[((___jade___))>]

Thayne fell into thought again with the silence. His thoughts now just went to general married life. His parents, from what he had seen, were not really happy or in love with each other. He wondered if that had always been so or not. Sometimes he imagined that they were once; they had children, did they not? On the other hand, he had seen how a marriage could be handled like a business partnership. Perhaps things that happened in bed were not always so special for everyone...

He jumped a little when Atane spoke up again, but tried to hide it as he turned his head quickly to look at her. His first reaction was a fierce "no", remembering the last time a young female had asked that. Fortunately, Thayne took a moment to think about the current situation and realized that it hardly mattered. For one, he did not think she would try to pull anything weird. Secondly, they were getting married anyway. What was the worst that could happen...?

"U-uh yeah, sure." He nodded. It certainly did not bother Thayne that they were putting off returning to their parents. He could put that off all day and be perfectly comfortable. Still holding her hand, Thayne led her away from the door to the room where their parents were and toward another door leading into the house from the garden. Normally, the shortest route was actually through the other room, but as far as he was concerned, going the long way was actually the shortcut.