InsaneJournal

If there was one thing about Teddy Kaplan-Altman, it was that he was a man with a morning routine.

It wasn't that he particularly needed routine in his life. Teddy, despite everything he had lived through and the twists and turns that his life had presented back home, was an incredibly well-adjusted young man. Whether the structure that he made of his days was because he was well-adjusted or if he was well-adjusted because of the structure was something best left to being between him and a therapist that he wasn't currently seeing, but it did mean that his mornings tended to look the same. He woke up with about two minutes to spare before his alarm would go off, the sky still dark outside—though was growing a bit brighter with each passing day as they stepped closer to summer—and primed for him to watch the sunrise for one half of his morning run, then return back to the apartment with breakfast on the second half. He would then shower, get dressed, and make sure Billy had gotten out of bed to eat whatever pastry or breakfast sandwich Teddy had chosen for that day.

It was a good routine, a steady one. It was also one that had been a bit rocked in recent weeks, with the disappearance of Tommy. Teddy had opted to skip his morning run altogether for a few days, wanting to stay close to Billy and not give him any worry when waking up to an empty bed. He had bought an extra pastry more than once out of habit. They were little things that were echoes from a large hole, but were reminders of how everything could change in Vallo without any warning.

But time insisted on marching on and a sense of normalcy had to come with it. Teddy's morning routine might have shifted a bit, but was reestablished—which was why he was, once again, waking up and confirming through sleepy eyes that it was two minutes before his alarm should go off.

Dismissing the alarm, Teddy pulled in a breath and started to shift on the mattress, doing his best not to disturb his clinging bedmate of a man that was his husband. He wanted to say that he had become an expert at slipping from bed without disturbing Billy, but that wasn't always true. It was the thought that counted, he figured, as he sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed, the blankets still half pooled around his waist. Teddy stretched then, his arms over his head and his back giving one gentle pop of adjustment.

Billy Kaplan was not a morning person. Maybe it was from too many late night WoW raids, too many nights spent shotgunning a fanfic, too many midnight showings of comic book based movies, or maybe it was just that Billy really liked sleeping. And sue him, but being wrapped around Teddy like a koala clinging to a tree in a windstorm was way preferable to being awake and not wrapped around him. Teddy was basically a Skrull-Kree heating pad and it was great.

And if Billy was a little bit clingier than usual, the loss of his twin could for sure be the cause. Billy loved Tommy, they were as much brothers as Billy’s biological brothers were to him, and he missed him He wouldn’t ever not miss Tommy, would always glance out of the corner of his eye to catch a glimpse of white hair speeding off in battle, Tommy was his twin and he felt…uneven without him. They were made of the same stuff, after all and had found each other even through reincarnation. They’d find each other again, Billy knew, but that didn’t make the here and now any easier.

He didn’t begrudge Teddy his morning run, and not just because it usually ended with some sort of breakfast food and an often sweaty and shirtless Teddy for Billy. But that didn’t mean Billy was going to make it easier for Teddy to sneak out, in spite of his best efforts, Billy’s forever clock on Teddy’s location meant he knew exactly when Teddy shifted to leave. He rolled over, wrapped his arms around Teddy’s waist and basically made a noise that wouldn’t be out of place on Kashyyyk. “No, stop.”

Except the way Billy said it, the words had about a hundred extra o’s thrown in.

Teddy had really thought he was going to slip out unnoticed, but he really ought to have known better. He also wasn't about to complain, though; how could he, when it was Billy?

Turning just enough so he could look down at Billy, but also definitely not deter or leave the arms that were looped around him, Teddy's mouth quirked into a little smile. He took a moment to just admire the man that he loved, all sleep mussed and hair messy. He was beautiful and perfect at all times in Teddy's eyes, but like this? When he was making Teddy think all sorts of domestic things, like how he got to wake up to this every morning for the rest of his life? He was especially beautiful to Teddy.

Still, he couldn't help but make a little light of the situation.

"You could come with me," Teddy suggested, his voice low to match the early hour, but also full of mirth. He would never actually expect Billy to change his sleeping habits, but he couldn't help but tease, "Join me for some early morning runs, hm?"

Billy’s response was a snorted huff against Teddy’s skin. “Who are you and where’s Teddy?” he mumbled, still more asleep than not. Give Billy enough time and he would fall asleep like this, wrapped around Teddy it wasn’t all that different even if he was contorted at a weird angle. Working out had always been Teddy’s thing, Billy’s thing was to admire the fruits of that labor. Billy had just never taken to sports of any kind, when he was younger it was because he genuinely had little coordination and even at an early age preferred escaping to the worlds he could find in books or in movies. And when he was older it was the jocks who made his life miserable, had him dreading the locker room.

Don’t forget the amount of times he was placed in a basketball hoop. The pinnacle of humor.

Being on the Young Avengers had helped with a lot of that. Eli was all about the discipline and running drills, but that had been fun because they were all friends with dreams of crime fighting. And there wasn’t much use in running when you could simply fly or teleport. Even flying, he just needed to think about it, he didn’t need back muscles to move his wings–but again, Billy greatly appreciated the work Teddy put into keeping himself in shape.

“You could stay with me,” he countered, “In…about an hour and a half I’ll really make it worth your while.” Yes, truly a sexy vision of bedhead and creases on his face from the pillows–at least, what could be seen of his face given that half of it was smashed in the mattress. Really tempting, that.

Chuckling softly, Teddy could already feel himself erring toward stay with Billy as he reached out to push the hair back from his partner's face. He couldn't make that too obvious, though, despite that he was pretty sure that anyone that talked to him for more than five minutes knew just how much Teddy Kaplan-Atlman was wrapped around Billy's little finger; it was a mutual wrapping, where they were both so entirely gone for the other.

Still, he couldn't give in quite so quickly. There needed to be a little resistance, even if he felt his resolve crumbling.

"Or I could go for my run and be back in an hour and a half, all set and ready to see just how worth my while you'll make it," Teddy teased, lifting an eyebrow. "I'm just saying."

“Your face is just saying,” came Billy’s eloquent response. Teddy’s fingers in his hair were basically enough to lull him back to sleep and he very nearly did, but the angle he was currently at made it just a little too uncomfortable. Billy pushed himself up with all the grace (and grumbling) of the walking dead. He should have just let Teddy go and then he could come home to a much more alert (relatively, anyway) Billy but…Billy was feeling needy. In his lower moments, those thoughts tended to spiral about what Teddy deserved and what Billy wasn’t, but therapy and time were making those fewer and farther between. Now? He just wanted to squeeze a few more minutes together.

So he threw a leg over Teddy’s lap and looped his arms around his neck and pressed a lazy kiss to the edge of Teddy’s jaw, like he had spent all of his energy doing that very thing. “Will you get chocolate croissants from that place down the street?” That sounded good, at least, the ones Billy meant were always fluffier than any croissant had the right to be, all butter and flaky pastry and just melted chocolate. “And maybe marry me? Coffee, extra sugar, no milk, okay?” Teddy already knew Billy’s coffee order, but just in case.

Teddy was already mentally recalibrating what his run route would look like to make sure that he did pass by the bakery that Billy was referencing when all thoughts came to a screeching halt. He didn't even catch the coffee order (not that it mattered, as he absolutely already knew Billy's regular), as his mind was snagged on the very simple and maybe marry me.

He turned a little in Billy's arms, not so much as to loosen Billy's grip by any means, but just to let Teddy get a look at his face. The words seemed to have just slipped out, if the immediate continued conversation into coffee requests meant anything at all. Somehow that made the moment even more charming and brought a slow smile to his lips, less crooked and more simply bright.

"Let's pause and rewind one request back." Teddy raised an eyebrow. "Repeat that for me?"

Billy groaned, a terribly wounded noise that was full offense that in spite of Teddy being here in their bed, Billy’s two preferred states of being: sleeping with Teddy or fooling around with Teddy weren’t happening But now Billy was awake enough to actually kiss Teddy good morning (morning breath be damned, Billy was obviously not at his finest now), stretching his arms up and arching back until he heard his back crack from the weird position Billy slept in. He settled his arms once more around Teddy and blinked at him a minute.

“Chocolate croissant from the place down the street? I could go for a bagel with lox if you’re not going that way. The coffee is a nonstarter though, but I’ll make it up to you when it kicks in.” He kissed Teddy’s cheek and then jerked back suddenly, as if Billy’s thoughts finally caught up to him. Well.

He held up a finger between them, lifting an eyebrow in return. Unfortunately, the stupid grin that was fighting its way across Billy’s face

“That doesn’t count.”

Teddy's face had been patient, right up until Billy got to the point that he had actually been asking for him to repeat. Immediately, a grin of his own crossed his face, amused and happy and absolutely about to give Billy a hard time.

"Oh, it counts," Teddy declared, then used his not insignificant strength to easily pick up and maneuver Billy back into their blankets so he could hover above them. It was a silly move, but it was one that also allowed Teddy to steal a kiss from Billy—as though he hadn't been stealing plenty when they were both sitting up, oh well. Once he pulled back, looking down at Billy in amusement, he continued, "It absolutely counts. As the one that remembers our previous engagement, I'm the expert here."

Nevermind that their previous engagement was about twenty minutes long, if you didn't count the time between the first declaration of intent of their together forever status. Teddy generally did, but he was also a hopeless romantic when it came to Billy Kaplan.

“That doesn't count, that doesn't count!” Billy insisted, even as he hit the mattress in a huff of laughter. “That doesn't count! I've been planning! I was like, 85 percent of the way done, but I couldn't figure out if I wanted to try to do something with your ring.”

Teddy’s ring, Billy knew, had been constructed out of Mar-Vell’s nega bands, and was the only thing he had left of his dad. Even though it wouldn’t have been for hardly any time at all, Billy didn’t want Teddy to be separated from that. Selfishly, he didn’t want Teddy to not have his wedding ring because it was his wedding ring and yes it was weird that Billy maybe intended to propose with it but maybe it was weird he wanted to propose at all?? He’d stopped thinking like that, honestly, because marrying Teddy, putting that ring on his finger (back on, whatever), and vowing to love, honor, cherish, and protect him for the rest of their lives, was the easiest decision he’d ever make.

He threaded his fingers through Teddy’s hair and tugged gently to bring him close again. “You are the most amazing person in the entire multiverse, you are the person I love more than anyone or anything out there, And I want you to know that, I want you to feel it, I want you to never question it or forget it, and that means you deserve more than me messing something like this up.”

Given how close they were, Teddy thought he couldn't be blamed for punctuating Billy's words with another kiss, a little more drawn out than the rest. He already knew all of that, of course. It had been a very long time since Teddy had ever had cause or concern over the level of love and devotion that Billy felt for him. It was unwavering now, both his understanding and his own feelings in return. It was as much a part of him as anything else.

"You didn't mess anything up," Teddy said, doing his best to sound as confidently reassuring as he could. "You couldn't." He took another soft kiss, then continued, "I do know. I do feel it. You show me how much you love me every single day, B. The little things, the big things, everything in between. I get it, though, because I don't want you to forget it either, how much I love you, everything I would do for you, if you asked it."

At that, he leaned back, balancing on one elbow as he shimmied his wedding ring off of his left hand, offering it to Billy. He didn't know where Billy's thoughts were and what Billy's intentions had been about taking the ring to propose to Teddy with, but he knew his partner. Something in his heart told him that Billy would have wanted to.

"This doesn't have to count if you don't want it to," he murmured, "but I wouldn't mind if it did."

“I want it to count,” Billy blurted out, an entirely different position from what he had said literally five seconds ago. Because Teddy was looking at him with those eyes, because he was holding Teddy’s ring in his hand and it was still warm. He remembered the first time he actually noticed Teddy looking at him with his heart in his eyes and Billy thought maybe. Maybe it was possible that Teddy Altman, with all of his goodness and abs and loyalty and protectiveness and encyclopedic knowledge of Pokemon, Teddy Altman who laughed at Billy’s obscure Battlestar Galactica jokes, who saw the best in people but couldn’t see that in himself, maybe he felt even slightly the same way Billy felt about him.

In all the realities Billy could construct, in all the fantasy worlds he read about or watched or wrote about, he couldn’t come up with a better one than the one that let him spend the rest of their lives together. “I want it to count,” he repeated, now firmly, a dangerous thing to want things too much when you could alter reality, but there was nothing more he wanted than Teddy. He sat up and slid Teddy’s ring back on his finger, just past the first knuckle.

“I love you, you’re everything. Marry me?”

When Teddy smiled, he very nearly looked like the Disney prince that Billy sometimes claimed he could be, all sunshine and joy. It didn't matter that this had happened before; Teddy would have accepted every proposal that Billy wanted to give him with the same radiating happiness and excitement. Despite all of the many things that Teddy had in his life that were cause for him to be happy, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Billy was top of that list. Billy was the first thought on his mind when he woke and the last one when he finally fell asleep, Teddy's arms wrapped around him in their bed. He wanted that to be their forever and he knew they didn't need more engagements and weddings to have it, but darn if he didn't want it.

Teddy leaned in, kissing Billy soundly before breaking away. "I love you," he repeated, then stole another kiss before continuing, "you're everything."

Then, he took just one more, tender and slow. When he pulled back, Teddy cupped Billy's face with one his his hands and smiled once more. "Yes, I'll marry you."