trans_9 | Inventions of the Exceptionally Nerdy [Open and bendytimeable!]

After a quiet scare with a little laser in his pocket, Billy had come to an alarming conclusion: he needed a pocket protector. The little device, the one true sign of a nerd, would keep him from poking or shooting himself. But that wasn't all it could do! With Billy's mind at work, he came up with another idea: the pocket trap. With some clever signaling coding, he could trap the hand of anyone who tried to pick his pocket. It would definitely help keep his morpher safe!

He wound up stretched across a meat-couch of the Observation Deck, working on adding little strips of identifying material to what was undeniably a pocket protector. Maybe he wouldn't make it cool (nothing could do that), but he'd definitely make it useful.

As he worked, there was a certain undercurrent of excitement on his face. He smiled more often, sometimes looked far into the distance, and could be heard humming if the observer was close enough. Something good had happened to him, and maybe it wasn't entirely due to the pocket protector.

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Wow, who had seen that coming? ...Okay, probably everyone but Zouichi; he just wasn't good at predicting this sort of thing. He looked genuinely surprised for a moment before giving Billy a smile in return. "I believe congratulations are in order, then. Have you set a date? I should hurry and find a wedding present."

He paused. "Wait, is this still a secret?"

Billy looked at him appreciatively. "Not yet, we want to wait for the right moment. When our wedding will cheer people up the most---probably after a victory. But I'm already preparing."

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm keeping it fairly quiet for now. We don't want it to be a big affair, but we'll invite everyone who'd care to come. You can call this your invitation."

"Ah, of course." Zouichi was a little puzzled by the sentiment, though. Why wait until there was a victory? There was a lull in the battles now. Perhaps these preparations would take longer than expected.

"I'll be sure not to spread it around. And if there's anything I can do to help with the preparations, please let me know. Do you know where you want to have the ceremony?"

Billy wanted to marry soon as well, but he understood what Ronnie meant. He would happily wait.

"We're going to the Light's Hope Chapel. It's a place from her world, and ceremonies were held there during the war. We're blending our traditions for this wedding. We're wearing armor instead of the usual formal attire, but everyone's welcome to wear whatever they want to."

"Ah, that's the structure she found earlier, isn't it? The one that was once attached to some large catacombs. I wasn't aware it was used to marry anyone, though." Zouichi motioned vaguely in Billy's direction. "You're going to commission a new set of armor for the occasion?"

He knew what he was going to wear. The same thing he wore every day~~, Pinky.~~

"Yeah. That wasn't its main use in her time, but it still happened sometimes."

Billy smiled and shook his head. "No, I'm morphing---without the helmet. That's what I usually wear into battle, so it follows the tradition."

Zouichi nodded. "Makes sense. So you're combining an Earth wedding with one from Azeroth? If I recall, Western-style weddings usually have some set roles for family members in attendance..."

He was trying to remember which family members were supposed to be traditionally present at occasions like these. The groom's mother? Or was it the bride's father...? Perhaps it didn't matter, since he didn't think either of them had family awake on board.

"Neither of us have family---not by blood, anyway. We have friends close enough that they're almost like our siblings, but that's all."

And it was sad to think about, that no one he'd known before this war was going to be at his wedding. At least Ronnie had someone. And the people who knew him here...well, they weren't so bad. "Nothing about it's going to be very formal."

Zouichi gave him a wry smile. "Yes, I guess that makes sense. Most of us don't have the luxury of having entire families present and awake here, anyway." Which was probably better in the long run. Less people to worry about when there was an attack. Less to be afraid of when people returned from a mission.

"I wonder if there will be more weddings among crew members in the future." He supposed it was only logical; people together for long periods of time developed attachments to one another.

Billy nodded, wishing they were here but grateful for the companions he had. Things weren't so bad.

"I can think of a few more who might be interested someday," he smiled faintly, "but it's a hard decision. Nanoha and Fate are from the same world and the same timeline, so it'll be easier on them when the war ends. For Ronnie and I...we have different worlds to go back to. We might not be able to stay together."

And he worried about that every night. "Besides that, anyone can be taken from us at any time. That's part of why I want to do this, while I know I have the chance."

Well, Zouichi hadn't been planning to bring that issue up, though he had thought of it during their conversation. Kind of a downer, you know.

"Well, who says you can't meet each other again, even if you return to your own worlds?" he asked. "We've visited 'Bleed-capable' societies before. That means it's possible to traverse different universes, provided you have the right means, magic or technological. And I believe one of us here now dabbles a little in the technological."

All you need is a DeLorean, Billy. Travel the multiverse with STYLE.

That drew a smile from Billy, even if it wasn't a full one. It wasn't impossible, he could do something about this.

"Thanks. I'm definitely going to keep working on it, and I won't give up even if we are separated before I can solve it, but I'm not letting the universe rip us apart. Not if I can help it at all."

He slipped back into a thoughtful mood. "I wonder if we could build a big network of it, for all of us to stay in contact."

He raised an eyebrow at Billy. "Ambitious. Perhaps we can find something in the Media Library that would help... or investigate the possibility at the next technologically advanced world."

Zouichi would prefer to keep in contact with some of the people here himself.

"It won't be so out of reach if we have a team working on it. I'll contact who I can around here and get all of us started on the research soon."

Once the idea had taken root, it wouldn't let go. He couldn't bear the thought of losing some of these people forever.

Zouichi nodded. "There might even be people on the ship who are familiar with traveling between worlds. I know Anwei was, before she was returned to the pods."

It was nice seeing Billy determined rather than discouraged.

"Great! I'll ask them," Billy took a note. "I'll work it in around the wedding plans, somehow. This is important."

Which was probably his cue to leave him to his plans. "Good to hear it. And good luck... to the both of you."

Inventions of the Exceptionally Nerdy [Open and bendytimeable!]

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