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Post By The Hooded Hood Thu Nov 30, 2006 at 06:05:42 am EST |
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Something Old, Something Blue: A CrazySugarFreakWedding! Tie-in | |
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| Something Old, Something Blue: A CrazySugarFreakWedding! Tie-in “A wedding!” Asil beamed, almost dancing around the room. “Isn’t it wonderful?” “Very happy for them,” Sir Mumphrey Wilton conceded. “Young Foxglove’s a fine chap. Sure he’ll make Miss Apple very happy.” “It’s just what we need, what with all this doom and gloom that’s going around.” Asil was gradually working through the files that Amber had maintained for Sir Mumphrey while the Lisa-clone was absent in Faerie and putting them into her own system. “Should be a big boost for morale, yes.” Asil stopped in mid-skip between filing cabinets. “Is something the matter?” she wondered. “Only you don’t seem as… happy about it all as I’d expected.” Mumphrey put down the force readiness estimate he was reading and rubbed his temples. “Sorry, m’dear. Don’t mean to spoil your good mood, what? It’s just been a dashed difficult few months.” Asil immediately regretted being so lighthearted around the leader of the combined Earth defence force. “Yes. I forgot. About you having to send people to die, and the thing with the bombing of the cities where the Parody Master portals were opening. I just got carried away.” Mumphrey managed a fond smile. “Quite right, too, Asil. Life goes on. You enjoy living it.” But Asil saw the pain behind the genial mask her mentor was wearing. “What about you?” she asked. “Can’t you enjoy it as well? Just for a few hours?” “I’ll be attending the ceremony,” the eccentric Englishman agreed. “Won’t be wearing any dashed fancy dress though. Told Mr Boaz that I’d wear dress uniform with medals, but that’s as far as I go.” Asil privately thought that full dress British cavalry parade uniform actually was fancy dress but she didn’t say so. Usually only Killer Shrike had a topknot. “What about you, m’dear?” Mumph asked her. “What shall you wear? Will it be pretty? Will Mr Gedney approve?” Asil flushed. “I’m sure I have no idea why Mr Gedney should approve or not,” she answered. “Is Mr Gedney even going to the wedding?” From this Mumphrey surmised that Mr Gedney had somehow transgressed and had fallen from grace. “I thought you took him his invitation round to that museum of his?” “Well yes,” conceded Asil. “But then… we talked about costumes for the wedding.” “Jolly good. So what’s the problem?” “Geo… Mr Gedney didn’t know what to wear. So I suggested that he could go dressed as Visionary.” “And the young man didn’t approve?” “Visionary is a Great Man. Why shouldn’t he approve?” Asil demanded defensively. “But then… that… that person suggested that we should go in matching costumes.” “Both of you as Visionary?” Mumphrey thought the idea a little odd but couldn’t see why it was so offensive. Asil idolised Vizh. “He suggested that I could go dressed as Lisa!” hissed Asil, colouring with anger. “In that sleazy slutwear the doody-head prances about in!” “Ah.” “Anyhow,” sniffed the girl. “I shall be taking up Trickshot’s suggestion.” “Hmph. Are you sure that’s wise? I mean, Bastion…” “I shall simply wear my faerie outfit, as Dorothy from Oz,” Asil said with dignity. “Carl said it was most becoming, and Con agreed with him. So there.” Mumphrey suspected that it was the costume’s brevity that gained the approval of Trickshot and Johnstantine, and made a noise in his throat that suggested future conversations with them on the topic. “Well then, we’ll try and put our troubles behind us for the duration of the nuptials, shall we, Miss Ashling?” “I think we should,” Asil agreed. “Will you be bringing Sam to the wedding?” “Sam?” the eccentric Englishman repeated. “Why?” “Because she’d probably like it. She can meet Mags and Griff, catch up with her friends in the Legion, maybe dress up and have some fun.” Mumphrey looked uncomfortable. “I think my grand-daughter is safer where she is, back at school,” he ventured. “With Nanny Greenwood keepin’ a quiet eye on her.” “Well, you could at least ask her, next time you visit.” Something in the old man’s face alerted Asil. “You have been visiting Samantha, haven’t you?” “Hmph. Busy time, don’t you know, what with this Parody Blighter and…” “Mumphrey Wilton! Have you been to see that poor girl? Have you seen her at all since you sent her away after her parents were murdered in front of her eyes?” The old gentleman tugged at his wing collar as if it was too tight. “Better if she doesn’t see me,” he mumbled. “Better if she gets on remakin’ her life.” Asil caught his hands and held them. “You are not to blame for what happened to them,” she insisted. “Sam doesn’t blame you either. She’s a damned sight more sensible than you are. Or me.” “Agreed,” conceded Mumphrey. “Well then. Bring her to the wedding. Talk to her. Let her play with Glory and meet the profusion of kittens driving Sergeant MacHarridan to distraction. Let her have some fun.” She smiled at Mumph. “You have some fun.” Mumphrey snorted, then couldn’t help letting out a chuckle that became a laugh. “I have missed you, my dear,” he confessed to his amanuensis. “Everybody else is so polite and reserved with me.” “Well then,” Asil grinned in response, “Good job I’m back then.” And for the curious, here are the dress uniform of a member of Her Majesty’s Horse Guards and the official regalia of a Most Honourable Knight of the Order of the Garter:   Original concepts, characters, and situations copyright © 2006 reserved by Ian Watson. Other Parodyverse characters copyright © 2006 to their creators. The use of characters and situations reminiscent of other popular works do not constitute a challenge to the copyrights or trademarks of those works. The right of Ian Watson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. |
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