Nightingale (Sequel to Solider Boy)

Seventy-Seven

"Wake up," Melody groaned as she felt someone shake her shoulder. "Wake up," the voice said again, more insistent than before.  She replied with an even louder groaned and yanked the warm covers over her head. She'd been driving herself crazy the last five days, planning her wedding, was a little restful sleep too much to ask? She was fully prepared to ignore the voice again, but as suddenly as the word 'wedding' crossed her mind, Melody bolted upright as though someone had thrown cold water over her.

The apartment came into focus, the afternoon sky bright blue and Sharon was standing beside her bed, arms crossed, long hair in a messy bun and still wearing her plaid sweatpants from the night before. "The dead have awoken. Wonderful." 

"How long have I been asleep?" she asked, stretching and eyeing the bright sky again. "Why did you let me sleep this late?"

"You planned an entire wedding in five days," Sharon said flatly, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "You needed sleep."

Melody shook her head. Truth be told, she wasn't sure if it couldn't as a typical wedding. Seven guests, (six if T'challa wasn't counted as he was officiating the ceremony) no photographer, no catering, no DJ and other small details that they couldn't include. Cutting those things out had made the process far easier. And also, Sharon had done most of the work which had taken a great deal of pressure off Melody herself. 

"I slept all day, seems a bit of a waste. I could've been doing something productive."

"You'll be dancing all night," Sharon replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "You've been working hard enough with Steve over the last few days."

Melody shrugged. "Not really, I'm not very good."

"Have you broken his toes?"

"No."

"Then you're good enough," Sharon replied with a grin. "Now come on, you need to start getting ready."

Melody glanced at the sky again. "You really think it's going to take that long?"

"Ceremony starts at dusk and that's going to be here before you know it," her friend said sharply. "Come on,  get up and greet the day." She poked at her again, half-playful and half insistent. 

Melody opened her mouth to say that she couldn't greet the day without caffeine but Sharon read her mind. "I already made you coffee and I'll be doing your hair first you can eat while I do that." 

She beamed and threw the covers off her leg. "Where's the coffee?"

***

"And done!" Sharon declared happily as she swept a fluffy brush across Melody's cheek.  "You look perfect."

Melody didn't think that was the word she'd use as she examined her reflection in the bathroom mirror.  She never spent much time on her hair or makeup so what Sharon had done was certainly out of her comfort zone. Her hair was pulled away from her face, held in a low bun at the nape of her neck, a few strands left lose around her face so the look wasn't so severe. Sharon had done her eye makeup as well, a thin line of black eyeliner and mascara which made the feature stand out far more than she was used to.

"You don't like it?" her friend asked, her features pinched and anxious in the mirror. 

"No, it's nice. Just different from what I'm used to." That was true, as the more she looked at her reflection, the initial shock began to fade out and was replaced with a warm sense of satisfaction. "I look really pretty."

"You look beautiful," Sharon corrected and the accented voice of Wanda Maximoff echoed the sentiment. The young woman's face came into view in the glass as well and she was smiling widely. She had already gotten dressed, a simple grey-slip dress over her slim frame and her long hair undone and shiny around her shoulders.  The makeup around her eyes bright and shiny and carefully applied, the whole effect made for a very dramatic look, but it was done tastefully enough to not be overwhelming.