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Someone was doing some kind of paperwork, possibly mission reports, when there was a knock at their door. "Hm?" Said someone, Sherry of course, looked up towards the door.

"Yeah!" She got out of her chair ask quick as she could, heading towards the door. "Just a sec~" Though was was pretty much opening the door as she said it.

"Solia," Sherry said with a smile, "Hi! How are you?"

"Oooh!" Sherry was more than happy to accept the chocolate. Chocolate was always welcome. Yes indeed.

Stepping aside, she motioned for Solia to come on into the room, sparse as it still was. Sherry really should get herself some new furniture. But at least the bed was big and roomy and just perfect for sitting.

She was nodding, glad to hear Solia was doing well. Always a good thing. Wait. What? "I - I'm good." She was also turning a tiny bit pink. "And I suppose I did."

She motioned at the bed, more than willing to tell Solia ALL about it. Sherry was still rather giddy. "Took nearly a year, but I think we might actually have something this time."

Solia’s comment only made her blush harder, but she grinned something fierce. She couldn’t help it, she WAS happy, even if it showed on her face. Letting the happy showed would help with the blush anyway. Calm her nerves and all that.

“Oh, it was just a small date,” she said, waving her hand a little dismissively. The one with the ring on it, of course. It was a plain thing, a silver band that aside from the shine of new it didn’t really stand out, especially on a girl who wore decent amount of shiny trinkets. Besides, it was on her right hand (Jake’s fault).

“Would you,” she went on, only not with the story, “like anything to drink? I have…water.” Bottled water, because she was classy like that. Perhaps she should invest in a teapot. She didn’t entirely wait for a reply, rather she moved toward her box of random foodstuffs, grabbing said water and heading back towards the bed with it.

“It was a date. He’d promised it ages ago, long enough that I thought he’d forgotten about it.” She smiled, tossing the water onto the middle of the bed before sitting down herself. “We went to Belgium, in search of waffles. Which he did entirely for me, since he hates anything sweet.” Sherry sighed. “But he tried. Which was incredibly romantic. And after brunch we had lunch. He let me pick that, too, so I chose sausages because I knew he’d like them. We had a lovely walk in a park, then did some touristy shopping.” You wanted to hear the whole story, right Solia? Sherry hoped so, cause she was going to tell it. “Which was fun. I did get some lovely things.”

Sherry’s eyes all but twinkled. This was the best part. “And as we watched the sunset over the city, he made me close my eyes so he could give me a present.” She was doing her very best to make anticipation rise here. “I wasn’t sure what to expect. I mean, he’d given me sweets already, and jewelry. But when I opened my eyes I found a music box. That one there.” She gestured toward her tiny nightstand, where a Music Box with her name engraved on it sat. “Apparently he made his weapon help pick it out.” Sherry giggled. Jake was adorable, okay.

“Inside the box, I found two rings,” she held out her hand, showing off her little silver band. “Not, uh, engagement. But a promise.” A lovely promise, all she’d ever wanted and more than she’d dared hope to get in the past few months. “It was the most romantic surprise I've ever had.”

Sherry laughed and looked a tad sheepish. “Sorry. I just, I’m still excited about it.” She’d let her mouth run away with her.

Okay, so the hug made Sherry happy. And she blushed harder; she DID have it bad for Jake.

"He, uh, promised not to go back on his word, not to lie." Sherry fiddled with the ring, admiring it. "And he said there was no one else he'd rather spend his life with. But not really... marriage. So, I don't know. Long term, serious love."

She smiled at Solia, eyes still sparkling. "He got our names engraved on the rings. His name in mine, my name is his. That's pretty serious, right?"

Solia's enthusiasm was contagious...or maybe it was just helping Sherry bring out her own. She was still super giddy about the whole thing. She likely would be. And having someone just as excited to gush about it to, well it was really nice to have some be excited with her, okay.

Sherry blinked in surprise, hand rising to her mouth. "You think so? I...I..." Her asking him? "I don't know. Jake, he's, well I don't know if he'd be willing..." Sherry hadn't thought of asking him. She had only just begun thinking about him asking her. Solia had just opened up a whole new world of possibilities.

She fidgeted with the ring, the one with his name in it. "It is kind of 'like marriage without the fancy name', isn't it?" She liked your terminology, Solia. "Rings are serious."

Her mind was going in circles, both liking the thought, and being scared of it. "Do you really think I should?"

Solia seemed so sure about it that Sherry had to fight the urge to walk out of the room to find Jake right then. She loved him, he loved her, he said he wanted her for the rest of his life, she knew she wanted him... It made perfect sense. Seriously, Solia's enthusiasm and faith was influential. She had even gotten to her feet.

Armagnac grumbled and Sherry bit her lip. "I should," she said, beginning to pace. "But I don't know. What if he says no?"

She turned, looking at Solia with great big eyes full of worries and questions. "Should I find out how he feels about marriage first? And... proposals take planning, don't they? Is it too soon after the rings? I don't want him to think they're not good enough, cause they are wonderful. How long should I wait?" She was pacing again, voicing the questions as they came to her. "What if I wait too long? What if I mess it up? What if I offend him by asking? He seems to like taking on the traditionally manly roles." Really, there were so many what if and how do questions Sherry was going to get lost.

"Oh, Solia, what if he says no?" That was really the biggest question. "What if putting a fancy word on it ruins it?" He...he had said he'd not thought about marriage yet, not really. Maybe she should take that as a hint?

"I don't know if I'm ready for this."

"But-" Sherry was ready to protest. Solia said he wouldn't say no...and then she went on to back up her reasoning. Sherry started nodding. Love was strong, yes. A month, ok. Casual, yes.

And yes. He loved her, Sherry was still nodding in agreement. He said he did. The rings and the music box were proof of that. More nodding. Sherry would still love Jake through all of those things, so yeah. Solia was right.

Solia also seemed so confident. So certain.

Sherry just stood there. Her mind going back and forth about it. "Okay!" She said when Solia told her for "now" for the second time. She turned, taking three steps, and stopped.

"I can't! It's far too soon!" Those nervous kind of butterflies were all over in her stomach, her mind doing a quick once over of all those times Jake had pushed her away the moment she got close. Sherry was way too afraid of rejection to ask. Too afraid. She didn't want to break things, not now.

She looked back at Solia, almost apologetic. "I don't know if I'm ready." The very thought of asking was so scary.

She thought for a moment longer. "Maybe I should ask him to move in with me. If he won't do that, then I'll know marriage is a horrible idea."