Octavia sat in silence as the horses trotted along. The forest was alive at twilight, and knowing it would likely be her last time ever seeing it, Octavia drank it all in. The bioluminescence of the forest lit their path as they made their way slowly back to the homelands of Lincoln. Luna chattered away incessantly filling the silence with her melodic voice. Occasionally one of the delegates would respond, but that didn't seem to slow Luna down at all. Her hair, braided in the typical fashion, shined like moonlight in the night. Octavia mused to herself that Lincoln must have gotten the color of his hair from his father. Whoever that was. His shoulders were no longer bare and instead were covered with a fur wrap, his tattoo peeking out from underneath. Luna finally stopped talking enjoying the relative silence of the forest and the time quickly passed. Octavia, wanting to at least try to get to know her new husband, was finally the one to break it.
"Soooo, what's your favorite color?"
Lincoln turned back to stare at her oddly. She raised her hands in defeat.
"Fine, fine forget I asked."
They lapsed into silence until she prodded at his back gently. He gave a grunt in response but still she pushed forward.
"What's it like? Your territory I mean."
She was curious about the place she would be living for the rest of her life after all. Lincoln was silent for a moment, contemplating.
"It is… different than yours I suppose. My village, the leading one in our territory is on an island off of what used to be Delaware. The rest of the tribes live on the mainland. We still hunt, but we fish more so. We have ponies that roam the island freely which I suppose you would like. They are very beautiful. We too have the bioluminescence of the forest however is would seem that it manifests itself differently, in insects versus in plant life in your territory. It is very humid and rains often. And when a storm is coming in you can see the rain clouds from miles away, hovering over the ocean like some sort of ancient boat. It truly is magnificent."
Octavia nods, taking all of this information in. They stop to make camp for the night and as Lincoln builds the fire up, Octavia shivers from underneath her blanket. While still summer out and warm it was only relatively so. Once the fire is going, Lincoln smoothly sits next to her, leaning forward, and catching a loose strand of her hair around his finger.
"In line with your questioning I think it's only fair that I ask some of you."
"Ok."
She did want to get to know him after all and it was only fair she allow him to get to know her. He blinks a few times looking quite surprised but quickly regains his composure.
"Well, alright then."
He's silent for a minute perusing all of the questions he could ask her. He leans forward and traces his fingers up and down her arm.
"Alright I have it, what's your favorite color?"
She giggles and swats his hand away. He immediately backs off but looks relieved when she play mocks him. She can see it in him, the want to please her, to make her happy, even if it means their relationship is only one of a forced marriage. And she feels relieved at this gained knowledge, knowing that someone like this mustn't be all that bad after all. But she has never trusted easily.
"No way, that's not fair at all, you didn't answer it, so I don't have to either."
He sighs in mock disappointment and she finds herself laughing again. She can't help it, really, he is surprisingly quite charming.
To any onlooker it would seem like typical behavior for a couple falling in love. Except they weren't, were they?