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It’s Christmas when Ladd proposes for the second time, and he insists that there has to be a second time because they didn’t properly celebrate their engagement the first time. Lua doesn’t question this because she knows Ladd and she knows how thinks and how important this must be to him, and he really appreciates that. She really is something else, a real one of a kind.
He initially proposed to her not long after meeting her, because he fell madly in love with her within an hour of meeting her, and he was trying to take things as slow as he could, under those circumstances. There hadn’t been a ring, but she had looked so happy when he asked her, and of course she had accepted. It had been a private affair, more of a promise than anything else, and now he wants to make it more official. Now, he has a ring, and he’s going to tell his family, and they’re going to celebrate in style.
Ladd tells her ahead of time that he’s going to be proposing for real this time and she nods and smiles softly, and he knows how to read her well enough now that he can tell how excited she must be for what he has planned. And he has everything perfectly planned, the perfect celebration for the woman of his dreams, the one he never counted on and never knew he needed, agreeing to become his wife while she waits for him to kill her.
It’s going to be a long term engagement, he thinks. He isn’t quite sure yet, but he thinks that she is going to think that the perfect way to spend their honeymoon will be to spend it getting lovingly killed by her groom, and if that’s the case, then he can’t make her his bride until he’s completely ready for that, and he still doesn’t know how long that will be. It will be a great effort to remain patient on both fronts, but he knows that it will be well worth it, for both of them.
With Christmas coming up, he decides to properly propose to her then, and has another gift to follow it up, for his proper celebration of their engagement. His friends have already been told about this little celebration, and he hopes that Lua will be just as excited as he is, and as his friends- with the exception of Who- seem to be.
It’s their very first Christmas together, and when he wakes up in the morning, he can’t wait for her to wake up naturally, shaking her awake like an excited child, but much more excited for her to get her presents than for him to open his own. She is kind enough to get out of bed quickly, rather than taking her time like she does on some mornings, and he hurries to grab her first present, the small box that he knows she knows contains the ring.
He gets down on one knee, just like he’s supposed to, popping open the box while he asks her, “You still wanna get married, right?”
She answers with a simple, “Yes,” offering her hand and smiling softly while he slides the ring onto her finger. They’ve been engaged for some time now, but this makes it feel even more real, and Ladd is absolutely giddy as he pulls out her next present and hands it to her.
“Since we’re engaged for real now, we’ve really gotta celebrate it, right?! So, that’s why, in a week...well, open it first!” he urges her, not wanting to give it away before she’s even looked.
She opens the box- that he did not bother wrapping- and studies the pieces of paper inside, picking one of them up. Before she can ask what they are, he says, “They’re tickets! For this luxury train, or whatever, so we can take a trip! We never get to travel together, you know, so! Doesn’t it sound fun?”
She nods, but doesn’t look convinced. He isn’t surprised; he knew that a simple vacation wouldn’t be enough to win over someone like Lua, who often prefers staying home to anything else. Ladd grins as he continues, “But that’s not all! See, I’m plannin’ on hijacking it!”
“You are?”
“Yup! Me and some friends, of course, I’ve got a whole group figured out! So, how about that for celebrating our engagement in style? Huh?”
“That sounds a little bit more fun,” she admits, and he deflates.
“Only a little bit?” he whines. “Ah, you’re so hard to please, Lua! What’ll it take to get you excited?”
The look on her face tells him all that he needs to know. Of course, there’s only one celebration that’ll really excite her, and he should have known that from the start.