Chapter Eighty-Five: Eternal Nuptial Delight

                                    

                                          
Notes: Mamaie= Grandmother/Grandma etc. Jesse says it with affection. 
Italics during dialogue (not thoughts) mean that the language being spoken isn't understood by Briar.
___________________________
 A light blue shirt, deep navy blazer and some nice dressy jeans still didn't feel good enough to Briar. It had already taken him three outfit changes to get to the point he was currently at: staring at himself in the mirror and not totally hating the reflection. 
"Hey, how much longer do you think you're going to be? Granny can't wait too long, or she'll die of old age before we even get out the front door" Jesse asked, leaning in the doorway. 
Usually, the young man would have laughed at some dark humour, but he was simply too nervous. Today was not only the first time he was meeting Jesse's grandmother, but it was his first-time meeting any of his lovers' family (aside from Dusty, of course, but the private eye almost felt more like a friend than Devon's dad). 
And it didn't help that from all Briar had come to learn about his littlest lover over their time together, he knew that Daria Apostu was more than just a grandmother to Jesse, she was basically their everything; mother, father, disciplinarian, teacher... friend. This felt like a monumental moment in their relationship, and he didn't want to immediately fuck it all up by not dressing appropriately. 
What if she thought Briar looked like a slob? He hadn't really had a lot of time to go shopping for new clothes between keeping up physiotherapy, getting back into working small modelling gigs, and catching up with friends at Tryst.
"Uh-oh, there's the frown" Jesse sang as they came to stand behind him, peering around Briar's side since they were too small to see over his shoulder. "The frown that tells me your brain is being silly again. What is it, what kind of bullcrap is it saying today? Talk to me, young one- spill your troubles". 
"Bullcrap?" the taller lover asked with amusement, raising a brow. 
"Mamaie doesn't like excessive swearing. It doesn't matter if you, Quinn, Dev or the Pope himself is in her living room, she'll bend me over her knee and spank the fu-crap out of me if I say half the stuff I usually do. I'm just practising being an upstanding citizen for a day. Now, answer my question, naughty boy". 
Huffing a breath, Briar nodded and motioned to the mirror. Then did it again when he was given a blank stare. 
"What? You look fine" they frowned. 
"Yeah, I look fine... but that's it. I look fine. No one's granny wants their loved one to be in a relationship with someone who's just fine. They want someone amazing and impressive and just so much more than fine. She's been wanting to meet me for ages- going on three bloody years, Jess...it feels wrong to wear anything less than a suit or something". 
Jesse blinked rapidly as though something were stuck in their eyes, but since they didn't attempt rubbing them, he supposed that wasn't the reason. They then groaned, pinching the bridge of their adorable little nose. 
Maybe they have a headache?
"I don't get it" they whined. 
"Get what?". 
"You. I don't get you". 
Oh, so I'm the headache. 
"I don't get how you look at yourself and see anything less than amazing. How you could possibly think she would ever get to know what kind of person you are and find you anything less than impressive and wonderful. You genuinely don't see it, do you? How fucking much more than 'just fine' you are".