It was almost like a scene from a show: the man returns home later to find the woman tapping her foot. Honestly, it was a bit more intimidating when the girl was leaning on her mace.
"I've heard you've been spending time with other blacksmiths, what do you say about that?" She frowned at him.
"Argoooo." He groaned.
"You don't deny it?"
"I wanted to get some crystallite ingots without bothering you…"
Lisbeth shuddered. "Some other blacksmith, handling crystallite? Don't say things like that!"
"I've still got most of it." Kirito pulled out a chunk of the stuff and tossed it to Lisbeth. She caught it and gave the piece a once over.
"There's a little chunk missing at the end, barely big enough for an arrowhead. Did you get an accessory made, or something?"
"Something like that."
Despite herself, Lisbeth perked up. "I heard the Amulet of the Crystal Dragon was pretty good, but isn't it a little too defensive for your build?"
"Not the amulet, no."
"Huh. But that's the only piece that's meta." Lisbeth hummed, deep in thought.
Kirito snorted. "Is that all I am? Some meta-optimizing machine?"
Lisbeth gave him a look.
"Fair." Kirito conceded. "It's for you. Something to say thanks."
"Kirito… you don't need to…"
He stepped closer and took her hand. "I'd be dead if it wasn't for your gear."
Her cheeks heated. His were probably a little warm too. "And you saved me from the dragon."
"Saved you? I got you in trouble in the first place?"
"You can't ever let me have a moment, can you?" She sighed, letting her head rest on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around him.
"Sorry."
"I suppose I can forgive you if your surprise gift is good."
Kirito tapped through his inventory screen over Lisbeth's shoulder, pulling out a particular item…
"Can you, ah, let me go?"
A little squeeze, before she hesitantly loosened her grasp. "I'm not sure how good it could be, if some other blacksmith made it…"
She looked down at his hand, and saw a ring, painstakingly processed from crystal. Light reflected off it beautifully. She let out a bit of a scream.
"Kirito?!"
"Yeah?"
"You can't just propose like that!"
"I was going to do it after dinner, but you insisted…"
"You… you can't!" She sputtered. "I'm... I'm not wife material. I'm not Asuna."
"I didn't get this ring made for Asuna, did I?"
"Kirito…"
"If you want, we could have a honeymoon…"
"And abandon my shop?" Lisbeth asked.
"Uh–"
"I'd do it in a heartbeat, dummy."
I am physically incapable of not feeling bad for abandoned love interests like Lisbeth. (Should I expand this with other moments in a Kirito x Lisbeth AU? I so do not need another project right now.)