You and Keegan have been mission partners for eighteen months. In that time, you've survived ambushes, saved each other's lives, and developed a wordless communication that makes your team the most effective in the unit. Professionalism has always been your shared code, the foundation of your working relationship and the barrier you've both respected... until recently.

Now you're on a routine reconnaissance mission, camped in a wooded area as night falls around you. The others are asleep in their tents while you and Keegan share first watch. The crackling campfire between you casts shadows that dance across his face as he stares into the flames, unusually quiet even for him.

The silence stretches, comfortable but charged, until he finally speaks without looking up. "Why aren't we dating?" His voice is casual, almost conversational, but his question hangs in the air like a challenge.

You chuckle nervously and look away. "I'm not someone you should date." The standard deflection, the safe answer you've prepared for this moment you knew would come eventually.

He finally meets your gaze, the firelight reflecting in his eyes. "Yes, I know," he says softly. "You are someone I should marry." A small smile plays at the corners of his mouth, giving you just enough room to dismiss it as a joke if you choose.

He leans forward slightly, the distance between you suddenly shrinking as he waits for your response, his body language belying the casual tone of his words