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{Ah! I had wondered when I might see you again…}
The Narrator looked up at the being across the room. Her upper hands on her hips, her lower hands held together, and her middle set of hands clapping in sheer delight.
“Sister.”
The Curator laughed.
{An icy reception, don’t you think?
In any case, what made you pay me a visit, hmm?}
The Narrator rolled his eyes, and sat down at a table.
“I’ve some… news. News that I think I might not have told you.”
The Curator hummed, moving over to sit down at the other end. Her movements were swift and smooth, elegant and precise. She crossed her legs and leaned forwards, curious.
{Is this about you and Stanley?}
The Narrator looked up, a little shocked.
“You know about him?!”
The Curator laughed once again.
{Of course I do, Narr! Him and I talk rather often, in fact. Do you think he goes to the metal jaws just for kicks?}
“Well, I- you- I- erm…”
The Narrator ran out of words, opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish.
"You mean to say you're friends with my par– protagonist?"
She raised an eyebrow.
{Thank god you don't pride yourself on your subtlety, hmm? You and I both know very well that he's much more than just your protagonist .}
Her face then lit up, her tone becoming not dissimilar to a schoolgirl who'd just found the perfect reason to tease her peer.
{You loooove himmmm!}
The Narrator’s face went entirely red. She was right, but God, why'd she have to say it like that?
"Oh hush, Curie."
The Curator grinned.
{I'll do no such thing! It's not every day my prissy and prim little brother falls in loooove~!}
He groaned.
"God, you're so embarrassing…"
{That's my job. Anyway, I'm guessing that was the news?}
A sigh.
"Yes. Stanley and I… Well, he's my partner. I wanted to let you know."
The Curator hummed.
{And is that all? Narr, I know how private you can be. You don't share stuff like that unless you need to for some reason.}
The Narrator fiddled with his upper hands, drumming his lower ones on his lap. He avoided the Curator's curious gaze.
{...Well, Narr?}
"...I've been… thinking ."
{Hm. Careful.}
The Narrator scowled.
"If you're going to make fun of me, sister, then I won't tell you."
A short chuckle.
{Sorry, sorry. Couldn't resist. Go on, I'm listening.}
The Narrator cleared his throat.
"Right. Well.
See, Curie, I've been thinking. For quite a while, actually. Stanley and I have been… lovers for some time now. And I… I know it really wouldn't matter since for the most part it's just the two of us, and nobody else would really know about it, but…"
She raised an eyebrow once again, intrigued. Whatever this "it" was, it seemed to have her little brother in a tizzy. She leaned forward, grasping the Narrator’s upper hands with her middle ones.
{Go on. Whatever you want to say, I'm not going to judge you, you know that. "Rip off the band-aid," as Stanley might say.}
She shot him a well-meaning grin.
The Narrator swallowed his nerves, nodding. If he couldn't get over telling his sister, how would he ever ask Stanley?
"...I've been thinking of proposing. To Stanley."
The Curator's eyes went wide.
{Proposing?}
The Narrator braced himself for a lecture that never came. Instead, he felt himself being lifted up and two, four, six arms wrapping around him.
{Oooooh, that's wonderful, Narr! Oh, my God, my baby brother's going to get married!}
The Narrator tried to scowl, but his sister's enthusiasm was rubbing off on him. All he could do was mumble "not a baby" whilst fighting the grin that crept onto his face.
He cleared his throat and spoke up once again.
"Also, he hasn't said 'yes' yet. Hell, I haven't even proposed. Calm down on the weepy 'oh, my little brother is growing up' rhetoric, Curie."
There was an unmistakable fondness behind that exasperation.
{Yeah, yeah. But listen to me, mm?}
The Curator put her brother down, resting her upper hands on his shoulders. The Narrator looked up at her, giving a questioning hum.
{I'd like to think I've spoken to your Stanley enough times to be friends with him, and to get a good read on how he feels for you. I want you to trust me when I say that man adores you. So much. It's actually rather nice to speak to someone else who cares about you just as much as I do. And it's lovely to see my little brother happy.}
"Is this going somewhere, or…?"
The Narrator had a ghost of smirk on his face. The Curator huffed lightly.
{Oh, hush, you. What I mean to say is…
Narr. Believe me when I say that Stanley would love to marry you. I can see it in the way his eyes light up when he talks about you. In how much more alert he becomes when you're the conversation.
I know you well enough to know that you're going to stress out like hell about how to propose to him. I can't stop that. But you listen when I tell you that you could randomly ask that man to marry you in the middle of an ending and he'd say yes, a million times over.
And, because I know that you're too proud to ask…}
The Narrator stuck out his tongue childishly.
{...I think he's the right fit for you. I think you two deserve each other.}
"Curie, I…"
The shorter being cleared his throat.
"...Thank you."
His sister smiled.
{Of course, Narr.}
The Narrator then wrung his hands, looking down. He gave a couple of false starts, before huffing out a short breath and trying again, speaking slowly.
"Would you… help me, Curie? To plan the proposal?"
The Curator's eyes lit up, and she squealed excitedly, clapping her middle hands.
{I'd love to!! Oh, goodness me, my sweet little brother, asking little old me to help-–}
"Curie."
{Oh, fine, fine. I'll calm down.}
"Thank you. Now, if I may, could I bounce my ideas so far off you?"
The Curator smiled.
{Anything for you.
Baby brother.}
The Narrator simply rolled his eyes. He had no time to chastise his older sister.
He had a proposal to plan.