The Will to Live of the New Being [Erchanhardt, Himiko]

The festivities of Konigsberg for New Years were always relatively relaxed, at least compared to the grand spectacle that was Christmas. Beyond the New Years' church service, and of course those few fireworks which the citizens chose to fire off here and there, it was quiet in this peaceful little corner of the Holy Roman Empire.

Of course, such peace did not mean that the mind of the Emperor was still and calm. On the contrary, he had considered this night for many days now. He had of course invited Himiko to visit for the evening, to bring in the new year together, but he had more intentions than a simple welcoming of one more calendar year. On the contrary, he intended to ask of her something that he considered rather lofty.

That was why, rather than preparing a quiet little meal in the dining room per usual, he had readied everything for one atop the castle tower, overlooking the whole of the land and with a beautiful view of the sky. He had dressed in his very best, and asked Himiko to wear much the same. Was it a bit extravagant? Yes, perhaps more than he ever typically pursued. But he knew that she rather liked those sorts of things, and he was happy to do it for her sake.

Now he simply had to wait for the lovely lady's arrival, and he was rather certain she would not be the sort to knock. He had long since told her she could simply enter whenever she wished, after all.

Dress fancy!? He sure had a way to put her on the spot. She was so flustered and spent hours deliberating what she ought to wear, even trying to think of what girls she could ask to help her out. Definitely not Elyss, she didn't trust that woman's sense of style considering she didn't even know how to do her nails; how could she truly know how to impress a guy with a glamourous look? That girl and her womanly side were so outta touch. Kokoro was next on the list but she wanted a different style than she normally went with and she thought that Kokoro and her identified too much on the same wavelength.

Murasaki it was! She even had a mum from a noble background so maybe she'd have a great idea of what would be really regal looking and Himiko was pretty happy with how it turned out. She looked totally hot- beautiful!

It was because of the look that she didn't burst into Erchanhardt's place like she normally did, this kind of look was the type that she didn't want to mess up or have even a hair out of place so she entered very slowly coming into view with a more timid look than she often had. She was just so unsure about this get-up. She wanted him to like it! She hoped it was the case. There was a small smile on her face though while she waited.

"I- I'm not late am I? Sorry, I took so long to get ready. Do I look alright?"

Even having steeled himself for this whole moment, Erchanhardt realized upon seeing Himiko that he had been completely unprepared for the sight before him. How could he even begin to respond to the question she posited? Taking her hand in his, Erchanhardt gave her a reassuring smile before kissing the back of her hand.

"You are an absolute vision of loveliness, Himiko. I think I would have waited quite a while longer for such a sight as this."

That was certainly more romantic than Erchanhardt tended to be, but he understood that there were expectations in place for a romantic dinner such as this, and for a night such as this. He could not simply tell her that she looked beautiful and let that be the end of it, could he? There was a higher standard that he had to meet. Leading her to the rooftop, he gave a bit of a flourish as he opened the door. The whole of it was lit by candlelight, all manner of luxurious carpeting and ornamentation surrounding the rooftop to make it seem every bit as elegant as a ballroom. Of course, he still felt that Himiko made it all look rather plain.

"I hope everything is to your liking."

Wew. There was just a huge relief and her heart stopped beating so much, the tension of waiting for his reaction sure did leave her ready to pass out but it was fine! He responded great and Himiko would be sure to praise Murasaki for all the help she was when she saw her next and she'll work extra hard on her next assignment too!! 110% more effort!!!

But while she just wanted to melt in relief she went along with his guidance towards what he wanted to show her and her attempt to look very regal dropped a little. The visage of her small smile and posture changing to lean forward and let out a loud squeal of delight.

"IT'S AMAZING! You didn't have to go to so much effort!"

Though she did go a little red and turn around quickly straighten back up to face him with that previous confident look that displayed more maturity she thought. She wanted to show that she had a mature angle with this look and she wasn't just an immature little girl!

"On the contrary, I wish that I had been able to do all the more to ensure the evening is perfect for you."

He thought for a moment to simply bring her right to the table, but no. That would only delay the inevitable point that he already meant to bring up, and so instead, he brought her to the edge of the rooftop, leaning against the battlement as he looked up to the stars only briefly. He said a quiet prayer in his mind for confidence, then spoke again. Even with all of his confidence, and his presence, it was clear that he was a touch nervous.

"Himiko, I can hardly begin to express how glad I am to have met you. Some would call it a chance encounter, but I think it could only ever be a blessing from the Lord."

It took a concerted focus on his end not to simply gush over her, considering he knew it would be all too easy to speak at length about what she meant to him. And, while he knew that honesty in these matters was important, he hardly wished to overwhelm the woman in what was intended to be a moment of elegance. Erchanhardt was many things, but awkward was not one of them.

Something seemed to be up, she had good intuition about when something seemed up. Himiko's biggest weakness though was the lack of ability to place it or figure out why her intuition went off, additionally she felt comfortable around Erchanhardt so there was no doubt in her mind that whatever it might be could not be a bad thing while she let him lead her towards the edge and he looked up while she looked down.

"It's so pretty up here at night!"

She said through his prayer. Eyes fixed on the ground and overlooking view that she had from up here, she could get lost in it but he spoke and drew her from the enchanting view. Her face a little perplexed, this seemed familiar to something. She'd read a lot of romance novels and all that. Somehow this all seemed so familiar.

"Well duh, I'm really glad I met you too and maybe it was fated! I was wishing for someone not even a week before I met you, my captain will attest to it hee-hee."

Himiko's earnest cheer never failed to brighten the whole world, so far as Erchanhardt was concerned, and he laughed quietly himself at her girlish little giggle. It was quite endearing-- no, there was no need to mince words, to be dishonest with himself. It was incredibly attractive, and to step around that would only dampen his confidence.

"Then I am all too glad that I was able to be the one you were looking for. I hope I can continue to be that for a while longer yet."

Given the natural ability to move into this topic, Erchanhardt felt he might as well take the opportunity and say what it was he wished to say. After all, if he kept putting it off, it would only stay in the back of his mind until it was done. Besides, wouldn't it only add to the pleasant nature of the evening? But even one such as he found a bit of nerve in a situation like this. It was a relatively unfamiliar one, after all.

"I know that you and I have been dating for some time now, and I hope that you will forgive me if this is antiquated of me. But I wish to formally court you, if you would allow it. You mean a great deal to me, and I wish to move our relationship forward."

He was entirely aware that the period of courtship was more or less gone from the modern romantic process, but it was something that he would have felt outright improper not to do.

"Formally court me? You mean marry me? Of course!"

If there were a few skips missed then she ran straight past them in her haste to question and then answer without taking even a second to consider or clarify if that is what he meant. It was only after she had said it with such assured confidence that the tall woman's eyes felt like ice had just ran down her spine and her eyes shot open. Wait, what if that wasn't what he meant!? What if she just made herself look like a total fool that was running way too fast.

"I mean, I'd say yes if you asked me. Not that I'm forcing it ahaha-ha..."

She took a nervous look back over the few to hide her eyes that showed the true extent of her mortification. Her lips still twisted in what was her typical grin of glee due to the fact everything had just come to a standstil in her mind and the woman's face was lagging behind.

Admittedly, Erchanhardt absolutely could not have been ready for Himiko to so directly and openly state what was, ultimately, the intention of courtship. To discern compatibility for marriage, to move things toward that stage of the relationship. He was not exactly ready to remarry, of course, but--

"Ah, well... In time, yes. I would not ask this of you if I did not believe that I would one day marry you. I imagine that it does give away my age that I would go through these lengthy processes for the sake of our relationship, but it is simply what I know. It is the respect that I believe you deserve."

What else could he say? He was uncertain what else there even was to say, which to him meant that it was better simply to act. Or, at least to act before he said anything else. Carefully, he brought his hand to Himiko's chin, bringing her gaze to meet his with confidence.

"Would you live here with me, Himiko?"

He unilaterally had not intended to ask her that tonight. In fact, it was certainly moving things faster than he would have planned for. But he understood by now that this was simply the nature of his relationship with her, that Himiko always pushed him to leave the comfortable, stable life that he had settled into.

And that made him happy.

"..."

Well, she almost wished that it had been a proposal of marriage. For some reason his proposal struck her different than being asked to spend the rest of her life with him. Maybe she just never thought that far ahead, what'd he mean to move in with her? What was the full... implications of that?

"Eh? M-move in? Like um.."

Her eyes moved down to stare at her feet but she was a member of the Gotei United. How could she do her duties if she was living here? What about all the people up there? Why was this choice so hard?