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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/SpacePaladin15 on 2025-12-20 13:52:05+00:00.
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The destination I had in mind for our getaway was none other than the ruins of Pompeii, smack dab in the middle of startled tourists. Corai clearly recognized where we were within half a second, though she seemed confused about why I’d chosen here. I heard several people screaming about there being an alien, and while some stumbled backward or fell on their asses, others began approaching with their phone cameras. It wasn’t every day that an immortal alien appeared out of thin air at a world heritage sight.
“Preston, you know we’re making quite the scene, right?” Corai prompted.
I placed my hands on my hips, lifting my head with pride. “I love making scenes! Let them stare—give them something to gawk at.”
“Okay. I’ll…speak to them.” The Elusian gave a polite wave to the onlookers. “Hello, humans. Sorry for the disturbance. Please, don’t mind us. Buon viaggio.”
“How’s it going, pizza-lovers? Corai was here at Pompeii, and saw the volcano do the fizzy-soda-thing! That’s how volcanoes work, kids; an Elusian would know, since they made all of the geographical features of the designer space rock we call Earth. Corai loves kaboomy kablammies. She’s super into fuego things, like lava and me.”
“I apologize for his irreverence,” Corai pleaded to the cameras. “Preston is a goofball.”
“And I’m more flaming hot than that volcano. I’m not blinded by 5D space; 5D space is blinded by me! You date me because you’re in awe of my beauty.”
A human spectator froze, scrunching his nose. “Hold up, you two are an item?”
“You bet! I know what you’re all thinking: you wish you had such a freakishly-hot girlfriend, but how many portals have you flown through? I take down spaceships with my bare hands. I see other dimensions through out-of-body experiences. I give robots hula hoops. You can’t compete.”
“Preston, don’t be mean. For all you know, there’s other prodigies in the crowd right now, who will someday surpass you. Haven’t you learned about underestimating others’ capabilities?” Corai demanded.
“I should have by now, because you never disappoint me. You exceed expectations.”
“Shush, you charmer.” Corai gazed out at the ruins of Pompeii, a deep sadness etching into her face. I knew she really did remember it like it was yesterday. “Preston, why did you bring me here? You said you were trying to show me what you really felt about me. I mean, I’m glad you think I’m ‘freakishly hot,’ but that’s not why you brought me to…this place. A reminder of death and destruction.”
I sucked in a deep breath, knowing I had to work up my nerve. Maybe this was a stupid, tonedeaf idea for a location. Why would Corai want to be reminded of another heartbreaking tragedy and think that was romantic? What if she rejected me in front of all these people? I could feel my throat constricting, before I flashed back to Sofia’s mental voice telling me to quit being dumb and ask the Elusian out, back on the Fakra station. Fifi had helped me plan this. She was a woman, and she didn’t think it was dumb.
It’s a little suspicious. Sofia always thinks my ideas are dumb, so this one must be good.
“This was the place I fell in love with you. I saw the sheer depth of your emotions through your eyes. I witnessed a Watcher who was anything but idle and dispassionate. This was a moment where you saved a life because your heart told you to, and countless generations, countless other infants, got the chance to live and to contribute to our world. You made a difference, whether you see it or not. When I saw it, I’ve been head over heels for you ever since,” I told Corai, hoping my sincerity came through.
The Elusian grew quiet, as the crowd fawned over my sweet proclamation. “It means a lot to hear you say that, but I could’ve done more.”
“You did more than anyone else, and I think you should focus on that. You are the reason the multiverse has a hope of surviving: your love and your action. You never failed! You don’t have to be perfect to be perfect to me. I love you, Corai-svran. You complete me, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you and the family we’ll have together.”
Tears fell freely from her eyes. “That’s very sweet. You’re my reason to live. You’re the only one who makes me feel whole.”
I deftly pulled a ring box out of my pocket, and dropped down to one knee, extending it toward her. “Before I begin, I’d like to suggest an expiration date for this potential marriage. I respect cultures amazingly.”
Corai looked stunned, almost frozen the second the ring materialized, but she flinched as soon as I said the word “expiration date”; it seemed to cause her physical pain, touching on her deepest fear. The Elusian levitated the ring out of the box, violating traditions that I knew she was familiar with. The stone was black obsidian gem. The band, meanwhile, had been made from parts of Mikri’s broken chassis, which I hoped she’d recognize with a spectral analysis; she’d patched him back up, after all. She deserved his scrap metal.
Sofia actually got that dumb tin can to agree and help handcraft this. He liked the black “emo” stone! I guess he might be my best man, without sabotaging the wedding that much. Assuming she says yes.
“What expiration date?” Corai asked, in a shaky voice.
I pretended to think about it, tilting my head. “How about…when the last black hole left in any universe dies? See? I’m learning nerd shit—and the ring matches your nanocolors!”
“Yes, matching my skin and my eyes; it would blend right in.”
I wrestled the ring away from her telekinetically, clearing my throat as my heart hammered like crazy. “Corai-svran. Will you troll every living being in every dimension right alongside me forever? Will you marry me?”
“I will happily do both.”
A grin spread across my face, and I slipped the adjustable ring over her finger without any further ado. Several tourists cheered, having filmed and waited for her answer with anticipation; we made a good soap opera. I turned to high five everyone in animated fashion, unable to believe the woman of my dreams had said yes, to me. I was the luckiest human to ever live! I couldn’t wait to wake up every morning beside her, and to spend our days together for as long as I clung to consciousness. I…was going to be a husband. A father, one day, if we survived.
Corai pressed a hand to the side of my face, staring into my eyes. “I have no guarantees about my survival in the coming days. I don’t want to leave anything undone. If you find it acceptable, I’d like to have an impromptu ceremony to officialize it, now. Today.”
“Now?” I responded. “That’s a big moment together to just…skip over, and not to plan at all. You only get to marry Preston Carter once. How am I supposed to get anyone to come, or give you a white wedding with a bigass cake?”
The Elusian laughed. “It’s not the things that mean a lot to me. It’s the company. We can go back and have a proper, glamorous wedding if we win. A celebration of us.”
“Alright then. I’m more than happy to rush into forever with you. Just one question.”
“Yeah?”
“About a human tradition. Do…you don’t have to, but are you wanting to take my last name?”
Corai tilted her head. “I have an idea that’s a little untraditional. How would you feel about us each taking one another’s last name? A true…marriage of human and Elusian culture.”
“You’re my family way more than my flesh and blood, so I totally would be down to take your family name. Preston-svran. That’s a badass name; I’ll immediately become ten points cooler! Let’s go gather everyone and do this.”
Of all the things I’d rushed into and done quickly, this was the only one I felt sure about; my impulses had never felt so right. There was no telling how our fight with the AI would turn out, but our love could be a symbol of everything we were fighting for. The Elusian took my hand in hers, and she opened a portal back to the base to make our last minute arrangements. It appeared that Mikri wouldn’t have as much time to calculate how to ruin our wedding as he would’ve expected.
Mikri had managed to get tuxedos for him and myself on short notice, while Corai insisted she had control of the wardrobe for her and Sofia, the maid of honor. We hastily took over a courtyard with Takahashi’s blessings; the general stole a moment to officiate the wedding and handle the legal mumbo-jumbo of marrying an alien who wasn’t a citizen of Earth, but I guess technically she would be through holy matrimony. Yeah, poor military boobear. I was lucky the ESU needed both of us like a pizza needed sausage and noodles on top (which it 100% did to make it whole).
The android had been very quiet, standing alongside me as we waited for Corai to walk down the aisle. “Corai makes you happy. I can see this.”
“Yeah, Mikri. She’s really important to me,” I said. “It’s like when I’m with her, I feel loved and complete. You know? She accepts me in my entirety, and I her…”
“I have known you for many years by now...
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