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"Let's get married," Dan Heng says out of nowhere.
Caelus doesn't even process it at first. They've been reunited for maybe a week, at absolute max. He's still trying to adjust to this new Dan Heng, the one that spent so long alone that he's twisted into a new version of himself.
This version is far bolder, it seems.
"What?" is the reaction that comes out of his mouth.
"Married," Dan Heng repeats, like Caelus had simply not heard him the first time; as if he hadn't just dropped something that left Caelus reeling.
Marriage was something he'd thought about, but not seriously, because why would he be serious about it? By the time he'd actually realized oh, Dan Heng might like me back, he'd long since drifted past the thoughts he'd had in the earlier days when he'd just woken up, because waking up with a man about to kiss him and then watching a few too many romance movies with March definitely hadn't influenced the way he'd thought in that first few months of his life. He'd thought about it because clearly it was what you were supposed to do when you had a crush, because that was what happened when people liked each other, they got married, right?
It had taken him another two years to realize the feelings were mutual. He's pretty sure Dan Heng hadn't realized too long before. Turns out, maybe, being raised in a prison wasn't the best for figuring out things like emotions and family until finally, one day in the far future, Dan Heng had finally been reminded that he had people that cared about him.
Things clicked not long after they were stranded on Amphoreus, and then they got separated, and…
(It's been a week for Caelus. It's been over a thousand years for Dan Heng. Time has changed him in ways Caelus hadn't even known he could be changed. Ways that Caelus absolutely still loves, don't get him wrong! Just… ways that he's going to have to take a second to get used to. Especially the height difference, because he is not used to having to get Dan Heng to bend down to kiss him.)
"I've had quite a while to think," Dan Heng continues, "and this is what I want."
"Pause. Pause for a second. Please." Caelus waves his hands through the air in an effort to get Dan Heng's attention. "This is all… really fast for me. Hold on a second. I know you've had time to think, but for me it's only been like… two, three months, maybe? It feels so…. fast."
Dan Heng sits down next to him. "I understand that," he says quietly. "I am still trying to process the time difference myself. If you'd like to wait, we can do that. There is a part of me, though, that wishes not to separate from you, in any way I can accomplish that."
"You missed me that badly, huh?"
"More than I hope you'll ever know."
Caelus smiles at that, and leans to kiss his cheek. "But we're back now. We have time. It's alright." A tail wraps itself around his waist, clinging tight, and Dan Heng leans in to match. He savors the warmth of their shoulders where they touch, wrapping an arm around Dan Heng's back to pull him closer.
Dan Heng leans in like he's been starved. A single week hasn't been enough to cancel out nearly a thousand years of isolation, and Caelus isn't used to the version of his boyfriend that chases the warmth of his touch and doesn't retreat afterwards but he is not complaining.
"I've had enough time to think," Caelus says, and gray-gold eyes turn to meet him. He notes Dan Heng's new golden pupils, the way they almost match his own eye color, the same way he has every time he's looked at them for the past week. "About… getting married."
Dan Heng cocks his head, nearly birdlike. "You have?"
"I think you're supposed to do this properly. Get a ring or something, and then get down on one knee, and ask will you marry me? so I can properly say yes, of course I will, yknow?"
His arm stills again Caelus's. "You're saying yes?"
"Of course I am." He pulls Dan Heng back against his side. "Do you think I'd want to be separated from you either?"
"I should find a ring."
"You could probably make a ring, since you're a demigod of Earth now. Like, you can't tell me there's no way those Coreflame powers didn't give you some kind of ability to do something like that."
"They're more large scale," Dan Heng mutters, but doesn't protest further. "I can figure it out."
"Hey," Caelus bumps his shoulder, "you don't have to worry about that. Anything you come up with is going to be special, yknow? Whether you make it or not, I'll love it. However, sidenote, you should totally do the actual proposal in public, because I'm pretty sure half the restaurants in Okhema would start giving us free meals."
And that brings a rare (but less rare, now) smile to Dan Heng's face. "We wouldn't have to pay for food for the next three weeks, since we're so poor right now."
Caelus laughs. "Maybe they'd even include desserts this time."
"You say this as if they don't love you already, Deliverer."
"They could love me more if I got engaged! Think of all the new business they'd get because of it!"
"I believe, though," Dan Heng says, looking at him with an expression so unbearably fond that it makes Caelus's face warm, "you're already engaged, aren't you?"
"Yeah," Caelus breathes. "Yeah, I am. Engaged. To my fiance. What the hell."
Dan Heng pulls him in for a proper kiss, then. The angle is awkward, because neither will let go of the other to move, but Caelus finds he doesn't care, because Aeons above he's missed this. He's had no Dan Heng for like, two weeks! The longest two weeks of his life!
"We should get Aglaea to perform the ceremony," says Caelus once they finally break apart again. "I'm sure she could do it. Just get Romance herself to marry us, no big deal."
"I'll have to ask her about that too, then. Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow," Caelus agrees. "But, before then, we're going to bed. Planning can wait for the morning. If we want to get this done before we save the world, we might need to hurry it up a bit."
They fall asleep in the same bed that night, wrapped up together as if they refused to part.