Author's Note: The next companion piece to "I Need You in My Bloodstream" and "Attention". Expect more from this particular verse and for them all to be incredibly fluffy. Penny Dreadful is a dark series for a reason, but the beauty of fanfiction is that you can write your favorite characters in happy scenarios, and that is exactly my intention for this pairing.

The Greatest Honor

Caliban woke to a sight that never failed to warm his heart. His beloved Vanessa was seated upon the windowsill, dressed in one of his sweaters, and scribbling away in the sketchbook that was open across her lap.

The scratch of pencil against paper was calming in a way, and he stretched, cat-like, against the sheets, which were tangled around his nude form.

He sighed, content, and turned slightly to face her. "Good morning, my love."

Vanessa's head shot up and she made a distressed sound. "I wasn't done yet!"

He blinked, taken aback by her response, but then slowly it dawned on him: "Were you…drawing me?"

She flushed, but nodded. "Yes. Can you try to recreate the pose you were in? I was nearly finished."

He settled back against the pillows. "I think…" he slipped one hand behind his head, while the other he was fairly certain had been resting against his chest. "It was something like this?"

"Mmm…tilt your head a little more towards me," she instructed.

He did so, a smile gracing his lips. "Should I close my eyes?"

"No, just…stay still," her breath caught at the alluring image he made with bed-mussed hair, and the sheets were now pooled around his waist to reveal a toned torso.

He watched her intently as she went back to drawing, his heart skipping when she looked up again and offered him a fond smile before turning her attention once again to the paper.

It was silent as she completed her sketch, and Caliban took the opportunity to marvel over just how beautiful she looked bathed in the sunlight that was filtering in through the window behind her.

When she was finished, she got up and made her way back to the bed. "Would you like to see?"

"You don't mind?" he did not hesitate to gather her into his arms when she crawled up to join him.

Vanessa shook her head and handed him the sketchbook.

It was still open to proper page, and he studied her work for several minutes before murmuring: "You've made me handsome."

"That's because you are," she pressed a light kiss to the shell of his ear.

He handed the book back. "Truly?"

"How many times are we to have this exact conversation before you believe me when I say so?"

"Likely a few more," he admitted.

Vanessa put the sketchbook on the night table next to the bed, and then reached up to trace over the livid scar the traversed the entire side of his face. "Then I will keep on telling you that you are beautiful to me until you believe it to be true."

He dropped a kiss to her palm. "I love you, Vanessa."

Her heart fluttered, and she smiled before framing his face between her hands. "And I love you." She then drew him towards her for a far more passionate embrace, and there was little in the way of further conversation as they devoted themselves to each other.

"All mornings should be like this," Vanessa mumbled, twisting further into Caliban's arms as they recuperated after several sessions of love making.

He touched his lips to her forehead, reveling in the warmth of her skin. "Funny that you should say that, as I have been giving our future together some serious thought."

She twisted so that she could look up at him. "Have you?"

He gazed lovingly at her for a long moment before he tenderly tucked an errant lock of hair back over her ear. "Yes…in fact…wait here for a moment."

She eyed him quizzically as he rose from the bed, wrapping a sheet around his waist as he walked over to where his coat was hung up on the rack near her door. He rummaged around in the inner pocket before finding what it was that he was looking for and then turned back to her.

Vanessa's heart leapt when she realized that he was holding a small black box.

He crossed back to the bed and sat next to her again, chewing nervously at his lower lip before speaking: "I was hoping to be more graceful about this…but…" he carefully opened the box to reveal a simple yet elegant diamond ring. "I feel like it is the right moment."

Vanessa inhaled shakily "Caliban...are you...asking what I believe you are?" she looked at him expectantly, her blue eyes glimmering with tears.

He nodded. "There is no poetry that can fully encompass just how deeply I love you, so I will keep it simple. Vanessa Ives, would you do me the greatest honor of becoming my wife?"

She stared at him for a long moment, and then launched herself towards him, knocking them back into the pillows as she covered his face in kisses. "Yes. A thousand times yes!"

Relief flooded him and he curled his arms around her as his mouth found hers. They embraced ardently for a while before he finally pulled back in order to slide the ring upon her finger.

Vanessa sat up and gathered the sheets around her body so she could admire the diamond as it glittered in the sunlight. "It's beautiful…you have impeccable taste."

"You'll have to pass that compliment along to Ethan and Ferdinand, as they assisted me in choosing it."

"Somehow this does not surprise me, as they both seem to have an invested interest in our romance," she chuckled.

He grinned when she moved to cuddle against him once more. "I am fairly certain that between Ferdinand, Ethan, Victor, and Sir Malcolm, there has been a running bet over how quickly I would propose once I had the ring."

Vanessa laughed, ducking her head to kiss along his chest. "You can report the good news to them later, right now…I feel like celebrating."

He did not protest in the slightest.

The End