thecapitol | [Closed] Lazy afternoon

Entry tags:

[Closed] Lazy afternoon

Who| Albert and Terezi
What| Post arena talkings and general cute
Where| District 3 suite
When| While Jet and Venus are out shopping
Warnings/Notes| Forthcoming if necessary

With Jet off rambling the town with Venus, Albert takes his bit of alone time to commandeer a recliner and settle in the suite living room with a cup of coffee at his side and a style book granted him by his stylist in his lap. He really should have gone with his fiance and their friend, it would make more sense to get all the clothes shopping for the big event done in one fell swoop. But that would mean that Albert would see what Jet would wear before they ever stepped up to the altar and it just feels wrong. A little, ultimately stupid argument about it and Albert's left to his own devices for an afternoon after being pactically joined at the hip since Albert had left the arena.

He sips at his coffee and flips through the book, mentally rejecting some truely awful options with practically comical expressions on his face. Who would ever wear this? What happened to the classic tux and tails? The world's gone completely mad.

"Completely crazy..." he mutters aloud, grumbling into his coffee and turning another page.

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"What's completely crazy?" The voice comes from behind Albert, Terezi leaning over his shoulder to catch the scent of whatever crazy thing he happens to be looking at.

She's a lot different from how she looked in the arena. For one, most of the bruises and injuries are gone--save for the brand that stays on her cheek. For two, she's not overcome by tears and sobbing. For what it's worth, she actually looks pretty okay, aside from the dark circles lingering under her eyes and the way her tone isn't completely up to her usual pep. It's closer than it's been in a while, though.

She frowns pensively at the book that he's holding. "Gross. That guy smells like he's wearing a tumbleweed."

"It looks like it too." Albert leans his head back to catch sight of Terezi, tossing the frankly offensive book on the coffee table. "It's some choices of what to wear for the wedding. They're all hideous."

He shifts so he can take in how she looks, how her demeanor has changed. There's something less torrential now, pacified within her in a good way; despite the circles and the band, he would say she looks much better than before. "How are you? I haven't seen you since the arena, I was worried."

It's not lost on him that she hasn't been spending her time in her own suite. If he hadn't briefly caught sight of her a few days ago around the tower, he may have thought she'd died for good.

"Submit your own options. Choose to wear nothing." ...Actually the Capitol would probably love that, which automatically makes it a terrible idea. Albert doesn't even have to protest, it's already scratched off of her idea list.

His concern is met with a little discomfort on Terezi's end, not so much because of the concern itself but because of the reminder of her behavior in the arena. "I'm okay," she says quickly, and for once she actually means it. Sort of. There are still a few names hanging heavily on her mind, but they don't hang as heavily or as personally on her conscience as they did before.

"It's... Okay, things are still really shitty, but. You know." She shrugs her shoulders and forces what might pass as a smile. "It's okay. I've been staying up on Five. I didn't really think I had to tell anyone." More like she didn't think that anyone would be looking for her. This human compassion is weird.

"I think that is one of the options..." he mutters under his breath, finding it more hilarious than anything. It's already been crossed off his list in red ink.

He didn't expect her to simply bounce back perfectly, but while she is still more low key than when they'd first met, much of that heavy weight that had been resting on her shoulders during the arena seems to have lifted. Which just gets him curious. It's one thing to recover from an arena, it's another to come back so far from mourning in such short a time. "On Five? With who?"

"With Fraysong." She's not sure why is matters so much. She's spent a few days in other rooms before, and she's in and out of the suites at such random times. She's never actually had anyone be curious about where she's going or staying.

She does recall the last time she talked to Albert was... a little embarrassing in retrospect. If only because she realizes the incorrect assumptions she was under. "He, um... He was the one that I was upset about." Because that obviously explains so much. She winces a little both internally and externally.

"He got a group together to get me out of jail. Broke me out, got us out of the Capitol entirely. When they finally caught up with us, they took him somewhere else. They didn't bring him back and... I thought he was dead." She shrugs her shoulders a little, trying not to remember how emotionally devastated she was. It wasn't a comfortable thought, and not one she wants to revisit.

"He said I could stay with him a while, if I wanted. It makes it easier. You know?" Just being there, knowing that someone is alright after you almost lost them. Knowing that if anything else should happen, you won't be oblivious to it. You'll be there. You can help.

"I see. I wish you'd said, I saw him in the arena before I saw you." He's also forever grateful for his efforts to free Terezi, to do what Albert should have done despite the consequences.

And, well... if that's who Terezi is so attached to, then all's the better. "I understand if you're spending time with him, though. It's fairly normal after a scare like that. Jet and I do the same thing after arenas."

Implying there's something a bit more red to their relationship, at least as Albert understands it.

Yeah, she probably should have said so, but it was hard to talk about it at all at the time. Just thinking about him being dead and gone was a pain that she's not sure anyone could replicate. "It's ok. I found him eventually, and he's okay now. That's all that matters."

Terezi catches the implication that Albert makes between her and Kurloz and him and Jet, but she doesn't seem to agree. "I guess, yeah. But he's my ashmate and my best friend," she says, half in correction and half in explanation. And while hoping that he doesn't know enough about troll quadrants to correct her on what might be viewed as very not-ashmate behavior.

She tries not to dwell on it too much. Things are just...weird right now. That's all. Like Albert said, it's normal after a scare like that.

"Ashmate. I'm sorry, I don't know that term," she's right about his quadrant knowledge, at least, but her disagreement is somewhat brushed off. It's true, it could be different for Trolls - they have their strange 'hatemance' for instance - but Albert would bet dollars to donuts that there is far more emotional attachment between Terezi and Fraysong than best friends. Even so, he has something else on his mind. "But if it's not urgent that you run back to his side immediately, do you mind sitting with me for a moment? I'd like to ask you something."

He's thought about it for awhile and asked Jet this morning if it would be alright, so now seems as good a time as any to invite Terezi. True, the wedding is shaping up to be a very public affair, but certain people who have become important to them warrant a personal invitation. And for Terezi, Albert has a special role he'd like her to play.

He corrects himself, and honestly Terezi isn't sure if he's doing it because he honestly believes her or if he's trying to humor her. He gets a bit of a narrowed look, especially when he mentions running back to Fraysong's side immediately. Yeah, he doesn't believe her at all.

She scrunches her mouth up to one side at his question. Then very carefully, she takes a seat next to him with her nose up in the air. "I guess I can, even if your tone does not give me the impression that you believe me at all."

Calling you out on your bullshit, Albert.

"What is it that you want to ask me?"

It wasn't so much a correction as an invitation for her to explain but perhaps another time. And no, he doesn't believe you Terezi. You're definitely in love with that boy. Or at least in like.

"Well... are you familiar with the concept of Human weddings?"

"I am familiar with the strange ceremony and documentation that you feel is required to officially commit yourself to another human being. I have never met another species who needed the law to hold their hand through their personal relationships, but so be it!"

That is about as close as Albert is going to get to a Yes.

"What a disparaging assessment." He sounds more amused at her small tirade than anything, guessing it's more brought on by his teasing her than any real anger.

"But yes, that 'strange ceremony' is what I'd like you to be a part of, if you're inclined to lower yourself to participate in our strange customs."

Terezi's brow furrows at that. The look she gives Albert is nothing short of confused. Possibly even disturbed. She looks as if she might say something. She open her mouth, pauses, then closes it again. The silence stretches on. And then finally:

"Okay, I am sure that you are a very nice human! And you have been very nice to me for reasons that I'm not entirely sure I deserve. But there is no way that I am human marrying you. Ever. So you are just going to have to live with that rejection."

He blinks. Opens his mouth. Closes it again. A similar reaction to the one she'd had to his initial question. Then looks down in his lap covering his mouth with his hand, shoulders shaking. A moment later, his laughter can actually be heard throughout the suites.

"That's not what I meant at all! You're like a daughter, nothing romantic, no. No, no, I'm marrying Jet. I was asking if you'd be the flower girl."

Excuse him while he laughs forever.

He is excused. Terezi is more than a little glad that all this marriage talk was indeed a misunderstanding. Not that she didn't think there was, but who knows. Humans are weird. Instead, she's pondering these new details. But probably not the ones that he expects her to be pondering.

"That is equally silly. In case you haven't noticed, we are not even the same species. There is no way that I'm anything like your offspring."

Oh, Terezi... He can't help it, he runs his hand over his face, still shaking at intervals with the remains of his laughter.

"It's symbolic. Look, do you want to throw flowers around at my wedding or not?"

"Of course I do. I love throwing things." If Albert expected a more traditionally excited answer, he was going to be disappointed.

"But I have to ask: Why exactly am I throwing flowers around?"

"Because-..." Actually he doesn't know why. "Because it's a ridiculous Human custom that's part of the wedding and you've become important to me so I'd like for you to be involved."

Don't look now, but he might be blushing just a tad at the back of his neck. Jeeze she is frustrating sometimes.

"Alright?"

If Albert thinks that he's going to be embarrassed alone, then he's sorely mistaken. For someone so outgoing and up-beat, a little affection thrown Terezi's way sure does make her unusually flustered.

"Okay, okay, geez. No need to get all sappy on me. I was just asking where the flower throwing fit in."

"I just thought it would be a part you'd like." Groomsmaid might be too boring, just standing around and watching, but actually being involved? And throwing things, of course. He thinks she's still young enough to enjoy that.

He settles back into the couch, snagging his book of terrible costumes back up in order to hide his own flusterment. "Thank you."

"Sure." She's too embarrassed to say much more on the topic. Really, she would like to talk about anything else. It's not that being important to Albert isn't a flattering or touching thought, but she doesn't understand where exactly it's come from.

Aside from chalking it up to humans being weird.

So, when Albert settles back into the couch, Terezi waits a few long seconds before leaning over his side and sniffing at the book. After a few more minutes pass, she finally poses a new question:

"Is the capitol going to provide the Elvis?"

"What?"

He blinks at her, utterly confused. Elvis?

"The Elvis! The portly human in white clothing that sings weird songs and officiates over human marriages."

Someone doesn't quite know as much about marriages as she would like to think.

"Elvis was a musical artist in Earth's history. I don't see what at all he has to do with weddings. Where did you get that idea, anyway?" Vegas isn't exactly the first thing that comes to mind for Albert.

"He is the official of the wedding! He declares that the ceremony has been completed properly, and that you are officially human married!" At least, that's as much as she's learned from living with two human teenagers for a year. She's starting to suspect that she might not have gotten the whole story. Or maybe human traditions change that fast. He is supposed to be old, right?

"After the wedding, you go out and hunt down bitches and partake of a variety of ill conceived drinks and gamble all of your money away, and then retired to your room until the late afternoon to sleep off all the effects of your bad decisions."

"Gambl- oh!" He laughs. He can't help it either, it just bubbles out of him. "I'm sorry, no, no, that's entirely wrong." Just give him a second to compose himself to explain, this is too funny.

"There's, ah -" He laughs again and takes a breath. "There's a city in America, Jet's country, called Las Vegas that's devoted to leisure. Since Elvis was a wildly popular singer in his time, some people dress up as him and perform his songs - don't ask me why, it's ridiculous - and in Las Vegas you can have one perform your wedding as well. It's not the norm for Humans at all.

Where did you hear that it was?"

He's not sure if he wants to scold that person or congratulate them on a joke well played.

"From a very reliable source, thank you!" Namely Dave Strider. But she isn't about to tell Albert that. No, she's pretty aware that this can't be how all human marriages work because it is simply too weird and too silly. But that does not mean that she has to tell Albert that.

"Maybe you are the one who is misinformed on Human marriage customs with your outdated idea of human weddings! I have digested the full cultural history of your silly human planet, and I think I would know how your marriages work."

"No need to get defensive, there's no harm in being wrong, even with a 'very reliable source,'" says the man who avoids apologizing directly as if the very act will make him ill.

"Normally, weddings are officiated by a priest or a justice of the peace. In some countries it's a tribal leader instead, it just depends on the specific group of Humans. There are a lot of us, after all, with a great deal of cultural individuality." He's not sure how to explain that diversity to Terezi though. He knows Trolls can be diverse, what with blood color replacing skin color at least allegorically, but the caste system had been vaguely explained and it's not... exactly like that on Earth.

Well, alright, it is in some places, but they mostly acknowledge that it's a bad thing.

It is indeed weird to hear about these 'country' things. Being from a culture that really only has one militarized culture and government, it's strange to thing that different groups could live together peacefully enough to not murder the other societies around them. To actually learn about their cultures instead of wiping them out and assimilating them.

"What's a justice of the peace?" It's one of the only words in his explanation that she didn't quite understand. She knows what priests are, and tribal leader is basically what it says on the box. But she's drawing a complete blank on this one. Except that it has the word Justice in it. Her curiosity is piqued.

"They're an official who's charged with keeping the peace in a certain area. They perform civil marriages instead of having any religious connotations, among other duties. Sometimes they'll act as a judge as well." He shrugs a bit. "It's not something in my own country. We just have priests for such things as weddings."

He's patient in his explanation, curious at how Terezi can relate to it since he has no idea what Trolls do for their government or the actual organized enactment of religion. If there is any.

"Civil marriages?" Terezi scrunches her mouth up to one side, her brow furrowing in confusion. "Do you have marriages that are not civil? Is that why you need a Justice to keep the peace? I thought your human romance was about flushed relations and good feelings and all that sappy stuff."

He nearly snorts at that, but he doesn't want to laugh in Terezi's face over something she has no knowledge about. Still, the fact that she took civil as the opposite of uncivil instead of religious reminds him of some marriages he's seen. "In Jet's country there's a separation of religion and government. Civil means, in this case, in the eyes of man instead of something performed by a priest, which would be in the eyes of God."

He grins, unable to contain his amusement. "The Justice isn't involved in the marriage after the wedding is performed unless it becomes 'uncivil.' But generally yes, it's about love. Or it's supposed to be."

"Ah... So your quadrant ceremonies are a religious thing? That sounds terrifying." Coming from a troll who's only religious experience involved murderous juggalo clowns. It's not a common thing for other trolls to have a religion outside of the Indigo castes.

"I would take the Justice over the Priest, thank you." She pauses for a length of time, and then a thought occurs to her: "Which are you having?"

"Yes, though not for some. It's complicated. Humans have a huge number of traditions varying on location and other factors." He shrugs, then his eyebrows furrow at her question. He's actually not sure there even are priests here in Panem. He hasn't really seen any signs of religion at all unless you count the unholy fervor for the Games.

"I'm not sure, actually. I think Jessica is handling that." And considering Albert's views on religion (a bit in the 'opiate of the masses' camp), he's not too concerned about it either way.

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[Closed] Lazy afternoon

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