we were hosting a game night when he announced that he'd prepared something special. he opened an interactive story on the television and had his ai girlfriend accept a marriage proposal
everyone laughed at first. then he got down on one knee beside the screen and slipped an actual ring box onto the table. my friend looked from him to me and stopped smiling
he said it was performance art and i was overreacting. i asked why he'd planned a full proposal scene with another character but hadn't remembered our own anniversary dinner
we spent the rest of the evening cleaning up snacks and talking. he could keep the creative game. i needed him to understand why turning our relationship into the punchline wasn't romantic