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Cu never actually thought that he’d find another person in his life that he would want to spend the rest of his life with. He had thought that upon being summoned by you, that would be the end of it. That would be it. And yet, and yet here he is making his plans to figure out how to propose to you properly.
He was certain you wouldn’t want anything too outlandish or out of the box. You always seemed so carefree, so nonchalant about things. You’d shy away from taking full credit, and you would step away from the spotlight, all so you could let someone else take the role of the protagonist instead. So there was almost no way that you would ever let yourself be embarrassed by a proposal. For all he knew, you might even reject his proposal as a result.
A heavy sigh escaped his lips, would it be a mistake to ask you to spend the rest of your life with him? You were a human, and he was a Servant of the past. The past was never supposed to interfere with the future, and quite frankly there was still the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that his affections towards you would impede your future. He didn’t like the idea of it, but he still couldn’t find it in himself to step away.
He loved you, truly he did.
In his selflessness, he would be willing to watch you live your life happy whether or not it included him in the picture. As long as you were happy and that there was a smile on your face, that’s all that mattered to him.
And yet in his selfishness, he wanted nothing more than to be the person to bring a smile on your face. His heart races each time you call his name, and he can’t stop the blush on his cheeks from flushing each time you gently held onto his arm or patted his back. He loved your gentle touch of affection, and he loved how he was the lucky person who was allowed to see your smile, who you turn to when you were feeling down. He was one of the only ones that were allowed to see you at your weakest, and it always made him feel both proud and almost a bit sad that he couldn’t do anything for you at times.
He sighed. Would it be bad for him to confess?
A second sigh escaped his lips, and almost immediately he heard a knock on his room door.
“Come in.”
“Cu!”
He could never mistaken your voice for anyone else. It was uniquely yours, and it always managed to soothe his soul from all the thoughts and past memories that burdened it. He stood up and smiled, “What’s up, Master?”
“I heard you were having a hard time today, everything okay?”
“Me? A hard time? No, I’m perfectly fine.”
“Hmmm, I don’t believe you,” you whistled. You shrugged and asked, “So nothing happened?”
“Nope.”
Cu lied through his teeth, and was facing away from you. He was a bit scared that if he did turn around you’d see right through him. You’ve called him out before for all the times that he’s avoided doing something for you or avoided a confrontation.
“Well, in that case, you wanna teach me more rune magic?”
“Again?”
Cu turned around, slightly exasperated. He’s already been lectured several times by others that it was far too dangerous for a human like you to learn Celtic runes. It wasn’t as though you weren’t capable, it just took up more magical energy than preferred.
“Yeah!”
“Fine, fine, let me go get some jewels for catalyst,” he sighed in resignation as he went to grab his stash. As he left the room, he heard you flop onto his bed and he couldn’t stop the silly grin from appearing on his face. It was nice, even if he didn’t know how to tell you about the proposal.
As he slowly looked over each jewel, a revelation slapped him across the face. I could propose with the runes. If it weren’t for the fact that he has gotten used to lying through his teeth after all the years of escaping Scathach’s training regimen, he probably wouldn’t have been able to keep a straight face properly.
As he came back to the room with the jewels, he laid them out on the bed beside you. You looked at them eagerly and asked, “Anything special about these jewels?”
“Besides the fact that these ones happen to shine the brightest? Not really,” Cu responded. He spread them out evenly and continued, “Today I’ll teach you a way to use rune spells for a simple SOS.”
“SOS? So I guess it’d be a way for me to signal my location, though it might be dangerous if the enemy notices.”
“Well,” Cu drawled, “It’s a simple SOS because you can create smokescreens or explosions with them. If you concentrate enough,” he paused as he quickly snapped a jewel into his hand and flicked it into the air before him. The jewel exploded brilliantly and created a simple pattern, and in this case, it was a flower. “With any symbol, you can signal something mid battle as a last ditch effort to reconnect the group in case you guys have to separate.”
“Ooh, that’s pretty,” you commented. Cu rolled his eyes at how you nearly ignored his entire explanation and he continued, “Yeah, they are.”
He casually lifted a few more jewels and activated them, this time each symbol represented the bonds and memories shared between the two of you. Your mere fascination slowly changed as it dawned upon you the actual situation here. As you looked around the room, it was as though you were peering through the memories that the two of you shared and you softly asked, “Cu… what is all of this?”
“Well,” Cu sheepishly looked away and mumbled, “I… I’ve been thinking about this a lot, Master. No… [Name].” The way he called your name was so gentle, you found that your breath hitched ever so slightly. He glanced over to you and continued, “I really like you, and I would be honored to be by your side for the rest of your life. I may not be the best Servant in terms of firepower or abilities… but I’ll protect you with my entire being.”
“Cu…”
Your hand gently took his into yours, effectively canceling out the rune magic as it broke his concentration. He glanced over to you and mumbled, “Sorry if this came out of nowhere, I’ve… really been wanting to tell you, I just didn’t know how.”
“Well, this was a pretty good way to,” you laughed. Your hands locked with his and you smiled, “You know I only asked you to teach me rune magic just so I had an excuse to get closer to you, but this… this was more than I could have anticipated. I would love for you to be by my side, Cu.”
“R-really?!”
“Yeah,” you laughed and continued, “It’d be nice if you could continue teaching me too.”
“I don’t know if I can teach you efficiently right now, I’m really…” Cu stopped. No matter how many years of keeping a straight face, he can’t stop his lips from turning into a silly, goofy smile. He gently pulled you closer and mumbled against your cheek, “Maybe later, just, just come here for now.”