(lj idol) winter wonderland [it's a nice day for a white wedding, pt 1]

free topic (winter wonderland)


the wind cuts through the leather jacket she's wearing, reminding her exactly why dress slacks and a sundress do not make a proper winter party outfit, and underlining the uselessness of leather in blocking cold weather. as it is, she is only glad that her heels won't have to make a trek through snow and ice to get to the reception. she misses the actual winter weather she remembers from her childhood, misses days of snow drifts and hot chocolate and sleeping in. misses it, but is thankful all the same for not having to face it just to get to the party.

she holds tight to the jacket as she finally gets into the building, a slow smile cracking across her frozen cheeks as she sees the room alight with white fairy lights and the tables soft with candlelight. it looks like christmas ought to: white and soft at the edges, bare trees colored silver and strewn about with lights. her fingers drift across the backs of chairs and edges of tablecloth as she makes her way towards the front of the room. she can't bring herself to speak, let alone disturb anyone else in the room.

she almost feels alone, ears tuning out all but the soft music playing from the speakers and the vaguest notions of the sea of people who part around her to allow her through. she's looking skyward to the the sparkling crystal chandeliers like icicles from the ceiling. it's idealized, this evening among tables like piles of snow and lights so soft. she shrugs out of her coat only at the last possible second, reading her name on the place card just as the announcement is made of the entry of the bride and groom.

she shivers and breaks her gaze away from the decorations, consciously stopping herself from marveling at the decorations, when she finally sees him.

(lj idol) freaky friday [it's a nice day for a white wedding, pt 2]

free topic (freaky friday)


he's without his suit jacket. the thought itself means very little and everything, she guesses. it's been so long since she's actually seen him in a suit, she doesn't know why she noticed at all, except for how odd it is to see him almost casual in this sea of Sunday Best and semi-formal dress. how he looks like it's another Friday at work and not a celebration.

he smiles at her across the three tables that separate them, the dance floor where the bride and groom are lost in each other's arms for the first time that night. and all it takes is the one smile, the acknowledgment that she's there, and she's blushing and smiling back a moment before averting her eyes. she doesn't know how to flirt, doesn't have a handle on being something more than a friend to anyone yet. she can hear him laugh and imagines that she can hear the soft padding of his shoes across the hard floor to her side.

she almost has a hand out to shake his in greeting until he takes her into a hug. it's not what she's used to from him, too used to shy handshakes and coyly saying "hey chadley," just to hear him growl about the silly name. her hands are instantly at his back, returning the hug with pressure right beneath his shoulder blades. she's shocked at the heat of him, the softness that gives way to firm muscle.

he lets her go after a minute, smile still firmly in place. "hey sophie."

she blinks, feeling thrown. "hi chad."

(lj idol) unwrapping [it's a nice day for a white wedding, pt 3]

free topic: unwrapping



he's, in all honesty, hard at work, sophie realizes. and then feels like slamming her head against the table where she's seated and watching him trawl for empty plates and trash left from the dinner and cake of the reception. she'd forgotten his uncle was a caterer, forgotten that chad understood proper dress for events. she'd been so caught up in...

in watching the notch at the base of his throat where his blue and white collar was unbuttoned casually. in trying to keep her hands busy and not thinking about how her fingertips itched to trace the line of his collarbone and to pluck his buttons loose one by one. in keeping her mind at least partly on the topics talked about among her new friends at the table. she was proud that she'd mostly achieved it, not so wrapped up in being aware of his presence that it overrode her ability to talk to new people. she was fully capable of ignoring the way his long, blunt fingers moved so efficiently across the table, straightening and clearing it until it was like no one had been sitting there at all.

she was possibly more distracted than she imagined.

she moved to the dance floor, forgetting him in the swirl of music and laughter of her friends. forgetting herself and worries for a time. it isn't even until he's whispering in her ear that he wants to talk to her that she even realizes he's stopped working and is standing beside her.

(lj idol) rosebud [it's a nice day for a white wedding, pt 4]

free topic: rosebud



she's pressed to a pillar on the other side of a silver painted tree, his face thrown in light and shadow from the string of led christmas lights strung therein. she's sure that she should be at least a little upset with her position, close enough to him to feel his heat dispel the lasting chill of the outdoors. there are people out there who would be scandalized by the way his arm is proprietorially caging her in and how she's enjoying every second of being pressed against the wall by him.

if she were any kind of brave, she'd rest a hand on his side, just to hold him that much tighter to herself.

as it is, she's hardly even looking at his face, though she can see his lips curving into a smug smile from where she's staring at that notch in his collarbone that's been teasing her from his open collar all night. she doesn't stop herself from reaching up to rub a fingertip in the hollow of his throat, unsurprised to see him flush and stand back a moment. there's going from a handshake to a hug in the course of a night, but any more would be something altogether different.

he holds out a single white rosebud, stem cut short like it had been his boutonniere before he'd shrugged out of his jacket to get down to work. she doesn't take it straight away, running her fingertips along the tip of an opening petal.

"i'm not very brave, chad," she says softly, a non-sequitur if anything.

"it doesn't have to mean any more than it does, sophie." he turns her palm up and places the flower gently in her hand. "you looked pretty tonight."

when he steps away, she's colder than she's been since the beginning of the night.