She was laughing, so he took it as a good sign. There was a smile on her face—not a huge one, but Robin wasn't one for massive smiles of mirth. Gaius rather appreciated the smaller, more honest ones that fit the frame of her face than tried to break it. He took the moment to admire it before he gestured to her again, walking backwards, his own grin around his lollipop growing as she followed.

It's a sign of trust.

"Gaius?" Robin's voice brought him back out of his head and onto her. "When are you going to tell me what this is about?"

You trust this thief. Of all people, this one.

"Just come here, Bubbles," Gaius insisted, opening his tent flap for her even. "I've got something I want to show you."

Robin laughed again, ducking under his arm. People were going to talk about this—normally, it was him going into her tent. She almost was curious of what others would say of this change. "What is it?" She asked once inside, glancing around the oddly clean space. She noted the little workshop-like space in the corner and turned back to him, looking almost expectant. "Did you make another pendant?"

In retrospect, I knew better. I should have seen it before then, but I was stupid… foolish. Pathetic.

"Nope. I did one better." Instead of going to the workshop, Gaius reached into his cloak and held his hand out to her. When Robin reached for it, he dropped the item casually into her palm. "Here."

Robin gasped, and it was music to his ears. She smiled, and somehow Gaius both relaxed and tensed. "Oh my goodness, Gaius!" Robin exclaimed, looking the object over carefully. "What a beautiful ring."

She held it up in the light, the silver of the band catching the light of his lamps. The bright green peridot adorning it seemed even more vibrant in her hands, and Gaius was sure to keep his mouth shut about how he acquired it. Her fingertips traced the delicate but elaborate engravings on the band, obvious admiration in her eyes.

It made him sigh with relief. "Really? Glad I didn't screw it up." Gaius grinned, moving his lollipop stick to the other corner of his mouth. Nervously he reached for it, twirling it a bit and letting the candy rub against his tongue. "See, 'cause I was kind of hopin' you'd…wear it."

Of course. He had the foolish notion I'd say no. I should have said no.

"I…" Robin's cheeks immediately took on a red tint, and Gaius felt the urge to step closer. He kept his distance though, a little more nervous now. "Don't understand…" she finished quietly.

I understood. I knew it the moment he handed it to me.

"Well, it's an engagement ring, see?" Gaius felt his own face heat up and he bit hard into his lollipop, yet it resisted. It refused to break, and oddly he took encouragement from that. "And I'm offering it to you."

"… Oh gods."

He's serious. He was serious about it.

"Never been more serious in my life!"

I believed that, too. He probably never had been. Never was again. The last time I saw him serious…

"Robin, you're the sweetest gal I've ever met. And I love you."

… was when I killed him myself.

Gaius dropped his hand from the candy's stick, looking right at her and in her eyes. He wasn't used to this sort of direct honesty, but he had to show he was being the most serious. "So? Will you marry me, Bubbles?"

The nickname, as annoying as it was, made Robin laugh. He tensed, but her smile afterwards was soothing. "Well, it's unlike you to ask for a favor without offering something in return…"

When she didn't finish that, Gaius about pouted. "Aw, come on, don't leave me hangin'! I'm seriously dyin' here!"

No. You were living in that moment, more than you ever did. You only died when I demanded you to, when I made you die.

"So what do I get, then?" Robin teased. "A lifetime together with you? Always and forever?"

Gaius had those words in his head to give to her, yet having her repeat them to him was a bit baffling. He never was one to stay put, to settle down; he never really trusted someone enough to hang around that long. Had no reason to. Women came and went, he was used to, but this meant forever. She was serious.

He was also too dumbfounded to keep his mouth shut. "I…guess?"

Robin lost her smile and Gaius felt himself panic. "Is that asking too much?"

It was. Especially since I ended it myself. But I suppose…

"No way! That's a piece of cake!" Gaius quickly cut in, stepping closer. When Robin didn't step away, his hands reached for the one holding the ring and she let him take it. "Right then, it's a deal. I promise to make you happy for the rest of your life." His face was still burning, but Gaius resolutely took the ring from her and slid it on her finger himself.

The action made Robin smile. "Then my decision is a piece of cake, too. I've been smitten with you for ages, Gaius."

Because it's me that kills you, you really are with me forever. I had blotted you from my mind, as I did the rest of my humanity. I corrupted our child and devoured the world in every future mapped out. I exist across time, always succumbing to my destiny as the Fell Dragon.

Time marches in a river, the streams of it returning to the original course eventually. I've met you in many ways, and in many ways this is how we ended: with you bleeding and broken at my feet, regret and despair in your eyes. You'd ask for me, I'd deliver the final blow and you were gone forever.

Yet in that moment and endless moments across time's river, I was smitten with you. The human in me, the shred of it left until after your final breath. That shred that finally dies with you, but the love is implanted in me. No one else will have the pleasure of killing you, desecrating you. As your wife, it's my duty. In every timeline, for ages, it will be what I strive for.

And once that duty is fulfilled, Grima can finally take this damnably soft heart and I can finally rest.