"It did a little, but on the whole, he was okay with it," Garen replied. "At least she could have kids, so the family line wouldn't end with me. It was the rest of my family that made a scene. Especially my mother. She thought I'd gone nuts in the head."
"So I gather it was a small wedding reception?" Aldrec said.
"Pretty small," Garen said after another swallow of ale. "Mostly androids -Noroa's family- and a few elves my dad knew. Mom wouldn't have gone if dad hadn't forced her. It was a pretty skimpy affair, but you know, one thing came of it that was good."
"That you and Noroa are happily married, and that you're expecting a kid?" Aldrec said.
"Well, that too …" Garen mused aloud. "But I was going to say that it made for a really cheap catering bill!"
The serving wench returned with a second mug for Aldrec. After a long laugh with Garen, he enthusiastically refreshed his palate.
"So tell me …" Garen said, his voice carrying on an edge of laughter. "What's your thing with Meri?"
"Thing?" Aldrec said, his expression again blank.
"Yeah," Garen replied. "I know elves really well; I work with 'em after all … Heck, I even thought I knew everything about them, but never in all my days did I think that I'd ever see one who's got the hots for an android."
"Well, like I said, I'm unusual for my people," Aldrec replied, and threw Garen a sly look.
"Ain't that the truth. With the way I've seen you looking at her, you must feel a lot for her …. Or want to feel her a lot!" He snickered at his own joke.
"To be completely honest," Aldrec said, not sounding as drunk as a moment ago, "I've never felt this way for anyone else before. Everything about her is simply …" he searched the air for the right words, " …overwhelming, exciting: her smile, the way her eyes sparkle in candlelight, the feel of her hand in mine … the way she smells like flowers …"
"You have a good eye for detail," Garen observed, idly fingering his nearly empty mug of ale. "You remind me of how I was when I'd fallen in love with Noroa."
"How did you meet her anyway?" Aldrec asked.
"It was about four years ago, when I hired Skori and his family on a town hall restoration project," Garen explained. "Noroa signed on for secretarial work while the others helped the construction and restoration guys. I guess she and I just clicked. We started talking to each other during our break time, and going different places after work. Sooner or later, I realized that I was falling in love. It took me awhile to be sure about it, but I found out through Skori that she'd felt the same way all along. We finally got the courage to talk it over, decided to promise ourselves to each other, and well … the rest is history. It's kinda simple, really."