Her resistance to the idea surprised him, and it was hard to figure out exactly where it was coming from. Was this some sort of self-imposed punishment or martyr thing, after the elopement? It wasn't as though making her wear an ugly, cheap ring was going to change anything, so it seemed a little pointless in that avenue. Maybe she thought their financial situation was a little more dire than it was, since he'd chosen the cheapest accommodation he could find. Truthfully, if Ben kept his job (never truly a guarantee, with him), and they lived modestly enough, they weren't going to be bankrupt any time soon. The most difficult aspect was finding a place to live, but the money they were saving in Paris could help them out there.

"You're going to be wearing it the rest of your life," he pointed out. "Don't you want something nice? Not, like, elaborate, or anything," he clarified. "But nice-ish. I think with something to either use as the base or trade in, we can afford it."

He paused, looking down at his hands for a moment and considering. "It's not like your reputation is some all-or-nothing thing, you know," he eventually pointed out. "We want to salvage as much of it as we can, under the circumstances. It'll help things — uh —" Ben hesitated. He'd been about to say get back to normal sooner, but what the hell was normal, now? Did either of them know?

"It'll help," he concluded uncertainly.