Chapter Text
Foggy Nelson has one rule: do not fall for a member of the wedding party. Not the bride, not the groom, not the flirty bridesmaid who keeps winking at him during the rehearsal dinner. It’s a matter of professionalism. It’s also a matter of making sure that he gets paid what he’s owed, with no sex scandal interfering.
If he had a second rule, it would be no sex scandals.
The rule was never all that hard to follow, because weddings tend to bring out the worst in people, and he’s immune to the wedding terror that makes you want to hook up with the next person you see. The only problem came with the introduction of Matthew Michael Murdock, handsomest boy in the city and professional costumed weirdo with a smile that could knock a guy out if he wasn’t careful with it.
Foggy knew from the second he saw that smile that he was in big trouble.
*
“Danny Rand?” Karen asks. They’re at their weekly coffee not-date, splitting a piece of crumb cake between them.
“The one and only,” Foggy says.
“Do you know how much money he’s got?” she asks.
“A lot,” Foggy says, smiling.
“A lot,” Karen echoes. “No offense, but how the hell did you get this gig?”
“No, I feel the same,” Foggy says, stabbing the last bit of cake and eating it. “Apparently Jessica Jones is friends with Trish Walker, who’s friends with the couple I did that wedding for back in February.”
“The ones who wanted sunflowers in the middle of winter?”
“And trained swans,” Foggy says, nodding. “Apparently the passable attempt at a wedding I made out of their incredibly poor taste was more impressive than I thought.”
“That’s amazing,” Karen says, kicking him gently under the table. “Can you imagine the kind of wedding you can make with money like that? Not to mention the publicity. I wonder if I could steal the article about it from the Lifestyle writers.”
“Hard-hitting expose about tulle and floral arrangements?” he asks.
“Well, I have the inside scoop,” she says. “Is there a seedy underbelly to the wedding industry?”
“Well, everything’s wildly overpriced,” he says, “but that won’t be a problem this time.”
“You could do everything in pure gold.”
“Maybe if it was a Trump wedding,” he says, snorting.
“Which would definitely have a seedy underbelly,” she says, pointing a finger at him. “Seriously, though, I want an interview closer to the wedding. It would be fun to write some fluff.”
“You got it,” he says, finishing the rest of his coffee at once and getting to his feet. “Okay, gotta go talk to a superhero about a wedding. Wish me luck.”
“Luck,” she says, lifting her hand so he high-fives her as he passes.
*
Foggy kind of expected that he’d meet the happy couple at Rand Towers, but he’s actually directed to the Chikaro Dojo—run by the soon-to-be bride. He’s heard stories about Colleen Wing as well as Rand, the kind of things that get gossiped about loudly around the neighborhood since the Defenders stepped up so Daredevil wasn’t working alone anymore.
Whoa, he might get to meet Daredevil.
The door’s open when he arrives, so he knocks on the frame, smiling when four heads turn around at the same time. He recognizes Colleen and Danny, who jumps to his feet with a grin and says, “Foggy?”
“Yes,” Foggy says, reaching out a hand. Danny’s handshake is enthusiastic and arguably a little too strong, but Foggy feels very welcome, continuing, “Great to meet you, Mr. Rand. I was honored to get your call.”
“Mr. Rand was his father,” another woman says, dryly.
“Danny’s fine,” Danny says, “and this is my fiance—Colleen.”
“If you call me Mrs. Rand, we may have to fight,” Colleen says, smiling and stepping up behind Danny. Equally firm handshake but controlled.
“I wouldn’t dream of trying to fight you,” Foggy says. “I’m a lover—and, also, incredibly weak. Basically a kitten. Is this—the wedding party?”
He turns to the other two people in the room, and Colleen says, “Claire’s my Maid of Honor. Matt’s a groomsman.”
Matt raises his head and smiles and that’s—he’s—holy shit.
Foggy Nelson has one rule.
*
After he asks who he’ll be working with, things start to fall apart.
Colleen is too busy teaching and not particularly caring about the wedding details to be involved, and she says that she doesn’t trust Danny’s taste enough to let him do it, with echoed agreements from Claire and Matt and a hurt look from Danny.
“No dragons,” Colleen says, raising her eyebrows at him.
“No dragons,” he repeats, sullenly.
Foggy turns to Claire and she shakes her head and simply says, “Nope. I’ve got a full time job and an additional full time night job. And I also don’t want to.”
“Fair enough,” he says. “That leaves. . .”
Slowly, they all turn to look at Matt, who takes a moment to realize what’s happening. His mouth drops open.
“. . .wait, seriously?”
“You have good instincts,” Colleen says. Claire laughs, abrupt and loud, then pulls it together quickly.
“Oh, yeah,” she says, clearly attempting to keep a straight face. “The best.”
“My instincts are fine,” Matt says, kind of pouting at her—which is so appealing that Foggy has to literally avert his gaze.
“Then you should have no problem helping plan the wedding,” Claire says, smirking.
Matt glares for a moment before he sighs, loudly; Foggy’s pretty sure that Claire must best him pretty frequently, because he doesn’t seem surprised.
“I, uhm—” Foggy starts, fumbling automatically when Matt turns towards him instead. “I’ll do the brunt of the work, if that’s okay with everyone. I just need someone to yes or no. Even a—vague nod will work.”
“You know, you have a best man,” Matt says, to Danny.
“You’ll notice that he was smart enough to not show up,” Claire says.
Matt sighs again before he tilts his chin towards Foggy, smiles kind of hesitantly, and says, “I’m not sure I’ll be much help with the small details,” waving lazily at his glasses.
“You’d be surprised, dude,” Foggy says, genuinely, already telling himself to remember to scope out a braille printer he could use. “Weddings are made on about 90% feelings, and sight is just one part of that. I bet you’ll do fine.”
“What’s the other 10%?” Matt asks, sounding charmed.
“Absurdly expensive pretty things,” he says, smiling when he gets a laugh from the whole room. Foggy nods at Danny. “You know, if I hadn’t once literally ran into Tony Stark on the street, you’d be the richest guy I’ve ever met. Do you have a budget maximum?”
“Whatever you need,” Danny says, shrugging. Colleen looks like she might say something then huffs out a laugh, nodding her agreement.
Foggy feels very powerful all of a sudden.
“Matt,” he says. “We’re going to have a lot of fun.”
They make a plan to meet Friday afternoon to talk about general details. Matt’s supposed to bring a list with anything Danny and Colleen absolutely want and absolutely don’t want.
He really needs something more than no dragons.