WHAT: Girls' Day leads to wedding dress shopping!! WHERE: Wedding boutique in the shopping district WHEN: Today! WARNINGS: Mentions of mind-violation and Wanda's spicy mouth STATUS: Complete
Wanda could make her own wedding dress, technically. Not by hand - not with a sewing machine, or delicate thread and needle, or with actual lace and sequins. But there was a lot to do with magic that was based on the creation and re-writing all the atoms and cells around her until they built what she wanted them to. That solution was hassle-free. It was simple.
Magic did have a habit of taking the magic of experience out of certain tasks, though. Didn’t help that she was clueless in regards to what she wanted. This was the sort of thing she used to cautiously muse about before; non-committal thoughts of this might be nice but nothing concrete. Investing herself in possibilities that weren’t likely were false hopes she tried not to entertain.
Except this was happening. They had a date, a location - an idea of what food options to offer that would also agree with Stephen’s dietary changes. In regards to catering, yes, she might cheat and use that infamous auto-pilot magic to make the spread herself since things had to be very particular and if her soon-to-be-husband had explosive diarrhea on their wedding night due to someone else’s error? She might have words (or violence) about that.
As for the wedding dress, however, she could shop for that. Like any normal, soon-to-be bride.
It’s not exactly what she had in mind when she and Prue had gone out today. The weather was pleasant as they took a stroll through a boutique shopping district. Clothes, jewelry, art, handmade furniture; there were samples out on display outside to draw customers in.
There may have been an exclusively wedding one around too, one Wanda kept sneaking not-so-subtle glances at. “Do you think we could, um,” she mumbled around a spoonful of frozen yogurt for a second, “go see in there for a little bit?”
Spring had certainly sprung, and it had been gorgeous outside for days on end. Prue had been taking some of her classes out onto the university’s lawn; Latin was already stuffy and boring at times, no need to make it any worse by keeping students constrained to the classroom. She’d always appreciated spring and summertime - it gave her the opportunity to ditch the long sleeves and pull all her sleeveless, strapless, braless attire to the front of her closet.
That was what she’d done today for her outing with Wanda: dark halter top, light sweater over top (in case the wind picked up), and jeans. They didn’t have any particular goal or to-do list today; just a day to spend together since their Girls Days were fewer and farther between now that they were living in separate places and had serious significant others around. There’d been some chatter about wedding things, but it was mixed in with just general catching up and stories from work - the tea shop had its share of Karens that were always entertaining to hear about.
She’d noticed, though, as they browsed the wares set out on the sidewalks with their cups of froyo, where Wanda’s eyes were going. She suspected it was part of the reason the location they’d found themselves in was a shopping district. She didn’t mind, would even encourage it if all Wanda wanted to do was wedding shopping, but she seemed to be taking the experience slowly, and Prue wasn’t going to push.
But she grinned when Wanda asked to go inside the dress shop and gave her shoulder a quick squeeze, then tossed her cleaned out froyo cup in a trash can nearby. “Yeah, let’s do it. It looks like they have some really pretty choices to look at, right?”
Wanda couldn’t take it too slowly. It was a month away - chop chop, whatever the term was. Her own cup followed Prue’s in the trash a second spoonful later. “I think so - they look more summer-y?” she supplied with a shrug, starting her stroll towards it. “I don’t want anything big or… loud.”
No fluffy ball gowns that would rival a Disney Princess’ or anything of that sort. All she knew was that she wanted something light that wasn’t difficult to move in; nothing suffocating, nothing itchy. What style that would be or what that would even look like she wasn’t too sure. She wasn’t shy about dresses - she liked them, had certain styles she preferred but this was her wedding dress. She wanted it to be special.
“Do you have a dream wedding dress?” she smirked, approaching the first mannequin on the inside out of curiosity. It was a mermaid-style sort of dress. Lovely, but she wasn’t really into it. “Or some kind of vision of how a potential wedding day would go for you?”
“I haven’t thought about it in a while, but…I was actually engaged when I was younger,” Prue admitted. “I had the wedding all planned, bought a dress. It didn’t pan out, though.” She didn’t talk about it, ever, so Wanda wouldn’t know. Roger and all the drama he’d caused in her life was not something she looked back on fondly, so she didn’t make an effort to bring it up. She was glad she hadn’t married him; everything would have changed for her, not in a good way. She’d probably never have gotten her powers or gotten as close to Piper and Phoebe as she had over the past few years.
“And I’ve been married, actually,” she added. “But it doesn’t really count. I was kidnapped by a demon and bound to him against my will. I was literally unconscious almost the entire time.” That one wasn’t purposefully omitted so much as blocked out of her brain as much as possible. It had been one of the most violating experiences she could think of, and all because a demon and a dark priestess wanted to turn the Charmed Ones evil.
Okay, that had gotten dark. Time to turn her attention back to the bride.
The first dress obviously didn’t pique Wanda’s interest, so she moved down the row of mannequins to look at the next - this one was lacy, single-strapped, looser around the legs. “Do you have any specifics in mind? Length, material?” she questioned, looking up at Wanda curiously. “Veil, no veil?”
Wanda had to stop her browsing to stare at Prue with widened eyes. No, she knew none of that - and she’s known Prue for a good bit now, they’ve lived together. But if she hadn’t brought it up on her own before then she doubted it was something she liked to casually have a conversation about. She was curious to know more some day. If she wanted to talk about it in more detail, preferably over an alcoholic drink.
“I take it the demon’s dead and no, it definitely did not count,” she replied. “As far as the dress goes I don’t want a veil, or a ridiculous train that drags for miles on the floor.” It was at least a good thing she knew what she definitely didn’t want. “I do like lace. I suppose I’m just looking for… comfortable and classy but will also make Stephen fuck the soul out of my body. Is that too much to ask for?”
That last part was a joke, and she kinda giggled about it until someone in the store, very loudly, went SHHHHHH in their general direction. Woops.
Prue nodded because oh yeah, demon and dark priestess alike were very dead. Vanquishing them had been the only way to free her from their thrall - it was a whole thing. Maybe she would get into it with Wanda someday. Prue had come to consider her another sister, basically, and she trusted her completely. Her life could just be a lot, and Wanda already had a lot on her own plate.
Still, maybe someday. Another time, though, when they weren’t looking at wedding dresses and scandalizing the patrons. Yes, that was graphic as hell, but Prue was chuckling, too.
“Someone sure seems to think so,” she noted, eyes briefly shifting to the culprit before returning to the task at hand. She moved away from the mannequins and over to one of the racks of dresses to go through. “So, lace is okay, no train. Nothing you’d buy for a last-minute Vegas wedding either, I’m assuming. Something a little more modest?”
Had Wanda been a little loud on that more scandalous part? Woops. She wasn’t the least bit apologetic - maybe sent off a smirk towards the direction of the person aghast. No worries, she’d behave. Her quest to search for a dress here was genuine. The last thing she wanted was to be removed from the shop for heinous language.
“That depends on your definition of modest,” she mused, carefully putting a dress back into the rack - it was a short, flirty one. Felt more like a ‘cocktail dress’ than a wedding dress, though.
Her ‘purse’ today was a small, stylish backpack and she’d gone to adjust the straps over her shoulders when she turned a corner, saw a mannequin, and blinked. “Huh,” Wanda breathed out and pointed. “I think I like that one. I know I have the tits for it.”
Well, that wasn’t at all what Prue was expecting, but she definitely approved. She would wear something like that herself, in Wanda’s shoes. It wasn’t skimpy - revealing but still tasteful. If tits was what Wanda was going for, that dress would work perfectly. Her legs, too - she had great legs; Prue wished she had legs like that.
“Pretty sure Stephen will grant that wish of yours in a dress like that. Maybe we should see if we can find someone to - oh, there.” She raised her hand, waving over one of the shop’s attendants. “Hi. Can we get this dress in my friend’s size, please?”
It was an interesting design of the dress - the slit, the lace top, the lace shorts underneath which gave a very relaxed vibe. Again, Wanda didn’t know what she wanted at first but this one? She could see herself in this one.
Then the next thing she knew someone coiled measuring tape around her waist without even taking her out to dinner - damn. One of the attendants was on it, sliding it up to her bosom and clicking her tongue in thought. After a sage nod she disappeared into the back, and left Wanda to blink widely at Prue.
“That was… efficient,” she slowly said.
The attendant came back literally two seconds later, the dress in question (and in her size) in a bag and motioned them towards the dressing room. “In you go, Red - do you want me to go in there to help you with the undergarments and the zipping, or your friend?”
“Friend,” Wanda immediately replied.
“Right. No funny business.”
A snort was held back, and when the attendant walked away to look back to Prue. “We were sister-wives once.”
Prue blinked at the attendant in surprise but only nodded in response. Her lips curled up into an amused smile, and she bumped Wanda’s shoulder with her own. “You mean we’re not anymore?” A hand went dramatically to her chest. “That’s cold, Wanda. Stephen always says I’m forever second wife.”
She drew back the curtain acting as a dressing room door and ushered her sister-wife inside, making sure she drew it all the way closed after they’d stepped inside. “Alright, gimme. I’ll get it out of the bag and you strip. No funny business, I promise.”
Ah, yes, Stephen’s non-intentional (or was it?) harem. Agatha had many comments about it. Having the Sanctum full of wayward magical women had been fun, though - Wanda herself was used to sharing space with people (the Avengers Compound had been an interesting roommate situation), and that had been similar. She sometimes missed it. But it was nice to have the place to themselves now. Or, mostly to themselves since Stephen couldn’t help himself and offer a room to the boy he thought he failed to protect.
No more nude walking, sadly.
But speaking of nudity (or just stripping down to the underwear), Wanda shed off the excess without shame. “Technically you did leave us for another man,” she teased, eyes gleaming in mischief. “Are you doing okay about, um - what was his name? Joel? Didn’t he have a zombie wife?”
Oh, Joel. That had been an interesting week, but Prue couldn’t say she was sorry he was gone. She’d missed her calm, reasonable cowboy, and having him replaced with essentially his exact opposite had been hard for her to keep up with. They had ended up fine - he was a nice guy, and once he’d settled down, assured he would be going back home soon, they got along fine.
She and Raylan had definitely celebrated his return, though.
“He did have a zombie wife,” she confirmed. “There was a lot of talk about her eating people. It was not fun to hear.” Sheila sounded like someone she’d rather not meet; she had experience with being all Id, and while it could be freeing, that lack of restraint could cause a lot of trouble.
“Alright, here. The back laces up, so I loosened them up for you. Want to grab my shoulder and step in?”
A zombie wife. That would make for an interesting (plus gory) marriage. Wanda should have asked questions while she had the chance because, seriously - what the fuck? But things were back to their brand normal, and now Prue was helping her with spontaneous wedding shopping and oh wow, she was actually getting to try a wedding dress on.
“Thank you for tolerating me while I’m almost naked,” she laughed, pulling up the dress. Arms in sleeves, the back of it pulled up and over her butt more and all she really needed was for it all to be tied up. The fabric didn’t feel uncomfortable - that made Wanda happy. “And thank you for… doing this with me? My closest female friend at home was Natasha, she would go out with me sometimes for clothes.” There was a Natasha here too, but - different timeline. She wasn’t the one she was on the run with for two years. At least this one survived the events from home. Hers didn’t. “Tie me up, if you don’t mind?”
Prue knew vaguely of Natasha from conversations with Wanda in the past, and she knew she was here. She seemed nice but more of a keep-to-herself sort of person. Prue had never been like that - never really been given the opportunity with two sisters in the house. She liked people, too, for the most part; it took her a while to warm up, and she wasn’t afraid to call anyone out on hypocritical bullshit, but she had always been good at making friends.
Wanda and Stephen had been her first friends here. They’d taken her in without question just because she’d been drawn to the power the Sanctum generated, and sharing space had stitched them together quite closely. Now there was no question that they were family - not really a husband and sister-wife but family nevertheless. There weren’t many others around here she’d go on a suicide mission in a Murder Mansion scenario with, after all.
“That’s what sisters are for,” she responded easily, smiling at Wanda’s reflection in the mirror. “I got to do this with Piper when she got married. I’m happy I get to do it with you, too.” She went about lacing Wanda up, taking her time to tie smoothly, so it would look pretty and put her in mind of how it might look on the big day, then took a step back when she’d finished. “What do you think?”
A few minor adjustments and shifting had to be made - this was also the dress that definitely required a different kind of bra, that was fine - but overall the fit was, honestly, perfect. Wanda could move her arms without feeling like something was going to rip. She also did a squat (don’t make fun of her, Prue) to test how those lacey shorts built into the dress felt with some more extreme movement. She was getting married, there might be some embarrassing dance moves if she drank enough - who knows. Would be a real shame if things ripped.
“I love it,” she breathed with a smile so wide her cheeks may have been hurting. Wanda didn’t think she needed to look anymore - she highly doubted she’d feel the same way for another dress. “I’m hoping it won’t put me in debt but I’m taking it even if it does. I’ll need to figure out shoes some other time. That should not be too hard.”
Really, choosing and finding a dress had been easy enough - lucky Wanda.
Prue bit her lip and hid a laugh behind a hand over her mouth, but well, she couldn’t fault Wanda’s process. She’d be moving around in this dress for hours and it had a bit of a delicate look to it - making sure it would hold up was a smart idea.
“The price tags looked affordable from what I saw,” she assured her. She’d checked a few of the tags while they perused, and nothing had seemed unreasonable - mostly hundreds instead of thousands, which was more than she could say for what they’d have encountered back home. “And you - wow, you look so beautiful. It’s perfect, Wanda, really.”
Most importantly, she looked happy, eyes bright, smile wide, radiant in a way a bride in her wedding dress should be. Prue could hardly keep her eyes off her; she was sure Stephen would turn into the heart-eyes emoji the moment he saw her.
Yeah, there was no question that they’d stumbled onto the right dress. Stopping in here must have been fate.
“Oh, and I think - they might have shoes? We can see if they have anything that would complement this. I bet your measuring friend would be of use there.” She smiled again, her eyes glinting with mischief.
Prue had a point. Might as well get the shoes here if they had them - and she could see how they looked with the dress on. “If you don’t mind shopping with me a little longer,” Wanda said. She didn’t want to suck up all her time but if she was offering. And maybe she’d have the same, quick fortune with footwear like she did with the dress.
“Come on,” she chuckled, grabbing her wrist to lead her out of the dressing room. “I trust you to tell me if things look hideous. Don’t hold back.”