Love and Honor (Part 1 of 3)
Posted on 27 Feb 2015 @ 4:09am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Nesh Saalm & Petty Officer 1st Class Siren Hex Saalm & Aila Saalm & Lieutenant JG Dorian West & Lieutenant Aria Rice
2,682 words; about a 13 minute read
Mission:
Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: Rigel VII - Vajripam outskirts, Kolj Beach
Timeline: MD 22 - 0630 local
[ON]
After many days of preparation and much entertainment and relaxation, the morning of Lirha and Siren's wedding had finally arrived. And morning it was, with the large star Rigel barely visible across the expansive ocean as it began to peek over the horizon. Aila, in all her wisdom, had chosen a most excellent location for the ceremony itself -- Kolji Beach -- which was located only a kilometer from Vajripam's lucrative waterfront properties. With the fine white sand glistening and reflecting the disappearing moonlight and now twinkling beneath the new dawn, the calm frothy ocean waves lapped gently against the shore line not too far from where the ceremonial fire pits and tents were.
Despite the early hour of the morning, most of the wedding guests and participants had already arrived, of which there were many. Perhaps three-hundred already assembled, much to Lirha's delight. Both sides of the family had arrived, the Saalms and the Hords, as well as their extended families, significant others, personal friends, business acquaintances, servants, and anyone else who might just have decided to enjoy the festivities. There had been no rehearsal like with many Earth weddings, but the two brides had spent the previous evening on the beach separated from each other while chatting with the family and preparing for this day. It was tradition, after all.
Now, Lirha stood inside of her private tent with Aila who was assisting her with her wedding garbs. Per tradition, both her and Siren were to wear traditional Orion wedding attire, which in this case consisted of an elaborate golden bra with armored shoulder plates, an equally intricate metallic garter belt complete with loincloths on the back and the front as well as a plethora of golden jewelry and wristscuffs, and topped off by the Saalm family's large golden crown. All in all it was quite an outfit, and Lirha had been struggling to get fully dressed for the past twenty minutes.
"Are you finished yet?" she huffed at her mother who was clasping the final spiraled cuff ornaments around her upper arms. She has been up since 0500 and was now getting slightly impatient, not to mention hungry.
"Patience, my little barbed flower....you made me wait long enough for this day, the least you can do is wait a few more minutes for perfection," Aila replied in a sing-song voice that added a note of playfulness to the words. "There..." her mother smiled as she pushed herself back to admire her work before taking hold of her hand to stand her in front of the mirror so she could see for herself.
Lirha sighed with relief then quickly walked to the indicated mirror to look at herself. Her jaw nearly dropped when she saw the reflection of herself, and she brought her hand up to cover her surprised reaction and budding tears of happiness.
She looked -- at least in her mind -- like a full-blown Orion princess. The jewelry, crown, cuffs...it all looked so regal that she stood there speechless and in delight. Despite her heritage, she'd grown up aboard a freighter far from home, and had only seen holo-pics and videos of such traditional Orion dress. For her to now be standing head-to-toe with the same dress on was, well...a young girl's dream come true. "..Oh, mother....amazing..." she whispered with happiness and amazement.
Aila smiled with warmth at the reaction, having to swallow past the lump in her own throat. She moved close behind her, reaching to squeeze her shoulders, resting her cheek against her hair. "Indeed...you are," she said softly, rubbing her shoulder. "And so beautiful...but you do not need all of this to make you that. You always have been."
"I hope Siren likes it. She has never seen me like this before," thought Lirha out-loud. "Are there anymore preparations for the ceremony? Or are we ready now?" she excitedly asked. Not exactly too familiar with the intricacies of the wedding planning, she had left most of that up to her mother who had already been through the process once and was more familiar with the customs. "And where is Nesh?" she asked, wondering why she hadn't yet seen her little sister.
"I sent Nesh to look in on Siren. She has no family for...this," Aila motioned down Lirha, not wanting to dwell on it out loud. "We are almost there, believe it or not," she chuckled softly, moving to take a small box. Standing close, she pushed it gently into her hands. "I want you to have this, and wear it, if it pleases you," she met her eyes with open love, stroking her hand to encourage her to open it.
Lirha took the offered gift with a surprised look in her eyes and instantly began to wonder what it could be. A ring? Rank pips? A necklace made of gold-pressed latinum? "What is it?" she excitedly asked as she began to open the box.
"It's an anklet," Aila said quickly, unable to help herself with jumping in. It was surprisingly simple for Orion tastes. Gold, of course, but a fine chain spaced with diamond like crystals that hung off it as delicate charms. "My mother gave it to me, on my wedding day. Accuse me of being sentimental if you wish, but I thought...well, it's fitting.
Aila's daughter beamed with joy as she stared it at. Ever so delicately, she lightly grazed her fingers over the shiny piece of jewelry and admired the elegant craftsmanship. "It's beautiful!" she exclaimed with much satisfaction before turning and squeezing her mother tight with a warm hug. "Can you put it on for me? I feel like I might fall over from all this shoulder armor if I bend over."
Aila laughed softly with her, kneeling easily to fix it around the slender ankle, clearly pleased she wanted to wear it on such an important day. She tapped her foot fondly as she finished, standing to take her hands tightly and kiss each cheek in turn. "Are you ready?"
With an enthusiastic nod accompanied by jingle of jewelry and metal armor plating, Lirha smiled and looked back over herself in the mirror one last time and adjusted her large pointed crown so that it sat perfectly on her head. "Ready!"
In the other tent away from the Saalms, things had been somewhat slower.
Siren's gaze was on the Orion wedding outfit that was hung up from a high rail, but she had yet to get any of it on. In fact, she'd been busying herself and her help with everything else that could be done.
She'd asked for her long, red hair to be loosely waved to give a little movement but also style to her hair. And then, she had decided her nails should be painted the dark red colour before touching any clothing. Then, she'd said that it was crucial to have her makeup done before getting any clothing on, in case of accidents. Which, of course, was true.
But Siren was watching the garment and adornments as they finished, unsure and perplexed. It may be a traditional Orion wedding, but....well, Siren wasn't Orion. It would feel so odd to wear the outfit, let alone in front of all those other Orions and guests, and for her own wedding. The problem was, she'd now run out of tasks that needed doing, and with time ticking down, she needed to get something on.
She had asked Aria to bring in the dress they had picked on the Starbase, but she hadn't unzipped the bag having seen the other outfit already ready and waiting for her in the tent. And now? She'd run out of time to try and get used to it.
Aria frowned as she watched. She had seen the discomfort in her face, noticed what she was doing. Truth was...Siren clearly didn't want to wear that dress. The Orion outfit wasn't...Siren. It wasn't her wedding dress. She glanced over at Nesh, trying to see if she noticed, before coughing politely. "So..." she moved closer to Siren, watching her in the mirror. "I know that every bride should feel like a princess on their wedding day. I...am starting to notice that might not be how the Orion outfit will make you feel...?" she asked, with a small sympathetic smile to Siren. Hell, if she had to tie Nesh up so that Siren could wear what she wanted, she so totally would.
"It's....not what I expected," Siren admitted quietly, shaking her head as she looked it over. Her natural instinct was to lick her lips but she resisted the urge with the fresh makeup. "I thought that girls usually pick their own wedding dresses."
Nesh, of course, was absolutely oblivious as she hurried around in her own Orion-style, wedding party garment, which was appropriately themed and colored to accent her figure, complete with faded gold bangles (as to not detract from Lirha and Siren's outfits). She had poked her head in to assist Siren, much on her own prompting, smile as bright as the suns of Vajripam. "Hey! Is everything going alright in here? Do you need some help? Water? Wing slug?"
"No," Aria said and frowned. She looked over at Nesh before back at Siren, her features setting. Fine. Someone had to do something. "Everything is fine. We are just getting the wedding dress on." With that, Aria walked over to the bag hanging in the corner. She opened it, revealing the ivory silk wedding dress hanging inside of it. She looked over at Siren, smiling to the other woman. "This is your wedding day, hopefully the only one you will have. And you're marrying the woman you love in a wedding dress you love, merging two cultures together. And all will be shiny!" she took the dress and moved to Siren, stepping on the stool she had set up. "Dressing gown off, arms up, Hex. Let's do this." And damned the consequences, she couldn't care less about Orion tradition. This was one of her best friends and she would wear the dress that she had fallen for.
Siren watched her with wide eyes for a long moment, fighting what she thought she ought to do and what she wanted. Finally, she moved to Aria, her words making her feel better that it wouldn't be a terrible thing to wear the human wedding dress. She moved to her, letting Aria slide it over her.
The 1930s styled, light silk dress flowed over the curves of her body, hugging it down to around her knees where it flared out slightly to the ground, forming a slight train behind her. It was tailored well enough to both hug her figure, but also move and ripple fluidly with her. It was sleeveless apart from the thin straps over her shoulders that gave both a high, curved neckline that gathered in ripples of silk, and also a low, diving backline, gathering at the small of her back, showing the entire expanse of her bare back.
Siren let Aria do most of the work getting it on her though, worried she'd damage the delicate, whispy silk with her nerves. "You know, Nesh, a drink sounds great right about now. Sparkling wine, wine, anything..."
Nesh wasn't too fond of Aria's tone, but this wasn't the time or place to get huffy. It wasn't her big day, after all. "Anything? I'll see what I can find you!" And she was off in search of something nice and bubbly to calm the bride's nerves.
Aria watched Nesh go before smiling weakly, looking at Siren "You look beautiful," she said and finished, only to step back and go and get the shoes. "How you should be."
Siren gave a gentle, grateful smile before shaking her head softly. "There's so many people out there," she whispered, the nerves showing. "I don't know most of them," she laughed gently, shrugging in a soft motion. "I had no family to ask. You don't usually think about it from day to day, but...something like this sort of brings it to the front. Thank you for coming. It's nice to have....someone from my side too," she met her eyes, nodding almost resolutely to her.
Aria smiled gently at the words, at the lump it brought to her throat, before touching her shoulder, squeezing it. "I'm on your side. Hell, I prefer being on your side, it's all red and sexy there," she winked before nodding firmly. "So when you marry Lirha, remember you can always come to me if things get too hairy with her family. Even for a few hours."
It didn't take long before the young Orion returned, balancing a trio of bubbly Orion wine glasses in her hands. "Here we go! I got one for everyone, just in case!" Nesh beamed, handing one to Siren before passing the other to Aria. "Exciting, isn't it?"
"I think so," Aria said and smiled warmly, taking the glass. "Thank you so much for getting these, Nesh. I'd have come back after finishing a few bottles..."
"And that would not be good," Siren laughed softly, her spirits easing again. She lifted the glass to the other two women, taking a moment just to enjoy the intimacy of their little trio. "A toast...to horizons new."
Nesh held up her glass, nodding in Aria's direction. "The bottle's for after the wedding... but, a toast!"
"Oh! Toast! To a great wedding?" she suggested, raising her glass as she smiled to Nesh and Siren
"A great day," Siren agreed warmly with a laugh, tapping her glass to theirs before draining half of it in one go.
Looking over to the Orion wedding outfit that was still hanging, Siren smiled softly to herself, looking at the gold crown at the top. "I recognise that," she said thoughtfully, but couldn't put her finger on it.
Nesh held back the surprised gasp that was threatening to escape the depths of her throat. Had Lirha not told Siren about the most important piece of the bride's outfit? Somehow managing to recover from the potential faux pas of offending Siren, the young Orion nodded her head toward the pointy, golden crown. "The crown is an Orion tradition! Brides wear the crown of their spouse's mother as a symbol of the family's acceptance of the marriage! Each crown is different from family-to-family too, like this one-" Nesh pointed toward the crown's long, pointy prong. "Symbolizes the hopeful longevity of a positive and fruitful marriage, no matter what that means."
"Ah..." Siren nodded, watching it with slightly narrowed eyes before looking between the girls. "Well, I could wear the crown with my wedding dress, couldn't I? I mean...I think it would go with this dress even if it is human...the rest of my jewellery is gold too." She liked the idea. It would mean she was still wearing something of the Orion outfit, and something of sentiment too. And it would be a merger...her culture's outfit with something from Lirha's culture and family. Kind of what the day was all about really. "Let's try the crown on..."
To Be Continued...
[OFF]
--
CDRE Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo
Cadet SO Wintrow Paragon
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
[PNPC T'Vanna]
Cadet FO Nesh Saalm
Scientist's Mate
USS Galileo
[PNPC Kita]
PO1 Siren Hex Saalm
Intelligence
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]
LT JG Dorian West
Counsellor
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]
LCmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo
LT JG Aria Rice
Security
USS Galileo
[PNPC Devin]
Aila Saalm
Mother & Civilian
[PNPC Blake]
CMCPO Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo
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