lost_boy | (no subject)

I was realizing a little too late that I had no idea what to wear to a wedding.

I knew Elio would have helped me if I asked, but I didn't want to bother him, not when I knew wedding planning took a lot of work. This was something I could do on my own, even if I felt strange and uncomfortable doing so. All it required was a bit of confidence.

Normally I was pretty confident. I didn't care what people thought of me for the most part and I wasn't embarrassed to try new things, but as I stood outside of the store that sold suits and ties, I felt terribly out of place. I felt very young and very inexperienced and I knew if I walked inside on my own, the people who worked there would laugh at me behind their hands and probably try to sell me something I couldn't afford.

With a sigh, I rubbed my hands over my face and took a deep breath, trying to steel myself. I could do this. I wasn't going to run away.

I was convinced of this right up until I saw Lisbeth's reflection in the window and then I turned so quickly I almost fell over a woman walking her dog directly behind me. With a quick, but profuse apology for her, I stepped away from the store and moved in Lisbeth's direction, absolutely grateful for this save.

"Hi," I said, a little breathless. "I'm really glad to see you."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I let Sam convince me it was strange to watch people over the camera system," says Lisbeth, "but it leaves me less sure what's happening." She gives a vague shrug at the store, which looks more like a place she'd be planting a bug on someone than anything else.

That Jamie's at the store is incidental.

What this is really about, where Lisbeth is concerned, is that Jamie is on a very short list of people she has to talk to about the ring on her finger.

"I have to buy something to wear for Elio's wedding," I answered. "But I'm not sure what to get."

The idea of her watching people over the security cameras around the city didn't seem odd to me. It was the sort of thing Lisbeth would do and I felt a little safer, thinking of her looking after the people I cared about. Even strangers. She was a kind person, but tough, too. The right sort to be watching.

"What does a best man wear?" I asked. "Do you know?"

"That's," says Lisbeth, and stops, taken aback. There aren't many things that would really surprise her, but the coincidence here has her actually smiling, more than just the silvery flash seen most often.

"I haven't a fucking clue," she says, "except that I'm sure Elio will be happy with whatever you choose." She hasn't met Elio, but if he's choosing Jamie for this role, then he's a good one. "And it's good, that you will have clothes to wear to a wedding. That's important."

Fuck, what is she going to wear.

That was probably true, but I also wanted to get it right. Elio deserved that much at his wedding, a best man who was properly dressed and who looked presentable.

"He gave me cufflinks," I told her. "They're very nice, but I don't think that's the only nice thing I can wear to a wedding."

I smiled then, wider than before. I had gotten even taller recently and I more or less towered over Lisbeth now, though not as much as her very tall boyfriend did. "How are you?"