Quickly Approaching ((Jack Wheelan)) [PG-13: L, S]

Elijah,

I'm still alive.
I heard you and Jack are getting married. I wish you both all the best.
I'm not sending presents.

Lúth.

Ever since the letter from Lúth had arrived, Elijah had kept it folded in his pocket.  It wasn't much, but it was something.  All this time...at least now the man knew for sure.  It was a bit of comfort for some odd reason, though everything was so insane that the letter barely made a difference.  With a short two and a half weeks until his and Jack's wedding, the man felt like his head was going to explode at any moment.  The two were going over everything over and over again, but it always seemed like something new came up each time.  The big stuff was taken care of...the woman in New Rome who would be officiating the ceremony.  It was a relief knowing that all that would carry over to the mortal world when they were ready to move.  The ceremony itself was booked in a nice park in New Rome, as the weather would still be quite nice...or so they hoped.  There was going to be a big tent up, so they were safe if it rained.  All of the official paperwork had been filed, so Elijah and Jack would be Mr. and Mr. Emmanual-Wheelan right after the wedding.  That part was down.

The hard part was the reception.  Although they were keeping the ceremony small, Elijah and Jack had decided to have the reception open to all of the Romans.  As leaders of the Legion, that seemed like the best way to do it.  It was so overwhelming, though.  Location was set, under another tent by the smaller one for the ceremony.  But they needed so much more for that, that the man was sure something was going to slip through the cracks.  Music was easy enough, as Jack had an old iPod and speakers.  The playlist was mostly set, starting with their first dance song, "You and I Tonight" by Faber Drive.  It was helpful enough that Jack was catering, though it meant that he was spending a lot of time in the kitchen.  It was easier to do that and freeze the food for then, or so the older man said.  But then there were tables to worry about, with centerpieces, and plates and utensils, and...Gods, it was a lot.  Elijah was ready for this to be over.

Not to mention they were a bit late with everything.  Elijah knew this should have been sorted out ages ago, but he and his fiancé hadn't realized how close it all was until a couple weeks ago.  They had booked the spaces and all early on to ensure they would have them, but everything else was starting to feel last minute.  The two were determined to figure out most of it today, though.  The son of Discordia was waiting in his room in the Principia, waiting for Jack to finish up some Centurion duties in the First Cohort barrack, and then they were going to get all of it done.  The man was pretty sure the older man had mentioned something about Sienna helping out, but he hadn't spoken with his future sister-in-law about it...hopefully Jack had if that was a thing.  The list of stuff to be prepped was on Elijah's desk, which he had double checked a million times in the past few minutes.  He had just gotten back from the small inn in New Rome where he and his fiancé would be having their mini-honeymoon.  Another thing checked off the list.

Pacing wasn't going to help anything.  Elijah had started doing so without even noticing...though that wasn't anything too out of character for him.  Jack would be there shortly, and they were going to get stuff done.  And in two and a half weeks, they'd be married, and all of this stressful stuff was going to be over, and it was just going to be Jack and Elijah Emmanual-Wheelan.  The thought made the small man giddy, of course.  The process may have been crazy, but the end result was going to be a dream come true.  He couldn't wait for that...the man had already started figuring out what official paperwork he'd be changing his and Jack's names on.  Ever since they had decided to hyphenate their names, Elijah just couldn't wait.

Waiting impatiently, Elijah pulled the letter from Lúth out of his pocket again.  The paper was starting to rip along the creases where he had folded it.  In some ways, he sort of hoped that this meant he would see his sister again someday, but he knew that was pretty unlikely.  But she was alive, and she knew about the wedding.  The man wasn't sure how, but it didn't matter.  She was alive, and out there somewhere.  Elijah smoothed it out before folding it again, putting it back in his pocket.  The man didn't know if he was ready to share it just yet.  And just in time, it seemed, the door handle turned, surely meaning that Jack was done his work and coming into the room.  Perking up, Elijah grabbed the list and a pen.  Time to get stuff done.

Jack held his clipboard in his left hand and his pen in his right as he made his way up one side of the barrack and back down the other.  As he walked along, inspecting each space, he checked off names and various boxes on his papers.  Though most Romans preferred to stay at camp year-round, a few from his cohort returned to their homes during the school year.  They wanted to go to school in the mortal world, see their families, and try to live as normally as possible for a few months.  Of course, ‘normal’ took on a different meaning when one was the child of a Roman god or goddess, but the fact remained the same.  Some demigods just wanted a few months without weapons training, monster classes, and war games.  They preferred to learn math and English and science without the standard Roman classes mixed in.  Jack couldn’t really blame them.  He had managed to graduate from high school before discovering that he was a demigod (a fact that he still attributed to his absolute ignorance of anything outside of his personal bubble), which was why he understood the draw of a mortal school.  Demigod friends understood each other better than anyone, but mortal friends were the kind that a person would really want to go shopping or go to the movies with.  Mortals never tried to drag you into Gladys’s Gladiuses, nor would they critique the latest gladiator movie on its accuracy.  A monster attack only once a month (or even once a week) was a fair trade for nine months of not being surrounded by the legion 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Through word of mouth, Jack had discovered that most of the high schools started right after Labor Day.  That meant the latest of his campers had just moved out the weekend prior.  As Centurion of the First Cohort, it was Jack’s responsibility to make sure all of his legionnaires had squared away their spaces before they left.  It just wouldn’t do to have someone leave behind a mess for an entire school year.  Even if they came back for the winter holidays, it wasn’t appropriate to leave too much behind.  The son of Venus had intended to check up on everybody before they left, but planning for his and Elijah’s wedding had taken over his time.  He hadn’t realized the last of his summer campers were gone until the nightly formation when his headcount came up short.  Late was better than never, so Jack had assured Elijah that he would be over to continue discussing their plans after he checked up on his legionnaires and his barracks.  As requested, the year-rounders were standing at the ends of their bunks as Jack came by.  He had asked them to straighten their spaces, too, so it would be easier to see who was out of place.  The legionnaires that were still present were easier to fix.  The son of Venus could easily talk to them and point out what could be put together better for the next inspection.  For those who had left, though…  Well, Jack made note of who had more than pictures still taped by their bunks.  Forgotten clothing, mementos, and especially weapons became his property.  Those demigods would be getting letters in a few days detailing how they could earn their stuff back.  The son of Venus didn’t want to be cruel, but he was a Centurion.  He needed to ensure that his legionnaires understood responsibility.

With a final flourish, Jack finished his inspection and dismissed his demigods.  They all flooded for the door, and Jack headed for his bunk at the back of the room.  He quickly packed away his checklist and pulled out the folded sheet of notebook paper he kept in his back pocket.  By now, the paper was crinkled, smudged, stained, and torn, but still readable.  Though the couple had been keeping an official list of wedding details in a notebook in Elijah’s room, Jack had been making his own list as new ideas came to him.  The early days of planning had been extremely frustrating.  The son of Venus would think of something new as he worked out a minor detail, but by the time he saw Elijah that night, he would have forgotten it.  The solution was to carry his own sheet with him everywhere he went.  That allowed him to jot down ideas as soon as they struck, so he’d have them for their planning sessions.  Unfortunately, that meant the paper had seen quite a bit of dirt, flour, coffee, crumbs, and more over the past few days.  The man would have to steal more paper from Elijah that night.  Smoothing it out, he quickly read over his notes.

--Cake
    --Layers?
    --Frosting?
    --Decoration?
--Reception
    --Decorations?
    --Centerpieces?
    --Colors?
    --Lighting?
    --Flowers?
--Wedding Party
    --Bouquets?
    --Flower toss?
--Ceremony Guests
    --Sit or stand?

Jack’s list was filled with question marks, but he hoped they could work out some of the finer details that day.  Quickly refolding the paper and stuffing it in his pocket, the young man swept his eyes over the barrack once more before heading out.  He picked his way across the green and was pushing open the door to the Principia before he even realized he was there.  His long strides carried him across the room in mere moments, and soon he was down the hall and outside of Elijah’s bedroom.  At this point, Jack didn’t even bother to knock.  Elijah knew he was coming.  He’d probably chastise his fiancé for being so formal anyway.  Instead, the son of Venus turned the knob and let himself in.  Unsurprisingly, Elijah was standing in the middle of his room, mid-stride, his pacing clearly interrupted.

“Stop it,” Jack teased.  “You’re going to put a trench in your floor if you keep that up.”  Crossing over to the younger man, Jack took his face in his hands and kissed him tenderly.  “I love you, but I don’t think this wedding will work if you get that anxious,” he joked.  “Come on.”  Taking the man’s hand, Jack led his fiancé over to the desk against the wall.  He gently pushed Elijah down into the chair, pulled the notebook towards them, and stood behind his fiancé with his hands on his shoulders.  “Tell me, my love, what do we have to discuss today?”