Gabriel and the misunderstanding cheek smoosh

A/N This is for the Baron tier shorts

Gabriel had gone to work before the alarm had gone off. It wasn’t unusual of the man, but it was still concerning given that he had sworn he would be staying home during his non work hours. Last night, he had fallen asleep far earlier than what was normal for him and while I had a feeling of unease, I still had let it go. I had learned it much easier to watch him as opposed to asking him how he was feeling or even what he was thinking. Gabriel said more through small movements than he ever did words.

So, when I awoke to him not by my side, yet again, I had gotten up and dressed and headed towards the Guard Station. Crossing the bridge that had now been repaired more times than I could count, walking into the front office and just giving a small wave at the receptionist. I wasn’t awake enough to make small talk. Not that anyone in the room would have stopped me. They all knew who I was, and they all knew my relationship to their boss.

Gabriel’s door was half open when I arrived. I could see him, hunched over his desk, a pen in hand. Though, the ink from the tip was dripping and forming a large stain on the parchment in front of him. When the snore reached my ears, I realized that he was asleep. 

Pushing open the door, it gave a loud squeak, but still, he did not stir.  I tiptoed my way over to the desk, looking to see what he was working on. Several versions of whatever he had been writing were scattered about, most of them with words and phrases scratched out.  Frowning, I picked up the piece of paper with the ink blot in the middle.

Lyra,

I am writing to you in an effort to explain how I feel. I know that I do not always speak my mind in a way that is suitable for how you think, and I wish to make this abundantly clear. These past few years have been good, acceptable, exceeded expectations…

I laughed a little at the list of words as he tried to describe our lives. The man was wonderfully intelligent, but language had never been his strong suit.

Perhaps I have not always shown it. But I would like to now. So, I, Gabriel No Middle Name Caine, would like to formally ask for your han–

I dropped the letter, stumbling backwards with my hand over my heart. And of course knocked right into the filing cabinet. The very one that had been overfilled at the top and barely had anything in the bottom drawers to weigh it down. It was a task that Gabriel had been meaning to get to after having to clear it out last week due to some water damage. He apparently hadn’t gotten to it in his cut hours, and so the filing cabinet went toppling to the side when I banged my hip into it.

Gabriel jumped up, grabbing his sword and pointing it towards me.

“No! Me! It’s me!” I shouted, hands in the air. 

He blinked at me, trying to clear the blurred visions from in front of him, as he dropped the sword. “Lyra? What are you doing here?”

“You weren’t in bed,” I explained, feeling my own heart try to calm. “I came to see you here.”

“How did you know I was here?”

I looked at him with tired disbelief. “You’re always here.”

He seemed to concede at that because there wasn't much of an argument to be had there. Placing his sword safely back against the wall, he came over to me, pulling me into a hug. “I know I said I would stay in bed, but there was some work I had to get done this morning.”

Work.

I could see said work lying on the ground. Was Gabriel going to ask me to marry him? We hadn’t even discussed it, but I couldn’t figure out why else he would need to write something out like that. Or what he would mean by formally asking for my hand. Also…

“What is your middle name?” I asked him.

He frowned. “Why do you ask?”

“Because I don’t know it.”

“I have no middle name.”

I nearly kicked myself. Of course, he had no middle name and would feel the need to write that out during some sort of practice proposal.

“Why are you red?” he asked. “Are you sick? Your cheeks are getting heated.”

“No,” I squeaked. “No. Not at all. Don’t worry about me. I should probably head back to the house. Get ready for the day. I mean, I just shoved some clothes on when I woke up. Haven’t even had breakfast.”

“If you will wait a few minutes, I will come have breakfast with you.”

“No. No, you were working on something. You should continue to work on it.”

“It’s not that important.”

I frowned at that. It should have been one of the most important things in his life. In our joint lives. “It is important,” I told him, almost indignantly.

Gabriel shook his head slowly, holding me by the shoulders. “Not particularly.”

“Then why come to the office?”

At that, he did look a bit sheepish. I almost winced at the sound of my voice. I wasn’t doing a very good job in hiding what I knew. “It was a surprise,” he told me gently. “I was going to wait until tonight at dinner, but I suppose I should do it now.”

“You don’t have to,” I told him quickly.

“No. I want to.” Getting down on one knee in front of me, he looked upwards with his grey eyes, taking his hands in mine. “Lyra,” he said softly, and my heart was stuck in my throat. “I wrote all this down, but none of it seemed right. So I am just going to ask. I would like to have your hand in union. I would like for the two of us to go on vacation together.”

I blinked.

“Huh?”

“Vacation,” he repeated. “I found a wonderful little place that mimics the tropics, like you had been speaking of in that book you read. I was going to take a week off and I thought you and I could go there together. Away from the responsibilities of the night market.”

“Why are you down on one knee?”

He glanced down at his knee and then back up at me. “Because that’s how you ask people things.”

“No, it’s not.”

Pulling my hand from his, I took both of my hands and placed them on either side of his cheeks. I squeezed them together until his lips puffed out, and his face wrinkled together as he stared at me in utter confusion.

“I thought you were going to ask me to marry you,” I told him.

“I would not ask you in my office.” Except it came out more garbled and mushed as I squeezed his cheeks just a bit tighter. “I’m sorry?”

“No. No. It’s fine. I was freaking out. But Gabriel, you do not ask for someone's hand in union as a way to go on vacation. Or write out millions of proposals on parchment.”

“You don’t?”

“No!”

He was silent for a long moment. “Can you let go of my face?”

I hadn’t even realized I still had his cheeks squished between my palms. Dropping my hands, I backed off, biting my lip. “Sorry. I– wow, that was new for you and I. The cheek squish thing. And the misunderstood proposal thing. And–”

“Lyra.” Gabriel rose to his feet, walking towards me. “Do you want me to propose to you?”

I couldn’t quite meet his eyes. “I mean, I am not saying no.”

He nodded sagely. “Then I will. Just not here. Not now. And not when you have been snooping around my papers.”

I laughed a little at that. “Fair.”

Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to mine. “I love you. I would love nothing more than to call you mine officially. When the time is right.”

I felt relief flood through me, giddy almost with the feeling of laughter. I was sure once the adrenaline was gone, ti would make for a good story. One we would share for years to come. But for now, I just needed to breathe.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I told him. “Can I just do one thing?” He nodded. Because Gabriel would give me anything. Taking his face between my palms, I stared up at him lovingly.

And squished his cheeks again. I couldn’t help the snort of laughter at his surprised expression, and at that moment I knew I would eventually marry that man. If only because he let me make him look like a puffed up fish for my own amusement.