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“This is gonna be the first public marriage in two decades. It’s gotta be special, sir!”
“No– We don’t need anything big. The sentiment of it happening at all is enough, I promise.”
Barney has both of his hands up in a calming motion. “Listen, we appreciate you guys takin’ initiative and all, but we don’t wanna be a bother. We were planning on something quiet, actually. Tell a few people what’s going on and let word of mouth spread the news because we’ll be damned if we start putting up posters. And–”
“He’s scared that people are gonna go just ‘cause they’re obligated to support them.” Alyx pipes up from right next to him. Barney looks at her briefly before just scratching the back of his head and smiling. Yeah.
“You gotta see where I’m coming from, Jericho. Everyone’s caught up on their own problems, and we don’t wanna be another thing they gotta care about.” Barney explains, glancing behind the counter and vaguely gesturing towards the cooks in the back, clamoring over each other. “For example.”
Alyx shoots Jericho a look, then gestures wildly. “I told you! He’s being a stubborn jackass about it!”
“Maybe you just haven’t explained it to him well enough, Ms. Alyx.” Jericho peels off the gloves from his arms and then folds them over the counter. “This whole– this whole thing, sir… It’s not an inconvenience. Humanity’s beacon of hope and one of the main gears of the resistance wants to get married? Everyone’s coming.”
“Out of obligation.” Barney presses down the last word.
“No.” Jericho smiles. “Out of celebration.”
“Hell, this whole kitchen would be honored to cater for it, sir. We’d throw away every single order we have now if it meant we were the ones tasked to work on yours!” Jericho throws his hands up. “Maureen! Get over here!”
“Well, now I’m just embarrassed. It’s not that big of a deal–” Barney stammers, face flushed. One of the other rebel cooks behind the counter runs over with a notepad at the ready. “Seriously. We appreciate the offer, but this is too much.”
“What? You and Mr. Freeman are the two guys who head the expeditions that supply the base cafeterias anyway, sir. All these might as well be yours already.” Maureen grins. “And, hell, a wedding? I was listening from across the room and, whew, a small catering won’t feed half of the people coming. You’re gonna need all hands on deck for this…”
“Alyx.” Barney glares.
“What?” She looks back at him, completely unfazed. She’s been on the receiving end of that too much these past twenty years to care. “If they want to help, let them help! I told you, Barney. Everyone’s onboard.”
“Gordon and I agreeing we let you help us plan was under the condition that we ain’t bothering the goddamn resistance!”
Alyx stares at him. Then averts her eyes and whistles.
“Fuckin’... okay.” Barney sucks in a breath and turns back to the counter. “Yeah. Thank you. We’ll be in touch, then. About how we’re repaying, I guess I’ll talk to Gordon about it.”
Jericho’s eyes glitter unmistakably and Maureen clicks her tongue. Score. When Jericho moves as if he were about to blurt something out, Maureen catches him by the mouth and pulls him off the glass.
“Thank you. We’ll be sure to keep our terminals open, then.” Maureen shakes her head. “Could I bother either of you for a tester of the food, or are you coming back later with Mr. Freeman too?”
“The latter. If I do anything else for the wedding right now, I’m pretty sure this old guy is going to put my head into the closest wall.” Alyx elbows Barney, earning an irritated snarl from the man. Barney musters up a polite nod to the rebel cooks anyway before just about dragging Alyx out of the building. Maureen giggles, then finally lets go of Jericho.
Jericho crosses his arms. He looks Maureen up and down before he speaks, almost begrudgingly, “Thanks.”
“I saw that little glint in your rat-bastard eyes and knew you were about to offer doing all that for free.”
“I was.” Jericho turns his chin up and shoves Maureen from his pathfind to the building's terminal. “Now get out of the way. We’ve got to tell the guys in fabrics that our leaders are getting married.”
“And that gossip line is going straight to the guys in construction…” Maureen sighs, smiling. “So much for Comm’s quiet wedding, huh?”
“The moment he mentioned weddings and word of mouth, he should’ve known everyone’s coming.”