A day where we can shine!

[imaglyphwitch]

Who: Luz, Lexi and you!
What: The couple are having their blood joining ceremony!
When: The fifteenth of this month!
Where: Darcmoth at the rocks, formerly fort Avatar.
Content Warning: Merrymaking, possible spiking of punch, unnecessary gushing, likely much nerding about.



It had taken some time to personalize some things for this inherited house, but the girls opted to keep it much as Korra and Asami had pooled their strengths to make it their own. The home was still hidden by the cliff face, so Luz had made sure to put some light glyphs up for today, so when people came to the shore of Darcmoth, they'd see the lights and follow then down.

The steps will eventually lead you around the cliff face to the hidden house, and therein the lights lead you to the lowest part of the three levels, where the deck is. It's decorated for the ceremony: purple lights, little glowy stars, and heavy draped curtains with each of Luz's glyphs painted on them. She made a mental note, of course, not to set off any, lest it set off and scare the surrounding people.

At the center of all this is a dais that Luz managed to construct with a little time and care: nothing fancy, just some steps and a canopy over the whole preceding.

Luz is there to greet you, giving a wave if you're not as familiar and a hug if you are! She explains that the whole ceremony will start in about an hour, and you can help yourself to the refreshments further down from the chairs set up down a deck from the podium.

Comments

Refreshments and MORE

[imaglyphwitch]

Luz and Lexi had collaborated when it came to the actual food: there was various hors d'oeuvres on the tables, along with crudites, canapés with various fruits and cheeses, and of course the ever popular chips and dips if you didn't feel like getting too fancy. If you offered to bring some kind of food or dessert to the party, feel free to add them with the other refreshments!

For fun, Luz has set up a volleyball area farther down near the water, and at the space where Korra's polar bear dog Naga would have space to play, Luz had a little patch of area cleared for her favorite get of the day: the ever elusive but widely talked about bouncy house, equipped with water slide and attached water pistols for water fights!

Luz will brighten happily when looking at it, but if you ask what she had to do to get it, she'll sigh and mumble something about indentured servitude for months and look at her feet for a few minutes. But hey! You have something to look forward to after the ceremony!

Re: Refreshments and MORE

[onerthes]

"So. THIS is a bouncy-house," Vira-Lorr said as she grinned at the strange structure, her hands behind her back. Oh, she was glad she was in something that had pants rather than a skirt. Far more appropriate for sliding around and playing in that thing.

"People have these a lot in your world?"

[fogsong]

Sharon said she would bring additional food and she wasn't lying. She adds to the table freshly made bagels with thinly sliced smoked salmon, baklava, and a honey mead by a talented Trenchie.

She doesn't bother with the bouncy house, it's a little childish for her, but she'll happily grab one of the water guns to squirt at anyone nearby. Sorry not sorry, hope you didn't spend too long on your hair!

[imaglyphwitch]

Luz couldn't believe the spread that Sharon had brought! She stared, her mouth agape.

And that would have had her stop to talk about it, but Luz wasn't doing that. After all, Luz was sixteen, and in her opinion, she was NOT too old for bouncy houses.

That went double for water gun fights.

"Now you die, metaphorically speaking!" Luz announced, coming from behind and shooting with reckless abandon!

[fogsong]

The cool water hit its mark and quickly soaked through the loose sundress she wore. She let out a yelp and spun on her heels, whipping her own water gun in Luz's direction and squeezing the plastic trigger multiple times. Her aim is good.

"You wish," she shouted before she raced out of the way of Luz's next attack, darting behind the bouncy house before she peaked around the corner, "You're gonna have to do better than that, Luz!"

She felt ridiculous but... This felt good.

The Bond Ceremony (taking place in the evening)

[imaglyphwitch]

It had taken some time, but together, Luz and Lexi had gathered everything they needed the day before and had the silver cup sit in the moonlight the previous night.

The couple were on the dias now, a part of the ritual so that Doorway would ensure the blessing of their bond. With all of that taken care of, Luz brought the silver cup out now, and showed it to Lexi and then the onlookers before stirring the mixture with an antler obtained back in Deerington. The girl look slightly nervous, but once the mixture turned black, she was smiling brightly, and then, solemnly, took the paste into her hand, and looked over at Lexi.

"I've done this ceremony before, with Luca, and my brother Varian."

Not by blood, at least in the traditional sense, but whatever.

"If he was here, I'm sure he'd be happy to see the two of us, together. The past few months have had their ups and downs, and through all of it, I've seen you, and you've seen me. We laughed, cried, and run a business together. We share jokes and we talk about our future, and every time we do, I get excited! Every day with you is something unexpected, and I feel that nervous thump in my heart whenever I look at you."

She swallowed, licking her lips.

"I've never been happier to have someone like you in my present, and I want it to stay that way in the future. With the blessings of Doorway, and everyone here, I pledge myself to you, Lexi Howard, love of my life. Por favor, quédate conmigo siempre?"

It was a plea to be with her always, which Luz was sure most people understood without the translation. She took her paste covered hand and lightly touched the paste to Lexi's right cheek.

[thisislife]

Lexi was wearing a strapless white and pale gold dress with a white cardigan over it in the mid-May evening, a gold Star of David nestled in the hollow of her collarbone and a long, brown braid. And when she saw Luz, her eyes so misted up she was glad she wasn't wearing heels, otherwise she'd have tripped over herself in her haste to get to her bondmate. Her bondmate!

Well. First they had to get through the ceremony and the actual bonding.

Lexi smiled tremulously at Luz's words, tearing up and dabbing at her eyes to keep her mascara from running. She had to try a couple of times to get the words out.

"I've never done this before, but I can't imagine anyone else I'd want to do this with.

When I first arrived, I felt adrift for so long. I wasn't used to standing on my own as Lexi, rather than being someone else's sister and daughter. But then," with a hiccupy laugh, "I saw a post where Luz told everyone that she was alive and I was kinda surprised when I realized that death was a possibility!

So I panicked and messaged Luz. And she was so sweet and kind and understandable and reassuring that we just. Talked and talked and talked about everything we were interested in, about who we were, about what we wanted out of life, and we had enough in common to keep the conversation going and enough differences to make it last even longer.

Then, we got involved in starting the bookstore together and it was all as easy as breathing. Luz made the first move because I'd told myself I was fooling myself, that there was no way someone as smart and fun and pretty as Luz would be into me. I'm still amazed about that!

And I want to keep being amazed by you, every hour of every day of well, the rest of our lives. With the blessings of Doorway and everyone here, I pledge myself to you, Luz Noceda, love of my life. Tout ce que je veux, c’est être avec vous!"

And then she produces a wine glass wrapped in a white cloth, smashing it with her foot while calling out "Mazal Tov!"

[imaglyphwitch]

It was hard to take her eyes away from her girlfriend. The dress was Quis essential Lexi, right down to the star of David to her shoes. She could feel herself tremble at every word, but was able to lose any butterflies in her stomach by seeing Lexi's sparkling eyes.

There was nothing that made her so scared she wouldn't brave it for this girl, no apprehension that made her tongue tied. You could blame Deerington for robbing Luz of her fear at showing Lexi how vulnerable she made her: Luz could get over any nervousness.

Every word was true, and every moment she had with Lexi felt like a dream she dare not wake up from.

With the breaking of the glass, Luz cheered, took her girlfriend in her arms and gave her a long kiss.

"With Doorway's blessing, let this Blood Bond be unbroken. I share my thoughts with you, and you with me. Let's make it so no creature or person on Trench dare break us apart!"

[thisislife]

And Lexi couldn't keep looking at Luz and grinning broadly. They were really here and they were doing this.

Palpatine's possession of Luz made her even more certain of their decision because she proved to herself and to others that there was nothing Lexi wouldn't do to save Luz, even if it meant taking on a spirit inhabiting her body.

She meant every bit of what she'd said and she was secure in the knowledge that the same went for Luz. She felt like she'd just woken up from a sixteen years old sleep and was just now waking up to reality. Their reality.

Lexi kissed back, smiling into the kiss and gently stroking Luz's cheek.

"With Doorway's blessing let this Blood Bond be unbroken. I share my thoughts with you and you with me. Let's make it so no creature or person on Trench dare break us apart! And if they try, we'll kick their asses!"

Aftermath

[imaglyphwitch]

It was over! Formalities were done, and Luz couldn't help but give things a bit of spice. She drew up several light glyph combinations to make firecrackers go off! There were several big explosions in the sky, some in the shape of Lexi and Luz's name, some of comically drawn cats and a few that were just a shooting of colors and noise that could be enjoyed by all!

At this point, guests can mingle around and talk about anything, make requests of Luz and her next round of firecrackers, or congratulate the young couple on their bonding ceremony!

Also, if you feel inclined to help with the actual cleaning up of the party, that's ok too! There is a basement Luz will direct you to where those things can be stored and put away later!

[schoolingfish]

Luca watches the fireworks in awe and wonder. This is something he'd never saw back home.

"Wow...I wonder how they get the explosions to be so many different colors?"

[imaglyphwitch]

"Magic is what makes these happen!" Luz said with a grin. "But if we're talking actual fireworks made by people? Usually certain elements do that. I know that Barium makes greens, for instance. Don't ask me about the others. It's been a LONG time since my ninth grade science class."

[schoolingfish]

"Oh. Well, they're neat! I'll have to look this up in the Archives in the Gaze sometime so I can learn how to make all sorts of different colored explosions!"

Because he wants to be able to do this, too, but since he doesn't use magic he'll have to improvise.

[thisislife]

Lexi had mostly seen them in fourth of July celebrations, sometimes during the New Year's Eve celebrations. She was thrilled to see Luz create such beauty in celebration, even though for the life of her, she couldn't remember the answer to Luca's question. She knew the answer, but couldn't come up with it to save her life.

But to be fair, she was a little preoccupied.

"I think this is all Luz. Back home, it's all based on chemistry, but not here. Not this time.

[schoolingfish]

"Oh, neat. Luz is really good at this! I'd love to learn how the chemistry works if you do it that way, though."

Mostly because he likes science, and he also likes these explosions and would like to make some of his own.

Re: Aftermath

[onerthes]

"Someone is positively glowing, isn't she?" Vira-Lorr said, as she came over to the two of them afterwards, her grin all too wide. She was in a great mood right now, and just wanted to make sure to take the time out to come and congratulate her friends.

"I love that you two are able to express this."

Pa no at

[imaglyphwitch]

"I don't know what you mean. It's such an ordinary day."

Luz gave her friend a wink, and then a great big hug. She couldn't have been happier, to have done this ceremony with her beloved AND be surrounded by people she cared about!

"I'm glad you made it! Uh, sorry about zoning out toward the end there. Lexi and I were having a sort of 'meeting of the minds' moment, where we engaged in each other's memories. I have no idea how long we were like that."

[onerthes]

She snickered. "I hope that all ordinary days are this good in that case," was her reply as she winked at her friend right back. Returning the hug, she sighed and just took pleasure in the happy moment.

"I completely understand. And don't you worry. You weren't like that for too long. You'll be finishing each others' sentences in no time."

[thisislife]

"She is, isn't she? I've never seen her so happy," Lexi says, unable to keep her eyes off of Luz. Who is doing everything but literally glow. And Lexi was also pretty much walking on air,

"So am I. I kind of was afraid that people would side-eye the whole sixteen thing, but apparently not! A pleasant surprise!"

[fogsong]

With the ceremony over, Sharon takes a seat somewhere to watch the firework show, occasionally making small talk with the other guests, her voice warm, "I normally hate shit like this but... This wasn't so bad."

It was sweet, really. She's not much of a romantic but something about all of this has made her feel unbearably happy.

Later on, she'll assist with the cleanup, usually with the help of her telekinesis to pick up anything heavy. Listen, she's had a lot to eat and doesn't want to overwork herself, thank you very much. Work smarter, not harder.

[imaglyphwitch]

Luz laughed and gave Sharon a hug. "Then I'm glad you stuck it out to watch us! It means everything that you could see us do this."

Luz had come to care a LOT about Sharon, seeing her as a big sister at times.

"Out of curiosity, what did you expect? Gowns and simpering and organs playing?"

[thisislife]

"Hi!" Lexi exclaims when she meets Sharon on clean-up. She hadn't really expected any of their friends or acquaintances to stick around for that stage of things, so to say that she's pleased to see Sharon is putting it mildly.

And if there's one thing Lexi and Luz are good at, it's sweet and unbearably happy.

Lexi's using telekinesis, too, as she sits on the sidelines wearing her wedding dress and lifting larger pieces of garbage, conducting it with a finger like she would an orchestra.

"...still unwilling to let me claim that Neal Breen is the worst director of all time?"

Gift Table

[imaglyphwitch]

Luz had not even imagined anyone would get them anything, but at Lexi's prompt, Luz added a last table at the end of the refreshments if anyone wanted to leave them a gift. Interestingly, there is a pail here that Luz explains is for offering of good tidings and wishes.

"If you don't have any gifts, just leave a heartfelt message! It's Trench, so we'll take what we can get!"

Re: Gift Table

[schoolingfish]

Luca leaves a gift. It's a small, wrapped present and it's just a seashell picture frame that he made himself, but he figured they're going to be making all sorts of new memories together, so they might want something to put any pictures in.

[fogsong]

Sharon spent a long time searching for a perfect gift. In the end, she turns to the jeweler she'd sought out in December. After many talks and discussions, she gets a pair of matching necklaces made: a sun and a moon.

There's a small note added to the gifts: One of you is the sun of the relationship, one of you is the moon. I'm sure you two can figure out which is which. If not, duel for the one you want.

All the love,
Sharon.