InsaneJournal

“There’s a place called Soups, Soups, Soups, Soups, but it used to only have three Soups,” Billy’s voice was muffled on account of his nose pushed into the collar of Teddy’s shirt which then shoved the rest of his face into the crook of his neck. His arms and legs, meanwhile, were wrapped around Teddy’s middle, and oh well, yes, Billy was absolutely clinging to him like they were magnets or he was one scrawny, pale, nerdy koala to a super muscular eucalyptus tree. Talking about everything they’d missed from each other’s lives was important, and Billy had every intention of doing so, but having Teddy close by (on his bed too, what?) never failed to make Billy’s brain go just a little bit haywire. So the transformation of Soups x3 into Soups x4 was his first offering, if not a great one.

He missed Teddy, every day Billy missed Teddy but he hadn’t really realized just how much he felt the actual loss of Teddy until Teddy was right in front of him and Billy felt like he could take a deep breath for the first time in almost two years. Teddy was Billy’s grounding point, firm and stable and sure even when literally everything else felt chaotic and messy. Billy had joked a lot about Teddy being the king of space (it was probably prince right not, but eventually, maybe? He didn’t know how space politics worked) but to Billy, Teddy was exactly who should be in charge. Anyone who could make Billy Kaplan, resident spaz and overthinker calm down for five seconds could very easily rule all of space. Billy had been able to tap into godlike, multidimensional reality altering powers simply because he loved him so much.

He wanted to show Teddy everything, go meet people, have dinner with Wanda who was, Billy was certain, practically jumping out of her skin, and that was a thought that didn’t fail to make him grin. And they would do all of those things! But for right this second, Billy wanted to be a little bit selfish and a whole lot weird and re-remember how Teddy’s skin smelled and which earrings he wore on what side.

“Okay, now tell me all about our wedding, go.”

And that too.

A quick huff of a laugh escaped Teddy, sending a bounce through him and likely into Billy given just how wrapped around one another they happened to be. Teddy was happy to be the eucalyptus tree to Billy's koala on a normal day, but this day--this very weird day--he was even happier to be it. He had traveled through space and time and apparently universes to end up in this entirely different world, a world where his husband didn't yet remember marrying him, a world that had a restaurant called Soups, Soups, Soups, Soups, a world where a minotaur sold bagels. It had been a day.

More than that, though, it was the knowledge that Billy had been here for nearly two years without Teddy at all that he was struggling to grapple with. Though the two of them had occasionally spent time away from one another due to various (usually saving the day related) reasons, they were together more often than not. Even for Teddy himself, Billy had only been in the other room when whatever power that was had snatched him from space to be unceremoniously deposited in the middle of a forest; the thought that they had been separated for so long from Billy's perspective here in Vallo, well... he didn't like that very much at all. He hated it, actually.

They were together now, though, and that was what Teddy was trying to focus on. Later, he might allow himself to think more on the situation a bit more deeply, but for the time being, he was focused on just being present for Billy.

"Not sure if that's an even trade, but I love you, so I'll let it slide." One of Teddy's arms was wrapped around Billy, his fingers gently tracing shapes against his back as he paused to think of a proper place to start. "Well, it was actually weddings. We had two of them."

That done, he flashed a teasing grin, one that he wasn't even sure Billy could see due to the aforementioned koala-like behavior, then added, "My turn. Was it ever just Soups, Soups?"

“How dare you, that’s Vallo history,” Billy scoffed, just super offended by the fact that his pithy trivia might not have been considered something worth knowing. He grinned in return and kissed the edge of Teddy’s jaw–which was just as strong as Billy remembered it being. Memory was a funny thing, it often tinted how others appeared or behaved with rose colored glasses. But with Teddy, it wasn’t like that, the way he remembered was how he was. Maybe an earring was out of place, but Teddy’s laugh? The way Billy fit right where he needed to? That was all the same.

Super predictably, because he was Billy Kaplan, his head jerked up from its place to stare at Teddy in disbelief. “We got married twice? You married me two times?” Why this was such a shock wasn’t so much that they were married–Billy had known from basically their first date that he wanted to marry Teddy, he proposed to Teddy when Teddy pulled him away from his self-imposed exile, Billy and Teddy had fallen into their inevitability of forever pretty quickly. It was more that Billy had missed it. Twice.

“You can’t leave me with that and then ask about Soups, Soups!” he insisted, repeatedly poking Teddy in the ribs. “It was originally Soups, cubed, and now it’s Soups, biquadrate, with an exclamation point, renamed after it was rebuilt from one of the seemingly constant attacks from giant things. Mushrooms, turkeys, things you think shouldn’t be giant or attacking, are. That part is actually important, by the way, not that the lobster bisque from Soups, Soups, Soups, Soups! Isn’t. Your turn. Are you okay? Are you happy? Are you safe?”

Laughing, Teddy didn't try too hard to shoo Billy away as he poked his ribs and explained away the history of Soups, Soups, Soups, Soups! and how it became what it was today. Part of him wondered if maybe he ought to have been more concerned about these constant attacks by giant creatures--and foods, if even mushrooms couldn't be trusted?--but it didn't sound all too wild compared to the sort of things they had to deal with back home.

Well, maybe. Teddy just wasn't going to think too hard about the implications of fighting turkeys.

"I'm entitled to follow up questions about the lobster bisque," Teddy said, taking hold of Billy's hands and threading their fingers together in an attempt to stem any further rib poking. "I'm okay," he confirmed with a small smile, pulling Billy in to brush a kiss to his forehead, "and I'm really happy. There have been a lot of changes recently, but they're good. You're with me, so how could I be anything else?"

Not that the changes were nothing, of course. "There was a Kree-Skrull alliance that I got roped into, basically to be a figurehead. I had to do it, though, if it meant that maybe I'd be able to help save some lives. I agreed and was given an hour to sort of just get my stuff together before, you know, going off to space, so we eloped in Vegas." He took one of his hands from Billy's and held up one finger. "That was wedding number one."

That bit of info given, Teddy paused in thought before asking, "The lobster bisque isn't too creamy, right? Hits just the right amount?" He would ask real questions eventually, of course, as he was endlessly curious about Billy's time in Vallo without him, but he couldn't help but prolong the teasing, just a bit.

Teddy dropped two bombshells (HE WAS THE KING OF SPACE!!!!!!) (THEY WERE MARRIED IN VEGAS!!!!!) (EMPHASIS WAS VERY MUCH NEEDED) on Billy and for a moment, Billy very visibly bluescreened at him. He blinked up at Teddy, who was then asking about the cream ratio of lobster bisque and even through the bluescreen Billy fell a little more in love with him because Teddy knew how to keep him grounded. Whether it was when Billy’s thoughts and feelings were dragging him down or when Billy’s magic felt like it was just too much or like now, when he was like now, practically bubbling with frenetic energy, Teddy brought him back to Earth.

That, however, did not stop Billy from rocking all of his weight forward to knock Teddy back on the mattress–Billy also had no doubt that Teddy could basically lift him up without much of a strain but whatever, husband rights (and he bluescreened again just thinking that sdfskdjhskhf). “Listen,” Billy started, holding a finger right up to Teddy’s mouth. “There’s no universe where you are just a figurehead, you are the kindest, bravest, noblest person I know, and I know you’re being humble, you were there for all of five minutes before they appointed you king, secondly, the lobster bisque is good but the tomato soup with the grilled cheese croutons really slaps, I got that from a podcast run by a guy from the Kryn Dynasty,” Billy’s raised eyebrows would be enough to indicate what that meant. “Third of all, we live in space? Are you telling me we live in space? This is basically the Star Trek self-insert fic I wrote one time where I was the quippy ensign fresh out of the Academy and you were the ambassador from the newest planet to the Federation and this would be embarrassing for me except we’re married and you can’t take it back.”

Teddy not only let Billy knock him backwards (even letting out a soft oof that really hadn't been necessary, both because of the strength involved and the lack of surprise--but Teddy was nothing, if not supportive), but he listened intently to every word that spilled from his mouth. His smile only grew with each word, his enjoyment over how Billy could bounce from compliments to soup to lore from Dungeons and Dragons to fanfiction so very evident. He loved him so damn much.

So much that he had to put a pause on the proceedings to catch Billy's cheek in one of his big hands, then pull him in to steal a kiss before telling him, "I love you so much, you know."

It was an interlude in the proceedings and Teddy had every intention of answering Billy's questions and getting to describing their second wedding, too, but this felt like an important interlude to indulge in. "Never change, okay?"

Billy wore everything on his face and he felt everything incredibly strongly, so it wasn’t much of a surprise that he very visibly melted. It of course wasn’t the first time Teddy had said so, but it never failed to mean the most to Billy because he never had a problem with who he was. It was just everyone else who did. Teddy, however, had never made Billy feel like he was anything but just right, just the way he was, and Billy only hoped he made Teddy feel that way about him.

And if Teddy for one second doubted how amazing he was, all he had to do was hint it to Billy, who would likely make a PowerPoint presentation with references, a bibliography, and additional readings.

“I love you, and exactly who you are is more than the best,” Billy promised. Words were important to Billy, words and intentions were how he could literally warp reality and for Teddy, Billy could and would change the very fabric of the universe. He wasn’t doing it now, of course, he was just really, stupidly in love with his boyfriend-husband.

He kissed both of Teddy’s dimples and grinned at him. “Tommy has a girlfriend, Toph, and they’ve been dating for a while now. And twice there were kids from the future who showed up and both times their daughter came, she’s super great and had an amazing character design that I’m tempted to steal for my own. Now, space? That was a pretty big piece of info, you definitely owe me something good.”

Teddy did raise an eyebrow at kids from the future, because he wasn't entirely sure how that worked--but then he remembered that he had crossed time and universes to get here in the first place, so the surprise was short-lived. The fact that Tommy had a kid was a bit hard to imagine, but that in and of itself meant that Billy was right and this was definitely a big piece of information and Teddy would have to meet that bar accordingly.

"I have follow up questions about future kids in a moment, probably," Teddy started, reaching up to smooth his fingers through Billy's hair before resting gently just behind his ear. "But, space. Let's see."

Brow furrowed, Teddy paused as he considered where to start and then decided to just barrel through. "The Kree and Skrull came together because they wanted to defeat the Cotati and apparently they decided that I was this prophesied guy that would unify them. Which I did, I suppose, but they didn't like my ideas about not just relying on violence and destruction to find some peace with the Cotati. It didn't help that a bunch of the heroes from Earth thought that we were the bad guys there, but--anyway. The Cotati invaded Earth and I didn't want to just destroy Earth, since it has some humans that I'm pretty fond of." That felt like a good time to pause the story for another kiss, so Teddy did exactly that. Billy was, after all, his favorite human.

"Anyway," he continued, "my grandmother was there--because she was alive still, surprise--and she didn't like my so-called weakness, so she imprisoned me and took over as me by shapeshifting. That was short lived, though, because my hero of a husband realized that something was off, found me, and rescued me."

And if that wasn't a place for another kiss, Teddy didn't know what was. It was short, a little peck, before he laid back with a rueful smile. "You didn't have a future little Billy running around with Tommy's kid, did you?"

Billy shook his head in complete disbelief, mostly in disbelief that Teddy had such a modest view of everything–of course he was the prophesied one who could unite warring empires.and of course Teddy took it with a humble shrug. “I’m always going to find you, first of all, second of all, Teddy, you’re literally The Chosen One, who even are you?” That part was rhetorical of course, as Billy had just answered himself. Teddy for so long didn’t think he was enough for who he was, and he felt like he had to change himself to suit other people. Just as Teddy always kept Billy grounded, Billy knew his role was to prop Teddy up. Ultimate hype husband. The thought made him smile.

He settled into the crook of Teddy’s arm, his own arm wrapped around Teddy’s chest and his hand in a loose claw of Teddy’s shirt. Try to tear them apart now, universe, Billy was more inclined to rip the universe apart instead. “Nah,” Billy responded, his nose skating along Teddy’s collarbone with the shake of his head. “Tommy had come as his older self too, and had mentioned you, but I didn’t know–” And he didn’t want to question it all that much. After all, people who had been in the future had subsequently left, and Billy knew that all worlds were possible, all futures were possible. “We don’t have any yet, right? You would have led with that and not let me ramble about soup?”

Teddy immediately let out a huff of a laugh, doing his best not to jostle Billy too much after he got comfortable. "No kids yet," he confirmed. "I'd say we probably have a while before that back home, but don't quote me on it." Life moved fast, after all; their elopement was a good example of that.

"And," he continued as he curled one arm around Billy while the other hand came to rest on the one hanging onto his shirt for dear life, an added comforting reminder that he was there, "I'm not the Chosen One, so don't start calling me that or you're going to give people the wrong impression." His tone was light and not at all serious, mostly because the idea of being any kind of Chosen One was absurd to Teddy. "The day did get saved, though. Lots of superheroes did their part, including us."

Teddy began to gently pry Billy's fingers from where they were hanging onto him, so he could join their hands together instead in a comfortably tight hold. "And then all the superheroes came to our second wedding in space."

“That’s peak Chosen One behavior,” Billy pointed out, although he’d drop the joke. For now, at least. The next time Teddy cheerfully greeted the day by throwing open a window and a chorus of birds flew by and a squirrel brought him a muffin as an offering, well, all bets were off.

His hand inched over and instinctively found Teddy’s heart. For longer than he wanted to admit, Billy had put all of his thoughts and feelings for Teddy in a box, careful not to open it too often on the off chance that the missing and overall ache for him would result in some sort of magical catastrophe. He could spend time and energy wondering and worrying about whether or not he had somehow brought Teddy here, just like he had spent too much time wondering and worrying if he’d somehow created Teddy. Or, Billy could tilt his head up and press his lips to Teddy’s jaw and just…feel the relief of being complete. Definitely that.

“Figures we’d have a space wedding,” he snorted. “I like it. I’m pretty sure I’d like any wedding we had and I’d marry you as many times as you let me, I’m just warning you of that right now.” Plans of a first/third wedding could wait though, now, Billy was just content to nuzzle into Teddy and not move for a while. “Missed you, T.”

Teddy breathed out a slow, content sigh. He hated that Billy had been in a position at all that he'd had to miss him as thoroughly and for as long as he had, but they were together again. They weren't going to be separated again--not if Teddy had anything to say about it.

"Not going anywhere now, B," Teddy murmured in response, arm tightening around Billy and holding him as closely was they could. There were people to meet, sights to see, and new menus to taste, but now? This was more than enough.