re this arranged marriage stuff; not usually my cup of tea in au's but i must say there is something deeply funny to me about the image of the deputy warily asking which seed and heaving a sigh of relief on hearing 'jacob'-- not because they like him, but because they're hoping he's the one who will see no divine meaning in it & is most likely to generally leave them alone if they're not sabotaging the project. he's a busy man and all that. (but now everyone else, except for jacob, is convinced they're very into weird mountain men.)
Ironically, I think the fact neither of them cares much about the other or the marriage in the first place is what could result in the “couple” eventually getting along surprisingly well and maybe even developing a strong complicity (which can remain purely platonic). They’re in this together, after all, so might as well try to find common ground and not make things more difficult than they need to be.
