It's awfully confusing, for a second or two, because it's not as easy to believe. Rejection makes sense. Ronan, who is wrong in every way, would of course be wrong for marriage. He'd spent months trying to figure out how to make himself suitable, in one tradition or another, and the best they could settle on was reinvention. He could be something nameless to Kylo, they'd decided. That was supposed to be enough. Kylo had every right to be angry with him for changing the rules.

But Kylo's offering him a ring, now. Where did it come from? How long has he had it? It's not a dream. Kylo forged it, Ronan slowly realizes, and then he held onto it. Was he waiting?

The initial panic settles into a flustered heat, Ronan's face going red. "Shit," he hisses softly, reaching out to touch the ring but not sure whether he should take it. "Oh, shit."