Northstar Vale Chandelier's still flickering here.

800!!

His reaction, although crude, was more subdued than she anticipated. She watched his face for a moment and then looked away again out of mixed deference and bashfulness, and because she was afraid he might suddenly spiral and yell - except from what Ibis knew of this boy, he was like a still lake, not a raging sea.
(That made her wonder deeply: what did she know of him? Now was not the time to wonder.)

Ibis focused as best she could, listening intently for his reply. In every version of this scenario she had painted him as somehow inconsolable and raging; maybe that's what she'd hoped for deep down, somehow. That he might see through her fib and then abandon her in a huff. But that is not what happened and she was, ultimately, glad for his cool head.

Yes. If you stay it will be easier. Oh, but how selfish of her to say that! How selfish it was for Ibis to lie in the first place, and she knew she was in the wrong for it, at war with herself over it. She stepped closer and pressed another kiss upon him, careful and flickering, almost like he was too hot to touch. I want you to stay. But, you don't have to. If you -- if this is -- too much, a lot -- not something you want to do, I know its unfair for me to ask, uhm...

She shook her head and let out a heavy sigh but didn't feel any less tense.

That was only half the matter; Reiko's comment about their future, from their first discussion about this, sprang in to Ibis' mind and she knew she had to address this too. It was a lot all at once. If you stay here with me, and if you really want to be their father, then... we would need to get married. This was said so rapidly that it might've blended together, and Ibis' expression scrunched in to a wince, then a shy glance to Akavir's face.

Was it the worst proposal in the universe? Probably.