Preparing (OOC - all god-modding approved by relevant authors).
"We have your plan. I help to design your plan," Dorian reminded Professor Brooding, "Now go away."
Evangeline had been trying without success to persuade her out of the garden, politely insistent that Mary and Tabitha should not have to help set up. This was a direction Tabitha had been happy to take at face value, but Mary was still hovering uncertainly, trying to be politely insistent that it was no trouble at all, and after all, they knew what they had in mind.
Dorian had been hesitant to push the opinion that they should not be involved, seeing as he couldn't use magic here and thus might be of limited help, but now that Evangeline had started the argument, he felt confident adding his voice.
They successfully chased the brides away, and Dorian gravitated towards Evangeline, who seemed both gentle and in charge. There was also the fact they had a shared language, and finding a fellow French-speaker had helped him relax more quickly than he might have done otherwise. It also helped that everyone was just lovely, and the air was warm and smelt like the ocean, and they were all happy. It was hard to feel worried, surrounded by so much niceness.
"Are there any non-magical jobs for me?" he asked Evangeline, switching to French.
"Well, we should probably lay the lanterns out first, to decide on a good arrangement before we levitate them. And once we make the lights, you can help place them. Mary told me you have a good eye for this sort of thing."
*
The plan was two small French braids, one either side of her head, just below the level at which her hat would sit, and fixed in the middle with flowers. The rest of her hair would flow loose. It was a simple enough style, and one that Mary should have been perfectly capable of executing herself, except her hands kept shaking.
"Maybe I should just give up," she chuckled sadly, unpicking yet another wobbly braid. "Messy hair might be a new trend for weddings."
"You can let me try," Dorian offered. Whilst it wasn't traditional for the "father of the bride" to help her get ready, well... this wedding was far from traditional. Between the fact that Professor Brooding was supposed to keep an eye on him, and that she seemed to need some company herself, his role had sort of shifted into some kind of bridesmaid, for now anyway. Though so far his main duties had been making tea and conversation. "I know how to do this type of braid," he assured her. "Émilie always makes messy her hair, and I don't want that she is getting in trouble, so I learn."
Mary nodded her assent, and Dorian set to work. Unbeknownst to the other, they were both thinking the same thing; this felt surprisingly unstrange. It was definitely far removed from their usual interactions, for all that those had been closer than student and teacher for a long time, but the world of Sonora was far removed right now. It felt natural that different rules applied here.
"You have a lot of hair," he commented. This was something he had always known, but it was different trying to actually interact with it. It was also a lot thicker than Émilie's. "How do you manage this?"
"Practise. Patience. Magic," Mary laughed, "Your attempt already looks neater than mine though."
Dorian made a non-committal noise, not convinced his braid was going to be neat enough for a wedding day. It was, as she had said though, neater than hers when he had finished, and she managed to press him into doing the other side - that turned out better than the first, so then he went back and redid that.
"I also can paint nails," he informed her, as he fixed the last flower in place, "But any other make-up, you must do alone."