Chapter Text
Kojiro blinked as he looked around the hall, his minor discomfort about the tightness of his suit forgotten as he took in the size of it. It certainly didn’t look this big when he and Poseidon had first viewed it months ago. Wait, was this even the same hall? Nevertheless, the decorating was phenomenal, the different shades of blue matching the white perfectly, the ornaments that hung from the ceiling at the end of the chains were something he had never seen before, but he figured Poseidon must have made some last minute changes.
He swallowed as he thought about his soon-to-be husband, having not seen him since a couple days ago when they had finalised the lavish table cloths, internally grimacing as he remembered Poseidon's fierce reaction at seeing the original design for them, being, in his specific words, ‘mangled by useless waste of lives’, before not so subtly remarking that they were easily replaceable. It had somewhat worked out in the end however, after he had failed miserably to calm his fiance down, when Hades had arrived to usher Poseidon away from the scene.
It seemed to be a tradition where the soon to be married couple were not to see each other for the whole day before the wedding, something Kojiro scrunched his nose at, as he himself felt more at ease with being near his mate before the big day. But he didn't object to this, he didn't want to further anger his god of gods. With a quick peck on the cheek and some temporary farewells (Posiedon giving one last glare to the already terrified woman who kept her tearful eyes low), the two grecians walked away.
He scratched the back of his head as he watched some of Poseidon's servants move some tables around, Proteus instructing them thoroughly as he checked his watch with an irritated look. Maybe he was waiting for him?
“I forgot how good you look in a suit Kojiro” Said man turned his head behind him, looking at the familiar and comforting figure of his Valkyrie, Hrist. His face instantly lit up at her presence, Hrist smiling softly at him as she walked towards him. Kojiro had to admit, she looked stunning in her dress. Though it wasn’t traditional, he had asked her to be his ‘best man’, feeling she was appropriate for the role since she was one of his most closest and precious figures to him, someone he trusted with his life.
Of course Poseidon wasn't happy at hearing this when they had first discussed the matter, instantly disregarding his choice on selecting ‘that wench’ as best man, or Leonidas as his second choice, and then rejecting Qin, ‘the spoiled brat’, Loki, ‘the foolish jester, and LuBu, ‘the brute with no brain’ as his groomsmen. When Kojiro had mentioned Adamas as his last choice, (since he had unintentionally helped him at times with Poseidon), Poseidon merely scowled at this. Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to forget about Adamas in this entire celebration, Hades was perfectly clear on Adamas being included on his side of the ceremony, so he himself was regrettably stuck with him.
It took A LOT of convincing on his end (with Hades helping his case, and a usual dull comment from Odin that ‘the Valkyrie will do as she pleases if she were not to be included’), before Poseidon exasperatedly wrote down the names. A bitter ‘so much for the perfect wedding’ came from the blonde god at this, letting everyone present know that he was in a terrible mood. Though a quick nudge using his leg and a sneaky wink from Kojiro seemed to have better his mood (though Poseidon wouldn’t outright admit this), Poseidon ‘hmphing’ at the action before crossing his leg, purposely making contact with Kojiros and keeping it there, stroking him every so often.
“Hrist! Gods, you look amazing!” Kojiro chuckled as he spread his arms out slightly, inviting the Valkyrie for a hug which she gladly took. The embrace was tight, Hrist burying her face into his neck as she sighed happily, inhaling his aftershave. They pulled away, still holding each other with a grin on one face and a smile on the other.
“Thank you Kojiro” She replied, looking at his lit up face with a small smile and sigh. Though as cliche as it sounded, It felt like it was just yesterday when she had first met and volunded with her Einherjar, defeating the tyrant of the oceans by just a width of a hair, the memory coming to her head clearly as she stared into Kojiro's soft eyes. How could a pure hearted man, someone whose kindness knows no bounds, marry, urgh, Poseidon? After all these years, she still didn’t like the god. He was too snobby for her liking, the god at first thinking he was too good for Kojiro, before the samurai changed his heart.
At times, she wished Kojiro would just do what a normal person would have done and be done with the stuck up spoiled god at the first set of insults that came his way, choosing to live his life without him. Though, it was obvious as to why Kojiro had put up with it, though he probably didn’t know why he had himself at the time.
There was definitely something between the two at the start of their rocky, ‘relationship’. No matter how much Poseidon insulted, belittled and spewed rude remarks, Kojiro would just ignore them all and defuse the situation, acting friendly towards him instead. Despite Poseidon talking so badly towards him, it didn't stop the god from making his way to him constantly, just to speak badly of him to his face. It wasn’t till some time after that Kojiro had startled Hrist with what she had had considered bad news. Long story short, when Poseidon had stopped Adamas’s plan and essentially saved Valhalla, the heavens rewarded him, and that was in the form of Kojiro being born for him.
Though it took some time, and as much as she hated to admit it, they were indeed made for each other. ‘A match made in Valhalla’, as the saying goes. Still…
“You know, it's still not too late to back out” Hrist jokingly said, Kojiro chuckling at her joke (well, half joke) as he shook his head at her. It was worth a shot. They both turned their heads towards Proteus when he shouted out to the servants, annoyance evident in his tone as he stomped towards one of them and snatched the decorum out of their hands. Hrist narrowed her eyes at this, hesitantly pointing a finger towards them.
“I..where did, that come from?” She asked slowly, a feeling of uneasiness building in her as she noticed the design was not the one she chose. Kojiro looked at her to see what she was talking about, before looking back at Proteus’s direction with a confused look. What was she talking about? He heard an annoyed sigh coming from his Valkyrie, turning back to her as she shook her head with a slightly furrowed brow, waving her hand dismissively. “You know what, never mind. Let’s, just” She sighed heavily again to calm herself down, not wanting to get pissed about a small last minute change. Poseidon would probably throw a bigger bitch fit anyways if he didn’t get his way.
Before Kojiro could ask what was up, Hrist perked up as she reached into her sidebag and pulled her phone out.
“Oh! I promised my sisters I’d take some pictures” She said, quickly pulling up the camera app before looking around for something. Kojiro raised his brows as he realised her sisters were not present.
“Aren’t they coming?” Kojiro questioned, tilting his head slightly. Had he done something to offend them? Kojiro could see the apprehension on her face as she looked to the side, pursing her lips albeit nervously.
“U-um, they…they felt it best not to attend” Hrist said, guilt coursing through her as she saw an almost unnoticeable look of hurt in Kojiros eyes before the man covered it with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“O-oh, right. I-I mean, yea, that’s fine, They were probably, busy, or something…” Kojiro mumbled, looking away as he lowered his arms from Hrist, before rubbing the back of his neck. Hrist clamped her mouth shut, desperately wanting to tell him the truth on the matter, though she thought that it would ruin his big day if he knew. She should have thought of a better excuse.
“Where have you been?!” Again, the duo whipped their heads to Proteus, seeing him march up to Qin and Lubu, the emperor looking around blissfully with a thoughtful look while Lubu glanced around with a bored expression, both matching suits. Before they could answer him however, Qin spotted the scarred man, choosing to grin widely and wave to him, Lubu catching this and mimicking the grin, both making their way over.
Qin held his hand out to Kojiro, the man accepting it before being pulled into a one armed hug, laying a hand on his back before giving him a few pats on the back.
“Haha can’t believe todays the day! How are you feeling Kojiro?” Qin questioned with a chuckle, a more boisterous laugh erupting from him when just as he was about to answer, Lubu gave a friendly punch to the arm as a way of greeting, which to Kojiro actually pained him but he hid it with a smile. The king was more gentler with Hrist, offering a proper hug to the taller woman, while Lubu gave a nod to her.
“Ha, It’s, uh, it’s, still a bit unbelievable to be honest” Kojiro said, giving his arm one last rub before stretching his arms out a bit. “Just a few more hours and I’ll be a marr-”
“Why are you so late?!” Proteus interjected, standing in front of Kojiro as he glared at the other two Einherjars, Qin giving a laid back smile while Lubu just stared at him.
“We got lost” Qin answered lamely, still smiling almost dumbly. Proteus huffed at this, before shaking his head at his attitude. He could see why his master was against these two becoming groomsmen. He narrowed his eyes at them when he noticed something missing.
“Where are the flowers?” He questioned, praying that they had dropped them off somewhere in the building before they entered, though, when the smile finally left Qins face (Lubu keeping his unimpressed expression), he couldn't help but throw his hands in the air with a exasperated groan, turning around as he silently cursed the two for their lack of common sense, before whipping back round to them.
“Are you incapable of the simplest task of fetching the necessary flowers requ-!”
“I have Kojiro's boutonniere with me” Hrist interrupted with some attitude, trying to keep herself under control as she listened to the fishman berate them for forgetting their job but still implying the blame to her also.
“And the corsages? The mini bouquets?” he replied with the same tone, switching his attention to her as he realised talking to the other two would be equivalent to talking to a wall. “I suppose we can just use LEAVES from the trees outside instead!”
“Maybe I can rip your FUKCING FINS off and we can use THEM INSTE-!”
“OKAY okay!” Kojiro interjected, quickly getting in between them with his arms slightly out towards his Valkyrie, in case she decided to go for Proteus who was taken back by her outburst (and quite frankly, a bit scared). “L-Look, I-’m sure Qin and Lubu can som-”
“Oh right yeah! The flowers!” Qin spoke out, holding a finger up as he realised what the fish was speaking about. “Alvitir was going to bring them with her sisters, but since they won’t be attending, my mother said she’ll swing by with them in a bit”.
“In A bit?!” Proteus repeated slowly, pronouncing each word clearly, making it known that he found the so-called ‘solution’ a complete joke. “Oh wonderful! They can wear them while the newlyweds are off on their honeymoon!” He mocked, his face showing that he had enough of the emperors opinions on the matter. Upon hearing this, Qin frowned, having enough of the servants attitude towards him.
“Perhaps if the Valkyries had been attending, we wouldn't be in this position, would we?” Qin asked, sticking out his hip as he waited for the answer. He didn’t want to bring up such a matter in front of Kojiro on his big day, but he was getting annoyed, and he had only been here for 10 minutes!
“Exactly! The point I’m tryin-!”
“Kojiro!” All five turned their heads behind them to where the strong voice called out, with Proteus quickly re-arranging himself dutifully as he realised it was his masters brothers, Hades, Adamas and Zeus finally arriving.