Getting Meowrried

"I can always find some new and exciting way to distract myself from domestic bliss if I have to," he shrugs, glancing down at his bandaged arm since it's the perfect example of exactly the sort of thing he's talking about. He's going to have to be more careful from now on if they go through with this, though. More drone bodies doing the combat on his behalf, less suicidal risks, no going into dangerous situations completely unarmed. Probably going to have to avoid picking any fights with the cat that might escalate into targeting families, but small pranks and surveillance should still be safe, right?

"Go on some dumb adventure in the lower floors, pick a fight with HALO's leadership over some minor issue, involve myself in Eastside's politics. We can even convince ourselves the kid's teachers are shapeshifting aliens who graded that test wrong on purpose, and shadow them for evidence of their wicked agenda until it turns out their shady behavior went down a completely different conspiracy rabbit hole, and they were actually Yaldabaoth doomsday cultists all along." That last one might involve more leaping from rooftop to rooftop and superspy shenanigans than is ideal for the duo, though.

"And, uhh..." the tin man falters, trying to find the words that keep eluding him. Talking about stupid adventures and getting himself in dumb conflicts is easy, but the second he tries to get back on topic, just as he makes eye contact with her, wow, the well just dries up instantly. There's nobody to persuade of anything since Caelynn is already on board, no tricks to pull or sneaky gambits to pull. He doesn't have to impress the catgirl or do anything to win her over. It should be easy to just say something sweet and tender and then take her hand and go look at those dumb moon flowers, shouldn't it? Just say something normal, something cute and romantic so you can smile at her and she can smile at you and we can move on from this conversation and work on figuring out the rest when your hand is feeling better. Or even better, maybe you can just tell her what's actually been bothering you all these months and why this domestic fantasy is only coming up now.

"Legally speaking, if we do go with the Riverside option, and I know I'm suggesting these completely out of the conventional order, but if we do, it might be in our financial and legal best interests to tie the knot an-" No, Magtok, you stupid idiot, just tell her. Not the carefully crafted nonsense you think she wants to hear, this tsundere anime girl bullcrap where you act like you're only getting married for tax purposes when it's obviously for twu wuv, what you actually feel. The ugly side of it. Take the damn mask off and tell her the truth. Take a deep breath and then face this head on instead of trying to bury it underneath the usual theater and spectacle.

"**** it, I don't...I don't know. I...I want this, I do, but there's so much that can go wrong. The moment I start calling you my wife or we start trying for kids, some madman is going to take that as their cue to hurt you. The cat will put you in his rifle's scope because I did that to him first. Some new freak will show up at your clinic with a bomb, wanting revenge for any number of the things I've done years ago. We've been comfortable like this for months; the ice queen is the only bad thing that's happened to us in all this time and she was a joke. The moment we start changing the status quo, that security is gone. And I know you're probably thinking you'll just hug the paranoid, emotional cyborg and say that love and determination and superior firepower will keep us together, but it's never played out that way for me before. I don't know how to protect you from the entire world, and I don't know if it's worth risking all that we have right now." It's weird, Mag was just talking about his suspicion that she might try to hug him and downplay his fears, but it's his arms that immediately reach out to pull her close to his chest.