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With the dogs racing around the yard, Mathias steps back from the work he's completed on his hut and dusts his hands off on his jeans. Even if Veronica decides that moving in is not in the cards just yet -- although he thinks she will decide to do it -- he's glad that he's built the extension. The hut was large enough with the two bedrooms, but it's nice to have the extra room for the dogs now.

And for Sam, of course, if they move in that direction.

He doesn't mind being up in the air, especially since he thinks Veronica likes the idea of living together. She hasn't said no and she hasn't run away, so he's hoping her response in the long run will be a positive one.

"There is more room for you now," he tells Hal in German. Ever since adopting them, he's fallen into the habit of speaking to them more in German than in English, with the exception of their names and the commands they know. It isn't the same as having an entire conversation with someone who speaks German, but there is little opportunity for it on the island and he enjoys the chance.

"You two can run around all you want, but if Sam and Veronica move in, you will have to be careful," he continues, rubbing the dog's ears when she comes over to him, wagging her tail. They're good dogs. They're his dogs now.

This is, he thinks, a good life.

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Veronica dips her head. "I mean, if... living together doesn't agree with... us," she says, gesturing between them. "It's, it's a big step — even without a toddler — and I've... never done this before." She's not sure if she's communicating it properly — that isn't something she's ever been much good at either. No matter how sure she is of them, there always seems to be room for doubt.

"I've never done this before either," Mathias points out, but he understands what she means, even if he doesn't want to talk about it or think about it. To prepare for the end seems a little unromantic, which feels strange to think, given that he's never considered himself much of a romantic at all.

"There are many things that might not agree with us," he says slowly, considering each word. "But we have taken each risk. I don't know what will happen, but I do know where I want to be and I know we work well together."

Veronica prefers to be the one with the answers, no matter how many questions she asks; not being certain or able to fake it never sits well with her. He's right, though, she knows that. It just isn't always easy to reconcile the truth he offers with the fact of all she saw growing up. "Well, we got this far," she says, light, trying. "That's gotta mean something."

Mathias makes a little face at her, his eyebrow lifting, but he nods his agreement. She has a right to be scared, he knows that, and he's scared, too. There's a fear that this will start to put pressure on the good relationship they have, but he wants so badly to take this next step.

"We have made it fairly far, haven't we?" he asks. Longer than any relationship he's ever been in and the only relationship he's had on the island.

Veronica huffs out a laugh, nodding. "Longest I've ever been with anyone," she says, which probably isn't that reassuring, since her track record would then suggest it's time for this to come to a crashing halt. It hasn't yet, though, that's the thing. It hasn't and she doesn't really think it will.

"Me too," he tells her, just so she knows she isn't alone there either. There was his first real girlfriend in Munich, but that was a long time ago and they hadn't lasted this long, although it sometimes felt as though she'd left far too large an imprint on him for only a year together. Still, he hasn't thought about her much these past few years. Not since meeting Veronica.

"I'm not just going to give up," he says finally. "You are too good for me to do that. If things get hard, then we will figure it out."

It seems like such strange terminology to apply to her: 'too good.' It's been a long time since Veronica saw herself as good precisely (right, but not necessarily good) and certainly not overly so. From him, though, she believes it. She believes, at least, that he does, and she thinks he might be just about the only person who sees her that way. She used to wait for him to figure out it isn't true, but she doesn't anymore. "Okay," she says, nodding. "We'll find a way through."

"Besides, I did a lot of work here," Mathias says with a smile, one that he's trying to fight down and failing. "I have definitely gone out of my way." He doesn't mind doing it, though, not at all, and he's glad that it's done now. The extra space is needed, no matter what, especially with the additional animals. Even if Veronica and Sam don't stay full time, if they ever want to stay at all, the space is there.

"That's true," Veronica says, and it's enough to get her to crack a smile, too. "You've put a lot into this, the least I can do is not run away like a chicken with my head off." That may happen eventually, but she can at least do him the justice of not jumping right for it. They've managed to get this far and he is, in spite of his past and his issues, quite possibly the most low maintenance boyfriend she's ever had (and given how high maintenance she can be, maybe that's why this works — part of it, at least).

"A chicken with your head off," he repeats with obvious amusement. Despite all the time he's spent outside of Germany, there are still expressions that occasionally surprise him, things he never would have thought to say on his own and this is definitely one of them. "I am very glad you are not running away like a chicken with your head off," he agrees with a grin, having given it some thought and deciding that the image it gives works in an interesting way.

Veronica laughs, letting herself be distracted by the way he takes to it, how much she likes when she still manages to happen upon something he's not familiar with. "You and me both," she says. "I'm pretty fond of my head. I like it right here."

"As do I," he says, reaching up to smooth one hand over her hair, then leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. "It would be very awkward were I asking a headless woman to move in with me. That would add too many complications. Where would we keep her head, for example."

He's being silly not, as silly as he gets, to let her know that everything will be alright in the end. He's sure of this.

"You think of all the important things," sighs Veronica, tugging him toward her for a kiss, though she starts laughing. "I wouldn't even know what to do with my own head." They'll be fine, she tells herself. If they can talk about it and they can make jokes, they'll be better than fine. This is them, after all, and they've made it this far for a reason.