I Can Hear The Bells ((River Halvorson))

The wedding was never the question.  The question was always when.  But that had been figured out shortly after Elijah and Jack's three year anniversary.  Back in April, September had seemed ages away.  To the point that the date had mostly been kept between the couple.  Elijah had mentioned it to River, but with a 'don't worry about anything until I bring it up' disclaimer.  Now, with September 24th less than two months away, the man realized he damn well better bring it up.  His best friend obviously had to be in the know...since of course she was going to be the son of Discordia's best man (woman?) and be very involved in wedding stuff in general.  And although Elijah knew absolutely nothing about wedding planning, he knew a month and a half was cutting it all pretty damn close.  River would probably reprimand the man for that one, but he couldn't help that time had gotten away from him.

Something that drove Elijah crazy was that his best friend always knew where he was, but it didn't work in reverse.  He knew it was all her Trivia power stuff, but it was still annoying when he was bursting to talk to her and he had to go searching.  The antsiness was unbearable for the man, especially with today's subject matter.  After a full loop around camp, starting with the Second Cohort barrack, the small man figured he'd do another loop before branching out some.  Besides, sooner or later, River would know Elijah was looking for her.  If he didn't find her, she would find him.

So Elijah headed back to the Second Cohort barrack.  It really didn't hurt just to check.  A full lap around camp again...at least moving helped the chaotic impatience.  All that raw energy made Elijah feel ready to explode.  He had to find River and release all this.  The wedding...it was so close...it had totally sneaked up on the man.  And he was pretty sure his fiancé was going through the same.  Because it wasn't like Jack had brought it up either.  "For Gods' sake," Elijah mumbled under his breath, pushing open the door to the Second Cohort barrack.  It was darker in there than outside in the bright summer sun, forcing the small man to pause while his eyes adjusted.  At first it appeared that there were a few people in the barrack, but as Elijah's eyes adjusted, he saw that there was actually just one.

"River!" he exclaimed, rushing back to his best friend's bunk.  "You're here now!  I've been looking all over for you!" Elijah sat down dramatically heavily next to River on her bed.  "I guess not drastically enough for you to come looking for me...or maybe you knew I'd loop back here?" Gods, as if the man's energy level was in question in the first place.  Luckily, the woman knew how to handle her best friend in this mood.  Well...she knew how to handle him in all of his moods, but this one was one of the more difficult ones.  The man knew he was a handful at the best of times.  His moods could easily give whiplash.  When he was excited about something, he was excited about something.  And when a subject matter like this came up...his wedding...he was an unstoppable force of chaos.  Yes, the son of Discordia knew all of this.  And even in his current chaos exploding mind, he was grateful for his best friend being...his best friend.

There was no way Elijah could put off the purpose of his searching, though.  "I'm getting married!" he said excitedly.  "I mean...like in a month and a half!" it seemed so close when he actually said it out loud like this.  And it was a bit scary.  "And I need you to be my best man!  My best woman!  Whatever!  And you don't have to wear a suit!  I mean, you can wear a suit if you want to wear a suit...but you can wear a dress!" Elijah was bouncing...River would calm him though.  At this point, she was probably the only one who could.

River hummed softly to herself, almost inaudibly, as she browsed the books on the shelf.  Though Camp Jupiter had a rather impressive collection of medical texts, most of them probably written during the height of Roman intellectualism, they were dusty.  They looked like they hadn’t been touched in years.  Of course, ancient medicine probably wasn’t very useful to a camp full of demigods.  Minor injuries could be healed with small amounts of nectar and ambrosia.  Larger injuries could be taken care of by the children of Apollo, who were quite literally natural-born healers.  And that said nothing of the advancements that regular mortal medicine had made over the centuries.  Still, it mad the daughter of Trivia sad to see so many unread books.  Demigods could learn much from old knowledge.  At the very least, old information could spark new ideas.  That was why River found the texts so fascinating.  Trivia wasn’t the most important nor the most honored goddess in Roman mythology.  In fact, most of what she had read painted the goddess as a dark being.  She was a guardian of crossroads, often found in graveyards.  She was dark, mysterious, not well understood.  That was probably why there weren’t too many books in the library that were directly helpful to children of Trivia.  But that was also why River browsed the medical texts.  She knew there was more to her mother, more to the powers she had inherited.  And quite frankly, she found no joy in drawing an army of ghosts from the earth.  (She had discovered that one accidentally after dreaming about a ship blowing up in the Sound and waking to find about a dozen ghosts surrounding her bunk.  At the time, she wasn’t sure what was more disturbing; the dream about exploding ships, the mass of ghosts, or the fact that the ghosts claimed she had summoned them.)  The daughter of Trivia wanted to use her gifted powers—and more importantly her magic—for good.  She had plenty of ideas, but didn’t always know how to work it.  That was why she dug through ancient, outdated texts.  They often established a starting place for the girl.

As her fingers ghosted over the spines of the books, she paused, sensing a blip on her Elijah Radar.  River had tried to come up with a name for the mental connection she used to keep an eye on her best friend, but honestly, calling it an Elijahdar just sounded stupid.  Maybe ‘Edar’ would be sufficient?  Reaching out a tendril, the daughter of Trivia looked for a place to plug in.  When Elijah showed up on her radar, it usually meant he was looking for her.  By plugging into Elijah’s mind, she could find out where he was, but she had to be careful.  If she went too quick, bad things happened.  The son of Discordia would feel her presence or she would accidentally access thoughts and memories that she wasn’t supposed to see.  River cared deeply about her best friend, but she took extra care to grant him his privacy.  When she found the right place, she plugged in, but immediately jumped back with a screeched, “Ouch!”  Eyes from nearby tables and study carrels honed in on her.  Some were angry, some startled, others curious.  With a sigh and a mumbled, “Sorry,” River gathered her books and headed for the checkout desk.  Elijah was too volatile to find his location, but there was no doubt he would eventually circle around the barracks.

By the time Elijah found her, River was lounging back on her bunk with one of the library texts open in her lap.  She didn’t even need to look up to know her best friend hand entered the room.  He dramatically flopped down next to her, and immediately began chattering about his wedding.  His words moved almost as fast as his mind.  The daughter of Trivia turned a page, only half paying attention.  She couldn’t keep up with Elijah’s ideas, but he would eventually have to breathe.  When he finally did, still looking at the pages of her book, River slowly reached out and ran a hand down his arm.  “Caaaaalm,” she murmured, petting him a few more times.  “Caaaaalm.”  Finally, she looked up and fixed her brown eyes on the boy.  “Are you okay?” she asked, a smile playing across her lips.  “I knew you were looking for me, but you were far too chaotic.  You nearly blew my mind to bits!  I should have known better than to reach out.  I usually see you as a light.  Sort of like a standard light bulb.  This time, you showed up like a supernova.  I needed you to blow off some steam before we talked.”  Closing her book with a soft snap, River placed it on her bedside table, criss-crossed her legs, and leaned forward.  “So tell me about your wedding.  From the top.”

All of this was truly driving Elijah insane.  The more he thought about it, trying to find River, the more he realized that putting off wedding stuff was going to be his downfall.  Well...that was probably exaggerating.  No, not probably...it was exaggerating.  Though that was kind of the son of Discordia by nature.  It was having Jack and River that really kept the man balanced.  They were good like that...Elijah and River's friendship was so unique, yet so perfect.  Their completely opposite personalities ended up working in their favor more often than not.  Especially for the small man, who often needed someone to calm him down.  Jack was good at that too, but not as good as River.  Most of the time, anyway.  It made him think of when he came out to his best friend...how he wouldn't have even let anyone in at that point and everything she had done to get him through.  But now, with all this wedding stuff, Elijah knew River was the one who could calm him best...and of course, he had to discuss with her all of her roles in the wedding and such.

River's presence was priceless for Elijah, especially when he was in such a hysteric state.  The woman knew him too well...like her reaction to his outburst.  Elijah wasn't surprised she let him go on his verbal rampage.  Well, when he was actually able to process that.  Though the man was still pretty sure his best friend was just waiting for the day he passed out from not stopping to catch his breath in time.  Hell, Elijah was waiting for that day himself.  With an inner chuckle, the man figured he would let that thought go for now.  River was petting his arm, giving him an exaggerated "Caaaaalm."  And while the small man was mostly sure it wasn't imbued with Trivia magic, it still gave the manic man a sense of calm.  "Right," Elijah mumbled, taking a few deep breaths.  "Caaaaalm..." another few deep breaths.  He knew he wouldn't be doing either of them any favors by talking like he had been.

"I'm fine," Elijah finally smiled as his best friend finally looked up.  He opened his mouth, ready to repeat everything...before catching himself.  That had already proved wildly unsuccessful.  So he took a few more deep breaths.  "I'm just excited.  And there's some anxiety...I guess," the man tried to continue trying to relax, laughing softly at River's words.  "You should know better by now," Elijah teased.  "You've seen me through far too much," curling up at his best friend's side, the son of Discordia tried to find his words...and avoid losing control again.

There was business to take care of, anyway!  "Don't get angry, Riv..." Elijah half-frowned.  "But Jack and I's wedding is September 24th.  And I know I told you I'd keep you up to date, but we...kind of let time get the best of us," Gods, it sounded so awful when he said it.  The two should have stayed completely on top of it.  Now they had very little time to get everything perfect.  As much as Elijah was sure they'd get there, this part of things was horrendous.  "So now it's almost here, and we need help.  I need help."

Everything, everything...thinking about it was overwhelming and yet again, Elijah was feeling like it was all so much.  He knew they couldn't push it back by now, after reservations and invites and all, but damn, what he wouldn't give.  "I need your help finding a suit.  I..." slow and steady.  "And I want you to be my best man...best woman, of course.  I'm just making that official," Elijah was going through it all in his head, not rushing and making sense.  "And I was just trying to say you can wear a suit or dress...I'm fine with either.  River..." the man took a deep breath and frowned thoughtfully.  "River...we can't do this without your help.  Please tell me we'll have your help...I mean, I know...but..." Elijah knew they would have the woman's help, but hearing it out loud would be a relief.  At this point, every last detail made a whole world of difference.