Arranged Marriage

[bostonhowler]

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

Comments

[southernreaper]

"Of course." He says, pulling her against him. "All you have to do is ask, and I'll do just about anything for you." He won't say anything because that's dangerous. But he'll do his damnedest to make sure she has everything she wants and needs.

[goingthroughaphase]

Reaching up, she gently cups his cheek. "It's too bad that we didn't really get to know each other before all this," she says softly. "But this is still...nice."

[southernreaper]

He turns his head and kisses her palm. "Like I said, ask anything you want." He says gently. "But I don't know your favorite color." He says, smiling a little. "I know you like to go out dancing with Jubilee, but that's about it."

[goingthroughaphase]

She laughs softly, gently stroking his cheek. "Pink," she replies. "Rogue makes fun of me for being basic, but I can't help what I like. I'm a little surprised you didn't know that, though."

With her party girl status, she isn't exactly shy of letting people know what she likes or how she's feeling.

[southernreaper]

"Is that why Josh put a pink bow on Mimsy?" He'd wondered about it, but had decided that arguing wasn't going to solve anything. Besides, Josh did things that only made sense to Josh most of the time.

Still, he's curious about her. He hasn't been paying much attention, the last couple of years, except when he's experimented in the kitchen and Storm has asked for feedback.

[goingthroughaphase]

"Either that, or Mimsy picked it out herself," she jokes softly. "So was Josh in charge of all the decorations?"

[southernreaper]

"I think Keller and Sooraya kept him away from most of the decorations." He says, with a grin. After all, they're not still covered in glitter. "But he was in charge of gettin' me and Mimsy ready." Josh had been a pal throughout all of this. He owes his former boyfriend a great deal. "And in charge of the dance music." He says with a grin.

[goingthroughaphase]

She giggles. "I'll have to thank him when we get back then." Though she's content that that won't be for a while.

At that moment, a knock on the door interrupts them, and she gently untangles herself from him to slip off the bed, taking a moment to fix the bathrobe before going to open the door.

[southernreaper]

Kevin puts the blanket over himself. He hadn't thought to bring a bathrobe - and in fact, doesn't own one - but he's still naked in the bed, and there's no reason he needs to get up. Still, he's a little disappointed that she's all bundled up in her robe again.

He wonders if they're going to have a problem. When he can be naked? He is. So, when that door closes, he's stripping out of his layers and just relaxing on the floor with Mimsy, usually. Or in bed. But if she's going to have a problem with it, he'll have to work out something with her.

[goingthroughaphase]

After tipping the delivery person, Kitty closes the door and returns with the two pizzas, settling back onto the bed and placing the two boxes between them.

"Here we go," she says eagerly. Now that the smell of food was so close, she's reminded of the fact that she actually is pretty hungry.

[southernreaper]

Kevin finally pushes himself up. He takes his pizza, and immediately opens it. Everything but onions, olives and anchovies. He loves it. He waits for her to start eating before he starts eating himself. But he's starving. One thing he and Rogue have in common is the fact that they both have to eat a lot. Their powers consume a lot of calories during the day - and night - because they can never switch them off.

So, he's used to eating a lot at once, and then going back for more.

Still, she got him a pretty hefty pizza. He'll say this for the random pizza place, the pizza isn't bad at all.

"I'm gonna run down to the soda machine. You want some?" He asks, pulling his jeans back on.

[goingthroughaphase]

Kitty, meanwhile, generally doesn't eat too much. She's hungrier than normal at the moment, though, but her pizza was definitely a size smaller than Keven's.

Taking a moment to swallow her current mouthful, she nods. "Yes, please," she finally manages. "A Sprite, or a root beer if they have any."

[southernreaper]

He nods and kisses her cheek, heading out to get them a pair of sodas. He's thirsty and the calories won't hurt him, though the caffeine might. So, he settles on root beer for both of them, because he needs to sleep at some point tonight.

Coming back, he opens the door. "It was Mountain Dew or Mug. I got the Mug." He passes her one of the bottles of root beer.

He settles on his side of the bed again, and goes back to his food. "So, why vegetarian?" He asks, sipping his root beer. He's heard, vaguely a few reasons why, but those were from unreliable sources.

[goingthroughaphase]

"Thanks," she says as she takes the bottle from him, twisting it open for a quick sip.

She contemplates the best answer as she takes another bite from her pizza slice. "There's a few different reasons," she says with a shrug. "My family's Jewish, so my parents already eat Kosher, so pork is already out. Plus my family has a history of health problems, so it's better to avoid some of the riskier foods. And...I dunno, I just feel bad about it. Some of those documentaries they show about how animals are treated to prepare them for slaughter are kind of horrifying."

[southernreaper]

He loves cooking with ham and sausage, but he can work around that, for her. It's not going to be a hardship at all. "So that's why you loved the eggplant parmesan that was made last week." Yes, it's one of his, no he's not admitting it. Not yet, anyway.

"But I tend to cook a lot, so it's no problem to not make meat for you." He's even been branching out in his vegetarian dishes. So, she'll have to try his experiments. "Is there anything else I should avoid?"

[goingthroughaphase]

“Oh yeah! That eggplant parmesan last week was really good!” She’d been busy, so she had no idea who’d made it, but she really wants to find out.

“Not really,” she says thoughtfully. “Maybe just cilantro?”

[southernreaper]

He chuckles and eats a bit of pizza. "Glad you liked it. Recipe called for a little less garlic, but it didn't taste right without it." He's admitting to making that. "But my real accomplishment was the garlic and pinto bean sausages a month ago. Never did get to try those." So, ya know, he can cook for you, Kitty.

He finishes what he's going to eat - about half the pizza - and puts it in the little fridge in the room. "Why cilantro?" He asks, sitting back down.

[goingthroughaphase]

“No way!” she says in amazement. “You made those? That’s awesome!” She’s always been kind of jealous of people who could cook. Her mom was a really good cook, but while she can help someone else out in the kitchen, Kitty can’t seem to make anything other than a disaster when left on her own.

“Oh well...you know how people either have that gene where cilantro tastes like soap or they don’t?”

[southernreaper]

He chuckles. "I've been doing most of the baking and some of the cooking the last year or so. All those special requests come to me, usually." He shrugs, modestly. He can cook. He's glad he's got people to feed.

"I take it it tastes like soap for you?" It doesn't for him, but he can't stand baked kale. So, maybe it's the same principle.

[goingthroughaphase]

“That’s really cool! Maybe you could teach me sometime.” Hopefully he’ll be able to keep his patience with her in the kitchen.

Brushing the crumbs from her hands, she closes the pizza box - she’s eaten more than she usually does, but there’s still three-fourths of a pizza left - and goes to put it in the fridge with his. Then she returns to the bed, taking another swig of root beer.

“Yeah, pretty much. It just ruins everything if I eat it.”

[southernreaper]

He smiles and shucks off his jeans again, crawling into bed. They should get an early start tomorrow, but probably won't. There's still time to get to Disney World, even if their reservation starts tomorrow. "I can try to teach you." He says, holding open his arms for her. "Miss Amelia, my neighbor before I became a mutant, taught me how to. She's the one I go see in Atlanta every now and again."

[goingthroughaphase]

Doing a quick clean up, she then removes the bathrobe before joining him on the bed, settling into him. “I warn you, it isn’t pretty. The last time I tried baking was for home ec class in high school, and that’s because the muffins I made were bouncy enough to use for racquetball practice. So no one wanted me to practice anymore.”

And she only wishes she was exaggerating.

[southernreaper]

He chuckles. "Alright, so maybe start with something a bit more simple." He kisses her temple. He could get used to this. Grimacing, he reaches for his phone and sets an alarm. No need to oversleep the length of time he can wear the suppressor after all.

"Maybe we'll take over the lake house for a while, and you can learn to cook there." He teases, pulling her into his side. He tilts her chin up a bit. "Or, I can just be your house husband while you go out and save the world. Slave over a hot stove for you." He teases, before kissing her.

[goingthroughaphase]

She giggles, lightly nudging him a bit before leaning into him as she returns the kiss.. “Hmm...I kinda like the sound of that,” she teases back, brushing some loose hair from his face.

[southernreaper]

He chuckles warmly. He's going to be out saving the world too, but this is comfortable, teasing... light. He likes it. He kisses her again, knowing that they need to get some sleep. But he likes kissing her.

"We should sleep. Disney tomorrow after all." He says, smiling. Maybe this won't be so bad.