[Athilea Majiri]

The girl blushed as well as soon as he complimented her. Her gaze lowered as they continued their very slow walk back to the study their parents were in. "Thank you. I took very much after my mother. Even if I wanted to be so thin as the fashion seems to dictate, I would not be able to."

She could not help but to think forward to their coming wedding night, and the color deepened as she did. She just could not help but to wonder what it would be like, and if their nervousness would have passed by then. Her thumb stroked his lightly for a moment. The womans hands were extremely smooth, as though she had never done a single days hard labor. In fact, her father would not even permit her to take up an instrument that would ruin that smoothness.

Atane bit her lower lip lightly, a habit that her mother had tried to break her of. For a moment she wondered what sorts of plans their parents were making. She knew that when they returned it would likely just be their mothers talking. She could not see her father staying for to terribly long with that discussion, and he's was probably the same. "Had you seen a portrait of me prior to today?"

[((___jade___))>]

With a slight smile, Thayne nodded. He had not gotten a close enough look at either of her parents to know if he agreed or not, but it hardly mattered at the moment. "Yes, that's all the better in my opinion. Sometimes I wonder if those girls even breathe..." He snorted softly, shaking his head.

Although it had taken a while, Thayne was finally starting to get used to Atane holding his hand. She did have nice hands, at least; she could have had rough, crooked hands with claws for nails. This was usually his approach to things. The "it could be worse" approach. It made times when things actually were good seem even better since there were so many ways that it could be worse.

"Ah, no." Thayne shook his head quickly. "A year ago they told me that I was engaged, and that was about all I've heard of you..." From the first time that they told him, it had always just been thrown into conversation casually as if it was a long-known fact. That had bothered Thayne because he had wanted to know more about her once he had accepted the facts. Obviously it was too late now. "Had you seen any of me?" He turned the question around back at her.

[Athilea Majiri]

"Yes, I had." She smiled, her parents had actually insisted on it. It was small enough that she could have it on her person when they felt it necessary, and it had served as a deterrent on other mens advances. "It is why I asked, the artist did not do you justice though."

The girl blushed at her own comment. "It is odd to see how differently our parents decided to handle the arrangement, don't you think?" It was nice to talk to him, to get comfortable around him. Things would not, likely, remain so smooth at this. She savored the time with him though.

[((___jade___))>]

"Ah, I see..." Thayne said quietly. He had never really known how to handle compliments, and it was rather obvious in that moment. It did not quite seem like the right place to say "thank you", but he also was not quite sure how to turn it into a counter-compliment. By the time he had any ideas, it was too late anyway.

Thayne nodded slightly in reply to her statement. "Yes, I suppose we'll continue to see such behaviors for a few more weeks too..." Or years, more likely. Something like this was certainly not just going to go away. Even if he got no part in the decision, marriage was still a big deal anyway.

{{~*Ehh that was kinda meh, sorry. Dx*~}}

[Athilea Majiri]

She nodded slowly, her gaze lowered to the ground in front of her feet. Atane seemed to examine the stone path as it passed slowly beneath her before she spoke again. The silence stretched on for some time. It was so difficult to find things to speak of with someone that she barely knew.

When she did speak up her musical voice even startled her. She had not realized just how quiet it had gotten. "I wonder if our parents would mind us taking a detour. I would love to see your library." The woman smiled at him nervously, hoping he did not take the idea the wrong way.

((It's alright. <3 You'll get back into the swing of it. I thought it was a good post.))

[((___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.

[Athilea Majiri]

She tilted her head slightly at him before they started for a different door. He still held her hand, and she did not complain. Instead she followed him, matching his pace as they went through hallways that she did not think she could ever remember.

She allowed herself to look over the decorations as they walked before stopping him for a moment to look at a rather large painting that depicted a stormy sea. There was a large ship that seemed to be struggling against an even larger whirlpool as lightly touched the waters around it. The woman moved closure to it, examining it a moment.

"We have a similar painting. I think the artist was different though." With that she shook her head and turned back to him. "I am sorry. I know it must be silly for me to stop just to look at a painting." She licked her lips lightly before she could continue, "I always liked our version of the painting. That is why it caught my eye."