I find Jaylmac falling in love with Grun both bitterly ironic and sweet at the same time.
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From the Autobiography of Jaylmac Sengrab Sefolozor - "For Science"
In the latter years of my life the question has often been posed to me as to why I choose to accept Grun's offer of engagement over that of the others. They lay claim to my position as one of only two women from the original seven, and with my headstart into later positions of power, to leading me to choose any person I could have wanted as a suitor. My closer female friends, those who sought my company for who I was rather than for my position at any rate, often asked why I did not take up with the far younger Jeffry, or the influential Aquizzar, or even the brilliant and enigmatic Richter. My jealous rivals and misinformed political opponents have even went far enough to propose that I took his hand initially simply to entrench myself even more firmly into the community as a leader and trailblazer.
In truth, sometimes I had chosen him for political reasons. However, Grun... my gentle, brilliant Grun. He swept my heart away in a such a method that no other could compare. His tongue was as brilliant as his mind, and although his native talents made me feel mute and slow when in his presense, not only did he refuse to belittle me, he actually encouraged me to use the talents I had to their fullest potential, and never once did he scorn my input.
Even before the evacuation I had known him. While we had not worked closely Grun, the old man who watched and maintained our home was always there. Always fussing and adjusting the Vault-tech so that he could squeeze out a little more water here, a handful of nutrients there, or conserve a few joules of power in one subsystem. Once, back when I was in secondary school and he was a senior provisioner, he had come in to give a lecture on resource conservation. Even back then, though he was younger and far more vibrant, he had a regal bearing. One that drew and riveted the attention of the entire room as he gave a short presentation on resource conservation. Even though the topic was as dry as the chalk that wafted from the blackboard, the life he put into his words was enough to invigorate the entire classroom, drawing him one of the longest and most heartfelt applauses that had ever been given in my memory.
It is without doubt in my mind that my attraction to him was, in part, his brilliance. But far more important to our relationship was his personality, his heart of hearts hidden closed behind a narrow door, that he only revealed to me that day when he first asked for my hand. After all of that time working and planning our future, the future of our people, with him, how could I have refused? For the mind, and the male body at least, time means very little. In this world where everything is barren and dessicated, we were going to bring both new life and new ideas into fruition, plunging together into science and our future.
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Now I have this horrible premonition that the two will get married in a few years, and then Grun will die only a few months before their first child is born.