The Proposal, Part 2

Posted on Mon Sep 29th, 2025 @ 10:40pm by Lieutenant JG Ryan Kellerman & Lieutenant Darius Korveth

3,224 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: What was Lost is Found
Location: Lohlunat Festival, Suraya Bay, Risa
Timeline: Summer 2392

And now the conclusion...

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Darius changed into a pair of khaki colored shorts that blended well with the greenish tone of his legs. His shirt was short-sleeved and casual. A dark maroon with muted white flowers.

For Ryan, he had elected to go with long black pants that were light and breathable–perfect for the Risan climate. For a top, he settled on an orange-and-white checkered short-sleeved button-up.

In his duffel, he had brought with him a family heirloom. It was a gold watch that his fifth great-grandfather had owned and was passed down to each successive generation. Neither of his brothers had ever wanted the thing–it was antiquated and clumsy on the wrist, but Ryan had taken to it the moment his grandmother had offered it to him in high school.

He removed it from its protective casing and slipped it onto his right wrist, enjoying the snugness. He glanced at the analog display, verifying it still kept time. It did.

“We’ve got half an hour,” Darius said with an easy smile that reached his eyes, but that was a little more reserved than normal.

He took Ryan by the hand and led him outside. He glanced down at his chronometer, then back at his boyfriend.

“I’ve heard there were some interesting views down the beach a little ways. How ‘bout we check those out first and then go to the bistro? You up for that?”

Ryan nodded and smiled at Darius, leaning in to plant a small kiss on his cheek. “A walk on the beach with you? Hell yes.”

The sun was low on the horizon. Their hostess had promised them a spectacular view, and the planet had delivered. The Risan sun was a shade somewhere between red and pink, the azure colored ocean acting as a giant mirror reflecting back in their direction, but providing the same view for anyone taking the time to look.

Darius cut his gaze between the man walking beside him and the sunset, but five minutes into the walk he stole a glance down at his timepiece.

“You brought your ancestor’s watch?” he asked curiously.

Ryan looked down at his gold watch. “Yeah,” he said in mock affront. “I can’t wear it to class at the Academy. And there haven’t been any special occasions where I might want to make it part of my ensemble.”

He reached down and intertwined his fingers with Darius’s. Smiling at him, he pulled his hand up to his lips and kissed once, not taking his eyes from him.

“Quite the view,” Ryan commented, turning his attention back to the sun, the ocean, and the beach.

“It is,” the half Orion agreed. “I may have…” his voice trailed off as he shifted to a new track. “Do you trust me?” he asked.

Ryan feigned offense and squinted at him. “Of course I do. You know that.”

“Then close your eyes.”

The young man from Illinois smirked at Darius. “This is a public beach, Ari.”

Darius, for his part, rolled his eyes, “Oh, my god, your mind is twisted and depraved. Not that I normally complain about that, but you have my word, I have nothing carnal on my mind.”

“Just close your damned eyes.”

Ryan shook his head with a slight grin. “Fine,” he muttered, a little unsure what Darius had planned for them. He closed his eyes and stood there, feeling the last touches of the sun on his right side, hearing the ocean hissing as it pushed close to his feet before retreating.

He felt Darius’ hand disengage from his hand and shift to his wrist. The two men continued to move more or less in a straight line for another five minutes before their path curved to the right.

Then they stopped.

“You know what I was telling you about the bistro?” he asked Ryan.

Ryan nodded, eyes still firmly shut.

“Well, I may have been lying. You can open your eyes now.”

He opened his eyes and looked around.

On the beach, set far enough away from the ocean so that high tide would not wash anything away, but close enough to the rolling waves could be readily experienced was a square table with a large candle in
the center and half a dozen smaller candles scattered around it. Two high-back chairs sat across from each other.
There were three seated individuals about ten meters further down the beach with some kind of stringed instruments. While two men, dressed much more formally than anyone else on the beach

“Surprise,” he said, his normal smile now back on full display.

The seated trio, now that the two men had made their arrival, started playing a tune. It wasn’t anything that either Darius or Ryan recognized, which meant it was probably Risan. It was slow and melodious and vaguely haunting.
Ryan blinked. What was he seeing? Musicians with instruments? Formally-dressed personal valets? It all seemed to be part of some special occasion, but for the life of him, he couldn’t understand what that occasion might be.

“Darius,” he said, perplexed. “What’s… what’s all this?”

There was a short pause before Darius responded. A pause Ryan wasn’t used to seeing.
“It’s my way of saying welcome to Risa, it’s my way of saying I love you that goes beyond words, beyond sex, even beyond friendship. Do you like it? Is it too much?”

Ryan took it all in–the musicians playing some tropical Risan tune, the servers dressed in black-and-white attire and barefoot. The table. The candles. All of it on this gorgeous white sand beach. And with Darius.

He turned to his partner, eyes gleaming a little. This wasn’t something Darius normally did–he never was one for sweeping displays of romance. He could definitely be romantic, but never anything so intricate as this.

“Darius, my love,” Ryan said, a solemn expression on his face. “Of course I like it. I love it..” He found the words floating around in his head were out of sequence, but he didn’t want to take any chance he’d spit them out in the wrong order and have to be taken to the medical clinic. So he did the one thing that came naturally to him–he threw his arms around his lover and kissed him deeply.

Darius shouldn’t have been surprised by Ryan’s actions, but he was. He didn’t let it stop him from responding. He returned the kiss. It wasn’t chaste by any means, but it carried more romance than heat.

‘I’m glad you approve,” the Half-Orion said as their kiss broke, “All the food here, except for the dessert, are all Risan food. The dessert, well, you’ll just have to wait for it. It’s something I think you’ll like.”

Ryan smiled at his half-Orion boyfriend. “I’m actually a little hungry,” he admitted playfully. “I can’t believe you did this. It’s amazing, Ari.”

The two Risan waiters, or valets or whatever their particular designation might have been, looked similar enough to be first cousins, or possibly brothers. One though was taller than the others, and even Ryan and Darius.
“We are starting,” the taller one said, “with a Risan Mai-Tia and an appetizer of Tidal Pool delicacies similar to Terran sear urchins. Then, a selection of Risan fruits that we hope you will enjoy.”

The Risan Mai Tai was made of rum, Curaçao liqueur, orgeat syrup, and lime juice, garnished with two fruits that neither man recognized, and was brought to the table by the shorter

The Tidal Pool delicacies were placed on the table a moment later.

“Gentlemen, your first course is served; you may have a seat.”

Before Ryan could act, Darius moved and pulled out a chair.

Ryan remained silent and simply watched as the flurry of activity around them continued. The sea urchins, the Mai-tais, the fruit, and then Darius being a gentleman in this gorgeous setting. It was all so surreal.

“You’ll probably think this is cheesy,” he said, “but you’re my prince.”

He grinned at Darius and took a seat in the high-backed chair. “You’re the prince, Ari. Nobody else would have done any of this.” With a sweep of a hand, he indicated the spread, the table, the musicians, and the waiters.
Once they had finished their first course the fruit was next to arrive.

“We have three types of food for you gentlemen,” the taller one, who had been doing all the talking, said. “The first is sunset fruit. The second is called pleasure fruit… You should probably eat that in moderation. Then, finally, we have crystal berries.”

“Enjoy,” the shorter said, speaking for the first time

By now, the sun had fully set, though it was. It wasn’t fully dark yet. The sound of waves rolling onto the sand and pulling back was barely perceptible but it was there in the background.

Ryan turned the miniature plate a fraction, letting the sunset fruit reflect the light. The flesh was a vivid orange that bled into crimson. He speared a piece, tasted it, letting the sweetness linger in his mouth.

“Leave it to you,” he said, his voice quiet and warm, “to track down fruit that changes colour just to keep up with the day.” His eyes turned to Darius–he was in awe of his boyfriend. He took another bite, slower this time, almost matching the rhythm of the surf behind them.

The crystal berries were tart at first, eventually leaving a faint hint of mint and rainwater. He laughed under his breath. “Feels like I’m eating stars,” Ryan said, shaking his head. “Sounds cheesy, I know. But damn.”

Across the table, with the candles flickered in the beach breeze, Darius’s face looked like home. Ryan reached for his hand, thumb brushing over the green skin as naturally as if it had always been his to hold. “You outdid yourself, Ari,” he said. “No one’s ever made me feel like this before.”

Darius paused before replying, grateful that what he was doing was having the desired effect, but still nervous about what would happen through the rest of the courses, especially how Ryan would react when dessert arrived.
It would either go marvelously well and his greatest desire would be fulfilled, or everything would come crashing down and everything would be ruined.

“I said trust me, didn’t I?” he asked, taking a sip of his cocktail. “Just keep on trusting me, believing in me. I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

His last line was delivered with more bravado than conviction.

Ryan smiled back at Darius. “You’ve never disappointed me, Ari.”

He toyed with the rim of his glass, feeling the condensation beads on his fingertips, while the waiters cleared away the remnants of the fruit. The seaweed salad arrived next, strands glowing as though it had all just been scooped in handfuls from the nearby shallows. He lifted a forkful, and watched the way the garnished seemed to pulse.

“This looks like it belongs in a science lab,” Ryan said with a lopsided smile. “But it smells like the ocean on a good day.” He tasted it, surprised by the crunch and the way the flavours seemed to gently disperse instead of collide. “Not bad, Ari. Not bad at all.”

The main course followed–coral fish with glistening skin, laid across foreign veggies. One forkful tasted warm and savoury. The next was edged with more spice. Ryan laughed and shook his head. “It’s like the food can’t make up its mind. I kind of love it.”

Darius kept looking down at his food, over at Ryan, toward the two men bringing out the food, back at the surf then he’d start the cycle over, though not always in the same order. Once or twice he even just looked down at his feet.
The food was quite good, just as he’d been promised. With the possible exception of the salad which looked better than it tasted to him, he’d probably order it again if given the opportunity. Though those thoughts were not foremost on his mind at the time

Finally the last course of the meal arrived, dessert.

It was different than the other courses, because the two platters that contained it had a silver dome covering them. It was also different in that there was no explanation or description. The taller man delivered it by himself, then both the servers walked away, leaving only the trio playing softly and the two men eating.

It was now fully dark, only the candles on the table and the myriad of stars and a half moon above them providing light.
Darius swallowed as he lifted the lid of his dish. “I saved the best for last,” he said, revealing a souffle. “It’s pumpkin, they couldn’t quite get the pie concept down.”

“Why don’t you, em, why don’t you open yours and see what you think.”

Ryan looked at the silver domed platter for a long moment, a thoughtful look crossing his face. His eyes flicked over to Darius, his expression a mixture of trepidation and contentedness.

“Ari,” he said, his tone careful and low. The soft hissing sound of the ocean washing against the sand provided a calming background to the moment. “If I open this platter, what am I going to find?”
Almost immediately shifted to a much darker much more Orion tone.
He pointed to his own souffle “What do you think might be there?” he asked, trying to sound innocent.
The cadet from Illinois glanced from his half-Orion boyfriend to the silver dome. With a slow and deliberate move, he lifted the cover from the platter, his breath catching.
Underneath the dome was the souffle, just as Darius had promised. There were also two small boxes, one a little larger than the other.
“Open that one first,” he said pointing to the smaller box.
Ryan smiled sheepishly at the two boxes. He could tell right away they had both been wrapped by Darius–the job wasn’t perfect, but then again they didn’t need it to be. Simply knowing he had put the time and thought into it was what mattered.
Both boxes were wrapped in the same rose-coloured wrapping paper and finished with two powder-blue ribbons. The larger box had a matching powder-blue bow on the top.

He placed a hand on Darius’s and tilted his head. “Babe,” he said, “which one do you want me to open first?”
“The smaller one,” Darius said pointing again to the package without the bow. His hand was shaking slightly.

Ryan smiled at him, withdrawing his hand so he could get to work opening the wrapping paper. He didn’t tear into it like an animal–he simply pulled at the edges where the adhesive was thinnest, releasing the boxes from the confines of the rose paper. The box revealed itself as a plain black box. Ryan took a breath and then opened the lid, setting it aside.
Inside was what looked like a small coin with writing on it.
When he reached down to pick it up he could see that it wasn’t one coin but two. The words he was now able to read. He recognized it came from the Bible. It read, “The Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent one from the other.”
“I know neither of us is especially religious, much less Christian but I liked it anyway. We each carry half of that verse. So even when we’re apart, we’ll have something to remind us of each other.”
Ryan leaned over, an arm draped over Darius’s chair, and kissed him.

“You’re so thoughtful, my love,” he said, not wanting to tear his eyes away from him.
“Now, the other one,” he said after the kiss, now clearly nervous.
Ryan clocked how nervous Darius appeared: his greenish skin seemed a little paler than normal, and even though they were seated at a table on a sandy beach in the evening, there did seem to be a slight sheen to the Orion hybrid’s forehead.

He winked at him and proceeded to open the other box, pausing for a moment to admire the blue ribbon. Once the wrapping paper was carefully removed and discarded, Ryan took a small breath and opened the box.
Inside were two cobalt wedding bands.
By the time Ryan finished opening the box Darius had moved from his chair. He was down one knee. “Ryan Robinson Kellerman,” he said, still clearly nervous. “When I told you earlier that I loved you, that I meant it. Now just while we’re at the Academy. Not for the short haul. I want you to be my husband. I want us to be together forever.”
Ryan could feel the blood drain from his face and extremities. It wasn’t a cold feeling, but it was an electric sensation that caused a slight tremble in his hands. He looked to Darius, down to the rings, then back to Darius.

“Ari…” he said, his breath hitching. “I… yes! Of course!” He jumped out of his chair and threw his arms around Darius, almost knocking both of them into the sand. He caught himself at the last minute and steadied both of them, as they remained on their knees just a few feet from the tide.

The two waiters who had remained nearby but slightly out of sight, shared a slight grin at Ryan’s reaction.

After a moment of staring into Darius’s eyes, Ryan pulled him in and kissed him deeply, wanting to savour this deeply personal and momentous occasion with the man of his dreams.
When they finally pulled their lips apart, Ryan gazed once more into his eyes, wondering just how lucky he was to have Darius in his life.
“I will always love you,” Darius promised. “Always and forever.”

The string trio started playing louder now. An old Terran song. One the two men had heard on their third date. A song that had become their song. “I’m Still In Love With You.”

“You want to dance?” Darius asked.

Ryan grinned. “First dance as fiances?” he said, pulling Darius to his feet. They squared-up, each man lowering his head on the other’s shoulder as they began to sway in the sand.

Darius had always been an enthusiastic if creative dancer. Though his normally good agility had never been especially graceful. At least when it came to slow dancing. But he’d been taking lessons.

He leaned into Ryan so there was no distance between them

“We really should eat dessert soon,” he said as they finished their first dance and the trio started playing another earth song “Save The Last Dance For Me.”

Ryan nuzzled his nose against Darius's neck. “You’re just full of good ideas,” he said, as they moved back toward their high-back chairs.





A Post By

Lieutenant Darius Korveth
Chief Strategic Operations Officer
USS Valkyrie

Lieutenant JG Ryan Kellerman
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Valkyrie

 

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