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"Are you quite sure that it would be a good idea to do it here, out of all places?" Fendi frowned at his fellow personality's odd choice of place, for even as he himself may have attachment to the Mystery Room, it wasn't necessarily the place to propose for someone's hand in marriage.
"You certainly are insufferable, aren't you?" Al snapped back, "It is, truthfully, the best place to ask. Full of memories, moments tethered in time."
"And when the place is demolished? When we don't work here anymore? This isn't quite a public place, if you do recall. Someday, someone will take this position from us and this life of solving crime will no longer fit our lifestyle." Fendi tapped his chin, "Maybe we could do it in the park? There are plenty of places out there besides here."
"You've only existed for five years. I don't think you have such a right to talk for long term. You're not even sure you'll remain." Al remarked.
"Perhaps, but my point still stands."
It was a long day that was coming to a close. Although he was sure she forgot, it was their two year anniversary to the day they began working together. Both personalities had been curating their own speeches, their own preparations to make sure their proposals to the perfect woman would go without a hitch. Although, as with most things that were meant to be challenging, they were having an internal debate on whether or not to do what they had been dreaming of since after Forbodium.
It was enough to stir a confusion within him. It was also enough for Lucy to take note.
"Prof, are you alright? This is the third time you've dozed." Lucy said, flipping through the pages of their recent crime that they had solved. "Boring as this is, we have to be up for just a little longer."
"I'm fine, Lucy. Just thinking." Fendi shrugged, shaking his head and continued to write.
"About the case?" Lucy asked, "It was quite the doozy. Who knew the child was capable? The way she unnervingly said that she had killed them all just to see what was inside the human body?"
"Nobody did. Underestimated her. Luckily, we apprehended her fast enough so she wouldn't go off the hook again." He shook his head once again, "It's not about the case. Just something on my mind, my dear Lucy. Don't worry."
"Are you sure?" Lucy asked, placing a hand on his coated arm. Al came to full form, sighing at her gesture. He loved it all the same, but worrying her wouldn't be a good move. She smiled sheepishly to him, moving her hand to his own. The warmth of her skin was enough to make his cheeks warm, even if they had been dating for sometime now.
"Don't worry your pretty little head, Baker. Fendi and I are just chatting in here." Al attempted a smile, then turned back to the paperwork. It was obvious that they really were quarreling inside, but Lucy couldn't really decipher what it could be. They went along for most cases, with each having a skill set that proved useful most of the time. Regardless, she looked up at the clock on the wall and noticed it was already time to go.
"Prof? I'm gonna start wrapping up. It's almost time to go." Lucy closed the file, standing and began to prepare her routine. Picking up paper balls that the Al seemed to have gained an affinity for when it wasn't giving him the proper information to confidential paperwork that wasn't meant to be laying around. The Prof looked up, his chin resting on his raised palm as he watched her for a moment while her back was turned.
"I think we should do it here. I've made up my mind."
"Your insistence will drive me insane—wait. You want to do it here?" Al frowned. "You didn't seem so keen before. I was almost tempted to just do it here myself without you."
"Just looking at her, right here, Al...it feels right. There's something about it. Maybe the glow of the lamp softening her features or maybe the way she just knows what to do for anything we need. I don't know. And I knew you'd never do it without me, so why not jump with you?"
"So sure of yourself. You're quite the loving romantic. Go write a book."
"Yeah. I'm sure of myself because you love her too. You know she loves us both. It wouldn't feel right without me. Don't forget I probably gained this loving side from you. Don't pretend it's not a part of you."
"Just shut up before I make you."
"Can't cut your own tongue, Al." Fendi chided.
"There are other ways to shut you up."
In a light silence, the two inhabitants of the Mystery Room began cleaning. It was a quiet process most of the time, as most topics that were interesting to discuss tended to be spoken of in the middle of the day. Once it was over, it was clockwork routine for Lucy to grab her belongings and for the Prof to lock up, with the two heading to their shared flat.
Fendi watched her grab her belongings from the coatrack nearby and chose to finally make his move. There was no hesitation when he reached into his pocket. When Lucy realized the Prof was neither saying anything or making any move to head for the door, she turned around to him.
"Prof? Aren't you coming?" Lucy gasped as she saw him on one knee, specifically his left, the blue velvet box in his hands.
"This was your plan, wasn't it, for me to do so first?"
"She's waiting, Fendi."
With a shaky breath, Fendi began.
"When I had read the memo about you showing up into my office, I had little promise, for looking at your test scores had brought me mixed reactions. Certainly, to have someone as an assistant is always seen as bogging, slowing down the process I had — rather Al had built up — over the years. But frankly, when you had called me Prof, unbeknownst to you, I already knew that you were going to stick for a long time." He looked to her in a loving gaze, seeing tears of joy collect in her eyes.
"You've already shown me the possibilities that are out there, more so than really, either of us had expected. Your acceptance between what had occurred during Forbodeum was enough for me to realize that I needed you, in more ways than one. Our subsequent relationship only solidified that conclusion to me." He chuckled softly, opening the box, revealing a sapphire engagement ring, the stone in a halo shape, shining bright against the diamond accents on a silver gold band that split underneath the stone. "Will you give me the honor, Lucy Baker, by calling me your Prof for the rest of our lives?"
"God, Prof, yes!" A bright smile illuminated Fendi's features and he took the ring out of the box. He stood and with her hand extended, he inserted the ring on her left hand's ring finger. Pocketing the box, he brought her close and kissed her on the lips as he would—sweet, his shyness coming out in his gesture. After a hesitant release, he went back on his knee, this time, his right.
"And now, it is my turn," Al grinned, "If you will allow me, Baker."
"Potty?" Lucy asked, her eyebrows raising as he pulled out a red box. He grumbled under his breath, rolling his eyes at the name.
"If you will, please refrain from calling me that as I am trying to propose in my own manner? I thought we spoke about this. I'm Al and he's Fendi."
"Sorry, Al. I'm still not quite used to it." He let out a low breath of frustration, which subsequently turned to a low chuckle. "But why? You technically have asked me to marry you too already."
"But those words he had said were his, not of my accord and the ring he had chosen for you is his. I have my own." Al responded, "Now will you stop interrupting me? There are very few times I will show any sort of pathos towards the more sensitive side, if you need motivation to shut your mouth."
Lucy gave a short nod, a smile gracing her lips as Al professed his love in his own manner.
"Baker, your presence, in all my years, is the biggest mystery I have ever been presented. There has been nobody that I can recall, who has stayed longer by my side by choice. You could have left, at any moment, at any time, throughout our time together so far. At most, my attitudes towards you were to push your incessant and childish wonder away, for as you must understand, Fendi's appearance wasn't a planned event and at the time, I was reeling back from having another in me. "
"But as time went on, I noticed something. Each time I had emerged, each time any sane person would have doubt in my sanity or had left me long ago and yet, you remained. Out of all the mysteries I have encountered, yours was the only one, even after Forbodium, that I couldn't deduce a solution from. I supposed, with the unfortunate help from Placid and a lot of thinking, that I needed more time to deduce your mystery. So, in short, I don't want to let you go, not while I have yet to solve your mystery. Perhaps I will never solve you, but at the very least, I'd like for you to remain." He opened his box, revealing a ruby ring in a teardrop shape, held to the band by a solitaire hold. The band was, similarly to Placid's, a white gold color but had a knife edge to it. "Will you, Lucy Baker, allow me to solve your mystery for the rest of our lives together?"
"How could I say no to you? Yes, of course!" Al stood, smirking and removing his ring from the box and placing it in Lucy's right ring finger. She put out both hands, both gems sparkling. As it was Potty's turn, he ensnared her lips with voracity that could only be attributed to his passion. In release, Fendi emerged from the back.
"You're married to both of us now." Fendi said, watching as she looked to the rings.
"Engaged, Prof."
"All the same." Al said, "I can promise you one thing though, Baker." Taking ahold of both hands in an uncharacteristically romantic gesture, Lucy looked up to him.
"Yes?"
"I won't need to call you Baker anymore."