The Fellowship of the Sun
A triangular mass of windows and modern side-panels of an off white, the church the Fellowship of the Sun congregate in is nothing short of welcoming. Its doors are comprised of transparent glass, allowing the world outside a glimpse into a richly carpeted and lavish lobby area. This is the heart of the church's information network; a place where tables filled with pamphlets and educational materials can be found as well as the corkboard holding up all the flyers and notices of recent events that might interest the congregation. Attached is a coat room, and the pair of handsome doors leading into the main chapel of the building, as well as a staircase that leads downstairs, where independent study rooms, the kitchen, and function rooms can be found.
In the room of worship, the walls are lined with magnificent, large windows. Large, fairly spacious, the altar stands proud and elevated like a stage in front of the masses of wooden pews standing sentinel. An elaborate wall of organ pipes make up the back wall, and above that is a golden cross, proclaiming its status as a holy place. The room always seems extraordinarily bright and sunny, a combination of the light colors used to decorate the room and the towering glass walls put into effect.
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Pre-wedding jitters are something every bride experiences. The nerves, the tension, the stress right before the big moment.
Hope Tyler is no exception to this rule. She's having a mini-meltdown. Her Maid of Honor is busy taking care of some parental issues, one of her bridesmaids is off in California doing God only knows what, and in T-minus 30 minutes, she's about to become Missus Hope Cornett.
Which is why she's currently leaning against the vanity that's been set up in one of the smaller function rooms, beginning to hyperventilate.
"What if…" Deep breath. "What if this is all wrong? What if he doesn't like my dress? What if my parents make a scene?" At this point she forgets to breathe, and has to rapidly suck in air and fan at herself as she does so since she feels like she's about to pass out.
Hana is there — she'd never miss Hope's big day. She's already all changed into her bridesmaid dress, and she's putting a fresh spray of flowers into her hair for a little bit of decoration. After she's finished she casts a rather vain (but understandable) look in the mirror and reaches out to rub Hope's back lightly. "Sweetie, you look great. How could anyone hate that dress? Everything is going to be perfect as long as you stop worrying now. Your state of mind is only gonna make things worse. Do you want some water?" She asks Hope, looking more concerned now.
You turn autospacing ON.
"Water? What? And spill something on my dress?" A few more deep, grasping breaths are taken and Hope finally moves away from the vanity enough to try to stick her head between her legs.
"Paper bag. I need a paper bag. I need my… my sister. I need… oh GOSH, I don't know what I need. It's too soon."
She's totally making a mistake, or if not, she's just having a breakdown. The latter probably isn't totally unexpected. She's been known to have them. "Are my parents even here? With the weather… I mean… what if they didn't even make it? Who'll walk me down the aisle?"
Hana suddenly looks a bit overwhelmed too. She takes in a deep breath and exits the room for a moment in order to fetch the paper bag — churches surely must have a stockpile of them for exactly these situations. Hana goes back to rubbing Hope's back lightly as she passes over the paper bag. "It's only water, it'll dry. And I'm not sure. If worse comes to worse I'll walk you down the aisle. As unconventional as it is, it's better than nothing. You're going to do great, Hope. Just breathe." Suddenly Hana wishes that Hope's sister was here too. Or at least someone with a soothing effect.
The paper bag does wonders, sort of. She breathes out, then in, then out, then in. Finally she removes the paper bag from her mouth and takes a deep breath. "Mr. Wright? Is he here? I can see if he'll be my backup parental unit…" Hope is positive her parents are here, otherwise Faith wouldn't have been gone so long.
"Water then. Just a little. Not a full glass please? How do the flowers look, Hana? Did we do a good enough job on them? Is the organist out there playing the right music? I don't know if I can do this. I still have to finish school, and I'm supposed to start on the campaign… is the reverend out there?"
Hana steps away once more to retrieve a glass of water that's only about a fourth of the way full. She brings it back and sets it down. "The flowers are beautiful. Everything looks great, and the organist is doing a great job. Seriously, settle down, girl…" Hana is getting the slightest bit annoyed, but she's being a trooper. She knows the girl is worried in light of everything that's happened — Katrina atop of a wedding. "I think I saw Mister Zane out there somewhere. I wonder who that g—…okay, nevermind. Later." She will totally ice that bitch. "The reverend is ready and most everyone is seated."
"Who what?" Hope peers at her friend, her bridesmaid. The thought of gossip seems to have her right calm. "Now, Hana. I need to know now." No one is going to mess with a potential Bridezilla, are they? The Tyler twin stretches her arm out to take the glass of quarter-full water and sips at it very delicately as though it were a fine wine. "Everything is great. It'll be great. Why am I panicking?"
Maybe because this is the most nervewracking day in her life, and no matter how much preparation has gone into it, she's worried something will go wrong.
"No, I just heard that there's some girl who's been out with Mister Zane. It just makes me really curious. Wonder if she's as young as I am." It seems to be a bit of a good-natured 'take that' to Hope's earlier sentiments that Hana was too young for Zane. The girl grins wickedly however and reaches out to give Hope a gentle hug — careful not to disturb anything. "It's okay to be nervous, Hope. You want everything to be perfect because it's your day in the sun. That was lame. But it is, it really is. It's understandable. Later we'll be able to laugh. At the reception."
"Mr. Wright isn't seeing anyone!" Hope saw the new article and rolled her eyes at it. "You're fifteen years younger than he is, Hana! That would be like him dating his daughter, and that's just a bit gross." She finishes off her water, careful not to spill any. Then she takes another deep breath.
"It's a beautiful day, even if it's gloomy. It's not going to stop His holy light from shining down upon me today, or on this marriage for the rest of my life. We'll get through this like everything else, and we'll be stronger because of it…"
"Only if he'd had a daughter when he was fifteen!" Hana shoots back, laughing afterward. She wraps an arm around Hope and gives her a squeeze. "That's exactly it. You're already much stronger than you give yourself credit for. You and Bobby are like, the best couple ever. You don't have anything to worry about." Hope gets a big old grin once more. "Besides, if you don't go through with this, I guess you'll never know what I bought you guys!" She seems especially excited about getting to watch Hope unwrap her gift.
"I'd open the gifts anyhow," Hope says with a forced laugh. Still, it is a laugh. "It's true though, right? We're the best couple. We've been through so much." The mark on Hope's neck is thankfully faded now, but there was that. There was the wolf attack. There was the strange breakup and get back together. "I love him probably more than I should. I'm just… well I just want this to go off without any further problems. I keep thinking… what if the wolf attacks? What if later at the reception, we get attacked by vampires? I don't want Bobby to have to go through that. Or any of my guests for that matter."
Hana tsks at Hope and shakes her head, moving to perch on the vanity for a brief moment. "You just can't think like that. I know it's hard, but who in their right minds will try to attack a bunch of Fellowship of the Sun folk? Especially when we all have silver mace, silver chains, silver jewelry… they'd be insane. As for wolves, I wouldn't worry too much." Hana folds her hands in her lap daintily before tilting her head as she watches Hope. "I think you're your own worst enemy right now."
"No one ever said that the demon spawn was ever in their right minds, Hana. Why else would one attack me… in my own home?" Hope used to be embarrassed about that, but now? It's not so bad. She wasn't at fault, and she couldn't have known.
"Oh! Is Serenity out there in her bow? Does she have the ring pillow tied to her back? I don't remember if I asked Faith to take care of that…"
Taking another deep breath, she turns to look in the mirror. Her makeup is glanced at. A strand of hair is tucked behind her ear. "It'll be fine. Everything will be fine…" It's a mantra. One she has to keep saying to herself.
Hana can hardly argue that demon-spawn isn't in their right minds, but some do seem to have some mental faculties. She does not argue that point with Hope at the moment, merely smiling before she slides off the vanity. "Serenity is out there. I think the guests are loving it. She's soaking up the attention. And she does have the ring pillow on her back. Someone must have remembered." Hana reaches out to straighten Hope's dress a little bit before giving a nod. "I'm kind of jealous. You look so beautiful. Maybe someday my prince will come."
Now that the worst of the 'storm' is over, Hope can smile. A bright smile. A happy smile. "Perfect. Remind me to thank whoever did that. I hope it wasn't Bobby stressing over it. He needs to relax today. Did you know Mr. Wright asked him to work security for the campaign?" She seems to be babbling a little, but she seems happy to be doing it. "You know, Hana, someday the perfect guy will just waltz right in the doors of your flower shop. Some day, he'll order you a pretty rose and have you send it to yourself… and when your prince finally comes, I'll be there for you."
The blonde nods for a moment. "I had heard that. I'm both so excited for you because of the campaign, too!" After Hope makes a vow to be there for her, Hana starts to tear up a little bit but forces herself to quit crying — for the simple fact that she has make up on and she can't afford to ruin it this late in the game. "That's so sweet. I'm so glad that we're friends, Hope. I'm so happy that you shared this day with me." Then there's another hug, albeit not a tight one. Prissy gals in their fancy duds and all that.
Oh God. If Hana starts to cry, Hope'll start to cry and no one wants to see a teary bride! "It's going to be great! I really think he's got a chance to win!" So swiftly she's been changing topics, but the babbling is actually helping her calm down. "Hana, beyond my sister, you are my best friend. I couldn't not share this day with you." The hug is returned and she immediately checks her dress to make sure there are no creases and the ribbon isn't out of place.
"Oh my God. The organ music will start soon, and… and then I'll be on my way down that aisle, into the windowed room, and we'll be married… I can't believe it…"
"It's alright. Deep breaths. You're going to be fine. Just think happy thoughts. Think about the food." Hana's own stomach rumbles in a tell-tale way. "I know you've been too nervous to eat, but I bet once you see everything you're going to be starving." Hana licks her own lips momentarily before she turns to peer in the vanity and check her makeup again. She takes in a breath and smiles big. "Just smile and keep thinking about the honeymoon! It's going to be so much fun for you guys."
"The food?" Hope just stares at Hana with wide eyes. "How can you even think about… my goodness, Hana… I feel like vomiting and you just want to think about food?" Laughing, she stares into the mirror. Her eyes close a little and she gives a tiny prayer. "It's not going to be anything too special. I put all the money from the silver spray into fixing up the house so that we can have a rec room in the basement and an extra room in case we decide to expand the family…" Blushing prettily, she turns toward the door.
"Thanks for talking me down, Hana. I'm so ready for this. Just think, soon enough, Reverend Newlin will pronounce us husband and wife, and my new life can start. I guess, really, if everything else goes wrong today, so long as that happens that's what's important."
The idea of Hope and Bobby making beautiful little zealot babies has Hana clapping her hands for joy as she hears those words. She grins at Hope. "I just did what any good bridesmaid does. Granted, the duties are usually split up a bit, but I was up to the challenge." She gently pats Hope's back and smiles, winking at Hope. "It's going to be wonderful. I think I might go take my place. But if you don't show, I'm dragging you out there, perhaps by the hair!"
