โโโโโโโ โYou seem... surprised,โ he observes, when the few seconds of silence he had expected stretch into something longer.
โโโโโโโ It's a curious thing to point out, perhaps: it is her birthday, after all. And a proper gift should carry at least a slight element of surprise, shouldn't it? That had been Law's thought process behind the second addition to the box perched upon the witch's lap now; that there should probably be something she hadn't anticipated to go with what he'd been so certain she'd expect to find when she opened it.
โโโโโโโ But the quiet is so abrupt - so loud as she considers it, Law can't help but think he might have misconstrued something. Because it's gotta be the ribbon that's left her momentarily speechless, surely. The necklace had been a thought he'd been briefly pleased with himself for having - but he hadn't even gotten the finished product back before convincing himself it was silly and sappy. Once he had it in hand, he'd turned the concept over enough times to wonder if he shouldn't have gone with something nicer and shinier instead. He's not even sure it translated - and there's no way she's riddled it out with a glaring marriage proposal in front of her anyway. Probably.
โโโโโโโ (He doesn't have a thought to spare for it in the moment, honestly. Because he had. Given her an (official this time) marriage proposal. And he'd been very, very sure she'd known it was coming but maybe her teasing had actually been just teasing and-)
โโโโโโโ โI did tell you I'd buy you another one if you really made it here one day,โ he reminds her, forcing himself to wait for a response - it didn't have to be an answer - and biting down hard on the question burning his tongue. You don't want it?
โโโโโโโ That there's a necklace in there at all, never mind that it's not jewels or gemstones but a silly pressed flower from a plant she'd sent him a long, long time ago, is completely forgotten. Far too late, he's wondering if maybe he shouldn't have assumed she'd hinted she expected someday - when they were teenagers.
โโโโโโโ (Saro vc: Happy birthday, Leanne! Have one massively overthinky mess of a man who loves you. Even if it is a few hours late now.)
She hadn't expected him to have kept the flowers. It'd been a whim to send her favorite flower along when she had, more than anything. A silly thought.
But he's kept it this whole time, and turned it into something special just for her. Something that connects them both โ the ribbon's noted too, but she's too focused on the necklace to really think about what that means.
(She's glad he's asking. Has been looking for a way to bridge the gap since she was twelve, because she knew even then where that road ended. That he knew too and was just waiting for her to get here is pleasing. And obviously she's going to say yes. Once she gets over staring at the necklace.)
Leanne lifts the jewelry out of the box finally, turning it over in her fingers a few times to memorize the shape and color before she looks up at him. "I sent you these from my mom's garden because they're my favorite, you know."
She wonders if he'd dried the flowers after they died, or if he'd kept growing them from seeds over and over. Did he have a little patch from them dropping their seeds every time they bloomed? Probably not on the sub, she supposed.
"Help me put it on?" She lets the necklace dangle from her fingers as she offers it, hair gathering into one hand as she turns around when he takes it. "Also, I'm thinking three is a good number of kids. Think the Tang has room for that many?"
