Who: Colin Ford & Owen Murphy What: THEY'RE GETTING ENGAGED When: Saturday, early evening, February 14th 2015 Where: The Agency in London, Colin's old office Warnings: Sap overload?
Colin had never been so nervous in his life. It wasn't that he thought Owen would say no, he was pretty confident when it came to the actual end result of this thing. But he'd never done this before... obviously. He was nervous because he wanted to get this right. He had one shot at making this whole thing perfect, and he was determined to do it. He had to do this right, for him and for Owen.
He had been thinking about this for a long time. If he was honest with himself, possibly ever since Owen had walked back into his life. When he'd shown up at Colin's office door two years ago, and things had more or less just picked up from where they'd left off. But things had been made crystal clear to Colin a month ago. A month ago, when he was passing through the political department's floor and walked by his old office. The office where he and Owen had first met. Also the night of their first kiss, and the start of... well, the start of life as he knew it now, really. After that, he couldn't stop thinking about it. It just felt right, and Colin didn't want to waste any more time. He didn't want to ever waste time with Owen.
It was Valentine's Day. Possibly the cheesiest move he could make other than the nature of the proposal itself, but he was pretty sure Owen would love it. Well, he was hoping Owen would. He'd convinced the person who now held Colin's old office to give it up for the day, so Colin could decorate it with candles and rose petals that he spread out on the ground. He'd already made plans with Owen to go out to dinner that night, but he'd arranged for Owen to meet him here first. Told him he had to drop off some paper work to the political department so to meet him at his old office, since it might take more than a few minutes. Owen would know where it is.
Alyssa had agreed to be his look out so Colin would know when Owen was in the building, and when he got the warning, Colin could practically feel his palms starting to sweat. He was so nervous he was shaking a little, so he closed his eyes and took a moment to get it together with Dick silently coaching him. He was wearing nice pants and a light blue button down, nothing overly fancy. The fanciest thing on him was the ring in his front pocket, which he gripped tightly as he waited, surrounded by lit candles and praying to god that Owen said yes, and that he didn't accidentally set the room on fire.
Owen really loved Valentine's Day. It was corny, and cheesy, but it was a lot of fun. Everyone always made such a big deal about it, and then you had the people who went out of their way to not make it a big deal... all the while making it a big deal to not make a big deal out of it. But it was just a holiday, and a fun one, in his eyes, so Owen liked it. And of course, having someone, as everyone knows, was what made this holiday a hell of a lot better. Colin was, frankly, the best thing and person that had ever come into his life. It might sound corny, and cheesy, when put into perspective. He was a rockstar, after all, he had people telling him all the time that he was so lucky, talented, great, what have you.
But he wouldn't feel any of those things without Colin. He wouldn't feel half as great as he did without him. Owen had already gone through that part, and he found that without Colin in his life, he was miserable. So it was corny, and cheesy, to say and think that one person was the best thing to ever happen to him. But it was also true. Their anniversary had been in January (holy hell, how times flies), and Owen had known that this was the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He just had to do things right. Like find the right ring, and the right setting, and he hadn't been able to get all of that together, yet. But he wouldn't be waiting too long to get it done.
He was going to make tonight worth every minute they had together. That was his plan. He was meeting Colin at the office, before they were going to head out tonight for dinner, so he was dressed and ready to go. He would have headed to meet him at his office, but Colin had told him to come here, at the other department, and it only hit him as he knocked on the door that this was Colin's old office. He'd just gotten so used to his new one that it didn't click right away. And by the time that it really clicked, he was already opening the door.
"Hey the...re... wow!"
Colin had gotten a warning from Alyssa, but he still didn't feel fully prepared when he heard Owen's voice, and saw the door knob jiggling before it opened fully. God, his hands were sweating. He'd never felt so nervous about anything in his entire life, even though he'd also never been so sure about anything in his life. How could they be about the same thing? But that was just one of the many reasons why he loved Owen and wanted to spend the rest of his life with him. He still made his heart race, every time they touched. He still made him excited to come home every night, even if they'd just spent the entire day together on patrol. They were partners in every sense of the word, and that time they'd spent apart had been the worst of Colin's life. He didn't want to spend any more time apart from Owen.
"... Hey." Colin grinned sheepishly, taking his hand out of his front pocket and running a hand through the back of his hair. Owen looked surprised, but not horrified. That was always a good sign. Colin could feel his heart speeding up, and he mentally willed himself to calm down. At least enough so that he wouldn't stumble over his words, because this was too important to mess up. He had to get this right, if he never got anything else right for the rest of his life.
"Happy Valentine's Day." He took a hesitant step forward, now painfully aware of how many candles he'd put in this room and had he put too many? Were they going to burn alive in here before he ever got to pop the question? He stepped around the rose petals, wondering if that particular touch had been too cheesey. But when the hell had they ever worried about cheesey? They were reincarnates from a comic book, for crying out loud. Okay. He could do this. Colin gave himself a silent pep talk, with Dick adding in his own encouragement to keep Colin on point. "... You remember this room?"
Owen did almost hit one of the candles when he came in and closed the door, because he wasn't sure about that back draft thing, but it was sweet. And romantic, and cheesy, and romantic, and he didn't even notice the rose petals when he came in. But he felt them under his feet, so he looked down, and rose petals and candles? This was so great. The only thing that would make it better was if Colin was also naked, but food was going to be needed before that happened.
"Happy Valentine's Day." Owen repeated back to him with a grin. This was great, better then great, this was... for a musician, he should probably have more words in his repertoire then 'great', but it was the best one he could come up with right now. All he was focused on was Colin, and great was the perfect word for all of this. He took another step closer and then stopped, because it looked like Colin was nervous. Not a bad kind of nervous, but he seemed nervous, and one little light bulb lit up in Owen's mind. Not enough for it to mean anything, but for him to get the sense that this was more important then usual.
"I do. I remember this room really, really well." Laughing, he looked around. "Less candles the first time I saw it, though. And I'm not holding onto expensive salads that I had to beg REDO's manager to help me buy before I came here, since I didn't have enough cash on me at first." In fact, Owen thought, he'd felt as nervous as Colin looked right now, back then.
"You never let me live those salads down." Colin was pretty fond of the memory of their first meeting. For a multitude of reasons, really. They'd spoken on the boards and within an hour, Colin was inviting him to the Agency where he was working late, insisting that both reigning from the Bat family meant that they were already that. Family. After a shared bottle of scotch (and some salad), they'd ended up on the couch in Colin's office... and the rest was history. Their connection had been so strong, right from the start, and it'd all started on that couch, in this office.
He'd never forget how that felt. Meeting Owen that night had changed his life forever, and he'd never looked back. Not for one second. Everything good that had happened to him had somehow involved Owen after that, so he couldn't even hate the rough patches. Everything, the good, the bad, it had all led him here. To where he was meant to be. That thought was what eventually gave him the courage to cross the room and slide his hands up Owen's shoulders, cupping both sides of his neck.
"Have I told you lately how glad I am your manager took pity on you that night?" Feeling a little less nervous now, Colin's smile was wide enough to split his face. They'd been through a lot, both together and apart. When they'd first met, REDO was just some small band that played gigs only reincarnates knew about. Now they were huge, everyone knew who they were. Colin had come a long way too, from his tiny office as deputy director of the political department, to a bigger office as director of Agency Security. And they were both still in the JL, the group they'd helped found while they were busy falling in love with each other. "It occurred to me recently that it all started in this room... Figured this Valentine's Day we could do something really special to commemorate it."
He was fond of their first meeting. Owen hadn't set out to seduce Colin... okay, he hadn't set out to seduce him much. Having someone else out there from the Batfamily was such a great discovery. Granted, there had been a lot of them out there, but Owen hadn't been focused on searching for them at the time. It had been about trying to keep his apartment from being closed on, and getting the band really going. And then, Colin was one of the first people he talked to, and as he had done so many times after, he'd put Owen at ease, made him laugh, and made him want to get to know him. It was when he met him in person that he knew he wanted more then to know him, but he hadn't set out to sleep with him.
A lot of what Owen had done with Colin wasn't something he had set out to do. Up until Colin, the longest relationship he'd ever had had lasted a few months at most. He hadn't gone out to have a relationship with him, and it had scared him. It was strange sometimes, because he could remember lying awake on nights that neither of them had patrol, or work, and he would watch Colin sleep, wondering how he'd gotten to where he was basically living with a guy he hadn't known of six months earlier. But looking at Colin now, he couldn't figure out why he would ever have been scared about being with him.
There had been problems. Neither of them had denied that part, but the fact was, they'd been able to get through so much together said something. Owen moved a tiny bit closer, going to wrap his arms loosely around Colin's waist. "You haven't, but you've said a lot lately that's let me know you are happy." He laughed softly. "Something really special?" Because if they were going to do that, then they should probably blow some of the candles out, was what he was thinking.
Okay, yeah, Colin had a tendency to gush. He was just happy, all the time. He was always happy with Owen, but especially these days, now that everything seemed to have just fallen into place with them. Especially since he'd finally realized once and for all that there was a good chance he could be this happy forever. That is, if Owen said yes. There was still a small chance he'd say no. There was always a chance. But Colin was feeling pretty confident about his odds. He laughed in return, practically reading Owen's mind. He knew what he was thinking.
"Not that, perv. ... I mean, maybe that, later. But that's not what I'm talking about." He was still smiling, for a moment feeling unable to properly express how much he loved Owen, an overwhelming feeling of genuine fondness overtaking all his other senses. But, considering what he was about to do, Colin got himself together and took a deep breath. He could do this. It was now or... well, later. Because if he didn't do it now, there was no way he wouldn't try again. But he really wanted it to be today, so he steeled himself for it, and mentally counted to three.
"C'mere." He grabbed Owen's left hand and pulled him over to the couch where he sat Owen down, and instead of immediately getting on one knee, Colin sat down next to him. He was trying to fake him out. Still holding onto his hand, he met Owen's gaze and his smile softened, immediately plunging into it before Owen could say anything.
"Owen Murphy... I love you. You know that. I've loved you when we were together and when we were apart. I've loved you even in... crazy, messed up alternate universes where I didn't know you and we still found a way to each other. I've loved you since we first met. Right here. In this office, on this couch... this is where it all changed for me. This is where you changed my life. I honestly can't picture what my life would be like if you hadn't agreed to come here that night, but I'm glad you did. You even brought me a salad. I mean seriously, who does that? Only you..."
"No maybe about it." Owen grinned, unable to help himself with that one. That was also one of the best things with them. That attraction had been there almost instantly, and four years later, nothing had waned. Nothing. The honeymoon period had never really ended for them, as it did for some people. They actually got better with age, like fine wine. Fine wine that had sex all the time, both in and out of costume. And during patrol. And off patrol. Sometimes, much to their teammates' chagrin, they forgot to even turn their communicators off before they started to get into it, but really, when you had someone like Colin in that skin tight costume, who had time to turn those things off?
But when he took him to the couch, the idea of sex, for once, left his mind. Because he was sitting him down, and oh, oh, was he... nope, never mind. For a moment there Owen thought he was going to propose, and his heart started racing. Not because he was worried about that. No, he definitely wanted that. He really, really wanted that. He thought he was going to be the one to do it, though, and he smiled at him.
"I don't know, either. I don't know what my life would have been like, without you in it. It probably would have not been as great as it is now." Owen reached out and touched Colin's face gently. "And you... damn, you deserved all of the salads I could buy. Still do deserve all of the salads I can buy for you." God, but he loved this man.
There was definitely no 'maybe' about it, which provoked another grin from Colin. Unless something went terribly wrong and Owen went temporarily insane before saying no, there would definitely be a later. There would always be a later with them, as Colin intended to keep doing this for as long as he was still breathing. They had never quite gotten over that honeymoon period, and Colin wasn't really complaining. Their connection was as physical as it was everything else, which just made the physical part that much better. He was looking forward to that later, and every later after that, once the hard part was over.
Funny that despite how confident he was and how much he loved Owen, this was still the hard part. Maybe because somewhere deep inside him, he was still counting on something going wrong. Not necessarily Owen saying no. Anything. A freak disaster, some crazed super villain suddenly crashing into the Agency to ruin the moment. That kind of stuff Colin and Dick both expected, because that was the sort of thing that happened in their lives every day. But not today. Colin was determined to make this perfect, disasters and super villains be damned.
"And you deserve... everything. Everything I have to give." Colin angled his face into Owen's hand, briefly enjoying the touch. It hadn't just been the reminder of this office that had pushed Colin to this. That weird alternate universe they'd been in, they were totally different people. The opposite of themselves. And they'd still found a way back to each other. If that wasn't a sign, Colin didn't know what was. So he shifted off the couch to get down on one knee, pulling the small box out of his pocket that held the ring. The ring he'd spent a full three days picking out, until he found the perfect one. His eyes didn't leave Owen's as he opened the box, the expression on his face hopeful and earnest. "Our lives will never be normal... but I don't want normal if normal means not being with you. So. Owen Murphy... will you marry me?"
There was a brief moment of panic in him, because this was really happening. He, too, was also very much prepared for a super villain to suddenly crash into the Agency. Or for their lives to be turned completely upside down in another alternate universe kind of deal. At least, Owen knew, that when they were at their most evil, they still found a way back to each other. That was saying something; the two of them still got together, even when they weren’t themselves.
That was a funny thing with reincarnation. Sometimes, people got a second chance. People who had been in love with each other for as long as they had been realized, people who were, in their media, married, dating, whatever... sometimes it felt like those people got their second chance, in being reincarnated. But Dick Grayson and Cass Cain were never, ever, in a romantic thing. This was just about Owen and Colin, and how, somehow, the two of them happened. And this was going to be their only shot at being together. If this made Owen hold on all the tighter to Colin for that, then he knew he would never hear any complaints.
“Of course I’m going to say yes.” Owen felt like his face was going to split open from the grin he was giving. “I love you. And you bought a ring before I did, and yes. Yes.” He leaned in and kissed him.
“A thousand times, yes. I want to be with you forever. That sounded really corny, but I don’t care. I love you, and yes. I want to marry you.”
As soon as Owen said yes, for a minute Colin felt like he was just deaf to everything else. He heard what Owen was saying, but his mind was still stuck on the 'yes'. Owen had said yes! Colin was so happy that for a moment he actually forgot the next part. You know, the actual giving him the ring part.
Colin kissed him back, still smiling and unable to fully stop. Bringing his free hand to the side of Owen's face, he held him there for a good few seconds before letting him go. His arms and legs felt like jelly, every part of him buzzing with excitement now. Owen had said he would marry him, life couldn't possibly get any better than this.
"Yeah? Awesome," Colin grinned stupidly, intensely relieved even if he hadn't been all that worried that Owen would reject him. And of course Owen had been thinking about getting a ring, of course he had. Colin wasn’t even a little bit surprised to hear that. They wouldn't be them if they hadn't both been trying to propose to each other. Secretly, though, Colin was glad he'd gotten to it first. Finally remembering himself and what he was supposed to do next, Colin took a breath before taking the ring out and sliding it over Owen's ring finger on his left hand, heart leaping as he looked back up into Owen's face. In that moment he never wanted to look at anybody else. "I love you too. Forever. Never loved anybody else like I love you, and that’s a promise I intend to keep with this ring. I don't care how cheesy that sounds."
And the ring fit, and he had to contain the kind of sound that only really drunk girls could make, but the ring fit, and he loved him so much, and this was just the best night of his life, this is what they were going to tell people for years to come. So it wasn't going to be ruined by a weird little squeal that he might want to give in the moment that. He was not going to ruin it with that.
But he couldn’t believe this was really happening. He was going to marry the only man who had ever made him feel like he was anything, who had made him want to be something more then just what he had planned to be. Leaning forward, Owen kissed him again before looking down at the ring on his finger with the biggest grin on his face, laughing softly.
“The Joker could ride into the White House on Santa’s sled with Bane pulling the damn thing, and Ra’s al Ghul driving it, and we’re not leaving here for at least a half hour. God, I love you, Colin Ford. Forever. No matter how cheesy that sounds. But it’s going to take forever for me to show you how much I love you, so forever is a good start.” Still grinning, he grabbed a hold of his shirt, and he tugged him to him, pulling Colin up onto the couch with him.
Owen was just going to get started right now on those 'showing him' parts. He knew Colin wouldn't mind that.
When Owen kissed him again, Colin was ready for it. Now that both his hands were free because he’d already put the ring on Owen’s finger, Colin cupped both sides of his face and kissed him good and long. He didn’t stop until Owen broke away to look at the ring, and Colin grinned proudly before he laughed. At least a half hour? He’d thought he couldn’t have loved him anymore than he already did in that moment, but as usual, Owen had just proved him wrong. Again. Possibly the only time Colin never minded being proven wrong about something. He could get used to this.
“A whole half hour, huh? I dunno, sounds a little optimistic to me…” Colin smirked, eyebrows playfully raised as Owen grabbed for his shirt. He was definitely okay with Owen showing him how much, now and for the rest of their lives. That thought alone excited him, and it hit him all over again that Owen said yes and that he was going to marry Owen. That they were going to get to spend the rest of their lives together. Colin had never thought he would be so lucky as to find someone like Owen, especially when he’d still thought he was straight. What an oblivious, misguided younger Colin Ford he’d been. But like in so many other ways after they met, Owen had shown him the way. He’d helped Colin discover who he really was, and who he wanted to be. When you met someone like that, you didn’t just let them go.
You fucking married them, if you could.
“Guess we could be a little late for dinner…” He mused, allowing Owen to pull him up onto him and bracing both hands on the back of the couch as he hovered himself over the man he loved. Still smiling, he bent his head and kissed him again, this time letting his tongue out to trace along the edges of Owen’s lower lip, asking for entrance as he pushed Owen further back against the couch, kissing him hotly. He’d make a mental note to apologize to the person whose office this was later. Or maybe when they left they’d just take the couch with them. It was really their couch anyway. Colin only stopped kissing him long enough to grin down at him and mutter a, “Make that an hour,” before going right back to kissing him and this time he didn’t stop. He didn’t ever plan on stopping.