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Julian was saying… something. Cap wasn’t really paying attention and he probably didn’t want to be. Alison certainly looked like she regretted sitting down. He had caught brief snippets during his musings: comments about unsavoury usage of clothing and the like, but he was taking in even less than he usually would when Julian started telling a story.
Then he noticed that neither Julian nor Alison were saying anything at all. In fact, they were looking at him with concern.
He cleared his throat. “Something the matter?”
“The matter? You’re not even listening! I was sure you would have told me to quieten down by now, but you’re just staring at your glass. Hoping you could glare it into refilling, were you?”
“No, Fawcett. I was…” He trailed off, once again unsure of himself.
Julian opened his mouth, but Alison spoke first. “You were what, Cap?”
“I was thinking of proposing.” He looked back down at his glass. “To William.” He clarified; no sense in giving Julian any room to twist his words.
No one spoke. Cap steeled himself and lifted his head, to find them gaping at him. “Oh, close your mouths, both of you.”
“You want to propose?” Julian was whispering now.
“To William?” So was Alison.
“Do you have a ring?”
“Oo, yeah. Show us the ring.”
Cap cleared his throat again and curled his fingers around his empty glass. “No, I don’t have a ring yet. I’m still deliberating.”
Julian leapt up, downed the rest of his drink, and slammed the glass on the table. “Then let’s go!”
“What? Where?”
“Ring shopping! D’uh! There’s a jeweller’s not far from here. If I mention Paignton to the owner, he’ll give you a discount.”
He turned and marched out of the pub, and Alison stood to follow.
Cap wasn’t sure he wanted to buy a ring from someone who would give a discount because Julian could say a place name, but it seemed like he was going to the jeweller’s whether he wanted to or not. Hopefully, William wouldn’t mind.