Day seven: Engagement
Dib stared silently at the small casing in his right hand as he leaned back against the newly placed fence on mystical hill, patiently, but also anxiously waiting for someone to arrive. They did this every year at this exact time and location. He would wait and be almost completely silent, the cold winds of winter and the small traffic commotion from the city below being the only source of noise. He was always glad that no one else seemed to be interested in coming here during winter. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the weather or the rather negative history this place had. Both were understandable in his opinion.
The sound of crunching snow singled him to look up and stuff the case in his coat pocket, pushing himself off the barrier as the one he was waiting for finally arrived. He smiled when she was illuminated from the light that shone the area, walking just past the tree line as she trudged through the snow on the small dirt path that cut through the forest.
“Sorry that I arrived a bit late, the path was slippery.” Tak said as she pulled her purple hood down, revealing her face.
She wasn’t wearing her disguise. She must have noticed that no one else was around.
“Oh, it’s okay. I wasn’t waiting for long.” Dib said as he walked over to hug her.
Tak sighed, feeling comfort in Dib’s warm body embracing her. She never got used to the cold or the routinely changing seasons of Earth, even after staying on this planet for a decade. Luckily, Dib always made sure she stayed warm. Reminding her to put on her coat, hat, gloves, scarf, boots and to snuggly wrap her in a warm blanket whenever she returned home after a particularly cold day.
Pulling away, Dib took her hand and brought her over to the barrier where he leaned over the edge while Tak stood straight with her hands folded over each other.
“So, how was your day?” Dib asked.
“It has been alright. A bit less active than usual, actually. So I spent most of the day thinking about this.” Tak answered, taking her eyes off the city as she glanced down to Dib.
“How was work for you?”
Dib shrugged “Kinda boring. I also just thought about coming here.”
Tak laughed lightly “So we have both been looking forward to this thanks to uneventful days?”
“Hehe, y-yeah, I guess.” Dib laughed with her as he stood up straighter.
“How is Alejandra doing? Did you hear from her?” he then asked.
Tak tilted her head “Hm? Oh, yes, I spoke to her over the phone earlier this morning. Her health is improving, but she is still quite ill and doesn’t want to return in case she gets any of the patients sick. And what of that new employee? What was his name? Joshua?”
Dib nodded “Yeah, Joshua. He still seems pretty nervous, completely opposite from when I started working at the Swollen eyeball.”
The Irken nodded as they both turned to look over the city.
It went silent again, the snowflakes gently falling all around them as they continued to cover the ground and the city below, the winds of winter peacefully flowing through the trees. It was almost exactly like how it was ten years ago when they first came here. The atmosphere was remarkably peaceful despite the events of that time. It hasn’t been this peaceful in years, so this was turning out better than he hoped. And that was his que.
“Do you remember when we first came here when we were younger?” Dib asked.
Tak looked over to him again and smiled “I do. You were fifteen, I was sixteen. It was a few weeks into the new year and told me to arrive at this location.” Tak spoke softly, the nostalgia of that time making her feel warm inside. “I thought you just wanted to spend time with me again, but I do remember that this location was a strange place to pick. You also seemed nervous when I arrived."
“Was I really that nervous looking?” Dib rehearsed his own lines “I tried to make it look like it was just the cold that was getting to me.”
“I had a feeling you were doing that, so I played along and asked if needed to go back to get another coat.” Tak recalled before pausing a little “But.….you said that there wasn’t enough time and that you couldn't wait any longer.”
“Did I scare you when I said that?” Dib turned to her.
Tak shook her head lightly “You didn’t frighten me, no. But you did catch my attention. I wasn't sure if you had a late Christmas present or you found something that fed into your paranormal or cryptic interests that you wanted to show me."
Dib didn’t ask anything else as he stepped towards tak and took her gloved hands into his “And then I held your hands.”
“You looked me in the eyes and asked.”
“Do you want to go out with me?” they both said in union.
Dib and Tak looked longingly at each other, the moonlight bathing them in the soft white glow of the night. To them, there was nothing else in the world. No regret of the past nor worries for the future. They both existed, right there. Together.
Tak looked down at their hands, chuckling lightly again “I was quite taken aback when you asked me that, and I swear I thought you were going to pass out when I didn’t answer straight away.”
“You did say ‘yes’, though.” Dib commented.
“I had, yes.” Tak nodded “And you breathed in deeply and jumped for joy. You held my hand as we walked all the way back to your house as you told me about the place you wanted to take me.”
She then looked up towards Dib, pulling herself closer to him as the wind picked up slightly “I don’t think I could ever put into words how surprised I was when you asked me out for the first time. You looked like you had returned from war when you discovered Gaz was dating Zim, so for you wanting to date me didn’t make a lot of sense. I almost thought there was another motive.”
“When did you figure out it wasn’t?” Dib asked.
“During it.” Tak answered “It was obvious you wanted both us to enjoy our time and you were becoming stressed when we both knew the restaurant was a bit" she clicked her tounge a little and sucked her teeth "unsuited for two teenagers who were going through our own struggles at the time.”
“Yeah, I’m still sorry about that.” Dib said, looking off to his right at the city.
“It’s alright. You did take us to the museum and to the park after that, which was a lot better.”
Dib nodded “Yeah, we sat at the park bench and talked for hours. Our interests, our memories, how we were feeling,.....I never knew just talking to someone could mean something so much to me.”
Tak nodded in agreement, her expression falling a little as the contents of their conversation rendered her mind.
“At the time, we were both struggling and going through so much. You helped me when you" she went silent a little, catching herself to not bring up too many unpleasant memories "discovered everything and I will always be grateful for that.” Tak spoke quietly, pressing her head to Dib’s chest “But then, not long after that, I learned you were also suffering in silence. So I helped you.”
Dib hugged Tak closer and rested his chin on top of her head “Yeah. By the time of the date, we were both doing better, and we were happy that we were . And we were both glad we helped. And…..I think it was by that point."
He stopped again and waited for Tak to finish.
Tak opened her mouth to speak, but paused before she could. She always seemed to pause before she finished her partner’s sentence despite having done it many times. But she wouldn’t let that stop her, so after a few more silent moments had passed, she eventually said “We knew that we both loved each other.”
No matter how many times they did this, Dib and Tak never got tired of the retailing of their first date and first moments of knowing what love felt like. It was so special to them that they could only relive through this retelling.
Everything was perfect. The weather, the mood, the setting, the scenery, the feeling. He couldn’t pass this moment up. Dib breathed out from his mouth, gulping what felt like a rock in his throat.
“Tak, we have been through so much together.”
Tak opened her eyes and looked up at her partner.
“Many struggles, many tough times, so many adventures, and...." his lips went thin trying to think of a right way to state it, but eventually said "a little too much action.” Dib stroked Tak’s cheek with his right hand gently “We have faced a lot of challenges, things that no human or ANYONE could ever imagine. It was scary, it was hard and…..it took all we had to get by it.”
Dib closed his eyes, remembering every single endeavor he, Tak, Gaz, Zim and his father took on in order to save themselves and humanity. It was a lot to handle and almost too much for all of them to bear at once. Some came close to giving up and letting the darkness consume them.
Almost.
“But no matter what happened" he hugged her closer to him "we always stood together and took all of it on.”. Dib looked into Tak’s purple eyes again, resting his hand on her cheek “No matter what came our way, we kept each other standing and pushed through. And I..."
His voiced trailed off again as he looked over to the city, more memories entering replaying through his head of everyone’s lives. Growing up, getting careers, saving Earth, having fun, helping each other, their highest and lowest moments, and when love was the only thing they could give, oh did they make sure they gave all they had. Out of compassion. Out of love.
“....wouldn’t have it any other way. I love you, Tak. I love you more than you could ever imagine.”
Tak’s mouth opened a little as a blush spread across her cheeks, her purple shining from the moon light. She didn’t care what others had to say, Dib always seemed to have a way with words. Were they corny? Maybe…..but she didn’t care.
“I love you, too, Dib. Nothing will ever change that.” Tak said as she was about to stand on her toes to kiss him, but stopped when Dib pulled away a little as he suddenly knelt down in front of her as he reached into his coat pocket.
She was about to question what he was doing, but everything became very familiar to her when he pulled out a small velvet case and opened it to reveal an amethyst silver ring. She has seen this before. In movies, in shows and in some of the books she read. And….she knew what it was. Zim did it with Gaz, she was there actually when it happened. Is Dib actually-
“Tak, will you continue to stand by my side forever so we can support and love each other no matter what? Will you" he held his breath a little "marry me?”
Time froze around them, the sound of the winds halted as the city fell silent, the flakes of snow seizing their descent down onto the Earth. It was as if the entire world made sure there was no distraction as it waited for Tak’s answer. It just made everything that much more surreal for Dib. There was nothing else. Just them, right there.
Tak’s eyes were wide and her mouth was slightly agape, but she didn’t look as surprised or shocked as Dib was hoping. She was taking this a little too casual. His chest tightened as an iron clutch gripped it tightly as he felt his breathing speed up. No, no, d-did he screw it up? Did Tak know what he was doing? Was she not ready? Did she not like the idea of being married? No, there could never be another chance like this again. Everything was going perfectly, why did it have to-
“Yes.”
Dib shook his head a little, snapping him out of her anxious daze “Wh-what?”
“Yes!” Tak repeated, repeatedly nodding her head as the biggest smile gradually spread across her face and from where he was, Dib could see small beads of tears roll down her cheeks.
Huh. Wow, she must be really emotional right now. She doesn’t allow just anyone to see her cry, so this could mean someth-
Dib stood up quickly as Tak jumped towards him and embraced him tightly as she repeated ‘YES!’ over and over again. It was only until then Dib finally registered that she accepted, so he put the ring back in his pocket and hugged her back and almost lifted her off the ground. Pure relief washed over him as he felt his heart swell so big, he thought his chest would burst.
Tak pulled away this time as she pulled him down for a deep and passionate kiss, Dib reaching up and holding her head in his hands to deepen it. As the kiss ended, the couple stared into each other's eyes and almost got lost in them, Dib wiping her tears away with his thumbs while Tak gently rubbed his left cheek.
Taking each other’s hands, the couple walked over to the barrier and stood together as they watched the city again, the lights of the buildings, streets and stars now illuminating differently. Like everything was calmer and peace fell upon the area. Tak leaned into Dib and let out a relaxed sigh
This was it. The beginning of their next stage in their lives. And after this, what next? Well, the next stage is obviously starting a family together and-
Dib took in a breath and tried to slow his heart rate down. He was getting a little bit too excited now. But can anyone blame him? He is going to marry the love of his life. And just a week after they both got their promotions at work as well. He didn’t worry about where to have the wedding, who to invite, who might be his best man, no. There was time for that later.
Just enjoy the moment he has with his fiance, for there was nothing else. Just them, right there.