A/N: This piece is based off the prompt Diamond, so of course, it matched itself up wonderfully to a proposal story. And since I've already written a Wolflet one, and Kaider's is canon, Jacinter presented themselves as the appropriate couple (or maybe my sister claiming Jacinter is shortchanged because they showed up so late in the series ...)
Without further ado, Jacin presenting Winter with a diamond.
A/N 2: I do not own the Lunar Chronicles. I only get to fill in the blanks.
Jacin was late tonight. Winter frowned at the clock on her port, wondering why there was no comm from Jacin. He always sent a comm when he was going to be late, or even when he thought he might be late. She supposed it was possible that he was in the midst of handling an emergency. She wasn't worried. Yet, anyway.
If only he hadn't promised to take her out for dinner. She was all ready, wearing his favorite yellow dress, her hair pulled away from her face in cascading curls. She tapped her port against her thigh. She supposed she could send him a comm, maybe someone else at the clinic would see it and let her know how late Jacin was going to be. She didn't mind throwing together a little dinner - Jacin would probably be exhausted, and he'd still have to change before they could go out. She but her lip; she didn't know whether he had made any reservations. She'd cancel then for him, but she wouldn't know where to start.
She flopped down on the couch, watching her skirt fall about her in a graceful cloud, distracting her. The gauzy top layer settled from the breeze, the tiny flowers embroidered on it floating down into place on her lap. She had embroidered them onto the dress when she was first practicing, so she could pick out the ones created on good days, and the ones created on not so good days. The setting sun streamed in through the window, throwing orange rays onto her skirt, filling it with more color. Her thoughts returned to Jacin. It wasn't like him to withhold information from her. Maybe he'd just forgotten to tell her. She'd wait another five minutes, and if she hadn't heard from him, she was going to cook something.
Five minutes dragged themselves by at an agonizing pace. She attempted to play a game on her port, but she kept losing as she checked every incoming comm she received. Most of them were ads. A few were diplomatic arrangements that could be handled tomorrow.
When her prescribed wait was over, she skipped into the kitchen. Scarlet-friend had taught her to cook, and she quite enjoyed it. She hadn't made dinner all week, every night claimed by dinner parties and meetings.
She rattled the pots and pans together in rhythm with the dance tune she was humming. She wouldn't make a complicated dinner - macaroni and cheese sounded wonderful after the rich food they'd had all week.
With a final clatter, her melted cheese was poured over her pasta. She leaned her face into the steam, filling her nostrils with the scent. "I think that is my most favorite scent in the whole world." She spoke to herself, licking the spoon.
"I thought it was wildflowers." Jacin's voice floated in from the doorway. She tossed the spoon back into the pot before spinning around to face him.
"Jacin!" Her arms were around his neck in an instant. "I didn't hear you come in."
"That was obvious."
She wrinkled her nose at him. "I'm not sure I should be speaking to you Jacin Clay. You're over an hour late and I was worried."
"I'm worried that a thief could have gotten in here and you would never have known it."
"Now that we've both gotten our worries off our chests, sit down and eat." She poured the pasta into two bowls, putting them on the table. Jacin stepped up beside her, pulling his arm from behind his back. He was holding a bouquet of flowers, filled with daisies, their yellow heads smiling up at her. "Oh, they're beautiful. They match your smile." She stood up on her toes to give him a kiss before snatching them away to put in water.
He followed her into the kitchen, smiling as she opened the wrapping, spilling daisies all over the counter. He reached around her to snag a flower, tucking it behind her ear. She beamed up at him. She loved it when Jacin loosened up like this. She decided to encourage it.
"The table is too formal. We can sit on the couch together and curl up together like when we were little."
"We're not kids anymore." Of course Jacin had to act like he was above such pleasures, but at least he obediently grabbed his bowl. With his free hand, he picked up the vase of daisies and carried it in with him, placing it on the low table before folding his legs under him. Winter waited for him to still before sinking down next to him, letting her skirts billow. She liked to watch them settle. It was mesmerizing.
"You didn't change." Jacin smoothed the fold of yellow fabric that covered his knee.
Winter shook her head before bumping his shoulder. "It's still your favorite dress and we're still spending an evening together, so I figured I may as well keep it on and then maybe you'd smile when you got here." She smiled up at him, and when he didn't smile back, she puckered her lips into a fish face.
"What are you doing, Trouble?" There. He couldn't keep from smiling when he called her that.
"Trying to make your day better, since it was probably awful because you got out so late." She batted her eyes at him. "Didn't I do a good enough job?"
Shaking his head, Jacin addressed his bowl. "I was thinking a nice, quiet dinner would make this day better. One you didn't have to make," he added, as she opened her mouth to protest.
"Stop being silly, Jacin. I enjoy cooking. Scarlet-friend and I like to invent our own recipes."
"As long as you don't slip poison into it when you're mad at me."
Winter pulled away with a gasp. "I would never."
Jacin gave a small, lopsided smile. "Just checking. I didn't know how angry I'd made you tonight." His voice turned sober at the end.
"Not angry at all." She gave a decided nod. "Now let's stop talking about what's been disappointing today. Think happy thoughts."
He put his hand to his chin, furrowing his brow as if deep in thought. "You look nice."
She rolled her eyes. "We've been over that, too."
"No we haven't. I said I liked the dress. But that doesn't mean I complimented you." He put his empty bowl back on the table and pulled a handful of daisies out of the vase. He put them in his lap, and Winter craned her neck to see what he was doing with them. "That was a compliment to you and your beauty. You know. Because it's a good day."
Turning back to her, he put the daisy crown he'd made on her head, smiling as she giggled. "I'm glad it's a good day. And thank you very much for my new hat."
"It's not a hat, it's a crown."
"Hm, that's true, a hat would take a lot more daisies."
"And it wouldn't suit my purpose." Jacin turned away again, busying himself with something out of Winter's line of sight.
She pouted. "I suppose, since you wouldn't wear a hat inside anyway." She inched closer as she spoke, hoping to catch him unaware. It didn't work.
He faced her again. "I wanted to do this differently, Winter. At a nice restaurant, after a fancy meal. Someplace special."
"This is special." Winter buried her head in his shoulder. "We're together, and dinner wasn't poisoned and all is well."
"Not yet." Gently, he slid his arm out from under her. In a fluid motion, he was off the couch and on one knee in front of her. Winter felt her breath hitch.
"Winter. Will you marry me?" He presented her an open ring box, the diamond inside catching the light. It was a simple gold ring, the diamond set in the center of a small flower. A daisy.
Winter threw her arms around his neck. "Of course I will. I would marry you no matter where or what or when or how you asked me!" Her lips crashed into his, enthusiastically sealing her declaration.
Jacin pulled away first. "Don't you want the ring?"
"Yes, yes." She grasped his hands, pulling him back onto the couch next to her before taking the ring box from his hand. Jacin shook his head at her, taking it back.
"Here." He slid the ring onto her finger. Winter felt her heart fill with too many emotions to name. Pride. Joy. But mostly love.
She held her hand up to examine the ring from every angle, watching the play of light against her hand. "It's beautiful, you know." She turned her face back to him, and the sparkle reflected in his eyes. She felt moisture gathering in her own eyes at the rightness of this feeling.
"Even better, you're beautiful." She leaned in to kiss him again, feeling his arms wrap around her. It was a wonderful sense of protection, an armor of love.
He rested his forehead against hers. "Are you sure you're happy with this, Princess? I wanted everything to be romantic for you."
"The best romance is the kind we make for ourselves," she assured him.
NaNoWriMo 2017 word count: 1,531