It was a cold night with light snowfall as the two of us sat in the moonlight together. Luna and I were sitting on a bench in the small park near the center of town only a short walk away from our inn. My face was bright red when Luna explained to the others what we were doing and they kept their teasing minimal as we snuck off to do the engagement ritual by ourselves.

  I looked around. It was late and cold out and there weren't many other people around. I knew it was a risk but I wanted to look into her eyes for something like this. I touched the front of my blindfold and with a thought, the blindfold disappeared into the ring I now wore on my index finger. I was still working on controlling my magic output but Luna had been a patient teacher. I would still need to work on it in the coming days but I already could at least control it this much.

  Once I had my normal vision back something took all my attention away. The moon was full tonight and looked gigantic above us. The giant glowing white moon looked odd to me for a few moments until I realized what was so strange about it. The pattern on the face of the moon looked completely different. The moon from my old world had a very distinct pattern that I had seen thousands of times, seeing a different pattern caught me off guard. This moon was no less beautiful and the increased size of it made it all the more spectacular. It reminded me of the moon in the dungeon above the lake where I met Luna for the first time.

  ("Are you ready?") Luna asked.

  I turned to face her and smiled. ("I am. How do we do this?")

  She took my hands and the two of us scooted so that we were mostly facing each other on the bench. She bit her lip and looked up at me. ("Your eyes remind me of the moonlight.") Her hand reached out to caress my face and she pulled me in for a short kiss. When she pulled away again she was smiling. ("First, offer me your braid.")

  I pulled the small braided locks of my hair out of my pocket and held it out to her with both hands. It was about the length of my palm and was pretty simple. It was tied between a pair of blue beads we had found when walking through town together. It was a bit against tradition for her to help me choose them, but considering I didn't know the traditions she didn't complain about it. My shiny black hair reflected the moonlight and looked pretty despite just being hair.

  She smiled and pulled out her own braid. Hers was golden blond and was tied between a pair of red beads. She smiled up at me and held it out in front of her. ("I accept you as my dominant.") She placed her braid into my hands and took the black one for herself.

  I still had mixed feelings about her phrasing but I decided to meet her halfway. ("I accept you as my bride.") I curled my fingers around the blond braid and slipped it into my pocket.

  She giggled and leaned against me. ("I suppose that's fine. It's probably unfair of me to expect you to follow all my traditions perfectly.")

  I slipped an arm around her and pulled her against me. ("I will compromise and meet you halfway, but I don't want to do anything that makes me uncomfortable and I wouldn't want to make you do anything you would be uncomfortable with either. I'll take the position as 'your dominant' but I won't treat you as any lesser than my partner and my bride.")

  She smiled and shook her head. ("That's fair enough.") She gave me a kiss and leaned back to look me in the eyes. ("The next step is to trade tokens of our affection. You gave me a ring that allows me to talk with you and the others and I want to accept it as your token, so I got you this one to match.") She held out a different ring, it was a shiny silver band with six small blue gems embedded in it. ("The dungeon and wilderness are dangerous places and the floor of the dungeon that separated us isn't the only magic in this world that can do things like that. We're promising to be together and this ring will make sure we can face any challenges as a team. It's tuned to my unique mana signature, whenever you power it, it'll point you in my direction. I might want to make you chase me from time to time, but it's because I always want you to catch me in the end.") She gave me a mischievous smile as her tail swayed back and forth behind her in amusement.

  I took the ring and slid it onto my right ring finger, like the other rings I've tried, it adjusted to be a perfect fit automatically. I looked at it for a moment and smiled when I realized that my eyes made the stones twinkle just like her eyes did when I looked into them. When I looked back up at her I had a huge grin on my face. ("Thank you, I'll cherish it.")

  She leaned in and we began to kiss once again. We were engaged for real now. It felt so strange to think about. Our relationship was moving so fast but at the same time... it felt so comfortable. After everything we've been through together, I felt like I could trust her more than I had ever trusted anyone. I had heard of the suspension bridge effect before, the idea that you're more likely to fall in love in a dangerous situation, but it's more than that. We risked our lives together. She's used her magic to protect me and I've used my claws to protect her. I trust her to have my back just as I would do everything I could to protect her. Even in the heat of battle when my instincts are at their highest, she's still a top priority even for the more... bestial parts of my brain.

  I sensed that the little ritual was done based on the relaxed atmosphere that Luna gave off now. I stared up at the moon for another few moments before raising my arm and summoning the blindfold back into place. I was once again in the darkness lit up by all of the magic nearby and the lantern on my hip. The nice thing about this ring is that I could summon things on and off of me as long as they fit in the ring. My armor was too bulky and heavy to fit inside but all the rest of my stuff hadn't been an issue so far.

  Luna let out another cold breath and curled up next to me on the bench.

  ("Are you cold?") I asked.

  ("No... but you're warm. Let's stay out here together a little longer.")

  I smiled and squeezed her against me.

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  We were quiet for a few minutes before she broke off the silence with a giggle. ("I can't believe I'm engaged! We met in a dungeon! What are the chances of that?")

  I laughed and shrugged. ("Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon?")

  ("Well, no, not exactly. But still,") she said amused.

  ("At least we'll be able to tell people who ask us how we met, a daring story of me saving your life from the brink of death. Did you fall in love at first sight? Did you feel weak in the knees once I walked up after saving you and your friends?") I joked.

  Luna laughed. ("Truthfully, I was worried the entire time that we were about to be eaten. Even when you walked up in your human form, we weren't sure if you were about to attack us. I can honestly say without a doubt that my attraction to you was anything but love at first sight.")

  I dramatically held a hand to my chest. ("Oh! You wound me so! To think I had to earn your affection!")

  The two of us laughed together at my silliness and cuddled up on the bench together. I looked at the falling snow. I didn't even feel like I needed the coat I was wearing but it didn't feel uncomfortable to wear either. Luna seemed to be about at her limit despite how much she seemed to be enjoying our time alone in the moonlit snow together. She wore a much heavier coat and still looked a bit too cold. I was about to suggest we go back inside but she cut me off.

  ("Helena... Thank you for everything you've done for us. I don't know if I ever properly thanked you for saving my life back then, and you've saved my life a few times since then I'm sure. You're helping with the debt my friends got in because of me and even had rings crafted for me that will make my life a lot better. I think I would love you for all of that, even if you weren't such a brave, strong, and beautiful person. I... I'm just so glad that I met you and that you are returning my feelings. I don't often feel lucky but you're so much more than I could have asked for.") A pair of tears traveled down her face but I chose not to comment on them.

  I kissed her on top of the head. ("All of this has been so crazy, so insane. Almost getting eaten, falling into a cave that I later find out is a dungeon, finding out that I was in a different world while being attacked by monsters... You and the others are the only things keeping me grounded, stopping me from freaking out and panicking. To find someone that I want to be with for the rest of my life despite all of that? I feel like I'm the lucky one.")

  She sat up and kissed my neck. ("Helena, I love you. Thank you for everything.")

  I wrapped my arms around her. ("I love you too. You're welcome and thank you for everything.")

  She giggled, wiped away her tears, and gave me one more kiss on the cheek before pulling away. ("Let me see the braid I gave you.")

  I nodded and pulled the braid of hair out of my pocket. She found a ring on my shirt and clipped the braid to it. ("This ring here is meant for people to display their braids to others. I realized when you put it into your pocket that you might not know,") she said with a chuckle. ("We'll go see a mage tomorrow about protecting the braids. Woven hair will normally last forever but adventurers like us need to get additional protection from things like fire and acids. It's pretty common for people to get it protected so it shouldn't be hard to track someone down at a fairly inexpensive price.") She smiled as she looked at it. ("Now everyone will know that we're officially engaged. Wear it this way for at least a week. Longer if you're willing. You can move it to a different spot if you like. That's what this ring here is for, but it's acceptable to wear it wherever you want.")

  She took the braid I had given her and clipped it to her robes. It also had a small ring hidden under one of the hems. She smiled and thumbed the braid made from my hair. It felt a little odd from my perspective but this obviously meant a lot to her. I suppose it's a form of engagement ring along with the tokens of affection we shared with each other. I thumbed the new ring on my finger and poured a little bit of mana into it. I felt a slight pull in her direction giving me reassurance that it works. It sounded like it didn't have a range, or at least had a very long one from what she said. I liked the idea of having something that would let me find her and keep her safe. At the same time, having a ring that would take me right to her felt a bit invasive, but if she didn't mind then I shouldn't either I suppose.

  I pulled her into a hug against me and stood up, easily lifting her into the air with me. She giggled and kicked her feet as I walked through the snow. "Let's go back inside. It's cold out here," I said.

  She nodded and rested her head against my shoulder. ("Are you planning on carrying me the entire way?")

  I started walking through the park carrying her in my arms. "Only if you don't have a problem with that."

  She nuzzled her face into the crook of my neck and kissed it. ("No, I want everyone to see how strong my fiancé is.")

  I laughed. ("Let's see if I can scare off any challengers before they even think about it.")

  She giggled again. ("Yup, they should be scared. No one is going to defeat my Helena.")

  After a short walk through the snow, I stepped back into the tavern and the entire room cheered when I carried my new fiancé through the door.

  "A round for everyone!" Maxwell called out. The entire bar cheered once again as I walked across the room to our usual spot. My face felt a bit warm when I sat down at the table with my friends. It was embarrassing to be called out like that in front of everyone but to prove I wasn't embarrassed of my lover, I pulled her into a kiss in front of the crowd and got another cheer from the rowdy bar patrons.

  Maxwell was not the only one to buy the two of us a drink that night and we went back to our shared room quite drunk after that. The two of us hadn't been allowed to pay for a single drink for ourselves and yet I probably had even more to drink than the last time.

  Hello! An ultra fluffy chapter for you today! Aren't these two cute together? This chapter was a follow up to the recent chapter where they talked about it, but now it's official! Our girls are committed now. I hope you enjoyed reading it!

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