An excerpt from The Syndicate 3: Something Blue

[julesjones]

Alex and I wrote this scene around the time the Civil Partnership legislation started the process of going through parliament, although that wasn't the actual inspiration. It was simply my comment on where I wanted my church to be going.



As he entered the church, Vaughan turned to look at him. Vaughan's jaw dropped.

Well, if he looked as stunning as Vaughan did, it was no wonder.

He, at least, had the advantage of having seen Vaughan's outfit, even if he'd never seen Vaughan in the full rig. Vaughan and Karen had gone for the Robin Hood look, in trousers, boots, and tunics that laced up the front. Karen just looked good. Vaughan, tall and solid, with a wreath of flowers crowning his mane of curls, looked like some wild woods god.

And he's mine. Allard felt his knees go weak, just for a second or two.

“No shagging in church,” Harry whispered.

That got his feet solidly back on the ground. This was a respectable Anglican church, with no shagging on the altar. Even if he found himself taking quick visual measurements of the altar, for fantasy purposes.

They processed down the aisle, Vaughan staring at him all the way. Allard kept thinking he’d smudged his face crawling under something again; that was normally a much more plausible explanation for staring than ‘I look gorgeous today!’

From the way Vaughan’s eyes were gleaming, there was no smudge.

Finally, all five of them were standing at the front of the church, facing the vicar. Good old Reverend Parker had come out of retirement for this, to Allard’s intense pleasure. The old man beamed at them before opening his book. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God and in the face of this congregation, to join together these two people in holy matrimony ...”

Allard let the old, comforting words wash over him. Reverend Parker had a real feel for the poetry of the service, making it a joy to listen to.

Vaughan’s voice nearly broke, as he said, “I do.”

Allard rather liked that. It showed that he was taking the proceedings with the requisite seriousness.

Of course, when Allard’s voice did the same, that was just embarrassing.

And then it was done, and they were walking to the vestry to sign the register. Vaughan actually waited until the door was shut behind them before grabbing him.

“No smudging the makeup!” Harry said sternly.

“I don’t think ‘witness’ implies you have to watch us snog,” said Allard.

“Well, it says so in my copy of the paperwork,” said Harry.

Allard looked at Harry’s copy of the hymn sheet. At the bottom, it said “Make sure they snog without smudging their makeup” in Claire’s handwriting.

“I thought Claire said this makeup was bombproof,” said Vaughan.

“Yes, but it’s probably not Vaughan-proof.”

“It’s your day, gentlemen,” the vicar said. “You do what you like.”

Allard saw the gleam in Vaughan’s eye, and mouthed, “But not that much of what you like!”

Harry was so nervous, he had to sign the register twice, because it wasn’t legible the first time. Claire and Karen managed to carry out their duties as witness without problems.

Then it was time to go out and face all their friends and relatives.

Vaughan snogged him.

“That’s my Dad -- well, those are my Dads!” said a familiar piping voice proudly.

Allard looked.

“You look very smart today, Mark,” he said. There was only one person in the church who was box-shaped and wearing a grey top hat tilted rakishly on one corner.

“I asked for a bow-tie, too, but they weren’t sure where to put it.”

There was actually a bow-tie on the ... person next to Mark. It was the audiovisual link representing MCU93, because MCU93 was not that mobile and would probably overshadow the ceremony.

“Time to go,” said Vaughan quietly, offering his arm.

Allard walked down the aisle with Vaughan, uncomfortably aware that he was grinning all over his face. It didn’t bother him too much, because so was Vaughan. Allard was a firm believer in the ‘If I Have To Look An Idiot So Should Someone Else’ theory of social behaviour.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Have I ever told you how much I loved that series? And when you consider I don't normally like futuristic Sci-Fi, I think that says a LOT for your characters.

BevQB

[julesjones]

:-)

Ally Blue always says that Allard's a pill, but she loves him anyway. But that's his appeal -- you want to slap him sometimes, but he's also intensely loyal, hard-working, well aware of his own faults, and calms down a lot once he's living and working with people he likes. He's not a conventional romance hero, but he's a lot of fun to watch.