Casper thought about what Ashley had said, and agreed with her. He didn't want to get too caught up in overthinking his decisions too much. He thought that if he thought too much about any action he took, he would be paralyzed with indecision over whether it was the right thing.
He did decide that one action was the right thing, and that was his intention to find a ring and propose to Ashely.
Yes, he knew that he had only technically known her for a few days now, but his memories, and hers said otherwise. He thought back to the sensation he had gotten from the ring when he pondered if memories created by the ring were valid or not, in this reality, his memories were, and had a hand in shaping who and what he was. His memories, and hers, told him that they had been dating for quite a while, and before that, had grown up together.
He was genuinely attracted to her, the curve of breast and hip, her feather-light laugh, her boundless optimism. He thought again of being father, or mother to their children, and that thought did not scare him as it might have when he was human. He also knew that he had been raised, both as a human and a Synthetic to do the right thing and wait for marriage to engage in that sort of behavior. He did want to take their relationship to the next level, and he had a good feeling that she did as well.
He didn't have much money, just enough to get by while at college, but he knew Ashley didn't care about that.
Just then, he heard his name being called by one of the bunny-girl cheerleaders, Stephanie, he thought her name was.
"Casper, Ashley, come on, lets play 'Truth or Dare!"
Casper began to decline, but Ashley grabbed his arm, and gave him a mischievous wink, saying "Come on, it'll be fun, I promise!" and half-tugged, half-dragged him over to the circle of Synthetics that had formed in the living room.
The two rubber animal people took their places and an empty bottle was added to the center.
The latex puma, Dan, reached forward and gave the bottle a quick spin, the party quickly quieting in anticipation. Around and around the bottle spun, slowing and coming to a stop in front of one of the bull-man footballers.
"Bill," the puma-man said, "Truth or Dare?"
"Truth." came the reply.
"Alright, you ever imagine what it would be like to be human?"
"hmmm, nah, not really. I mean, I know they create us Synthetics, but I never really thought about what life is like for 'em."
Dan nodded, and Bill reached for the bottle and gave it a spin. The spinning bottle slowed and landed pointing to a team mate of Dan's. Bill didn't seem to have much of an imagination, so when the selected player elected "Dare" Bill just had him rub his stomach and pat his head.
Around and around the bottle went, eventually becoming Tommy's turn to spin, and the bottle landed on Casper.
"Truth," Casper said.
"Do you really love Ashley?" was the question.
"Yes." Casper stated without hesitation, as Ashley smiled and blushed.
Casper spun and it landed on another of the visiting team. The puma, whom Casper thought he recalled as Joe, elected to take a dare.
"Okay, I dare you to do something you've always wanted to do." Casper said with a smile. Joe the rubber puma looked shocked for a moment, then blushed, looking down. He seemed to make up his mind about something, and then scooted himself in front of Dan, the team captain. Before Dan could ask what he was doing, Joe placed his paws on either side of Dan's muzzle and planted a kiss on his team-mate's lips. Dan looked shocked for a moment, before closing his eyes and returning the kiss, even going so far as to put a paw around the back of Joe's neck. The rest of the players were a mix of responses, some shocked, gasping, while others hooted and cheered in approval. The two broke the kiss, and Joe looked at Dan, blushing furiously, and stammered an apology.
Dan looked at his team-mate, "It's okay Joe, I don't mind, but I feel you should know that I'm not attracted to males."
Joe nodded, "Thanks for understanding, and for being honest."
Dan nodded again, and the two shared another, shorter kiss.
Joe returned to his place and gave the bottle a spin, and as luck would have it, it landed on Casper.
Joe smiled and asked, "Truth or Dare?"
Casper thought for a moment, and replied "Dare."
"Do something you've always wanted to do."
Casper thought for a moment and made up his mind. He turned to Ashley, and raised himself so he was on one knee. Ashley peered at him curiously, "Casper, what are you-" she started, before Casper shhh'd her.
"Ashley, I've been giving this a lot of thought recently, and I've made up my mind. You know that I love you, and I know that you love me. I don't have a ring to give you, but I feel that with you around, I can be a better person, the better person I want to be. Will you stand by me, and help me to be that person? Will you...will you marry me?"
The whole room went silent as they each awaited Ashley's answer.