Grayson spent the rest of the day plotting how to get Fera up a tower for the dawn considering that's usually when they woke up. He dismissed getting someone to wake them, or even setting an alarm with his neural network. If he did that, Fera would be grumpy, which was extremely counter productive. But if they weren't waking up, they'd have to be already awake...

  No shit, Sherlock.

  Grayson ignored Queuecy's bitching and continued thinking hard as he walked with Fera down to the restaurant they were trying. She would frequently dash off to look at something, wait for him to catch up, then dash off again with an "Oo, look at that!" or "Check this out!" He strolled along after her with a wide smile on his face, just watching her be excited about things she hadn't looked at before. She'd probably be okay if they stayed out all night...

  That decided, he provided enough engagement while they ate that the woman he strongly suspected he actually did love didn't get bored or ask if he was still there. He did end up staring into her golden eyes a few times, but was able to hold up his end of the conversation well enough. He gently steered her onto the topic of what they should do tomorrow.

  "Well, it's your first day off since you started training right? Shouldn't you rest?" She asked.

  "Yes and yes," said Grayson, nodding. "But maybe not the whole day. I think we should take it easy in the morning, but maybe find somewhere to party in the evening?" Fera's eyes lit up with excitement. She was always energetic, but this? Yeah, Grayson definitely loved her.

  "What are you thinking?" she asked, leaning over the table.

  "I'm not sure where the best places are..." Grayson hazarded. Considering he didn't even know if it was appropriate to party at a pub, club, or park, he wasn't really sure where to go. Fortunately, Fera had some ideas for him.

  "I know this great place, down the concourse South of the temple quarter. It should be really busy on the Sixth day. They have live music, cheap but good drinks, and they go until dawn." Fera gushed. Grayson found her excitement as infectious as it always was.

  "That sounds perfect," he said with a grin. Fera matched it and they continued to talk about what kind of drinks they served and what kind of place it was. They drew some looks as their excitement made them speak a little louder than intended. Some indulgent, and some jealous, before they paid for their food and left.

  Back at the temple of Perimis, Grayson took a little time to go over his plans with both his and Fera's bosses. Mertaba laughed when Grayson sheepishly asked if his plans were permitted. The high priest, a tall man who introduced himself to Grayson as Brettin, gave Grayson an appraising look before merely nodding. He waved Grayson out of the door without saying anything, but Grayson managed to hear the man chuckling after Brettin's office door closed.

  Wonder what that was about...

  I'd hazard a bet that Perimis had a word with him.

  Nah. She... probably wouldn't do that.

  She's been awfully forward about us getting together with Fera. Between helping us get over our doubts, having her tell us she can come with us, and actively telling us we're allowed to be in a relationship, she's done a lot to put us together with her.

  Grayson thought back to that time in the clearing when Fera's eyes glowed as the light formed a halo around her.

  You've got a point. Who knew Goddesses would play matchmaker?

  Going to have to be careful, buddy. Who knows what kind of rules exist here around marriage?

  Cutting that shit right off. We're only having one wife.

  Queuecy laughed uproariously in his head... through a sequence of messages coming through as text that said "Hehehe" in various fonts. Grayson dismissed each of them as they came, chuckling to himself as he reached the library, where he had agreed to meet Fera.

  She was curled up on a sofa, her shoes on the floor, socked feet poking out from under her robes. Grayson picked out a book on notable arbitrations and how closely they aligned to the will of Perimis, then sat on the sofa next to her. She shuffled over to lean against him and he put one arm around her. They read for an hour like that before getting up and preparing for bed. Grayson flicked through the rest of the book before he put it back to finish it. Fera chuckled tiredly at his actions, then they went together to sleep.

  The next day, was the big day for Grayson. Sort of, anyway because technically the big day was tomorrow, but they wouldn't be sleeping, so did that really count and...

  Hey! Chill out. It'll be fine.

  Grayson didn't take a deep breath because then it would be obvious he was anxious and Fera would start to suspect something and...

  No. Take a damn breath. It. Will. Be. Fine.

  Fuck's sake, she loves you. She wants you to marry her. She wants you to propose as soon as possible. If you told her this morning that you had decided to marry her, that would probably be enough. It'll be special. We'll have a lovely night, and then you'll propose, and she'll say "yes" and everything will be sorted.

  Grayson took a deep breath then. He felt the building anxiety die down as he relaxed.

  Thanks, Queuecy.

  Hehehe. I have a name.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Yeah, buddy. Yeah, you do. Wait, I still have glands. How do you get excited about stuff like having a name?

  Habit I guess. I do want to keep having emotions. Life would suck without them. I'm gonna tweak the code in here a bit. There should be something in the store of human knowledge that would help me out. Wish me luck.

  Grayson laughed silently to himself.

  Good luck, Queuecy.

  Fera was staring at him and his silly grin.

  "Is there something I should know?" she asked, half playfully and half seriously.

  "My bones have emotions," Grayson deadpanned.

  "Is... that a good thing?" Fera asked, unsure if Grayson was telling her nonsense or not. Honestly, the fact that she was considering it made Grayson love her all the more. That was the kind of flexibility he could get behind.

  "Probably?" Grayson said, getting up and pulling her out of bed. Fera giggled at him.

  "So, how should we relax? There's a nice park nearby," she suggested.

  "That sounds great. Lets get some breakfast and head there." Grayson grabbed his clothes and started walking to the bathing room.

  They met up twenty minutes later, both of them spending time soaking in the hot water of the baths. Grayson's jacket was pretending to be comfortable brown leather, with a bright blue shirt underneath, and loose brown leather pants. Fera wore a golden sundress with her necklace with the icon of Perimis overtly displayed over her chest. The pair left the temple, heading out into the city.

  The morning was spent at one of several parks just outside the temple quarter. There was light exercise equipment that people used from time to time, as well as a large collection of platforms, ladders, poles, and ropes that began to fill with children as it closed on noon. Grayson and Fera watched people come and go for hours, simply sitting together with Fera holding Grayson's arm. They didn't say anything, just sitting and enjoying each other's company.

  In the early afternoon, they got up to find somewhere for lunch. In the end, they wandered between several street vendors, getting a collection of meat skewers, wraps, and fried vegetable balls then found another bench to sit on and eat. Their early afternoon was spent looking through a bookstore, then a store that sold musical instruments. Grayson could learn an instrument almost immediately if it was similar enough to one from his universe, but there were a couple of instruments that used magic stones imbued with wind. Grayson decided to try playing one which set both the shop owner and Fera howling with laughter over how bad he was.

  Grayson wasn't self-conscious though. He'd picked it because he knew he had no idea how to play it. He could have learned the instruments that looked close enough to guitars in seconds, just as he would have been able to do with any instrument from home. The whole point was the fun, and Fera wiping her tears as she pointed at him with her other hand was everything he wanted and more.

  The day progressed like that, with them wandering into various shops, playing with various objects, and laughing with each other until it was time to get dinner, then head for the pub Fera knew. They picked a relatively quiet place for dinner, laughing over their meal about how the day had gone. They paid and left, heading for the pub, arms linked. Grayson knew they were there before they even turned the corner.

  The pub had an open front with a stage set up on the street. Tables spilled out across the walkway with people standing and sitting around. In front of the stage was an open area for people to dance that was lively but not crowded. The music was odd to Grayson, unfamiliar to music from a totally different universe, though he supposed it would be stranger if he had heard it before. Grayson and Fera went to the bar and got drinks before finding a table near the dancing space.

  "You know, I know a hundred different dances," lamented Grayson theatrically, "but I've never heard of this one. Would this fair maiden teach it to me?" He performed a florid bow and held out his hand to Fera.

  "Certainly, my good sir," laughed Fera, accepting his invitation and following him to the dance area. Fortunately for both of them, Fera did know the steps and was able to communicate them to Grayson after a few false starts. Other couples looked over at their broad smiles and laughed along with them to a jaunty summer tune that seemed to be trying to rush them through the springtime.

  Every time the song changed, Fera had a new dance to teach Grayson, and eventually people got the hint to make space for the erratic couple. They didn't bother slowing down and ended up apologizing a few times to people for stepping on toes, or bumping into other pairs. After the fourth dance, people off the floor started trying to figure out what the dancing couples were paying attention to and Grayson's lessons became a public affair. Nobody heckled them, just watched and laughed with them.

  They stepped off the floor after an hour, going to get drinks. Several people of both genders offered dances, but they declined politely. They were here together, and they would stay together. Dancing on and off, causing less of a show when some of the dances repeated, though to different tunes, Grayson and Fera spent their night. It was twenty minutes before dawn when Grayson brought a mildly tipsy Fera away from the pub.

  He'd done his best to keep her from drinking too much, wanting her as sober as possible for when he proposed. He hadn't wanted to get in the way of her fun, though. She was still lucid as they left under a still dark sky, turning to ask him why they were going so soon.

  "I've heard of a nice place to watch the sun rise," Grayson said.

  Fera was surprisingly quiet as they walked to the tower. She was also a little flushed, but Grayson hoped that was more from the alcohol than her figuring out what he was up to. He wouldn't be surprised if she knew what he was doing, she was intelligent after all. He guided her down the street and into the tower that the Crusaders of Marrati had recommended to him. True to the word of the man he'd spoken to two days before, the tower was empty aside from them.

  They reached the top just a minute before the sun poked over the horizon.

  "I've been in this world for ten days," Grayson started, leaning on the railing. Fera stood next to him, looking out over the temples. She turned around, looking back at the tower where the wall blocked the sun.

  "You saved my life on the first one." Fera said. Grayson nodded.

  "A more worthy cause, I've never heard of," he said. Fera snorted. "I've been with you for almost that entire time. You've made this place a home more than anything else. Every time I go out for training, I come back to you." He slightly emphasized the last word.

  "And?" Fera asked leadingly. Grayson mentally checked his timing. He held off on speaking for a moment, just looking into Fera's eyes and smiling, then he turned out to look at the temples, prompting her to do the same.

  "And I want to do that for the rest of my life," he said. His timing was about right as the sun poked over the horizon, high enough for it's rays to catch the temple rooves. Each roof was sheathed in tiles colored to match the primary color of their deity. The tower was built in the perfect position and placed where it would get reflections from all twelve temples. Fera gasped as she looked out over the quarter at the myriad hues.

  She didn't notice Grayson pull out a small box and kneel down beside her at first. When she did, her eyes went the widest that he'd ever seen.

  "Fera, priestess of Perimis, and my Herald, would you marry this lowly Crusader?" Grayson asked, opening the box directly into the stream of golden light off the temple of Perimis. It caught the gemstones of the necklace, refracting into Fera's face and lighting her up from below.

  Fera threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, tears running down her face.

  "Yes," she said, over and over.