The appointed place was a smokey tavern in a dead-end town. Except Coco, who was sitting alone at a corner table, all the patrons reeked of booze or had yellowed and missing teeth. Sunny sauntered over to the other Gourmet Hunter, weaving through the tangled labyrinth of tables, and made her way to him. A few particularly brave, hideous men leered at her while fat, wooden cigars hung from their lips. Disgustin', she thought sourly. Less than dirt.
And she kept her feelers tightly pressed against herself, the thought of them touching anything else making her want to gag. When was the last time somebody had cleaned this place? Her shoe nudged a forgotten pile of ashes and she visibly winced. Ew. She stretched out her feelers towards her boyfriend of two years, Coco giving her a small smile and beckoning her over with his eyes.
Sunny sat down at the chair across from his, facing a gaudily decorated wall. I just won't look at it, she thought and trained her eyes on Coco."Your feelers have gotten longer, haven't they?" said he, not even leaning forward to give a greeting kiss.
Sunny narrowed her eyes and said, "I've been training, that's why. And where have YOU been all this time, mister?" It'd been some time since they'd been together in person. They saw enough of each other in the Gourmet News, and Sunny wasn't about to admit she'd been jealous of how cool he looked on TV.
He gave a weak grin, something jumpy about the way his eyes moved. "I've tried to complete my Full Course, just as you have." Before Sunny could interject, Coco continued, "And I didn't just call you here on a whim." Sunny relaxed her muscles and leaned back in the chair.
Good thing he said that, because she'd wanted to yell at him if that was the case. Not to say that she didn't enjoy being with him, but was there any reason for the place? Talk about a "romantic" getaway. In that instant her gaze had lingered over the various animal heads mounted on the wall, and she hurriedly fixed her gaze on Coco again.
"So why DID you make me come?" Hopefully it was to hang a few air fresheners around; the air smelled of soggy socks and moldy cheese. As soon as those words left Sunny's mouth, his face paled to a frightening papery white. She was ready to lunge forward and take him in her arms was he about to faint, but relaxed when he answered.
"I need to ask you something important, but there will be no fanfare," said Coco, low, warningly. Her perfectly sculptured eyebrow raised in a silent question. "I'll only say it once, Sunny." Strained was his voice, and he sat stiffly in his seat, trembling from the effort of restraining himself. Her eyes widened. What could trouble him THIS much?
"Will you marry me?"
And her brained suddenly kicked into overdrive, furious and frustrated and disillusioned. PROPOSE TO ME? HERE? Where was the romance, the harmony of all the elements? He'd dragged her to some stinky HOLE with UGLY old men and poorly decorated walls to PROPOSE? It was all too much and Sunny laughed out loud, but anger was thinly veiled behind it.
"Coco, you're not serious! You're insane to propose marriage to a woman in a place
like this! Where was all the romantic atmosphere we've talked about? Don't we both deserve a better proposal than this?!"
He stood up, quietly, and his face contorted into a pained grimace. Coco slowly, dutifully, began walking towards the exit like a condemned man. Sunny remained seated, stewing in her own anger until she lifted her hand and saw what was on it. Her palm was caked with cigar ash from the table top, and she felt very put off by this whole situation.
She stared at her palm and thought. Coco knew that I wanted a beautiful proposal, and he went and totally ruined it. He asked me to marry him in a place so dark and damp that a cave would have been better than it. But... does it really matter where he asks me? She envisioned a hundred different places and Coco proposing a hundred different ways. In the end, he was asking for her hand, no matter where or how.
Even if his hand was poisoned, she wouldn't hesitate to take it. And even if her hand was dirty, covered in cigar ashes, he'd take it anyways. Because he loved her.
Sunny stood up and whipped around. "COCO!" All motion inside the tavern stopped, even the ugly drunkards stopped talking and stared.
She understood now! Coco had been testing her all along! And Sunny's love for him was stronger than the stench of cheese that radiated from every single object in the room. He turned his head, and she shouted to him from the table, "You said you'll only ask me once...so it's MY turn to ask now! Will you marry me, Coco?"
And his lips curled up into a grin.
A strange pairing, I know. But I like it very much.
Feedback is appreciated, but not really necessary.
I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot, and please have a nice day!