WHO: Priyaranjan Patil & Naija Dassi
WHAT: Proposals!
WHEN: Valentine's Day, evening
WHERE: Naija's flat

It was Valentine's day. He'd made plans with Naija - of course he'd bloody made plans with Naija, it was the one day out of all other holidays (excluding birthdays) that boyfriends were expected, without fail, to take their girlfriends out for a romantic evening full of flowers and chocolates and creative presents.

Now, the problem was that Priyaranjan found himself with a disturbing lack of the majority of these presents. In fact, he had only the carefully boxed lotus flower that he held in his hand and the small surprise that its centre held.

No, small was most certainly not how to describe that particular surprise. He glanced down at the box and rehearsed things in his head once more before he lifted his hand to knock on Naija's door ... after wiping his palm on his slacks.

Naija was just putting the final touches on her hair--rushing too, because she hadn't gotten home and been able to get into the shower until about twenty minutes ago, stupid shifts--when she heard the telltale knock on the door. Fuck she exclaimed in her mind, throwing her wand down onto the bed and looking around the floor for her shoes. Oh hell, where did she put them, where could she possibly have left--there, okay. As she slipped into them, she went over her checklist in her mind. Hair? Done. Dress? Mirror said it looked great. Shoes? On. Purse? Ah, okay, okay, right there on the bed--

She hoped that was all, because Naija didn't have a lot more time to think before she grabbed the purse off the bed and ran to the door, only slowing down when she was close enough that she knew he could hear if she was rushing. She took a deep breath, composed herself, and opened the front door.

Priyaranjan ran his fingers through his hair once more before she answered the door. He swallowed heavily once she opened the door and held up one of his hands, hoping he didn't look quite as nervous as he felt.

"Before we go, I -- that is, I'll be the first person to admit I'm possibly the least impulsive person in the entire world." Aside from Rich, who would certainly tell everyone just how predictable Priyaranjan could be. That was not how he had practised this coming out. "That ... that being said, I couldn't think of a better time to do this and I'm sure if I don't do it right this second I'm going to lose my nerve..."

Right. Right, what was next? He looked to Naija just a little belatedly and offered her the wrapped box. When she opened it, she'd find a ring nestled in the delicate petals of the flower.

"If...if you'll have me, of course." He'd never tell her he'd bought it after their first date.

He said that last while she was still opening the wrapping on the box, so Naija was truly confused as to what he was talking about. That... wasn't a normal thing to say to your girlfriend of just weeks, was it? No, no that wasn't, so Naija would give him the benefit of the doubt for the time being, at least until she opened the present--it had something to do with the present, she was sure.

She smiled, albeit a bit uneasily, and opened the top of the box, some uneasiness falling immediately away at seeing the lotus flower. "It's beautiful," she told him, although she was now really confused as to why he was so nervous and why he had said what he said--that was, until she caught a glimpse of something shiny peeking out from under a petal.. Curiously, Naija moved a finger under the petal, and a mere second later, her heart stopped.

"Oh... oh Merlin..." she said quietly, too much in disbelief to feel anything else at the moment.

Merlin? Oh, she was going to say no - of course she should say no, what had he been thinking, asking her to marry him? But of course, he knew why he'd asked her. He spent most of his time thinking about ways to make her life easier, ways to make sure that she was happy. Any thought of seeing anyone else seemed utterly implausible.

He ran his hand through his hair again. "I -- that is, oh, I shouldn't have --"

Naija was hardly listening to what Priyaranjan was saying, she was just staring down, almost lost, into the diamond. This was so--oh man, she hadn't expected this in a million years, not from predictable, careful Priyaranjan... what was she supposed to say? Of course she knew what she wanted to say, but was that the right thing to do?

Why did it matter?

Hadn't she learned just the day before that the best way to go about her relationship with him was to do what she felt like doing? Hadn't it just felt right, for once in her life, to just let her heart lead her where it will? So what was her heart saying now? That was easy--it was saying that no matter how completely, absolutely crazy this was and how much her rational mind was telling her she was getting herself into a load of trouble, there was no other answer.

"Yes--I---yes, of course I'll--" Looking up at him, a brilliant but teary smile on her face because she was suddenly just so happy, Naija nodded. "Yes."

Priyaranjan could have breathed a million sighs of relief the moment that she said yes. His mouth curved into a wide, pleased smile and he took a step forward, carefully plucking the ring from the flower so that he could slip it onto her finger properly. He had been the one yesterday to learn first that the best thing to do with their relationship was do what he felt he should do and not what was proper.

"...thank Merlin." He drew her in for a kiss that came off far more passionate than he'd been intending. Not that that was a bad thing.

Naija laughed quietly as they parted, taking his face in her hands and looking into his eyes for a moment--at the same time, seeing the ring shimmering in her peripheral vision and feeling her stomach soar a little. "I guess this is a good time to say that I love you, yeah?" she asked rhetorically, blinking her eyes madly to stop from crying. It was amazing how perfect this all felt, even though it was so far from normal. "I mean--if I'm going to marry you, it'd be a good thing to know, yeah?"

Oh, he knew he'd forgotten something. He flushed just a little and then gave her a slightly embarassed smile. "I love you too." Priyaranjan wanted to make sure that she knew that, so he drew her into another gentle kiss for good measure.

"And I didn't pick a completely terrible ring?"

"Are you kidding?" she asked loudly, laughing as she pulled her hand in front of her to look at it. It was bloody gorgeous, guh, and even more so now that she was staring at it in something other than complete and total shock. It just blew her mind that he knew already exactly what her tastes were--that was a good sign. "It's so beautiful, I can't even fathom that you--Sweet Merlin, Pri--"

Completely lost for words, she leaned forward and kissed him again.

Kissing was also a good sign. He sighed softly and drew her closer, one hand resting on the back of her neck. She was not saying no, and she wasn't screaming ... so they really were getting married.

Merlin, they were getting married.