UTOT- From This Day Forward

2- Pillow Talk

"We can find a nice venue somewhere in Whedon, something with a ballroom if you'd like," Riftan had half whispered to Max the night after their engagement.

They laid in his bed basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking. Max leaned her head on his chest, her sunset hair splayed across his shoulder and onto the pillow. Riftan's hand was carefully intertwined within her locks. Mine, he thought, gazing at the curve of where her neck met her shoulders and down her back. It was slowly sinking in, she was going to be his wife. She wanted to be his wife.

"It needs to be there, in the garden with everyone," she quietly replied.

Max looked at her left hand resting on Riftan's tan chest, the onyx engagement ring set in gold adorned her finger. She had once told him she loved dark gems because they reminded her of his eyes so when he saw the ring in a shop window, he knew it was the ring for her.

A few weeks later they sat on his couch after eating dinner and Max had surprised him with a simple gold band set with a small red stone. His heart stored at the sight of her excited face as he opened the ring box.

"I thought it would b-be nice for both of us to have something to wear," she had told him.

"I'm never taking this off," he said, watching Max slip the ring onto his left hand.

The couple had chosen the garden inside of the historic fortress not far from the sea. The centuries-old structure has been damaged and rebuilt multiple times. First a war over a millennia ago, a siege after that, and other conflicts throughout the years. They met at the fortress.

His longtime friend and mentor Ruth has forced him to go on a walk after a month of work left Riftan burned out and irritated. After a few years of a military academy, and travelling to do freelance tech work and working for Whedon's secretary of defense, Riftan started his own home security and cyber security firm. They often took government contracts. His days were spent coordinating payments, researching, attending business meetings, and signing NDAs. Ruth was one of his first employees. They went on to hire freelancers and staffers, some were former military like their friend Hebaron Nirta who was stationed in the same barracks for basic training.

Despite his blossoming career, Riftan often felt unmoored. Maybe it was the lack of affection from an adult figure growing up. Maybe it was the lack of a core friendship group in his adolescence. Maybe it was the long hours at work. But deep in his chest, it felt as if he was a faded xerox of an old manuscript. He had recurring dreams and sometimes nightmares. He'd wake up in the middle of the night, his face glossed over with tears and he'd reach out for... someone. Something? But at the Anatolian Fortress the humming in his chest died down and the air around him felt still.

They wandered from the gardens to the fortress library. It was beautifully furnished and filled with books and records that dated back hundreds of years. Some were displayed behind glass cases along with preserved tapestries that once adorned the halls. Riftan was looking at Ruth while they walked through the library and Max had walked into him. The pile of books she was carrying scattered all over the floor around them. Riftan scowled and looked at the small woman kneeling on the floor, she timidly looked up at him to apologize and he fell headfirst into the lakes in her eyes.

"I am so sorry," he stammered, helping her and Ruth pick up the books she had dropped.

Somehow after that first meeting, they continued to bump into each other in the gardens on morning walks, or rainy afternoons in the library. They sat on a bench in the gardens one afternoon and Max carefully reached out and placed her hand on his.

"I-I hope this isn't being too forward... but shouldn't you have asked me to d-dinner by now?" she half whispered, and flushed red.

He asked, she agreed and they met at a restaurant by his apartment where he drew the courage to scoop up a spoonful of their chocolate dessert and feed it to her. Max took a bite, her ears flushed redder than her hair. Hours later, they snuck back into the fortress grounds past midnight. They climbed over a low wall and he carefully intertwined his fingers with hers while they tried to avoid being noticed by security guards. The pair made it to the garden undetected. They leaned on the large oak tree, still holding hands. He leaned in and kissed her in the dark. Riftan felt himself sweat, his shirt was plastered to his back from his anxiety and the humidity in the air. He had never kissed anyone else before and it was all he could think about during dinner as they ate. Max's wine stained lips were all he could look at for most of the evening.

Her lips were soft and her mouth tasted of the red wine and the chocolate dessert. Their tongues intertwined hungrily and he felt his fingertips stroke her hair, her slender shoulders, down her small waist and over her hips. His body felt as if Max had set it on fire when she cautiously roamed it with her slender hands. He pulled her down to the grass with him and kissed her over and over again. 

Over a year later the pair had moved in together into a simple one bedroom apartment near the fortress.

"Are you sure you don't want something fancier, a larger wedding or something with a wedding planner?" he had asked again.

His legs were intertwined with Max's as they laid their heads on the same pillow. Max came from an aristocratic family but they were estranged. She had put herself through school and quickly became one of Whedon's top biologists. Riftan felt as if she deserved a beautiful ornate wedding where she could wear a gown with a long train, a tiara, and a real aisle to walk down. Perhaps in a hall or one of the region's millenia old cathedrals.

"Should we reach out to some of your family?" he cautiously asked, stroking her back.

He felt her body stiffen.

"I just want you and our friends there... you're all my family now," she said, pulling him closer to her.