Work Text:
It started out as a relatively normal morning: that to say, Rio woke up much later than necessary due to a light thudding sound coming from beside the bed, and a warm weight on her chest. The thudding was courtesy of Señor Scratchy, her girlfriend’s annoying bunny; the weight, her aforementioned girlfriend – who, if she was awake, would fight anyone who ever dared to suggest she cuddled. But, since she was asleep, had foregone the actual comfortable bed for laying basically on top of Rio.
Rio let out a content sigh as she stretched the best she could under Agatha’s weight, kissed the top of her head, then looked up at the ceiling. Content. Happy. Warm. Golden sunlight filtered through the curtains and sprayed constellations of patterns across the walls. A light breeze brought in the scent of the azaleas planted beside the house. In all, it was a gorgeous Saturday in June. They both had the coming Monday off, giving them an extra casual long-weekend – something to get them through until July long – and Rio knew she should be sleeping in.
As if he could sense that she was closing her eyes, though, Scratchy kicked the floor again. Then, very uncalled for, launched himself at her, rebounding, then landing back on the floor and staring up at the two on the bed.
Apparently, he had other ideas for the morning.
Generally, Agatha was the one to take care of the bunny since she was the one who’d brought him into the relationship (not that Rio didn’t help, nor did she mind the creature. But it was fun irritating her girlfriend by pretending to have a beef with the small animal). (No, really, the beef was fake. Kinda. Sorta. Well, not really when he had eaten her last phone cord. But that was water under the bridge. Truly).
They’d had a long night – first work, then Wanda’s baby shower, then drinks at Jen and Alice’s after. So, if Agatha (who usually woke up first) wanted to sleep in? Well, Rio wasn’t going to stop her. She would encourage her. Agatha deserved all the rest she wanted.
Rio slipped out from under her girlfriend, making sure that the actual body pillow that had ended up on the floor was in her spot before Agatha woke up and noticed. She watched her for a moment, smiling softly as Agatha nuzzled into the soft pillow. Rio yearned to get back into the bed to curl up with her girlfriend for a little long; but resigned to her fate and followed the irritated bunny out of the bedroom and down the hall to the kitchen.
She grabbed the fresh vegetables she’d picked the day before from the garden from the fridge and washed them. Once they were cut up, with some blue berries on top for colour, she grabbed her phone to record the plating and Scratchy starting to nibble on them, for the TikTok account Agatha had started the week before.
(So far they only had fifty followers. Rio wasn’t sure why Scratchy required a following, but she decided it wasn’t a hill she needed to die on. If Agatha wanted her bunny to be famous, then damn it he would be famous).
The oven was switched onto warming as Rio moved on from the bunny and started the mixture for French toast. Halfway through dredging the bread, she heard the creak of the bedroom door and shuffling in the hallway. Moments later, sleep-warmed arms were wrapped around her waist and a forehead pressed against the back of her neck.
“Good morning, my love.” Rio greeted cheerfully, reaching over to press the button to start the Keurig for Agatha’s coffee. Agatha grumbled something back, tightening her hold for a moment and letting out a content sigh.
Rio wanted this for the rest of her life.
Wait… she paused for a moment, making sure that even as her brain stuttered her movements didn’t.
Agatha would be the rest of her life, right?
She and Agatha were in an amazing place (therapy on both their parts had been needed at the beginning of their relationship to deal with familial issues on both sides), and she had absolutely no plans for them breaking up. And she knew Agatha didn’t either considering they were planning their yearly Christmas trip. They were in it for the long haul, so why was she wondering if this was forever?
Rio continued to dredge the break and place it gently on the skillet. The Keurig sputtered as the water heated and coffee started to come out. Agatha hummed lightly against her, a song only she could hear. The usual domestic sounds a back drop to Rio’s spiraling.
Sure, Rio knew the world was shitty and even the best things could end in vitriol and fire. Realistically, nothing was ever guaranteed. Rio wasn’t exactly sure where these thoughts were coming from. Could it have been because of the baby shower? Babies made things pretty permanent. Though, it wasn’t like she or Agatha could baby trap each other. First of all, neither of them had the other piece of anatomy needed for that. Second, if they did want a baby, they’d need to pay thousands of dollars for doctors. That wasn’t exactly something you could slip past the person you’ve been with for six years and share finances with. Of course, there was always marriage. Alice and Jen recently had their recond wedding anniversary and were always talking about how even though marriage hadn’t changed how much they loved each other, how it made everything just feel more .
Marriage.
Hmm.
Agatha squeezed her one more time before loosening her arms so she could move and get her coffee. Rio turned slightly, kissing the side of her head as she passed.
“I love you.” she whispered in a conspiratorial tone, grinning at the soft laugh that Agatha let out as she walked to the fridge to get creamer.
Marriage. That could work.
While Agatha was a go with the flow kind of person, Rio liked to plan. So, the first thing she did when she got to work on Monday (besides making sure she had no new cases, she wasn’t stupid ), was push aside her boring paperwork and get out her notebook (because plans looked much better handwritten) and started writing it out:
Step 1: Find an engagement ring.
Step 2: Figure out the best spot for a proposal
Step 3: Propose
Step 4: If she says yes, celebrate. If she says no… she won’t say no, right?
“That last one is kinda lame.” Rio startled, twisting quickly in her chair to look up at her partner, Alice. Alice stared down at her, freshly dyed bangs falling over her face as she reread the list and grinned. “I mean, Agatha will obviously say yes. The real last step should be where is the closest space I can go and fuck my girlfriend . Because let's be real: that’s what you guys are going to do.”
“We don’t always do that.” Rio replied, slightly miffed at the officer for sneaking up on her.
“Sure. Breaking news: forks are found in kitchens.” Alice cackled. “Seriously though, Agatha wouldn’t say no. She loves you too much. Jen said you’re basically all she talks about at their wine nights.”
“Agatha also loves the Almond Blossoms painting, but she said no to seeing it in person.” Rio pointed out.
“Rio,” Alice levelled her with a look that said don’t be stupid , “That’s in Amsterdam . You know, Europe. We are very much in America.”
“And being married to me would be forever. Makes Europe seem kinda small.” she shot back. Okay, sure, maybe Rio could see Alice’s point. Perhaps booking tickets and flying to Amsterdam after her girlfriend mentioned liking the painting casually was a bit much; even if Agatha did love the symbolism behind van Gogh’s work and, after reading a book on him, talked quite often about his influence on impressionism and surrealism. A trip to Amsterdam could be seen as a lost of money for what, a week? But getting married could cost a lot of money too, depending on the size and location of their wedding. It would last a lifetime though. Arguably, better than a trip to the Van Gogh museum.
“Technically divorce is a thing.” Alice sat down at her own desk.
“Alice!”
“What? You’re the one who's always talking about being a realist.” Alice shook her head, amused. “I’ve seen you and Agatha together for six years, and have known you both even longer. Nothin in the world would stop her from marrying you, Rio. Don’t be stupid.”
Alice’s words were meant to be reassuring, but for the rest of her shift, the evening with her girlfriend, and now while she was meant to be sleeping, all Rio could think about were the reasons why Agatha might say no to marrying her.
Because she wasn’t nice enough to the bunny.
Because she didn’t brush her teeth before eating breakfast.
Because she took corners too fast.
Because she thought The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives was a stupid show.
Because Agatha had a hidden family that Rio didn’t know about.
Okay, so maybe that last one was a little extreme. But, the fact still stood: there were a plethora of reasons why Agatha could say no to marrying her. This wasn’t some decision that Rio could spring on her lightly, like what they were going to have for dinner. This was life altering shit. And sure, they’d lived together for over five years, dating for six, known each other for ten; but that was all completely different than pledging yourself to someone forever.
Rio blinked as a hand patted her cheek.
“Stop thinkin’.” Rio turned her head to look over at Agatha. Even in the dark, she could see her girlfriends eyes closed, her arm retracting and body moving across the bed to curl up against her.
“Sorry.” Rio whispered the apology, moving her arm to make room for Agatha so their bodies could slot together. She rested her hand against her bed, drawing patterns against the cotton of her shirt, soft and slow.
“What’re you thinkin’ ‘bout?” the words were slurred against her throat.
“Just work stuff.” Rio lied, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Go back to sleep, baby.”
“Hm.” Agatha hummed, her breathing evening out quickly after that. Rio placed another kiss against her messy hair.
“I can’t wait to marry you.” she whispered, mind made up.
Step one: Find a ring.
Easier said than done.
It wasn’t that Rio didn’t know what Agatha would love. It was that for the life of her, nothing that she found in the only jewellery store in Westview was right; and if she left Westview, well, somehow Agatha was more likely to find out what she was up to then. So, there she stood in the run down shop owned by generations of the same family. Alice was beside her like the best wingwoman there ever was, both supposed to be on patrol but instead looking at stupid expensive glittering rocks.
“Is this one a blood diamond?” Alice after off-handedly as she motioned towards a particularly big one. Rio shot her a look, glancing at the diamond then wrinkling her nose. She knew, in her own way, her friend was just trying to make her laugh. To take some of the tension away from the moment where Rio was undoubtedly stressed, but all she could think about was that if Agatha saw that ring her answer would be an immediate and astounding no .
“It is not a blood diamond, it is a synthetic one. Grown in a lab instead of mined like a natural diamond.” the broker explained to them, hands moving as he spoke. “Would you like to see it–”
“No.” Rio cut him off, then looked up sheepishly. “Sorry, no thank you.”
The man nodded, apparently used to frazzled people looking at stupidly expensive jewellery for their partners.
“Rio, we don’t have to find one today.” Alice tried to comfort her. “We can always make some excuse to go to the city, like a conference or something. Jen would cover for us.” she glanced over at the broker. “No offense.”
“None taken.” his face was blank, neither woman knowing if he was just placating them. “Though, if you don’t mind me saying, I've met Ms. Harkness on numerous occasions. She doesn’t seem like the diamond type of woman.”
“Exactly!” Rio threw her hands up. “Thank you! Why are engagement rings always diamonds?”
“Unfortunately,” he didn’t seem very apologetic, “we only carry diamond engagement rings.” Rio’s shoulders dropped. “Unless you would like to have one custom made–”
“Yes.” her answer was instant. Why hadn’t she thought of that? It was the perfect idea, and made the most sense. That way, she could make it exactly how she saw it in her head. The broker grabbed a piece of paper from his desk behind the counter, and wrote down the price. He slid it across the counter to Rio. She and Alice exchanged glances, why was he acting like this was some back alley drug deal? She picked it up slowly, glancing at him, then blanched at the number. “Excuse me?!”
“Custom isn’t cheap, Detective Vidal.” he said with a shrug, unbothered by her reaction. Rio winced, then glanced back down at the display of rings. There was one that she could possibly see on Agatha, even though it wasn’t necessarily the one. A cushion cut diamond, surrounded by smaller one in a gold setting.
“That one.” she said, pointing at it.
“Seriously? Rio, we can just go somewhere else. You don’t have to pick today.” Alice said, glancing at the broker.
“No, that’s the one.” Rio insisted. “Let’s just get it. We need to get back out on patrol.”
Step 2: Find the best place to propose.
That should have been the easy step, but the longer Rio thought about the different places that held meaning in their relationship, the harder it became. First date at the Hex Girls concert, first kiss at the Broomstick Pub, becoming ‘official’ at Lilia’s Yule party… not to mention the plethora of other events in their lives (moving in together, Rio getting promoted to Detective, Agatha getting tenure).
Who was she kidding? Finding the perfect place would be impossible.
“You’re overthinking this.” Alice told her as she lapped her again during one of their game nights at Williams. Rio groaned, head hitting the wall behind the couch as Waluigi flung himself off the side of the Rainbow Road for the third time. “Agatha will love it, you, and say yes, wherever you choose.”
“No she won’t.” William argued. He was younger than the rest of the group, meeting them through chance at a bar when he was 20. Agatha had just finished being his advisor for his thesis, and the kid had thought it was the best idea to come up to her at the bar to thank her (never mind the fact that he was technically too young to be there anyway). Somehow, he wormed his way into their friend group, and three years later hosted many Mariocart tournaments at his apartment with Alice and Rio; his boyfriend, Eddie, usually disappearing to do something with his friends when the event was happening. “Agatha is particular– ow! Alice!”
“You aren’t helping.” she snapped at him quietly, eyeying Rio.
“No, he’s right.” Rio said miserably. “Agatha wouldn’t settle for anything less than perfect.”
“You’ll figure it out.” Alice replied soothingly, immediately shouting as she won first place. “Agatha will love it no matter what.”
“All I keep thinking about are the different ways she would turn me down.” Rio explained, throwing her remote to the side, not bothering to finish the race. William picked it up, finishing the round for her while she reached for her beer to drink the last of it. “I mean, she’s Agatha Harkness, and I’m… me.”
“And you’re awesome!” William said with a little too much enthusiasm.
“Thanks.” Rio sighed. “It needs to be perfect.”
“It will be.” Alice reached out to squeeze her arm before turning back to the game. Rio tuned out her friends as they reset the characters and vehicles, reaching down to grab another beer and cracking it open. Right before the race started though, her phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her pocket and glanced down at it as the countdown started.
Agatha H 👩❤️💋👩: Just got home. Have fun with Alice and Teen. Drive safe <3
Rio ignored the race and her friends' trash talk. She clicked on Agatha’s contact and pulled up her contact photo. It was a photo that was objectively ridiculous: they’d been fooling around with the new features on the camera when she’d gotten her phone. They taken the photo with the .5 camera, way too close and at an awkward angle. Rio loved it though, loved how she got to see the happiness in Agatha’s blue eyes and the way the corners of her eyes scrunched up when she was truly smiling. She could almost hear Agatha’s laughter, telling Rio to delete the photo but never forcing her to.
Rio: Heading out after one more round. See you soon. Love you
The house was silent when she got in. The door to the spare room (more affectionately known as Scratchy’s bedroom) was open, the bunny on his bed with his belly up. She noted that Agatha must have cleaned up the little box and hay before going to bed, the area around the boxes neatly vacuumed and fresh hay ready for Scratchy to nibble on.
Rio slipped off her shoes and padded through the house, nearly silent. As she passed plants, she would press her fingers into the soil to test the moisture levels and made mental notes of which ones she’d have to water in the morning. When she got to the bedroom door, she noted the dim light coming from within and pushed the door open gently.
There sat Agatha, propped up against the headboard with her glasses on and laptop balancing on her knees. She wore one of Rio’s old band shirts, the stretched out neckline hanging off one shoulder.
“There’s a beautiful sight.” Rio commented, leaving the door open a crack for the bunny and heading to the bed. She pressed her lips quickly against Agatha’s before heading to the closet. “Missed you today.”
“We literally had dinner together.” Agatha replied, though there was no hiding the smile in her voice.
“I miss you whenever you aren’t around.” Rio shot her a grin.
“Cheesy.” Rio stripped down, pulling on sleep shorts and an old tshirt then headed to the bathroom. Through the door, she could hear the clicking of Agatha’s keyboard and the quiet woosh of an email being sent off. “Jen and I passed a new restaurant tonight. It's on the same street as The Broomstick. The Witch’s Brew. Looks like some sort of cocktail bar with snacks. Quiet, intimate.”
“Does it now?” Rio clicked off the bathroom light and headed over to the bed. She held out a hand and Agatha closed her laptop and passed it over, work done for the night. Rio placed it on the dresser before getting under the covers on her own side of the bed. Agatha moved to curl beside her, head finding its place on Rio’s chest, one arm thrown across her abdomen, and a leg slotting its way between hers. “Did you see what it looked like?”
“Dark, candle lit. Leaning into the Dark Academia thing the kids are obsessed with.” Agatha explained, fingers twisting in the fabric of Rio’s top – not out of anxiety, but in thought. “It kind of reminded me of those bars we saw in New York. Definitely not for kids. A couples sort of thing.”
Intriguing.
“We’ll have to look up the menu.” Rio settled into the bed, reaching over to turn off the lamp.
“Already did. Lots of vegetarian options for the food.” she chuckled, fingers brushing through Agatha’s long hair.
“Next date night, then.” Rio stated with a smile, a plan already forming. “We’ll get our Dark Academia on.” and, just maybe, an engagement.
Step 3: the proposal.
The closer it got to the date, the more worried that Rio became, and the more convinced she was that Agatha would say no. It wasn’t as though Agatha was giving her any indication that she wasn’t happy in their relationship: she still bitched about her students, still made fun of Jen, still babied her obnoxious bunny, and still cried out Rio’s name every night. There was something slightly off though, like somehow Agatha knew Rio was worried no matter how much she tried to hide it. Rio tried to play it off as having something to do with work, but that didn’t stop Agatha from curling into her on the couch at night as they watched television, and playing with her rings.
Rio figured it had something to do with the week past being the anniversary of her mothers death. Sure, there had been no lost love between Agatha and Evanora. Agatha had even popped open a stupidly expensive bottle of champagne when Evanora died – but that night had been full of emotions, breakdowns, and emergency therapy session appointment bookings.
At least they were being adults about the whole thing.
Now, the day had come. Agatha had disappeared into the bedroom to change into the dress she’d just gotten back from the drycleaners after their last attempt at a date night, and Rio put on the forest green suit that Agatha told her made her eyes pop. While her girlfriend took over the ensuite for her hair and makeup (even if Rio told her she didn’t need it, Agatha rushed her out anyway), Rio retreated to the guest bath. When the door was closed, she pulled the ring out of her pocket.
The longer she had it, the more fond of it she’d become. She could almost see it on Agatha now – the way the light would sparkle off the stone, how when people saw it they’d know that the person who put the ring on Agatha’s finger loved and cherished her.
Still, fear persisted.
“Agatha loves you.” She coached herself in the mirror, ring glittering under the warm lights. “You want to spend the rest of your life with her. She is your person, your soulmate. She makes you happy when – god, this isn’t a fucking nursery rhyme, Rio.” she sighed and turned her back to the mirror. “Everything is going to be okay. What is the worst that could happen? She could say no?” she laughed bitterly to herself.
“Rio!” she turned when she heard Agatha call her name, then slipped on the bathmat and tumbled to the floor.
Rio thought everything was alright, until she realised she had let go of the ring.
“Alice, I lost the ring.” Rio hissed frantically into the phone. She glanced through the crack in the door, looking towards the living room where Agatha sat on the couch engrossed in some video on her phone. She was already dressed: dark purple dress sitting just above her knees, black strappy fuck-me heels tapping on the hardwood. Any other circumstances and Rio would have already taken her to the car. Maybe they would have made out against the door like horney teenagers before going inside. During dessert, she would slip Agatha the ring. Nothing out-there or loud. As much as her girlfriend relished under the spotlight, she only wanted attention that she curated herself.
“What do you mean you lost the ring ?” Alice all but shrieked. She could hear Jen speaking in the background, though her words were lost behind Alice’s. “Rio, how the hell did you lose that ring?”
“Well, you see,” Rio looked at herself sheepishly in the mirror. “I was looking at it, y’know, a pep talk. Then I may have tripped and it slipped from my fingers and went down the drain.”
“Okay,” Alice said slowly, “I don’t know a lot about plumbing, but don’t sinks have a like catch spot at the bottom of the tube that you can get stuff out of?”
Rio looked down. “The bathtub drain.”
“Oh my fucking – Rio!” Alice yelled, and Rio glanced out the door again to make sure that Agatha hadn’t noticed the commotion. Thankfully, she was engrossed, shoulders shaking as she laughed at whatever she was looking at. God, what Rio would do to be watching that video with her. “Why the fuck did you have it in the bathtub?”
“I didn’t have it in the tub, just by it… I don’t know, Alice! Loss of brain cells, stupidity, just seeing my stupidly hot girlfriend stopping all practical functions. Take your pick!” She closed the door to make sure that Agatha wouldn’t hear her. “What do I do?”
“You propose anyway.” She heard Jen speak clearly.
“Am I on speakerphone right now? Seriously? Jen knows? Alice!” Rio looked in the mirror. This was not going the way she planned it.
“Look, so you don’t have a ring? Big deal. You guys can get another one.” Rio looked mournfully over at the tub. “Rio, I know what you’re thinking– I know it was a lot of money–”
“Three months of paychecks and my limited edition switch, Alice!”
“I know, but just think–”
Rio,” Agatha calling her name cut off whatever Alice was about to say. “Are you almost ready?”
“Yup, give me one second, my love!” Rio called back, then turned back to her phone. “I can’t propose today. I can’t.”
“Rio, you better–” Jen was cut off by Rio hanging up the phone and heading out into the living room, rounding the corner and making sure a bright smile was on her face when she looked at Agatha.
“Ready?”
The date wasn’t awkward, but it was… tense. Rio could tell something was off. Agatha still smiled and laughed at her jokes. They still made fun of the pretentious (but admittedly delicious) drinks with their pop culture names. The food tasted good, and the dessert was even better. But still, something was off.
It was the way that when their fingers brushed, Rio would go to hold on and Agatha to pull away. That when they both reached their spoons towards the dessert and they would clink against each other, instead of laughing they would both pull away and apologise quietly.
Forced politeness.
Something was wrong.
Rio narrowly avoided screaming into her pillow the next morning when Agatha got up, the tension still lingering. The palms of her hands dug into her eyes as she tried to figure out where they went wrong, and why everything had felt so off. Maybe it was the anticipation in Agatha’s eyes, then the disappointment that followed when they left despite her telling Rio that the evening was wonderful. Maybe it was the way they had just gotten ready for bed then watched mindless Netflix shows instead of fucking like they usually would. Maybe it was how everything came crashing down around her because she lost the stupid ring.
Agatha had even slipped out of bed that morning at a work-week hour despite it being a weekend. Instead of lazing around with Rio like she usually would, she went to tend to the bunny. As if she was avoiding her.
Rio groaned, and rolled onto her side. She reached across the bed, feeling the lingering warmth from where Agatha had slept. There were still the domestic sounds of dishes clinking in the kitchen, the keurig whirring as it made their morning drinks, the podcast Agatha always listened to in the morning, and the little paws on the hardwood as Scratchy zoomed down the hallway. The typical sounds of a Sunday morning, just with a side of a little (or a lot) of dread.
“Fuck.” Rio whispered to herself. Maybe she had been stupid to even think that they could get married, to try and change what they already had. Everything was perfect just the way that it was, why would she even entertain the idea of changing it? The universe obviously didn't think that they should.
Thunk
She twisted, looking over the edge of the bed at Scratchy who thumped his back legs angrily against the vanity where hers and Agatha’s jewellery boxes sat. Neither would close to the edge, so she rolled her eyes, but still pushed herself up.
“Calm down, I’ll get up.” Rio muttered to the animal, throwing her legs over the side of the bed.
Thunk
Scratchy kicked the vanity again, staring straight into her eyes afterwards like it was some voiceless dare.
“Stop it, Señor.” she scolded, standing and walking past him to the bathroom to wash her face.
The third thunk was followed by a small crash and a clattering-scattering sound. Rio swore and whipped around, the contents of her jewellery box spread out on the ground.
“Rio?” Agatha called out, worry evidence in her voice. “Are you okay?” Rio glared down at the bunny.
“Everything’s fine! I just knocked into the vanity.” she called back, waiting until she heard the sounds of the kitchen start up again before she stooped down to pick everything up. She glared at the bunny. “Listen here you little shit,” Scratchy looked back at her innocently, “I’m not in the mood for this. I was supposed to propose to your mother, and everything is going to– shit .”
What Rio had forgotten when she was originally looking for a ring was that one she was thinking of was already in her possession. When her parents had died, she’d been given their wedding rings by the funeral home. They had sat at the bottom of the jewellery box for a long time because at first they had hurt too much for Rio to look at, and then she just wasn’t sure what to do with them. But now there they were, her saving grace: the simple gold band her father had worn and the simple but elegant band her mother had with a green and purple stone intertwined.
“Oh my god.” she whispered, reaching out with a shaking hand to pick it up out of the mess. With one look at it, Rio knew this was the ring she had always been imagining sparkling on Agatha’s finger. This was the ring that held her heart for so long, the heart she gave to her girlfriend freely. She looked over at the bunny, who’s nose twitched as if to say told you so . “Okay, you can stay.”
Rio slipped the ring onto her own finger while she got dressed, the weight of not only having a ring but knowing that it had been her mothers and would soon be the love of her life’s, heavy on her mind. She had never been so sure of anything in her life. When Rio looked at the ring, she not only saw the love her parents had for each other and her, but the love she had for Agatha.
Once dressed, she grabbed the box that the original engagement ring had been held in. She could put this one in it, plan another date and propose in some extravagant way like she’d planned on. Or…
She threw the box in the garbage can beside the bed, then picked up Scratchy and placed him on the bed. She carefully threaded the ring onto his ear until it sat comfortably near his head. Thankfully, he didn’t flinch or look uncomfortable, just shook his head once. When that task was complete, she placed him back on the floor.
“Go find your mama.” she whispered to him, watching as the bunny hopped away.
Rio stayed behind for a couple minutes, taking her time grabbing her phone from the side table and washing her face. She could hear Agatha talking in the background, her voice clear over the people laughing on her podcast. She wondered when Agatha would notice, if the ring had even stayed on Scratchy’s ear, or if she would be angry–
“Oh my GOD!” Agatha’s yell startled her, and if Rio hadn’t known what was going on she would have run to the kitchen with a bar ready to beat up whatever startled her girlfriend. Instead, she finished putting on her cream then leisurely walked into the kitchen, trying to keep the smile off her face incase Agatha was angry. “Rio Marie Vidal!”
“Hi.” Rio popped her head into the room. Agatha was holding Scratchy up, moving him around so the light from the windows would hit the ring at different angles. “I think you’re supposed to take it off the bunny.”
“Shut up.” Agatha looked over at her. “Sorry, no- shut the fuck up, sorry- oh my god, Rio !” Rio laughed, walking over to Agatha and gently taking Scratchy from her so she could take the ring off the bunny’s ear. Once it was off, she placed him back on the ground and watched as he hopped away.
“I had a whole plan,” she started to explain, “the dinner at Witch’s Brew, the chocolate cake you love – but obviously that didn’t pan out. I love you, Agatha Harkness. More than words can describe, more than some piece of jewellery can signify–”
“Your moms ring.” Agatha cut her off in awe. She held it between her fingers before slipping it on. It was a tad loose, but the sight of it still made Rio’s heart seize with happiness.
“My moms ring.” she confirmed. “I want to spend my whole life showing you how much I love you, if you’ll let me.”
“Yes.” Agatha launched herself at Rio, laughing brightly with tears on her cheeks. She cupped Rio’s face in her hands. “Yes, I will marry you, Rio.”
Rio cupped the back of Agatha’s neck to bring her forward, kissing her. It was messy, desperate, full of all the love she felt. When they pulled back, neither could stop the smiles on their faces.
“I thought this would never happen.” Agatha admitted, holding out her hand to look at the ring in awe. “After the other ring–”
“Wait– the other– you saw it?”
“Well, yeah, you didn’t exactly hide it well.” Agatha shook her head and laughed, reaching up to wipe away some of her tears. “You put it in your drawer in the bathroom. That’s where we keep the toothpaste.”
Well then. Apparently she wasn’t very stealthy.
Agatha continued, “I thought you were going to propose that night, but when you didn’t, well, I thought you’d changed your mind.”
“Oh my god, Agatha, baby, no.” Rio shook her head, pulling her girlfriend – fiancee – into her. “I would never change my mind about this. The ring got lost. I literally fumbled and it went down the drain.”
“Jesus.” Agatha shook her head. “At least now I understand why Jen kept telling me to stop worrying.”
“Sometimes she knows her stuff.” Rio teased, leaning in and brushing their noses together. “Agatha Harkness, there would never be a universe in which I don’t want to marry you.”
Scratchy hopped out of the room.
Their lips pressed together once more.
Step four: If she says yes, celebrate.