[((___jade___))>]

Finally feeling slightly more comfortable in the situation, Thayne was able to hold his gaze on his wife-to-be. She seemed nervous, but he understood for the most part. He sort of wondered what her views on marriage were. Because of his reading, he had it in his head that marriage was more of something that two lovers shared, though he did understand doing it for reasons like this. It made little difference to him anyway. He had never felt the kind of love for someone like it was in the stories. Thayne actually did not think he would ever feel that way towards someone.

"Of course!" Thayne's mother finally spoke up. It was a rare occasion for the placid woman to speak, though she had been quite excited about this. Her marriage to Thayne's father had been arranged as well, so she was glad to have the chance to plan a wedding, especially for her eldest son. Thayne was his mother's favorite, despite the fact that his younger sibling was a girl. She was not yet promised to anyone, which was somewhat surprising considering the family, but she was only four years old so she had some time. If she made it past sixteen and still had no fiance, that was when people would start to wonder.

"Our home is always open for it, though we have done some searching." His father came in to help with the planning as much as his information allowed. "We understand that a place outside of either of our homes would likely be a better solution, as big and lovely as each of the houses are." Another bright smile. "There's a place a few miles from here just in the woods. A nice, big gazebo. Very pretty. Somewhat pricey, but I do not see how that will be a problem, especially if we're dividing costs."

The older Elf's smile was slightly more genuine at her words. "I think that would be a lovely idea, child." He chuckled a little, glancing over at his son. The young Elf's fake smile could no longer be maintained. Being around people was bad enough, having one-on-one conversations was the stuff of his nightmares. His lack of social skills was more obvious than ever in such situations. The obvious dread on his face was not missed by his father, who shot him a sharp look. Even that was not enough to get a reaction out of the boy, so a subtle nudge followed, covered up by the Elf's following words. "You two are going to be spending a lot of time together from now on, so getting to know each other a little would be quite fruitful."

At his father's nagging, Thayne finally rose from his seat. Approaching the girl hesitantly, he offered his hand awkwardly to her, managing to force out a smile. His thoughts strayed far enough to remember why he was doing this, and he suddenly realized that he should probably be putting his best foot forward at this point. This helped to ease the smile into a more natural one. He tried to come up with some romantic gestures, whatever he could remember from the books he had read. "Shall we take a walk...?" His mind was racing in panic as he tried to figure out what to do next. He could take her to the garden... there was one step, at least.