that had him intrigued and raising a brow he gave the man the benefit of the doubt, "matching how?"

He pushed himself up as best he could with out disturbing his plate and kissed Zosa. "It is a secret for tomorrow night, I want our first night in our home to be wonderful.... We can even make home movies."

the thought of felix intentionally letting him film without grief seemed too good to be true but he had no reason to question it and putting aside thoughts of the restaurant and the suit he instead focused on soft lips and the magnitude of tomorrow's endeaver

He could barely sleep and it seemed that zosa was just as restless, and once the boy finally showed signs of rem sleep, the professor slipped out of the bed and emailed a taxi company to come and pick him up. He gathered his things and before disappearing into the predawn darkness, he wrote Zosa a note and kissed the man on his forehead.

he only managed a couple hours though when he did wake felix was already up. crawling from the bed he heard a crinkle and reaching over the crumpled blankets pulled a piece of paper free. reading it he felt his stomach knot up and treading it twice more nearly lost the nonexistant contents of it, only the knowledge that felix hadn't run away in almost a year and the promise of a return kept him from bolting from the bed. instead, swallowing the bile in his throat he got up carefully and got dressed to get everything prepared

How women could stand such things he did not know. The dresser was surprised to see him and even more surprised to have to recommend a good hairdresser for the professor. The strangest was having an entire team of women go from disbelief and giggles to fighting with the naturally wavy locks into something presentable for his wedding. There was one last thing missing and for that it took him out of his way too the airport.

six hours to prepare for his wedding. even in the crush of it all he felt anxious with felix's departure weighing in at the back of his mind even as the food the alter the priest the tailor his father the camera and everything else pushed at the front of it. at four minutes until noon everything was ready but there was no felix and at twenty minutes after noon he was so frazzled that even calls to the hospitals and airports could not sooth him and the priest was talking about cold feet and god not wanting this to have happened anyway and so when the sounds of car doors being slammed and the front door being opened and closed came out over the chattering at fourteen minutes after one he was nearly in tears. he felt faint as the kitchen door opened and felix came through bearing jimmy and dressed to the nines in flowers and lace

It was heart wrenching to see his Zosa. While the tailors had done a lovely job on his suit, the mans face made the professor pale. He broke away from his escort and immediately ran to Zosa, stopping the idle chatter of both the priest and the father. “ Are you sick?' He cupped the mans face pushing aside the veil of fabric that blocked his vision. “Zosa?”

it was too much. feeling the warm lips press to his forehead as the scratchy lace brushed his neck he began to cry. there was no sound but the heat of the tears gave him away and he could feel the arms tighten around him as felix took up a soft hum and a slow rock. he said nothing until he could pull himself together and sniffing back the ache that had moved up into his throat he whispered the only thing that came to his mouth into a pale ear "i am so glad you came back"

He shook his head and kissed the crown again, and just as softly as the words were spoken to him he said back. “I promised.” he continued to hold zosa until the other was ready.

in the end he was convinced that starting right then would be a bad idea and that they should send out an email to everyone saying there was an issue with the camera. it was not true but he understood that neither him or felix looked their best and that jimmy was falling asleep on his feet. he let everyone know the wedding could wait until later that evening

It seemed to be a strange way to have a wedding. Between the father and the father, the food had disappeared, and Felix found his apron to pass the time and make more. While the rest of the house rested in wait, he drifted around the kitchen. Every so often he would hear a quite little click as he moved about cooking food for the few guest that would have it.

with the stress from the morning down to a simmer and felix swishing around in a gown and apron with olesya he was nearly in heaven itself. snapping pictures as the two made an extra large meal for them all he made sure to get every angle though he did not dare touch before the wedding and only tried the food after everything had been set to the lowest temp and felix swished upstairs to reready himself for their vows

It was strange the first time he would see the elderly old woman would be the last time he and Zosa would be in the house. A new life awaited him just beyond the backdoor and nervously he held on to his childhood friend. It was a good thing the veil obscured his face. Hours ago he was ready to jump head first into the pool and now he was growing cold with each step. It felt so proper, would he see mars again?... how would the pictures turn out... was the stove off... why didnt zosa's father smile? His train of thoughts occupied him right up and through the priest introduction. Only the hand over his calmed the torrent of analytical assessments into one about the various indigenous fauna of Greece.

when the wedding was back up to running and the camera was turned on to send out the signal to everyone who couldn't be there he turned his mind to the priest's words and though the latin was fuzzy and half-forgotten what they meant was crisp and sharp. keeping his nervousness in check he remained silent and attentive until it was time for him to give his vows. turning to felix he smiled, "<my heart, my body, my world, my mars>"

He had come prepared with a piece of paper next to his breast but at Zosas words he fell silent. The priest had to repeat himself again before his gaping mouth could find words and even then they did not hold the depth that the little phrase had come to mean. With his heart stuck in his throat he picked up Zosas ringed hand and sucked along the finger before wrapping his arms around the boy and whispering in his ear. His words came out in a quiet choking sob. “Zosa.... I never lie. When I say I will be there, I will be there. I can not image forever... I … don't want a day with out you. I am so scared. I love you so much... cause you and I both love..”