“This place is fantastic!” I said in awe as I toured the halls of our new inn. We’d named it The Hearthflame Inn (my suggestion of Inn Cognito had been dismissed as stupid) and we were exploring the completed building. We’d all be sleeping here tonight, and tomorrow most of the group would head back to the Imperial Fork when the City Planner and Workmen we’d hired through Camden showed up.

Callie, who was beaming at the flawlessly constructed building, nodded sharply. “It’s perfect. I love everything about it.” She froze, turning to look at Celine. “I mean…I hope you like it, since this is your territory.”

Smiling, the elf girl shook her head. “I’m grateful for your help developing the territory, and the Starlight Pavilion is always welcome in my borders. I know I can’t actually give you the territory because of your cultivation method, but as the Lady of this territory I am always willing to shield you and yours.”

That was why we were able to make wishes about this place to begin with. There was no mechanism to turn over Imperial territory to anyone but a noble. If we’d had Jobs we might have been able to switch to being nobles ourselves, but as it was that wasn’t on the table.

Still, having a home was…nice. This was our place, where we belonged, and being here gave me the strength to do something I’d been thinking of doing for a long time. I’d already made my plan, but it would need to wait until later. I wanted to make sure everything went perfectly, so for now I’d just enjoy the tour, knowing the layout could only help.

I’d developed enough soul control to prevent my nervous excitement from leaking down the bond, but it was still hard to focus on what was going on, despite my interest. Still, when we reached the kitchen, even anticipation couldn’t keep me from being entranced.

Black metal appliances of every size and shape lined the counters, pots and pans stacked in cupboards, knives of every shape and size, and every object you could think of to peel, press, dice, puree, blend, or otherwise destroy ingredients in cooking adjacent ways was packed into the drawers.

Turning to Callie, I smirked at her knowingly. “It occurs to me that with such an impressive kitchen at my disposal, I’ll have more reason to cook.”

She shrugged with faux nonchalance. “Oh, is that right? I hadn’t really thought about it. Obviously an inn needs a kitchen, but this place was designed to be perfect for me, so obviously a food prep area would be a must.”

“Yes, and I’m sure you pictured some nameless chef doing the preparing.” I said dryly. “But if you wouldn’t be too disappointed, why don’t I test it out for you tonight. I can make us dinner.”

Benny, who was standing behind me inspecting the fridge, turned sharply. “Oh shit, really? I haven’t had your food in ages, I’d love to come over fo-ow!” He turned to Celine, who was glaring at him menacingly. “What? Why did you smack me? I was just telling him I wanted him to make some for us too.”

“I thought I saw a fly.” Said the elf in a deadpan voice. “In fact, it’s still buzzing around. We should leave so I don’t need to try to swat it again.”

Sulkily, and muttering under his breath, Benny let her drag him out of the room. Celine may not know what I had planned, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out it started with a romantic dinner. The others were all exploring the inn, but I suspected they’d be subtly tipped off as well, so I shouldn’t have trouble getting some alone time with Callie.

Watching them go, she shot me a soft smile. “I think dinner would be wonderful.” She said quietly. “We haven’t had time to eat a nice home cooked meal just the two of us in a while.” She reached out and took my hand. “But if you don’t want to cook we can have Anna make something, I don’t want you to feel obligated to feed me.”

I barked out a laugh. “That ship sailed a long time ago, love. But don’t you worry. I want to cook. I promise you’ll love it. I do need to go out and get some things though. Can you set up a table in the basement? That should be empty enough for us to have a nice evening.”

“Already done.” She said with a chuckle. “Remember we’re using it for meetings. Go get whatever you need, I can wait.”

Pulling my mask up, I leaned down for a quick kiss before turning and heading out. The kitchen was stocked with general food stuff, but nothing specific, and aside from cooking I had something else I wanted to pick up.

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I sprinted flat out to Saltzberg, so it didn’t take me too long to arrive. My body being in a constant State of Grace helped. Stopping at the market I picked up the stuff for Chicken and Dumplings, one of the first dishes I ever made for Callie, and then made my second stop to grab the other essential I needed.

When I made it back, I started cooking immediately. We still had a few hours until dinner, but I wanted to do it right. It was relaxing, really. I’d forgotten how much cooking centered me. The repetition, the ritual. I could have done it faster, but that would have defeated the purpose of the whole thing. I wanted to take my time, put my all into it.

Using high end ingredients helped, but with my Lesser Cooking Mastery, I had to put a lot of time and concentration into not screwing up. I had the Impact and the stats to cook E-ranked stuff, but not nearly the Skill, so I’d made sure to get F-ranked ingredients. Even with the lower Skill level my stats should let me bluff my way past as long as I remained focused.

The Starplucker Chicken (no I don’t know why it was called that but it sounded impressive as hell) was tough to cut in its uncooked form, and I admit to abusing my Eye of Revelation and my Overlay to properly cut it up, and once that was done, I had to boil it in a high ranking pot with the F-ranked stove and special Clear Mind Water that I’d bought specifically for that purpose (after searing it to seal in the flavor).

I went on like that for a while, enjoying myself as I got lost in my task. I’d been so focused on war and battle lately I’d forgotten the simple pleasures, and by the time I was done, it was already getting dark.

Leaving the food under a towel to keep it hot, I bolted for a bathroom, where I showered and got changed into clothes from my ring. Then, once I was sure I looked good without my mask (shaving, styling my hair, etcetera) I went back to the kitchen, collected the food, and took it down to the basement.

The meeting room was nice and spacious and I was able to spruce it up even more with some table cloths and candles I’d snagged while shopping. Once that was done I set the food out and plated it onto some nice china before sending a pulse of notification through the bond to Callie.

When she came down the steps, I turned to smile at her and…froze. My jaw dropped almost to the floor as I saw her smiling up at me through her lashes. She’d gotten all dolled up, and it was clear that I was still every bit as blown away by her as the day we met. She was wearing a fancy looking black dress that draped down to her shiny black heels, a pair of black crystal earrings dangling from her lobes.

Her makeup was subtle, not that she needed any (which I’d told her a dozen times but she never listened about that kind of thing) and it drew the eye to her sparkling, intelligent blue eyes, one of the things I loved most about her.

“I…words.” I blurted. Her eyebrow went up, and I coughed. “I mean. I wasn’t expecting for you to get so dressed up.”

She smiled shyly. “I don’t know. We don’t get as much time together like this as I’d like. I wanted to make it special." She frowned. “Is it too much? I know you wanted this to be just a chill evening together. I can change.”

“Don’t you dare.” I said with a laugh. “Now come sit down, the food will get cold.” I pulled out her chair and she sat down, lighting up when she saw what I made. Her mom had used to make it for her when she was a kid, and it was one of her favorite dishes. She didn’t thank me out loud, she didn’t need to. I could feel the affection and adoration across the bond like a banked star. Steady and unceasing, but still powerful.

She took a bite, groaning in happiness at the taste, and snorted in confusion when she saw me staring. “What? Something on my face?”

I considered making a joke, but I decided to just start. “I wanted to talk to you about something. With all this mess with Camden and Spencer, I’ve been pushing pretty hard. I’ve been stretched to my breaking point time and again, and every single time, you’re always there to pull me back. You’re my rock, the center of my universe, and you make every day we have together better than the best day I ever had before you were in my life.”

Her eyes widened, mouth full of her next bite of food, so I kept going, barreling on as best I could. “I know it’s pretty soon. It’s only been a bit over a year, and that’s not too long, but…I love you. When I think about my life without you in it it’s just dull and lifeless, and I can’t imagine ever being happy in a world like that.”

She swallowed her food, eyes stuck to me. “I love you too, Shane, you know that. But all this windup is making me nervous. Are you…” She swallowed. “Do you have something to ask me?” I wasn’t surprised she’d noticed. She knew me better than anyone, and the bond made hiding the terrified pit in my stomach a pipe dream.

I got up from my chair at the table and walked over to hers, kneeling down next to her as I fished out the ring box I’d stopped to buy earlier in town. “I know it’s a little early, but we’ve been through so much together. Life and death, happiness and sadness, and I for one can’t wait to find out what tomorrow is going to bring us. I can’t wait to start the rest of my life with you.”

Opening the box, I showed off the bright silver band with the pitch black diamond I’d spent an entire D-ranked coin on (it was enchanted, obviously). “I love you more than anyone I’ve ever met. You’re the other half of my soul, pretty much literally, and it would make me the happiest man alive if you’d do me the honor of being my wife.” I stared into her eyes, amazed at their glow as they pulled me in like blue supernovas. “Calliope Reynolds, will you marry me?”

Her adoration and heartfelt acceptance hit me through the bond almost as hard as her tackle hit me as she threw herself at me and kissed me senseless. “Yes, you idiot.” She laughed through ecstatic tears. “Why did it take you so godsdamned long to ask?” She pulled me back in for another kiss, and I let the joy and peace overtake me completely. Needless to say, the food ended up getting cold.