Deal or No Deal?

The knob on the front door, swapped for the one the houseboat used to have. All tentacly and brass, and what the Jones fam would count for inviting. The sign, a steel patchwork quilt of materials and letters from the warehouse Joy Cavendish had used for her supernatural zoo. (Teddy thought about getting something from the roof, thought it'd be funny, but thought against it when the image of Emilio's little lost sad face came to mind. Grumpy was great, sad was bad.)

There were bits and pieces of all the places they clashed, bounced back, then clashed again. Two magnets always on this intersecting trajectory, just not knowing how tightly they'd be bound when inertia stopped and they could finally just be with each other. 

The bar was just next door to Mephisto’s. Next to the spot where Teddy almost first confessed, but got Emilio to tattoo their Very Canadian arm instead. Nervous hands wrung together, then stretched. Fingers flexing and finding the ever so slightly raised skin where the slayer’s art lay along the flank of their forearm. The stake shaped anchor that helped them pull through the ritual returning them to human. 

Music lilted through the otherwise empty air. No one else was due to show up for a few hours but that only meant Teds jumped at every sound, buzzing with excitement and nerves. Ice cubes jingled in two sweating glasses, fancy whiskey not yet poured. Teddy checked their watch. Then their phone. Twisted the ring that hadn't left their finger since that night undercover at the vampire spa. When that didn't make him arrive any faster, Teds paced the floor again. Proverbial dog ears perked and listening for the sound of a motorcycle. 

Unsurprisingly, not very patient in their waiting. 

Everything had to be perfect. Even if he'd swear it didn't need to be. Teddy wanted to show him just how much he meant to them and that meant… Well, perfection. 

“Drive safe dummy <3” The last text said. Even if Teddy would have preferred “Drive reckless and fast but get here safe anyway because I don't want another minute without you.” About a million things could have gone wrong between World's End Isle and downtown. Each minute that passed brought another imagining of some great catastrophe that would keep Emilio from getting there. (It'd barely been ten since they sent the text. So far they were on scenario 58.) Lost completely to the musings of a racing mind, Teddy had just about worked themself into a ball of static and fear. 

So when the small bell above the door chimed,Teddy just about jumped straight out of their bespoke purple suit and their skin. Surprise was an understatement. They might have even squeaked. Something the man in the doorway was sure to joke about. Great. Off to a perfect start, Jones. 

“Em!!”

—

News that Wicked’s Rest was going to shit in a much more dangerous way than it had in the past had Emilio’s nerves frayed and his mind unsteady. It was stupid, the way he kept going back to Etla. This situation was nothing like that one, where the end had come without warning and the enemy had been mundane but too numerous to fight against. They had time to stop it, this time. Eve was rallying the troops, telling everyone she thought she could trust what she’d found out. Emilio was doing the same on his end. He’d made Teddy promise not to do anything reckless on their own, made the same promise himself, and it helped a little. It eased his mind some, but not completely. Part of him felt like he was existing in a perpetual state of awaiting tragedy, like his life had narrowed to the moment the attack began in Mexico. The end was just ahead of him. It was unreachable, but it was inevitable. Every heartbeat brought him right back to the top of it, tragedy firmly in sight.

He was hoping opening night at the bar would serve as a distraction of sorts. He could keep an eye on everything and everyone, have Teddy and their other friends within his sights so that he could remind himself, in no uncertain terms, that they were all alive and well. He could scan the crowd for danger, could make sure he was on top of everything. Teddy had put wards on the building to keep away any magical issues, and Emilio could fight off any physical attack that might come instead. He could relax, as much as he was capable. He could also have a few drinks, which his body was already screaming for. And at the end of the night, when the world didn’t end, he could pretend he didn’t know that he’d start the following day in the same moment again.

The drive to the bar was tense, but he was glad to make it on the bike. The wind rushing around him offered a much better distraction than would have been possible in a car, where he often felt too closed in. The fact that the bar was in a familiar spot helped, too. He’d spent plenty of time around Mephisto’s, both before and after he and Teddy went from being half-assed rivals to a whole-assed couple. He glanced towards the familiar building as he parked his bike, noting the darkened windows. Levi wasn’t working late tonight, then. It would probably show up at the bar before the night’s end, and Emilio would try not to punch it for the frustrating vagueness of its recent messages. It wasn’t the demon’s fault, he knew; it was still the closest target to aim his irritation towards.

Hopping off his bike, he yanked the helmet off his head and rested it on the seat, running a hand through his unruly curls. His hair was longer than it used to be; normally, he would have sheared off the excess weeks ago, but Teddy mentioned once that they liked it longer and Emilio was more of a sap than he’d ever let on. He shook his head to loosen the curls, making his way towards the door and pausing momentarily when he went to open it. The doorknob was a familiar one; he smiled faintly at the sight. It was hard not to remember the way he’d shoved into the houseboat the first time he met them, angry and frustrated before they’d even opened their mouth. A quick glance to the sign found some familiarity there, too, though it took him a moment longer to place it. He’d had other things on his mind when he’d shown up to ‘rescue’ Joy, after all. 

Running a hand over the knob, he pushed the door open and stepped into the bar. His eyes found Teddy right away, like a magnet drawn towards them. They were wearing a suit, which seemed on brand. They liked to dress nice for things like this, Emilio knew, liked to be the brightest thing in any given room. (They didn’t need a fancy suit for that, of course; Emilio had a hard time believing anyone could ever take their eyes off Teddy entirely. It wouldn’t matter if they were wearing a burlap fucking sack; they were still the fucking sun. Warm, bright, and so utterly necessary. Anything with half a brain would fall into place to revolve around them.)

“Hey, babe,” he greeted, grinning at the squeak they let out. It was as if they were surprised to see him, despite the fact that they’d known he was coming. “Place looks good. Think you might have rats, though. Heard them squeaking…” He trailed off, expression making his amusement all too clear as he made his way towards them. He pulled them in for a quick kiss. “Saw the door out front. Like that doorknob better here than on that boat.” Mostly because he still hated the boat. He disliked having his feet anywhere but solid ground. Teddy knew that, of course. “Mmm, heard there was a surprise, too. Hope it’s whiskey.”

—

You know that sound a dryer makes when you've put something far too heavy inside, like a pair of shoes or a belt you forgot to remove from your jeans, Teddy Jones was alight and abuzz with the same kind of energy from the moment they caught sight of him. Silhouetted by the halogen halo of the streetlights just starting to kick on outside. He stepped forward for a kiss, made a remark on their noise of surprise, and started in on a quip. Normal. And yet perfect. Without much thought, their hands found themselves tangled in his hair, cradling the back of his head while they grinned like an idiot just an inch from his mouth. Peppering their own kisses in between each bout of banter. 

“Yeah it is rats actually. Going for that whole Ratatouille thing, you know the movie we watched a few weeks back?” Teddy finished the tender moment with a massive raspberry to Emilio's cheek, then twisted to his side to show off the table set just for them. “Whiskey is part of it. Obviously. I know my man well enough to know it's not a celebration without it.” 

They stepped forward, one arm still looped around his waist, eyed the half melted glasses of ice and opted to forgo them entirely. Instead, handing off the old bottle (one from 1989, the year they were both born as far as Emilio knew, or at least as far as he was supposed to know.) over to the slayer to inspect. “It's a good one, better than your usual. At least I hope it is.” Teddy chuckled a little nervously, something so unlike their often aloof unaffected demeanor. That kind of thing happened only around him, didn't it? Tides turned and the suave demon turned human became a giggling teen on the schoolyard. Shyly giving gifts to their crush. 

“We could break in the new glassware, made of a thick quartz crystal so it shouldn't shatter easily. Kavanagh and I did a lot of testing, this and the metal ones were best, but you know I just thought I liked the look of these ones for the whiskey. But we could just sip it straight from the bottle–” When did they start rambling so much? Why couldn't they stop? “Or whatever you like, you know, it's all good. Gravy wavy.” 

—-

With their hands all tangled in his curls, gently pulling at them and using them to maneuver him into a position that allowed them to plant a few more kisses onto his face, Emilio decided that maybe he liked his hair a little longer now, too. Some of the anxiety that had lived within his gut since the moment things around town started going stranger than usual alleviated in Teddy’s presence, as if they were a salve soothing over a wound. The noise in his head never went away entirely, but it always felt a little quieter with Teddy around. Love couldn’t fix him — he no longer believed anything was capable of that — but it could help him stand a little steadier on his feet, could make the weight of the world he insisted on holding upon his shoulders a little lighter. Here, in this bar with Teddy standing close enough for him to feel their heartbeat in their chest, it was a whole lot easier to breathe.

“The one with the French mice?” He was a little proud of himself for remembering that much. Most of the time when the two of them ‘watched a movie,’ Emilio paid very little attention and didn’t make it to the end. He tended to pull Teddy into a distraction somewhere towards the middle of the first act, when he could. There were things far more entertaining than watching animated rats cook. “Does that mean you’re hiring Langley?” Kaden wasn’t around to hear himself be compared to a French rat, but Emilio liked to imagine he’d feel the jab somehow, anyway. 

The promise of whiskey only served to better his mood even further. He took the bottle Teddy offered to him, though he had no concept of its quality. Emilio drank a lot of whiskey, but that didn’t mean he had taste. If anything, it likely contributed to the opposite. His tastebuds hadn’t worked properly in years now. Most things he ate or drank tasted more or less the same. But he nodded anyway, offered Teddy a grin. “Looks great,” he assured them quietly. 

They seemed… nervous, somehow. It was endearing, really, that after all this time, they still felt this way. It made Emilio feel good, like he was worth the fuss. The smile he offered them was soft and fond, and he hummed. “I’d hate to dirty up your new glasses right before you need them,” he mused. “Might be easier just to drink it from the bottle. You know I’m easy to please.” Amusement sparked behind his eyes as they continued. “Gravy wavy,” he repeated, accent curling around the words. “You this nervous about opening? You know you’re going to do great.”

—

Outside was a world away. Tonight was eons in the future. All that mattered was here and now and all tangled up in Teddy's arms and fluttering inside their heart. Where Emilio's mind liked to wander to the past, to ways it could repeat itself and somehow end up worse, the caster oft had the opposite problem. Seeing every possibility of failure in their future, and how it would make their present a living hell. But in the same respect, that cooled off around him. Settled into something they could pour their focus into. Eased the industrial microwave that always seemed to keep on spinning in Teddy's head and heart. Going from cooking and burning up any positive thoughts to heating up in a… much different way. 

Even now, with all their plans and all their hopes for how tonight would go, Teddy couldn't help but let some more lewd musings wander in. Something about breaking in more than just the glasses. But alas, that wasn't what tonight was about. 

“You know I might hire him actually. His pies aren't half bad, and I think having a French chef is like good luck or something.” Kaden seemed so lonely, like he needed something to fill his time and occupy his mind. Teddy offered a position but hadn't heard back yet. Ah well, no fancy pies for opening night. Such is life. 

“Ahh, well. Maybe it's not just about the bar. Y’know it's a– I have–” Teddy's hand dropped and idled in their pocket. A gentle clink of metal against metal sent a shiver up their spine and a flush to their cheeks. “It's the surprise. The real one. Not the whiskey one. Sorta– just– y'know I want it to be perfect, because you're perfect for me and I love you a lot and I just–” Void above and dark below Teddy couldn't remember ever feeling this nervous about anything before. They'd rehearsed this, hadn't they? Spent a good long while thinking about what they wanted to say and how they wanted to say it. Instead everything just kept getting all garbled up, caught somewhere between the flock of butterflies in their stomach, the frog in their throat, and the cat that held their tongue hostage. 

An attempt to alleviate this sudden stress pushed Teddy closer to the table. Too close even, they bumped their hip against the thing and sent one of the glasses sideways. Ice akimbo and water trickling over the edge onto the freshly cleaned floors. Their hand swung up to grab at the glass, but that only served to bump the table again, and send the small trinket they'd been fussing with from their pocket out into orbit. A bright teal light flashed across their features and a couple small orbs bubbled each of the free flying objects. 

Mortified, Teddy tried to grab for the most important one, but really only succeeded in smacking Emilio across the face. What probably only took a literal second felt like an eternity and once it was over everything was far too quiet. “Fucking hell this is a disaster–” 

—

Emilio hummed as Teddy mused about the possibility of hiring Kaden after all. “Not sure decent pies are worth having to put up with all that French shit,” he replied, sounding amused. It wouldn’t be a bad idea, really, having Kaden around. The part of Emilio that was still catastrophizing thought about the pros of having another trained hunter on the premises, someone else who could step in if shit went sideways. Teddy could hold their own, of course, as could most of the people they spent their time around, but that old hunter superiority that lived within his chest insisted that it was better to have trustworthy hunters than capable civilians. Unfortunately, trustworthy hunters were harder and harder to come by, these days.

His attention was drawn back to Teddy, though it was impossible for it to ever stray far from them. The spellcaster had been at the forefront of his mind in one way or another since their very first meeting. Back then, in the beginning, it had been an irritation. He’d thought of Teddy often, but only to think about how annoying they were. Only to think about how much he’d like to stop thinking about them. As their relationship had shifted, so had the thoughts. They’d gone from endlessly irritated to curious questions about what the spellcaster might have been up to that day to a constant concern gnawing at his gut to whatever it was now that placed Teddy at the center of Emilio’s world. Endless devotion was the best way of putting it, maybe. It was a little embarrassing.

Their anxiety didn’t seem to be built by whatever was happening outside, didn’t seem related to the sigils and the missing people. It was softer, he thought; something nice. He smiled, reaching a hand out to cup their face before letting it drop to squeeze their shoulder. “You’re such a fucking sap,” he said fondly, though it sounded a lot more like I love you so fucking much. Teddy’d pick up on it, because they always did. Even in the early days, when thoughts of them were still seeped in irritation, they’d always known how to deduce exactly what he was thinking. He’d hated it back then; he loved it now. The same could be said for a lot of things.

Whatever its source, the anxiety remained palpable. Teddy was clumsier than he’d ever seen them, knocking shit around as they moved towards the table. Emilio huffed an amused laugh, shaking his head slightly. “Well, it’s a good thing the cups are hard to break,” he quipped, leaning down to start cleaning up. He leaned just as Teddy reached, leading to a hand smacking him gently across the face. With another huff, he reached up to take it in his, lowering it. “My face is a little less unbreakable than your cups, I think. Gotta keep it looking pretty for the customers, hm? They’ll give you better tips with me around, I think.” He gently pushed Teddy’s hand back towards them, then moved to continue the act of cleaning…

Only to hesitate when he saw what they’d been reaching for. Brow furrowed, he picked it up, holding it to the light. “What’s this?”

—

It was a ring. 

It was the ring. 

Promised, cherished, earned. A favor returned. Teddy said they'd propose back, didn't they? Even if the first ring exchange was one of necessity (though not as necessary to the mission as it was to their hearts) it had never left the caster’s hand. Never left their mind. Solidifying that night as the first in their new life together. Opening a new chapter. Just like they were tonight. One where secrets were fading to the past and the road opened up in front of them. 

The ring itself wasn't fancy, not at first glance. Simple in shape but hiding a swirling damascus pattern. Dark lines alternating with light, whirled almost like a fingerprint had been etched in on all sides. You could feel the raised edges if you ran your finger tip along it. The texture soothing along with the coolness of the metal. The metals themselves sourced from two vastly different locations, close to where each of the pair had been born. Brought together by unlikely means. Forged together in fire, forming an endless bond. 

For their part, Teddy was stunned. Still. Silent. A rare fucking feat for the bratty, loud mouthed, raised by a demon, confident as a greek god, grade A asshole. Their hand reached out, but Emilio had already found it. Already held it, started to look at it. Teddy stirred, stuttered and sputtered back to life. “Well– t-this isn't exactly how I pictured this going– b-but–” A shy lilting laugh escaped along with all the held air in their chest. Depressurizing like a kettle, falling into themself a bit before gazing up at Emilio’s face. A goofy little smile on their lips.

“Emilio Cortez, you are one of the most stubborn assholes I've ever met. You constantly find new ways to annoy me, and you never listen when I tell you to take care of yourself.” Teddy sighed, none of this sounding quite as good out loud as it had in their head. “And yet I can't imagine a day without you in my life. I don't want to. I love you, I love everything about you. I love it when you make me mad, I love how fucking selfless you are, I love your humor, I love the way you care for people, I love your too soupy Mac n Cheese and that you'll make it for me at four am. I love your big brown eyes and the way your lips feel against mine. I love your hands and I want to hold them every day until the sun burns out. I don't care what the world is going to throw at us, because I have you. I feel seen, safe, whole when I'm around you. You are my home, my heart. And I wanna do this right.” 

It was a bit easy, to roll up from the awkward position they'd fallen to in their clumsy show to one of kneeling prostrate before him. Like a knight asking for the blessing of their sire. Only with arms outstretched and a hand over his where he held the ring. 

“Will you marry me?” 

—

It took a moment to register what he was holding, the way the light bounced off of it. And Emilio, who often made his money looking for possibilities outside the obvious ones, didn’t quite catch on to why he was holding it at first. There were a million different explanations that could have put a reason behind the ring in his hand. Teddy liked jewelry, often accessorized their outfits with various bits and bobs, and they certainly wanted what they wore tonight to be perfect. But the ring was a little too big to fit their finger, and just the right size for his. That, coupled with their nervous demeanor and the fact that they’d promised a surprise for him tonight, eliminated most possibilities besides one. 

It hit him, then, what it meant. And it shouldn’t have been an unexpected thing — they’d never taken off the ring he’d put on their finger, even if they’d never quite gotten around to talking about what that meant, and they had had discussions in the past about Emilio needing a ring of his own. Still, something about it took the air from his lungs. He held the ring up, Teddy’s face framed in the metal as he inspected it carefully. It was intricate, well-crafted, and definitely custom-made. Knowing Teddy, Emilio wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that they’d crafted it themself. They were a person of endless talent, after all. 

He looked at them through the ring, a quiet chuckle tumbling out from between his lips. “I don’t think it was ever gonna go how you pictured it,” he teased quietly, because wasn’t that how things went with the two of them? Their relationship, from the very beginning, had only ever been predictable in its unpredictability. It was impossible to know what might happen next; they were writing their story as they went along, adding to it on the fly. It made it exciting. And a little terrifying, sometimes, but there was no part of Emilio that would ever hope to change it. He loved it, loved them. 

They were launching into a speech, long and sappy and unnecessary, because they had to know he’d say yes. He’d have said yes to the ring sitting on the counter next to his keys on a random Tuesday morning, to them wordlessly slipping it on his finger in the middle of the night. But neither of those things were Teddy. Teddy was all long speeches and dramatic displays, and Emilio had never thought of himself as someone who wanted things like that, but he loved every syllable that left their lips all the same. He used to think he’d roll his eyes at grand romantic gestures, but fuck, he was tearing up at this one. (He’d blame it on the whiskey he still hadn’t actually had a swig of, if anyone asked.) 

They kneeled in front of him, put their hands on his over the ring, and he let out another laugh. It was a breathless thing, an excited thing. He hadn’t thought it would be, hadn’t thought he’d ever want any of this. If you’d asked him a year ago whether he thought he’d get married again, he’d have found the idea preposterous. He’d been a shitty husband, been a disappointment at every goddamn turn. But now?

“Yeah,” he breathed. “Yes, you dramatic little shit. How long have you been planning this?” How long had they been keeping this ring right under his nose? He was grinning, was pulling them to their feet and kissing them with all he had. When he pulled away, he was breathless all over again, for a multitude of reasons. “I still asked you first. If you want to get technical about it.” Because of course he couldn’t accept without being a little bit of a shit about it; he was still himself, after all. He wasn’t one for big speeches. Teddy had that covered. If they loved by mountains, he loved by valleys. Put the two of them together, and they made one hell of a landform.

—

A breathy laugh lit Teddy's chest up and down like a little flame. Starting on a couplet, then a triplet, then four staccato exhales on the non existent beat. They sniffled before they realized they'd been tearing up. From the beginning Emilio had been this intense source of obsession and interest. The way he moved, the way he acted (as Jane Austen would phrase it, his countenance) made him even more beautiful than the sum of his already lovely features. 

The laughter didn't end while creaking up to their full height. Too overcome by the joy of it all to not fully crash into him. Arms circling around, finding their favorite spot hunched up and tucked beneath his chin. Making the most of the one inch difference in height. “You absolutely did not ask first.” They shot back, all smiles and warm cheeks despite the fire in their words. “You didn't even say the words, so nyeh. I win. You have to take my last name. That's how it works. Mister Jones.” 

Teddy stuck their tongue out, realized how close they were to him and immediately was tempted by the most annoying route they could take. They wormed their arms up and dug their hands into his hair. Sensually at first but then quickly overtaken by mischief. Their hands locked down around his noggin, pulled his head downward to their level. Licking up the man's cheek like a dog laying claim to the perfect bone, Teddy finished with a big wet kiss at the end of the line.

“Demon rituals. Had to do it. For your safety. Also to make it official. You're my fiance now, no take backs.” Not that he would. Not that he ever would. They knew that now. Knew enough to know how he'd roll his eyes, push their face away while trying to hide his goofy smile. He might say something snarky that'd probably be turned into a double entendre, or advice on how better to use their tongue. Teddy never had this with anyone else. No one that they knew inside and out, and who knew them in return. No one who calmed the raging waves with a fire of their own quite like Emilio always managed to. Perfect synchronicity in their symmetry. 

“Let's celebrate.” Teddy whispered, almost like it was a secret, only for his ears. With the familiarity he'd come to expect, Ted reached down and pilfered one of the many many knives Emilio had stashed on his body, and peeled off the wax rimming the top of the old bottle. The cork popped with a satisfying sound and the caster offered the first sip to the slayer. “To forever. To us. To staying together and living no matter what the hell the world throws our way.” 

—

They were laughing as they stood, and he found it a little difficult not to laugh right alongside them. Mere hours before, when he’d been pacing the length of the living room and worrying endlessly about the threat hanging over the town like a premature funeral shroud waiting for its moment of use, something like this had seemed impossible. The idea of laughter, of joy had seemed like such a faraway, unimaginable thing. But if there was one thing Emilio had learned about Teddy Jones over the last two years, it was that they had a talent for achieving the impossible. They could survive things that would destroy anyone else. They could turn a tombstone back into a man. They could make that man laugh, even when the world was ending. 

“I gave you a ring!” He insisted stubbornly. “I gave you a ring, said we were married. We made out. It counts.” Sure, it had been an undercover thing, but the feelings had been real and Emilio was competitive. “I win. I definitely win.” That much, he thought, was undeniably true. Getting to spend the rest of his life with Teddy was the biggest win he could ever hope to carve out for himself. “Mr. Jones,” he repeated with a hum. Cortez was a name seeped in tragedy, a thing that had hung over him all his life. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to leave it behind. “Not sure how well it flows, though. Emilio Jones. Sounds like an English teacher.” 

Their hands found his hair again, and at first, he thought it was going somewhere very different. They had a few hours before the bar opened, they could make the most of them… and probably do some cleaning after. But any hopes of opening night fun were quickly replaced by something else when Teddy’s tongue raked across his face in a very unsexy kind of way. Emilio let out a laugh, pushing them back with a wrinkled nose and a roll of his eyes.

“Oh, you are so full of shit,” he accused, grinning as he wiped his face. “I’ll show you some slayer rituals, how about that?” Complete with a poke to the ribs where he knew Teddy was a little ticklish. He felt elated, like a man standing on top of the world. Teddy had a way of doing that, too. They made him feel like the luckiest man alive; when he was with them, it was the truth. 

They took his knife, and he let them. There was a good deal of intimacy in that small exchange alone, in the way he didn’t tense or flinch at their hands reaching parts of him hidden away to anyone else and coming back with something sharp clasped between their fingers. He watched them use it as a glorified corkscrew, thought about how Teddy had a tendency to take deadly weapons and use them for harmless purposes. They’d done the same with Emilio, after all. Taking the bottle with a smile, he held it up with a nod. “To us,” he agreed. “To whatever comes next. No one else I’d rather find out with.” 

It wouldn’t be forever. Sooner or later, tragedy would strike the way tragedy always did. They’d lose him, or he’d lose them, and the world would end in an instant. Emilio was incapable of not knowing that, incapable of not understanding it. But right now, in this moment, it was the two of them and a bottle of whiskey that he could almost taste. Right now, it was the two of them in a bar that would soon be open and full of their closest friends. The world was ending, because it always was. But right now, it didn’t matter. He had his own world, right inside this bar, and it promised not to die on him.