CH967

“Leg, Sparkles, sorry to keep the two of you,” Greed called out when they got closer, waving a claw. “But glad you could make it, you cleaned up real well.”

“Hey, wouldn’t miss your wedding for the world, buddy,” Ben told him before offering his hand to the others. “And Gennet, lovely to see you again. Hope Greed hasn’t given you too much trouble?”

“Not more than I can handle,” she laughed, giving her partner a teasing look and letting Ben move onto the last.

“And you must be Saph, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Greed had nothing but good things to say.”

“He wouldn’t know enough to have anything bad,” she told him, giving him the same neutral look as her father had been getting but at least accepted his offered hand, even if it shaped Ben’s expectations of how the day might go.

Maybe she’s just a little cold to strangers then? he wondered. I mean, Greed is still getting it too, but that leaves a bit of hope that she might warm up to him eventually.

“And I’m Thera,” his girlfriend told the younger woman, offering her hand as well and getting a different reaction that immediately forced Ben to try to re-evaluate if what he had gotten was really shyness as Saph looked at Thera with a mild yet clear interest, taking her hand and speaking up.

“Nice to meet you.”

Is she bad with men then, or did I get a cooler reaction because I’m specifically her father’s friend? Mmh, I want to take a peek, but I don’t know if looking in her or Gennet’s head will give away whatever Greed’s trying to keep private. Trying to be an ethical mind reader is a pain in the ass.

“Well, unless we’re in a hurry, you wanna take a seat for a bit?” Ben asked them. “We didn’t know how much of a rush there was going to be, but I think I bought enough food and drinks for everyone. If there’s no time though, I can store them away.”

“Oh, we should have a few minutes at least,” Gennet told him. “The carriage is all ready for us, so as long as we head over to it in the next half hour we should be fine, even if we hit any delays on the way.”

“Okay, cool. One small thing though. Carriage?”

“Greed, did you really not explain it to them when you saw them?”

“Ah, just the one bit slipped my mind,” the crab said bashfully. “We’re actually having the wedding in a town about an hour from here, some of our guests should already be on their way.”

“Greed was insistent on coming along with you though,” Gennet happily told him, leaving Greed to wave a claw at her.

“Babe, please, don’t go outing me like that. I just thought it would be nice to enjoy the ride there with a friend I haven’t seen in a bit is all. The other guests can get some of our time after the ceremony. ‘Sides, this guy is an important fella now, if I don’t sneak in some time from him then how am I going to get any?”

“Coming from one of the biggest musicians in the world, that feels like a bit much,” Ben laughed. “I’m sure you keep pretty busy yourself.”

“Ah, well, my career does have me occupied most days, but I’m starting to slow down on the number of shows. Was doing them almost daily after I got my performance ironed out, dropping to once a week will honestly be more than enough.”

“Good, it seems like you could use a bit of a break.”

“Ha, I’m not taking that from you. Saph, let me tell you, this guy here never stops,” Greed said, trying to bring his daughter into the conversation and getting little for his efforts.

“Yeah, I’ve heard some of your song.”

“Ah, the song doesn’t do it justice, though. Trust me, he’s a good guy to have around. He made you and Gennet both those bracelets I came back with too.”

“Thank you for that, by the way,” Gennet told him graciously, with both her and Saph wearing the authority bracelets he’d made, even if he couldn’t spot the hairpieces on either of them. Gennet’s absence made sense, of course, when one considered that it was meant to be a wedding present and would likely show up somewhere in the ceremony, but it seemed the one Greed had made for his daughter hadn’t yet been given over either. “I’ve already been feeling some of its effects, I can’t imagine how you made something like this.”

“Oh, a bit of a trade secret, but they should already be spreading around the world now, always happy for some friends to get them.”

---

Talking at the cafe a bit longer, eventually they left, walking together to the waiting carriage and watching Jeeves take the front seat while the rest of them piled into the back, trying to keep the conversation going, even if one of them either had little interest or simply didn’t know how to participate in it, Saph keeping largely quiet even when someone tried to pull her in, with Thera being the next to make an attempt, being far more direct about it.

“So Saph, how do you spend your time?” she tried. “Work or school or just anything fun?”

“I was originally going to try and find work, but I was told to relax for a bit,” she answered, leaving Greed to lightly defend himself.

“I just didn’t think there was a need to rush into things, you know? Life can get busier in the future, might as well enjoy yourself now.”

She just shrugged at the statement, but Ben understood where his friend was coming from. If he were in Greed’s position, he might have subtly tried to convince her to take it easy too, considering both the resources Greed held and what lay ahead in the future. Why would he want his daughter spending time doing work when they could all be dead in a few months? If he could support her, wouldn’t it be nicer to let her relax and do what she wanted instead?

Of course, a job is a way to make friends too. he admitted. Maybe talking her out of getting one is isolating her a bit?

Something to consider talking to Greed about later. For the time, it seemed like Saph wasn’t done, continuing to glance Thera’s way before speaking up of her own volition.

“Um, I like your dress,” she offered, making her own small attempt at communication. “And your hair. Are they common styles for your people?”

“Oh, thank you, but no, they aren’t. They might be for his though,” she said, nodding Ben’s way. “He made the dress and did my hair since I don’t really do it myself.”

“Ah.”

“The dress is a common enough style where I’m from, even if I tried to make it on the fancy end of the spectrum considering the occasion,” Ben explained. “The hair is a bit less common, but when I was a kid, well, I occasionally did hair for others, and it’s fun enough.”

He neglected to mention that he specifically was taught by his mother who thought he might have an interest considering all of the other arts he loved, considering that Saph had still somewhat recently lost hers he saw nothing smart about bringing that up, but Thera took over, able to tell as well that the girl seemed more comfortable with her.

“If you’re interested, Ben could do both for you too,” she offered on his behalf. “There’s still time before the wedding; if you like it then we could match.”

“Um, I mean, I guess there’s enough time to try getting my hair done if that’s really okay…” she began, sounding hesitant but interested, with Ben joining in.

“Of course, but if you’d like a dress like that too then there really is time for both,” he said, materializing some much smaller examples of dresses on mannequins for her to look at, surprising the girl when she saw it. “I’m quite the craftsman, let me know what colours you’d like and I can whip something up easily.”

“Wow,” she muttered, taken aback enough by the display of power to forget her earlier hesitation with him, only getting it back a second later. “But, well, if it’s really okay…”

“Of course it is. Turn around and I’ll start working on your hair, and you can think about what colours you’d like for the dress in the meantime. I’ll get you sorted before you know it.”

Still not seeming confident, she turned to Gennet, immediately getting encouragement that left her to accept, letting Ben begin working on her hair while she engaged slightly more with the conversation from there.

---

Once they arrived, Ben and Greed stepped outside to let Thera and Gennet help Saph with the dress in the carriage, the girl choosing white with some black embroidery in the end and allowed Ben to take a look at the destination and feel the eyes on them once they arrived.

On the edge of a small town, there was quite the crowd already waiting, gathered along an open field that sat between both the town itself and a woods on the other side of it, with tables lined up to serve food at and what looked like an area for a performance to be set up, along with more walls and a large, tarped-over area, with his observation of the grounds broken only as the three came out.

“It looks wonderful,” he told Saph brightly. “Is the fit okay?”

“Um, yes, it’s excellent. Thank you.”

She seemed a bit more bashful than before, letting Ben hope that meant she was opening up a bit to him as well as he once more leaned towards shyness being the girl’s main issue, with Greed speaking up as well.

“You look downright incredible, Saph. You really pull it off.”

“Thanks.”

Instantly withdrawn again, it didn’t stop Greed, something on the crab’s mind distracting him from his daughter’s cold attitude.

“But with that done, Sparkles, you mind joining my girls to help Gennet with any setup she needs? I wanna have just one last word with legs before we get started.”

“If you don’t mind, Gennet, I’d be happy to help,” Thera agreed before focusing back on Ben. “I’ll find you in a bit then?”

“Sounds good.”

“And baby,” Gennet said. “If I’m getting ready, remember what you’re doing. All you have to do is follow what the master of ceremonies says during it and things will turn out fine.”

“You got it babe, it’ll be great, so don’t worry and get ready for a lifetime of marital bliss.”

He waved them off as he said it, leaving only him and Greed in that moment as Jeeves went off to find a slightly better spot to park the carriage.

“So,” Ben asked. “Did I misunderstand, or do you not know what you’re doing for your wedding?”

“I mean, kind of not, but she said it was just following along with the ceremony guy so it should be easy. I’m a performer, Legs, I’m not worried. About that at least. Uh, so, I wanna quickly have a chat about the little secret in my head I was keeping from you.”

“And I’m immediately worried, but okay, let’s hear it.”

“Nah, no, it will probably be fine, really,” Greed told him. “And I want you to know that even if you say no, it’s not like this is the only reason I was inviting you and all, I just kind of figured that…”

“It would be harder for me to decline if I’m put on the spot?”

“I was trying to find a way to say it that doesn’t make me come off so shitty, but yeah, you hit the nail on the head.”

“It’s fine, Greed. You’re my friend. I’ll hear you out, so what is it?”

“Okay, so the thing is, and I want to stress I really don’t think anything is going to happen but seeing as you're a mind reader and all, I was just hoping that you might be up for going around and making sure I’m not murdered during this.”