1.3 Day 3

The next morning rolls around and Nozomi feels strangely disturbed to find an empty space instead of Taras next to her.

The disturbed feeling quickly turns into anxious panic. Has Taras left her? Is she on her own?? 

She's never been alone before...

Her panic is short-lived. 

"Oh, you're up?" Taras asks with surprise. He fully expected to find an empty room when he came back.

Maybe now we can talk...

Taras crosses the room quickly, a nervous smile on his face. Before Nozomi came home, he had a lot of time to think. And now he believes he's found the source of tension in their relationship. 

"I got a job yesterday," he announces. After seeing Nozomi's confusion he quickly continued, "Reading horoscopes. Not great, I know, but now you won't have so much on your shoulders! So you don't have to be so worried all the time. You could spend less time on the streets!"

Nozomi only raises an eyebrow. Taras's confidence fades. "I-I mean, I know you love performing, but at least this way, we can afford more..." his usual charm fails him in the face of his wife's silence. 

"Look, I'm happy you got a job," Nozomi starts. Her tone of voice indicates a but is imminent. 

She takes a deep breath, "But, it's not our finances that's bothering me, Taras." 

"It's just...I...," she pauses to collect her thoughts. She would never dare to say this outloud back home. But they're far from there now and they only have each other. Nozomi knows she needs to be honest. 

"I mean, don't you find being married weird?" she cuts to the heart of the matter, "I know, it's normal to feel this way in the beginning, when we still don't know each other well... but it's been months, Taras. Shouldn't we have some kind of...connection by now?"

"Well we've been travelling since the wedding, we just haven't had the opportunity!" Taras said, somewhat relieved that the problem wasn't something much worse, "You've been out all the time, earning money for us, so we barely spend any time together! But now, maybe that can change..." 

Nozomi looked at him, a friend since childhood, and she felt a pang of affection. She delicately took his hands into hers. 

"I don't know, Taras..." 

Seeing the hurt in his eyes she felt something twist inside her chest. She sighs heavily. 

"Will you at least try?" he asked, his voice soft and pleading. 

It was a long moment before Nozomi responded. 

"...Ok, Taras. I'll try." 

Relieved he wouldn't be losing his friend, and his wife, he swept her into a tight hug. 

Maybe it was the rush of emotions, or the nice room, or how close together they were after their hug, but Nozomi felt a warm stirring.

Acting on impulse, she leaned forward and brushed her lips against his. 

It wasn't their first kiss, but for some reason, it felt more special. 

The nectary suddenly felt too small for the two of them. After a change of clothes, the pair headed out for a nightly stroll, hands cautiously intertwined. Their palms were slippery with nervous sweat, but both were too afraid to let go and break their fragile connection.

They sit down on the ground together. Any other person might find it weird, as well as disturbing, that the couple decided to go to the graveyard together, but for them it's different. It's an assurance for them that the dead stay dead. 

They snicker at some dirty jokes about old bones in the graveyard, and the unusual "nightly activity" in the mausoleum. Back home, it was an unfortunately popular place for couples to sneak away to.

They talked, truly talked, well into the night. They had known each other since they were kids, and had been married since they graduated high school, but this was the first time either of them felt this connected. 

For the first time in awhile, they felt hopeful for their marriage.

AN: I hope this cleared a few things up...

And because of the fulfilled roll, I had to make Taras go to a graveyard during a full moon, hence their oh-so-romantic outing to the graveyard.