No Longer A Bachelor (Part I) (PG-17)

Writers: AL, Avery
Date Posted: 19th March 2009

Characters: Ishek, Briata
Description: Ishek and Briata are finally alone after their wedding - but things don't go as Briata quite planned.
Location: Garnet Valley Hold
Date: month 1, day 1 of Turn 5
Rating: PG-17

Briata

It was all over, finally. The celebration, the greeting, Briata's
vision fairly swam with all the face she had seen that day and her hand
seemed to tingle from all the people taking her hand in congratulatory
greetings. It couldn't last forever, however. Eventually people began
to leave, the party ended, and she and Ishek had made their way to
their quarters. _Their_ quarters. Where they would live,
together. Briata had a hard time keeping herself from skipping down
the hallway. Instead she clung to Ishek's arm, her smile bright, her
eyes sparkling. She was married! Best of all, she was married to a
man she liked, respected, and knew she had come to love. She had made
a fine choice.

Ishek was smiling as well. It had been a long day, but an excellent one.
Nothing had gone wrong, he hadn't forgotten his lines, and he hadn't
had any problems with all of the greetings. "How does it feel to be
_Lady_ Briata?" he asked her.

"That feels strange." Briata admitted with a soft laugh. "But to be
honest, that isn't as important to me as being able to say that I am
_your_ wife. My title as Lady is temporary. My other one is not."

"Well, temporary for at least ten Turns, so I think for now you'll need
to be used to it. And I actually think even after Aslian inherits
you'll still be called Lady for respect- marrying me makes you one of
the Blood."

"Regardless, what's most important to me is that I am with you." Briata
stopped as he did when they came to the door.

"Even after all of today, it's hard to believe, isn't it?" He marveled
at how fast things had grown between them- from meeting her, to being
her friend, to being married.

"In some ways, yes. In some ways, no." It had gone fast, but it still
felt right, like that was the way things were supposed to be. She was
suppose to be with him. "Do you still think it was a good decision?"

"I wouldn't have gone through if I didn't think so." he assured her,
opening the door and gesturing for her to precede him in.

Briata slipped into the room, pausing in the middle of it to gaze around
with new eyes. It was her home, hers and Ishek, to spend their days
until Aslian was old enough to take his place. After that? Well, she
wasn't sure, but if she was with Ishek, she would be happy. She turned
to face her new husband, her smile becoming a little more shy in hue.

"Your, uh, your things were moved here earlier, right?" Ishek knew that
at some point that would have had to had happened, but since he and
Briata had been so involved with their personal preperations that he
didn't know if she'd done it or if someone else had.

"Yes." Her aunt had been sure to help her take care of that. Briata
hadn't had to worry about much - most things had been done for
her. She tore her attention away from Ishek long enough to let her
gaze wander across the main room. There, in the corner, sat her
trunk. "Over there."

"Tomorrow you can set everything up just as you want it. I don't mind
how the rooms change."

To be honest, Briata hadn't even thought about that. Other things had
occupied her mind as of late. "I want you to be comfortable in it,
that's what's most important."

"Comfortable would be not staring at the awful decorations from my
bachelor living." Ishek said with a laugh. Shardit, he was nervous.
More nervous than he'd been with Shama on their wedding day.

"Well then, I'll be sure to include you on any changes I might
make." Briata took a step forward, drawing a little closer to her new
husband. "You're no longer a bachelor."

"No." he said. He wrapped his arms around her as she came closer. "And
this will be ours, not just mine."

It felt like a dream to Ishek, that he was married. As if he might wake
up at any moment.

"Yes, ours." Briata drew into his embrace eagerly, tilting her smile up
to him.

He bent down and kissed her gently, not wanting to be too rough, not
wanting to scare her off. He wanted this to be special. He wanted her
to be happy, most of all.

Her first kiss. It was sweet, simple. To be honest, Briata wasn't
quite sure what she had expected, but it did feel good. When it was
finally broken, she gazed up at him, her eyes dark in the dimness in
the room. "That was nice." She flushed at her words. She sounded
like a simpleton!

He smiled. "It gets better with practice." he said, flushed. "I'm glad
you liked it."

"Kiss me again." Briata demanded gently.

Ishek leaned in, pulled her body closer to his, and kissed her again.
This time he was a little bit bolder, but still kept himself
restrained.

She was uncertain, and Briata's reactions echoed that uncertainty. She
let him lead her, surprised at the deepening of the kiss, but relaxing
into it after a moment's hesitation. Yes, it was nice, the sensations
that it encouraged pleasant.

Kissing Bri was different, he thought after this kiss ended. Softer,
gentler- but it could be inexperience. Not that it was a bad thing, but
there was something about experience... Ishek tried to push any
thoughts of comparison out of his mind; she was his wife now, and Shama
was gone. And Gilsha...but now wasn't the time to think about that.

Last updated on the March 29th 2009

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No Longer A Bachelor (Part I) (PG-17)