apocalypsehow | Hotel Obsidian

Chet was a miracle worker, being able to set up the ballroom for a wedding reception even while the world was actively ending. It was believed that he was still the only hotel worker left, so the fact that he was managing to DJ along with making a lamb dinner for everyone was impressive.

"This had better be an open bar," Allison said. There had been enough abandoned clothing around that she managed to find an evening gown for the occasion.

Lila	Lila, meanwhile, was in a fun little black skirt and top combination she'd found. (Along with enough eyeliner that it was surprising her face didn't feel heavy.) And while Allison was clearly not really looking for a friend...who else was Lila supposed to spend time with at this thing? Especially now that she'd decided to be vaguely appropriate and regretted the whole Stan thing, in hindsight? "Come on," she urged, trying to get Allison to buck up a bit. "This is for Luther. Perk up."
Allison	Allison would do no such thing, as evidenced by her reaction when Viktor and Luther made their appearance. Luther's look she could forgive, since he was hard to dress on a good day, but Viktor -- "I see you've gone for the oversized button-down. Original."
Viktor	Viktor looked Allison up and down, finding that she was a little too overdressed for the occasion. "You know there's not a paparazzi line here, right?"
Luther	"Listen to me, you two," Luther hissed. "This is my day, all right? So if you two can just get along for a couple of hours, you can consider that my wedding gift."
Allison	"Well Viktor started it--" Allison said.
Viktor	"You literally just started it," Viktor interrupted.
Luther	"My day!" Luther said, raising his voice. "Two hours, do you think you can manage that?"
Sloane	Oh, look, that was Sloane's cute to show up and diffuse a fight by looking absolutely gorgeous. The tailoring she had done on the dress she found turned out great, and she was grateful that Annie leant her jewelry for the final touches. Sloane beamed with happiness at the sight of Luther in his suit.
Ben	Ben rolled his eyes. "Let's get this over with before I die of cringe."
Annie	Annie spared a dirty look for Ben -- this was your only remaining sibling, asshole, maybe try being happy for your sister -- before she was crossing over to give both Sloane and Luther hugs. She'd managed to find a swingy, knee-length dress that hid the way her incredibly flat stomach all of a sudden looked like it was full of babies, to her untrained eye. "I'm so happy for you both," she said, soft and sincere. Even if, you know. This was a pretty rough time for a wedding. Like, it was kind of exactly the scenario she and Diego had been afraid of for their own wedding. So it was probably appropriate that this was a Hargreeves wedding twice over, with that in mind.
Klaus	Sloane was grateful that someone was being normal about this. She gave Annie a grateful hug before taking Luther's hand to lead everyone outside, where the ceremony was being held. Chet had set up a lovely altar that was tastefully facing away from the apocalypse. But if you turned around, there it was. Klaus was officiating, of course. He was a pro at this by now. "Dearly beloved, we're gathered here today for a good time, not a long time, so let's have a good time, huh?" he said, trying for some levity. "'Cause the sun can't shine every day. Can I get an amen?" Surprisingly, he did get a couple 'amens' from the small audience. "Luther, do you be taking this banging hottie to be your lady?" Klaus asked.
Luther	Luther smiled. "I do."
Klaus	Great, excellent. "Sloane, do you promise to love and cherish this big, hairy bastard for the next 24 to 48 hours?"
Five	"Give or take a day," Five answered for him. Helpfully. Real helpful, this one.
Klaus	"I now pronounce you married as shit." Thank god he had left that out during Diego's wedding. "Viva la apocalypse!"

Five	Five had a good selection of alcohol on the table in front of him. His table, really. Because there were a lot to choose from and he picked this one. Hence his narrowed eyes as Klaus lit up at seeing him and was making his way over.
Klaus	And from the looks of it Klaus was not only drunk but might be on something else as well. "Cinco! Mi hermano!" He didn't sit in Five's lap but it was close.
Five	"Oh god," Five said as he expression had done nothing to scare him off. "What do you want?" If it was about dad, he was barking up the wrong tree.
Klaus	"Listen to me, Dad is upstairs right now--" Sorry, Five. "--with a plan to save everything. So what say you and I pop up to the suite for a little chit chat?" Come on, Dad might have some old timey cocktails up there for you. Like...a Gimlet or something.
Five	Excuse you, Five was putting shots together to survive this wedding. He was doing just fine without the old man. "Are you like Frick and Frack with the old man now?"
Klaus	What and what, you old bastard? "This dad's different. Like a turtle," Klaus said. "Hard on the outside, but all cute and wrinkly and occasionally delicious on the inside." Oh god the imagery there.
Five	"Klaus?" Five said, pausing his drink organizing for a moment.
Klaus	"Yeah?" he replied, foolishly looking hopeful.
Five	"Old dogs like me and him never change," Five informed his dumb, hopeful face. "He has never had our best interests at heart." Never. "So! My only plan tonight is to get fucked up beyond recognition."
Klaus	Well, damn. He thought that one would work. "Okay. Have fun." He totally wasn't Charlie Brown walking away, Five. He wasn't.
Five	Five dropped a shotglass filled with whiskey into a glass of champagne and grinned. "I shall." Because he was gonna get fucked up tonight.

Diego	It was at some point during the dinner portion of the reception, that Sir Reginald completely ignored Luther's instructions and showed up to the party. He had a plate of food and was wandering around, looking for a table to sit at. Diego slumped down in his seat, like that would suddenly make him invisible. "He better not sit here. I swear to god, he better not sit here."
Annie	Blame the fact that they were at a wedding, and it was literally the end of the world, or blame the fact that she was pregnant and sentimental, or -- maybe it was as simple as this -- blame how Reginald had proven himself to be sort of a person or something by giving a nauseated Annie a cookie a few days ago. Blame whatever you want for whatever mental break caused Annie to ignore how Diego was pretending to be invisible, and instead to flutter a light wave over at Reginald, and like, look, they had an empty seat right here at their table that he could take!
Diego	"What are you doing?" Diego hissed, reaching up to pull Annie's hand down. "Are you insane?" It was too late, Reginald was heading over.
Annie	"What, I'm supposed to just watch him look around for somewhere to sit like we picked him last for dodgeball in PE earlier?" Annie replied, slanting a look at him. "Come on. The world's ending." And if he was a dick, she'd finish what she'd started back in 1963. Five was probably too distracted-slash-wasted to stop her this time!
Reginald	Reginald gave a slight smile in appreciation to Annie as he sat down. He then started eating a deviled egg with a knife and fork which was totally normal. "Feeling better, my dear?"
Annie	Well. It wasn't quite instant regret, but -- Annie did shoot Diego a look that said yes, she saw the incredibly normal way his father was eating an egg. She saw it. "A bit, yeah," she answered honestly. (No lamb for her, so far.) "You know, I don't think we ever actually did the name thing. I'm Annie." They had done the name thing, but it had been, like, when he was a ghost or something. This Reginald wouldn't remember. (Good thing, since she'd thrown a fit then, too.)
Diego	"My wife," Diego said. "We got married since the last time you saw us." You know, during the worst dinner ever. Even if Five threw up in front of everyone right now it still would be an improvement over that last dinner.
Reginald	"Smart move," Reginald said lightly to Diego. He nodded at Annie. "This one is quite charming when she's not trying to blind you."
Annie	That got him a real smile, in spite of herself. "I had my reasons," she pointed out lightly, reaching a hand over to gently rest on Diego's knee. "Thankfully, it hasn't seemed to come up much here, yet." Don't you make her walk that yet back, Reginald.
Reginald	"More pressing matters to attend to." The apocalypse and all that. "The timing of all of this is a shame, isn't it?"
Annie	For all that she was trying to stave off the despair, Annie couldn't just paste on a nice smile in the face of the timing of this all being pointed out. Maybe the cruelest thing Reginald had ever done to her, actually, was to tell her she was pregnant. Now she got to go out knowing their baby would blink out of existence with her. "It could be a lot better," she agreed softly, her hand tightening slightly on Diego's leg.
Reginald	Reginald, having finished his egg, caught a glimpse of Klaus making the rounds, hopefully talking him up. He stood up from the table, intent on following him. "You would have been wonderful parents," Reginald said, ignoring the stricken look on Diego's face after he said it. He wandered off towards Klaus on that happy note. He was great at fucking his children up even when he wasn't trying. It was a talent.

Diego	Diego had initially told himself he wouldn't be drinking at the reception to commiserate with Annie, but then champagne had been poured against his will and then someone brought out tequila--long story short, he wasn't drunk, okay? Not drunk. But he was buzzed enough to join the family huddle (cuddle?) on the roof as the party winded down without complaint. That was until Klaus started bringing Ben closer. "No, no! Not him!"
Annie	Annie was only a little jealous of everyone's...buzziness. Only a little! Helped that she hadn't had to, like, supervise anyone's carb intake or hold hair back, yet. Instead, she was enjoying the benefits of drunken affection without any of the potential hangover in the morning. (There might not even be a morning! See, this is where the alcohol would help -- intrusive thoughts like those.) "Not him," Annie agreed from where she was leaning back against Diego, reaching a hand up to pat his arm. "He can't be nice."
Five	"Klaus, why are you bringing Ben here?" Five and his bottle of alcohol asked.
Ben	"Come on!" Ben said. "Hear me out!" Look how open his shirt was! Totally a new guy! This Ben was tits out!
Klaus	"The brother you know as Ben is gone," Klaus assured everyone. "And I don't mean our Ben, the nice Ben. I mean this Ben. The asshole, he's gone now."
Ben	"Gone!" Ben said, spilling his drink all over as he extended his arm with a flourish.
Luther	"Klaus, what are you talking about?" Luther asked.
Klaus	"The man that stands in front of you is new new Ben, and he's one of us, and he's a member of the team." So, not all that useful, but fun to be around. "And he's part of the family!"
Ben	"Part of the family!" Ben repeated, with more spilling.
Annie	"Nah, just drunk," Annie commented, not really loud enough to be an argument. "Like the rest of the family." She said that part with love, at least.
Five	"And as a welcome gift," Five added, lifting his bottle as though to welcome him before gesturing toward the edge of the roof. "I suggest we throw him off the roof."
Diego	"I'll help," Diego added.
Luther	"You know what?" Luther said. "He can stay. It's my wedding day." And Sloane's. But mostly Luther's.
Ben	"Hey big guy, awfully nice of you," Ben said.
Luther	"You know something?" Luther said, looking up at the red, smoky sky with supernatural lightning. "Tonight is all I ever really wanted. Everybody coming together when it really matters. One big real family."
Annie	It was so sad, but it was also sort of beautiful. Annie couldn't find the room -- even as the only sober person here -- for anything other than happiness right now. As much as she'd been willfully staving off the despair all day, right now, peace was coming pretty naturally. "I love you guys," Annie offered softly, leaning back against Diego so she could actually see everyone. You know what? Right now, even Ben.
Five	Which was Five's cue to push himself unsteadily to his feet and check that the bottle he'd been cradling was empty. " I'm gonna hurl," he said, lurching forward and gagging for a moment before catching himself. "Actually... I think I'm hungry. I'm gonna hit the buffet." Ah, classic drunk person logic.
Five, slightly later	Five did indeed find the buffet, but that did not help him feel any less sick. Or more sober. Which lead to him stumbling through the hallways of Hotel Oblivion, dropping his dish in favor of hurling into a convenient vase. And he was doing just fine with it until he heard his father's alcohol-poisoning muffled voice.
Reginald	What was happening was a serious conversation between two people. Unfortunately for you, Five, only one was really visible. There were murmured voices, but eventually Reginald's could be heard loud and clear. "Do we have a deal?"
Five	Oh no, whoever could it be?? Five wasn't going to be finding out anytime soon as he stumbled back, away from the room and into a conveniently open elevator to pass out in a corner there. Everything was great.