For the love of fantasy

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

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Two years after my first larp event, I got married. October 13th was chosen for one very important reason. Okay two. My husband wanted Halloween, but one of his best friends nixed that idea as they'd had other friends who'd married on that day and then split up. So he liked the idea of 31 -> 13. But my reason for the 13th was because it also commemorated when I met him. Almost exactly.

Remember that fey lord I mentioned on Monday? That was him. So you could say I met my husband on the day he got married. Har har har. Okay, so it's a lame joke growing older every year. Tough. ;D

I didn't talk to him at all that event. He was kept busy by the plot team, but he was memorable. Kinda hard to forget the sight of a big guy in a kilt, especially when he's part of the main plot. But I hadn't really taken any "special" notice of him.

However, he and his buddy, the mage who'd been so surprised during our introduction, had certainly noticed and remembered me. When I posted on the Pigeon Coop, the out-of-game forum for our NERO chapter, about how much I'd enjoyed my first event and was grateful to everyone who'd made it so much fun, the two of them responded by trying to lure me to the Halloween event at a nearby chapter. (I still have a printout of those postings somewhere.)

After the luring part, there was a series of postscripts, the first two being my favorite considering my relationship to them now. Chris is my hubby; J is one of our best friends.
P.S. Chris thinks you're cute. So do I. -J
P.P.S. J wrote this, not me. -Chris
Adorable, right? A very nice boost to my ego, but I didn't make it to the event; I was committed to a conference that same weekend for my fraternity. (a co-ed service frat) In some ways, I regret that I didn't skip the conference, especially since, when I got there, I found out the money hadn't been sent in ahead of time. My frat brother still had it and turned it in when we arrived. (I was so mad at him that I got even by hooking up with friends from the National convention the previous year, instead of staying where he'd arranged. He was miffed, but that's what he deserved for not telling me he still had my check; he knew I'd changed my mind about wanting to go.)

Perhaps if I had skipped out and gone to the larp event instead, I might have hooked up with my hubby sooner. The conference was good, but the stories from the event were better. Werewolves and vampires and succubi, oh my! And the Charlie's Angels pose and the "stopping a troll charge with a Detect Magic spell." Sigh. The things I missed. I'll get Chris to tell you a couple of the stories sometime. So funny.

As it was, I got to know J pretty well, before I had a chance to know Chris. J had just moved nearby, so I saw him every week for D&D. He was very easy to talk to, even promised that if I wasn't married by the time my 10-year high school reunion came around, he would be my date. (For some reason, I was worried about that. ;) ) I even had a bit of a crush on him for awhile. In fact, Chris had once thought that because I'd met J first, he didn't have a chance. Shows that sometimes you have a better chance than you give yourself credit for.

Once I did start getting interested in Chris several months later, J helped foster our growing friendship. He even gave me a sprig of mistletoe in encouragement. He was delighted that two of his best friends were hooking up with each other and stood as groomsman at our wedding, though in a kilt rather than the mage robes.

Chris's college gaming friends weren't sure what to make of me at first. They are protective of each other, so when he started making trips to see me, they didn't know whether they should be glad for him, especially considering his previous relationship. Their first picture of me wasn't much help. Haha. Oh, the infamous "duct tape picture." I swear that's just shiny ribbon above the ruffle. He did not tape my legs together to keep me from running away. Honest. Hehe. (Aren't we cute?)



From the first meeting, one of their gaming nights, they welcomed me. It took awhile before I was comfortable calling them "our" friends rather than "his" friends, but that was because I needed convincing that they were serious about me being one of them rather than a hanger-on. Wonderful people.

Though my life has been no fairy tale, fantasy has brought me to my greatest treasures. God bless the dreamers.

5 comments:

Emily White said...

Aww, what a sweet story, Jaleh! Thanks for sharing that! And yes, you two are adorable. :D

Star-Dreamer said...

Aww!!! How cute! I hope the way I meet my future Hubby ends up something like that. So far I seem to have no luck. :( But This post was awesome, and I love that last paragraph.

Jai Joshi said...

That's such a romantic story, Jaleh! And he was right, you are cute! Thanks for sharing this lovely true life romance.

Jai

Brad said...

Awesome post!
I love stories about how people who belong together found each other.
It gives me a bit of hope that I can find the woman I belong with.
It'll be the second time 'round, but I'm hoping that she's out there.

Jaleh D said...

That isn't even half of the hilarity about our dating experience. My grandma is the first person I told about being interested in Chris. Then even when J gave me the mistletoe, we still weren't dating, just making broad hints to our mutual friends about being interested in each other. We kept joking to each other how we were "available" and "Wouldn't it be funny if we dated?" Yea, it was that bad. Haha. Finally, one of our friends turned to us (Chris's arm wrapped around me) and asked in exasperation, "So, are you two official yet?"

We looked at each other, the bulb overhead finally lighting up. "Uhhh, yes?"

We refer to it as the anvil-dropping period. Huge hints back and forth and both of us too clueless to make the connection. Our friends were vastly amused.

Then a week after we were officially dating, he came up a day earlier than expected. I was busy shelving books at the college library. He came in bearing a red rose in a vase and asked for me. They told him where I was working. Kinda hard to miss my squeaky cart. Instead of just going up and greeting me like most people would. He snuck up, popped around the bookcase, and said, "See. Fat guy stealth really does work." I jumped and then just blinked at him and the rose in his hand(my jaw on the floor) for several seconds, before putting the book down and giving him a hug.

But that wasn't all of the funny. When we got back downstairs, the Director's assistant, a lovely youngish lady, came over and asked, "Aww. Are you two engaged?"

I choked back a laugh. "We just started dating."

"You should marry him. He's a keeper."

Still makes me laugh. But very true. Too bad she got transferred to another library before our engagement. I didn't get to tell her how right she was.

I wish those of you who don't already have a spouse the best luck in finding someone just right for you. There is no perfect, but there is a good-fit.

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