Log // Alison, Haroun // Discoveries...

[x-dazzler.livejournal.com]

Morning. In which Haroun discovers what exactly has in fact been making Alison so fretful at times around him, for the past months. To say that the discovery of the ring leaves Alison a mite shocked is something of an understatement.

Haroun yawned and then looked at the oh-so-slightly drooling asleep blonde in the bed next to him. Be a shame to wake her up just because he was feeling somewhat restless. Silently, he slid out of bed and pulled on a pair of his battered camo pants for putzing around the suite. He had a book that he'd started last night - Gravity's Rainbow - but it was far too heavy a read for a lazy morning like this one. Maybe he'd do better with something a little lighter this morning. And it was too early for prayers and far too early to be getting something to eat. He put a kettle of tea on as he puttered about the suite, trying to decide what he wanted to do with his morning until Alison woke up.

The sound of the kettle woke Alison from her sleep but she muttered lowly to herself, knowing it was only Haroun - his body warmth was still there beside her and she smiled to herself slightly as she shifted in the bed, curling deeper beneath the warmth of the blankets, hiding her face in the pillow. If she didn't have to get up right away, she certainly was going to enjoy the extra time of lazing about in bed.

Haroun heard the incoherent mutterings from the bedroom, and despite himself he had to smile. First things first, though. Since Gravity's Rainbow wasn't going to be read, it needed to go back onto the shelf. He took his book - after marking his place - and went to the bookshelf to reshelf it.

But something was oddly wrong about the bookshelf.

To anyone else, the way the books stuck out and refused to get in line with the others, perhaps by an inch and a half or so, likely wouldn't have really been much of a bother. Apparently, however, it just wasn't the case where Haroun was concerned.

He pulled out the offending books in order to put them back on the shelf correctly when a small box tumbled out and into his hands. Black velvet lining, simple clamshell design. Haroun set it aside for the moment as he put all the books back correctly, then he looked at the box with curiosity. Why was there what looked like a jewelry box hidden in the bookshelf? It wasn't his, so that meant either Miles or Alison. And Miles was definitely not the type to be playing with jewelry boxes. Giving in to curiosity, he cracked open the box to look inside.

A simple, gleaming band winked up at him as the sunlight caught it, silver blended in with a slim line of black metallic alloy, weaving in and out in a traditional Berber pattern. Even upon a cursory inspection, it wasn't hard at all to notice that there was writing on the inside of the band, laser etched with minute precision.

Haroun blinked at the ring. Berber pattern, black-and-silver, writing on the inside of the band. He took the ring out of the box to examine the laser etching, already knowing what he'd see but having to -know-for sure.

Upon closer inspection, the writing resolved itself into a familiar script, the words spelling out two simple words.

Marry me?

Haroun blinked away tears as he stared at the inscription on the inside band of the ring. Unsurprisingly, the ring fit perfectly on his finger. Putting the box in his pocket, he studied the ring on his finger for a moment and then went back into the bedroom to crawl back into bed with Alison.

"Good morning, sleepybutt." he told her, relaxing back in the bed but keeping his hands - with the ring - clearly visible.

"Mrrfl," was the very articulate reply, Alison burying her head in the pillow a while longer before finally giving up, squirming in the bed sheets before managing to turn around to look at him. She offered him a sleepy, lazy sort of smile, blinking up at him slowly.

"Mornin'," was the reply, which hinted at a very large quantity of Alison wanting to go right back to sleep. She blinked at him a few more times, smile growing a bit, until it froze solid and her eyes popped wide open, Alison suddenly far more awake than anyone had any right to be so soon after waking up. Between one moment and the next, she turned from a half asleep woman to a startled half squirm, half hop that carried her right out of the bed and falling right on her behind on the floor, legs still tangled up in the bed sheets as she gaped up at him in sheer surprise.

Haroun scooted over so he could look down at Alison. "Well, that was graceful." he said with a smile. "Want to go get some breakfast?" he asked her pleasantly.

He was still smiling, and a distant corner of Alison's mind was gleefully rejoicing and telling her she ought to get right back into that bed to show him exactly how happy she was, but the rest of her mind was far too busy gibbering in pure shock to react on that instinct just yet. "You... you... you found it!" she squeaked out, pointing in the vague direction of his hand with a wavering fingertip. "How? Wha... I... "

"You fail at hiding." he said with a grin. "The bookshelf is a lousy place to hide things, especially given that I like to read." he said with a small laugh. "It's very pretty." he said, admiring the ring again. "Where'd you get it?"

"You..." He was still smiling. And from the hand he was wearing the ring on, had read the... "Wait." She kicked at the bed sheets, untangling herself as best as she could then scrambled towards the side of the bed, leaning her chin on the edge. "You're wearing it."

Which meant a yes, of sorts, right?

"Well, I figured you wanted me to have it." he said with a grin. "It's a very pretty design." he said. "Not too many Berbers here in New York, and fewer of them are jewelers. And this is excellent craftspersonship." he said, eyeing the design once again.

"Lorna and Nathan helped me," she said vaguely, finally gathering the nerve to scramble up on the bed, ending up nearly nose to nose with Haroun.  "Yes," she said slowly. "I did. Very much. So..." she looked at the ring briefly, then focused back on him. "...is that a yes?"

Haroun quirked an eyebrow at her. "You've gone about this completely backwards, you know." he commented. "I suppose to do this right I should be the one asking you. Americans. No sense of tradition." he said with a grin and a laugh. "Still, I am inordinately fond of you and since you've already put me to the question ... I guess I'll just have to say yes." he grinned. "As womanish as it is."

She'd done it all backwards to the point of confirming he'd said yes after he wore the ring, no less. And yet Alison couldn't have cared less. With a muffled sound she threw her arms around his neck, toppling them both over (somewhat carefully) on the bed. "Oh." She sniffled, while smiling and laughing at the same time. "Oh!"

Haroun tumbled backwards, laughing and kissing Alison at more-or-less the same time. "So - want to go get some breakfast?" he said - or at least tried to. His lips moved, but no sound came out.

Alison was glowing.