I have to this galaxy, now it's time for
The man was dressed well, Alliance Blues and sharp, polished shoes. Perhaps he was the one she was here to meet? He looked just as nervous as she did, though maybe not in quite as obvious a way. His gaze darting around the room every few minutes, landing on the clock for the briefest of moments before locking on the scene outside the courthouse once again. But he was so much older than she was! Wasn’t the service supposed to match you with someone close to your own age? His hair, though neatly kept, was entirely silver and his face showed the signs of years of stress under a difficult job. He had to be at least in his late 40′s. She groaned internally. If she was going to commit her life to someone, well at least for a few years, couldn’t they at least have gotten her someone she could fuck without worrying that they’d break a hip?
The flowers in her hands were beginning to wilt from her constant fidgeting and with each passing second, she found more reasons to not go through with it, so, taking a deep breath, she approached him. “Excuse me? I, um. You don’t happen to be here to get married, do you?”
Steven doesn’t hear the woman approach him, the blood pumping in his ears drowns everything out but the loudest of thoughts. However, when she begins speaking he looks up at her, frowning ever so slightly. She’s young, too young to be sitting here waiting for someone to marry. But what the hell does he know? Maybe that’s the way kids did it these days. After the war he could barely blame them. Even if he didn’t exactly agree with them.
Her question throws him off balance, and he stands there, staring at her for a few moments. “I… Yes. I’m here to be married.” He doesn’t add that it’s on the orders of the Defence Committee. It must be strange enough seeing an old man like himself standing in the room. “You wouldn’t happen to know where a…” He struggles to remember the name of the poor woman he’s marrying. ”Miss Jaya Lamba, is would you?”
Jaya fumbled with the flowers. Why had she agreed to do this? Why, after all these years of being alone and happy in that had she agreed to marry a man she had never met? Some sick and twisted need to please her grandmother’s ghost? She didn’t want kids, she didn’t believe in love. Maybe that was why? She had signed up for this insane experiment to find someone who could maybe be miserable and cynical with her for a few months, if not longer.
The white fabric felt weird against her skin. Dresses were rarely her thing and honestly she shouldn’t be wearing white to this thing anyway. That ship had sailed long ago. A petal came loose in her hand and she dropped the bouquet on the small table she stood next to. What time was it? She glanced at her watch. Oh…still 10 minutes until they were supposed to meet up for this godforsaken thing. Heaving a big sigh she ran her hand through her hair and thudded her head into the wall.
What the hell was he doing? There was a line he had sworn not to cross, and at some point during all of this he had crossed it. He paced across his room, his shoes clicking uncomfortably against the hardwood floors. How he had gotten here, he barely remembered. Something about helping the galaxy rebuild, creating another image for the Alliance to use for propaganda, another thing for him to fuck up somehow.
Dragging his hand through his hair he glanced at the clock, though he didn’t need to. He had been keeping careful track of the passing time. Eight minutes and forty-seven seconds until he met his bride to be. He could feel his panic beginning to grow, this wasn’t how he had imagined his life would end up. He hadn’t picture himself ever getting married, but now… Damn the Council for shoving this down his throat. Leaning against the wall, he stared out the window, his eyes losing focus on the world as he tried to calm himself. After all she was only a woman, she wasn’t going to kill him.