howlingplayground | Arranged Marriage

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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

After finishing her shower, Kitty dries off and decides to do her hair and makeup first. While not using anywhere near as much makeup as she wore during the wedding, she figures a bit of light blush and lipstick would look nice. She decides to leave her hair down for a change instead, using the blow dryer to make sure it's dried and set properly.

Once she's finished with that, she goes into the bedroom to get the garment bag that she'd left in there, finding a classy little red dress waiting for her. It was a sleeveless, off the shoulder dress, with a sash that seemed to wrap around the shoulder with one end resting over the front. The top skirt was slightly asymmetrical, with a longer skirt underneath that was longer on the sides than the front and back. At the bottom of the bag were red pumps that really did nothing to help with her height, but she liked how they looked anyway.

She doesn't know exactly who had gotten her this dress, because she knows for sure that it's not hers, and she's never seen anyone else at the mansion wear it. But she appreciates their tastes, and will have to ask around and thank them later.

Kevin knows exactly where this suit came from, and he'll thank Miss Frost and Josh later. But seeing Kitty in her red dress... that's something else. She was right, he's going to enjoy peeling her out of that later. He's really going to enjoy it. Do they have to go to dinner?

He brushes his gloved - deep purple - fingers along the back of her neck, that's exposed to him.

"You look beautiful." He whispers. And he hasn't even seen the front of her yet. He trails his fingers down her neck and steps around her. It's even better from the front! She deserves to have jewels draped over her. Not to be... Alright, Josh had already yelled at him tonight, he's going to put those thoughts to the side.

A bit surprised, she glances up at him with a smile. "Thank you," she says softly, as she finishes putting in a pair of earrings. "You're pretty handsome yourself."

Once she's finished, she grabs a small evening bag - just big enough to fit a wallet and a cellphone, though it's not like she'll be calling anyone else right now - and slips on her shoes. "Ready to go?"

He smiles and offers her his arm. There's plenty of fabric between the two of them, so she'll be just fine. "You know what? This is our first date. I think we went about things a little backward." He's smiling crookedly though and ready to show her a good time.

It's the least he can do. He won't be drinking tonight - not old enough - but that's alright. They don't need alcohol to have fun.

Outside, the sunset is spectacular, coloring the west in purples and reds and oranges that flare out everywhere. He opens the car door for her. He wants this night to be special.

She laughs softly as she slips her arm into his, leaning on him a little bit. "I don't think anything about this has been conventional," she replies. "But I don't mind."

The sunset looks even prettier with the color gently washing over the savannah-like landscape, sending colors over the trees and grass and outlining some of the animals that were still out and wandering. With another smile, she steps into the car, making sure to keep her dress out of the way as he closes it after her.

He slips into the car and settles into the driver's seat. He should let her drive, but he loves driving. Anyway, time to get moving. "Well, we ourselves are strange and unusual." He doubts she'll get the Beetlejuice reference, but what the hell, why not try new things?

He straps in and off they go to Victoria and Albert's.

The dining room has outdone themselves and Kevin and Kitty are right on time for their eight pm reservation. They're led to a small table over in the kitchen, allowing them to see the controlled chaos through which their food comes. Kevin gently seats Kitty and then takes his seat. He keeps his back to the wall, wanting only to be able to see when people get too close.

"I think I almost prefer IHOP." he whispers so she can hear.

She giggles softly; she may not get the direct reference, but she's actually a bit of a musical nerd. "'Seek a little strange and unusual, and you will find life beyond all comprehension...'"

Once they arrive and take their seats, Kitty glances around. It certainly is extravagant. Maybe a bit overly so. Kevin's comment gets a small giggle from her.

"If this is the kind of place that serves tiny food, we should bail," she replies.

So says the girl who eats like a bird.

He chuckles at the line from the musical. But her comment about the tiny food has him laughing, deep and warm. He covers her hand with his. The deep purple fabric slides over her skin, protecting her from the deadliness of his.

The waiter smiles as he puts the water filled crystal in front of them. He offers them wine, but Kevin turns it down. He's driving. He sips the water, and it's filtered within an inch of its life.

They're given options for dinner. Vegetarian or not. That's their options. Kevin actually takes the vegetarian option. Not his typical thought, but he's willing to try.

Glancing up at him, she gives him a smile, unaware of the waiter’s expression. But she also declines the offer for wine, not old enough to drink yet.

She gives him a look of surprise when he selects the vegetarian meal, even as she asks for the same. As the waiter leaves to place their order, she looks at him curiously.

Kevin sips his water again, then sees the curious look on her face. "If you're willing to put up with all my quirks," including his gloves, "then I can at least try to see it from your point of view now and again, right?" He says, shyly.

He wants to try new things with her. He wants to experience new things with her. He knows some things will never be normal, but he can try this.

She places her hand on his. “Some of these things are beyond your control,” she says. “The least I can do is try to be understanding towards them.” Then she smiles. “But thank you. That’s really sweet.”

"Yeah, but this isn't." He says, softly. "I'm not giving up my steaks and burgers, but a few vegetables now and again won't hurt." He teases. "Besides, if my new wife is vegetarian, no reason I can't support her in that."

Her smile brightens, and she gently squeezes his hand. “I appreciate that. And I don’t mind if you still eat meat. But thank you for understanding.”

He shrugs. "Don't, really, understand it, but I don't need to." He says, gently. "See, it's your thing. Just like blacksmithing is my thing. If you can put up with the smell, and the heat, and me losing track of time, this? This is easy." They're a partnership now. There's going to be times where they don't see eye to eye, there are going to be times when things are going to be so much worse for them. But this? This is easy. And why shouldn't he do something so simple to support her?

"Well that's what I mean by understanding. If you don't understand why, you get that it's still important to me. And you're willing to try. That means a lot to me."

He brushes a thumb over the back of her hand. He likes the little gestures he remembers from his parents. No, theirs was not a conventional marriage. But that doesn't mean they can't have some of the trappings. "We're partners. That's going to be hard enough. Why make it harder?"

She smiles, turning her hand over to take his. "Still, sometimes it's the little things that really make a difference."

And maybe she's just a bit hopeful and a little naive...but she could see this working out.

Yeah, they're both a bit naive about this, but they've been thrown into the deep end, and there's nothing they can do about it, except try their best.

The meal comes and goes. There are a lot of courses, and even Kevin is a bit overwhelmed by the amount of food. But he doesn't find it bad. In fact, it's very, very good, if not his style. He's much more a steakhouse type person. But, someone thought they'd enjoy this, and watching the kitchen is fascinating. At one point, the Chef comes over to talk to the pair of them, and Kevin and he talk for a moment about different methods of sauteeing. But the Chef has to go back to work, and Kevin puts his hand over Kitty's. The Chef coming over was the final excitement for the evening.

He leans as close as he dares. "Ready to get outta here?"

Kitty is certainly enjoying herself. Even if it's a lot more food that she'd ever eat, she at least tries a little bit of everything. She also enjoys getting to see the kitchen, and even though she contribute much to the conversation when the Chef comes over, she listens to him and Kevin talk with interest.

When the Chef gets back to work and she takes a last bite of her dessert, she glances at Kevin with a smile. Taking sip of her water, she then wipes her mouth daintily before reply, "I'm good to go."

Kevin stands and takes her hand, tucking it into his arm. They need to get out of here. He breathes a deep sigh of relief being out in the open air again. It smells of blacktop, heat and rain to come. Black clouds are obscuring the horizon now. Kevin opens her door for her, then slides into the driver's seat.

Silently, he drives them back to the hotel. Once they're in the room, he kicks off his nice shoes and wiggles his toes. He hates those shoes. "That was a very large meal." He says.

She sits in content silence as they drive back to the hotel. Once they enter the room, she places her purse aside, laughing as she slips out of her own shoes.

"Gosh yeah," she replies, starting on removing her earrings. "I feel like I don't need to eat for a week."

He chuckles and falls on the bed after removing his suit jacket. No need to wrinkle it after all. He sighs and closes his eyes. It's nice to just stretch out on the bed, and relax for a while.

"That mean we're not eating our way through Disney?" He teases cracking open his eye to watch her.

"Hey, there's always room for sweets," she says playfully, carefully putting the jewelry away.

"Sweets huh?" He stretches, reaching for the suppressor. He peels off his glove, putting it on, and then peels off the other and rolls to his feet. Kevin walks up behind her and drops a kiss on the back of her neck. "I like sweets." He whispers in her ear.

With a slight shiver, she glances up at him with a coy smile. "Think you have a little room for some...extra dessert then?" she asks.

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I'm fudging up years and dates but idc

Eh. Who cares?

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