Caramela’s laugh was laced with rueful understanding. “My husband and I are the same. Words are easy to distrust. Actions speak louder for us—so much louder. I’m good at lying, especially to myself. Steve can make me surrender in ways no one else can. But it’s not a simple thing for either of us.”
Elijah looked at Caramela pleadingly. “How do the two of you do it? How does he get you to surrender?”
“I’m fairly certain the way we communicate with each other is going to be different from what works for the two of you. But you’ll find it, if you keep trying. The key is, you must keep trying. You can’t run away from each other. You have to run to one another.”
“That’s difficult for me. I hate relying on other people.”
Caramela snorted, and when she spoke, it was in Chenco’s subtle twang. “I hear you, honey. When I met Steve and my brother and the rest of the circus, I was fully functional all on my own. Now I live in the middle of their tornadoes. It’s good, but it’s a tough adjustment. Be kind to yourself while you work it out. And for the record, talking doesn’t always have to happen in words. Sex is a means of communication. So are the little things we do for one another. At the end of the day, though, you have to believe in each other. However you get there, that’s the target you keep aiming for.”
It made sense, and it was a goal Elijah could wrap his head—and heart—around. He smiled as he let out a sigh. “Thanks. I needed to hear all this.”
Chenco tweaked Elijah’s nose. “I like you, Elijah Prince. How long are you four staying?”
“Not much longer. It had to be a short trip because everyone goes back to work and school next week.”
“Well, I hope you stay long enough for the two of us to go out to dinner before you leave, and I hope you come see us again.” He rose, and his next comment came from Caramela’s voice. “And now I must continue rehearsing. My boss, he’s such a stickler for perfection.” She winked. “Me too, cariño.”
Elijah watched the rehearsal until his stomach began to growl, at which point he wandered in search of something to eat and found Walter and Kelly seated in the restaurant, eager to have him join. Baz texted him as he sat down, asking where he was, and Elijah invited him to breakfast.
Baz seemed better at breakfast. Maybe a little jittery, but he was okay. Elijah tried to relax and accept it, tried to take Chenco’s advice and simply believe in Baz.
“What’s the plan for today?” Kelly asked as he reached for more toast. “I mean, obviously the party thing here tonight, but what about the afternoon?”
Baz nudged Elijah. “How about you go get yourself some real glasses, since you said you needed them?”
Elijah’s knee-jerk reaction was to refuse, but then he thought…well, why not? He glanced at Walter and Kelly. “Would you mind? That’s kind of a boring thing to do in Vegas.”
They assured him it wouldn’t be boring, and getting glasses for Elijah became their midday adventure. Elijah got right in to see the eye doctor, who confirmed yes, Elijah was a bit nearsighted, though his greater issue was a rather severe astigmatism in both eyes, to a worsening degree the right. “You’ve been able to compensate because of your youth, but you’ll find in the next ten years you’ll rely on your glasses more and more, to the point eventually you won’t be able to function without them.”
And so Elijah picked out a pair of real glasses. Black plastic rims, but with a hint of red along the top and down the inside. He worried they were too hipster, but Walter, Kelly, and Baz thought they looked great. “You’re nerd-sexy,” Baz said, and this was enough for Elijah. They wandered the shopping mall for the hour it took the lab to make his glasses, and when they went to the Tesla to return to Herod’s, Elijah wore the glasses. They were cool, but he hadn’t anticipated how the floor would move on him as he walked.
“Your brain is adjusting to the lenses. It’ll get better over the next few hours.” Baz, wearing his hat, drew Elijah closer and served as a guide to the car so Elijah didn’t trip or bump into anything. “You’re lucky the doctor had the high-tech glaucoma check machine, so you didn’t have to get your eyes dilated.”
Elijah glanced up at Baz, thinking of how many eye doctors he must have seen in his life. He wanted to comment on that, but all the words felt wrong. He reached for a joke instead. “Well, we’re both four-eyes now.”
Baz smiled and squeezed his hand. “Two peas in a pod.”
When they arrived at the hotel, they found it was already abuzz with activity. Randy and Ethan were completely absorbed in preparations, but Sam captured them on the way to the elevators, insisting they needed to come pick out costumes. “You don’t have to wear anything fancy for the gala, but it’s fun, and Caryle will give you the best costumes you can get in Vegas. Tell her who you want to be, and she’ll set you up.”
Elijah had thought they’d be picking out sequined masks or silly hats, but no, Caryle took them to a full-fledged costume warehouse a few blocks away from the hotel, where every costume known to planet Earth seemed to be available. Kelly squealed as he discovered a Flynn Rider costume, which he thrust at Walter before snagging a Rapunzel outfit for himself with only a slight blush. Baz and Elijah poked around, seeing plenty of cool options, but nothing that spoke to them enough to make a choice.
“What are you wearing?” Elijah asked Sam.
“I don’t know quite yet. Mitch and Randy said they were going to pick it out.” Sam’s cheeks went red, and he fussed with a sleeve of a dress. “Since I can kind of guess the direction they’re going to send me, I might as well come out and tell you. Mitch and Randy and Ethan and I are kind of…together. Mostly Randy and I with each other outside of who we’re married to, but…” His blush deepened. “It’s all consensual, is the bottom line.”
I knew I was right, Elijah thought, but before he could reply, Baz smiled at Sam. “That’s cool. We’re not going to judge, and for the record, I doubt Walter and Kelly will, either.”
Elijah offered his assurances they were okay too, but the moment felt weird and heavy, so he distracted himself by searching the costumes again—and found the perfect ones. “Baz.”
He had the cape in his hands when Baz came into the row of clothes, and he got to witness the way Baz’s face lit up as he saw it. It was the grey-and-pink diamond cape Howl Pendragon wore in Howl’s Moving Castle. Elijah passed it over, and the white shirt and black pants that went with it. “They have the whole thing in here. Even the blond wig.” He pulled out another hanger—Sophie’s costume from her walk across the air with Howl—and laughed. “I guess Chenco is going to see me in drag after all.”
They returned to the hotel to find it in a greater frenzy. The casino floor was being transformed with decorations hung from the ceiling and distributed around the room. There were twinkling lights and gossamer fabric curtains, everything glittering in gold and silver, and a giant 2016 sign hung over the golden demon’s head. The four of them were whisked away to be fitted into their costumes—Caryle and her team hemmed and tucked and sometimes sewed them into their attire, and one by one they were taken backstage of the theater to have their hair and makeup done. This was overseen by none other than Caramela herself—she directed her team to do the actual work, but she decided who should have what foundation and how much contouring.
Elijah and Kelly, however, she had sit beside her as she crafted their Rapunzel and Sophie into elegant drag, not comical embarrassments. She clucked over Elijah’s new glasses. “Honey, they’re going to ruin your look.”
Elijah thought about Baz, who would have to wear his sunglasses, even if he managed to get away with his weakest pair. “The glasses stay.”
Caramela sighed, but sat straighter and eyed him more critically. “No one can say Caramela can’t accept a challenge.”
In the end, she made it work. No, Elijah wasn’t exactly like Sophie, and he wasn’t as gender-bendingly charming as Kelly in his Disney getup. Elijah looked the way he’d felt growing up. A little dowdy, a little geeky
. A little bit lost. He didn’t look bad, but he didn’t look as if he’d stepped out of a picture book or an elegant cosplay. He hadn’t known, actually, how putting on a costume could leave him feeling so naked.
But then he saw Baz, and Baz saw him. And maybe he was suggestible and sappy when he was emotionally stripped bare, but goddamn if the moment didn’t feel exactly like the one in the movie.
Baz as Howl was beautiful. Polished and elegant and sexy. But it wasn’t quite right because of the sunglasses. He was a broken, imperfect Howl.
He was Elijah’s Howl.
Smiling, Elijah stepped forward—and for the first time in his life, without any self-consciousness, he played.
Baz had coerced Elijah into all manner of cosplay in private, but it had always been exactly that way, Baz luring Elijah despite protestations. They’d never done role-play in front of other people, let alone total strangers. Elijah had never instigated it, but he did now, coming forward to meet his Howl with a shy curtsey. “Good evening, Mr. Pendragon.”
Baz bowed and captured Elijah’s hand. “Good evening, Sophie. I’ll be your escort tonight. Where is it you’d like to go?”
Wherever you’re going. “I was going to the bakery. To see my sister.”
Elijah’s heart fluttered to see Baz grin when Elijah continued the scene. “I know a shortcut across the sky. Don’t worry. I’ll get you there safely.”
It wasn’t exactly the right dialog, but it didn’t matter. Elijah went into Baz’s arms, let himself be led around the room with his hands held up by Baz as if they truly were Howl and Sophie dancing on the rooftops. They ignored everyone around them, even though Elijah knew their friends thought they were adorable.
“You’re a natural,” Baz whispered in Elijah’s ear, and he shut his eyes, sinking into the moment.
Soon they were shuffled out of the theater so Caramela could finish getting ready, and the four of them waited in the bar for Sam, who had gone off to be put into his costume. They posed for pictures with other patrons, and they grinned like silly fools at one another, sipping at drinks and frankly having the time of their lives. It was the perfect start to a perfect night.
Sam appeared at last—he was Peter Pan, flanked by his husband and Randy as pirates who seemed to have escaped directly out of Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a sexy Peter Pan—Sam had on shackles—and Randy and Mitch took turns tugging on the chain and ordering Sam to his knees. It was easy to imagine the role-play they would have later. But Elijah noticed, too, that they really were in love with each other. All three of them.
When the official party began, the casino was stuffed to the gills with guests in and out of costume. Ethan appeared from his office, resplendent in a Captain Hook more Once Upon a Time than the Peter Pan cartoon. He declared the New Year’s Eve gala officially begun, and after a cheer and small shower of glitter confetti, the music began to play.
They gambled for a few hours and watched the impromptu performances on the casino floor, but at ten they all filed into the theater to watch Caramela perform. Elijah, Baz, Walter, and Kelly had reserved front-row seats with the rest of Caramela’s family—Steve was already waiting there, decked out in leather from head to toe. Elijah remarked that his character must be Tom of Finland, and for some reason Kelly elbowed Walter with a knowing grin—and Walter blushed.
The show ended with just enough time for everyone to get to the ballroom, where the ten of them stood in the center of the room beneath a groaning net of balloons as the emcee got them ready to count down to midnight. As everyone else shifted their focus to the stage, Baz turned to Elijah. Letting his wig fall forward to shield his vision, he took off his glasses and held Elijah’s hands as he gazed earnestly at him.
“Elijah—I have something I want to ask you. Something serious. I hope you’re not mad, but I have to ask.”
Elijah gripped Baz’s hands back, but they were both wearing gloves, and it annoyed him. He removed first his, and then Baz’s, so they could grip one another with naked hands. “Ask me. I could tell you were worried all day about something. I’m not going to be mad.” He paused, raising an eyebrow as he gave a half smile. “Okay, I might be mad, but I’ll still love you.”
Baz touched Elijah’s cheek, a gentle caress that thrilled him. Around them, the crowd was counting down from ten, but Baz and Elijah ignored them, too focused on each other.
Baz swallowed, drew a breath. “I want to get married.”
Elijah turned to kiss his palm. “Yes, silly. We already had this conversation.” And he wasn’t so worried about that anymore. Maybe he would be tomorrow, but not right now. Not tonight.
Baz shook his head. “I know that. I mean, I want to get married now. Here. In Las Vegas.”
Elijah stared at him, dumbfounded.
Looking nervous, Baz got on one knee, still holding Elijah’s hand, still naked without his glasses. “Marry me, Sophie. Right now.”
Chapter Nine
THE ROOM EXPLODED around them, and inside Elijah’s head some major detonations went off as well. Baz wanted to get married.
Right now.
Elijah was beyond speechless. He couldn’t make his brain work enough to process what Baz had just said. A kaleidoscope of objections and questions rotated lazily in the background, but he could only stare at Baz as Howl, waiting for the world to make sense. The only thing that got his brain rolling again was realizing he could read every thought on Baz’s face. Baz was nervous, but he was dead serious.
The room was a dull roar of sound, so Elijah leaned in close to reply. “But your mom would be upset. Really upset.”
“I don’t care.”
“Everyone at home will be too. Giles and Mina and Aaron and Lejla and Damien and Marius. Sid. Brian. Jilly.” Invoking their friends seemed to register where bringing up his mother hadn’t. Elijah pressed on. “What about Pastor? Giles’s parents? Kelly’s parents?”
Baz shook his head, making the blond wig sway alluringly. “We can have a reception in Minnesota. People do stuff like that all the time.”
“But, Baz, you want a big wedding. Don’t tell me you don’t. I know you do.”
“I don’t want it. Not in the way I want you, and every morning I wake up wondering how the world is going to fuck shit up and make one or both of us worry the other one might evaporate.” He adjusted his grip on Elijah’s hand, taking it more firmly in his own. “I know there’s nothing magical about a piece of paper and getting a fancy band soldered to our engagement rings. Except there kind of is. It means whatever we want it to mean. It means a lot to me. Not the stupid show or who’s there or who’s not—except you have to be there. Say yes, Elijah. Say you’ll marry me right now.”
Elijah let out a shaky breath. “Okay—let’s pretend I agreed. Are you telling me we’d run out and get married in one of those tacky chapels? By some weird stranger in an Elvis suit?”
The crowd of their friends had formed around them, and at this question, Ethan stepped forward, still wearing his sexy pirate getup. “There are, in fact, over fifty wedding chapels in the city. One is here at Herod’s. Ours isn’t advertised, because I’m the officiant, and I don’t marry just anyone who walks in off the street. But you do need an official license, and so on.” He put a hand on Baz’s shoulder. “Right now is a bit of a misnomer. It’s possible you could get in somewhere in the city at this exact second, but planning on a wedding tomorrow or Saturday could much more easily be done. And that might be more pleasant for both of you, in the end. You could take a moment to decide what’s the most important aspect of your ceremony, and we’ll be happy to set it up.”
Baz looked as if this wasn’t his first choice, that he truly had meant married this second, but he didn’t argue, just kept his focus on Elijah. “Would you? Get married tomorrow?”
“I’d rather Saturday. And I want Mina and Giles and Lejla and Aaron here, if we can get them.” Elijah glanced at Walter and Kelly. “This would put you guys back in Minnesota later than we’d talked.
”
Walter laughed. “I will figure out a way to make getting home on the fifth okay. Because I’m not missing this for anything.”
Baz squeezed Elijah’s hand. “Does this mean you’ll do it? Does this mean you’ll marry me, right now?”
Why did Elijah feel more nervous about this than he had about his carefully choreographed proposal a few weeks ago? Was it because part of him had been sure he’d never actually marry Baz? Or was it simply because he’d never dreamed he’d check in for this short stay single and leave a married man?
Married. To Baz.
Forever.
Randy appeared over Baz’s other shoulder. He took his husband’s hand, and through his Captain Jack Sparrow makeup, he winked.
Elijah released his breath and let sail on it all of his reservations. “Yes.” The word felt terrifying, but once out of his mouth, he felt free. “Yes. I’ll marry you right now.”
A cheer went up from the crowd around them, and a spotlight swung over to highlight them. Elijah dove for Baz’s eyes, but he already had them shut as he rose and met Elijah midair for a sweet, Miyazaki-esque kiss.
FOR THE REST of the night, Baz rode the high of knowing he was going to get married to Elijah before he left Las Vegas. He stayed up way too late, collecting compliments and congratulations at the party, then, in the suite with Ethan and Randy and Walter and Kelly and everyone else, relaxing under the red lights with his contacts out. When the others finally left around three in the morning, Baz made tender love to Elijah, first with them both still in costume as Howl and Sophie, and later, with makeup and clothes off, as themselves.
When he woke, however, he regretted not pushing Elijah into following through immediately. Caryle, who was apparently not only mistress of awesome costumes but also the genius behind the New Year’s Eve party and every event at Herod’s, contacted him at nine to ask him what elements he and Elijah wanted for their wedding on Saturday. Who should she invite, what would they like to wear, and did they have a theme in mind?
Short Stay Page 10
