#zoree

Zore is this you

Istg

Zoran had come and gone to the candle store too many times. He went at the beginning, left cluelessly, went to buy the DVD and shoes and glue for the card he was making, coming back to see the candles between each task. The final time he came there, he was about to give up on the idea of getting Yankee a candle. That is, until he noticed a scent he hadn’t noticed before.

Whiskers on Kittens!

Of course, since the candle was called Yankee and the scent had to do with cats, it was the perfect birthday tease. Zoran bought it without hesitation and checked off his final item on the shopping list.

He carried a few bags as he walked toward the mall’s gate. Who could have pictured it– Zoran in a mall, carrying a shopping bag from Nike out of all stores. It defied logic in two ways: Firstly, Zoran never went shopping. And secondly, his part-time job could barely make for enough saving to pay off his student loan, yet he went ahead and spent up to a hundred dollars on shoes anyway.

Damn, Yankee changed him significantly, and they weren’t even married yet.

Aaaaand Zoran thanked God quietly that Yankee couldn’t read his mind, because sometimes he just thought the dumbest things. Who said Yankee wanted to marry him?

Again with the sulking in his head. Sometimes, Zoran wondered why he had to be so silly. He wondered that now, as he approached the exist– but something caught his eye and made him forget his sulking completely.

Rings. Out of all things.

It wasn’t that Yankee was a nerd who probably liked The Lord of the Rings, but something just drew Zoran to the shiny display– and no, it was not the shininess either.

His eyes scanned the brief rows, looking for something that reminded him of Yankee. Most of these were women’s rings, to begin with, but Zoran’s gaze eventually settled on a small collection in the corner. Most were completely plain, others had patterns. Zoran especially liked the pattern that looked like a braid; it reminded him of connecting, intertwining.

He was getting it for Yankee.

The very idea of getting Yankee a ring gave Zoran goosebumps. People got rings when they proposed. Zoran was not proposing, but it still felt like he would be if he got a ring.

Which made him want to get it even more.

It could be a promise ring. He’d give it to Yankee and ask him to wear it wherever he goes, to never take it off. The everlasting presence of it was a promise.

It wasn’t expensive, and Zoran hadn’t planned for it to be. He tucked it into his pocket, not trusting a plastic bag with it, and hurried home to prepare before Yankee’s shift ended.

Promise me that no matter where we go, I am yours. That you will keep remembering: I am the ring on your finger. Keep me. Promise you’ll keep me, and remember I love you.