Who: Thomas Raith, Anakin Skywalker, Padme Naberrie What: Tethered at a wedding When: February 14th Where: Some wedding venue Rating/Warnings: Nothing to horrible. Status: Complete when posted
This was unbelievable.
First zombies. And now unbreakable physical links. A tri-link, to be exact. One with Anakin, who she was slowly starting to like more and more, and the other with Thomas Raith. THE Thomas Raith.
This was also very confusing.
To make matters worse, Valentine’s Day was the Holy Grail of wedding dates. Brides fought and planned and cajoled to ensure they could get this day, at the locale of their dreams, and there was no way she was going to cancel. Working today would pay off her entire month’s expenses. It was just a matter of figuring out how she would do it.
Having called the bride before hand, she could hear the hemming and hawing while Padme tried to convince her that no, she absolutely needed some extra security, who Padme would bring along, completely free of charge. The bride couldn’t really understand and was arguing when Padme decided to throw caution to the wind and name drop. Suddenly, everything was okay, and ‘of COURSE Thomas Raith could come to the wedding, what an honour! And naturally he would need a bodyguard, goodness Padme, why hadn’t you said something sooner?’
Celebrity always seemed to work. It made her slightly gag while also gave her the slightest bit of envy.
So here they were, in the King Edward room at the Alexandria Ballroom, with Padme directing the chaos, one eye firmly on Thomas while the other was on Anakin. The ceremony had gone beautifully well, with almost minimal intrusion of that invisible tether. It seemed both men had been on their best behaviour, and Padme was so thankful. Now, the bridal party was off taking pictures, and Padme had to start directing the cocktail hour. “Stop eating all the canapes,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Remember -- you’re here to work.”
“What are these things?” Anakin responded with his mouth full, clearly not feeling chastised.
“That’s a prawn vol-au-vent with a classic coronation sauce.” Padme confidently said the term, with almost no hint of accent. Her mother had always insisted she learn another language, and French was on the approved list. Looking away from the form she was consulting, she reached over to grab a linen napkin. “Here, be careful of crumbs. That’s a brand-new suit, remember.”
“Yes please be careful Anakin. My tailor would be horribly disappointed if he found out you ruined the suit the first time you wore it. Although...it would mean Padme and I got another opportunity to take you shopping which I think we’d enjoy. What do you think Padme?” Thomas said, grabbing a glass of champagne from the table to raise in a silent toast in the general direction of the bridal party who he’d spent some time getting to know before the ceremony. And he’d been on his best behavior at the time. Only getting numbers for the maid of honor and best man, and the mother of the groom but that one had been slipped in his pocket when no one was watching, and not trying to seduce either of the happy couple. Although...it was very tempting.
To Anakin clothing was there for a purpose – he understood his flight gear that he wore while in the Air Force. And protective gear when arc welding. But he really didn’t see the purpose of the clothes he was wearing. Sure, in his companions’ opinions they looked nice, and Anakin could go along with that. But he didn’t see this garment as sacred.
“I don’t have anywhere to wear anything like this,” Anakin said, his eyes on another tray of food going around. But his hands stayed at his side. He’d even fished his fidget gadget out of his pocket to attempt at staying more focused. “Again. You should spend your time on something less pointless.”
“A good tailored suit is a wardrobe essential,” Padme answered almost automatically. She was scanning the room and thankfully, everything looked normal. She had to admit -- going shopping with Thomas was fun, as was the residual celebrity high. She both loathed and loved the whole celebrity thing, and experiencing it first hand? Now that was a treat.
She couldn’t imagine having her whole life in the public eye though. Motioning to a waiter with a mostly empty tray, she handed it over to Anakin and Thomas. “Here, eat. I think things are a bit calm now. Cocktail hour will last another half hour, after which point I’ll have to start directing everyone to go back into the ballroom for the reception.” Usually, she helped with the tear down, and getting the tables and chairs in the way, but thankfully Jane was there to help. Sometimes, she didn’t know what she’d do without her assistant.
“Thanks again, by the way. This ...is actually one of the smoothest ceremonies I’ve been to. One of you must be a lucky charm.” She smiled deeply. “I wonder who.”
Anakin appreciated the food. He shrugged. “It’s you,” he nodded his head towards Thomas. “I ran out of luck when I graduated from the Academy.”
“Well wear that suit more often and you won’t have any shortage of places to wear it to Anakin.” Thomas said, unable to resist the opportunity to flirt with the other man a little bit. He liked making Anakin uncomfortable, it was a hobby of his by now. Especially knowing that it wasn’t ever going to go anywhere.
“It has to be you,” Thomas said, grabbing a bite off the tray and popping it into his mouth as he leaned gracefully against the wall. “I’ve never been lucky when it comes to things going smoothly. Ask my parents.” He said it as if he was joking but it was the truth. “I’m just glad I wasn’t too much of a distraction to anyone here. But I have to ask - am I the only one who thought the minister was hot?”
“Is that all you think about,” Padme asked with a slight smile tugging on her lips. He wasnt wrong -- the minister had been very attractive. “He’s Catholic, in any case. That means hands off. Verboten. Interdit.” She raised a brow. Last thing she needed was a scandal at this very elegant, beautiful, expensive wedding. There was enough drama happening between the bridesmaids as it stood. “Understand?”
She was teasing. Kind off.
“anakin, can you make sure he doesnt sleep with anyone here? I dont want to hear thta. Or see it.”
Anakin expression soured as he gave Thomas all the side-eye he had.
“Fine we can talk about all the special occasions I can wear my new suit to- field testing rockets, I’ve been thinking about restoring a bike and getting my drivers license again- Oh, there is a motocross competition in the county next month. I’m getting another window for my apartment. So many endless options.”
“Not all I think about Padme. But I’m single. I notice when there are hot men and women around. And I comment on it but I’ll resist just for you.” Thomas promised her with a smile. He pretended to be shocked at her asking Anakin to make sure he didn’t sleep with anyone. “Padme! I thought we knew each other better than that by now. I always wait until the day after the wedding for my hookups. I don’t want to distract from the bride and groom’s happiness too much.”
He glared at Anakin. “You better be joking about wearing that to restore a bike.”
Padme also looked horrified at the idea of Anakin using his suit to restore a bike, but she couldn’t help the excitement that crossed her face. “You’re getting your license? And are you entering in that competition?” Her eyes sparkled with joy for him. “Let me know when it is, and maybe I can come too.” It would be interesting to see him compete again, in a different way. Now, she knew him. They were friends.
Anakin had not been expecting Padme to focus on that.
“Uh,” he said, caught in his own bluff. “Well... I don’t have my license yet so I don’t think I can actually enter the meet. But ya, I’m going to work on getting my license. And a bike.” He was picking up steam again after that side rail. “Both things worth celebrating, right? Things I can wear a suit to.”
Thomas noticed that little momentary pause from the other man and he covered up his little smile with a sip from his glass. There’d be chances to tease him about that little slip later. Maybe without Padme right there because he honestly didn’t want to mess up whatever might be going on there. Just because he didn’t believe in relationships personally - he knew that other people did and he wouldn’t actively sabotage one. Well not knowingly at least. “Wear the suit to the celebrations after. Not the repairs.” He said, tone deadpan as he stared at Anakin.
Padme nodded, momentarily distracted by a caterer discussing something about running out of vegetarian appetizers. Glancing at the clock, there was still another half hour left. She directed the caterer to pull out some of the bread from dinner, deciding that it wouldn’t be the end of the world if there wasn’t breadsticks on the tables. She’d have a conversation with the kitchen later about properly ensuring meal coverage. Maybe she wouldn’t recommend them again, she wasn’t sure.
“There’s other events too, more galas, things like that. I mean, this is what, the second event you’ve come with me to in a few months. Now that I know you clean up well, I’m sure I can find other events.” She was teasing. Kind of. She did like having him around. It was nice.
“Working on the bike is</is> the celebration, Thomas,” Anakin pointed out.
He was unsure about going to galas and events. He was a poor kid from an Arizona dust heap - at least one earth. And his dream life was a definite step back from that. The Wounded Warrior’s Ball was an anomaly, not his average weekend activity.
“I’ve endured just as many zombie invasions in the last year as I’ve attended events like this.”
“We clearly need to take you to more events then Anakin. Consider it my birthday present since I’m having to miss my birthday orgy this year.” Thomas said, face and tone both completely serious to hide the fact that it was a joke. It wasn’t an actual orgy. Normally.