[attr="class","text"]

Knowing Nenet would wear only the most elegant and classy dress to the courthouse, Zev wore a three-piece suit, all black. His white dress shirt was freshly ironed, the cuffs decorated with simple geometric cuff links. A tie pin flashed against blood red silk.[break][break]

Underneath this ensemble, his stab wound had healed enough that he'd removed the stitches. His injury still caused him discomfort, but the pain had reduced to a dull ache, and he no longer walked so stiffly.[break][break]

In the car, Zev rested his hand on Nenet's thigh. When she teased him, he answered with a smirk of his own. "I think I can handle it."[break][break]

Slateport City's courthouse stood like an austere sentinel among other buildings of local government. Side-by-side, they ascended the short steps together and passed through the security check. Zev amused himself by imagining how he would break into the building if he ever had to assassinate someone there.[break][break]

A middle-aged clerk met them in the main lobby and ushered them into a side room. Shuffling some papers into a semblance of order, he peered at the couple through thick-rimmed glasses.[break][break]

"We'll do the ceremony first since it's quick, then sign the paperwork. Ready to begin?" he asked.[break][break]

Zev glanced sidelong at Nenet. The back of his hand brushed against hers. "Ready."

[attr="class","ooc"][break]

NOTES

- Zev Harcourt.[break]
- Social Thread.

MADE BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","text"]

"Zev Harcourt, do you take Neffatari Nzingha to be your lawfully wedded wife?" the judge asked.[break][break]

Zev did not hesitate to answer. "I do."[break][break]

"Then by the power vested in me by the city of Slateport, it is my great privilege to announce you husband and wife," the judge declared with an air of finality. "You may now kiss."[break][break]

The only time Nenet gave Zev more than a quick peck on the cheek in public was during the Winter Masquerade, when she'd been drunk. There was no way she'd do more than a small, chaste kiss on the lips, even for this ceremony.[break][break]

Besides, there'd be plenty of time for more salacious kissing later.[break][break]

Leaning in, Zev tilted his face toward Nenet's, seeking her mouth.

[attr="class","ooc"][break]

NOTES

- Zev Harcourt.[break]
- Social Thread.

MADE BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","text"]

Like Nenet, Zev also reviewed the marriage paperwork beforehand, but he let her take charge and tell him where to sign. It pleased him to see such quick and efficient work; he would not have agreed so readily to marry her if she wasn't like him in that respect.[break][break]

"A beer, huh?" Zev grew thoughtful, rifling through all the mental notes he'd filed of bars in Slateport's upper district. Then he smiled at her. "I know just the place."[break][break]

Outside the courthouse, he hailed a Corviknight taxi and helped Nenet into the carriage. Then he gave the bird instructions to an old dive bar located just inside the upper-lower demarcation called Spinda's Saloon.[break][break]

The bar's namesake greeted the couple as they entered, uttering a hello in its species' language before waving them to the bar counter itself.[break][break]

The dive bar itself was small and dimly lit, its walls covered in memorabilia from the past decade. At that hour of the day, no other patrons were present; Zev and Nenet had the whole establishment to themselves.[break][break]

He slid onto a bar stool and waited for her to take the one beside him before ordering two beers.[break][break]

The bartender gave them a once-over. "You two're a bit too fancy-lookin' for this place," he joked as he poured the drinks from the tap. "Makes me feel like I oughta go change."[break][break]

Zev smiled his dimpled smile. "We just came here from the courthouse. Just got married."[break][break]

"Oh! Wow, well, look at you. These are on the house, then."[break][break]

Two chilled glasses of beer were set in front of the couple. Zev picked up one of them and raised it to Nenet in a toast. "Cheers, wife."

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NOTES

- Zev Harcourt.[break]
- Social Thread.

MADE BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","text"]

Nenet's hand on his knee filled Zev with such a deep satisfaction. Here was the most gorgeous woman he'd ever met, dressed impeccably, her lifestyle and personality perfectly matching his. And she was his woman, his new prized possession.[break][break]

Instinctively, he leaned toward her and draped an arm over the low back of her stool. Her laugh and declaration were music to his ears. He couldn't help the pleased smile that crossed his face as he sipped his beer.[break][break]

"Your family?" Zev echoed when Nenet mentioned Alola.[break][break]

Of course. In-laws.[break][break]

He tried to recall previous mentions of Nenet's family—something about her batty grandmother and her sisters' antics.[break][break]

"That's fine. We'll go when the weather's warmer and work isn't as busy." His Rocket work. The crime syndicate was in a flurry of activity after their victory in Ultra Deep Sea.[break][break]

"It can double as our honeymoon, unless you want to go somewhere else for that. Maybe Kalos? I hear there's a huge sundial in one of their cities."

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NOTES

- Zev Harcourt.[break]
- Social Thread.

MADE BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","text"]

"I wouldn't, but I know you would," Zev remarked about the sundial. Nenet was a predictable woman, at least in part—another reason he liked her so much. If he could lure her with a study of something space-related, she was usually amenable to his ideas.[break][break]

But something more immediate was on his girlfriend—no, his wife's mind. Her warm breath tickled his ear and her low voice stirred something primal and instinctive in him.[break][break]

He did not break eye contact as he finished his beer and set the glass down on the bartop. And when he next spoke, his voice rumbled, thick with want. "You're right, we do."[break][break]

No more words needed to be said. Stepping down from the stool, Zev held out a hand to Nenet to help her down, then laced their fingers together. Then they left the dive bar and headed back home, to Zev's apartment.[break][break]

They did not leave it again until the next morning.

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