Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne was freaking the flip out. He had a plan for everything. Or so he thought. Alien invasions straight down to if the zebras escaped from the zoo, it was all alphabetized and stored correctly. But a plan for proposals didn't seem to fit in there.
He took a deep breath and counted to ten. Over thinking got no one nowhere. He should think simply and focus on the fact that Stephanie would be at his apartment in ten minutes for their semi-weekly movie night. That basically meant watching half a movie and then going out patrolling. Overall, not a bad deal.
"Okay," Tim patted his pocket where the small ring box was. "The ring isn't gone. Nobody's trying to take over the Earth. This should go smoothly."
A chipper voice came from his front door. "Uh oh, you're talking to yourself about things. What's wrong with the universe now?"
He hadn't even heard Steph open the door, he had to give her points for that. "How much of that did you hear?" She wasn't the greatest detective, but she'd be able to put two and two together if she heard any mention of a ring that wasn't attached to a Lantern's hand.
"Just that no one was trying to take over and become a supreme ruler of the planet. I'd have liked to get that memo if it was happening instead of just hearing about it now anyways."
Tim let out a breathy laugh and a small, "Great."
He mentally kicked himself as Stephanie gave him a weird look and then jumped over the edge of his couch. Oh God, if someone up there likes me, please don't let me screw this up he thought indignantly.
Tim fidgeted all the way through the movie Steph flipped to; ironically it was the Princess Bride. Clearly, no one was answering his prayers anytime soon.
Then came time to head out for patrol. Steph was still giving him weird out-of-the-corner-of-her-eye looks that clearly said she thought something was suspicious. The last time he got that look it was because she thought he broke her waffle iron. It was Damian who did that though. He literally broke into her house to break her waffle iron to get back at her for something petty. But of course that's another story for another time. He slipped the ring into a pocket on his utility belt and tracked out the patrol route in his head.
He wanted to swing by a few places instead of taking her straight to the Wayne Enterprises rooftop. So they swung around, beat up a couple baddies while Steph kept coming up with quip after quip for everyone they came across. She was bright and energetic, and most defiantly the only girl he would think about buying an engagement ring for.
They meandered their way towards the Wayne skyscraper when things started winding down. By that time he pretty much had his hand on the pocket of his utility belt, not daring to take it off, even if it did look downright suspicious.
"So, you've been acting like the bad nun at the convent all night. Wanna pipe up and explain?" Stephanie rolled her shoulders until they popped and sat down at the edge of the rooftop. She patted the spot next to her as an invitation.
He took the spot and pulled his cowl down, satisfied when Stephanie did the same. They were too high for the smog and prying eyes to touch them. The way gravity pulled at the tips of their toes was a relaxing feeling, most wouldn't say that if they were in that current position atop the skyscraper, but those trained by the Bat learned how to fly.
"I've thought this over for a while now and I'm sure I want to marry you. So I went out ring shopping with Dick last week and we picked one out and Damian complained the entire time about how the sanctity of marriage wasn't all that sacred anymore. So I've been waiting for the right time to bring this up and-"
Steph cut him off, "Is this your extremely nervous way of asking me to marry you?"
"Yeah, Dick wanted to put up more theatrics. He wanted to rig the roof with fireworks and play cheesy music."
The giggle that erupted from her mouth was pure and unabashed joy. "Tim, I've dreamed about this day since I was a teenager. Fireworks were defiantly a part of the plan at that time."
Tim smiled and looked out at Gotham. "Can I take that as a yes?"
"You never actually asked the question." She had a fair point.
"Will you marry me?" The question almost got stuck in his throat, but all other signs she had given had pointed to yes. He pulled out the ring when he finished the last syllable. The box snapped open audibly and revealed a silver band with a round, reasonably-sized diamond with two smaller purple crystals flanking it.
"'Til death do us part, and by that I mean real death, not me running off to Africa. And all the other things marriage encompasses, like kids. And mortgages. And painting the living room purple. Yes, all of that." Her smile was a pin prick compared to the bright neon of the city below, but it was all he needed.
"A simple yes would've sufficed," Tim smiled through his words as he pulled off her left glove and slipped the ring on, it was a perfect fit, of course.
Steph all but tackled him into a kiss.
There was a loud pop behind them and bright colors lit up their closed eyelids, prompting them to open. Steph laughed loudly when she saw the fireworks going off.
In the distance they could hear Dick yelling, "You're welcome!"
Maybe simplicity wasn't always necessary.
A/N: Written a while ago for DC Marriage Week, originally submitted on tumblr. Have a nice day.
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