Pencils and Crayons

[Nell Night]

Nervous was not a thing Nell felt often - the excitement of the world was generally enough of a distraction to keep her from overthinking. There was no time to be nervous when you were so busy bouncing from one thought to the next. But this was the opposite - today was about taking the most consistent part of her life so far and making it permanent. She felt jittery all over, fingers tingling as she ran them over the box one more time, fighting the urge to check again that everything was where it should be. It was, she had made absolutely certain. There was nothing else to do - it was time. She finished up in the kitchen, making a coffee each for her and Jasper, and brought them through to the living room.

"I've got a present for you." Nell added, before she could back out. She set the mugs down on coasters as she sat on the sofa next to Jasper, heart thudding in her throat. She reached into her pocket, only fumbling a little bit as she pulled out the box. It was unassuming - a small box of childrens' colouring pencils, barely big enough for the two things she had tucked in there. She handed the box to Jasper with a mischevious grin, hoping he couldn't read the nerves on her face. Pranks and jokes weren't entirely unusual in their home, and she hoped that was exactly what he would take this as, until he opened the box.

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper had felt lately like he could finally relax a little. He had finally moved up from an auror-in-training to being a proper auror, and while that made the work all the more demanding, he had to admit he loved it. Today he had a day off, though, and he was excited to spend it with Nell. He was lounging on the couch and grinned as Nell came in with two mugs. He sat up, then frowned a bit as he registered what she had said. “A present? It’s not my birthday.” He said though he was immediately excited. Maybe she had gotten him something for his promotion? But as she pulled out the box, Jasper became suspicious. A box of pencils. That had to be some sort of trap. He peered at her suspiciously, a smile on his face. “This isn’t going to explode on me, is it?” He asked, not opening it quite yet.

 

[Nell Night]

While she thought she was doing a good job keeping the nerves off her face, Nell couldn't help the shaking of her hands. And of course Jasper didn't open it immediately. The Auror instincts were serving him frustratingly well. She could hear the shake in her laugh as she shook her head. "It's a present!" She said, a little too insistently. This wasn't doing a great job of making it look less like a prank. "Just open it."

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper watched Nell with narrowed eyes for a moment. He could tell something was up, she seemed oddly nervous. Maybe she really wanted her prank to succeed. He sighed, then decided to go along with it. “Fine.” He murmured, opening the box and flinching back immediately in case it exploded.

 

[Nell Night]

Nell grinned a little too brightly when Jasper looked at her, giving him an emphatic thumbs up. If she was going to look suspicious, may as well lean in after all. She watched anxiously as he opened the box, revealing the small piece of paper she had made sure to lay over the ring hidden at the bottom. The poem had come to her a while ago, and she had been saving it for this moment, her heart thudding with nerves as Jasper read;

Pencils are best,
But a crayon's good too
And if you say yes
I want to marry you

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper had closed his eyes in preparation for the explosion he was expecting. When none came, he opened them and looked at Nell. She looked nervous. He frowned, his gaze lowering to the box. There was a piece of paper in it. Still cautious, Jasper leaned closer to read it. His eyes widened as he read the short poem, then read it again. A small, disbelieving laugh escaped him as he raised his eyes again, looking at Nell. “You- what- I-” He spluttered. This was too much. The callback to their first meeting, the way Nell made sure she was still winning the argument even during a proposal. The fact that Jasper had a box with a ring in it in his coat pocket right this second. He let out a laugh. “Of course, yes!”

 

[Nell Night]

It felt like time had gone into slow motion as Jasper opened the box, the thudding of Nell's heart echoing in her ears. She kept her eyes locked on his expression, not sure why she was so terrified. Even if Jasper wasn't ready, he would be kind about it. Relief rushed over her as he laughed, all her fears dispelled at once. She choked out a laugh of her own as he said yes, reaching for the box again. "Here, hang on..." She tipped the ring quickly out into her hand and slid off the sofa, settling on one knee and reaching for his left hand, sliding the ring onto his finger.

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper had to resist the urge to pull Nell into a hug a she took the box from him to put the ring on his finger. He noticed his hand was shaking as she did. With a laugh of delight, he pulled Nell close then, not caring that they nearly toppled off the sofa because of it. He squeezed her tightly against him. “I can’t believe you!”

 

[Nell Night]

The trembling of Jasper's hand matched her own, and Nell couldn't hold back a small nervous laugh. She knew there had been almost no chance Jasper would say no, but now it was real. They were engaged, and would be married. She yelped in shock and laughed again as he pulled her into a hug, hugging him back tightly. "What?!" Nell giggled at his outburst, heart bursting with love for her silly, wonderful fianceé. "It was romantic! A throwback to how we met!"

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper squeezed Nell tightly. He laughed, shaking his head. “It’s silly, we’re going to have to tell everyone you put the ring in a box of pencils and explain the whole thing.” He said, laughing again. He let go of Nell enough to look her in the eye, a wide grin on his face. “Is this a bad time to make you guess what’s in my coat pocket right now?” He asked, another laugh escaping him despite himself.

 

[Nell Night]

Nell burst out laughing, shoving Jasper lightly. "So what?! It's cute!" She grinned. "We could always invent a stupider story. Tell people I skydived straight onto one knee in front of you or something." Her giggles stopped at the suddenly tone shift, though she laughed again in delight when his words sunk in. "WHAT?!" She yelped in disbelief, grabbing at his coat quickly. "You're kidding!"

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper felt like both laughing and crying at once, which wasn’t something he had felt before. He shook his head. “It’s perfect.” He told her, his voice shaking just slightly. He laughed nervously at her reaction, grabbing the box quickly to offer it to her. “I’m not kidding.” He said sheepishly. “I’ve had it for weeks.”

 

[Nell Night]

Nell didn't think she had ever felt quite so hysterical in her life. She was glad she clearly wasn't the only one, oddly comforted by the tremble in Jasper's voice. "What?!" She laughed as he handed her the box, shaking her head and quickly pushing him off the sofa. "No, no, you have to do it properly! It's your turn, go on!" She laughed, sitting up on the sofa and trying to look as poised and put together as possible, fighting down the laugher and happy tears that wanted to burst out. "Here I am, sitting around totally normally, being normal and nothing strange is happening to me at all."

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper yelped in shock when his beautiful fianceé pushed him off the couch. “Nell, c’mon, we just did this!” He said with a laugh. But then he watched her pretend to look normal and it looked so funny and cute that it wasn’t all that hard to get up on one knee. “Nell Wright, will you marry me?” He asked her, trying to look serious as he offered her the box and opened it. Merlin, he hoped she liked the ring.

 

[Nell Night]

Nell couldn't hold back a small giggle as Jasper shifted to one knee, doing her best to hold up her nonchalant air. She couldn't fight the grin that spread across her face as he asked and she tilted her head and tapped her chin, pretending to think. “Hmmmmm...” She teased, as though she were mulling over her options. “Yeah, I suppose.” She said eventually, grinning brightly and holding her hand out for him to put the ring on.