Jk, let's not. I'm not really a romantic person, but I try to include couples in my stories, even if they crash and burn by the halfway point. I do have a few couples who are still going strong, but it's so hard to narrow it down to one choice. Therefore, I'm going to cheat and use two.
First up is Rise and Sijak from Half Full of Water:
1. How long have they been a couple?
Rise and Sijak have been together for four years. That's like, forever in young adult world.2. How did they first meet?
Rise was pretty much a male courtesan for rich people and enslaved to please them however they want. Then Sijak showed up, posing as a scholar and was like, "Hey, this is wrong and you're also kind of hot. I'm going to romance you illegally first, then spring you from your prison!"3. What were their first thoughts of each other? (Love at first sight or “you’re freakishly annoying”?)
Rise was wondering if Sijak was another innocent, virgin scholar looking to earn some man cred. Sijak thought Rise was beautiful in a tragic way, but it wasn't love at first sight.4. What do they do that most annoys each other?
What don't they do? They are both masters of the sass, and we all know that never goes well. Sijak tends to be a lot more reserved than Rise, and secretive. This annoys Rise because he wants to know everything about his boyfriend, but the dude keeps stuff to himself. When he actually ponders it, he realizes he knows next to nothing about the other boy.
Rise annoys Sijak with his overt flirtiness. Rise has pretty people privileges and uses it fully to his advantage! Warning, unedited writing upahead:
“We’re the pedestrians you almost mowed down. I could be mistaken, but the way you’re driving is in violation of many traffic laws, miss.” His accent becomes thicker throughout his mini-speech, until his ending words are a bit of a lyrical mess.
The woman turns her gaze towards him, and her eyes widen in interest.
“Mother, who are you talking too?” Another voices pops in. A few other girls, much younger, peek eagerly around their mother.
All of them do a general sweep of our group before their eyes land on Rise. “Oh, he’s cute!” They break out into a fit of giggles. They continue to talk about him as though he were an attractive dress on display at one of their favorite shops.
One of them whispers, “Invite him in!” to the mother.
Sijak hovers awkwardly behind Rise. The older blonde focuses her attention on the boy. “Are you heading to Pueta?” I realize that she has the same accent as Rise, if not slightly more refined, as if she were used to speaking the language of the commoners.
“Yes,” he says.
One of the girls, a pretty one with richly colored skin and black hair, asks, “Perhaps you would like a ride? You look as though you’ve been walking for ages.”
Rise’s demeanor changes. The tense, skeptical look is replaced with a friendly, albeit, flirtatious smile. “I couldn’t accept a ride from such beautiful young ladies. What would your father think?”
There’s a smattering of whispers and giggles. Even the severe Mother cracks a smile. “Young man, I can assure you that my husband has no control over who we invite into our cart. Besides, we’re simply being good citizens, if you’re trying to imply less.”
“Melri,” he murmurs. I have no idea what it means, but it sends them into a tizzy. “But I’m traveling with friends, I couldn’t possibly abandon them.”
The mother waves this away. “If we could, we’d offer all of your companions, but as it stands, we only have one extra seat. Would you be kind enough to accept our offer?”
Rise actually looks like he’s considering it. Sijak glares at him. “Really?”
“I’m tired and these ladies are being so generous right now. How could I not?”
Charlie rolls his eyes and Sijak stands scandalized as Rise tosses his bags into the back coach.
5. Are their personalities opposite or similar?
I think they're share more similarities than either of them realize, besides being sass masters. Rise is more impulsive and quick to jump on things, but he's just as suspicious and judgmental as Sijak.
6. How would their lives be different without each other?
Well, Rise would probably still be a sex slave to rich people, and that would just suck. Sijak. . .
Rise also wouldn't be as wild and crazy as he currently is. Before meeting Sijak, he was incredibly demure and subscribed wholeheartedly to the belief that he should be seen and not heard.
7. Are they ever embarrassed of each other?
They might get irritated by each others actions, but they're not embarrassed.
8. Does anyone disapprove of their relationship?
You mean besides homophobes?
9. Do they see their relationship as long-term/leading to marriage?
They haven't actually thought about marriage, but neither of them can really imagine not being together. They have come to depend on each other mentally and emotionally. Sijak doesn't want to admit it, but Rise really brightens up his day.10. If they could plan the “perfect outing” together, where would they go?
Oooh, good question. Probably an extremely difficult and complicated heist complete with a moat and lake monsters. I wish they were normal sometimes. My character's idea of romance is to steal shit. :<__________________________________________________________________________________
Now it's Mir and Kessler from Dusk before Dawn
1. How long have they been a couple?
Time travel makes everything complicated. I don't view them as becoming a couple yet, at least not in this book, but they definitely have feelings for each other.2. How did they first meet?
Mir looked in a broken piece of mirror off of a time machine and saw Kessler's eyes looking back. On Kess' side of things, he just completed the first prototype time machine in his dorm room.3. What were their first thoughts of each other? (Love at first sight or “you’re freakishly annoying”?)
Mir thought, "Oh snap, I'm really getting in trouble now." It's illegal for Vras and humans to interact, and it's grounds for an execution. Kess was too busy freaking out that his time machine sort of worked.4. What do they do that most annoys each other?
Both of them are annoyed that the other can't understand the other's culture. Mir sometimes interacts with Kess when he's at later stages of his life, and in the middle of the first war between Vras and Humans. This version of Kess is very bitter and harbors an intense hatred of Vras. He doesn't understand how Mir could defend her own people.5. Are their personalities opposite or similar?
Opposite. Kess, in the beginning, is idealistic and free-spirited. Mir is hardened and reserve. Future Kess is more like Mir though, and future Mir is more like Kess. I think this is called irony. xD
6. How would their lives be different without each other?
Mir probably wouldn't have the Vrasatii government hunting her down and threatening to kill her family. Kess probably wouldn't have thought his time machine worked, never sold it to the US government, and never caused a huge intergalactic war that killed Mir's parents and ravaged her homeland.
7. Are they ever embarrassed of each other?
Current Mir and Future Kess are both embarrassed to be in contact with each others species.8. Does anyone disapprove of their relationship?
Their entire race? And Vee, because he thinks Kess is a dick and not good enough for his big sis.9. Do they see their relationship as long-term/leading to marriage?
They don't even see a relationship.10. If they could plan the “perfect outing” together, where would they go?
Mir told Kess about a black hole in the Amentra Galaxy (the start of Vras civilizations). I think they would view it as beautifully tragic to watch the end of an ancient civilization that is responsible for many miracles as well as tragedies in the universe.
*Bonus*
Cait asked what kind of romance we preferred to write. Even if I don't have that much experience writing romance, I know I'm definitely not one of the happily-ever after writers. Sorry. I just can't imagine people ending with everything being okay, especially since my stories feature lots of traumatic stuff happening to the characters. That being said, I don't only write depressing relationships. Mir and Kess' romance is definitely tragic, but Rise and Sijak tends to float into the fluffy range from time to time. They've had some hardships, but I wouldn't describe their relationship as tragic or forbidden.
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