2020-10-21 - Wedding Dress Decisions

It's a short dark and rainy ride from Addington House back to the Apartments. Byron might have summoned Alexander for a little chat this evening, but it was getting late (and he didn't offer Clayton a ride home in this storm, apparently) and he wanted to make sure that they actually still had the things. Who knows if garments belonging to ghosts simply disappeared or got stolen when no one was looking. There's idle chit-chat in the car during the drive home. The topic of the dress is the first thing that comes up and this is what Byron has to say on that matter: "It's a good thing we visited today. Or else we may have just handed the dress over to the Archivist."

The car is parked and they take the elevator up. Once home, he tosses his keys onto the dish in the foyer. At around that same time, they are greeted by Smog's narrow-eyed stare as he's seated breadloaf style on the back cushion of the couch, but more importantly, there's a white German Sheppard who seems happy to see them, wagging his tail and all. "Hey!" The man calls out, leaning over to pet the dog rather than crouching down to its level. He sort of wants to change out of his tux before getting white dog hair all over it.

"No kidding. I didn't think so much of it, really. But now... I'm a little concerned. Like what happens if we do and why does It want the thing? Does it go to the Source?" Lilith makes a hum of noise after wondering aloud, knowing Byron doesn't have any answers to such things. She goes pensive for a bit while thinking about what the motivation or result might possibly be, but then there's a dog and Lilith suddenly forgets she's in a formal gown that's black. After Sirius gets the pets from Byron, the man is free and clear to cut through to the bedroom with his attire pretty safe from dog hair.

Her dress, though, will be going to the dry cleaners. Lilith kicks out of her heels and drops down into squat to downright hug the dog around his furry white neck. Then she takes to ruffling pets over his ears and under his chin before holding the animals face to talk to, "Hi! Did you miss us? Were you good? Of course you were good! Such a pretty boy!" Rising back up after that small greeting display, the brunette woman shoos the dog and starts to pull off her chandelier earrings while walking to the bedroom, "Go play with your duck. Go-go!"

The white dog gallops over to curl up with a plush duck in a dog bed after throwing it into the air and catching it like a show off. When Lilith passes by the couch, she reaches a hand out to rub over the cat's ears, who looks a little unimpressed with the whole show of affection. But he might just look that way. Then again, he's just NOW gotten to where he's coming out around the dog since integration, so that's good, "Hi grumpbucket."

Lilith goes into the closet after dropping her earrings off on the dresser, but it's a huge closet so there's dressing space for the two of them to get out of formal wear and check that the wedding dress box is still in there, "I wanted to try it on at some point, but now... psh. Probably has ghosts in it. I think I would have looked lovely, though. So very vintage."

Already shrugging out of his tux jacket to remove and hang up, Byron keeps up the conversation even as he steps into the bedroom, "I assumed that he would give the wedding dress to the Collector, or the Source, as you mentioned. That's, supposedly, where Gohl's bones went. And where mine would've gone if I offered a replacement to get back Gohl's bones." Grabbing one of the hangers from within the walk-in, he tosses the tux jacket onto it before returning it to the rack. The bow tie follows and is placed in a fancy drawer that holds other bow ties, several of them similarly black.

"I would've loved to have seen you in it, but you're right. Who knows if that will upset the ghost." It's hard to even comprehend that the ghost in question is his great great grand aunt or something along those lines. She was a ghost like everyone else, but unlike the Addington family that she joined into. Byron can't help but think about that. Undoing the buttons at the cuff of his sleeves, he then deftly unbuttons the front of his white shirt. "It amuses me to think that her tantrum might have driven Margaret crazy, but I think we would've heard about it by now with Margaret Addington doing all that she could to find the damn thing when it was in my possession all along."

"As humorous as that would be," And this is something Byron has to admit now, "It seems that losing the dress distressed Claire greatly. She's a relative of time. Not one that I've ever known, of course, but she once shared my name. And by the looks of it, it's her bloodline which has kept her from going to wherever Addington souls go."

Lilith slants a look at Byron that's STILL tinged with exasperation over the whole bone-removal thing from what seems like forever ago at this point, reaching back to unzip her strapless dress just enough to let it fall. Standing there in a black strapless bra and black hi-cut bikini thong, she steps out of the gown, then bends to pick it up and shake out before putting it on a clip hanger upon a rack marked for the cleaners, "I am so glad you did not do that. So glad. So-so-so glad. Ugh."

Sighing then with turn, she looks toward where she last saw the box mostly out of her reach and tucked away, hands going to her hips for a moment, "I guess it decides for me which dress I'm not going to be married in. It hardly matters, though, I'm not the one having a tantrum over a dress, and I don't think I blame her for wanting to find it. I do wonder what the Exorcist meant by saying she was crazy in general, dress or no dress, though. And what's going to happen when we bring the dress back and she sees you looking like her brother?"

Her hands pull from her hips to start pulling pins from her hair, loosing the dark strands in curling coils and waves of tumbling while waiting for him to finish stripping down so they can ensure the dress is still where it's supposed to be and not mysteriously hijacked, "I also wonder how pissed the Archivist will be. Do we just... not go back after giving it to Claire and hope It forgets?"

"The Archivist swallows things that you give it. Or that's what it did with Gohl's bones. Just opened wide and consumed all of them." Byron says as he slips out of the shirt and tossing it into the hamper. "That's what it will probably do to the dress /if/ the Archivist is sending it to the Collector." Working on his belt buckle, he tugs it out of the belt loops to hang on some crowded belt rack probably.

Fingers work on his trouser clasps then peeling his legs out from within the pants. "Let's hope that she had a good relationship with her brother. Even if she doesn't think that I'm David Thorne, she probably knows that I'm from his line. His pants are then clipped onto the proper hanger for it, before he groups both the tuxedo and the slacks as Dry Clean garments. He then considers something. "I'm the last of her bloodline in town." Maybe in the world. Who knows! Unless Bryan does exist. "I wonder if /that/ means anything to her. That her family is dying out."

Standing there in his boxers and socks, it's the socks, he doesn't look like he's about to removes those just yet. Now that anything that can catch fur is removed, he reaches up on the tall shelf, pushing aside Lilith's one-time magic box to grab the hat box behind it. "I didn't go back when he wanted one of mine and Isabella's bones in replacement for Gohl's. It's a thing where, if you want something, return with what the Archivist asks for. Otherwise," He shrugs. Setting it down upon one of the dressers in the room, he removes the lid to ensure that the dress was, in fact, still within. "It's still here. Speaking of," he checks the time, "I should contact Hyacinth about it. Let her know what's up. Claire Thorne is blood related to her too."

"Yeah. It... does suck to be the only piece of family blood left. Maybe we'll fix that with a few little ones at some point." Lilith tells Byron after making a bit of a face about the Archivist swallowing things to add to the Collection-- she's not sure she wants to see that and she especially doesn't like to think about the man's precious bones going into that gullet. Working a hand through her hair when it's all free and down, she palms the hair pins in her other hand and leans to see inside the box once it's opened with the dress still as it was replaced last time they looked at it. Nodding small satisfaction, she waits for him to put it back, then spins around so the man can unfasten her bra for her.

"But yes, I suppose you should contact her. At least give her heads up there's a not-happy-ghost. You know. Just in case. Do you really think there's no Addington ghosts at all, or did she mean... in the Addington House itself? Also, do you think her throat is slashed because Billy killed her? The Exorcist?"

Lilith bringing up these few little ones makes Byron's brows lift, though his eyes remained focused on the garment within the box. He handles it with care, when he takes it out, though Hyacinth would have yelled at him to wash his hands before touching the antique. It looks to be in tact. There's still a part of him that would love to see Lilith in this dress, but he thinks better of it and carefully lets the fabric resettle neatly into the box to cover.

Digging into his pants pocket while it's on the hanger, he fishes for his phone and wallet. The phone is what he uses to tap out a message to Hyacinth while still in his boxers. "To that, I'm no sure. I have no idea what she meant." Though when she asks about the Exorcist's slashed throat, he tries to remember if they'd learned anything about it yet. "Mm... I mean, it's possible." Setting the phone down on the dresser, he returns the hat box to a place of safety and away from the animals-- well, away from the dog. The cat can get anywhere.

Moving in close to Lilith to wrap his arms around her from behind for a bit of a snuggle, he asks, "Are you okay with this then? I know you weren't comfortable with giving the Archivist the dress in the first place. Even if it meant getting our dream wedding with a lower-case d."

"Yeah. I feel much better about this than I do giving it to the Archivist for reasons unknown. It makes a lot more sense..." Lilith admits, leaning back into Byron's body as he steps up to wrap arms around her scantily clad body, closing her made up eyes for a lingering moment while relishing the solid strength and heat of the man. Her hands lift up to rub over the back of his arms while they're wound, red-painted fingernails briefly tickling in place when she gets to the backs of his hands, "I'm not sure... what our wedding should be, though."

After wetting her lips, she opens her eyes again to look at a mirror across the room on the open closet door, eyeing their conjoined and snuggling standing position with a hint of a smile despite what she says next. It comes out a hint saddened despite the fact it's not meant to come out that way, "I don't know what you consider to be a proper dream wedding, but I don't have a father to walk me down the aisle or even a bridal party, really. And I have no mother to fill in, so it's just..." After breathing out a soft sigh, she admits, "I feel like I'm ruining your chance at a nice public traditional and beautiful wedding with those facts alone."

Before he can protest, she looks back over her shoulder some at Byron and his dark eyes, "I know, I know, it doesn't matter to you, we always find a way to make it work. But what's it all look like to you, when you think about it?"

"There's nothing else that I can think to bring to give her. Even if I went back to the old house, I don't think we were in possession of anything that might belong to her or David." Byron says with a thoughtful expression just as he, too, looks to admire their reflection from within the mirror. "If the dress might not matter to her, what else would matter? She wasn't particularly happy on her wedding day." He then frowns, "Unless she's upset about Thomas or her grandchildren that Gohl murdered... through Thomas." His embrace around her tightens now, "The Addingtons were hit hard last year."

Discussion of the wedding, while not a particularly happy topic due to Lilith's family life, it's still much more welcome to think about than his Great Great Grand Aunt's woes. With her gathered up in his arms, he leans in close to press his chin gently down against her shoulder, cradling her. "We have friends to fill some of those parts. If you like, Sirius is available now." She may be able to catch this impish smile on his lips through the mirror, though it can be clearly heard in his tone.

And yet, he thinks back on Hank Winslow. The man had a broken neck, even if he could be there to give Lilith away, should he? That would horrify Lilith and anyone else who could see him... What if ghosts were like force ghosts who show up all glowy looking like their perfect selves? And if they hold the wedding outside of Gray Harbor, which they plan to, Hank wouldn't be able to attend anyway. "We start off with where you want it held. Where do you want to go most of all? "

"The dress is what she's looking for and we're certainly not going to do anything but keep it in a closet, there's no need to look for anything alternative, I don't think..." Lilith says while continuing to pet her hands with slow slide of back and forth caress over Byron's arms, tone a touch thoughtful. Despite her bit of sad divulging about how it feels to have no family to attend her wedding, or any real solid social circles/acquaintances of long time note, she can't help but laugh when the man brings up the dog, "I think... I could walk alone in anything, so long as you were waiting at the end."

The brunette woman pauses after her words in sweet earnest, then makes some considering noise from her throat, "... but Sirius is white like a wedding dress and so stately and gorgeous and smart..."

When Byron asks where she wants the location for the wedding to be, her considering of the dog takes a back seat and she immediately starts to ramble, turning in place within the man's arms to look up at him while her hands lace the small of his back, "I've tried so hard to figure this out and if I think too hard about it, I'm going to go into a tail spin, so you know what I'm going to do? I'm not going to think about it, I'm going to breathe and keep talking so I don't think too hard about it, then I'm going to pop something out from my gut, okay? Okay."

Lilith draws in a huge breath with her eyes fixed on Byron's face, then decides from the gut, "Venice."

"Not an alternative." Byron is quick to state, "But if it's not enough to soothe her, as we were told that the dress might not matter in the end, I was trying to come up with what else might soothe her along with the dress." He then shakes his head in a dismissive manner, "No matter. It's too late to go searching for something now." If he even has something more to offer from the spirit's past.

Byron didn't care about a traditional wedding. If Lilith wanted, he would just as easily go to the city clerk's office to obtain a marriage license (which they still aren't sure exists), but in his mind, Lilith would want something special. Most girls seem to. She seems keen to have the dog in Hank's stead, they could do that. Sirius would just need to be trained to do so, but how hard would it be for the K-9 to walk her down an aisle and then sitting patiently somewhere?

"There's no rush, Lil." His face turns inward to bury within her hair as he nuzzles his cheek against her own. "No need to stress about it now. We'll do it when we feel that it's the right time. When everything's falling together." And when they have a better idea of how they want to handle this. However, when she brings up Venice, it doesn't come as much of a surprise. Mainly because Venice was a beautiful city and any wedding would be lovely there. And secondly...

"That's why you loved the Venice levels in Tomb Raider?" He's lightly teasing her. "Were you imagining yourself being married there one day?" Venice was really far from Palermo, which is a place that brought about visions of his deaths when he'd visited. A thin spot in the Veil. They weren't going to Palermo. "Venice is it. When you see a dress that you like, let me know, but for now let's return this dress," He says of the one in the vintage hat box, "To its rightful owner and then at some point," He presses a kiss at her cheek, then at the corner of her lips, "we'll make a list of everything else we need to do to throw a wedding that we both deserve."

"I know. We'll either figure it out or run away and just do it one day when we decide it's time, exactly our way in the moment, yeah?" Lilith murmurs to Byron, nuzzling her cheek in against his bristled one, her face still made up from the evening wear, despite loose hair and undergarments alone now, "But yes, you're right, one thing at a time. It just all had me thinking and I was worried about... you know. Details. I shouldn't be, it'll be perfect no matter what it is. It's just the way things are with you." Sounding placated and assured now, the woman tips her face up to catch the man's mouth with a more solid kiss.

She can't help but break into sudden trailing and breathy laughter when Byron brings up that damn game, though. She spent so much time as Lara Croft working the puzzles and water levels in Venice, seriously. After a few fleeting seconds, she decides, "No, uh. When I used to pretend plan our weddings, a lot of the time they were in mystical elven forests or some magical woods in Camelot. It wouldn't be hard to do something like that as scenery now, precisely, but it's not..." She pauses, then outs with it, "Multiple recent events have proven trees are assholes... and now that I said it out loud, I really want Venice."

Still wearing a smile after the laughter is gone, she laments playfully, "You've spoiled me. For shame. Speaking of spoiling me, do you want to run the dog down real quick before we get comfortable? I'll start the shower and get this makeup and hairspray washed with a head start before you meet me in there. Deal?"

Byron nudges Lilith with his chin, reminding her, "The forests outside of Gray Harbor aren't haunted silly. We could find a place in magical Ireland or wherever fantasy authors get their inspiration from." He practically snorts out, "New Zealand, it seems. But Venice it is." That reminds him, "Damnit, I need to check on how festival preparation is going." A pause, "But I'll leave that for tomorrow." He would snuggle her to death right here in their closet, but she reminds him that the dog needs to do dog things.

This is why Byron never had pets... "Can't he just walk himself?" Look, it was still storming out there and he needed to get dressed. In fact, he makes a grab for a well-worn pair of jeans and a shirt to slip into. It's a good thing that he didn't remove his socks just yet. "Fine. Dogs.." He faux complains. Before he sets off, he leans in for another quick kiss. "Deal." Now to grab his slicker and put on some shoes. Oh right, he can't forget the dog. This is his life now.

Once he's fully dressed with a leash in hand, he turns back towards the master bedroom where Lilith was making herself casual. This was his life now and he has no regrets.