Wedding Dances

 "You know, you're going to need to do this at your wedding too." Emily winked at Oisin, taking his hand in hers and placing her other hand at his hip. Oisin mentally sighed, giving her an unimpressed look. 

 

Emily was getting married. Months of secret plans and here they were, two days before the wedding, having a last practice of the 'father-daughter' dance for the small, private reception. Well, the 'twins' dance; part of the secrecy had been to keep their father from discovering the wedding. After his blow-out at Oisin coming out as gay, Emily had decided to keep her own sexuality private so she didn't have to deal with the snipes and outright hostility he showed Oisin. He never realised that with every jibe or argument against Oisin's homosexuality he had lowered himself in Emily's eyes, leading to him not being invited or even aware of her upcoming marriage. Ultimately, his loss.

 

Their father's absence meant that Oisin was stepping up to the plate; he was giving Emily away, giving a speech before dinner and had the honours of a dance with her. But it felt right that he would be the one doing all this. They had often joked about their closeness; being 'two sides of the same coin' and claiming they were each other's 'better half'; it made sense that he would be the one to walk with her before she married, to see her begin a new type of family. It wouldn't weaken their bond, only change it slightly. But with so much talk of the wedding, Emily couldn't help poking him about his own (non-existent) love life.

 

"I'm not getting married anytime soon. I'm not even dating anyone!" He pointed out. As the music began they fell into the steps they had practised repeatedly, gliding through each movement together.

"And why not?" 

"Because contrary to your beliefs, I'm not sought out for long term relationships."

"Then you should seek out someone yourself! You can't tell me there's no-one who's caught your eye before. Besides, who could resist someone this handsome?" Emily smiled playfully, shifting into him and giving him a wink. Oisin rolled his eyes fondly, tugging her back and resuming their dance. 

 

"You wear my face better than I do. And you know it's more complicated than that." 

"No, I know you. And how you keep denying yourself is the problem." Oisin sighed, dropping his gaze as Emily pressed on. "You fucked up in the past but you don't need to keep punishing yourself like this. You're allowed to have a bit of happiness."

"I've got you and Ash." 

"That's not what I was thinking of and you know it!" Emily sighed, stepping into his space and pressing her cheek to his. Their dancing slowed to an intimate swaying and she switched back to her own appearance. "Oisin, I'm getting married soon. Ash is going to grow up and fly the nest someday. I don't want you to be all by yourself just because you made mistakes. There are far worse people than you who have someone to love and I know it's something you want to. And if you try to deny I'm going to stomp on your foot." Oisin smiled at the threat, tilting his head to hers with a small laugh. 

 

"Alright, alright. But- look, I'm not exactly a prize. I just can't see who'd want someone like me." 

"A handsome selkie wizard who enjoys music, games of pool and swimming?"

"A shadowrunner with a bad history and a teenage kid waiting at home?" Emily pinched his side, making him yelp and flinch. But he didn't break out of their embrace, only giving her a reproachful look.

"Stop that shit. Everyone's got baggage. I got dishonourably discharged from the military and I've run my share of guns. Sometimes with you, remember? And I found someone who didn't give a damn!" Oisin sighed, leaning into Emily and squeezing her hand. "Seriously. I have to feel you in the back of my head all the time." 

 

He could help snorting and pulling back to raise an eyebrow at her. 

"I should've known you'd have an ulterior motive." 

"Yeah, wanting my brother to stop being a mopey bastard is my ulterior motive. I'm so evil." She replied dryly, smiling. The pair couldn't help giggling at themselves. Oisin looked at her, considering something. He could feel her too of course. They could always sense each other in their heads, that small, hidden part dedicated to each other through blood and magic. Just as she could feel himself dismissing any chance of love and getting depressed over it, he could feel the warm glow and butterflies she was feeling with her upcoming nupitals.

 

"You alright?" He asked her, squeezing her hip. 

"Hm? Yeah. Just a little nervous," She refused to look sheepish. "Tomorrow and then it's the day." 

"It's not too late to change your mind." Oisin said but it was playfully, teasing in tone. "Call up Dad, tell him you're a lesbian and about to get secretly married back in Ireland and would he fancy walking you down the aisle?" Emily outright laughed, her shoulders shaking. 

"Yeah, sure. I'll also tell him my bride is Hindu, we're getting hitched a registry office and I'm not wearing white." Oisin grinned and spun her around by the waist in an eager hug, setting her down. 

 

"I reckon we'll be good enough for the reception now." He announced, letting go of her and moving to stop the music player. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you wanted to show your wife-to-be around, didn't ya?" 

"Yep. And just to check, you have your speech ready for the dinner, right?"

"It's all sorted," Oisin assured her, rejoining her as they collected their things to leave, "The only thing left that we haven't prepared for is practicing to walk you down the aisle but I like to think I know how to do that without fucking it up."