, girl—Clan Reid isn't, apparently, a full-fledged Clan. It's a 'sept' of Clann Dònnchaidh—that's Robertson. So Reids'd wear Dònnchaidh tartan." Swipes. "Which is rather attractive, if I do say so myself."
Hermann catches the mobile Edan tosses over. "That isn't bad at all. Might clash a bit with your colouring, though." Reads a bit more, then glances up, smiling and with eyebrow raised. "Did you happen to notice the names of some of your fellow septs?"
"Enlighten me."
"Let's see now ... there's Duncan and Collier and Stark—"
"Like, '/A Game of Thrones' Stark?"
"Yes.
"/Coooool."
"Don't all the Starks die?"
"Doesn't /everyone die in those books?"
"Another point taken." Hermann clears his throat. "There's also the MacIvers."
Edan blinks, the breaks into a gigantic smile. "That explains why all the crews want my dad. Duct tape, gum, a Swiss army knife and it's sorted."
"Considering what your father does for a living, that is more frightening than comforting."
"Think of it this way: if something /does go horribly wrong, he can hold it together until the real experts and parts to get there."
"You're right; that /is comforting."
"Good. If you're done, I'll have that back."
Hermann lobs the mobile.
Edan fumbles it into his lap, recovers, types. "For the record, I'm asking Bunny if he'll make tartan outfits for Mandy, Lupe, and Dottie if I send him some fabric."
"Ask him if he'll make you a necktie and pocket square, too."
"As a compromise on Highland kit?"
"Mhm."
"Brilliant." Sets the phone aside. "Done."
"You know, I think Mandy and Dottie have more outfits than you do."
"Of /course they do! They're young ladies and society'll judge them harshly if they're not flawlessly put together every day."
"You must be the only man on Earth who would justify dressing a paver, a toy, and a dog by citing sexism."
Edan preens. "What can I say? I'm a progressive sort."
Hermann rolls his eyes.
"On the topic of progress toward true gender equality, should we hyphenate? Merge surnames? Pick a new one? Take each other's?"
"We've both already published under our current names, so it'd be best for our careers to leave them as is."
"Yeaaaa ... suppose you're right." Fluffs his hair. "There's just something /romantic about sharing a name, yea?"
"Hmm ... then why don't you take my name?"
"'Edan Gottlieb' ... hmm ...." Frowns. "It just doesn't have much of a 'ring', does it?"
"It doesn't, but 'Hermann Gottlieb' is slightly more pleasant to the ear than 'Hermann Reid'."
"Our original names it is," sighs Edan.
"If it will make you feel better, we can hyphenate Dottie's surname."
"We can?" Edan's voice breaks.
Hermann can't help but melt a little. "Yes, we can."
Edan squeals and flutter kicks—
Dottie lifts her head, wags her tail nervously.
"You have limited dignity for a twenty-something."
—laughs. "I don't care~! Everyone's gonna know little Peridot Guinevere Gottlieb-Reid is our daughter~!"
"Since when does she have a middle name?"
"Since I said so."
"Just now?"
"Just now."
Hermann gazes heavenward. "Why did I even ask?"
"Because you're still trying to figure out how my brain works."
"I'm beginning to doubt I ever will."
"It's taken /this long to realize that?"
Hermann flings a pillow.
"Ooof! Oi!"
"/wuff," scolds Dottie.
Edan scowls, tucks it behind his back.
"Apologies, Peridot Guinevere Gottlieb-Reid."
Dottie settles down.
Edan clears his throat.
"What inspired 'Guinevere'?"
Edan crosses his arms.
Hermann bats his eyelashes.
Edan huffs spectacularly. "I'll have you know 'Guinevere' has /always been near the top of my list of names for hypothetical daughters." Grins. "Dottie looks like one, too."
"How does one 'look like' any sort of name?"
"Dunno exactly, but you know when you see a name that fits—or doesn't."
Hermann raises an eyebrow.
"I was supposed to 'Ewan' after all, but Annie and Dad decided I looked nothing like an 'Ewan' and gave me a handle they thought /did fit."
"By changing a single letter."
"'s all it took." Gestures vaguely. "I mean, all it took your mum was a single letter to make Bunny's name all French and posh and mysteriously not-German."
Hermann concedes with a grunt.
"Before you start asking why there's a Welsh name on the list when I'm oh-so-wonderfully Scottish—"
Hermann rolls his eyes again.
"—there're enough traditional names in my family. It's time for a change."
"By picking the name of a legendary ancient queen."
"Yep!"
Hermann does. not. sigh. "So what's the top boy's name?"
"'Arthur'."
Hermann face-palms so hard it stings.
Edan sounds hurt: "You don't like it?"
"It's fine. It's just ... Arthur and Guinevere." Waves in frustration. "How much more traditionally British can you /be?"
"They're not traditional in my family /or traditionally /Scottish."
"You ... you are beyond hope."
Edan sprawls, smug.
Hermann sighs.
"Right ... what else do we need to plan?"
"Guest list?"
"Guest list," groans Edan. "Our families are too complicated for this."
"It still has to be done."
Edan sulks.
"I'll start?"
"Fiiiiiiiiiine."
Hermann rummages on the coffee table, comes up with an envelope and a pen. "Dietrich, Sabine, and Emma. Bastien. Karla. My grandparents." Taps pen against paper. "I ... think that's everyone."
"Your dad?"
Hermann wrinkles his nose. "He'd never come."
Edan twinkles. "Then it wouldn't hurt to invite him, yea? Make us look like the bigger men."
Hermann smirks. "My father, too, then. Your turn."
"Kris, Mum, Dad, Fen-fen, Trinity, Cal and Mal, the crew and the cousins—I'll write 'em in later—Iggy, Rhys .... I suppose I should invite Annie for the same reason we're asking your dad ...."
"Won't she use her 'plus one' to bring Kris' father?"
"Andrew Swan attend a /gay wedding?" Clutches his heart. "Never!"
"What /was I thinking?"
"I have /no idea."
Hermann snorts, scans the list. "This doesn't seem too overwhelming a group."
"You haven't met Mal, Cal, and Twenty-one yet. They're a riot-with-property-damage all on their own. /Especially when you put 'em together."
"This will definitely be a memorable event."
"/Definitely."
Category:Ficlet
Category:London (setting)
Category:Hermann
Category:Hermann's POV
Category:Hermann has wings
Category:Hermann (ficlet)
Category:Edan
Category:Edan (ficlet)
Category:Peridot
Category:Peridot (ficlet)
Category:Hermann is colour-blind
Category:Trinity (mention)
Category:PAIGE (mention)
Category:Game of Thrones (reference)
Category:Macgyver (reference)
Category:Torquil (mention)
Category:Bastien (mention)
Category:Mandy (mention)
Category:Lupe (mention)
Category:Lars (mention)
Category:Annie (mention)
Category:Andrew (mention)
Category:Ficlets with images