Beautiful People #15 // Valentine's Edition

Note: There's still time to ask me some questions for my upcoming Q&A post. Just hop on over here, if you're interested. 

As you probably already know (if you’ve been following me for a while), I’m not a romantic person. When reading, I tend to skim over kissing scenes and declarations of love and all that stuff. So including romance in my novels is not high on my list of priorities, nor is it something I feel particularly skilled at. But, since I like joining in on the Beautiful People link-ups (hosted by Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up and Further In), I will try my hand at this one, icky love or not. And, in case you were wondering which book I’ll be discussing, I’m going to cover my YA Fantasy, DSS (which, as I’ve mentioned before, does not stand for Dumb Stupid Story). My beta readers are more familiar with this novel under the working title DRACONIAN, but since I’m not sure if that one will stick, I’ll probably just refer to it as DSS until I come up with something sufficiently clever (which will be never). The characters I’m covering today are Jude and N (she has a full name, but I don’t like sharing my made up names online, so there). 

Without any further ado, here we go:

How did they first meet? 

Jude and N first meet on an active volcanic plain when Jude saves N from getting roasted to death. However, despite Jude’s heroics, N is not convinced that he is trustworthy. Unfortunately for her, she is also not in the position to reject potential allies, so when he offers her a hot meal and a chance to stay in his community until she can get her feet back under her, she tentatively agrees, realizing this might be her best chance at staying alive. (Or, you know, it could be the death of her. But whatever. I mean, free food. Come on people.) 

What were their first impressions of each other?

Right away N notices that Jude looks a lot like the man who kidnapped her father (her father is missing, presumed dead). Of course, N has her reasons for wondering if this is purely coincidental. For instance, the similarities might be more racial than familial. But suffice it to say that she doesn’t immediately take to trusting Jude. 

For different reasons, Jude is unsure whether he can trust N or not. He knows of only two locations where people of their species live—the community where he grew up, and the country where all the baddies congregate. Obviously he is unfamiliar with N, so his first conclusion is that N’s presence bodes no good. However, he also realizes that, even if she is bad, she is not in good enough condition to kill him and his family. So he does what he would for any poor, lost soul—he offers her a meal and place to stay. (Like I said, free food.)

How long have they been a couple?

This is a little bit spoilery since, by the end of DSS, Jude and N are not yet a couple, and they don’t really discuss their feelings for each other until later on in the second book of the trilogy. So, right now they’re just friends—if that. They have a great deal of potential, and it’s only a matter of time before they realize they should be together. But N is also going through way too much to be able to focus on a romantic relationship. She’s too busy trying not to fall apart, and Jude is too busy making sure she doesn’t fall apart on his watch, and this all means they’re not in a good position for their relationship to be anything more than platonic. 

How committed/loyal are they to each other? Would they break up over a secret or a disagreement? Could stress drive them apart? Would they die for each other?

They are loyal to each other, to a point. Jude values family and trust and loyalty above all else, and when he picks someone to latch onto, like N, he will stick with that person through thick and thin. N, on the other hand, is not good at making friends. She also has severe trust issues. And because she is so focused on saving her parents (among other things), she will do anything to make sure she succeeds, even if it means betraying Jude. 

Since they’re not currently dating, and since I’ve edited the first book in the trilogy but only drafted the other two, I can’t say for sure whether they would break up over a secret or a disagreement, but I do need to make that decision soon. Basically, N has this ginormous secret that she keeps from Jude for the majority of DSS, and when that secret comes to light in book two, Jude’s loyalty will be severely tested. I’m just not sure at this point whether their relationship will be temporarily broken or just strained—I’ve drafted it several ways, so now it’s just a matter of deciding which one works better. 

N does not handle stress well; it makes her jumpy and unreasonable. Jude, on the other hand, is such laid back person that stress is pretty much a non-issue for him. 

When it comes to the “dying for each other department”, N would probably die for Jude, as would he for her. However, N would do her best to avoid dying because she would fear that her death would adversely affect her family. 

List 5 “food quirks” they know about each other. (Ex: how they take their coffee, if they’re allergic to something, etc…and feel free to mention other non-food quirks!)

Given the circumstances surrounding their relationship, they haven’t had much chance to learn each other’s food quirks. I should probably look into adding a few in this final draft, if I can find places where they would naturally fit, but we’ll see. Basically the only stuff I know about them, food-wise, is that N is a bit of a tea snob, and she’s not a very confident cook, whereas Jude could salvage a hopeless meal. 

Does anyone disapprove of their relationship?

Not really—at least, not yet. Probably I will find a way for someone to express some doubt about the stability of their relationship, especially because several of my characters aren’t fans of N in particular, and they would worry about the toxicity that she might bring to the mix. But I’ll just have to cross that bridge when I get to it. 

What would be an ideal date?

N’s ideal date would be sitting in front of a fire, eating and laughing. Most importantly though, she would have to feel safe and calm. She would have to know that her family is whole and well. Otherwise she wouldn’t be able to relax at all. And Jude’s ideal date would be doing anything where N felt comfortable enough to trust him fully. 

What are their personality dynamics? Similar? Contrasting? Do they fight a lot or mesh perfectly? 

They are different, yet similar. N only cares about a few people, but those she loves, she loves so strongly she would do anything for them—no matter what. Jude, on the other hand, does not have trouble caring for people, and while he is driven to make sure his family remains safe, he also has his limits on how far he would go for them. For the most part, they tend to mesh well. Jude is somewhat able to temper N and, even though she struggles to admit it even to herself, N does feel safer around him than she does around most other people. They do fight a bit, but they tend to argue more about emotional stuff (like N’s fear that her family will be killed if they don’t hurry) instead of personal stuff (they have bigger things to worry about than small, annoying personality traits). Obviously, Jude has his own fair share of faults, but they aren’t as in-your-face as N’s (I do need to work on highlighting them a bit more, though). 

What have been their best and worst moments together as a couple?

Probably their best moment together will be at the end of the trilogy when the main conflict is over and N is finally able to relax and pay attention to her own personal needs and desires. Their worst moment will be when N’s big secret comes to light in book two. 

Where do they see themselves and their relationship in the next few years? 

N doesn’t see herself as having much of a future because she is so intent on her mission that it has become her entire life. She does know that she would be pretty hopeless without Jude to help her along, but she has yet to think of him as much more than an older brother/friend type. Jude, on the other hand, is a tiny bit in love with her, but he also understands that he can’t broach the subject yet because she simply isn’t ready and won’t be for a while. He does hope they’ll be together down the road, and he’s willing to wait for that future. 

There you have it. Jude and N have a slightly weird, potentially toxic, rather unromantic relationship, bolstered more by need and shared experiences than by emotions and happy feelings. They are a team, and they rely on each other, but the romantic aspect of their relationship isn’t (and won’t be) the focus of the story—it’s just one of the natural conclusions to the path they’ve taken. 

Well, that’s it for today, little coffee beans. What about you? Are you a fan of romance? Do you have any character relationships you’d love to share? Have you done this link-up already/are you planning to?