Michael and Alison met in college, a brief encounter in which Alison remembers commenting to the mutual friend making introductions, "He's cute!", before quickly becoming absorbed into whatever else was going on at University of Cincinnati's campus bar that evening. The next time Alison and Michael crossed paths was months later, across the country in San Francisco while they both happened to be there for a school co-op. A group of Cincy DAAP students threw a party at Michael's North Beach apartment, hanging out on the roof top and exploring the city until late into the night. Though they vaguely remembered meeting, both struggled to come up with each other's name and were too silly to just ask. Alison remembers filing in on arrival, meeting 10+ new people one at a time while slowly drawing closer to Michael. When she got to him, she slowly said "Nice to see you again....Michael", to which he said, "You....too....". They smiled and stared at each other for a little too long, then Alison made a break for the roof, relieved she got the name right. Alison later learned Michael was immediately grilled by his friends, demanding to know our history and not believing Michael a bit that we had none other than an introduction. Turns out, they're just both awkward and very, very bad at names, leading to an interaction that passed for charged chemistry. Over the next several months, Michael and Alison got to know one another while exploring and falling in love with the west coast. Many hikes, board games, and meals later, their pull towards one another has remained, along with a bit of awkwardness.

While in Japan for the first time, Michael popped the question when Alison was least expecting it. Tired from a long day full of walking and fitting in as much as they could, they shared a Japanese energy drink from a vending machine while dragging themselves to one last destination that evening, Senso-ji Temple. Michael tried to guide Alison to a nice bench, but she was busy site seeing and taking photos, simply not catching the hint and instead plopped herself down on the closest stump she could find. Undeterred, Michael patiently adapted his plan and sat down next to her. Midway through snapping a photo, Alison heard Michael drop their bag of snacks and souvenirs while letting out a groan behind her. Turning with phone in hand, Alison asked "Oh, are you ok?", with visions of a hurt Michael in her mind, only to find him with an open ring box and question for her.