(Untitled)

[ever_noteful]

Meg is curled up in a chair near the fireplace, her feet tucked up underneath her, staring at her engagement ring again.

She supposes she'll get tired of looking at it one of these days.

But she hasn't yet.

And she doesn't think she will any time soon, either.

Comments

[thursdays_angel]

Some one else seems to be looking at things intently this evening.

"It is a diamond," Castiel says.

In case Meg was having difficulty making that determination.

He can tell.

[ever_noteful]

Meg looks up.

"Yes, I know," she says. "It's my engagement ring.

"Hello, Castiel."

[thursdays_angel]

"I was not aware that you were engaged."

Castiel takes a seat at Meg's table.

"I believe it is tradition to offer congratulations."

Marriage and the events and ritual surrounding it (no matter what the faith or culture) have long been matters of extreme importance to humanity.

[ever_noteful]

"Thank you.

"And it's still relatively new. And the last time I saw you, we weren't telling anyone yet."

She looks down at the ring and back to Castiel.

"It was Alain's grandmother's diamond."

[thursdays_angel]

"Is it meant to bestow luck? Or a special sort of blessing?"

Castiel looks at the clear, cut stone.

"Convention and superstition regarding marriage changes so quickly. It can be difficult to keep up with what is considered customary."

[ever_noteful]

"I guess it is. I hadn't thought of it like that, but yeah," Meg says. "I understand that she and her husband were very happy together. I didn't meet them, they passed away when Alain was younger.

"And maybe it's just . . . you know, about being welcomed to your new family."

[thursdays_angel]

"To be welcomed is in itself a blessing."

It is unfortunate, what marriage has been (and still sometimes is) in some times and places. When one party, generally the female one, has been unwelcome, it can uncover some of the ugliest sides of humanity.

"And I suppose, to be trusted with an item of great family value, is a way of demonstrating that welcome."

Castiel looks a little bemused now, as he regards the ring.

"Livestock was quite popular for a long time."

[ever_noteful]

Meg laughs.

"Well, I don't exactly live in a society where my father is expected to give Alain a goat for taking me off his hands.

"And I'm not sure what we'd do with a goat in Montreal, anyway."

Finding an apartment that takes dogs can be hard enough.

[thursdays_angel]

Castiel looks very solemn.

"You would be worth far more than a single goat."

With such earnestness he says that.

[ever_noteful]

"Thank you," Meg says.

A compliment is a compliment, right?

"So would he."

So it's really just as well that there are no goats involved in the betrothal.

[thursdays_angel]

A marriage of these two? There might even be cattle involved. Purple dye and cloth of gold might not be a stretch.

"You are pleased, then, by this arrangement?"

"It is, I assume, your arrangement?"

That is how things are done in this day in Meg's part of the world.

[ever_noteful]

Meg nods.

"It is, yes. He asked, and I said yes.

"He had previously asked my father's permission to ask me, but that's more a sign of respect for my father than any kind of binding agreement or anything, at least in my when and where.

"It was just our decision. Alain's and mine."

[thursdays_angel]

"It is a good thing, I think. The exercise of free will in the matter."

And Meg is wise. She would not make an imprudent decision when it came to the subject of who she would marry.

"Will you marry soon?"

[ever_noteful]

"It's a very good thing," Meg says.

"And not especially soon, no. Probably about a year and a half from now. When I'm done with university, but before medical school."

[thursdays_angel]

Castiel tilts his head. Something that might be humor comes into his eyes.

"From my perspective....that is a very short wait."

It is accompanied by a bit of a smile.

"It is gratifying. To witness the beginning of a new shared life."

When the War to End All Wars may well be getting underway on the other side of his door.

[ever_noteful]

Meg grins at him.

"Well, from my perspective, it's really not a 'very short wait.'

"I'm very happy, though.

"Really, really very happy."