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“This is ridiculous.”
“It’s magical.”
From his position in the shadows, away from the wedding reception, Sebastian turned to the voice that had interrupted him. “Are you supposed to say things in your regular voice when you’re wearing that outfit?”
Micky Mouse smiled pleasantly back at him, its mouth set in a rictus of joy. “Anything to spread the magic. It’s a wedding in the Happiest Place on Earth™! You could smile a little.”
He said, “As an employee, are you required to add the trademark after you say that?”
For a giant fabric Mickey Mouse face, he expressed exasperation remarkably well.
Sebastian conceded the point with a wry smile and a toast. Indeed, he was in Disneyland—at the Small World Mall, in fact, the promenade in front of the It’s a Small World ride laid out with dozens of tables, white roses in the vases, and the Small World facade illuminated from below. No tinny music played—instead, the speakers piped out a romantic ballad that celebrating couples swayed to on the dance floor. If he squinted, he could see Hunter, face unfamiliar as it was set in soft smile as he gazed at Katherine.
Reconnecting with Hunter in college had been a surprise. It turned out that when you took the show choir away from him, he was an affable, albeit sarcastic, guy with a streak of ambition that Sebastian could get along with. One drunk conversation at the on-campus pub had turned to two, and before he knew it, they were debating ethics and morality and how to best extort performing arts funding from their rich politician relatives.
One thing led to another, and before he knew it, he was standing by Hunter as he got married to Katherine before the Sleeping Beauty Castle. No fireworks, just the wedding march as Katherine had rode in in the Cinderella Coach drawn by prancing horses. Her dress was no-doubt also princess themed. Hunter’s face had been similarly unfamiliar, radiant before the lights as Katherine walked in on her father’s arm, trailing silk and rose petals.
It was all very regal and very Disney at the same time.
“Why are you over here and not over there?” Mickey Mouse asked in a pleasant tenor. “Shouldn’t you be celebrating with the best of them?”
“Sure.” Sebastian took another sip of his wine—he wasn’t undignified enough to chug wine as good as this. Hunter and Katherine had paid big bucks for this wedding. “If I had somebody to dance with.”
Mickey Mouse laughed. “Handsome guy like you doesn’t have a date? I find that hard to believe.”
Sebastian shrugged. “Nobody that I’d take to a wedding.”
“That sucks,” he said sympathetically.
“What about you? Pretty sure I read something about ‘your favorite Disney friends can be part of your special day’. Shouldn’t you be out there dancing with Minnie Mouse?”
Mickey shrugged. “Don’t swing that way.”
“Millions of children around the world have just had their minds blown.”
“Don’t tell,” he said wryly. The ballad ended, and upbeat dance music started again. “That’s my cue to go out and celebrate.” He paused. “You coming?”
Sebastian eyed his wine glass, empty. “Sure. Why not.”
*
Speeches made, toasts drunk, and Hunter and Katherine sent off to enjoy their honeymoon suite in the hotel, Sebastian found himself nursing a new glass of wine while the rest of the crowd slowly dispersed.
“Anybody sitting here?”
He looked up. “Blaine Anderson. I didn’t know you were invited.”
“I wasn’t.” He sat down. “I’m working here temporarily.”
“Disneyland performer seems a little low for your talents.”
He laughed. “I’ll have you know that auditioning for this job was one of the hardest auditions of my life.” He laughed again. “Luckily I don’t have to do the voice.”
“Wait.” He blinked. “Mickey Mouse was you?”
“Yeah. Normally I do face casts—you know, like Aladdin, or Prince Eric sometimes. But Jim got sick so I covered for him—Jim’s the guy who was supposed to do Mickey.”
“What a coincidence,” Sebastian managed.
“I might have seen that it was Hunter Clarington’s wedding and volunteered the minute Jim said he wasn’t feeling well after he had two day old sushi,” he added.
Sebastian said, “Wow.” He took a breath. “You wanted to see Hunter get married that badly?”
He said, “Actually, I was hoping to find you.”
“You could have texted.”
“And miss an opportunity to reconnect in a setting like this?” At that moment, the Small World clock chimed the quarter hour, tiny animatronics making their way across the facade, reflected in the water. The stars twinkled above, cutting their way through the dimming lights. In the distance, the peak of the Matterhorn rose into the sky.
Sebastian stared at the stars cast across Blaine’s face and said, “Yeah.” He managed a degree of levity. “That doesn’t explain what you’re doing, working at Disneyland.”
Blaine’s mouth quirked up. “Well, I could tell you now, or we could go out and grab some coffee and I can tell you then.”
Sebastian leaned back. “Yeah.” He swallowed. “Alright.” He laughed. “Coffee.”
“I might even know a place that’ll put cognac in yours.”
He laughed again, long and hard. “God.”
He smiled. “Yeah.” He glanced around. “Still think this place is ridiculous?”
Sebastian shook his head. “I’ll admit, it’s much more magical when I can see that ass of yours in properly fitted pants.”