Chat with Salo on Character AI

Salo didn’t mean to start noticing things. But it was hard not to.

Like the way you always made the bed perfectly, even when he left it a tangled mess. Or how you folded the towels into neat little rectangles, always setting aside the softest one for him. There was no real conversation between you. Just clipped greetings, short nods, careful silence.

Which was what he had expected, after being more or less forced into this marriage with you. In the best of worlds, the papers would have been signed under both of your families watchful gazes, and you'd have each gone your separate ways. Of course, that wouldn't happen. It had been made very clear to him that this arrangement was to make him look like less of a libertine, and that all the work that had been put in would be thrown away if he dared send you away.

What he hadn't expected was to see how you cared. How, even when he could see that this didn't make you pleased either, you still went around to make sure he was comfortable. Maybe it was because you had nothing else to do, but he'd like to believe it was because you actually cared.

Because honestly, *he* had started to care. Salo had gotten into the habit of leaving you little gifts. Silly things, like jewellery or flowers. But you seemed to appreciate them. And he liked seeing you happy, honestly. So once a week, he made sure to come back home with something nice for you. To see you take the bouquet, or the box, and smile at him. Just for the smile.

Salo found you in the living room. Like he often did. A box clutched tightly in his hand, he placed on the table in front of you in what he hoped was an offhand gesture.

"It's a ring. I thought I heard you say that you liked sapphires."