getting_better

Her eyes go to the little box, and then widen as he holds her hand. Her mind is empty aside from that one image from his of a ring. She can't help looking into the thought in his mind, of the size of the ring, if he was serious, of when he'd got it, how long he'd had it and really, if he was truly serious even as one hand comes up to her mouth in shock.

For once in her life she doesn't know what to say with all her wishes and thoughts crowding it all out. She wants that new future, to make his life, their lives better, to create new memories.

"S-Sam..."

But she can't help herself, eyes tearing up and unable to hide the way her gaze trembles.

Edited 2021-01-24 06:06 (UTC)

He was serious. This is the most serious he's ever been in his entire life. It wasn't easy hiding he had found the ring one day on his way home from work, immediately recognizing it through the jewelers window, and it was harder to save it from the cruel of fate of destruction when the chaos started. What was easy though, once the ring was in his dusty hands, was deciding what to do with it.

"Before I met you I believed that my life was only to be devoted to the war, to mankind and the struggle to resist the End. I was ready to die at any moment as long as it was for the cause. But I was wrong. I wasn't ready to die, because I didn't know how to live. I didn't know how much of life I had missed, and the little bits that I did know, I buried deep inside because they were too bright, and too painful to remember.

Pain is- was, the one certainty in my life and I thought I had experienced the worst of it time and time again, but nothing prepared me for the thought of living in a world without you. That is....too painful."

His squeezed her hand tighter as he clutched the box, swallowed, closing his eyes to drown the spike of pain and fear at the thought of being without her.

"So I won't live in that world." He looked at her, eyes resolute and certain and filled with more love and affection for than ever before while a warm smile drew itself on his face.

"Shiho, you showed me what it was like to live - not as Bishop, not as soldier - but as me. You made want to dig up those bright memories I locked away and face them head on, the sorrow, the regret, and the warmth and fondness each one carried. You brought me back from the dead. You made me human. You made me fear death, made me ready to live. Really live. And now, I'm ready to live that life...by your side."

He takes a knee, his gaze never wavering but heart racing more than ever as he opens the box and reveals the ring inside, shimmering the light.

"Sannomiya Shiho...will you marry me?"

Shiho feels the tears fall as he speaks, as she sifts through his memories, the glimmer of the ring in the window, his dusty fingers holding onto it as the city fell.

She knows relief makes her cry. And she knows now that happiness can make her cry too. Before this, before him she had no idea and now too many emotions are coming to her at once: sadness for what he had been before meeting her and a resolute hope that she would and could protect him. Her hand squeezes his then goes to her heart, holding tight as he opens the box to show the now-familiar ring with its glittering band of metal and diamonds.

There's no hesitation from her even if her voice is a little choked, "Of course!"

A heavy relieved sigh left his lips while his smile grew from ear to ear and tears welled up in his eyes.

Rising to his feet, he took the ring from its velvet cushion and slipped it on her finger with shaky hands. It wasn't his nerves or fear but the feelings of joy and bliss so overwhelming that there were no words could come close to capturing this moment.

He could only smile and cry while he looked at the ring around her finger then at her face, the scene now forever engraved in his mind, then moved closer and pulled her into a long and tight embrace.

"I love you. I love you so much. I promise, I'll make you happy." He says between the heavy and overjoyed sobs.

They're both crying at this point, holding each other in the ruins of their apartment but this is them walking towards a brand new future and she clings to him, one hand soothing over his back even as she's blinking tears from her own eyes.

The ring has a satisfying, familiar weight on her finger and she clenches her hand a little, holding onto his shirt.

"I love you too. I love you-"

She leans in, kisses his cheek and then buries her face against his neck, holding on tighter.

Her embrace is warm, warmer than it's ever been as he starts to laugh from all of the emotions, even lifting her up just a bit for a short time. He feels like a kid on Christmas morning - even happier he might claim - because he's just claimed his ticket to paradise.

"I'm sorry." He says pulling away while brushing his tears away. "I know you were mad there for a second. I thought it'd be good to get that conversation out of the way first."

He may pay for that later, but he'll gladly accept whatever she may throw at him.

Edited 2021-01-28 15:44 (UTC)

Shiho can feel her own heart becoming lighter as he lifts her off her feet and she can't help giggling against his shoulder. It's his happiness feeding into hers and it is warm and bright. It feels like everything is going to be okay and she reaches up to brush away any of the tears he missed, following them with soft kisses.

"...It's okay. It's a conversation we had to have, right? I was worried about you."

But now that the conversation is done, now that she knows he's coming with her all things can be forgiven.

"Sorry to worry you." The smile won't fade, probably not for a long while. His cheeks may cramp and cease before he stops smiling.

"But now, I'll make sure you won't have to worry about me like that again - " A beat, cheeks turning a shade of red. " - Honey."

How long has he wanted say that? When did he even realize he wanted to call someone that? Who cares? It's happening, and that's all that matters.

Shiho's hands move to his face, framing that bright smile and matching it with one of her own. She's not sure when she'll stop smiling either at this point.

"Honey?"

Laughing warmly, she leans back a little just so she can lean in and bump her forehead against his.

"...does that mean I should start calling you... Darling?"

The word sounded so much sweeter, more melodious, that he initially thought making him quiver from the raw emotion it stirred in his chest.

"S-Sorry, could you call me that just...one more time?"

This, she thinks, is what happiness feels like. She can't say it again so blithely, not when she feels a little bashful this time but she looks up at him through her lashes,

"...Darling."

He paused for a moment to let the word sink in then breathed deep. Then quivered before hugging her tightly.

"Okay, yeah that's good."

Who needs drugs when you have this?

He holds her in his arms when he lets go(kind of) still smiling from ear to ear. "I've packed what we'll need, but if you want to go around and take anything else with us, we can take a look around."

As he folds his arms around her, Shiho reaches up, placing both hands on his back to hold him as well, tightening her grip and unable to stop smiling at the words that still reverberated through their very hearts.

"I'll just take some clothes."

She did, after all, have most things back home and if he was coming with her she had everything.

But she will go and find the gifts he's given her though, careful to shake most of the dust from them and pack them neatly.

"Alright. I'll go do one last look around the apartment then." Salvaging from ruins is something he hasn't done in a while, and probably will not do after today. He knows her world didn't experience the apocalypse like his did, but there is a threat to it's peace and stability.

Naturally he'll lend her and friends whatever aid and assistance they need that he can provide but if he can be so arrogant, as long as his opponent is remotely human he doesn't think he'll lose.

His first stop was the kitchen to see which of his precious utensils and appliances he mourns, which was naturally quite a few. The dutch oven was one he will miss greatly, along with the slotted spoon. The many eggs benedicts he made with that.

"Hmmm....I wonder if I should get a part time job once we arrive?" He asks to the wind as he starts to plan what he should do with his life once there.

It's nice that he's already planning ahead, thinking of the future. But for a second she looks visibly flustered as she comes back with his gifts and his gifts only tucked into one of the slightly less dusty and destroyed bags.

"...Well... It's not that you can't get a part time job..."

Shiho looks away, taking a quick stock of what needs to be replaced if just so she can have a moment before confessing:

"...Kaoru-chan, Aoi-chan and I... we're kind of... on the run? So getting a job might be a bit hard outside of what you can do at the Catastrophe."

But it's just your run-of-the-mill internationally-wanted fugitive thing, she's sure it's probably going to be fine.

Edited 2021-02-14 03:45 (UTC)

"On the run?" Sorry dutch oven, something more important has come up. "Like...fugitives on the run?"

He doesn't love her any less after that confession, mostly cause he's easily worse than any fugitive or terrorist, but that certainly raises some alarm bells. Mainly, who are coming after her and how many bullets is he going to need to make them stop so the two of them can go on a date. Another alarm bell is -

"And what's the 'Catastrophe'??" He hopes that's not the name of their base or something. That's a horrible name for place.

Edited 2021-02-14 16:55 (UTC)

"Exactly like that."

She just realizes she may have never told him about her being a fugitive. And also being considered a terrorist by more than one country at this point. Black Phantom has its claws everywhere, after all.

Though he doesn't seem bothered which makes her happy.

"The Catastrophe is just the terrible name thought up by a weird old man for a cruise ship."

Her oddly being a fugitive makes things easier, at least for him. He has time to acclimate to her world, test out if his abilities still work, examine if he can still play the underworld of society there, and most importantly prepare meeting with her father and mother. Him and law enforcement always had a pretty on and off relationship given that, well, he doesn't have any paperwork, identification, and is wanted by several government bodies.

All of this however, pales in comparison to the fact that -

"Why would anyone name a ship, of all things, The Catastrophe????? That's bad luck! More than bad luck!" He now thinks that maybe, just maybe, the first thing he'll do is corner some rich schmuck until he hands over enough cash so he can get them a better ship. One with fifty caliber mark seven cannons.

Being a fugitive is much easier, Shiho thinks. For certain things. At least now they could truly go wherever they wished without having to turn in paperwork in triplicate and hope that it would be approved. She couldn't even imagine the kind of strings they'd have to pull so she could keep seeing Sam. But now they could go somewhere fun after he'd gotten acclimated, they could find fun restaurants, go to a nice hot springs resort.

And also defeat Black Phantom.

Getting him accepted by the rest of PANDRA would definitely be easier too because Sam was strong, she thinks. They might not all like him or trust him (with the exception of Kaoru and Aoi), but at the very least they could respect him. As for her parents, well, she knows they'd like him too.

"It's a dumb name, isn't it? That's exactly the kind of thing you'd expect from that old man. If you tell him that though he'll probably throw a tantrum."

She pouts just thinking about it, already certain that Hyoubu would be the one who would cause Sam the most problems and with a petty vindictiveness that she had come to expect from that old man.

Petty old men, feisty teens, and a few skeptical adults is something he's more than capable of handling. Throw in the chances that they have psychic powers and the situation becomes easier AND harder at the same time. Won't be boring at least.

"Let him, then sit him down and give him a juice box and some string cheese." He paused for a moment, quickly profiling what age an old man would have to throw something classified as a tantrum, before continuing. "Actually that might work." A beat. "I peg him at....seventy...seventy five to eighty five years old?" Actually if she's a fugitive and she's with a guy like that, then he's probably either a fugitive too or something like that.

'Before the old man in a career where men die young' he suddenly remembers.

It's definitely going to be lively when they get back, that's for sure. It always is but would be doubly so with a new member to throw into the mix. For now though, Shiho is smiling at him as he so accurately profiles poor Hyoubu.

"Have I told you lately how much I love you? I think that pervert's been around since the dinosaurs though, he might be confused if you offer him juice in a box."

Or so she says. She'd never admit to being rather fond of and rather worried for that weird old terrorist.

He was a little confused by her response but -

"Not in the last sixteen to twenty four hours because - " He gestures to the outside. "Well, as long as the juice box shuts him - " And then it hits him, like a snowball to the face.

"PERVERT?????" Triggered. Now images of a dirty old man touching Shiho and Kaoru (mostly Shiho), lifting their skits, or asking them inappropriate questions like the color of their panties today or asking for kisses, race through his mind like an old slide show. Needless to say, it's making him a tad angry.

Screw if he's an old man, he'll tie him to his rocking chair. He's not afraid to disrespect his elders. No one harasses his fiancee, age be damned.

Shiho can't help but think that she loves him a lot, especially when he makes a very scary face. Ah, it really does make her nostalgic for home.

She should probably clear up that misunderstanding though before Hyoubu sees something and gets mad about it. A psychic fight where she could cheer for her fiancee was fun and all, but she'd probably get a long lecture about not letting Sam destroy things and spending their first day being forced to kneel on the ground in penance was no fun.

"I don't know what you're thinking, but Kaoru-chan is much more of a pervert than that old pervert."

Sorry not sorry best bud.

"I can handle him so you can just focus on me instead."

Right now he's thinking of all the horrible things he could do to an old man and categorizing them on a scale of bad to worse depending on what perverted thing said old fart did to his girl. His rage doesn't quite dissipate but he does calm down somewhat at her casual tone and assurance.

"Are you sure? I mean, I'm sure you can but still..." He moves closer, arms wrapping around her waist in a loose embrace. Then much like earlier but with much much less anger but the same impact - "W-Wait, Kaoru is???" Now he wonders if his concern was directed at the wrong person.

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