As they both arrived at Gumball's still closed door, he spun around to meet her face to face.
"Alright, ready to be blown away?" He said confidently, causing her to smile.
"Most definitely. Let's hope it isn't just sprawled stuff on the floor."
Gumball rolled his eyes.
"Come on, don't you have a LITTLE faith in my ability to decorate?"
"Perhaps. But it seems like your 'Role Model' back at home had a big influence on you, your brother and sister; especially if all he did was lay around the house and watch TV. He would leave his pile of clothes nearly to a state of decay if I weren't around to clean them. You and Darwin also seemed to just throw your dirty clothes everywhere around the room too. It was like a game of hide and seek sometimes."
"I-..."
Gumball felt awful at that moment, realizing it really was like that. Him and Darwin had a routine to quickly grab clothes before school and then throw the old ones around somewhere before they were done with them. They didn't care where they landed, as long as they had a fresh pair the next morning.
Gumball lowered his ears slightly.
"I'm sorry I was like that back at home..."
"Gumball sweetie, it's alright. Things were different back then..." she admitted, embracing him lovingly.
Snuggling into her better, he thought of a question.
"Hey, um, did you ever...have a mess of a room around my age?"
"No. My parents were very strict about tidiness. If so much as a visible crumb was discovered on my floor, they would make me pick it up and clean the entire carpet just to make sure there weren't any more. I like cleanliness, but that was FAR too extreme for my liking. I hated it." She said, swirling a few hairs on his scalp with her finger.
"I can see why..."
Clearing her throat, she let him go and looked towards the door.
"Well, enough about me. Let's see what this room has to offer, shall we?" She said, causing Gumball to reach for the doorknob.
"Agreed. Now, close your eyes." He said in anticipation.
Nicole obliged and closed her eyes. She then felt Gumball take her hand.
"No peeking now~" He whispered as he turned the knob and opened the door.
Leading her inside, he let go of her hand and shut the door behind her.
"Okay, you can look now." He said, causing her to flutter open her eyes.
Her jaw nearly hit the floor.
'I can't believe it...'
The room she saw before her was...well, breathtaking. The neatly placed objects around the room were specifically placed and well organized. The dresser sported lovely little metal trinkets along with a few clay art sculptures. His closet handle held beautifully crafted glass beads along with colorful string pieces to give it a cozy feel. Each corner of the wooden bed headrest held a dream catcher; each a different variation of color combined with a leather trimmed exterior. Finally, to top it all off, on the bedside drawer...was the ship in the bottle. With it being stationed right near the side of the window, the glass refracted beautiful colored light onto the floor. This reminded Nicole of the stained glass window decorations they had outside in their lawn back at their old home. Something she truly admired...
"Gumball...It's...Its beautiful." She said, covering her mouth.
Gumball felt warmth in his chest from her saying that.
"You really think so?" He asked, causing her to face him and pull him into a hug.
"Of course. I love it! I love it all! I'm very impressed with your decorating skills Gumball. I mean it."
This caused Gumball's cheeks to turn a shade of red.
"Aww, thanks~"
Nicole rubbed his back gently.
Gumball then faced her again.
"Heh, who knows, maybe I'll be better at decorating than you one day."
"Don't push your luck~" She spoke softly down at him.
He raised his eyebrow at that.
"Oho, what's the matter? Afraid I might do just that?~" he replied back.
Nicole chuckled lightly before caressing his cheek.
"I don't think I have to worry about that anytime soon."
"Hey!..." he said, pulling off an exaggerated fake pout. "That hurt you know..."
Nicole rolled her eyes and rubbed his hair playfully.
"I was only joking. Don't worry."
"Well, if YOU'RE such a good decorator, let's see what you have to offer ME!" He contested, trying to act somewhat dominate.
Nicole smirked back, flicking her tail side to side.
"Fine. Follow me~" she said, doing a 180 spin and headed out the door.
Gumball followed her closely until they arrived at her door. She then faced him.
"Well, since you did the whole, 'close your eyes' thing, I feel like I should at least return the favor. So...Gummypuss...can you close your eyes for me? Pretty please?"
Gumball nodded before doing so. As she opened the door, she led him into the room.
"I hope you like it." She said, tapping his shoulder for him to open his eyes.
"Come on Gummybear, you know I alwa-...whoa..." he said before trailing off his sentence as he viewed the room in all its glory.
Blue glass sculptures were placed near the window giving the whole room around it a faint blue color scheme. He also noticed intricate golden threads of yarn were placed over the bed headrest. There was no doubt in his mind; she was obviously a better decorator.
Gazing towards the closet, he spotted a "Live Laugh Love" sign resting next to a few decorative rocks and a wrapped up yoga mat in the corner.
'Why does seeing that sign in here not surprise me in the slightest?' He thought to himself, smiling and shaking his head.
Nicole followed his gaze and smiled as well.
"You like that? I thought it would suit me. The yoga mat allows me to do yoga and stuff inside if it ever rains too."
"Makes sense..." he said, before shifting towards his previous thoughts.
"Anyways, WOW! It is stunning in here!" He remarked, making Nicole smile.
"I'd figure you'd like it. I tried to add a few things that you would like in here as well, like those glass pieces by the window."
"You're too kind~"
Nicole then pretended to check her nails.
"I guess it pays off to be the best decorator around." She said, causing Gumball to scoff.
"You just like showing off your ego sometimes, don't you?"
Nicole raised her gaze towards him.
"Occasionally."
"Ha! You admitted it. You know, admittance is the one of the first steps of overcoming that."
"What makes you think I'm overcoming it? Don't you agree i'm better at a lot of things than you, mister?"
Gumball smiled, before mimicking her previous action by checking his nails.
"That's true. You ARE better at a lot of things than me..."
He then rubbed his nails against his shirt.
"Just not at Rock Paper Scissors."
That burn had made Nicole twitch her tail. She then met his gaze as he glanced up at her, smirking ear to ear.
'Oh he's going to regret that...' She thought as she slowly walked towards him, swishing her tail as she did so.
'Ooooooh I'm gonna regret that...' He thought as she made her way over to him.
Dropping the smile, he backed slowly into the wall behind him. Unfortunately, he now felt somewhat trapped.
As she now stood in front of him, Gumball couldn't help but feel puny at that moment as she basically loomed over him, even if it was only by a tiny amount.
Just as he was about to open his mouth, she shot one arm out and pinned it against the wall, trapping him between her. She gave him a serious look.
"You mind repeating all that?"
Gumball was about to, when he only felt a squeak escape his lips. He was actually scared at this moment now. He knew his body seemed to be as well.
Just then, Nicole immediately seemed to hold back a scoff, before throwing her head back in laughter. After a few seconds of solid hearty giggling, she wiped a tear in her eye before stepping back and gazing at him again.
giggles* "Im sorry sweetie, I couldn't resist. I just had to try that. The look on your face was priceless. Hahahahaa" she finished saying before erupting into another series of laughing fits. Eventually seeing her laugh so happily, he joined in with a few snickers of his own.
Nicole wasn't usually the one to play pranks like that, but he did remember all those years ago when she would occasionally do so; they were legendary. This...was one of them.
"You actually scared me there for a second." He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "But dang, that was good."
"Im glad you liked it Gummypuss." She replied back, before rubbing his shoulder. "No hard feelings."
"Heh, I'm glad to hear that." He replied, letting out a breath of relief to calm his still somewhat shaken legs.
After a moment or two, Gumball then decided to test the waters again; but obviously more cautious.
"So...Am I still a better flirter?" He sheepishly asked, making her give him a sultry look.
"Most definitely." She stated boldly, which actually...surprised him.
"So you was...actually serious about that? You mean it?"
"Of course! I don't know how many times I have to tell you that Gummypuss." She spoke, before approaching him again and running her hands through his hair.
Gumball felt reassured. At least she wasn't simply being nice about that. But the way she said that so casually...despite what just happened, well, truly did impress him. He felt a bit of confidence stirring within him now.
'Well, I might as well try to do what I'm best at this moment...'
Taking ahold of her sides, he rubbed the left side of her while looking up sensually at her.
"My fair maiden~" he started, speaking in a theatric tone.
Nicole smiled and cocked her head to the side slightly.
"My fair suitor~" she responded playfully.
Gumball was loving how she was playing along now. Perhaps he could...lighten the mood.
"There has been rumors around the castle that you are the best kisser in all the land. Am I mistaken?"
Nicole smiled wider before giggling.
"Well my dear suitor, why don't you find out?~"
With that, he leaned in, and locked lips with hers. A 'fierce' battle commenced between the two lovers as they embraced each other closer. Nicole decided to up the stakes by wrapping her arms around him and spinning them slowly in a dance like motion.
"I want you to try something Gummypuss." She said, causing him to give her a curious look.
"What's that?"
"Stand on my feet." She instructed, making him confused.
Regardless, he did as he was told as she halted their slow spinning. As he did this, he soon realized he was nearly face to face with her at this level. Something he was VERY much enjoying.
"Hello there." She said, now looking him deep into his now eye level gaze.
Gumball smiled at that. He really didn't know what to expect by doing this, but now he wasn't regretting it. But should he?
"Isn't this hurting your feet? I hope I'm not too heavy..."
"Gumball sweetie, you're not hurting my feet. I've had to deal with a lot of things in my past with my feet, and after doing years of karate and other strenuous exercises with them, I barely feel a thing as simple as this on them."
Gumball nodded.
"Oh okay. I just wasn't sure."
"So, My lovely suitor~, you like this?"
Gumball started to blush.
"I-I do. Looks like you're also a pro at figuring out problems."
"Does that surprise you Gummypuss?" She asked coyly, making him half giggle.
"Not really."
This made her nuzzle him softly.
"Oh the perks of being me~"
"Oh ha ha." He responded sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I wanted to mention something..."
"And what's that?"
"Who knew it was cooler all the way up here..." he said, resulting in her attempting to hold back laughter.
Resting her forehead against his, she let out a gentle sigh.
"What would I do without you?"
Gumball pulled back before kissing her gently on the lips.
"I don't know. But frankly...I don't want to find out anytime soon."
With that, she passionately kissed him. To the both of them, it felt nice to kiss on such an even scale, but that didn't mean they weren't competitive. They continued their ferocious battle of lips and tongue, both seemed to be evenly matched. To gain an advantage, Nicole caressed his neck and pulled him in closer, attempting to kiss him deeper. Gumball quickly followed suit.
'How can I one up this?' She hazily thought, before a quick idea came to fruition.
As Gumball continued his assault, he was caught slightly off guard as he felt he was...moving? Or more specifically, his feet below him felt like they were moving. Pulling back for air, he glanced down and noticed Nicole's feet were moving below his. As he looked around him he noticed she had spun them around and was 'walking' them towards the bed. After reaching the edge of the bed, she let go of his frame and pushed him off her gently and onto the bed. This scrambled his mind briefly as he made impact, before feeling the warmth of Nicole's lips once again.
'Man she's good...' he thought before silencing his mind once again.
Their kissing lasted quite some time before she gingerly pulled away and simply stared down at him lovingly.
"I'm never going to not love doing this with you..." she eventually said, softly resting her hand on his cheek.
Gumball reacted by holding her hand on his cheek tightly.
"Same here..." he returned, feeling her cheek with his other hand.
In that moment, they simply nuzzled into each others warm hand. It was a simple gesture, but a touching one. Nicole then slowly removed his hand and laid down next to him. Gumball slowly scooted closer to her and rested his head on her shoulder. Nicole returned the gesture by pulling in closer and laying back into the pillow. As she did so, Gumball let out a sigh. As she closed her eyes, she heard him ask something.
"Hey, did you by any chance cast a love spell in here?"
She formed a soft smile.
"Why do you say that?" She asked in return.
"I don't know really, it's just when I entered this room with you...it's like I fell in love with you more than usual..."
Nicole opened her eyes and turned her head slightly to face him.
"You sure it wasn't just my decorating skills that flattered you?"
Gumball smiled this time and turned to face her.
"Maybe that's part of it. But, I guess, it wouldn't be complete without you. Perhaps you're the greatest piece of this room...simply stunning in all your glory."
Nicole felt touched. Bringing herself closer to him, she kissed him softly before pulling back.
"Oh you~...always wooing me..." she said, nuzzling his forehead before laying back down on the pillow.
"Indeed...my lady~" he whispered, before closing his eyes.
Nicole felt tired slightly from all the decorating and it seemed like so was Gumball. She soon followed suit in closing her eyes. Just as she was feeling the grasp of sleep about to take her, she could have sworn she heard and felt soft purring...something that only pleased her more...
———
Several hours went by and Nicole was fast asleep. Gumball was awake however. Looking over towards her, like usual, still calmed his senses. Deciding to get up to stretch his legs a bit, he got slowly out of bed and sneaked outside their room. Walking downstairs, he made his way outside and onto the front porch.
Sitting back against one of the pillars, he turned his head to look towards the sky. It's beautiful red and orange color scattered behind the distant clouds above. It was a wonderful spectacle to see. The clouds seemed wispy and full of life as they slowly moved by, causing Gumball to lean his head back. Watching the clouds move made him think about a few things in his mind; among those thoughts were Nicole, front and center.
'I think I'm ready. I think I'm ready to go through with this...proposal. But I need a ring...'
Gumball had considered on several occasions in his mind to propose with her ring that she had taken off, but Gumball didn't want her to simply think of...Richard...every time she saw it.
'I guess I have no choice but to go with my "Plan B".'
As he had tried creating an alternative plan for his proposal ring, he came up with an idea. If the ring he had gotten ahold of wasn't adequate enough...he would make his own. Sure, he was no "ring maker", but he could perhaps make a cast of the old ring and use it to craft another one. A ring forged by his love and desire for her; and maybe with some molten metal too.
Just thinking all this made his toes curl in excitement...and clench with fear. He wasn't sure if she would accept this still, or not.
'I must try...for her.' He thought, relaxing his scrunched up toes.
He had to be brave. This would no doubt be one of the hardest things he would experience in life. He was nervous, no doubt, but he won't give up. He couldn't. For her. For Nicole...
Letting out a shaky breath, he climbed to his feet and decided to go back in for a shower to help calm himself a bit.
He would start tomorrow. Crafting such a cast for the ring and finding the metal to go along with it would take some time, but he believed he could do it. He had made up his mind. There wasn't anything stopping him now. He was going to propose to her.
As he was about to enter the bathroom, he looked towards her door, imagining her still resting peacefully in the bed. Lowering his head, he closed his eyes.
'I hope I've made the right choice...I truly do.'
With that, he entered the bathroom and closed the door slowly behind him.