howlingplayground | Arranged Marriage

It's a trope near and dear to our hearts. Arranged marriage.

Maybe it's for the family. Maybe it's for a friend. Maybe you know the person and have been expected to marry them for years. Maybe it's the wedding day and you have no clue who it is you'll be tied to for your natural life. Maybe you've been married a while, and you're just now starting your life, away from the expectations of others. Or maybe, the "others" are watching, waiting, making sure this marriage sticks.

Prompts for those who need them:

Reasons:

1. Station → You come from a royal, noble, or otherwise distinguished family who has chosen a suitable spouse for you.
2. Feud → You are being married to put an end to the bitter enmity between your two families.
3. Economics → Your economic state and/or your station will improve through the union, though one of you may be marrying down.
4. Empire → You and your spouse are merging your businesses and/or property to create something more influential or profitable.
6. Tribute → You have been offered as a gift or appeasement, alternately you're the spoils of war.
8. Bloodline → Carrying on your distinguished family name has fallen to you and the equally well-bred spouse of your family's selection.
7. Disapproval → Your marriage has been arranged to keep you away from the person with whom you truly wish to be.

Scenario:

1. First meeting → This is the very first time you're meeting your future spouse.
2. Courtship → To get to know each other and encourage affection, your family has approved of you going on dates.
3. Engagement party → Be it a huge, formal affair or a small, intimate get together, you're celebrating (or pretending).
4. Wedding day → The big day!
5. Reception → The big party!
6. Wedding night → Every meme needs a smut prompt, right?
7. Honeymoon → Where will you go with your new spouse and what will you do there?
8. Been at this a while → Just starting to get to know the other person

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sooraya was not, as a rule, happy about the arrangement of her marriage; she understood, yes, because her part of the world had rules, and those rules were concrete. And she had *finally* found her mother, but to go back she had to have a valid male escort.

Kevin had been the only option, and she hoped he'd understand why she asked. She cared about him, and he was the only person she genuinely had ever wanted to be with her in a romantic way. He was caring and soft and lovely.

"Kevin?" she asked, knocking softly on his door. "Did you think about...earlier?" When she'd actually explained and popped the question, so to speak.

Kevin had stared at her, utterly flabbergasted, when she'd asked. Now, two hours later, he's not sure that he's got an answer for her. It had been completely pragmatic, no romance involved. She needed a husband to escort her to find her mother. Even if that husband was a godless heathen such as himself.

When she knocks on the door, he automatically reaches for his gloves. He's hanging out in a tank top and jeans, without his customary boots on. But, ever the gentleman, he doesn't keep a lady waiting. So, he opens the door. And steps aside. Rules or not, this is not a conversation that he wants to have where others in the Mansion can hear. And the only other place to go is out, and it's past curfew. They still have the run of the Mansion for an hour or so, just leaving the grounds is prohibited.

"Sooraya." He says, when the door is closed and he's sitting on the edge of his bed. "Soo, we don't talk about religion. I don't, quite, understand yours. And mine... is deeply personal." He'd once thought about becoming a priest. "But in my religion, there is no divorce. I marry for life." Good ol' Catholic boy that he is. "And I don't want to trap you with someone with..." His gloves creak. "My type of power." He says, softly.

Edited 2020-06-08 01:08 (UTC)

"There wouldn't...you wouldn't be trapping me," she said. "We should talk about it. But it's my mother. And I haven't seen her in years."

Kevin is pretty much her only option.

The only one period she's willing to approach.

"You can say no, Kevin. It's okay," Sooraya murmured. "I wouldn't want to trap you with someone like me either."

"No, listen to me." He gets up and kneels in front of where she's sitting. "I'm willing." And in that moment, he realizes, he is. He's willing. Not just because she has a mother to find and visit, but because he likes her. A lot. He'd shown her his forge, and given her a key and that's a level of trust he doesn't have with anyone else. So, yes, he'll marry her, but he wants her to know just what she's getting into.

"I'm willing." He repeats. "But ours won't be a typical marriage. I can't... I can't do all the things a husband should be able to." Not that he's not physically capable of doing them, just with his power, he can't run the risk of hurting her. "My power is too dangerous." He's saying this all wrong and shoves a frustrated hand through his hair.

"I just want you to have everything, and I can't give it to you." He admits, softly.

"Kevin," she murmurs, lifting him back up with a gentle tug on his gloved hands. She wants them on an equal footing for this.

"There is nothing I need that you can't give me. Nothing at all." She's still wearing her veil, as always, and it's only because there's that thin, important barrier that Sooraya can lean forward and kiss Kevin, soft and quick, but not hurried. Both of them deserve better than hurried.

"Nothing about either of us is typical, and marriage shouldn't be something that isn't us. I know we can't do things normally. But that doesn't mean we can't do them at all." He hasn't pushed, and she hasn't asked, but Sooraya knows he means sex; it's just part of how marriages would work, and she doesn't want to deprive him of that, though she knows it's not as forward in his brain as it is half the rest of the boys. "We have time, Kevin."

He jerks back, surprised. Even that brief contact leaves a hole in her veil. He wants to yell at her not to do that, but he's too surprised that she did that. She knows how dangerous he is! And still.

It's not just sex. He can't kiss her, or she could be hurt. He can't hold hands normally, he can't do a lot of things that men and women should be able to do. He wants to do normal things with her that don't involve layers of clothing.

He pushes a hand through his too long hair. The ends of the bangs are singed again, from working in his forge. He wonders when or if he'll ever... well, yes, he would be able to. Forge and McCoy have made something for him. He knows that the suppressor they've offered him will allow him to have a somewhat normal life. But only at times. He can't wear it for long periods of time or he gets what they call a psychic headache. They'd warned him that ignoring the time limits could make it so he might never get control. But maybe....

"If you talk to your Imam, I'll talk to Father Frankie. We can pull together a wedding pretty quick." He squeezes her hand, gently. "And then we'll get a way to go see your mother." If nothing else, maybe Summers would let them take the Blackbird. Kevin can fly it.

Feelng the hole in her veil around her lips, Sooraya can't help but smile. "Kevin, lock the door, please."

She carefully unpins the veil from around her face; it isn't held on but with a few stick pins, carefully inserted through the fabric weave to hold it secure, and the rest slides free of her hair relatively easily when she pushes it back. "I've actually been talking to Kurt, for the most part. It's easier, since he's already here. But I'll see if I can go speak with Imam Tawhidi soon. This week." She smiles at him, face uncovered for the first time since they've known each other.

He locks the door, wondering what she's doing. When he turns back, he blinks, surprised. He - and the other men in the house - have never seen her without her veil.

She's... well, she's beautiful. He knew that, of course, but he'd never seen her so vulnerable before either. "You're..." He stutters for a moment. "You're beautiful." Not that he hadn't told her that before, but it's different now.

He leans back against his door, the metal sheet on the inside protecting it from his skin. "Ya know, if we asked, Kurt would probably perform the ceremony." Which would be fitting in a way. Yes, Kevin wants her to have all the trappings of marriage that she wants, but if she wants to do it faster... Kurt would be the way to go. Kevin will go talk to the guy, probably tomorrow.

She smiles slowly.

"Thank you, Kevin. And he would, if we asked, though...he might have some questions. Since our faiths are very different."

He thunks his head back against the door. "Well, my religion says I should only marry someone part of the Church." He points out. "Father Frankie doesn't hold to that, but the Church is rather firm. I don't know your wedding traditions." He admits, easily. Later, he'll do research on Afghani Islamic customs, but right now, he's in the dark.

He sighs. "Father Frankie would marry us." He says, softly. "I don't know about your Imam, but it's an option."

Arranged Marriage

look at me being a rebel with no numbers

ROCK ON

Re: ROCK ON

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject