“Of course I want to marry you, you dummy,” he whispered against his lips. “You just caught me off guard, is all. You really should stop assuming I just know things and start explaining thembeforeyou spring them on me.”
“My apologies, Jude.”
“You know, in my culture, people give each other rings when they ask to marry them. Where’s my ring, huh? And you call yourself a romantic. Pfft.” Jude gave an exaggerated scoff, but he was smiling. Al, however, appeared contemplative.
Suddenly, he sat up and reached down the collar of his shirt. After a moment of fiddling, he pulled the lanyard off from around his neck and then held it out to Jude.
“Will you marry me, Human Jude Adler?” Al asked.
“You know that ‘Human’ isn’t part of my formal name, right?” Jude asked, but even as he said it, his eyes prickled. “But yes, I will marry you. That’s not even a question.”
Al looped the lanyard—grungy and frayed from near nonstop wear—and placed it over Jude’s head.
“This is very romantic, but you know I’m not going to wear this twenty-four seven like you do, right?” Jude asked, looking down at the lanyard and feeling more emotion than he ever had toward a lanyard before.
“This is, I believe how you say in English, ‘your loss,’” Al said, and Jude laughed.
“I love you,” he told Al sincerely.
And Al, all beaming smiles, replied, “And I, you.”
Jude then sighed and looked down at the car they were sitting on.
“So I guess we should probably call Kyle to come out here and jump the car, huh?”
“I told you it was not a smart idea to drive your bad car so far out into the desert,” Al argued. “We have many other vehicles that are much better and safer.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Jude waved a hand dismissively. “They aren’t as sentimental, though.” Kissing the corner of Al’s mouth, he said, “If I didn’t have this car, I never would have met you.”
Al considered this.
“It is still a very bad car,” he concluded, “but perhaps I can feel understanding at your feelings of affection toward it.”
Jude laughed and leaned back down against the hood, his hands behind his head as he smiled up at the sky. They’d call for help later. There were still stars he needed to thank.
