never is an awfully long time

As much as he wished he could say he was confident that it would go well, he was a little intimidated by the idea that Wendy's family may expect a lot. His resume didn't stack as high as hers. But, he was successful in his own right, and hoped that was enough.

"Me too," he smiled, leaning down to give her a gentle kiss. When he raised his head, he noticed that the crowd on the floor was quickly diminishing, and so he held his hand out to her. "Come, there's a lot more to do and celebrate throughout the night." With that, he gently pulled her off the dance floor, to explore what the rest of the night had in store.

too swept up in their kiss and everything kronk, wendy hadn't realised how empty the dancefloor had not become since their dance and conversation started. "you're right. i think there's much more to see this evening."

-end

It was a little overwhelming to try and guess what Wendy's parents might think of him. Realistically, on the academics front, Kronk was never that smart. He passed his classes, but they certainly weren't all As and Bs. He didn't pursue anything higher, as he just didn't feel he would be good at it, but what he did know, was that he cared very deeply for Wendy, and he hoped they would see that. "I don't suppose they would be impressed by cake making and jump roping, would they?" he joked.

"I'm glad you think so." Kronk had honestly almost forgotten they were at a wedding, as the two of them continued dancing. As the song was coming to an end, however, and he looked around at the other guests starting to branch off, he smiled softly. "It really is a lovely ceremony, isn't it?"

with the whirlwind of being swept up in their budding romance, wendy hadn't given much thought that eventually that she would actually introduce kronk to her family until they had dived into their conversation. sure, the idea was there but that would become reality "my dad and brothers have sweet tooths, you could definitely win them over with cakes. i think my mum would be impressed at the jump rope skills, i know my brothers will be jealous of them" she grinned.

wendy had been so fixated on kronk that she hadn't noticed some guests were slowly making their way off the dancefloor "it is, the day has been lovely and i'm glad there's not been any drama for the couple. james and tina have thought of everything, i'm happy for them"

Wendy not ever getting time to discover what it was that she actually enjoyed for herself didn't sit right with him, but at the same time he'd known her for long enough now to sort of understand that her family dynamics were a lot different than his. At the mention of her brothers though, he smiled. "I'd like to meet them sometime, if that would be okay. And your parents, though that is a little more intimidating." Letting out a chuckle, Kronk prepared to tell the story. "Well, I spent a lot of time outside when I was younger, and one day they were having a talent show at school, and my sister dared me to sign up. The only thing I was really good at was jump rope. So... I tried out, got in, and won. Then I decided to keep going."

she smiled at kronk mentioning that he'd like to meet her brothers "i think that could be arranged. they're going to love you. my parents seem intimidating but it's the academics in them, they'll ease up" that didn't mean that wendy didn't have her apprehensions. her parents were not easy people to win over but if anyone could win them over it would be kronk. wendy listened in pure awe at his jump rope skills "that is incredible. what a wonderful talent to have"

And really, did Wendy deserve Tina helping Peter with however he wanted to deal with this? No. No, she didn't. The pair of them were finally free. And yet... it loomed.

"I'm surprised he hasn't gone for Krank's head..." Tina muttered, finally. It felt like he'd gone for hers. "Maybe you should watch your back, just in case." Wendy's next statement, one of genuine advice, almost had her prickle, if she hadn't been trying so hard to make things better. She wasn't letting Peter ruin her happiness, so she told herself. But James may have said otherwise, when he caught her crying about it over and over again. "Meltdown's an understatement... he banished me and ripped up all the photos in the treehouse. I..." And here, Tina really let a wall fall. "I don't know if I should even invite him, Wendy."

"if he has tried anything, kronk hasn't mentioned it. he shouldn't be a target just because peter has a tantrum about something that doesn't involve him" it was a worry of hers that peter would lash out and find kronk to be the target of that, but she owed peter nothing and kronk has no involvement with wendy and peter's past. "i will, and you should do the same. we both know peter's at his worst when he's angry and isn't getting his way" james being a factor in the situation didn't help given the longstanding feelings of peter about the pirate.

banished. wendy looked at tina in disbelief. never in a million years did she ever think that peter would ever banish tina. "i'm sorry he did that. he shouldn't have." the treehouse was a sacred space in the church of pan, it felt harsher that their showdown had taken place there and that peter tore up their photos "ultimately that decision is down to yourself and james. i know how you feel about peter, but if you have one ounce of apprehension then i wouldn't ignore it. it's your day, not peter's"

"Really? Huh... That sounds like a lot. When did you have time to do the things that you wanted to do?" Not that he was implying she was forced to do any of that, but it seemed like such a busy schedule that she wouldn't have had any time to just... be. "Oh, I don't know if I'd say that... but I was always pretty good at cooking, baking, you know about my work with the junior chipmunks, so that required a lot of training and diligence, learning a lot of new skills," he chuckled. "Oh— something you might not know about me," he paused, for dramatic effect, "is that I may or may not be a jump rope champion."

wendy contemplated his question and it had her arriving at the answer "i didn't. my parents demanded a lot from me, they still do. if i wasn't doing any of those, i was studying or looking after john and michael" she hadn't considered that it was all too much, it was something she had always been used to, but now that kronk asked about them it did seem a lot for anyone never mind a child. she smiled while she listened to kronk talk about his hobbies. hearing the revelation of jump rope, wendy stopped "really? how did you end up competing?"

charlotte stood in conversation with some of her dad's business associates, willing to be freed from the talk of business for the evening when she suddenly spotted her out in the form of a friend. apologising to the men, she excused herself and excitedly hurried across the room.

"hihihihi!! you look beautiful!"

"charlotte, you look like a princess"

Impressed with her experience, Kronk's eyes widened a bit. "Well, then I should be letting you lead, shouldn't I?" He was joking, mostly, but it was clear between the two of them who was the better dancer. "What were these other extra curriculars? I'd love to know."

wendy laughed and shook her head "you're leading perfectly. dancing is clearly another thing you're great at" it was refreshing to be on the same wavelength as someone and not feel like she was on the defence anytime she showed any sign of a talent. "well there was ballet, gymnastics, piano, model un, tutoring, test prep, first aid, gifted education and charity work to name a few...like i said, my parents wanted a packed schedule for me. what about you? a man of many talents such as yourself was surely a part of extra curriculars"