"Gabe?" Sam leaned out the doorway, one hand gripping the frame, the other holding a piece of paper with a recipe typed on it. He glanced down at the paper. "You weren't planning on making this, right?"
Gabriel tried not to jostle the box in his arms. "What?" He squinted toward the recipe, as he squeezed past Sam into their house. Recognition dawned on his face. "No, not tonight. Figured you wouldn't appreciate me blowing up the kitchen on our anniversary." He set the box on the table and it whined. He tutted. Turned to Sam with a grin, and said, "Can you get the stuff out of the trunk?"
Sam nodded, and set down the recipe for baked Alaska, and made his way back outside. In the back of the car, he found a decent sized bag of puppy food as well as various things a small dog might need. He shook his head, with a smile. Gabriel and his whims could be frustrating, but on occasions like these he found it pretty endearing. Adopting a puppy in need of a good home from an animal shelter—well, that appealed to both of them, clearly. Sam was, after all, quite the dog person, and so was Gabe.
He headed back inside. Gabriel waved at him from the couch, with the little brown mutt in his arms—it had only one eye. Sam set all the supplies on the floor and Gabriel beckoned him over with a broad grin, and scooted over to make room for him. Sam reached over to ruffle his hair—getting a nice annoyed yelp—before he sat down and wrapped one arm around Gabe's waist.
The TV was on (Cartoon Network, because Gabriel was a child) but not loudly.
Gabriel nestled closer to Sam, and poked his side. "Hey, Sam." He watched the TV but didn't seem to be focusing on it. Sam glanced down at him, concerned. Gabriel rarely used Sam's name—preferred silly nicknames.
"What is it?"
Gabriel smiled, looking sort of nervous, and fiddled with the collar around the puppy's neck. "Uh, well." He cleared his throat, and laughed. "You should look at Koko's collar. Make sure it uh... fits right." He still didn't look up at Sam.
Sam raised his eyebrows, but pulled the one-eyed puppy into his lap. She looked tiny in his hands, as he lifted her up, and tilted her head to get a good look at her collar. She licked his nose. A little ribbon was tied to her tag, and from it hung a narrow silver ring.
"You're kidding." Sam grinned. He hunched over Koko and fiddled with the ribbon until he could get the ring off, and held it up to the light. He smiled wider. "You dork!"
Gabriel shifted closer and shoved his face against Sam's chest, and mumbled, "Shut up, asshole." After a long pause, where Sam continued to turn the ring round and round, Gabriel finally asked, "So you wanna get married, or not?"
"Yes," Sam snorted. "Yes, of course." He leaned down. Pressed a lingering kiss to the top of Gabriel's head. And to his forehead, and his nose, until their mouths met. Both smiled.
Koko stuck her nose between their faces and licked their mouths.
They laughed.