[Synopsis: Sometimes, things aren't as bad as they seem...but when they seem bad, it can give rise to some unnecessary tensions.]

[Location: Gnome and Engineer's house]

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The figure in goggles looked at himself in the mirror, imagining himself in the winter formal wear that was hung up on the closet door behind him. He sighed deeply, then put on the most confident face he could muster as he stared back at his reflection.

"...Gnome," he whispered, now imagining her standing there in place of his own image. "I...I want you to know that...you're amazing. You light up my world like a thousand suns, burning my eyes and..."

He stopped.

"No...No, no, no, that doesn't sound right. Doesn't sound GOOD, even."

Engineer rubbed his hands together anxiously and started over.

"Let's see, ah...Gnome. You're different. I've never met anyone who makes me feel this way, and then you seemed to fly right into my life like..."

Engineer grumbled to himself.

"No, that makes it sound like she was forced into my life without me wanting it..." he said, shaking his head. "Oh God, I'm horrible at this."

He let out another deep sigh, then reached into his pocket and felt the small box resting in there...It'd taken him almost the whole year to be able to afford, but now he finally had it. After so much overtime and so many hours doing extra jobs, he was finally ready to pop the question...At least, if he could think of the right thing to say.

And a time like this would be perfect, too, he thought. I can't botch up something like-

"Engineer!"

...This.

Gnome was calling him...and judging by the tone of her voice, she didn't sound very happy. Not something he wanted to hear.

Oh boy...

"Hang on, Gnomey!"

He hid the box in the pocket of the dress coat hanging from the closet doorknob before leaving the bedroom and meeting a disgruntled Gnome out in the dining room. There were two plates of fried eggs and toast on the table, each paired with a cup of coffee...Whatever was bugging Gnome, it wasn't enough to stop her from making them both breakfast, and he couldn't help but smile a bit at that fact.

"Oh, wow. Looks good, Gnomey," he remarked, hoping to lighten up the situation a bit. "You always find a way to make the mornings bright, y'know?"

"Hmm...well, thank you," she replied. "What took you so long in there?"

"I was just making sure everything was ready for later tonight; you can never be too well prepared ahead of time," he answered her as he sat down. "...What's the matter, babe? You look a little uptight."

"I am," she told him, taking in a deep breath through her nostrils. "...I need to talk to you about a few things."

The purple crewmate tensed up a little bit, slightly fearful of what was on his girlfriend's mind, but he maintained his composure and responded.

"...Alright. What is it we need to talk about?"

"Well...I know you said you had to take up a few other jobs in order to keep up with the bills. And that's fine," she started. "But lately, it seems like we've been having less money to work with, and not more. Even with your extra jobs, we barely go anywhere anymore, or do anything; whenever you're NOT working, you say we don't have the money to do any of the things we want to do together, and most of the time, I'm just...here by myself. Aside from when we're asleep, you're probably only home only three to four hours a day, even on the weekends."

"...Oh," he replied flatly. "Um...well...Yeah, th-that sounds pretty accurate."

"I mean, I'm not saying we need to spend a fortune on anything, and that bills can go up, so we would need to save more in that case," she continued. "But are the expenses really that bad that we have to stop doing everything that costs any more than eight bucks? You're even overly wary about how much gas money we use and the amount of food we buy now."

"Well...As of now, Gnome...Yes. It has been that tight."

She huffed out a sigh, taking a bite of her eggs.

"...How much longer is this going to last?" she asked him. "I just...I don't want there to be a wedge forming in between us now that we're not doing as much together."

"Um...Maybe another week to two weeks," Engineer answered. "Just to catch up with everything and put in my notice for my technician job at the pharmacy and security post at the bank."

"...Just two more weeks?"

"Yeah! I'll be home a lot more often after that."

"Are the bills going to be going down again after that?"

"Well...sort of, yes," he nodded. "I just paid off a big expense a few days ago, so part of the weight has already been lifted off my shoulders."

"What did you pay off?"

"Oh, um...The order of crystallized carbon I told you about a while back."

"It was that expensive?"

"Yep. The stuff's, uh...a little hard to come by," Engineer told her, dipping a strip of his toast into the yolk of his egg and biting it off. "...I only needed one order though, so this won't be happening again any time soon."

"Well, I hope the prices your lab supplies aren't going to go through the roof. Otherwise, we'll probably have to cut back on the time you spend working in there; I know the experiments are for helping your research at the lab, but if it gets too pricy I don't know if we can do it anymore."

"Don't worry, Gnome. I, uh...I've already talked to the boss down there, and I'll only be working in the lab three days a week now. And only for an hour to two hours each day. Besides, it's honestly better in the long run for experiments to be stretched out so that we don't rush anything."

"Oh...Well, that's nice," Gnome replied, seeming a bit less on edge now. "Glad you decided to do that."

"Me too, Gnomey...Me too."

Engineer took a sip of his coffee before continuing.

"One more thing. I'll be going to my technician post at ten this morning, and I'll be back at around three. I don't have anything else to do today, and I've gotten off time from all three posts for tomorrow, so we have that and the Christmas party tonight to look forward to. And Christmas day, too."

"You promise you'll be done at three?"

"Sure do, Gnome. Should be home by half after. If ya get lonely, feel free to call; it's been getting a little slow at the pharmacy over he past few days; I think our competitors across the street are getting more revenue."

"Oh..." she replied. "...How's your coffee?"

The purple crewmate pinched his thumb and forefinger together.

"Perfect," he replied. "I got gifts for everyone at the party, too; figured I'd use some of the extra I had left over to pay for that. Didn't splurge, though; thank God for coupons and 5 Below, right Gnomey?"

"...Didja get me anything, Engie?"

"Oh, I sure did," he nodded. "But, um...Gnome?"

"Hm?"

"Would you mind me giving you yours after the gift exchange?" he requested.

"Why's that?"

"I guess it's just...well...it's kind of personal. Y'know, I just want it to be between you and me."

The lime-colored figure raised an eyebrow.

"...I'm not sure if I should be excited or concerned by that," she told him.

"Oh, no no, you're gonna LOVE it," he assured her. "Um...at least I hope you will. I've been...wanting to get it for you for a while. And it isn't just some cheap thing from the dollar store. No...It's special."

"Really?"

"Yeah...And now I can finally give it to you."

Gnome cracked a smile, tilting her head off to the side.

"...Thank you."

"Anything for you, babe," Engineer nodded, smiling himself. "...Now let's finish up. I want to be able to spend a little more time with you before I have to go."

She nodded, and they both went back to eating, finishing within the next five minutes. After they put their dishes in the washer, the couple headed over to the couch and sat down side by side, each leaning their heads against one another...Engineer looked up at the clock on the wall once they sat down; 8:19, it read. He didn't have to leave for more than another hour.

As the tension he'd felt that morning began to ease, his mind began to clear again as well.

Jeez, that was a close one, he thought. ...I'm honestly surprised she didn't catch on sooner after what went on between Ria and MrEgg.

He knew what had happened between those two preceding the crisis they'd faced, and he'd decided to go about the ordeal a bit smarter than MrEgg had; Gnome had still been a bit annoyed that he was gone for so long each day, which was understandable, but there was no reason for her to think he was doing anything seriously bad behind her back.

...And she'd only confronted him about it the very day he was ready to show her what he'd been saving up for.

And with me at the pharmacy and her here, he said to himself. I'll have plenty of time to think of how to word everything.