the fallout mess
Aug. 18th, 2018 09:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
littlemissfutility posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
columbariaBeth leaves Hancock's office feeling better about the whole marriage than she ever expected to when she was first told it would happen. Better than she expected to when she first saw him, better than she expected to when she'd curled up in bed early this morning, utterly exhausted. It's still not where she wants to be, exactly, but it's better than the alternatives--and at least Hancock feels the same.
And it's all business. He's not like Gorman.
She finds The Third Rail and Magnolia inside it, waiting until the woman finishes her set before she tries to pester her. (And it's a good set, unlike anything Beth's ever seen or heard in her life. People sang at home--Mama and Daddy taught her and Maggie part-singing as soon as she was old enough to understand the concept--but never with the kind of glamour that Magnolia radiates. She's something else, completely unlike the folk songs Beth grew up with.) Magnolia's tolerant of compliments on her show at first, and then some kind of shocked when she realizes just who Beth is.
Hancock's little bride! she exclaims--and it's not clear to Beth whether this is a discovery Magnolia's happy to make. But it doesn't really matter. Magnolia tuts over her and digs through her closet, but there's nothing in there that doesn't look like a tent on Beth's small frame. We could take it in, but I'm not pricking my thumbs all night, even for the sake of a wedding. Instead, they find a shop that's still open, owned by a trader who specializes in clothing. There's a pale yellow dress in his piles of fabric, and it fits Beth well enough to work--the waist is a little loose, but it's not slipping down her shoulders, and that's a good sight better than Magnolia's wardrobe. Convincing the trader that Hancock'll actually settle up if they put it on a tab for him--say you just heard the news about the mayor's nuptials and he's getting hitched to some other broad?--takes time, but eventually, he's mollified.
The rest of the time between then and the wedding passes uneventfully. By the time they hit late afternoon, nerves are starting to constrict Beth's stomach, but there's not much she can do about that. She bathes and brushes her hair out until it dries straight, falling smoothly down her back, and puts on her wedding dress. With her own people, she'd have had wildflowers for her hair, maybe even a veil, but a city's no place for growing things. Clean and well-dressed is the best she can hope for.
Dawn comes for her when it's time, gripping her arm as she leads her along to the Old State House and up to Hancock's place. "Here she is, Mayor."
And it's all business. He's not like Gorman.
She finds The Third Rail and Magnolia inside it, waiting until the woman finishes her set before she tries to pester her. (And it's a good set, unlike anything Beth's ever seen or heard in her life. People sang at home--Mama and Daddy taught her and Maggie part-singing as soon as she was old enough to understand the concept--but never with the kind of glamour that Magnolia radiates. She's something else, completely unlike the folk songs Beth grew up with.) Magnolia's tolerant of compliments on her show at first, and then some kind of shocked when she realizes just who Beth is.
Hancock's little bride! she exclaims--and it's not clear to Beth whether this is a discovery Magnolia's happy to make. But it doesn't really matter. Magnolia tuts over her and digs through her closet, but there's nothing in there that doesn't look like a tent on Beth's small frame. We could take it in, but I'm not pricking my thumbs all night, even for the sake of a wedding. Instead, they find a shop that's still open, owned by a trader who specializes in clothing. There's a pale yellow dress in his piles of fabric, and it fits Beth well enough to work--the waist is a little loose, but it's not slipping down her shoulders, and that's a good sight better than Magnolia's wardrobe. Convincing the trader that Hancock'll actually settle up if they put it on a tab for him--say you just heard the news about the mayor's nuptials and he's getting hitched to some other broad?--takes time, but eventually, he's mollified.
The rest of the time between then and the wedding passes uneventfully. By the time they hit late afternoon, nerves are starting to constrict Beth's stomach, but there's not much she can do about that. She bathes and brushes her hair out until it dries straight, falling smoothly down her back, and puts on her wedding dress. With her own people, she'd have had wildflowers for her hair, maybe even a veil, but a city's no place for growing things. Clean and well-dressed is the best she can hope for.
Dawn comes for her when it's time, gripping her arm as she leads her along to the Old State House and up to Hancock's place. "Here she is, Mayor."
