He was tired, but content when he entered the bedroom he shared with Glynda Goodwitch. Another day was over and Ozpin was looking forward to spending the evening relaxing with the woman he loved. But his pleasant train of thought was interrupted when he saw Glynda hurriedly stand from where she'd been seated on the bed and thrust something inside the closet. Unfortunately, Ozpin couldn't tell what the something was. Glynda had moved too fast for him to get a proper look. There was only a slight swirl of fabric and the glint of a hangar before the doors were shut on the mysterious object. Glynda then turned to face him, wearing a placid expression, holding her hands behind her back. Despite her apparent calm, though, there was nervousness in her eyes, like that of a guilty child caught with a toy they shouldn't have been playing with. Ozpin raised an eyebrow at his vice-headmistress.

"What was that?" he asked.

He wasn't going to play the fool, not even for her. Not to mention that disguising that fact wouldn't get him any closer to finding out what she'd rushed so desperately to conceal. Glynda, however, seemed ignorant of what he meant. Or at least she tried to appear ignorant, but her pretense was not a convincing one. Glynda was anything but ignorant, so it was next to impossible for her to pull off the look.

"Nothing." she said, her cheeks turning a delicate pink.

Ozpin smirked.

"You're hiding something from me."

"No. I'm not hiding anything." Glynda said, with a tad more force this time.

The rose in her face deepened in colour. This only furthered Ozpin's certainty.

"Your blush says otherwise." he said.

The woman blinked, surprise breaking through her composure.

"What?"

"Didn't you know?"

He set his cane down and approached her. As Glynda didn't move away, he ended up trapping her between himself and the closet. He smiled.

"You blush whenever you lie, Glyn." he explained. "It gives you away every time."

He had been with Glynda Goodwitch long enough to know her tells, perhaps even better than she did, for she seemed rather stunned at his words. Realizing that she was staring slightly open-mouthed at him, she looked away, blushing even harder, though this time it had nothing to do with deceit.

"Damn," she muttered under her breath.

Ozpin's gaze softened. As much as secretly enjoyed seeing Glynda embarrassed, the enjoyment was always tempered somewhat by his equally strong desire to make her happy. So, he tilted her chin up and pressed his lips to hers, in hopes that a kiss would cheer her up and perhaps make her feel less self-conscious. It seemed to have the desires effect as Glynda sighed sweetly and relaxed, resting her hands on Ozpin's chest.

"So," he whispered as their mouths parted, "what are you hiding in there?" he asked, nodding towards the closet.

Glynda's gaze averted from his, but she didn't step away from him.

"It's really nothing important." she said half-heartedly, her cheeks pinkening.

But Ozpin wasn't giving up.

"I wasn't able to get a good look at it, but I think it was a dress of sorts?" he guessed, his tone conversational and slightly impish.

It seemed he was starting to wear Glynda down, for instead of denying again, she murmured:

"It might've been…"

Then she said, more loudly:

"But it doesn't matter."

"I think it does." said Ozpin, no longer playfully.

Glynda exhaled a tiny whistling breath through her nose.

"You won't understand…"

"You don't know that, Glyn-" Ozpin tried to say, but she cut him off.

"It's-" she stopped, as if searching for what to say.

After a moment, she sighed in defeat. Ozpin waited for her to speak, expecting her to say "It's embarrassing" or something to the degree and already setting up a few rebuttals in his mind.

"It's a wedding dress." said Glynda.

Ozpin's eyes went wide. Of all the things she could say, that was not one he was expecting. For one thing, he'd fully expected her to resist a little longer. It wasn't like Glynda to not put up a fight, though he had to admit he tended to be her one exception in that department and more. And for another…

"A wedding dress?" he repeated, still in complete shock.

She nodded. For a few seconds, Ozpin was completely speechless. Possible responses were flying around his head like a tornado, ranging from questions to attempts at humour to shocked nonsensical gibberish, but he couldn't possibly fathom which one to use in this situation (well, okay, he did know not to go for gibberish). Finally, after what must've seemed an eternity to Glynda, he said:

"I don't recall having proposed."

It wasn't, he realized immediately, the best thing he could've said, but it wasn't the worst either as it did make Glynda laugh.

"No, Oz, it's not like that." she said, her voice a strange mix of slightly hysterical giggling and frustration (either at him or at herself, Ozpin couldn't tell (both perhaps?)). "Not exactly. It's…Oh gods, I knew you wouldn't understand."

She pulled away from him and sat on the bed with her head in her hands. Ozpin was immediately at her side, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You're right, I don't." he said gently. "But, to be fair, I don't think anyone would understand if their sweetheart, to whom they are not engaged, suddenly revealed that they have a wedding dress."

His soothing tone and use of the term of endearment seemed to coax her somewhat out of her mortification, for her let her hands rest on her lap. He sat beside her and, when she still didn't look at him, he took her hand.

"Glynda," Ozpin implored, and this time she did, finally, meet his eyes. "We already keep a lot of secrets from the world at large. I don't want there to be any between us."

She nodded. Admittedly, she did agree with him. Honesty and forthcoming had always been a pillar of their relationship, and it seemed foolish to compromise that. Ozpin leaned forward, touching his forehead to Glynda's.

"Could you please tell me?" he begged softly.

Glyn hesitated.

"It's rather silly." she said.

Ozpin was ready for that.

"I won't laugh if you don't want me to." he assured her.

"And very sentimental." she added.

He grinned.

"I love sentimentality."

At that, Glynda couldn't help but smile back.

"Alright," she muttered, then sighed, "Alright, I'll tell you."

Ozpin smiled gratefully and put an arm around Glynda's shoulders. As she started speaking, the woman rested her head, almost unconsciously, on his shoulder:

"Peach took me shopping with her today. We came across a wedding boutique and she wanted to try on some of the dresses, I guess for the fun of it. Anyways, I was picking some out for her to try and then…" she swallowed hard. "I saw one particular dress."

"The dress that happens to be in the closet?" Ozpin guessed.

Glynda nodded.

"Yes."

She trailed off into silence. Ozpin regarded her carefully, his curiosity only growing. Glynda was not one to be fascinated with clothing, so to hear her speak this way about a dress certainly intrigued him.

"I'm guessing there was something special about it."

Glynda's gaze flicked downwards, but not quickly enough for Ozpin not to notice her lips stretch into a shy smile.

"You could say that." she said, then continued her explanation. "I suppose Peach could tell that I liked it, because she suggested try it on. After I did, she…" at this, she put a hand over her mouth, barely in time to stifle a small giggle, "she said I had to take it. I tried to tell her it was a ridiculous idea. After all, as you said, we're not even engaged. But she insisted and…"

Glynda's green eyes lifted to meet Ozpin's. Ozpin was surprised at the softness he saw in them.

"And I admit I did want to keep it." she finished.

Ozpin's eyes narrowed slightly, and he regarded Glynda with open curiosity.

"Why is that?" he asked.

It was the obvious question to be posed. But this time, there was no obvious answer, so far as Ozpin could see. Yet the uncertainty didn't bother him. He felt assured that Glynda would make him understand. Glynda waited a heartbeat before she answered, blushing prettily with timidity before she spoke:

"Because that's the dress I always envisioned myself wearing if we ever got married."

Ozpin blinked, surprised for what must've been at least the 5th time in as many minutes.

"Come again?" he asked.

"Well, not that dress exactly, but it looks a lot like the dress my mother wore on her wedding." Glynda explained. "You see, when I was little, I thought my mother's wedding dress was the most beautiful dress in the world, so I wanted to wear a dress exactly like it when I got married. That dress may not be exactly like my mother's, but it's close enough. So, if we had a wedding, that's the dress I'd want to wear."

Ozpin smiled quietly at Glynda as she spoke. After a moment, during which she waited expectantly for him to answer, he said, almost dreamily:

"You envisioned us getting married?"

She raised a brow at him.

"And you haven't?" she asked challengingly.

"I never said that." Ozpin shook his head, grinning.

They shared a chuckle at his words, and Glynda kissed him fondly on the nose, then his cheeks and then finally settling one on his lips. Ozpin could feel his smile widen at her gentle touches, but it shrank a bit as he asked:

"Why didn't you want to tell me about all this?"

Glynda frowned, her expression sorrowing.

"Because it would make you feel bad, and I don't want to do that." she said guiltily.

"Why would it make me feel bad to know you had a wedding dress?" Ozpin asked, although he believed he already knew the answer, or at least part of it.

Glynda closed her eyes, as if bracing herself for the words she was about to say. When she opened them again, she said, her voice lined with resignation:

"Because we're not getting married, Oz. We don't have the time to plan a wedding, and there are much greater things to be concerned about then our marital status."

Ozpin nodded, his head bowed. That was exactly what he himself had concluded. Still, hearing it said out loud made his heart throb no less painfully. Glynda saw the hurt in his eyes and put a hand on his cheek, turning his face to her.

"But it's alright." she said, smiling, no, practically beaming at him.

Ozpin blinked, shocked into silence for the second time that evening. Only this time, he hadn't even an inkling of what to say, or even if he could form the words. Yet that didn't seem to matter as Glynda brushed lightly at his bangs and said, her voice soft and sincere and comforting:

"In the end, it doesn't matter if we're married or not, Ozpin. I love you. I love you and I'm with you and that won't change until the end of our days. Not being married isn't going to undo that. I do want to marry you and I would love to be your wife, but I don't need to be in order to be at your side. What we have doesn't have to be proven by a marriage. So, when all is said and done, we don't need to get married, and that's alright with me."

Ozpin stared deep into Glynda's eyes. There was nothing but truth in her words; not a single telltale blush coloured her face. Yet he was still quiet, as if still trying to process what she'd said. After a long moment though, he found his voice:

"But you would like to get married?"

It was Glynda's turn to blink in surprise.

"Oz-" she tried to reiterate her point, but Ozpin gently insisted.

"You would?"

She sighed and admitted, fully aware that he would know a lie from her if he heard it:

"Yes, I would, but-"

"Then we will." Ozpin said simply, startling Glynda.

Before she could even think of what to say, he clasped her hands between his.

"One day, Glynda." he said earnestly. "Sometime, hopefully soon, there will be day without responsibilities, without duties and without the world weighing on our shoulders, just for a little while. And when that day comes," he smiled, his brown eyes warm and loving, "I'm going to marry you. And you'll be wearing that dress when I do." he added in a soft murmur.

Glynda stared at him. She said nothing, but that was because her breath had been virtually stolen away by his profession. All the while Ozpin's smile never wavered.

"Is that a proposal, Ozpin?" she finally asked, smiling back at him.

His brown eyes twinkled with mirth.

"I would never embarrass you with such a spur-of-the-moment decision." he assured her. "When I propose to you, it will be the result of many days' careful planning to sweep you off your feet."

Glynda's cheeks flushed, which only widened Ozpin's grin. She remedied that by kissing him, deeply and passionately, pulling him toward her with enough force so they were lying down on the bed when they pulled away for breath.

"I love you." she whispered, then after only a heartbeat's hesitation. "And I can't wait to marry you."

Ozpin's face brightened as she said those words.

"The feeling is absolutely mutual." he answered in his own whisper, before she kissed him again.

Oh yes, they would have a day, if he had any say in it. And even though it was probably some time away, he couldn't wait for it.