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The first thing he had done was ask her parents. He felt that it was important to get permission; to make sure Mr. and Mrs. Parr knew that he was planning to propose. They had enveloped him in a—rather tight—hug and given him their blessing. He didn't know why he had been worried—Bob and Helen had always been kind and openly expressed how much they liked him. Now, with the first question out of the way, he needed to actually buy a ring.
He spent days browsing various jewelers. He had been saving for months and he wasn't going to splurge on just any ring. It had to be perfect.
“Can I help you, young man?” An elderly gentleman behind the counter smiled at him. ”Buying a ring for a certain someone?”
Tony couldn't help but smile back. “Yeah. I just... I want to find something perfect.”
The man laughed with a knowing nod. “I thought the same thing when I first went looking for my wife's ring—may she rest in peace—and it turned out I didn't need to worry. Trust me when I say, your girl will love any ring you present her with.”
“Thank you, sir. I'm just nervous,” Tony said. “I really love her.”
“Well, here—does she has a favourite gemstone? A favourite colour, at least?” the man asked, pulling out reading glasses from his pocket. “We have quite a variety here.”
“Well, she does love the colour purple,” Tony mused, thinking about how well a purple ring would go with her new super suit. “Her name is Violet, funnily enough.”
“Oh, how precious!” A catalogue of the store's stock was placed on the counter and the man ran his finger along the page. “We have a small selection of engagement rings with purple gemstones... Purple diamond, amethyst, iolite, sugilite... What's your price range, son?”
Tony eyed the images of the jewels and his gaze kept returning to the purple diamond. It was the most expensive but he couldn't stop imagining Violet wearing it—how perfectly it would match her force fields—and he was sold.
When he pointed it out, the man smiled. “All right. I'll be back in a jiffy.”
When he saw the physical ring, his breath hitched. It was perfect. Just like he'd hoped.
“I'm glad I could help you out, son,” the man said as he rung up Tony's purchase.
“Thank you so much again, Mister...?”
“Lee,” the man replied, adjusting his glasses with a smile, handing over the plastic bag. “It was a pleasure, Mr. Rydinger.”
Tony didn't realize he had never introduced himself until he was outside the shop.
~~~
The next question that presented itself to Tony gave him more difficulty. How was he going to do this?
He didn't want to just give it to her; he wanted it to be special. He wanted to surprise her with something big and perfect. He found the perfect ring, how much harder could it be to plan the perfect proposal?
As it turned out, very.
Mainly, his girlfriend-hopefully-soon-to-be-fiancée was a superhero. He couldn't plan around every unpredictable disaster or insane supervillain that popped up out of nowhere, and he certainly couldn't stop her from saving the city, even if he wanted to. Taking that into consideration, he couldn't very well try to plan a date, lest he wanted it to be interrupted—this left him with the conclusion that he would need to plan an on-the-spot proposal.
“That kinda negates the whole plan part, doesn't it?” his best friend, Dorian, said, chewing on bubblegum as Tony explained his train of thought.
“No! I mean, yeah, but not really,” Tony protested, attempting to voice his idea. “I'm going to plan a speech and stuff, but I won't pin anything to a specific day—I'll just keep the ring on me and wait for the perfect moment.”
Dorian blew a bubble, then pulled it back into his mouth. “Okay, but explain to me again why your girl can't just take a day off? Or even find, like, a couple hours out of her schedule?”
Of course, Dorian was completely unaware about Violet's secret identity; Tony re-explained his cover story for his girlfriend's unavailability. “I told you, dude—her job is really demanding and it's difficult for her to request time off.”
“You sure she's not, y'know...?” Dorian trailed off, but raised an eyebrow at his friend. Tony felt fury billowing within him at the implication.
“She's not cheating on me, Dor.” His words flew across the table like daggers. Dorian practically fell out of his chair in an effort to dodge. Tony sighed, expression softening at his friend's wide eyes. “Sorry, I didn't mean for that to come out so harshly. I just—Violet isn't that sort of person. If she didn't love me, she would break up with me, not string me along as she slept with someone else.”
Dorian shrugged, popping his gum. “I just worry about you, bro. I really do care,” he added, expression filled with earnest.
Tony smiled. “I know. Thanks, man.” He paused, grin widening as he thought about his second question for his friend. “So, I have another question—and you don't have to say yes—but I was wondering if you wanted to be my best man. Assuming she says yes,” he tacked on, reminding himself to prepare for rejection just in case.
Dorian's bubble popped in his face, leaving a pink stain around his mouth. “Wait, really?”
“Of course, dude! Who else would I ask?”
Dorian's face broke into a grin. “Of course, I will! I'm so proud of you, dude!” Then he quickly added, sheepishly, “Sorry I thought your girlfriend was cheating on you. And that she's a bit weird.”
Tony laughed. “It's cool, man! She is weird—just, in a good way.” His mind turned to thoughts of Violet and he smiled fondly. “I can't wait to marry her.”
“That's pretty presumptuous, Rydinger.”
“Oh, shut up!” He paused, eyebrows ceasing. “Do you think she might say no?”
“No way, dude! I mean, who could resist a stud like you?”
Tony laughed again, shoving his friend playfully. While his mind drifted from the proposal, his nerves remained.
~~~
“Hey, Rydinger! Got a table for six?”
Tony rolled his eyes fondly at the energetic blond. “Sure, Dash. Gimme a second.”
Violet's younger brother, Dash, would often stop by the Happy Platter after his track team meets, usually with a few of his teammates trailing behind. Tony was more than happy to serve them, despite how rambunctious the teenagers could be—customers were customers, after all—and he always enjoyed the bonding he and Dash got. Any chance he could get to bond with his girlfriend's family, he took; it felt even more important to do now that he was getting ready to take their relationship to the next level.
“How was the track meet today, Dash?” Tony asked, as the group slotted into a booth.
“Pretty miserable,” Dash said dramatically, eliciting giggles and eye rolls from his friends. “Stacy beat my record!”
“Finally!” Tony gave a fist bump to the curly-haired girl seated across from the speedster. “You needed to be put in your place eventually, buddy.”
“Aw, c'mon!” After the laughter ceased, Dash grinned widely. “Okay, I'm actually really proud of her, though. I know you've been training a ton recently, Stace.”
Stacy beamed. Tony resisted the urge to roll his eyes; those two were so blind to the obvious crushes they had.
After grabbing the group some drinks and then putting their orders in with the chef, Tony caught Dash on his way to the bathroom. “Hey, Dash! Could I ask you something?”
“Sure! Gimme a millisecond—” A gust of wind seemed to blow through the diner, though Tony knew in actuality Dash had just done his business and returned in that very moment. “What's up, Tony?”
“I don't know if your parents told you or not,” he started, fidgeting with his fingers, “but I'm planning to propose to your sister soon.”
“No way! Dude!” Dash tugged Tony into a tight squeeze; though he may not look like it, Dash was a very touchy person. “That's awesome!”
“Thanks, Dash,” Tony said, after being released from the hug. “I just don't know how to get her alone long enough to ask her.”
“Oh yeah... I guess she's pretty busy with the whole ‘hero’ thing, not to mention school and her part-time job...” Dash tapped his chin in thought. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. “Oh!” A smirk spread across his face and he wrapped his arm around Tony's shoulder conspiratorially. “I've got the perfect idea...”
~~~
He had to admit, the boy had a good plan. It was romantic, a huge statement, and during a time Violet should (theoretically) be booked in the same place for an extended period of time. Of course, it wasn't foolproof, and Tony was terrified out of his mind, but the Parr family seemed to have his back. He exhaled his nerves and squeezed his girlfriend's hand, smiling over at her.
They were sitting in the stands at Dash's most recent track championship, along with Bob, Helen, and Jack-Jack, ready to cheer the boy on. Despite his super speed, the blond did a good job of keeping up appearances of normalcy. He only won forty percent of the time. The other sixty percent, he came in second or third—he was still an incredibly competitive kid, after all. It wasn't that abnormal for some kids to just be naturally faster than their peers. Just, not Dash fast.
The plan was that Dash would race and—no matter what place he came in—he would hold up a sign that told Violet to look at Tony, who would be on one knee at that point. It would be romantic, a huge gesture of love, and, most importantly, a surprise to Violet. Dash also mentioned that it would be sentimental, seeing as that's where he first asked Violet out. Tony didn't bother correcting him—that Violet had been the one to ask him out, and not at the track—because the teen didn't need to know every aspect of his love life.
“RUN!”
Tony grinned as his girlfriend screamed excitedly for her younger brother. She jumped as he advanced past the other teenagers, cheering wildly without a care in the world. Oh, how far they'd come from the awkward and shy teens they used to be.
The relay was over quicker than Tony had anticipated and his heart began to pound so loudly in his chest he wasn't sure how Violet couldn't hear it. The time was coming—so rapidly approaching—and he didn't feel prepared. He couldn't feel his hands as he watched Dash accept the silver medal, turning towards the crowd, pumping his fists. They made eye contact and he knew Dash would pull the crumpled poster from his back pocket any moment now. He swallowed and positioned himself carefully down to one knee. Dash displayed the poster above his head: Violet, your boyfriend wants to ask you something!
“Vi,” Tony said, trying to ignore how his voice and hands both shook, instead focusing on his girlfriend's awed expression, “I've loved you for a long time now. I'm never going to love another girl like how I love you and I want to take our relationship further. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He fumbled with opening the ring box, cursing his jittering fingers. “Violet Parr, will you marry me?”
The silence lasted a mere second, though it felt like an eternity in the slow motion Tony was experiencing. He held his breath, watching the love of his life wipe tears from her eyes. She was smiling and crying and flung her arms around him as she screamed, “YES! YES, TONY, YES!”
They both sat, crumpled together on the bleachers for a moment while the crowd around them cheered. Both were now crying tears of joy and relief as Tony slipped the engagement ring onto Violet's finger. She kissed him soundly and he wondered why he had ever been worried.
Eventually, they returned to their original seats, with a newfound elation. Neither could focus on the rest of the championship while being so filled with ecstasy. Violet's hand never left Tony's the remainder of the afternoon.
~~~
Predictably, the moment the event had come to a close, disaster struck. Before Violet and her family ducked under the bleachers to change, Tony grabbed her arm. He looked at her fervently.
“Be careful.”
She kissed him quick, grinning as she replied. “I'm always careful, Fiancé, dear.”
Tony felt his lips curve into a smile.