[ He has to take his gauntlets off for this, casting them aside so he's able to work the clasp of the chain open and slide the ring into his palm. Taking Jill's hand, he slides the ring carefully onto her dainty finger and admires it for a moment, thinking of all the things it represents.

He kisses her hand again, reverent, then looks up at her face; his eyes are red, cheeks still wet with tears, though he can scarcely recall a time in the last twenty years when he's smiled like this. He loves her so much that he feels it sometimes like a physical ache, but it's the most pleasant kind of pain he could imagine.

Torgal, who has been seated a few yards away to allow his humans their moment, has clearly reached the limit of his patience now, barking and trotting up to the pair to demand the pats and scratches he is due, and Clive obliges. ]

I don't understand this place, but we're together. That's what matters most. I only wish our family could share in this joy.