xp_logs | Viva Las Vegas

Backdated to Friday Night/Just Barely Saturday. Terry and Bobby get out of Zumanity and find a quarter on the side walk. They determine the rest of the evening via this form of fortune-telling. Features sky-diving Elvises (Elvii?).

The desert heat dissipated quickly and by the time they left New York, New York after the show, Terry needed to borrow Bobby's jacket. It was still early by Vegas standards and the streets were crawling with people determined to have a wonderful time before the summer ended. Las Vegas had sold their new slogan well and it was obvious that more than a few tourists were embracing the 'what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas' attitude. It was a heady, reckless atmosphere and it crept in slowly but inexorably and colored the whole world. When they'd arrived on Tuesday, pancakes at midnight had been Terry's only goal. Now she was thinking that she wanted to do something that would be completely insane anywhere that wasn't Vegas.

"What about sky diving? Can we go sky diving?" she asked, head tilted back to look at Bobby.

Bobby laughed, slipping an arm around her shoulders. "Skydiving? When, now? I don't know if there's a lot of night skydiving going on, babe," he pointed out, the lights and glitz still a bit dazzling even after most of a week there. It was exhilarating to just walk along the strip, looking at all of the big, fancy hotels, the lots renting sports cars exclusively, porn shops and wedding chapels tucked in next to souvenir stands and hole-in-the-wall restaurants.

"Okay, not sky diving." Terry skipped ahead a few paces and bent over to pick up a coin, "Look, a quarter!" She turned and grinned at Bobby, "What do you want to do? We can flip for it. I win, we find night sky diving. With Elvises."

"Isn't the plural Elvii?" Bobby mused, looking around. They were stopped in front of one of the hundreds of wedding chapels, this one having an inordinate amount of lacey wood decorations and a rose-covered arch leading to the front door, as well as a pair of hearts in neon proclaiming it the 'Forever Love Wedding Chapel'. "Uhh...if I win, we go in there and pretend we're going to get married." He grinned. "I call heads."

"Elvises, it's Greek or Latin or which ever one of those means that it isn't Elvii." Terry's grin widened, "Vegas wedding against sky diving Elvises. All right, I think that's a good match." She held out the coin first, "Observe, this perfectly ordinary quarter. Legal US tender, once destined for a life of rattling through slot machines, now turned into an object to determine the future. I have," she pushed the sleeves of his jacket up, revealing pale skin scattered with freckles, "nothing up my sleeves."

She flicked it into the air and watched it spin in the glitter of neon and night.

Bobby leaned over her shoulder as she trapped the coin beneath her hand, both of them grinning. She slowly lifted her hand, revealing George Washington's profile. "Heads!" Bobby crowed triumphantly. "Fake Vegas wedding it is!"

He slipped his arm around her waist and turned her to look at the chapel. "Ready for some 'Forever Love', baby?"

Terry batted her eyelashes at him, "Do you even have to ask?" With a high, giddy giggle, she gave him a kiss, "They'd kill us at the mansion if they knew we even joked about this." Catching his hands in her own, she pulled him forward, "Do you think they have an Elvis priest? That would be awesome. Do you take this hunka burnin' love to be your teddy bear for all your life?" Her Elvis impersonation was dreadful, Mississippi by way of Ireland.

"Oh God. You're terrible," Bobby groaned, heading toward the door with a nervous flutter. They were just pretending, but it was still exciting. "I will never be married by an Elvis. Never." He reached out and pulled the door open, holding it for her with a grin and a flourish. "Ladies first."

"Only a little married. I want a big wedding, family, friends, expensive flowers, the whole thing." Terry skipped in ahead of him, nearly slipping on the glossy red tiles. It was surprisingly quiet inside, the Wedding March played faintly over tinny speakers and a laughing quartet with a bouquet of paper roses signed a guestbook over in the corner. "Aw, it's so sweet! Look, they have little angels holding the canopy!"

"Cherubs," volunteered a sweet-faced woman in a dated floral gown, emerging from a small office to one side. "Are you two lovebirds just looking or are you ready to take the plunge?" Moving surprisingly quickly, she came over and gave them both an enormous hug. "Let me tell you about our packages!"

Bobby laughed, looking around and slipping a possessive arm around Terry's shoulders. "Oh, I think we're ready," he assured the woman, grinning at the newlyweds as they left with their friends, waving and giving he and Terry the thumbs up. "Let's hear what our choices are, right sweetheart?" He kissed the top of Terry's head, feeling giddy for some reason. This was awesome.

"Well, come right this way and I'll show you." She led them over to a glossy brochure and quickly went through a dizzying array of options. "There's the traditional package, perfect for that old world charm. The theme packages are lovely! It's so unique and fun. Elvis or disco or how about a renaissance wedding? My favorite, I have to tell you, is this one. It's the Forever Love Eternity special. $450 and that includes all the little details plus a real flower bouquet. Have either of you been married before?" Her eyes swept down over their hands, checking for rings.

Terry giggled, "No, we haven't. It's our first time." She tilted her head back to look up at Bobby, "You pick, you suggested this."

"A renaissance wedding? That'd be cool. Let me discuss it with my lovely fiancee for a moment, though." Bobby gave the woman a quick smile and pulled Terry aside, leaning his head close to hers. "...Wanna do it?" he asked in a low, excited voice.

She kissed him, because she couldn't really be expected to resist could she? Not when he was right there! "You won the toss, you get to pick. You have always been my knight in shining armor. It sounds like a lot of fun!" She pressed one hand to her stomach, reminding the crazed butterflies that this wasn't a real wedding.

Bobby nodded and looked over to where the woman was discreetly waiting for their decision. "Let's do the renaissance one. With an upgrade for a bouquet," he added on impulse. Terry deserved a bouquet.

"Excellent choice!" The woman clapped her hands and then held them out toward Terry. "Let's get you into a suitable dress then, Guinevere. And Lancelot, you're with Mason. Mason!" she shouted into a doorway, and a middle-aged man in a rather worn black tuxedo appeared a moment later. "Ah, there you are. Take our young Lancelot here in to select his raiment." Bobby giggled nervously and shot Terry a look. Man, they were really gonna do it.

Terry followed the woman through the office to a little dressing room with an enormous closet. The air smelled like perfume and Febreze, a very strange combination. "What size do you wear, dear? 1, 3? I think you should wear something absolutely gorgeous and simple. Just let all that hair do the work, hmm?"

"Uh, three, yeah." Terry fidgeted nervously as the woman vanished into the closet and wondered what Bobby was doing wherever they'd taken him. The whole experience was so surreal.

Mason didn't seem quite as vivacious as what Bobby assumed was his wife. He led Bobby into a small walk-in closet and pointed to a rack of clothing. "Take your pick," he mumbled and retreated again, leaving Bobby to stare at the different outfits--one that looked like something Shakespeare would wear, a fake 'chain mail' suit that was just silver sparkly fabric, with a red tabard over it and a fleur-de-lis in gold on the front of that, and a kind of Henry the VIIIish outfit. "Good god," Bobby muttered as he explored the costumes and found a monk's robe. That was kind of in poor taste, wasn't it?

He sighed and grabbed the chain-mail costume, exiting the closet to find Mason waiting with a bored expression. "Dressing room's over there," he said with a jerk of his thumb. "You got any witnesses?"

Bobby blinked, taking a few seconds to register the question. "Uh. No. It's just us." Mason nodded and started away, telling Bobby to return to the foyer when he'd finished changing. "Good ol' Las Vegas charm," Bobby said under his breath, and ducked into the dressing room to get ready.

Fifteen minutes later, Terry was staring at her reflection in the tiny dressing room mirror while the woman who had finally introduced herself as Tabitha fussed over the way her hair fell over her shoulder. "Your groom is just going to fall over when he sees you. Oh, honey, just look at you. Such a pretty bride!" She gave Terry a squeeze on her shoulders. "Now, you just come on back to the foyer when you're ready. I'm just going to pop off and have a little chat with your young man."

She vanished before Terry could utter a sound. Terry stared after her for a second then looked back into the mirror. Something inside her was slightly hysterical at the sight of her reflection in an empire-waisted white velvet gown, with its brocade overlay on the skirt and the tall pointed cap and veil. She started to giggle and had to sit down, suddenly light headed. What in the name of God was she doing?

Bobby looked in the mirror and wrinkled his nose. It was a cheesy outfit, but kinda cool. And what could he expect from a little 24-hour wedding chapel on the strip, anyway? He sighed and took the hood thing off, put it on again, then decided to leave it off.

He sighed and headed back into the foyer where Mason was standing with a little old lady that looked like she was old enough to be the prof's grandmother. She gave him a toothless grin. "What a handsome man you are," she lisped cheerfully, and Bobby shifted uncomfortably, glancing around. He was ready to see Terry again, please. His stomach was doing flips by now, full-out somersaults and cartwheels, and he just wanted to get it over with. "While we wait for your young lady, would you like to take care of payment?" Mason asked.

"Oh. Sure," Bobby muttered. "My wallet's back in the--lemme get it." He ducked back into the dressing room, letting out a breath that frosted the mirror. Calm down and pay the nice people, Drake. You've come this far, they deserve to be compensated for it all. He snatched up his wallet and headed back into the waiting area, wordlessly handing over a credit card.

"You look pale," little-old-lady commented, and Bobby gave her a tight-lipped, nervous smile. "Nothing more romantic than getting married in Las Vegas," she added, and reached for Bobby's hand, giving it a squeeze and then leading him over to a small, glass-front refrigerator. "Here. Why don't you pick some flowers for your princess while you wait?" There were several plexiglass stands holding small floral bouquets, he realized as he stared into the cooler.

Entirely embarrassing fainting incident averted, Terry put on some lipgloss and took a deep breath then gathered up the long skirts on the gown and headed back to the foyer. She was really beginning to hate the sound of the Wedding March and wondered if it could possibly be changed to something less...funereal. As she stepped out of the dressing room, Tabitha ran up to her. "This way, dear, this way."

"Wait!" Terry dug in her heels, "I want to see Bobby!" Her voice was a little too high and shrill but it couldn't be helped.

Bobby heard Terry's voice, sounding a bit panicked, and tried to follow it, but little-old-lady had his elbow in an iron grip. Damn, she was stronger than she looked! "Now, now, dear, she's just got jitters. Let Tabby handle your bride-to-be, and you just wait right here."

Bobby shot a nervous glance toward the hallway and nodded. "Right. Okay." He sighed and looked back at the flowers, just pointing to one at random. "That one's fine." He looked anxiously toward the hall again. What was taking so long? Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe they should just leave.

Tabitha pulled a pouting Terry down the hall to the chapel proper and told her to wait for the organist's cue. "Now, lovey, don't be nervous. Everything's going to be just darling, you'll treasure this memory for the rest of your life. By the way, honey, you do have proof of ID on you, right?" Terry nodded dumbly. "Marvelous! I'm going to get your Bobby, oh aren't you so excited, dear?"

And then she was gone again.

Terry considered the likelihood that Bobby would be upset with her for sneaking out and going to find a sky diving place. That would have been so much less terrifying than this. At least they changed the music, though Wagner was no more cheering, particularly the muzak version that they had scrounged up.

Bobby was led down a hall and into the chapel through a side door, having to wait for Mason and 'mother' to precede him. He followed them into the room, where the little old lady beelined for a vision in white and handed over the bouquet of white and red roses, then went to sit in a small chair as Bobby gaped, seeming to sleepwalk his way to the altar. "...Wow." She was absolutely gorgeous.

For her part, Terry was staring at the roses, at the very old woman who gave them to her and finally, up toward the altar to Bobby. Though she was dimly aware that the Wagner was slowly transitioning back to the wedding march--Tabitha gave her a non-too-gentle push to get her walking--all Terry could hear was the rushing sound of blood in her ears and the pounding of her own heart. She would never really remember the walk up the short aisle to reach Bobby though the vividness of him taking her hand stood out like wildfire at night. For several long moments, she could only focus on him. "Hi," she said almost voiceless.

Bobby smiled at her, still in awe. "Hi," he whispered back.

"Shall we begin?" Tabitha asked with a hint of amusement. Bobby looked over to her and nodded, feeling dizzy.

Terry watched Bobby for another moment, thought about doing this in a real church, with a priest and all their friends...and wished that she was there instead of here. She swallowed hard and looked at Tabitha, nodding as well, "Aye."

"Good then, we'll begin." Mason helped Tabitha into a robe and she took their joined hands between hers. "We are gathered here at this time to witness and to celebrate the coming together of two separate lives. We have come to witness the joining of" she paused, looking expectantly at Mason who mumbled the name on Bobby's credit card, "Robert and," she looked at Terry this time until she blushingly gave her name, "Theresa in marriage; to be with them and rejoice with them in the making of this important commitment. Do you have the rings?"

Bobby looked at Terry in a sudden panic. He hadn't thought about rings--he hadn't really thought they'd go this far with it. "Take off your promise ring, we can use that," he whispered to Terry. "...Sorry," he added for Tabitha's benefit, cheeks lightly pink. "We don't actually have rings. We'll wing it."

Tabitha smiled and nodded, reaching beneath the podium she stood at and pulling out a small velvet tray. "We have a selection of bands for men and women, if you're interested."

Terry looked at the tray then down at her ring and up at Bobby's eyes wide with a barely concealed panic. "Um...Bobby, pick one. I want to use my ring." Her hands tightened on his, like she was afraid to let him go. Or possibly in a silent plea that he call this off. Maybe both at the same time.

Bobby didn't really care if he had a ring, but Tabitha was giving him an expectant look, so he motioned with his head at a plain gold band (not able to get his hand free from Terry's deathgrip to point). "That one's fine." Tabitha nodded and removed the ring from the tray and offered it to Terry. "Here you go, dear. Now just give him yours, that's a girl."

Very slowly, Terry let go of Bobby's hands and worked the silver and peridot ring off her finger, though she didn't hand it over right away. "I...uh...Bobby? Can I talk to you for a second?" With both rings clenched in her right hand, she stepped backwards, watching Bobby pleadingly.

Bobby nodded, holding up a finger to Tabitha, who just arched an eyebrow and nodded, looking as if this wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence. "No refunds," she added in a sugary voice as Bobby moved close to Terry. "What is it, sweetie?"

"I'm..." Terry stopped, glanced at the patiently waiting Tabitha and the stone faced Mason then dragged Bobby off another few feet, "We could still go sky diving. I mean, we're not. This just feels really... I'm nervous." To say the least. She didn't know if she was looking for reassurance or just for him to bail with her. "What are you thinking?"

Bobby considered his answer for a few moments, then shrugged and took her hands again, squeezing gently. "We're here, we've paid for it, and I love you. I'm game if you are." He gave her a small smile and added, "But if you want to go, we can go."

She'd agreed already, after all. "I...no, you're right. We're here, right? And it's Vegas. So..." as long as his hands were on hers, it made it seem so easy. "okay. I'm just...we're okay."

At the podium the woman cleared her throat, having seen this enough times to read a nervous bride or groom down to the second. The girl wouldn't leave. "Do you two loveys want to come back over here now?" she chirped sweetly, giving them a much needed kick in the pants.

Bobby gave Terry one last questioning look and then nodded, leading her back to stand in front of the podium. "I think we're ready. Right, babe?" He held out a hand for the ring, giving Terry a reassuring smile. Jesus, they were really going to do this.

Terry nodded, wide-eyed and looked at Tabitha who gave her a sunny smile, "Are we all ready, deary? Wonderful! And you can just hand over the ring....that's a girl. Now, young man, please repeat after me. Theresa, I take you to be my lawfully wedded wife..." Terry made a tiny squeaking sound at that and looked up at Bobby, hands suddenly numb and cold.

Bobby gave her a reassuring smile, taking a deep breath in an effort to keep his voice from trembling. "Theresa, I take you to be my lawfully wedded wife," he repeated solemnly, keeping his gaze fixed on Terry's face as he parroted the words Tabitha fed him. She was pale, her hands were cold, and Bobby was worried about her--but she'd said she wanted to go through with it, so he was going through with it until she said differently.

"I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life." Though Terry knew he was just repeating what Tabitha said, it still made her stomach twist in a way that wasn't entirely unpleasant. He slid the ring back over her finger onto the paler ring of skin where the sun hadn't touched all summer.

She was only half listening to Tabitha when it was her turn, the words just seemed very natural. "Robert, I take you to be my lawfully wedded husband..." God, she needed a drink, please.

It was Bobby's turn to feel a nervous thrill as she began speaking, his hands clutching hers for his sake as much as hers at that point. This was real. Scary and amazing and real and how in the hell had a joke gotten to this point?

"...with whom I will spend my life." Terry was fairly sure that she was still breathing if only because it wasn't possible to speak without it but as constricted as her chest felt, she didn't have any proof.

"Then by the power invested in me by the state of Nevada, I now pronounce you man and wife." Tabitha announced loftily and then gave the pair expectant looks.

Bobby let out a shaky laugh and pulled her close, brushing his lips against hers once before kissing her firmly, slipping his arms around her waist to pull her into a tight embrace. Wow. He didn't notice Tabitha, Mason, and the old woman with them moving to a small side table, he was too busy kissing Terry.

Terry kissed Bobby back with a little bit of relief that this was done and a little regret that this was all a joke. It would have been nice if they'd really done this. Slowly she drew back and smiled up at Bobby. "Wow...so..."

Tabitha broke the moment with a clap of her hands. "All right, now if the bride and groom will just come over here, we'll get the certificate and the license signed and witnessed," she chirped, beckoning them over with a crooked finger. Bobby grinned down at Terry and eased away, keeping his arm around her waist as he led her toward the waiting group of strangers.

Terry stayed close to Bobby the whole time, stopping by the table and accepting the pen. She signed where Tabitha indicated then handed the pen over. She marveled at the way her hand was shaking and laughed a bit looking up at Bobby. "Should I have signed it Terry Cassidy or Terry Cassidy-Drake?"

Bobby started to say that he had no idea, but Tabitha interrupted. "Maiden name, dear. One last time." She beamed as Bobby straightened, setting down the pen. "And the license?"

"Uh...we don't have a license, Bobby said, not sure if he was relieved or disappointed. Maybe it wasn't as real as he'd thought.

"Not to worry! For a small additional fee, we can all take a ride to the licensing office in a limousine, and get that squared away, one-two-three!" She gave them a reassuring smile. "It's a very quick and simple process--you'll be on your way in under an hour, probably." Bobby swallowed and then nodded, glancing toward Mason. "Just add it to my card, I guess." He reached for Terry again, pulling her close, getting a lump in his throat as Mason turned away to rerun the card and Tabitha shrugged out of her officiate's robe, quickly hanging it up. "Mason will drive," she said decisively. "You two hurry and change and we'll be off!"

"License," Terry whispered urgently at Bobby, "we...we're..." Her face was extremely pale and she clung to him firmly. She didn't have any intention of arguing with the whole idea but this all was going much too fast for something that was just supposed to be a flip of the coin.

"Back to the dressing room, dearie." Tabitha pried Terry off Bobby and hustled her away.

Bobby patted Terry as she was towed away, then sighed and headed to the dressing room to change. It still hadn't really sunk in, he was still somewhat giddy as he pulled the costume off and changed back into his mundane t-shirt and jeans. Stepping into his sneakers, he looked around the small dressing room and then headed back to the foyer to wait. Terry would probably be longer--women always were.

In the dressing room, Terry indulged in mild panic attack, having a hard time sorting out her skirt and top so that she could get dressed again. When she was with Bobby, this all made so much sense. Away from him, she felt young and confused and fairly certain she was losing her mind. She shrugged back into his jacket and hurried back out to the foyer, practically running to him. "Are we really going to do this?" she asked in a hushed voice.

Bobby pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back as he closed his eyes, his heart sinking a little. "We can go if you want." he said quietly, then couldn't keep from adding, "But I don't want to..." It was true. They'd gone this far with it, he'd paid for the damn ceremony, they'd said the vows--if they didn't go through with it, he'd be terribly disappointed. He didn't want to pressure her, however. If she didn't want to marry him, he didn't want her to go through with it.

Tabitha emerged again, beaming. "All ready to go?" she asked, handing Bobby his card and the signature slip for the charge. Bobby turned to the table next to them and signed it, glancing at Terry. "It's up to you."

"I want..." Terry looked over at Tabitha and then back at Bobby. They would get married eventually anyway, right? Why did it matter if it was now or later. Even though there weren't all that many times when Terry had been privy to marriages that really worked--Moira and Nathan, Alison and Haroun--she was a romantic enough that it seemed like an ideal state. "As long as we both shall live" wasn't a guarantee, it was a goal and Terry was good at being goal oriented. "I want a real wedding. Later, with everyone, not just quick like this. Okay?"

Bobby nodded, breaking into a wide grin. That was a fair request. "Absolutely. The whole thing, flowers, music, lots of lace...anything you want." He kissed her quickly and looked over at Tabitha. "Let's go."