who_is_she | (no subject)

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Some days, Tony still couldn't believe this was his life. Days spent delivering crates of goods to foreign planets and translating receipts and inventories between several different languages and then taking a few hours off to stroll around an alien city. Sometimes it was hard to believe Tony had never left earth before three years ago.

What was harder to believe though was the man walking at his side with his arm slung casually over Tony's shoulders. They'd recently celebrated their second anniversary and most days Tony couldn't believe his luck. Roddie was more than he'd ever thought he could deserve, and how he hadn't gotten sick of Tony yet was a mystery.

Tony isn't quite following the conversation following between Roddie and Zakeef, distracted by the warmth of Roddie's arm and then sliding his own arm around Roddie's waist. He's thinking about suggesting they get back to ship, or maybe to a hotel, because he's kind of tired and wants to get Roddie alone.

It's then that a street vendor calls out to them, startling Tony.

"Ah, you two, you two," the vendor says, pointing at him and Roddie, "You're in love, yes? I can tell!" Tony stares for a moment and then freezes, flushing crimson.

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Roddie startles a little at first, snapping out of the conversation he'd been having with Zakeef about problems he'd been having with their navigation system. The vendor is a torak, taller than Zakeef (as most toraks they encountered were), and he had a little stand set up beside the busy station walkway they were headed down.

"What?" he says, and a wide, somewhat bashful grin spreads across his face once he's processed the question.

"Oh, yes. Uh, very much, yeah," he laughs, scratching his ear and affectionately jostling Tony a little with the arm he has around his shoulders, "We've been dating for two years last week actually."

Tony groans, removing his arm from around Roddie's waist so he can cover his face with his hands.

"Roddie," he hisses, elbowing Roddie, though he doesn't have any particular objection to the subject, he's not sure a stranger who probably just wants to sell them overpriced tourist crap needs to know the intimate details of their relationship.

"Yes, I see!" says the vendor, grinning widely and beckoning them over, "Perhaps you would be interested in one of my stones? They are meant to be given to one you love, to cement the bond between you." He gestures to the table in front of him, where there's a selection of fairly innocuous-looking rocks.

Edited 2015-03-13 00:41 (UTC)

Roddie laughs a little when Tony covers his face with his hands, and leaves his side to inspect the man's wares.

"These are pretty cool," he says, picking up one of the stones and turning it over in his hands. He looks over at Tony, raising his eyebrows and grinning as he holds the rock up where Tony can see.

"What do you think, babe?" he asks, then, not waiting for a response, reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his wallet.

"Yeah, sure, we'll take one. How much do you want for it?"

Tony raises an eyebrow when Roddie holds up one of the rocks, not seeing anything special or meaningful in the rock, becoming more sure that this is some kind of tourist trap.

"Roddie, I don't know about this," Tony says, coming up beside Roddie and peering skeptically over Roddie's shoulder.

"One hundred and fifty credits, sir," the vendor says cheerily, and Tony makes a high disbelieving noise.

Tony's response to hearing the price makes Roddie grin wider, and he nods enthusiastically.

"Oh yes, I will take it, definitely," he says, slapping his card into the torak's hands, "We will so take it. Because I just love him so much."

"Roddie!" Tony protests, flushing again at Roddie's words, even though he knows Roddie's just teasing him. The torak laughs, taking the card and processing the payment before Tony can really object.

"Ah, true love!" the torak says, chuckling, and then makes a sweeping gesture over his table, "You may take your pick. Choose whichever stone speaks to you."

Tony huffs and crosses his arms over his chest, preparing a scolding for when Roddie turns around with his ridiculous trinket.

Roddie inspects the stones for a second, before picking up a slightly orange colored one. He holds it to his heart and turns around, his face full of overdramatic emotion.

"Anthony, my love," he says, gripping Tony's shoulder and feeling compelled, for some reason, to put on an Italian accent, "Will you do me the honor of taking...this rock?"

He takes one of Tony's hand in both of his, and clasps it to his chest as he puts the rock in the flat of Tony's palm.

Tony gives Roddie a flat look, and considers refusing it. He could, and he almost does, but then he glances up and flushes when he realizes they have an audience--several toraks have stopped to watch, no doubt lured in by Roddie's dramatics. And, all right, he is a little bit touched that Roddie would immediately accept giving him something like this, even if it is a silly trinket. He sighs and rolls his eyes, curling his fingers around the rock and bringing it up to his chest.

"Yes, Roddie, I'll take your rock," he says, his voice still unamused, and startles when the watching toraks burst into applause. Tony glances around, bewildered, as a few of the toraks cheer and one or two come up to slap him and Roddie on the back and offer their congratulations.

Roddie acts tearful at the acceptance, and he dips Tony slightly when he kisses him. He hadn't even noticed the audience they'd accumulated until applause breaks out, and he breaks the kiss and looks around, bewildered and surprised. A couple toraks slap him on the back, and he laughs and thanks them, somewhat uncertainly.

Zakeef had been standing back, and his usual stony expression is colored with something like amusement as he walks up behind Tony and Roddie, placing one hand on on the backs of each of their necks and leading them away from the crowd.

"That was a lovely ceremony, boys," he says flatly, once they're far enough away that the other toraks have stopped looking in their direction. A smirk twitches at the corner of his mouth.

"Thaikh avail daivkudaav nuav ko voudholok, nuav ad voxol ko klakov," he says, in a falsely reverent voice, "The sands of time may weather your bond, but let it not be broken."

Tony stiffens at Zakeef's words, something about it sounding a little too official.

"What do you mean, ceremony?" Tony asks, Zakeef's poetic phrase whirling around in his head as he searches for an answer. He looks down at the rock in his hand, as if it would have any more answers, but it just... looks like a rock.

"Does... Does this rock mean something? Like, something other than fleecing tourists?" he asks, with dawning horror.

Zakeef actually lets out a chuckle at the look on Tony's face, though it sounds more like a grunt.

"That is a piece of the Torak homeworld, or it's meant to be one. I suppose we can't be certain of its authenticity since you picked it up from a street vendor, but traditionally giving one to someone you love signifies your intent to build a home with them. It symbolizes a strong foundation, for your home, for your future family, and for the love you share."

He turns away, hardly able to continue looking at their faces due to the overwhelming and confusing mix of embarrassment and amusement their expressions were making him feel.

"You are lucky no one was offended," he says, airily, "If they had thought you were mocking our marriage traditions things could have gotten unpleasant."

"M-Marriage?" Tony echoes, his voice high-pitched and panicky and his eyes wide, "Did you say marriage?" Tony glances at Roddie and then quickly away, his mind whirling. It wasn't as if the thought had never crossed his mind before--it had been two years, and they'd spoken a little about the future, about staying together, Roddie had never made any indication that he desired marriage and-- and building foundations. And the way Roddie lived--his home was a space ship, and he was most happy flitting around galaxy--didn't seem to indicate Roddie wanted anything to do with getting married or settling down, in the traditional sense.

Tony stares down at the rock, feeling a little lightheaded, and considers it, just for a moment. He considers the whole marriage thing, pledging himself to Roddie--how did it go?--in sickness and in health, til death do they part. He thinks about a ring on his finger, children running around in a yard (or a spaceship), and assurance that he'll be near to the person he loves the most for the rest of his life.

He thinks about it, and just for a moment his heart soars.

Roddies eyes widen, and he lets out a breathless, bewildered, honking laugh before covering his mouth and staring at Zakeef, then at the stone in Tony's hands, then at Zakeef again.

This hadn't been how he'd planned on proposing at all -- and he had been planning on it. He'd bought a ring a few months ago; it was in his pocket, now, and at times when he felt the moment might be right he would sometimes stick his hands into his jeans and fiddle with it nervously. As nice as he felt the sentiment behind the gift was now that he knew its meaning, and as sure as he was that he wanted to take this step, he wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that he'd just taken it on accident while teasing him by buying what he'd thought was just an overpriced rock.

"Wow," he laughs after a long silence, still wide eyed, "Well. Geeze, uh. Whoops?"

He turns to Tony, giving him a goofy and unintentionally terrified-looking smile even though his face felt like it was on fire.

"I always thought public proposals were pretty shitty. My bad."

Tony swallows audibly, as Roddie's response and the terrified look on his face confirms all his fears at once. Tony feels something cold creep into his chest, as the momentary hope he'd felt skitters away. It isn't as though he'd be unhappy staying with Roddie without marriage, but he hadn't quite known it was something he wanted until he knew the elation he felt at the maybe.

"It's, ah, it's okay," Tony says hoarsely, turning to Zakeef, "It's not, er, legally binding, is it? It's just a ceremony?"

Roddies heart sinks a little at how quick Tony was to ask.

"No, it's not," Zakeef says, suppressing another laugh, "It's not like that, not like you do on Earth, but it's not something we usually perform lightly, either."

"Oh...well that's good," Roddie says, swallowing, trying to sound glad. He's able to assume his usual, relaxed demeanor quickly, even though his heart is still thumping hard against his ribs.

"Would have been kind of a bummer if you'd divorced me," he jokes, "I'd hate to have a custody battle, I think the court would rule in your favor."

Tony chuckles a little, running his hand through his hair and trying to shrug off the disappointment that Roddie was taking this so lightly.

"Yeah, you'd only get to see your ship every other weekend," Tony jokes, but his smile is forced. He looks at the rock for another long moment, before gently tucking it into his pocket and clearing his throat.

"I guess we should, ah, get back to the ship?" Tony asks, his gaze skittering away from Roddie when he tries to look at him.

Roddie laughs. He reaches over to put his arm around him again, but shies away at the last minute, reaching for his hand and holding it loosely instead.

"Actually, I was thinking about a hotel tonight," he says, gesturing to one at the end of the street they were headed down, "There's one over there. We can get two rooms, me and you can order room service for food if you want. Hey, we could ask if they have a honeymoon suite."

Tony laughs and it's somewhat strangled, and his hand hangs limply and awkwardly in Roddie's grip.

"S-Sounds good," Tony says, adjusting the strap of his bag over his shoulder and leading the way down the street, and hopefully further away from these uncomfortable emotions. When they get to the hotel Tony takes over arranging their rooms, as he doesn't quite trust Roddie to not get the honeymoon suite as an extension of his little joke.

However, as he digs through his pockets for his wallet he unthinkingly puls out the rock and sets it on the counter. The torak clerk behind the counter makes a surprised sound.

"Oh my!" she says, looking between him and Roddie, "Is that-- Are you two...?"

"Oh! Ah, well, actually," Tony starts to say, stumbling over his words, but before he can think f something suitable another torak behind them speaks up, because that is just his luck.

"Oh, yes! It's you two! I just saw them purchase the stone from a vendor and perform the ceremony right in the street! It was so romantic," sighs the torak, and Tony flushes. He tries to snatch back the stone but he fumbles it and it rolls across the counter. The clerk catches it and hands it back, her hands cupping it gently and her smile soft. Tony takes the rock and holds it carefully, taking a deep breath.

"Well, I'm sure you two will be needing the honeymoon suite, in that case!" she says, and then winks at them, "And don't worry about the extra charge, newlywed special."

Tony gapes at her as she hands over their key cards, and he wishes desperately that the floor would open up and swallow him whole.

Roddie gapes at the clerk for a moment, and opens his mouth briefly to argue, but can't think of anything to say that wouldn't make the situation more awkward than it already was. Instead, he reaches out and takes the card key with a smile, and makes a show of putting his arm around Tony's shoulders.

"Thank you very much, that's really generous," he says, giving her a charming grin before putting his arm around Tony and slinging his backpack over his shoulder, moving out of the way so Zakeef can book his own room. He walks Tony to the elevator with his hand on the small of his back, and they ride it up to their room near the top of the building.

"Geeze," he laughs, once they're in their suite, "Well, at least we got ourselves a big room, right hubby?"

Tony stiffens at the word hubby, nodding and moving away to put his bag down on the bed and dig through it.

The room is ridiculous, covered in opulent red furnishings and there are hearts everywhere. Tony can't imagine enjoying this type of room, even if he really was married. He stares down at the huge, red, heart-shaped bed for a minute and then shakes his head, sighing.

"I'd prefer something smaller, actually," he says, sounding prissy, "And less ridiculous." He emerges from his bag with his small bag of toiletries, heading towards the bathroom.

"Though I suppose we couldn't have refused without exposing the whole charade," he says somewhat bitterly.

Roddie waits until Tony's in the bathroom to pull the ring out of his pocket and stick it in his bag. He's more than a little hurt by the bitterness in Tony's voice, and how hard he was driving home the fact that this whole thing had been nothing more than a mistake, but he tries to swallow it. He hops out of his pants and shrugs off his jacket, first dropping it into a pile on the floor, but then, after a moment of consideration, bends down and folds them up and puts them back in his bag before heading into the bathroom himself to brush his teeth.

"Are you, uh...upset about something?" he asks uncertainly, coming up behind him to use the mirror.

Tony meets Roddie's eyes in the mirror, waiting until he bends over to spit out the toothpaste to reply.

"I don't know, I mean, it's annoying isn't it?" he asks, pausing to rinse his mouth out, "People are so willing assume that because two people are a couple, they must want to get married, even if..." he swallows, looking away and flushing, "Even if that's not necessarily what they want." He can't quite keep the disappointment out of his voice for that last sentence, nor can he look Roddie in the eye. He turns away to dig through his toiletries bag again, feeling guilty and selfish for being so sad about this.

Tony's words sting badly, and once he spits out his toothpaste he bites his lip and looks at the ground.

"Oh," he manages to say, and his voice is fairly badly pained.

"Wow," he laughs bleakly, "I had...no idea you felt like...that about it, but, all right, that's...fine. Uh, hey, I'm gonna go...take a walk in the lobby and see if they have a snack machine or something."

He doesn't wait for a response, heading out into their room and pulling his pants back on before heading out the door.

Tony looks up at Roddie's face when he speaks, and his panic kicks up a notch because he recognizes that face, and that broken tone of voice. He stares after Roddie for a minute after he leaves, before realization hits. That was the same face he'd made when they'd kissed, the first time, and then Tony had broken his heart.

Tony's mouth falls open and he goes pale as he wonders if he's completely misread the situation and fucked things up with the one person who really matters, again. He makes his way back into the room in something of a daze, and starts digging through his bag for his pajamas. He can't find his pants, and thinks he must have accidentally put them in Roddie's bag when he packed it.

His mind is whirling with possible scenarios, possible apologies he could make, possible reasons Roddie will cite when he wants to break up with him, and he's so distracted that it takes him a good thirty seconds to realize the thing sitting on top of his clothes, just inside Roddie's bag, is a ring.

"Oh, god," he says to himself when he looks down at it, because he knows instantly it's not something he's ever seen Roddie wear. It feels heavy, and there's a line of three small jewels on one side, understated but elegant. Tony's stomach fills with dread as he looks at it, because it seems exactly like the kind of thing Roddie would pick out to give to Tony. His hands are shaking as he turns the ring, looking on the inside for an inscription, hoping there won't be one, hoping it will just be blank, maybe another small trinket Roddie thought would make a good present.

I love you, it says on one side, and for a second Tony's relieved, because there's no way Roddie would get an inscription so simple and typical, but then he turns it and reads I know on the other side, and he gasps.

"Oh, fuck," he swears quietly, staring down at the ring in his hand and sitting down heavily on the bed. As he stares at the ring, trying to process what this means, he reaches into his pocket and takes out the rock, setting it next to the ring on his palm and staring at them both.

"Oh, fuck me."

Roddie considers actually looking for a snack machine like he said he was going to, for a minute, until he spots the hotel bar. He makes a few circles around it, deliberating on whether or not to go in, before heading over and ordering a shot of whiskey. Downing them quickly, he sits quietly on the bar stool for a while, staring numbly at the wall as he went back over the events of the day, re-evaluating everything Tony had said and done.

He realized Tony hadn't even wanted him to talk about their relationship or their anniversary to the salesman. At the time, he hadn't thought much of it, because Tony was always embarrassed easily, but thinking about it now, combined with the way he'd reacted to everything that happened later, was giving Roddie a pit in his stomach. He'd been so sure that Tony was happy with him, and that this was a step they'd take eventually. The idea that he might have to completely re-evaluate his future was almost more than he could take, and he almost orders more to drink, but decides that stumbling up to their room drunk wouldn't help his case any, and would likely take the situation from sad and uncomfortable to miserable and pathetic, so he leaves the bar before he can give into the temptation.

When he gets back up to the room, he realizes he must have left his key in the suite in his hurry to get out the door, so he knocks lightly on the door