Their First Night

Writers: AL, Anaria
Date Posted: 7th June 2011

Characters: Rignaer, Zarene
Description: After the wedding, Rignaer and Zarene talk.
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 2, day 15 of Turn 6

The hides were signed, Kozar was gone, and Rignaer found himself and
his new wife - shards, it sounded weird to think the word - were
standing in the sitting area of Rignaer's quarters. Rignaer exhaled
deeply, loosening the collar of his shirt a bit. He debated taking it
off entirely, as was his way when he was alone, but something felt odd
about being in such a state with a perfect stranger. "So... here it
is," he said lamely.

Zarene sat up straight and proper in the chair, but she didn't look at
her husband. She _couldn't_ look at him. When he spoke, colour darted
into her cheeks, almost matching her hair. "Y...y...yes." She
managed, her hands working at each other as seemed to be a habit of
hers when she was nervous or uncertain. "Here w..w..we are."

"Can I get you anything. Water, or juice, or perhaps a bit of wine
will help with the nerves a bit?" He said, pouring himself a glass of
wine. He was babbling on like a little brook, like his mother would
say. He had been all day. Which was quite atypical for him, because he
preferred peace and quiet, and a few little plants. What had gotten in
to him?!

"Sh...sure. W...w...wine." Shards, Zarene wished she could speak
better. She wasn't _always_ like that, but when she was upset or
nervous, she just couldn't quite control her speech like normal. And
she was _very_ nervous. He had talked about _not_ consummating the
marriage, but there was quite a bit of awkwardness.

Rignaer poured her a glass of wine, and handed it over. "So... I guess
you stutter when you're nervous?" he asked, not sure how to say it
politely. He decided it best just to say it, as it was better than
just pretending he didn't notice.

Zarene took the glass and her cheeks brightened in colour. That time
she didn't even bother trying to talk, just nodded a little and took a
long sip. She hated her stutter. Sometimes it came out in regular
speech too, but not too often. No, more it was when she was under some
sort of stress.

"It's cute," Rignaer said softly, smiling at Zarene to try and
reassure her a bit. "Hopefully over time you'll get a bit more
comfortable with me around," he said, fidgeting with the new band that
he wore about his finger.

Cute? No one had ever called it _that_ before, especially not her
parents! She'd always been chastised to think before she tried to
speak. She did and she _still_ stuttered and all they would ever do
was chastise her again. Zarene found herself smiling - just a little -
up at the man, though her cheeks remained bright. "So...w...w...what
n...now?"

It was still relatively early - too soon for Rignaer to suggest that
they go to bed. "Well, I know that tomorrow I wanted to take you to
the nursery, so you could see what sort of plants I tend to, and to
get a few flowers for you to plant. As for tonight, I'd really like to
get to know you better. Like how many siblings do you have?"

"Oh." That wasn't so bad. Much better than having to deal with
the...physical consummation. Zarene had heard about it, been told
about it, but actually doing it was another matter. "F...f...five."
She wished the words would just come out, even if he did think it was
cute. "Y...you?"

"I had two sisters and a brother. One sister and my brother Impressed.
My other sister... she's uh... well. Life hasn't been kind to her. She
sort of lost it when she lost her son," Rignaer answered. "I still
spend time with my other brother and sister from time to time, so it's
likely that you will be able to met both of them."

"They Impressed?" That caught Zarene's attention. After all, she had
gone to the Weyr and tried to Impress, but her father wouldn't allow
her more than one chance - especially after Rignaer paid the marks for
a wife.

Rignaer nodded, "Yeah, I never really had what it took to find a
dragon though," he said softly. "It bothered me for a while, but I
don't know that I could have ever dealt with the thought of sleeping
with random strangers."

Zarene nodded slowly. Yes, she had to agree with that. Just...ugh,
the idea didn't set her at ease at all. "Y...you stood?"

"Yeah," Rignaer said. "I was terrified every time. I mean, what if I
Impressed a green dragon? I couldn't have lived with myself. And going
out to fight Thread? That's just not something I'm cut out for."

A green dragon? "Isn't that...b...b...based on..." She couldn't
finished the sentence, but Zarene's cheeks burned bright again and she
stared down into her wine before taking another pull from it.

"Well, yeah, but back then I didn't even know what I wanted. I didn't
want a dragon telling me, if you catch my drift," Rignaer said, hoping
that she hadn't read more into that than she had wanted to.

Zarene just nodded. Was he the sort of man who would Impress a green
dragon? If so, then why had he taken a wife? But then, why had he
suggested they wait to consummate it?

Wanting to change the subject, he asked, "So what was your childhood
like? Were you close to your parents?" Rignaer's fondest childhood
memories had come from following his Da around as he tended to the
healing herbs.

"T...t...to me Ma." Her father hadn't been neglectful, but she'd
always known what her place was. And he _had_ made the concession to
let her Stand. "It w...was....happy."

"It seems like a lot of women your age don't have a good relationship
with your fathers. I think it's something to do with living through
the plague," Rignaer shook his head. "I understand needed to
repopulate and all, but for crying out loud, you can't treat your own
family poorly. I hear tale of men who beat their wives - their own
wives! And daughters too!"

"He d...d...didn't b...beat me. J...just...c...c...closer t...t...to
m...my m...mother." Zarene didn't want her husband to think her father
was cruel! He just put more stock in his boys.

"Oh, no no, I didn't mean to insinuate that," an urge to protect
overwhelmed Rignaer, and he as at her side in a moment, rubbing her
back comfortingly. "I just meant to say that not all men knew how to
properly treat a woman, that's all. And that sometimes they didn't
respect them as much as they should."

Again Zarene nodded, uncertain what to say. She was honestly surprised
by the gesture, the feel of his hand upon her back strange, but she
didn't pull away. Was this the beginning of it? Was this how that
whole thing started?

Rignaer took comfort in the fact that Zarene didn't cringe away from
him, and left his hand lightly on her back. "I have to admit, it's
nice having company here with me," he said shyly.

Zarene tilted her head at the admission, her hands going still as his
did as well. "H...h...have you alw...w..ways b..been al....l...lone?"

"I've lived alone since I came back to the Hold. I've courted a few
women from time to time, but they all seemed to have it in their heads
that they needed to pop out as many babies as they could as soon as
they could. I still don't feel quite ready for that," Rignaer said.
"What about you? Have you always been alone?"

"No." Zarene shook her head. "N...never really b...b...been alone."
She'd had siblings around at the very least, even at the Weyr.
"D...did you g...grow up here?"

"I was born at Opal Cove, and we moved to Onyx Peak when I was very
young," Namiren explained. Then lived at the Weyr for a while when my
Da got the position of Weyrhealer. Where were you born?"

"Oh, Emerald F...f...falls." Zarene hadn't known anywhere else until
she'd been Searched - and the Weyr had been quite a bit different.
"D...did you c..c...come here after y...you c...c...c...crafted?"

Rignaer nodded, "Yeah. There's not a whole lot of use for a
Farmcrafter at a Weyr. Amber Hills had need of farmcrafters, and I
managed to get a transfer out here. I like it, it's a great area to
grow all sorts of grains, and of course the Lady's Garden is lovely,"
he said. "Did you like it at Emerald Falls? Would you rather return
there?"

"It w...was...home." Zarene didn't have an extreme attachment to it,
but neither had she disliked it. "B...but...n...now here is home."
And she was just going to have to get used to that - a different place,
living with a different person. She'd already resigned herself to it.

"Well, I'm sure we can still get over there to visit your family
sometimes," Rignaer said. "They have harvest at differing times so
sometimes we go over there to help out if they need it. Some times I
head over to their nursery if they are having difficulties. I'm sure
it wouldn't be a problem for you to come along."

"That would be n...nice." Zarene smiled a little, just a small thing
but it added some light to her face. But then awkwardness settled back
in and her hands started playing with one another again. What should
she ask? She supposed she should ask something to try and get to know
him better, but she couldn't think of any more questions!

"Did you want to speak to the Headwoman about getting a small canine
or feline to keep you company while I'm in the nursery? Since you
probably don't have any friends here, yet," Rignaer said. And with as
shy as she seemed to be, he feared she wouldn't make any either.

"You...like p...p...pets?" Zarene hadn't expected that. Of course,
the feline wouldn't be _just_ a pet - they were useful, especially at
keeping vermin away, but some people just didn't like animals.

"We always have some animals around in the farmcraft to keep the
tunnelsnakes away from the young plants," Rignaer said. "They make
good company as well, especially when I'm alone in the Nursery.
They're affectionate and functional."

"That sounds l...like it w...w...would be n...nice." Nice to have some
company that was a bit easier to be friendly with, to be honest.
"Sh...sure."

"So it's settled then, we'll see what the Headwoman has tomorrow,"
Rignaer declared. "It's starting to get late, let me get you settled
in bed," he said, hoping this wouldn't be as awkward as he feared.
"Did you want to stay in your own room, or mine?"

"It's....up t...t...t...to y...you." Zarene couldn't tell him what to
do! Granted, he asked her what her preference was, but it was his
cot!

"Why don't you sleep with me," Rignaer said. "It would be nice to get
used to having one another around. And to not have to sleep alone."

"Ok..k..kay." Zarene wasn't sure if that would be comfortable or not,
but he was her husband. She had to listen to him.

"I'm going to go to my room and get changed into my sleeping clothes,"
Rignaer said. You should do the same, I put your bags on the bed in
the other room," he said.

"Oh, all r..right." At least he didn't expect her to change with him
in the same room! Zarene got to her feet and with another nervous
glance to the man who was now her husband and slipped into the room he
had indicated.

Rignaer typically preferred sleeping in the nude, but he changed into
a modest garment of sleeping trousers and tunic. He washed himself off
quickly, then peered at himself in the mirror. He didn't look as
stressed as he would have thought. With a deep breath, he walked over
and opened the door so Zarene would know that it was safe to enter.

Zarene's own was a simple white nightgown with ties at the neck and
came streaming down to her feet. It was light for the summer weather,
but quite modest. Even so, she still felt almost naked and she
hesitated leaving for that very reason. But Rignaer was expecting her
so after a few long moments and a couple of false stars, she left that
room and slowly made her way into his, cheeks burning.

"You look lovely," Rignaer said softly, as he climbed into bed. He
hoped that with a bit of affirmation, Zarene would come out of her
shell a bit, and get more comfortable around him. The bed was
relatively large, and Rignaer slid over to one side in case Zarene
wasn't comfortable touching him.

"Th...thank you." Zarene felt odd, but she'd feel even stranger if she
just stood there so she slowly angled around the bed to the other side
and sat down. After a moment, she lay down, pulling up the light sheet
to cover her and then staring up at at the ceiling.

"Good night, Zarene," Rignaer said, kissing her softly on the cheek to
try and be a bit more affectionate and inviting.

"G...goodn...n...night." Zarene blinked up at the ceiling, not quite
sure what to say to the kiss, so she didn't say anything beyond what
she had and continued to stare up at the ceiling.

The day had been emotionally tiring on Rignaer, and he fell quickly
into a restful sleep, snoring softly as he slept.

Sleep did not find Zarene quite so easily. Rather she lay in bed,
listening to the sound of the man beside him, occasionally glancing
over to watch the rise and fall of his chest as he slept, then turning
to stare back up at the ceiling. It was quite a bit later before even
she could not resist the temptation and the whirring of her mind
finally still and she too fell into slumber.

Last updated on the June 13th 2011

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Their First Night