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“Alright creation. This is a very special job that I am entrusting to you.” Rhinedottir said, pacing the floor. Albedo sat on the ground cross legged, watching her silently. His teal eyes flitted from side to side to capture his Master’s every move. His gaze only served to make Rhinedottir even more anxious, and her pacing increased its well, pace.
The older alchemist turned the small cube box in her hands over and over again. She’d had it ordered specially, custom made as well. The ring had cost a fortune, but it was nothing that Rhinedottir couldn’t pay of course. Potions sold well in the market, and Rhinedottir seemed to have a readily available abundance of those.
The material the ring was made out of was none other than her namesake, gold. Perhaps it was a bit conceited to get Alice a ring made out of the thing that Rhinedottir loved the most (aside from her lover), but Rhinedottir was sure the other woman wouldn’t mind.
“She’ll like it, won’t she?” Rhinedottir paused in her steps, looking over at her homunculus. He blinked at her, and Rhinedottir could see the cogs turning in his mind. Surely thinking of a sufficient reply to not upset her further. After a moment, Albedo hesitantly shrugged. “What is that supposed to mean?!” Rhinedottir demanded, and the homunculus flinched at the volume of his Master’s nervous outburst; making Rhinedottir sigh and mutter an apology in an attempt to soothe him.
Rhinedottir carefully opened up the box to examine its contents once more. A gold band sat wedged between two pieces of velvet. It was beautifully crafted, and resembled a branch with leaves on it, twisted into a perfect circle, made to fit a certain pale ring finger.
Albedo stood up from his spot on the ground and peered over, trying to catch a glimpse of what Rhinedottir was looking at. Rhinedottir decided to indulge his curiosity, just this once. The woman lowered her hands slightly, tilting the open box in Albedo’s direction. The homunculus looked at the ring for a moment before nodding.
“I think she will like it.” He said. This did nothing to reassure the older though, and Rhinedottir snapped the box shut with another sigh.
“Maybe I should wait a bit more.”
“If you want.”
“...”
“...”
“Nevermind, I’ll do it today.” Rhinedottir decided, shaking her head. Albedo merely blinked and held back a snort at his Master’s indecisiveness.
“If you are going to do it today, then you would have to hurry up a little, since Miss Alice is almost back from her walk.” Albedo pointed out, looking up at his Master and extending out a hand for the ring. Rhinedottir stepped away from him, clutching the box to her chest like a stubborn child.
It was quite strange, as well as amusing to Albedo, to say the least. Seeing his Master act so… childish was a unique experience indeed.
“Wait, I-I need to do something first.” Rhinedottir said, before turning away. Soft rustling sounds and quiet scratches of a pen could be heard. While Rhinedottir did.. whatever she was doing, Albedo stood guard, watching and listening for any sign of Alice’s return.
Rhinedottir quickly finished up what she was doing, and tucked a folded piece of paper inside the box. It wasn’t that difficult, since she hadn’t written much, and the paper was not very big, having been ripped out of her notepad.
She’d never written a letter like that before, a love letter. Rhinedottir hoped she’d done a good job at conveying her feelings, since she was never very good at that in the first place. The outcome of her proposal and Alice’s reaction would determine that though.
“Here.” Rhinedottir handed the box to Albedo, who took it carefully. “Give this to Alice when she comes back. I’ll be.. over there.” The woman instructed, before scurrying, for lack of better term, out of their makeshift camp and hiding behind a nearby tree. She also almost hit her head on one of the branches in the process, but Rhinedottir successfully got behind the thick trunk.
Albedo pretended he couldn't see the corner of Rhinedottir’s cloak poking out of the cover of the tree trunk.
A few tense moments later, the familiar sound of Alice’s cheerful humming started to get near, luckily on the opposite side of Rhinedottir’s hiding place. The woman herself practically skipped into the camp, waving a friendly hello to Albedo.
The homunculus waved back to spark awkwardly, switching the hand that the box was in to his left, so he could wave with his right.
“Hello, dear Albedo, good morning,” Alice smiled, before holding up some sunsettias. “I brought some sunsettias out. I saw a tree while walking and decided to bring some back for you and Rhinedottir.. speaking of Rhinedottir, where is she?”
Alice looked around, her gaze lighting up once spark spotted the tip of the cloak behind the tree. The woman opened her mouth to call out to her lover, but was interrupted by Albedo.
“This is for you.” The blonde interrupted, wincing at his own rudeness. He presented the box to Alice, holding it out to her for spark to take. “From my Master.” Alice casted a glance towards the tree, where Rhinedottir finally realized that her cloak was betraying her hiding place, and whisked it out of view, scrunching it up in her fists and holding it to her chest in anticipation.
Alice took the box from him gently, opening it to let out a soft “oh” at the contents. The folded up piece of paper fell out, landing on the ground with a small rustle.
“I’m going to go wash the sunsettias.” Albedo said awkwardly, fleeing the scene with said fruit in his arms, likely heading towards a nearby stream.
Alice bent over to pick it up, before unfolding it to read the contents. Spark let out a second “oh” as she read. Rhinedottir couldn’t help but twist her head around to check what was going on.
At the same time, Alice looked up, right at her. Alice’s features twisted into a fond smile, as spark called out to Rhinedottir.
“I know you’re there, Rhine.” Rhinedottir stepped out of her hiding place, ducking under a low tree branch. She shuffled forward, under she was standing in front of Alice.
“Did you read the letter?” Rhinedottir asked tentatively, her golden eyes scanning Alice’s features. Alice nodded.
“Did you.. really mean it?” Alice said, even though spark already knew the answer. She wanted to hear it, from Rhinedottir’s lips.
“Yeah.” Rhinedottir said, gulping. Alice’s eyes stretched impossibly wider. Why was she so surprised? Their love for each other was incredibly obvious, and it was only natural that this was the next step to take. To make things official.
“Say it.” Alice whispered breathlessly. Rhinedottir blinked, tilting her head.
“Pardon?”
“Say it, out loud, please. You get down on one knee, and you say it.” Who was Rhinedottir to deny her love’s wishes? The woman gently took the box from Alice’s hand, and the other let her, watching her with those scarlet eyes that Rhinedottir adored so much.
Rhinedottir slowly lowered herself onto one knee, propping herself up with the other. Her hands flipped open the box, presenting the beautiful ring inside to Alice. The ring that held a promise that Rhinedottir would never dare break.
“Alice Dombrow, you have impacted my life more than I would like to admit, and even though I might not show it very well at times, I love you. Very much, in fact. Which is why I have to ask if I can spend the rest of your life with you.” Rhinedottir confessed, feeling herself tear up just a bit. Alice’s eyes looked watery as well, which showed that they were both very much in the same boat.
“Alice Dombrow, will you marry me?”
Alice stared at Rhinedottir, her gaze flitting between her lover and the golden ring, still so shocked that she was being asked this question for a second time in her life.
Rhinedottir opened her mouth to say more, suddenly feeling uneasy at the others silence; but was promptly shut up by the feeling of warm lips pressing against hers. The ring box shut between them with a click.
Eventually, the two did have to break for air, but they still remained pressed together, Rhinedottir being the one looking up for once, while Alice cupped her face. Rhinedottir had seen gods in all their glory, witnessed the births of thousands of creations, her creations , yet nothing compared to the sight of the woman before her.
“Is that a yes?” Rhinedottir whispered. Alice threw her head back with a laugh.
“Yes. It is.” Alice said, diving back in to pull her fiancé into another kiss, the other woman gladly obliging.
Albedo watched the scene quietly from behind a tree, the very same one Rhinedottir had been hiding behind. The freshly washed sunsettias were surely soaking the sleeves of his sweater, but the homunculus didn’t seem to care.
He wished he had his sketchbook with him, so he could capture this tender moment and preserve it in all its magnificent splendor, for all eternity.
But for now, he would settle for just living in the moment. Albedo doubted he would ever forget this sight anyway.