losttheright | (no subject)

A few days after New Year's, things go back to normal.

Well, for a given value of the word, anyway. There aren't animals roaming the city, out for blood anymore; she can go to and from work without worrying that she's about to get attacked by something. She might even be able to start getting more than a few hours of sleep every night. Actually normal, though, is still the long way off. Her boss is still in the hospital, and though he'll be fine physically, hasn't been taking well emotionally to the loss of his eye. Two out of six city council members are dead. It's going to be a long time before things are functioning the way they used to, and Molly is acutely aware of it, unbelievably fucking exhausted, barely able to wrap her head around everything going on. She can focus on work while she's doing it, but that's about all she can do, or, at least, all she's been able to do before now. Things are starting to settle. The most they can do from here is try to pick up the pieces.

Part of doing so is thinking ahead, now that she can. Both Phyllis and Amit's funerals will be next week, and as much as she can't stand the thought of it, there's not really any way she can get out of being there for both. And with both in such quick succession, no matter how awful she feels for considering it, she probably can't get away with wearing the same dress to both. Being at least pretty sure that it's safe now, she goes to the mall after work with that in mind, trying to ignore the way her stomach turns. She hates funerals, inevitably winds up thinking about what hers must have been like when the subject comes up, which doesn't help matters any when the deaths themselves are so upsetting. Phyllis had a family, kids who'll grow up now without their mother. Amit may have been kind of a douchebag, but he was smart, and five fucking years younger than her. Regardless, no one deserves to go like that anyway.

She's just headed inside, trying to figure out where she should start looking for a dress, when her phone goes off in her pocket, and the message on the screen makes her go pale. Orrin Fillby has been found dead on the floor of his apartment, the side of his neck bitten out by his myna bird the night before. No one thought to look before now. The very idea of it is so fucked up that for a moment all she can do is stand there, stunned, not even realizing that she's frozen in the middle of a shopping mall.

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"You gotta, it's all part of the deal," Russell says. "You know my legs are more or less just gonna give out on me when I get to see Katie, right? Maybe I should have a chair ready or somethin' just in case."

He's sort of joking, but also sort of not, because he knows when it hits him that he's really getting to marry Katie, he's going to have a tough time just staying conscious. It's incredible to him that they're here now, something he hopes he never takes for granted.

"Yeah, from the sound of it, maybe you should," Molly says, rolling her eyes, though her expression is nothing but fond. "God, you two are so cute, it's disgusting." It might be a little unconventional, but she'd make sure he had a chair for the ceremony if he really did think he'd need one. She's never been anyone's best man before, but even for all that she might joke about it, it's not something she takes too lightly. Not when these are two people so important to her. "I mean, to be fair, I don't think anyone would hold it against you if your legs did give out."

"I'm just happy," Russell says with a shrug and a grin, looking amused. It's the truth and it's still sometimes weird to think about how much his life has changed. This isn't where he'd be if he'd stayed in Ogden Marsh. Even if it hadn't burned to the ground, even if everything had just gone on as usual, he wouldn't be here.

There's no one in the world like Katie. There's sure as hell no one in Ogden Marsh like her.

"Hey, besides, it's my wedding, I can do the whole thing sittin' down if I want to," he protests with a laugh. "I bet Katie'll have somethin' to say about that, though."

"Yeah, she might," Molly allows, head tipping to the side, though she's still grinning, too, as she does. As understandable as it might be for Russell to get weak in the knees at the sight of Katie on her wedding day, she doesn't think there's any actual possibility of a chair being necessary for the ceremony. It wouldn't be quite so easy to joke about otherwise, even if she would made sure he had one if it came to that. Better he get married while sitting down than fall over when Katie walks down the aisle. "Or, I don't know, it depends on just how traditional you're going. Which can't be that traditional, since I'm your best man."

Russell snorts at that and shakes his head. "C'mon, you know Katie. It's not gonna be traditional." The arrangements they've made already have so much of her influence in them, that flowy, freedom that just seems to come off her in waves sometimes. He used to think it was a product of the time she'd grown up in, but now she's been in Darrow just as long as he has and she hasn't let it change her.

"I'm gonna try and convince her that not bein' traditional means I get to see her dress beforehand," he says. "'Cause I'm gonna lose my fuckin' shit if I have to see her in it for the first time that day."

"Better to be prepared, huh?" Molly asks with a laugh. She's not actually sure how much difference it will make come the day of the wedding, when just seeing Katie in her dress beforehand probably won't begin to compare to that at all, but if he thinks it will help, then it might be worth trying to talk her into. That is, at least, one upside of not doing things the traditional route. Whether or not it has an effect on how he reacts later, it's still a good excuse to bend the rules a little bit. "Well, that's one thing I don't know if you'll be able to convince her of, but it's at least worth a shot."