Who: Peter Pevensie, Caspian and Susan Pevensie When: Backdated: Last week in July Where: Suit Store What: Peter and Caspian picking up their tuxes Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly Status: Complete
The wedding was now only a couple of days away and Peter was both extremely excited and a little nervous. His nerves had nothing to do with actually getting married, because he had known for a long time that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Caspian whether they were married or not, but instead, his nerves came from that fact that he worried something would go wrong. He worried that some crazy Orange County thing would happen to either ruin or postpone the wedding; after all only a few weeks earlier the sky had gone black, there had been storms and earthquakes and things had begun to disappear. Sure, the items that disappeared returned once the sun returned as well, but it was the fact that it all had happened out of nowhere that worried Peter.
He was doing his best to try not to think about it though, because there was still a lot to do. His parents and Edmund were getting in in a few days as well as some friends of his and Caspian’s from England/Wales and he would be meeting Marcus, the only other person Caspian had ever slept with, soon. Today, they were going to try pick up their tuxes and since Susan had come with them, they would most likely be trying them on for her.
Caspian wasn’t as nervous about the wedding. Sure, there were things that could go wrong but he knew that he and Peter would find a way to make things work. That thought got him through a lot, and while the area had been experiencing odd occurrences, he knew that nothing would keep him from marrying his fiance.
With the wedding quickly approaching, it was finally time to get their tuxes. He had made sure to work out and take walks most days as he didn’t want a last minute change in tuxedo. He was able to maintain his current size, and maybe he had lost a little weight but nothing drastic. Today would be a nice day.
While the two young men were rather contemplative and quiet, Susan was bubbly and energetic. The entire ride there, she couldn’t help, but chatter away. She absolutely adored shopping even if it had nothing to do with herself. PIcking up her brother’s tux along with his fiance was something she’d been looking forward to since her arrival in California. After all, her entire reason for being here was to be with her family, but also help her brother plan his wedding to dear Caspian. She the chattered provided the background noise as they pulled up to the shop, Susan beaming brightly from the backseat.
By the time the doors opened, she was certain they had both had quite enough of her. Oh, but she couldn’t help it! She was so excited for them both and getting to spend time with her brother whom she’d been apart from for so long was so wonderful. Plus, it was normal, beautifully normal compared to the strangeness she’d been experiencing since her arrival here. Oh they were just dreams, they must mean nothing. Susan was determined to believe that anyway even while others made it certainly clear it was a growing epidemic and they were quite meaningful indeed. Talking birds? Fawns? It was absolute rubbish. Susan had stopped believing in such nonsense since childhood and even then it had been mostly to humor her younger siblings.
“I’m so excited. I can’t help it. The two of you are going to look so dashing and handsome…” Susan trailed off, offering another smile and beaming gaze between the two.
While Peter had initially been extremely surprised to see Susan on his doorstep, he was glad that she had come out early to help with some wedding plans and he’d known that she would want to be there when they picked up their tuxes. They had picked them out a few weeks before and been fitted so that they would be perfect for the big day and now they were finished so it was time to pick them up. Before Susan had surprised them, he had sent her various pictures of tuxes they were looking at to see what she thought and he hadn’t told her which two tuxes they had chosen so she would get to see them today.
“I was never aware that we had our very own fangirl.” He said, smirking at Caspian as they entered the store.
Caspian liked having Susan along. Her high energy certainly helped him stay positive and he did like getting to know Peter’s family better. Sure, he and Peter were both on the relaxed side but that didn’t mean that were against having a fun time. He gave a small chuckle at his fiance’s comment.
“She’s your sister…” he pointed out with a playful tone. “And soon to be my sister-in-law,” he added, before giving Susan a smile.
Perhaps if Susan had been anything like her little sister, Lucy, she would have replied to her brother’s comment with sticking out her tongue. Unfortunately, moments like that were far away, a distant memory of the past, and Susan had never been much for immaturity, even around the most accepting of crowds, like her siblings and Caspian. It was a sad situation; Susan often put on airs around them too. Oh, she didn’t mean to, but it came so naturally to her that she couldn’t stop herself from falling into that routine. Today was one of the first times in which she’d been more the genuine Susan than ever before. She wasn’t sure why, but at that moment she couldn’t quite rein herself in. Mostly, because for once, she didn’t want to. The entire situation was exciting and while she’d been a regular chatterbox back on the east coast when her only knowledge came from pictures and phone calls, it was nothing compared to being part of that important time with them. One of many important events to come in the next few days.
Susan offered a small smile to the two. “I’ll have you know I had buttons made and everything just for the occasion. Hopefully, they will be here in time for the big day,” Susan teased or it was as close to a tease as the elder sister could muster up. She was so serious now; the only part of her life falling along the humerus was her dreams. They were absolutely ridiculous. “T-shirts too,” she added playfully. It was the one thing she didn’t quite like about California. The dreams. The impossibility of it all and how people, including her brother and Caspian, seem to take it as a normal occurrence here. It was all incredibly crazy to her. She refused to take any part of it as meaningful. Talking birds, wardrobes to different worlds, fawns, and the like weren’t real except in movies and books. As far as Susan was concerned, this world fell outside those realms.
It wasn’t so much that Peter considered the dreams normal, but there was nothing that he could do about them. They came whether he wanted them to or not and to be honest, it wasn’t as if any of his dreams had been particularly awful, so he just went with it. Then there was the fact that he, Lucy and Caspian had found themselves in some version of Narnia back in December when Aslan had run into the Wardrobe that had appeared in Lucy’s room, which had then vanished not long after it had appeared.
As Susan mentioned buttons and t-shirts, Peter’s brows rose, “Are you serious?” He wouldn’t put it past his sister to do something like that, but there was also the chance that she was merely teasing him. Before Susan could answer though, a sales associate approached them and Peter told her that they were picking up their tuxes and the names they were under then they were each shown to separate fitting rooms to wait for them.
Caspian listened and he, too, was a little nervous about just how far that Susan would go with her plans. Yes, he’d known her for some time but he didn’t know the woman as well as her brother. “Let’s not get too carried away,” he mentioned, in a happy tone. Sure, the wedding was a bit expensive but he didn’t want too much money being spent on himself. He could afford his own things and when he was paying for it, price wasn’t really an issue; but when someone else wanted to pay, he just didn’t feel as comfortable about it.
Before they were led to the dressing rooms, Caspian thought of how they could have just used to the same dressing room but he didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. “If there are ruffles, I will be asking that you pick out something else,” he said, giving Susan a fake-glare, sarcasm in his tone.
Because Susan rarely joked about anything she shouldn’t have been surprised to find that neither Caspian nor her brother caught on. “Of course I’m not bloody serious,” she replied quickly after the sales associate departed. “I have my moments, but I would never do that to my own brother and his fiancee.” It was the penalty for being so very serious all the time; when you attempted a joke or two, no one would actually catch on that you were in fact kidding around. She chided herself; perhaps she should let her guard down more, but there were always eyes watching, impressions to make, and even amongst her own family she often found herself carrying on as if she was in the presence of people she was trying to impress. The young woman didn’t think that she’d always been this way, but growing up brought with it a certain need for reservation and restraint. Oddly, the rest of her siblings seemed to have been unaffected by this concept.
“I do promise it was a joke,” she countered quickly once again with a small smile. “I’ve done no such thing.” The two of them were being directed towards separate dressing rooms and Susan took a seat outside to wait. “Oh there will be lots and lots of ruffles!” she replied lightly. “The whole thing will be one big ruffle.”
Peter suspected that they were given separate rooms so as to prevent any hanky panky, not that anything would have happened with Susan right outside even if they were in the same one, but Peter actually kind of liked the fact that they were in their own fitting rooms, because part of him didn’t want to see Caspian in his tux until the day of the wedding. “Nothing has ruffles on it, Susan.” He said, sticking his head out of his fitting room just as the attendant came by with his tux in its garment bag.
After staring at the tux for a moment or two, after unzipping the bag, Peter proceeded to change. The tux hadn’t need to be tailored too much to fit him perfectly, but he could certainly see and feel the differences once he had it on. “Alright, which of us is coming out first?” He asked, through the door, not wanting to step out just in case Caspian was already out there. It was silly, but he thought that was one tradition that he wanted to go with.
Caspian chuckled to himself as he began to undress. At least, he could tell that Susan was joking about the ruffles. She was definitely to more serious one of all the Pevensie siblings but one of them had to bare that burden. As he inspected the tuxedo, he heard Peter’s comment before chiming in. “I’m pretty sure that we both have come out already, Peter.”
“Too bad,” Susan feigned a frown at her brother before he tucked his head into the dressing room once more, tux in hand. “We could always have them added later on. Don’t fret your pretty head Peter.” Susan giggled softly; the brunette made her way over to a chair and sat down, crossing her legs. All this wedding planning had Susan wondering if she would ever find herself in the same position as her elder brother. As a child, like many young girls, she often daydreamed of a Prince Charming riding up on white steed and sweeping her right off her converse sneakers. Unfortunately, growing up had a way of sobering one to the real world. There were no princes with horses. Instead, there were rather obnoxious young men, bent on drowning themselves in booze and sex. They possessed no manners at all and finding any one of the opposite sex with a lick of sense would a miracle in itself. Peter was lucky to have found Caspian. The young man was all about having fun, but he could be serious too and he balanced out her brother quite well. Susan couldn’t help, but envy her brother in that regard; he’d found his soulmate literally first chance. She wasn’t positive if Lucy was dating anyone and obviously Susan was going stag to the wedding. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t tried to scope out someone to take with her, but no one seemed even remotely interested in a frivolous British girl.
Peter’s voice pulled Susan from her thoughts and she looked up, focusing on the dressing room doors. Oh no doubt they would look so handsome! Caspian’s teasing response had Susan breaking into light laughter. Peter did indeed walk into that one, didn’t he? “Peter you did walk into that one,” she added. “Now, who is first?”
Peter groaned softly, “I suppose I did. Now get your arse out there so Susan can see you.” Peter was very tempted to peek, but he wanted to wait until the day of to see Caspian in his tux despite how much the anticipation was killing him. “I’ll just be waiting in here.”
“No peeking…” Caspian scolded, knowing that Peter would be tempted, as if their roles were switched (and soon they would be) Caspian would be tempted to look. After his tuxedo was on correctly, he stepped out facing his soon-to-be sister-in-law. “This is a rather nice tux...what do you think?” he asked Susan, before slowly starting to turn for her to check out the suit completely.
It was adorable. Caspian and Peter didn’t want to see each other before the actual ceremony. Susan hoped she would be so lucky when she finally indulged in a relationship to find someone so very conscious of those things as Caspian seemed to be. The young woman couldn’t help, but clap her hands together lightly. He looked absolutely dashing and it fit him perfectly. “They did a smashing job, Caspian,” she replied, reaching out to brush the fabric with her fingers. “Well made, it fits wonderfully.” She feigned a pout. “But no room for ruffles, how absolutely dreadful,” she teased gently before quickly breaking into a smile to show she was quite obviously joking. “What do you think?”
Peter smiled as he heard Susan’s praise of Caspian’s tux and he was once again tempted to peek, but he held himself back, “Thank god. Cas, as pretty as you are, I don’t think ruffles would do anything for you.” He smirked, waiting for his fiance’s response while also waiting his turn to show Susan his tux.
“It fits well enough and I am not really the wisest person when it comes to tuxedos.” Sure, Caspian came from a rich family but he hadn’t found many occasions to wear a tux. “If you think it looks good, that’s all I need,” he told Susan. He gave himself a glance at the full-body mirror and smirked. It did look good, he thought, before he disappeared back into the dressing room. “Peter, I can make anything work. Now, it’s your turn...don’t keep Susan waiting.”
Susan did have the most keen fashion sense out of all the siblings (or at least she believed she did) and the tuxedo couldn’t have fit any better on Caspian if she had chosen it herself. She nodded quickly. “Trust me. It’s perfect on you and best of all no ruffles or buttons,” Susan couldn’t stop herself from dishing out one last tease before Caspian slipped back into the dressing room. leaving Susan once more on her own in the waiting room. “Yes, do come out Peter. I do want to see,” she chided in with Caspian. Most would find the entire thing rather dull, but Susan loved clothes of any kind, even if they were not for her.
“Alright.” After hearing the sound of the curtain to Caspian’s dressing room, Peter pushed his own aside and stepped out so Susan could see. He tugged the jacket straight and fixed the cuffs as he came to stand before his sister and did a little turn so she could see the whole thing, “Well, what do you think?” He asked once he was facing her once again, his gaze slipping over to Caspian’s dressing room to make sure that his fiance wasn’t looking, “No peeking, Cas.”
Caspian felt the urge to peek but he resisted. Instead, he changed back into his regular clothes and made sure to hang the tuxedo up neatly. He wouldn’t normally take such care but he was letting the task distract him from his fiance. “Yeah, yeah...I know the drill,” he called out.
“Oh, Peter he won’t look,” Susan assured her brother with a small smile. Caspian could be teasing and playful, but he would never ignore his fiancee’s request. Besides, he shared in the request too. Susan doubted he’d want to ruin the fun. She swept her gaze over her brother, nodding in approval at the tuxedo’s fit. It was not tight on Peter’s frame, loose in the right places, but not baggy. The fitting was perfect and Susan couldn’t help, but start beaming at her older brother. “Oh, it’s perfect Peter! You both look so splendid! You’re going to look absolutely amazing that day.” She clapped her hands lightly and fought the urge to jump up and down like an over happy child. In her case, it would be an over grown child and look silly. Still, it was so tempting to Susan.
“I simply can not believe it. Mum and dad would be so proud. I just can’t-” The control she’d sworn by since walking on the front door faded and tears welled in her eyes. Susan blinked to keep the droplets from smearing her mascara. “Oh dear…” She dug through her purse and tugged out a piece of kleenex, dabbing at her eyes. “I’m sorry, but you both look so handsome and…”
Peter had expected Susan to get emotional; he knew his sister too well, but he hadn’t expected her to cry. Moving towards her, he wrapped his arms around her, “You can’t do all your crying now, Su. You need to save some tears for the wedding.” He smiled at her and rubbed her back as his own eyes got a little misty. He still couldn’t quite believe that there were only a few days until he and Caspian would be getting married. There was still so much left to do before their parents and Ed arrived and other guests started to arrive, but Peter was sure that everything would go off without a hitch.