Dave’s office overlooked the skyline of Spindle. It was too bad his back was to it. His head was hunched over his desk, furiously reading the last of his paperwork for the day. He glanced at the clock in between paragraphs, hoping to finish in time. He had a date tonight after all.

Jack wouldn’t mind if he was late, he knew that.

He honestly didn’t deserve him, Dave thought to himself, but he was going to try anyway.

~~~

Jack finished his meeting with TEAR at sundown, nailing down the primary goals. Decadent Dreams was finished, a shining example to their ethos going forward. Jack was precise, soft spoken, wise, talking only when needed with an unshakable calm. He only looked at his watch once, which Vic and Grey noticed, helping to wrap the meeting soon.

They knew Jack had an important date tonight.

~~~

Drinks to celebrate the new order, Jack and Dave thought, as they met in the Twistillery. Dave finally got to admire the sunset from the floor to ceiling windows the bar had sported, but by then he found himself much more enchanted by another sight. He didn’t think he’d ever seen the furrow of Jack’s brow relax as it did today, and he looked all better for it.

Still not completely relaxed - there’s always something on his mind.

Jack was the one to bring up the uncertainties their future held. Sure, Spindle was safe, for now. And they had division of labour, for now. But an uprising was always possible…

Dave felt but a fraction of the tension Jack had to deal with, when he was still saddled with the Revolutionary, in the shoes of the evil mastermind he would plot and hate himself for plotting. Jack stood by him through his worst, and still… somehow managed to love him in spite of it.

And though he could never repay that, he could do at least one thing in his power to give Jack some certainty for the future. It would not change the dates of the next apocalypse, nor would it silence rebels…

But one humble ring could make sure he would at least be by Jack’s side to see it through, like Jack had done for him.

One must forgive Jack for taking a step back in surprise, as he could not remember Dave ever kneeling to anybody.

Dave was not very good at Sculpt, and so the simple gold band was dented and crooked at parts, but it fit Jack’s finger perfectly, and through the gleam of day’s final light Jack could see that Dave’s matching ring had the same defects his own had.

The titular words “Would you do me the honour…” were barely out of Dave’s mouth when Jack cut him off with a “Yes.” Unable, with the mind of a great writer and storyteller, to come up with anything more poetic than that.

And in that moment, they felt certain of everything.

“Announcing: Dave, 10 of Masks, General of the Dream Vanguard, Bearer of the Herculean form, Enemy of the Tyrant, The Penitent, The Unmasked, The Unifier and a citizen of Dream!”

Dave looks out over the assembled Muses, the austere obelisk of the memorial standing grey behind him – names carved into its base. Standing at the podium, gripping its two edges with battle-scarred hands, he casts a weary eye over the face of every Muse present. The gathering is quiet. Anticipatory. Waiting for him to speak. There is an unbroken silence.

“I am proud of you. All of you. Every single one of you gathered here today has made Spindle what it is today, and for that I will always be thankful. Not only for what you have done for me, but what you have done for all those Muses around you. None of them would be safe without you, and you deserve more respect than I can ever give you.”

There is a short round of applause.

“Today marks a sombre occasion, the day in which many Muses and Impressions fought to protect Dream from its foes. Those who wished to change Dream’s path to an uncertain, dangerous road, and those Dark Gods that threatened our very existence.

“But we are not here to remember our enemies. Today we remember our friends, our families, our neighbours and those we loved. Those who gave their lives to create a new Spindle, a new Dream, a new world for all of us to thrive in.

“Perhaps some of you are still uncertain, perhaps some of you do not know what the future will bring, but I know what I see. I see a path, paved by these brave souls, that we must walk because it is one that leads to a better tomorrow. I see a path, that promises something bright, and I see a path that we shall all walk together.”

There is a one minute silence.

“We shall commemorate those who fought and died today. I thank you all.”

At this, Dave leaves the podium. A short ceremony follows, where Muses that fought are granted medals of bravery.