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

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Kevin has known Kitty for a while. Two mutants that have not so much in common. She's a partier, he prefers quiet time at home. She's into modern conveniences, he's studying blacksmithing. But. The professor had put it to them, that it was better to marry other mutants, than to run the risk of marrying outside, and getting hurt. He was pairing up a lot of the mutants, putting those who might get along together.

Kevin thinks the professor is cracked. Him and Kitty? He doesn't need someone to "bring him out of his shell" or to drag him out of his newly made forge now and again. That's what he had his dog, Mimsy, for. At least she liked Kitty?

He looks down at the huge Rottweiler as she watches him put his tux on for the wedding he was about to go to. His wedding, to Kitty Pryde. "What the hell am I doin', Mims?" He collapses on the side of his bed and ruffles his dog's ears. By some quirk of genetics, or divine intervention, or something, she's immune to his deadly power, and he can touch her without worrying about killing her. She puts her big head on his knee, and whines softly. She knows something is up and he's not liking it.

He stands up. Time to go get married.

He walks down the hall, where he knows Kitty is getting ready and taps at her door with one gloved knuckle. His wedding ring will go on over his gloves to protect his new wife from his powers. "Kitty?" He calls, his soft Southern drawl more pronounced with the stress in his life.

They've known each other since childhood.

Misa had always been older, more mature. Taller, too, until he hit his growth spurt at fourteen. He remembers a confusing childhood crush on this quiet, regal girl, and her tears when she thought he'd died.

But Joscelin hadn't expected this. He hadn't expected that a wife would be provided for him, and he certainly hadn't thought that she would be the intended bride.

They're walking in the garden, and Joscelin can't quite get around the strangeness of the situation. "Are you...enjoying yourself?" he asks awkwardly, feeling like that little boy Misa had once known all over again.

In truth, Kitty doesn't really have much of a problem with Kevin exactly. While they weren't really close, she didn't mind him. He reminded her of Rogue, who she did get along with, and she wouldn't have minded being his friend if he would let her.

The real problem she had was with the idea of getting married. Not necessarily to Kevin, but this whole matchmaking thing in general. She definitely understood the professor's reasoning for them to marry a fellow mutant. But she didn't necessarily agree with it. Wasn't the professor the one telling them that integrating with regular humans was the way to get them used to mutants?

And partnering her up with Kevin? What made the professor think that the two of them getting married was a good idea? She'd wanted to get along better with Kevin, but she wasn't sure this was really the way to do it.

Not that either of them had much of a choice about it now, as she stood looking at herself in the full-length mirror. The knock on the door startles her a bit, but she isn't sure what emotion she's feeling when she hears the familiar voice on the other side.

Slowly she walks over to the door, but doesn't open it yet. "Isn't it bad luck to see the bride before the ceremony?" she asks, the attempt at a joke feeling a little flat compared to the nerves buzzing in her stomach.

How had she gotten into this situation? How? How... she doesn't know. She'd been trained, since birth, to be someone's wife, but she hadn't thought it would be Joss of all people.

They've known each other for years, paling around and just being friends, and now... it's different. They're not friends, but... engaged. The families have approved them to walk in the garden, but she can feel the eyes on the pair of them, knowing that they're being watched.

Cautiously, she reaches out and touches Joss's hand, the motion hidden by their bodies. The maze is just up ahead, and they can hide in there, figure this out. When they get to the entrance, she grabs his hand, and drags him into the maze, a brief reprieve from being stared at. "You're treating me differently." She says, looking up at him.

Kevin sighs and rests his forehead against his hand on the door. "Probably." He admits. "I haven't seen you though. Just thought I'd come ask you if you wanted to run away. We'll steal a car, get the hell out of here?" He's joking, weakly. They're going to do this in front of God - in the form of a rabbi friend of the Professor, and his priest from down the road - and everyone.

He's not sure that he likes this. His stomach is tightening threateningly, and when he'd gone to Confession a day or two ago, he'd ended up in Father Frankie's study with a cup of coffee, and the priest trying to talk him down off a metaphorical ledge. He takes a deep breath. "I'll meet you downstairs, alright? Don't go running without me."

Not that she would, but he's just as terrified as she is. It's not like they're going to have a normal relationship. He can kill with a touch, meaning he'll never be able to touch her. Though, that's probably to her advantage.

He takes another deep breath. If he's not careful, he's going to hyperventilate.

He can feel the blush start at the back of his neck, where it always had when they were children. Misa knows him too well.

He's not even yet a man, not even by the standards of their country. He won't be until he turns nineteen. But his family has always married young; he's expected to have a consort and an heir waiting in the wings whenever Father pops his clogs and he gets stuck as the head of the House.

Looking around and not seeing anyone watching, he takes her hand fully.

"Am not," he says peevishly, acting younger than his seventeen years. "But this...its..." He's normally so eloquent, but finds himself stammering. "This. You. You've known me practically since I was in diapers. Well, not quite that long. But still. It's awkward."

Misa does know him well. Well enough that she's about to push him in a bush and stomp away, just as she had when they were younger. It'd serve him right. "You are too." She snaps back at him. Things are different, if only because now they're being watched, instead of being told to run off and play.

"It's only awkward if we want it to be." She says, taking her hand away from him. "We're still friends, Joss. Aren't we?" She asks, suddenly unsure if he doesn't want to be friends anymore. She does! She'd rather him a friend, than anything, but they don't get that choice. Their, well, guardians in her case parents in his, had made that choice for them. She bites her bottom lip, like she's always done when she's nervous.

The blush on his pale neck flushes crimson.

“Of course we are,” he insists like it’s the most natural thing in the world. For all his learning and intelligence, he still thinks only in absolutes. “But it’s one thing to be friends and another to....”

He suddenly becomes very interested in his shoes and mutters something that sounds an awful lot like “take you into my bed.”

Because that childhood crush of his? It never went away. Now Misa is a woman grown and she’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen and it’s intimidating as hell to realize it.

Plus, she could still push him into the bush. The gardener had never quite managed to cover up the Joss-sized hole that had appeared in one of the topiaries when he was twelve.

She actually blushes. Misa looks away from him, and finds something utterly fascinating about the bush next to her. She understands what he's saying.

"We don't have a choice." She says, finally, after clearing her throat several times. She doesn't want to think about that just yet. They have time. A full three months until they are wed. That will, hopefully, give them time to get over this... whatever it is. She isn't sure, but she doesn't want to think about it.

"The contracts have been signed, and we're bound." Pragmatic as always. She knows there is a way to break it, but in order to do that, one side would have to prove falsehood on the other side. She wants to be as open and as honest with Joss as she can be.

“I think we’ve always been bound,” he says gloomily. “We just didn’t know it at the time.” He’s learned recently just how structured his life has always been. All of his playmates were carefully chosen for him; he never had an opportunity to form friendships organically. It’s all Father’s doing.

“But at least we do know each other.” It’s true. Mother had been plucked from an obscure dukedom and married to a much older man in a language she didn’t even speak when she was younger than Joss is now. He counted himself lucky that if Misa was going to be his wife, at least they have a genuine affection for one another already. Suddenly, he wonders if he has Mother to thank for his relative good fortune.

“I hope you will not be unhappy as my, er, wife. You’ll be a princess. A rather minor one unless my cousin dies childless, but...”

She manages a soft laugh, though it lacks her usual warmth and enthusiasm. She knows this isn't easy for either of them, but they both also know that running away isn't an option.

No matter how tempting it is.

Leaning with her back against the wall by the door, she answers, "Y-Yeah...I'll be down soon." When it was time for the actual ceremony to start. After another moment, she adds, "How...How're you holding up?"

If he's anything like her, then probably not well. But she needs to do something with all this jittery energy.

She sighs and counts to ten. "Joss, when have I ever cared about your title?" She asks, gently. "Titles... titles are just ways of separating people." She wonders if he's been told about her own background, the bastard daughter of a high ranking nobleman. She's only the chosen one, so to speak, because the man had had no other children when he died, and his wife had gone into a cloister saying that not having children was a sign from God.

But her mother? Her mother had been a simple maid, made Mistress to a powerful Duke. Misa had grown, her first few years surrounded by love and happiness, until they'd sent her here, far away from her mother and any friends she might have had.

She sighs. "You're the one who will be disappointed. There are those in the court who would use my... obscurity against you."

At least for the honeymoon, they'll be able to get the hell out of here. Disneyland is a corny destination, but it's one place he's never been, and it's got enough nightlife that hopefully she'll be happy. He's worried about being in the crowds, but... he'll do it for her.

He lets out a laugh that is both desperate and exhausted. "Scared as hell." He admits. If he can't be honest with her, who can he be honest with? "But I'll be at the end of the aisle, waiting for you." He says the words softly, meaning them to be reassuring. "You sure you don't want Mimsy to come walk you down?" He finds his big Rottweiler comforting, but he wonders if she will.

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.

Joscelin can’t help it:

He laughs, and feels himself relax for the first time all day.

“They can certainly try,” he says, once he trusts himself to speak again. “My Grandfather of blessed memory was the King.” He lowers his voice conspiratorially. “And between you and me, Uncle Joe—” (The current king, Charles-Joseph IV) “Doesn’t much care for his own son and rather likes me better. If anyone tries to insult you, I’ll sic the bloody Palace on ‘em.”

He holds her hand tight.

“Misa...promise me. Promise me you won’t let them get to you.”

At the very least, their honeymoon was during the off-season, so hopefully the park wouldn't be as crowded as it normally was during summer or winter vacations. Kitty had been careful to plan for that since she knew how nervous crowds made him.

Despite herself, his honest answer brought a small smile. "Yeah...I'm pretty scared too," she replies. "I'll be there, though."

Even if neither of them really wanted this, if he was willing to see this through, then doing the same was the least she could do.

His last question gets a soft laugh from her. "Thanks, but Logan should be coming up to get me soon." Logan had been one of the few to argue with the professor, having sided with the two of them about the entire idea. But he'd still been willing to walk Kitty down the aisle - though somewhat begrudgingly - if only because she had asked him to.

He smiles because she’s trying because he’s trying. This whole situation is trying. But they’re going to make the best of it. That’s all anyone can ask for he supposes. He wants to tell her things. Like how much she scares him because she could be hurt. Or how much he wants to be a good husband but he’ll understand if she doesn’t think he is. Or about the pair of rings he’d designed for both of them that were waiting downstairs.

Instead he feels a heavy hand on his shoulder and looks at Logan. He just nods. “Logan’s here. I’ll meet you downstairs.” He says.

He whistles and Mimsy comes to walk him down the aisle. Josh is waiting for him a best man that he also doesn’t deserve. He waits to see the woman that will be his wife

"Okay..." is all she's really able to manage before she hears him head off. She waits until she's sure that he's completely out of sight before finally opening the door.

Even if the 'seeing the bride before the ceremony' thing was just superstition, she figures the two of them can use all the luck they can get.

As Logan escorts her downstairs to where everyone was waiting for them, she could see the sad sort of resignation in his eyes that she imagine matches her own. This moment, one that should have been the happiest of her life, was really just a motion she was going through, for reasons that seemed faded and distant now.

Even so, as they reach the doors leading outside to where the wedding was set up - a picturesque scene that normally would have been beautiful, if she'd felt more enthusiastic about it - she takes Logan's arm as he signals that they're ready. Then the music starts, and they make the slow march to where Kevin is waiting on the other side.

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Arranged Marriage

Brigid Finn M/F

Misa M/F

Kevin Ford OTA

Kitty Pryde M/F

Reason: 8.

Reason 1, Scenario 2

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look at me being a rebel with no numbers

ROCK ON

Re: ROCK ON

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