Their courting dance consisted of affectionate support at work, nighttime runs, dinners with grizzly bears, and tangling kisses. And dance they did, over the year to follow. Humans would probably wonder why their courtship was moving so slowly, why they hadn’t taken it further. However, both Reta and Gabriel were comfortable with their pace, their lifetimes such that they could afford to take their time.

Despite their willingness to take their time, both Gabriel and Reta could feel that the time for dancing was coming to an end. One weekend they visited an Amaranthine jeweler that Gabriel knew, and picked out wedding bands for each other. The Amaranthine didn’t assign jewelry any meaning as part of a mating promise, yet the two of them still felt compelled to pick out bands of pale white gold. More of their daily lives was spent with humans than the long lived races, and both wanted to carry a token that the humans would understand as well.

Winter had now settled in, and the solstice was right around the corner. Much to Doug’s chagrin, both requested a month’s leave to follow that longest night of the year. Their dance now felt sharper, a new tension building between them that begged for a release. Even their silences took on a new dimension, as if the words they both ached to say were taking on a life of their own.

Those remaining days passed quickly, and sunset on the winter solstice found Gabriel and Reta at the top of one of the nearby mountains. They had forgone their usual routine of dodging and dashing through trees, and simply galloped their way directly to the peak. The tension dogging their courting dance was now a fire that burned bright between their bodies. Their hands tangled as they placed the rings upon each other’s fingers. Reta’s words, for all their meaning an implications, were simple, “Gabriel, you are my choice.”

He murmured back his response, “And you are my choice, Reta.” He slipped his hands behind her head, pulling her into a long and slow kiss, fanning the flames between them even higher.

Clad in naught but the sky, they drifted down to the earth and joined together their hearts and souls.