29th March, 1891 — Ottery St. Catchpole, Xena’s Wedding

It was... difficult to be at a wedding and avoid thinking of his own. Of course, ruminating on whether or not it had been a sensible idea or the worst mistake was not something he could acknowledge at a festivity, particularly not one filled with family. But he could only imagine Dionisia was doing the same, thinking of all the ways her life had changed.

So he had been sure to quietly give her a little space to breathe when he could; with the reception in full swing it was easy enough to mingle with other guests, and after circling the room and avoiding the dancefloor he spotted one of his siblings sitting alone.

“There you are,” Ari said, as if he’d been looking for him, though dropped into an empty chair nearby his quietest brother for no particular reason. “Had too much of the wedding already?” It was light enough to be a meaningless joke; he didn’t expect an honest answer. Still - he had expected to see Nemo orbiting Leo and Zelda and their increasing state of giggly upbeat drunkenness, and if not them then Dory (who was, wherever he was right now, no doubt even drunker), or another of his friends; he must have a friend or two here? But no, if Nemo was making any progress towards getting drunk today, it was apparently alone, and he didn’t look much in the mood for celebration.

Ari poured himself a glass of champagne from one of the bottles left behind on the table, more to nurse than anything (he did not let himself get too drunk in front of people, not in years, not since that night with Ben and the ill-advised kiss and the broken glass after it; it almost made a strange sort of wedding, considered from here), and for a moment absently watched the dancing.

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Nemo had wanted to enjoy today, should have been enjoying it with his best friend in tow, but that wasn't even an option. Penny had decided to hop on a Merlin forsaken cruise boat and hightail it out of the country when his sister was getting married. Just peachy. He'd really fucked things up if that's where they stood.

He'd managed to put on a happy face for the ceremony and up until this point in the reception, but frankly it was grating on him. Everybody around him was getting happily drunk, but Nemo knew himself well enough to know that adding alcohol to this mood was a poor choice and so he nursed a single whiskey for well over an hour as he sat on the outskirts, trying too hard not to mope.

With his glass loose in his fingertips, Nemo swirled the amber liquid around and watched the people around him. He wasn't surprised when Ari sank into a seat at his table. If anyone was going to notice he was off, it would be Ari. "Just tired." Which wasn't a complete lie, but it wasn't realy waht had him all out of sorts.

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Ari pushed his champagne flute around the table, using the base of it to smooth out a crease in the tablecloth, and shot a casual glance at the whiskey Nemo was not-really-drinking, trying to figure out if tired was all.

He suspected not. Nemo was as patient as a Fisk could possibly be, and although a room full of all the family and more was a big ask of anyone for too long, his youngest brother did not usually look quite so downcast.

“I know the feeling,” Ari said, with a sympathetic smile. Although he wasn’t that tired, and he had nearly fifteen years on Nemo, which ought to give him extra excuse to be easily tired. “Safer, I think, on this side of the room,” he said, raising his eyebrows idly at some of the more zealous dancing now going on, before settling back in his chair, supposing he might as well actually let his feet rest while he checked on Nemo. “Work been busy, then?”

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Ari had every reason to be tired; a demanding job, a toddler at home. Nemo had no excuse really, other than he wasn't sleeping all that well thanks to the added stressors in his life that he couldn't actually tell anyone about. That said, it made him feel guilty about using it as a cop-out for the only answer he could think of when asked indirectly if he was alright.

"Yeah." It wasn't much to go on, a vague response to both his brother's statement and question, but Nemo didn't know how to elaborate any better than that, so he took a sip of his whiskey to buy himself a moment to think. "Same for you, I'll wager." Nemo would do just about anything to turn the attention off of himself, his only tactic to employ in hopes that Ari wouldn't be suspicious of his current mood.

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He wasn’t being especially talkative - and Nemo had always been quiet - but Ari couldn’t shake the sense that something was not quite right. “Oh, as always,” he admitted, not about to press the issue in case Nemo did not want to talk about work at all. Maybe something had been needling him there; Ari knew he sometimes carried things over from the hospital. That said, busy as it always was there, it did sometimes feel good to briefly be somewhere else, and he cast Nemo a joking smile to that effect. “I’m just glad to get to stop and sit down today.”

But Nemo was sitting alone, and surely, if the family had made him want to retreat into it, his young friends would have dragged him out of his shell? “Did Xena not let you invite any friends along?” Ari inquired, a little bemused. Xena might have had a well-thought-out vision for the wedding she’d been waiting for for so many years, but Ari didn’t think she, unlike most of the Fisks, would have ever been opposed to more people there to see her big day.

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Nemo made a noncommittal noise of agreement with a little shrug. His head was miles away at the moment and he felt bad for bringing that to his sisters' wedding, but it was hard place to be in. Clearly Ari had noticed, but Nemo didn't know how to articulate what was going through his mind these days.

"Oh, she did." He said absentmindedly, before realizing that opened the door to why he was sullen. "Just didn't pan out." He tried to keep the tone even and nonchalant. There was nothing to be done about it. What could he have possibly said to Penny about it? Nothing, he had no place to ask her to stay for this, not when they were on such rocky terms. "It's alright." He cast Ari a look, but didn't elaborate.

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By this point Ari was fairly certain just tired was not the entire explanation for Nemo’s quietness, not by a long shot. And something had not panned out – which sounded reasonable enough by itself, but coupled with this plaintive mood? If it was not something wrong at work, and it hadn’t seemed to be, then it must be a fall-out with a friend, Ari supposed. Or – and maybe other people’s weddings just brought it out in people – trouble in the romance department.

The look Nemo cast him didn’t tell him much more, but there was something in it that kept him probing. “Sure you don’t want to talk about it?” He said, with a shrug that said this could be confidential, that there was no pressure to, if he would rather drown it in the whiskey. “If it’s friend troubles, I’ve had a few of those in my time,” Ari admitted, only half-joking.

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Nemo knew Ari was genuine in his offer to help, when had his eldest brother been anything but? Still, Nemo was hesitant to burden his brother with his problems. Ari had enough going on, with running a hospital wing, a wife and child. There was no reason for Nemo to add onto that. It was pittance really.

"It is," Nemo confirmed. "But it'll be fine, I'm sure." He'd never been particularly good at lying, but he really just couldn't bring himself to tell Ari about it. Things with Penny would either work out or they wouldn't, but he had the sneaking suspicion that which ever way it went, was the way it was supposed to go. This was probably why men and women shouldn't be such close friends. He wouldn't change his friendship with her for the world, and was why he had never tried to cross a line into something more, but this had always been a nagging problem in the back of his mind. "Thanks though, really."

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It’s alright; it’ll be fine – Ari was used enough to falling back on these platitudes himself to know when they were true and when they were only feigned, he fancied. Nemo definitely still seemed down about something. He didn’t elaborate, though, and Ari didn’t want to exasperate him further by trying to force it.

But he knew the burden of that kind of thing, how one screw-up, argument, a single thoughtless moment or miscommunication could cause a minefield of complications in a friendship. And he didn’t want to guess at what could have possibly happened, but Nemo had a soft heart, had to be a good friend, would never have gone out of his way to hurt anyone – so surely it couldn’t be anything worse than what had once happened with Ari’s closest friendship? And even that had worked itself out in the end. “You’re right, you know,” Ari agreed. “Might not feel like it now, but if they’re a good enough friend you’ll figure it out.” If the alternative was losing them from his life entirely, there often wasn’t much choice. 

“Anyway, you know where to find me if you change your mind,” Ari added, reaching over gently to pat Nemo’s shoulder. He wished he could have been more useful here; but he resolved to keep a closer eye out for his youngest brother from here on out. He gave a small grin. “Or need someone to cover for you while you get out of here for a bit.”

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Nemo, though he may not visibly show it, was appreciative of his brother's affirmation to his own statements. Ari would know better than the rest he supposed, having the wisdom of being the first born and all.

At the offer of escape, Nemo realize that was probably what he really needed. "Now that sounds like something I could use." He downed the rest of his drink in one gulp. "I could use a walk, actually, do you mind?" Ari had already offered, so clearly he didn't and though he hadn't been about to put his matters on his brother's shoulders, he would take advantage if he could, in this instance.

"Just a few minutes. I do appreciate it." It would help him sort his head.

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