The setting sun was warm against their backs. Marianne and Bog snuggled together on a high branch over the border.
"There!" Marianne pointed to the sky. "First star!"
Bog squinted and nodded.
"I'm beginning to think you have an unfair advantage in this game."
"Just because I've won ten nights in a row doesn't mean I'm cheating," she taunted.
"No, you're just more used to open skies."
"So you're not going to claim you were just being a gentleman and letting me win?"
"I know better than to insult your competence like that."
"One of the many things I love about you."
She leaned into his shoulder. Her cheek would soon be imprinted with the pattern of his exoskeletal plates, marking her more distinctively than any love bite. He kissed her hair.
"I love you. So much."
"We should get married."
Bog nearly fell off the branch.
"What?"
Marianne looked a little surprised at her own words, but after a moment's thought she nodded decisively.
"I love you and I want to marry you. Do you want to get married?"
There were a million ways Bog could say yes. He actually had about half a speech planned for proposing to her …
"I do."