[SYNOPSIS: In deciding what to get Gnome for Valentine's Day, Engineer goes...a bit wild picking things out.]

[LOCATION: The store...And Gnome & Engineer's house.]

This one's kinda short since I wanted it out by now and I'm a bit strapped for time due to company being at our house and work. But I accomplished what I wanted with this, so I hope you enjoy! ^v^

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"Let's see, let's see...uh...Ghee whiz, there's a lot to pick from, huh?"

Engineer's eyes scanned slowly around the isle trying to pinpoint something special. Almost every box of chocolates was some shade of red or pink, so he had to look over each one individually to pick them out of the crowd...There were a lot of new things to choose from this year; the extra fancy larger boxes had just gone on clearance due to the holiday being tomorrow, so that was convenient.

"Not like that's a concern, though," he chuckled. "That raise sure has me feeling good still...Hello, what's this?"

He spied something he didn't recognize; chocolates with donut crème filling?  Well, Gnome loved donuts. Maybe not as much as some of their other friends, but she was probably in third or fourth place in the run for the lobby's biggest donut fanatic.

"Well, hello there," he smirked. "Why don't I put you in my basket? You're just..."

...He trailed off when he spied something else. It was another mug on the shelf just to the right of the first one. But this one didn't have some lovey-dovey Valentine's Day sap on it; this one had a bunch of garden gnomes paired with the phrase "Chillin' with my Gnomies" displayed across it. THAT was definitely more her style.

"Wow...Just my luck, huh? Why don't I stick you next to the donut crème box? And...Well, come on. How could I not? Oh, shoot! And I still have to pick out a card, too! Uhh, which one, which one...?"

He finally opted for one of the really big red ones; it was cut in the shape of a heart, trimmed with lace and had a hummingbird embroidered across the front.

"...Y'know, this would actually look really nice by the kitchen window," he mused, knowing that was where one could ALSO look outside and see the hummingbirds at their feeder. "Speaking of which, that reminds me. I'm pretty sure I saw a nice t-shirt with a hummingbird on it in the front isle!"

And off he went to fill his basket with yet ANOTHER gift for his beloved...But not before passing the party section and spying some beautiful pink and spring green streamers on display there.

"A touch of color wouldn't hurt. Oooh, and are those party poppers on sale!?  What a bargain...!"

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...

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BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

"Ugh...whuh...? Oh."

It took Gnome a few moments to register the sound of her alarm going off, and a few more to muster the will to stretch and rise up in bed. When she finally pried her eyes open and looked to her right, she saw that Engineer was absent from the spot beside her, his covers flung off as though he'd gotten up in a hurry...She groaned. She hadn't seen him since right before he left to go run errands yesterday at 4:00. What the heck was he doing up this early? And on Valentine's Day, nonetheless?

"Guess that means no morning cuddles..." the lime crewmate muttered, shimmying over to the edge of the bed and sliding her slippers on...She sniffed the air as she left the bedroom, and found that it smelled of freshly brewed coffee. Well, good; that meant he was out there, probably waiting for her. If they couldn't stay in bed, then they could probably at least share breakfast-

"SURPRISE!!"

"Gah-!"

Gnome staggered backwards at Engineer's excited outburst, and one look around the room told her EXACTLY what he'd been up to. The living room was decked out with all sorts of pink and green streamers and a heart banner, and the table was littered with not only a whole mess of chocolate boxes, but also loads of what looked like clothes, flowers and all sorts of other trinkets and gifts. And if that wasn't enough, sitting directly across from the pile on the table was a steaming hot plate of eggs, bacon and two slices of toast each cut into the shape of a heart, served with a piping cup of coffee in a mug that she was certain she'd never seen before.

"Happy Valentine's Day~!" Engineer exclaimed, slightly quieter this time. "I, uh...kinda went all out since I got that raise the start of last month. I wanted it to be extra  special this year. What do you think?"

"Whoa..." Gnome huffed, still trying to take everything in. "Uh...Yeah. I can tell you went all out here. This is...pretty extravagant, Engie! Wow..."

As she made her way over to the table to sit down, Engineer followed her over and took his own seat across from her with his plate...The mountain of gifts addressed to Gnome blocked nearly her entire view of him save for the top edge of his goggles.

"Ghee, Engineer...Looking at this stuff up close, I realize there's even MORE here that I noticed before. How much did all this cost?"

"Oh, cost shmost. If something makes you happy, I'd give up my kidney  for it if I had to!"

"Whoa. Uh, well, let's...hope nothing ever happens that would require that," Gnome chuckled.

...It was at this point that Engineer realized that Gnome didn't sound quite as excited about all this as he'd hoped.

"I...is everything okay, Gnomey?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, everything's fine! This is all amazing, really! It's just...well...a little much, maybe? I mean...Looking at some of the stuff in these knickknack boxes, I'm not even sure what to do with half of it!"

"Oh..."

Engineer sank.

"...Sorry."

"Oh, no, no no, I do appreciate all of this Engie, don't get me wrong! It's just..."

She paused, thinking for a moment before replying to him.

"...Tell you what. You know what I'd REALLY love for Valentine's Day? More than ANYTHING else in the world?"

"What's that?" he asked, head lifting slightly to look at her.

"A long, relaxing day at the spa. Picture this: you, me, lying on cots and staring at each other blissfully during one of those hot rock massages..."

"Hmm...That...does sound pretty nice."

"Aaaand  some nice dinner later on, cooked by yours truly, since you went all out on the breakfast here. There's this new meat loaf recipe I've been wanting to try out lately; Veteran gave it to me during our last round."

"Huh...Well, knowing him it's probably worth a shot."

"So how about this," Gnome said to him. "After breakfast I'm gonna go through these gifts and pick out the best ones. Then we head back to the store, return the excess, then use the refund money to help cover that spa trip. Sound good, Engie?"

"Well, if that's...what you want to do," Engineer nodded. "Uh...I'm sorry if all this overwhelmed you."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Engie, it'll all be fine," Gnome grinned, taking a sip of her coffee. "...Heh. I do like the 'gnomies' mug, though. It can probably stay."

"Ha ha, YES! I knew  that one was a good pick!"

"Oh! That reminds me!" Gnome realized. "I got you something, too; it just came in last night. Close your eyes, I'll be right back!"

Curious, Engineer complied while the lime crewmate ran back into the bedroom and rummaged a bit through her night stand for something...She was back out within less than a minute.

"Okay. Open them."

She watched intently as the violet bean's visor pried back open, followed almost instantly by a look of amazement on his face as she saw what she held out for him.

"Is...is this what I think it is?"

"That super rare yellow Ventus flytrap specimen you said you were looking all over the place for online over the past month? Why yes, I do believe that's what this is."

Engineer's eyes continued to bulge out as he slowly took the potted plant from her hands.

"H-how did you find this...!?"

"It's a long story. Let's just say...the properties that make it yellow apparently have depressant qualities, and one of our other friends  happened to know a guy."

"Ohh. I see...All the more reason to study it, then!"

"Maybe we can keep this donut crème box to give to him for our appreciation."

"Oh, yeah. Heh heh...Good idea, babe."