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"I fucking hate you guys", Ryo says for the tenth time in as many minutes, as he stands behind the thick wooden door and tries to blaze a hole through it with his glare. "I'm fucking done."
"Don't say 'fucking' in a church!" Yamapi whispers behind him. "Jin needed help, and we--"
"We have got to revoke his right to ask for our help," Ryo sighs.
"That's what friends do," Yamapi says. "We help."
"All the time though? Is it really necessary? Couldn't we just have a few days off or something?" Ryo's voice is turning whiny and he sighs again, shifting on his feet as he waits for the damn music to start.
"There are no days off in friendships," Yamapi says in his important voice, and Ryo falls silent reluctantly. Yamapi takes everything too seriously. Even being a flower girl-- Boy! Flower boy. Not girl. Ryo had been very clear about where he stood with that title. Although Yamapi hadn't cared much; he was the ring-bearer. He had the cool job.
Meisa's plans of having her niece help with the wedding had fallen through when she had mysteriously contracted chicken pox, and Meisa didn't really take to Ryo's plan of dressing her up and shoving them down the aisle anyway. "That's a horrible idea," she'd hissed, side-eyeing Ryo as she had her hair - was it always that long? - pulled this way and that by a harried-looking woman with frizzy hair that Ryo was fascinated by. "You can't put sick children to work!"
"Why not?" Ryo had asked, and he guesses that's why he's in this position now. Still in front of that door.
"My feet are sweating," Yamapi suddenly pipes up. "And my ass is itchy."
"I am going to shove these flower petals up your nose if you continue," Ryo mutters, swinging his basket full of dusty pink rose petals in Yamapi's general direction. "If your ass is itchy, do something about it."
"Okay, hang on."
"I don't need an update--"
"All better."
"I'm so fucking done with you."
"You can't say 'fucking'--"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Meisa screeches quietly - she's the only one Ryo knows who can do that, and it's kind of scarily awesome - as she and her dress bundle into the small alcove. There seems to be more dress than Meisa but of course she pulls it off. She fluffs the ends of her skirts - there seem to be a dozen under the top one - and straightens up, rolls her shoulders and lets out a breath like she's heading into a boxing match rather than her own wedding. "Okay."
Ryo's actually quite nervous as the doors open. Meisa reaches a hand around Yamapi to push him forward and he stumbles into the church, where about a hundred people all stand and turn as one. "Get going," Yamapi mutters through clenched teeth behind him. "She's kicking my shin. Get going."
So Ryo does, walking down much faster than he's meant to - the aisle seems really really long and everyone's watching him with stupid sappy smiles on their faces and he kind of just wants to get it over with, just wants them to stop looking at him like that. It's slightly disconcerting. Halfway down the aisle he remembers he's meant to be throwing petals, so he digs a hand into his basket and pulls out a handful, throwing them to the ground in front of him with no grace whatsoever. They land in a clump of pink and scatter by themselves as he walks through them, and he figures that that's gonna have to do. If Meisa's not happy with his work, then so be it.
Though he really hopes she doesn't get angry at him for it. She's terrifying. Shirota is still banned from their apartment, having dropped icecream onto their - apparently expensive - rug a few months back.
He gets to the end of the aisle where Jin is waiting, his jaw clenched and face red as he tries not to cry. Ryo rolls his eyes at him and he manages a shaky smile; his hands are shaking and his eyes are searching - searching for Meisa.
Ryo slips into place next to Reio, who is in turn standing next to Jin as his Best Man. Ryo had wanted that job but had lost at janken, and still claims that Reio had cheated. Ryo now takes on his Groomsman position, standing tall and proud even with a little basket and a crown made of pink flowers, and watches Yamapi happily walk over the top of Ryo's pink petals. He looks entirely too happy.
"Your crown is crooked," Yamapi mutters to Ryo as he passes and he hurriedly rights it, making sure his hair is still fine under it. "Better," he adds, when Ryo gives him a questioning look. He still needs to look his best, after all.
The rest of the bridesmaids trail down the aisle, all in pastel pinks, smiling happily like it's their wedding day instead of Meisa's. They shuffle into their place and then the music changes and Meisa's flowing down the aisle, arm-in-arm with her uncle, who looks like he's about to cry. She's beaming like she wasn't just screaming blue murder behind those thick doors; her smile looks like it could split her face in two.
They get through the ceremony without too many hiccups (except little Theia, who does in fact have the hiccups and has to be taken outside by her grandmother for a while). Yamapi thinks he loses the rings at one point and starts getting hysterical before Ryo reminds him that they're exactly where he put them - on the little satin pillow he's been holding this whole time.
"Oh, right," Yamapi laughs.
Then Yamapi gets the hiccups and has to go stand outside with Theia, who proceeds to blow bubbles at him. Yamapi blows bubbles right back.
"Thanks, you guys," Jin says later outside the church, where Meisa is surrounded by a sea of friends. "You really saved us."
"Yeah, the day couldn't have gone ahead without a flower boy," Ryo mutters, adjusting his flower crown again. "We're real saviours."
"You know Ryo, you keep complaining, yet you're still wearing your crown," Yamapi pipes up, holding Theia on his hip.
"What're you saying?" Ryo asks dangerously. Theia shrieks happily and flails her chubby arms in his direction.
"I'm saying that you seem rather attached to it," Yamapi says, raising his eyebrows. Theia starts kicking her legs in impatience. "Okay, okay, go to your other uncle."
Ryo gets an armful of Theia in the next second, and she promptly shoves a saliva-covered fist into his face. He groans and twitches away, but she shrieks again and wiggles happily at the face he's pulling. She likes it when Uncle Ryo's eyebrows do the Thing.
"I'm not attached to a goddamn flower crown," Ryo says, and Theia makes a strange high-pitched sound that has Jin snatching her out of Ryo's arms.
"Code P! Reio, we have a code P," he says, and Reio appears out of nowhere to grab Theia and take her away. Ryo thinks it's like watching a game of pass the parcel. "He's on Poop Patrol," Jin explains, and Ryo pulls another face.
"You're attached, admit it," Yamapi says, and Ryo growls.
"Whatever, you're just jealous," Ryo snaps back, and Yamapi's eyes widen.
"I am not!"
"Boys, please, stop fighting." Jin sighs and drags a hand over his face. "I have to get going; promise me you won't kill each other in the car on the way to the reception?"
Yamapi and Ryo grumble under their breath and Jin rolls his eyes and leaves with a wave over his shoulder. "See you girls later."
"Boy! I'm a flower boy!" Ryo yelps, brandishing his basket ferociously. "Fucking hell."
"Get rid of your crown and maybe people will believe you."
"No," Ryo says, touching it lightly.
"Why?" Yamapi asks, his eyes dancing with mischief.
"I'm-- I rather like it," Ryo says with a sniff. "Makes me feel good."
"Like a pretty princess?" Yamapi goads, as they walk back to the car. Ryo hits him with his basket; Yamapi throws his little pillow into Ryo's face in retaliation.
"Why do I even bother talking to you?" Ryo asks in a huff.
"Cause I'm pretty," Yamapi responds, preoccupied with trying to find his keys.
"Not as pretty as me," Ryo mutters, adjusting his crown in his reflection one more time before Yamapi unlocks the doors of the car.
"What was that?" Yamapi asks, genuinely confused. "Couldn't hear you."
"Nothing," Ryo says quickly. "Nothing at all."
Jin makes fun of him for wearing his crown to the reception dinner, and a nine year old child tries to steal it from him at one point - he gets in trouble from her mother for snapping at her as Yamapi giggles into his salad. He almost loses it during a rather rigorous dance of the YMCA, and once again when he gets caught in Meisa's dress as she brushes past him while he's sitting down. But he doesn't really care. It's all good.
He's the prettiest one here, after all.
With or without the crown.