C.W. Strong language, weapons (bats and guns), apocalyptic setting,
~~~
Roman adjusted his tie in the mirror. It was the nicest, cleanest one he could find. Still a horrible shade of muddy green, but a tie nonetheless. As he slicked back his hair, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to how Patton must look.
He'd insisted on wearing a dress. Roman loved seeing Patton in dresses but for their wedding? What if they needed to make an escape? You see, they lived in a time where weddings were illegal, and the law was very actively enforced by the government. Well, 'government'. It was more of a vigilante group.
They had agreed to meet in an abandoned warehouse far from their base. Hopefully, the group wouldn't find them there. Patton wanted the wedding to be as realistic as possible, so their friend, Virgil, was officiating it. They had also agreed to collect flowers for a spot of decoration.
They didn't have actual wedding rings, so they were just putting their engagement rings on again. They'd gotten engaged a few months before the apocalypse, but didn't get married in time. They hadn't had the time to get married for a few years after that, but now the time had come.
They were getting ready in separate public bathrooms near the venue. They decided to keep the tradition of not seeing each other until the ceremony as well.
Their other friend, Logan, was the ring bearer, Roman's best man, and was going to walk Patton down the aisle. He was also helping Virgil with the flowers.
Roman took a deep breath. He was nervous, admittedly. He just didn't want anything to go wrong. He loved Patton so much and would give anything for this day to be exactly how he wanted it.
Before his nerves could get to him too badly, he left the toilets and headed towards the warehouse. Inside, he found Virgil and Logan already there, and making the final adjustments.
"Hey," Roman said. It echoed around the room, carrying all the way to his friends.
"Hey Ro."
"Salutations.
Roman glanced around where they were standing. They had daisy flower crowns around their heads, and each had a dandelion somewhere on their person. Virgil had one sewn onto his hoodie where a lapel pin would go and Logan's was tucked into his tie knot.
"This is pretty good, guys. Considering what we have to work with, I'd call this a mighty fine wedding."
"How you doing, then? Any wedding day jitters? Regrets?" Virgil said with an evil smirk on their face.
"Nope, I think you'll find that I am perfectly fine," Roman lied. He shot Virgil a cocky smile and took his place by the makeshift wedding arch, which was a pvc pipe frame with daisy chains wrapped around it.
"Are you ready?" Logan asked, placing a hand on Roman's shoulder from behind.
Roman took a deep breath. This is what he wanted. He'd been waiting years for this.
"I'm ready."
Logan nodded and left to find Patton.
~~~
Patton fluffed his hair again. He took a deep breath and arranged the hairs just how he wanted them. He smiled at himself in the mirror. Today was the day. He was finally getting married. If only his parents were here to see it... Regardless, he was incredibly excited.
A couple of sharp knocks sounded on the door.
"Come in!"
Patton took one last look at himself before facing the door. Logan walked in and took a second to take in Patton's appearance. He seemed impressed... hopefully.
"You look remarkable, Patton."
"Thank you, Lo!"
Logan smiled slightly, but quickly wiped it away. Instead, he held his arm out. "Roman is ready when you are."
Patton's heart leapt, as if it hadn't been doing somersaults for the past hour. He took a brisk step up to Logan and looped his arm around his. "Let's go!"
They left the toilet and ducked as they made their way to the warehouse. Both were looking around to make sure they were alone. When they made it to the doors, Patton took one last deep breath, before helping Logan push the doors open. They squeezed inside and quickly shut the door. That was the first time Patton turned around.
Roman stood under a wedding arch looking absolutely stunning. He was wearing a white shirt, a green tie and black blazer and trousers. He had a blinding smile on his face, directed solely at his fiance.
Patton and Logan strode the short distance it took to get to Roman, and took their places, Patton opposite his fiance and Logan at Roman's side.
They had agreed beforehand to keep the wedding short to avoid being caught, so Virgil jumped right in with, "would you now please say your vows."
Roman took a deep breath. Keeping his words steady, he started.
"I promise to love you in good times and in bad, when life seems easy and when it seems hard, when our love is simple, and when it is an effort. I promise to cherish you, and to always hold you in highest regard. These things I give to you today, and all the days of our life."
Apart from a small voice crack at the end, it was perfect. Patton already had tears in his eyes and he hadn't even started his own yet. Roman slipped the ring on Patton's finger and held his cheek fondly.
"Patton?" Virgil asked after a while of silence.
"Oh, right. Sorry.
"You are my inspiration and my soul's fire.
"You are the magic of my days.
"You help me laugh, you teach me love.
"You provide a safe place for me, unlike I've ever known.
"You free me to sing my own song.
"You are more of an amazement to me, each day I rediscover you.
"I love you more than you could ever imagine, Ro."
It didn't take Patton long to start crying, and he had tears streaming down his cheeks by 'laugh'. Roman had made an effort to wipe away his tears as he spoke, but more kept coming.
"You know what, just kiss or whatever. You're basically there already."
With that, Roman closed the gap between them for a sweet second.
Then the doors flew open.
About a dozen armed men walked in, welding baseball bats and rifles. The leader walked out from the middle of the group, carrying no visible weapon but he definitely had something tucked away in the pockets of his coat.
"Boys! What's going on here? It's funny, this almost looks like a wedding," he teased. His tone was light, but the glint in his eyes was murderous.
Roman, who had shoved Patton behind himself, was the first to speak up. "Deceit, it's a pleasure."
Deceit, the leader, had taken on that name when he was 'elected' as the vigilante leader. He said it was "ironic, considering the goverment people were all a bunch of fucking liars." He was well known to everyone in the district as having a cocky, flirtatious attitude towards criminals, even scoring one for himself after catching a man who had been smuggling pigeons into the country for months and saving him from the death penalty for any criminal offense.
"I'm sure it is, and-" Deceit stalked forward and grabbed Roman's chin, leaning in close- "I'm sure it will be later as well."
Deceit pushed Roman back, making him stumble. Patton grabbed him to help him regain his balance. "Are you okay?"
Roman nodded and glanced to his side. Fortunately, there was an emergency exit directly to his right. He tapped Patton's leg, directing his attention down, and pointed. He just hoped Patton understood.
"Now, boys, I believe you know the punishment for illegal activities." Deceit drew out the last part, aiming to terrify the congregation. They were barely scared, though, considering the theatrics. "I'd hate to see you killed, but I'm afraid it must be done. You see, a certain set of laws have been initiated, I'm not terribly sure if you've noticed-"
As Deceit droned on, Roman tapped Patton's leg again. After a second, he held up three fingers.
Then two.
Then one.
And Roman sprinted towards the exit. He shoved the door open with the force he ran at it with, and made it through as bullets started clattering around the warehouse. As he ran across the wasteland, he glanced back and saw Patton running behind him.
In a moment of relief, he almost slowed down. Almost. But the continuous sound of bullets piercing the piles of rubbish all around them, he chose not to stop.
Making it out onto what used to be a highstreet, he ducked down an alley. He crouched down, still running, and ducked behind a skip. Patton slammed against the wall next to him, panting heavily.
The bullets subsided and the gang could be heard shouting from some distance away.
"Where did they go?"
"They can't have gone far."
"Is that them?"
"Maybe? We'll check."
Roman and Patton held their breath as well as they could as the gang passed by. When their voices had faded enough, Roman turned to his new-husband. Patton stared back at him, panting slightly lighter than before.
"You okay?" Patton asked, forcing a smile on his face.
"I'm fine. Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
Patton sank down against the wall and looked down at his lap. Roman kept his eyes trained on Patton, unable to rip his gaze away. A random smile crossed Patton's face and his eyes filled with tears.
"Wait, what's wrong?"
Patton chuckled and looked up at Roman. "We're married," he barely managed to get out.
Roman dropped to his knees and shuffled in front of Patton. "We are! Is that... okay?"
Before Roman could doubt himself further, Patton pulled him into a loving kiss. "Of course it is, Silly! I love you," Patton mumbled against his lips.
"I love you too." Roman leaned back in and let all of his worries melt away. They were married, and that was all that mattered.
~~~
I definitely didn't steal the vows off a website...
Please tell me you know who the pigeon smuggler is.