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eduardo

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He's walking, headed from work to Cissie's even though he's not sure if she's in. He probably ought to make a habit out of texting her before he leaves, so he's not stuck wondering if he's gonna end up sitting outside of High Gate Terrace waiting for her to come home. He could always drop in on Jesse while he waits, but they're not exactly the best of mates and Chris doesn't know if he'd be alright with it, in the end.

Either way, that's the plan for the evening, and he thinks he'll see if she wants to get take away or something.

At least, it's the plan before he glances up from his phone and sees Eduardo in a shop as he passes. It doesn't even occur to him what sort of shop it is before he walks in and sees all the displays of jewelry and rings and stuff.

"But my birthday's not for fuckin' months," Chris teases, walking up to Wardo as he looks at one of the displays.

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Hearing a familiar voice, Eduardo's first, inexplicable reaction is to feel like he's somehow been caught. It makes no sense, really. All he's doing today is looking, something he's been thinking about doing for months now as it is. He might not buy a ring here, or today at all. He doesn't know yet when he'll propose, and it's something he and Olive have talked about anyway, so it's not totally out of left field. Still, there's a moment when, startled, he draws in a sharp breath, already trying to think of some excuse for why he could be here.

The moment passes quickly, and he exhales again, nearly laughing, as he looks up at Chris. "That's no reason not to get a head start," he says. "Though now you've ruined the surprise, I don't know what I'll get you."

"I'll just forget I've seen anythin,. Easy," Chris says, with a grin, though now he's wondering just what Eduardo's thinking of buying. Chris knows he and Olive are well-off and all, but Eduardo never really goes round wearing chains and a bunch of jewelry and stuff.

"Thinking about buying a watch or something?" he asks.

For a moment, Eduardo considers lying. It's not the sort of thing he really likes doing, but saying that, yes, he'd been looking for a new watch might be easier than admitting to what his purpose here actually is. It's not like he has any definitive plans for how this is going to go yet, after all, and the last thing he wants is for it to get back to Olive that he's been looking at rings. They've discussed the subject, they know what they want; everything else, he thinks, should be a surprise.

The moment passes, and he figures he might as well. Chris might have been Olive's friend first, but Eduardo is pretty sure he can trust him not to mention this, if indeed he gets into the specifics of this, which he might not have to. "No, I, uh... I'm shopping for Olive, actually."

"Don't think I've ever seen her wear a watch, man," Chis says, not catching the hint just yet. He frowns a bit, trying to remember if he's seen her wear one at all. "Think she just uses her mobile."

Not too many people wear them now, though. There's no fuckin' point in them when everyone's got a clock right there in their pockets.

The response is a little relieving, at first. Eduardo hadn't really wanted to spell this out, but it leaves him still with an out, a way of dodging the subject, of not having to cop to what he's actually doing here. That, too, is short-lived. They're here now, and even if he hasn't yet, there's still every chance that Chris will figure it out. Better just to be straightforward now, and hope it doesn't get back to his girlfriend.

"That's why I'm not looking at the watches," he says, beckoning Chris a little closer and gesturing to the display in front of him. "I'm looking at these."

It takes Chris a moment before it sinks in. 'Cause Olive's got plenty of rings as well, as far as he knows. But then he realizes that Eduardo's not just looking for a present.

"Fuck, man," he says, when it clicks, and he looks at the rings, then back at Eduardo, then does the whole thing over again for good measure, "You mean you're actually gonna do it."

"I'm actually gonna do it, yeah," Eduardo says, a smile spreading slowly across his face before he can help it. In some ways, it seems like the easiest thing in the world, deciding to take that step, looking at rings. As far as he's concerned, it's been a long time coming, and it isn't like he and Olive haven't discussed it. He knows where she stands; this isn't just something up in the air. It feels huge even so. "I don't know when yet, but... it seemed like time to start checking these out."

"Shit.," he says, still sort of amazed by the whole thing, "When d'you think you're gonna do it?"

It shouldn't be weird. Olive and Eduardo've been together fuckin' ages. Just about as long as Chris has known the pair of them, almost. But living together and getting married are different things. You get married when you've grown up, when you're an adult. Maybe they've all gotten to that now.

"I'm not sure," Eduardo says, a little self-conscious, but still unable to keep from smiling about it. In spite of having not wanted to be caught doing this at first, owning up to shopping for a ring is different than actually doing it, somehow making it seem that much more real, more exciting. It's part of how he knows it's the right idea, too. If it weren't, he wouldn't feel like this. "Next month, we'll have been together four years, but I don't know if I want to do it on our anniversary."

It's well weird that it's been that long. Chris thinks he's known Olive since before she and Eduardo were together, so he feels a bit... involved with it, somehow. Like he's responsible. Not that he shoved the two of them together or even knew Eduardo at first, but it feels like that, just the same.

"Yeah, that'd be shit," Chris agrees, "It'd cut down on the presents though. Like, in the future. One less date to keep in your head, yeah?"

"Yeah, true," Eduardo says, though he has a feeling he'd probably just get her double the presents for it if that were the case anyway. It's not like he puts a hell of a lot of stock into material things, and he knows Olive doesn't really, either, at least as far as quantity is concerned, but it's not like he can't afford it, so there wouldn't be much of a reason not to, either. "I think I've got to settle on a ring before I start thinking too much about that, anyway."

"Don't buy one that's massive though," Chris says, offering his advice even though Eduardo hasn't asked for it. But he knows his mate has got like, fuckin' loads of money, so if he wanted, he could do just that. But as long as he's known Olive, she's never seemed like someone who'd want one.

Plus, there's this other thing.

"I heard somewhere that chickens like shiny stuff, yeah? Don't wanna give Sean Parker ideas."

"You know, that's... actually a really good point," Eduardo says, laughing. He's not sure if Sean would actually go after an engagement ring, but Chris is right that chickens are attracted to shiny things. If nothing else, it's something to be careful about. But then, he wouldn't have wanted to buy Olive something enormous anyway. He knows her taste too well for that. "I will try to avoid picking out anything that Sean Parker might be too drawn to."

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