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That was the year that Joceran Payne and Clemence Haliwell were married. It wasn’t overly saturated with people, as most noble weddings were, due to how late it was in the evening. The odd timing was necessary, though - neither bride nor groom wanted to be sweeping up the ashes of any in-laws on their special day.
Clemence was dressed in a deep blue silk, perfectly contrasting her pale skin and dark red hair. She looked perfect; well, she always did, but today especially so. Despite the cool evening air, Joceran felt warm. He was lucky to know her longer than most other couples had the pleasure of knowing their spouses before they were wed, even though it was only a year since they had met. Life was short, though, at least for those who weren’t cursed with immortality.
It was a bit of a shock they even had the crowd that they did. There had been many an argument within the Payne home between him and his parents. His father was worried about what would become of their reputation within the vampire society, due to the status of the Haliwell family as mortals. However, adventurous Clemence knew of the differences between their families, and had agreed to go along with any sort of trouble that might come with it. She would join him in his sleeplessness and his bloodthirst, and he was overjoyed.
The ceremony was short - after they promised their lives to one another (ignoring the stifled chuckles of Joceran’s family), they exchanged their rings and then moved to break bread between themselves and their families.
After the festivities of the night were concluded, Joceran and Clemence were taken to their new home, sponsored by her parents. They took a look around the place before settling down for the evening, finding their room. He laid her to bed and gave her life a second wind.
The rest was history.
2015.
It had been three years since Joceran opened his eyes after four hundred years and saw his wife again. He still feels euphoric whenever the memory rises in his mind and he holds her a little bit closer.
Somehow, it felt like it had been both a century and a blink of an eye. If he took Clemency for granted before, he did no longer. Everytime he woke up beside her, he revered even the messiest curls and the smudged makeup that lined her eyes.
She had changed, of course, but it took him a few days to notice those changes that weren’t painted on her skin. For one, she was funnier than she had been when he was alive the first time. Quips slipped from her tongue like she couldn’t keep them in, and each time he heard one he was left wheezing. The couple quickly found out he had asthma.
Clemency tells him that she was miserable in his absence, but when he looked at her, he saw nothing but light and felt nothing but warmth. Still, he had no doubt that she had suffered, and his return wouldn’t make that go away. Joceran could help, though. He could reassure her whenever she had hesitance leaving the house and leaving him alone, and she could relax him whenever a creak in the house woke him with a start.
They’re relaxing in their plush bed, the morning sun cracking through the panes of the window. A fuzzy fog of sleep clouds their minds of making any sense, and Joceran is idly running his fingers over the flowers that adorn her biceps. He isn’t thinking of anything in particular, but the memory of their wedding day still rises in his mind.
“What are weddings like nowadays?” His words are a whisper, as if it’s a secret, but he doesn’t see any reason to be loud - they were inches apart. He looks down to see her and her bright honey eyes are watching him back, and her lips are pulled in a big grin. He’s asked her a lot of questions since his return, adjusting to modern society.
“They’re prettier,” She murmurs, his face in her hand as she brushed her thumbs over his skin. “It’s usually white everything - purity, I think it’s meant to symbolise. I haven’t gone to one in forever, but I’ve seen them on the television. There’s the ceremony - the vows and the rings and all that. After the ceremony, there’s the reception, and the couple eat the first slices of cake and then there’s dancing and eating and drinking. They’re very fun.”
Joceran nods thoughtfully, allowing his mind to wander in imagination. When he returns to reality, he turns his attention to her. His eyes are bright, excited, hopeful. “Let’s get married. I-I know that we already are married, but I want to get married again. I was planning on getting married again five centuries, you know, but - well, you know what happened. Clem-”
He’s about to keep rambling but Clemency leans forward and kisses him, pulling back after a beat to watch him with bright eyes. “Let’s get married, baby.”
2016.
There’s a huge sense of bittersweetness as they plan. They notice immediately the voids within the cast of characters; neither of them have parents that they can reach out to. Clemency’s mother and father passed centuries ago, of course, and she had long since lost contact with her in-laws. The many mutual friends they once had had also buried themselves all across the world, and it would be simply too much work to try and find them again.
They struggle for a week or so, but then they adapt. In her lonesome years, Clemency made friends and built a community within the vampiric sphere of the world, and she made a family of her own. As they set up vendors and go shopping, she makes sure he has the opportunity to meet those he didn’t have the pleasure to meet in the weeks following his return.
The day comes - quicker than they realize. They’re all ready, though at times it doesn’t feel like they are. Clemency tries her best to handle the caterers and the photographers and the florists, all while her hands in her hair as she wrapped it into a bun over the nape of her neck.
And then it’s time for the ceremony.
The whole morning and afternoon have felt like it was on double time - rushing and speeding around. But when the evening came, it felt like time had slowed down just for them. Everything just seems to fall into place.
The guests are seated in their seats, and so the procession began. Joceran made his way quietly to the altar, dressed in a dark blood red suit. Though he’s quiet, his grin is wide and he allows it to be so. This was going to be the happiest day of his life, and he isn’t going to let anything come in the way of that. He hears the processional music, and he recognizes it - after all, the notes came from the flow of his own quill. He can feel his heart soaring already.
The procession doesn’t take too terribly long. Borislav stands to the left of Joceran, and they, as well as the guests, looked up to the aisle doors as Clemency and Victor entered.
Joceran feels his eyes begin to water as soon as he saw the first flash of white fabric coming through the door, and even more so as she comes into full view.
She looks so beautiful.
Everything about her is perfect. Her curled hair is pulled into a bun, and her porcelain face is in full view. Her dress was simple - a sweetheart neckline showed off her collarbone and the tattoos that lived amongst her shoulders and arms, and a red band around her waist to match the accents in the decor.
He can’t stop staring. He forgets he’s at his own wedding, for a moment, and his jaw drops in awe of his bride. As she starts down the aisle, her (second) best friend at her side, he reaches up to wipe one of the tears welling in his eye and watches her as she grins wide and fearless at him.
She hands her bouquet off to Victor as she moves to stand in front of her husband, her golden eyes glimmering with tears of her own. They both let out a nervous chuckle - why are they nervous? they’ve been married for centuries - and take each other's’ hands, look into each other’s eyes.
They listen for the officiant’s words, if only to know when to stop staring at each other.
“Friends, we are here to celebrate the renewed union between Clemency Haliwell and Joceran Payne. Celebrating the marriage of two people is an infinitely unique experience, but especially so when celebrating the connection between two immortal beings. Their vows aren’t ones that last only about fifty years until either of them passes away, but ones that last for the rest of each of their eternities. Clemency and Joceran wish to pledge their vows to each other before us today.”
Joceran nods and lets out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, reaching into his jacket to retrieve a notecard scribbled with his vows.
“Clemency, you are my everything. Without you, I wouldn’t be standing here right in front of you. You are my savior, you are my queen, you are my soul, you are my best friend, you are my lover, and you are my muse. I promise to you that I will support you, encourage you, trust you, and share every problem that you have. I promise to spend the rest of our eternities with you by my side - and when I say that, I mean forever. I mean it. I love you unconditionally and forever. I, Joceran Payne, take you, Clemency Haliwell, to be my wife, forever.”
When he looks up and puts the card away, he watches her brush away her happy tears with a smile. He takes her ring from Borislav beside him and slips it onto her finger. He watches it sparkle in the sunset before looking back to her. She murmurs an ‘I love you too’ before taking her own note card from the bouquet in Victor’s hands. She takes a deep breath before reading, watching her husband with all of the love in the world in her gaze.
“I couldn’t imagine my life without you. I couldn’t last century, and I can’t right now - trust me, I’ve experienced life without you, and it sucked. A lot.” She chuckled, wiping her nose as she listened to everybody else share in her small quip. “You’ve always been my protector, even though the both of us know that I’m enough protection for the both of us. You keep me on the right path whenever I’ve gotten my mind all mixed up, and made sure I keep focused on the future rather than the past. I promise to stand by your side no matter what threatens to come between us. I promise to learn with you and protect you. I promise to love you and encourage you in all of your endeavors. I, Clemency Haliwell, take you, Joceran Payne, to be my husband until the end of time itself.”
She turns to her right and hands the card back to Victor, thanking him as she took his ring from him. Clemency takes Joceran’s right hand in hers to slide the band onto his ring finger. She gives his palm a squeeze as he took her hands back in his.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife; you may kiss the bride.”
It takes a moment for them to calm their giddy smiles so that they can follow through, but they manage to do so. He leads her in by the waist and she takes his face in hers, closing their eyes as they take their first kiss as a newly married couple. They finally pull away after what feels like a second but was more like five, and they share a wide smile.
They wait for their applause because of course they do before proceeding and leading the wedding party out of the room. Clemency doubles back to retrieve her bouquet from Victor as they leave, giving him a side-hug before quickly moving to catch up to her husband.
❤️ ❤️ ❤️
The guests make their ways out of the large room the ceremony was held in. Even though they’re meant to get their wedding photos taken, the newlyweds decide to get just a moment in private. Clemency gently tugs Joceran around a corner, hidden from view, and for a moment they just beam at each other.
“I love you,” She murmurs, reaching up to take his face in her hand tenderly. “I’m so happy.”
Joceran lets out a laugh - not a mocking one, no, but rather one of agreement. “I love you too. I bet I’m happier than you right now. Like, twenty bucks.”
Clemency shakes her head and lightly nudges him, pressing a kiss to his cheek and resting her head there. “You’re a dork. I can’t believe this. I accidentally married the biggest dork in all of history.”
“That’s no small feat, especially coming from Mrs. Six Hundred Years Old. You’ve met a lot of dorks in your day, and half of them are at your wedding.”
“That’s not just hurtful to me, but hurtful to my friends, too. You love Victor.”
“I mean, I - yeah, I do. Victor’s my bro.”
“Mmm, good. I’m glad you like him. It would be really bad if you didn’t.”
They pull away from one another whenever they hear their names being called by the photographer, and after their session they make their way to the reception hall.
Clemency and Joceran stand just outside of the door into the reception hall, their hands intertwined with each others. They listen for Lacrimus’ voice and his introduction of them, hearing as well the soft hum of strings pull to a stop to make room for it. They hear the crowd laugh at his joke before the double doors are pulled open to reveal the stunning couple, both of their sharp grins sparkling.
They make their way over to the main, empty floor, and Clemency glances up to look at the stage as Dagmar takes the microphone from Lacrimus. She looks back to her husband, and if her body had the blood in it, she would have blushed deeply at the sight of his adoring gaze. Instead, she chuckles and allows herself to be taken into his arms. She wraps an arm around his shoulder and take a moment, just leaning into each other, before Dagmar begins to sing.
And they dance. They sweep across the wood in long, broad strokes, Clemency letting her gorgeous dress show itself off as she spun underneath Joceran’s arm. They lean into each other, letting their actions be loud and then soft before being loud again. He pulls her in close, planting a quick kiss on her lips as they moved together.
“This is the best day of my life. Including when I brought you back to life.”
“Mmm, well… It’s a tough competition, but I’m going have to say being resurrected is still my top one. Being the reason I’m alive, and all.”
“Fair enough.”
Sooner or later, the song ends, and they open up the floor to their guests. Clemency makes her way up the stage, not to make an announcement, but to thank the singer. She takes their hands before hugging them, whispering to them her thankfulness. She pulls away and shares a few words with her before making her way back to the floor.
She goes to where she was sat beside Joceran, leaning over to kiss him again as she simultaneously pulled up her legs to slip off her heels. As she’s stowing her shoes safely under their table, she looks up to see Victor, his hand outstretched. “I know you just danced for, like, three minutes, but do you want to dance?”
Clemency laughs and nods, taking his hand in hers and pulling herself up with it. “Sure, but I’m not putting my shoes back on.”
“That’s fine by me. I’ll try not to step on your toes too much.” He shrugs, smiling as they made their way to the dance floor. She settles her hand on his shoulder and they begin to move together, taking only a few missteps as they adjusted to each other’s strides.
After a moment of quietly dancing, Joceran’s sonatas playing over the speakers, Victor clears his throat and looks down at her with a smile. “You know… I was always an only child, but you’re like a sister to me. You found me when I really needed someone.”
She takes a moment to digest his words before she makes a small sound, deep in her throat, and looks up at him with wide, wet eyes. “You’re not going to make me cry at my reception, Vic, don’t say that. I spent two hours on this makeup. I won’t cry.”
He chuckles at that, shaking his head at that. “Damn, I really thought I would get you with that one.”
Clemency just laughs, continuing to move along the dance floor with him. “I - god, Vic, you know I love you. I don’t say it, because I’m not - I’m not like that, but you know you’re like my brother. Well, not actually like him, because you came to my wedding, but -” She pauses, shakes her head from those thoughts, before looking back up to him. “You’re like my brother, but better. I try to show it without saying it. You know I love you, right?” She questions before she laughs again, moving her hand from his shoulder to dab delicately at her eyes. “Dummy. Making me cry.”
Victor nods at her words, appearing to hold back his own tears after a moment. She chuckles at the sight before reaching up, hugging him fully as they swayed. After a beat, she pulled herself away and let out a breath. “Little brother,” She murmured - her grin wide as she leaned back, patted his lapels. She gave herself another spin, her hand in his, as the song ended with a grand flourish. She gave him a kiss on the cheek before waving to him again, walking back into the crowd.
Clemency decides to catch up with friends she hadn’t seen in a while, and check up on those she had. After a few conversations, she decides to take a bit of a break and hit up the cupcakes. She stuffs a bite-size red velvet cake into her mouth in the most graceful way a bride could, wiping the cream cheese off of her lips with a napkin.
She looks up at the feeling of a tap on her shoulder, and grins as she turned to see who it was. “Oh, Boris!” She isn’t embarrassed at having been caught red-handed, but is delighted to see her tall friend. “I’m glad to see you - I mean, I’ve seen you, obviously, you’re so tall. But still.” She hums lightly, quieting her own rambling (and licking cupcake from her teeth) before speaking again. “Are you enjoying yourself?”
Boris releases a big, booming laugh, and if Clemency’s cheeks didn’t already hurt from smiling so widely, they would now. “Of course! I’m have good fun, Miss Clemency. I have found that alcohol tastes better at party, and what is better party than wedding party?”
She laughs and nods in agreement, setting the wrapper of the cupcake off to the side. “Yes, ah - I made sure to get some good drinks, you know, just for you - and other guests, of course. Have you gone dancing yet? It’s good fun. Let’s go dance.”
Clemency takes his hand in hers, not quite waiting for an answer before she leads him to the dance floor. There aren’t too many people up there, so it’s easy for them to get a solid spot - especially with the pair of them being a six-foot man and the bride. She turns to face him again, her face lit by the fairy lights strung about the room. “Do you know how to dance?”
“Little bit,” He murmurs, looking around to the other guests before turning his attention back to Clemency.
She chuckles softly and shrugs, taking his hand and putting her opposite palm on his shoulder. “It’s alright - when weddings only happen once every few centuries, I think nearly everyone is out of practice but Joc and I. That’s only because we’ve been practicing every night for a year. Don’t worry. I’ll lead.”
Clemency adjusts her hands, moving her hand from his shoulder to his side. She begins to guide him in a simple dance, beginning to hum as she moved with him. She ignored his small missteps, looking back to him after they got into the swing of things.
After they find their rhythm, Borislav is the first to speak. “I am very proud of you, Miss Clemency. You have come very far from when I first met you, and even though I did not know you for very long before we resurrected your husband, I know you struggled. It is admirable to struggle and persevere despite that struggle.”
She nods for a moment, taking in his words before her smile widens and she shakes her head. “You, too, Boris? You and Victor, trying to make me cry,” She chuckles, moving her hand to blot tears from her eyes.
His eyes widen in concern, and he pulls away just slightly. “No, I - do not cry, please, I do not mean to make you cry. It is your wedding day, so do not cry.”
“No, Boris - don’t apologize, I’m happy. I just feel so loved today, you know? None of my blood family’s around anymore, so this - this is really special. I thought it would feel weird, but it isn’t. My family’s here.”
It’s Borislav’s turn to start crying now. At first he tries to play it off, nodding solemnly, but his facade does not last long. Clemency aww’ed, reaching up to hug him and squeeze him close. “Aw, don’t cry, sweetheart, I looooove you.” She chuckles, patting his back before pulling away after a moment. They exchange a big, goofy grin, and Clemency gives him a quick kiss on the cheek before making her way back to their table.
But Joceran is not there.
She panics for half a second, her fingers curling into fists instinctually, but she sees him and the red in her vision fades away.
Joceran has given the cellist in the small ensemble they hired a break. She sits in one of the chairs nearest to the musicians, and she crosses one leg over the other. He sits up straight in his seat, the cello wedged between his knees, and he plays like he was born with a bow in his hand. His grin threatens to break through his lips and it does, when he sees her sitting there. He sends her a quick wink and she smiles like it’s the first time she ever saw him play.
At the end of the night, when they (and their guests) are all tuckered out, they load up the van they had prepared. Clemency takes her spot in the driver’s seat and travels all around the city, dropping off her various guests at their predetermined destinations.