More Reincarnation AU For deadlyhairpin

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It had been a few months that he had been living with Byeong-Lee. It had been a difficult transition for him, to go from a life spent in the military to the life of a civilian. He did he best not to cause too much problems for his lover. He'd been a handful in one life. He couldn't bare to be one in this one. So he did his best to find good (safe) work and be there for the doctor like the doctor was for him.

Most times, when he would leave the house they shared, he would leave a note, telling the doctor where he was going and when to expect him back. It was a habit from the army. But the call had been sudden and he hadn't the chance to write anything. He had rushed out the door to his Uber to get to his sudden interview. He hadn't thought it would take as long as it had.

Hours later, he still wasn't home. It was dark by the time he got out of a highly successful interview. He had promised to call back after he discussed things with his partner. From there, he had run into an old Army buddy in town. He hadn't seen the man in forever. The young Navajo man had been his spotter for a while in Afghanistan. So he had ended up catching up with him. John had to wonder if he remembered yet... Now that John did, he was starting to recognize people from then. He wasn't going to disturb Running Bear though.

He had thought to text Byeong-Lee only to realize that in his rush, he had left his cellphone at home, right on the dining room table. Just abandoned there along with the house keys.

But the time the Uber finally pulls back up to the house, he's not just a couple minutes late. It's more like hours and hours. It's dark and almost 10 at night. The lights are on in the house. The lights are on and the door is still unlocked, which is utterly fortunate. Fortunate but strange. He can't remember the last time Byeong-Lee came home and didn't lock the door immediately. And he knows the man is there because his car is in the driveway.

John lets himself in, calling into the foyer. "Hey there. I'm home!" Only, he sees no sign of his lover in the living room. Probably in the library then, since the TV is off. So he's just going to make his way to his second favorite room in the house, looking for his lover.

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He flushes more when he feels Byeong-Lee's touch against his ring finger. His heart flutters and he's certain that his eyes are a little wet. John wouldn't have been too moved by this, but Goody, Goody is a ridiculous romantic, easily moved to tears by the smallest emotional moment. He tries to keep himself together and not just hug Billy. Not just burst into happy tears that the man would be so prone to. He has to tell himself it's not actually a proposal and he has to go through the strange disassociation between the man he was and the man he is because a part of him thinks that it wouldn't be possible. They could only ever be married in the eyes of each other. Never in the eyes of the people or under the eyes of the god he no longer believed in.

But then Billy says that. Says something he had sort of suspected. He remembered back then. Right towards the end, they had been in a town and Goodnight had taken it upon himself to insure that all their clothing, worn and dusty from the trails went to a proper cleaner. He had never seen Billy panic so badly as when he came up to ask where his clothing was after tossing nearly the entire hotel room looking for them. He can still remember the man tearing out of the room and running to the launderer in town and returning only hours later, looking a little less on edge. At the time, he had just assumed it was because the laundryman had been Korean. He had never thought it was because there had been a ring in his other set of pants.

"...A year...mon coeur... I never knew..." Honestly, he had never thought he would be worthy of such a thing. He had been happy with that they had. With their lives and their years, even if having a ring as proof of their bond would have been very welcome. He hadn't needed it because he had Billy Rocks.

He rolls over until he's straddling Billy. So that he can put his hands on either side of the man's head and just look down at him. He's certain he's too close to tears. "I don't care about sunsets or doves or people. You could have done it in the dirt on the trails. You could have done it while I was brushing Horace or Betsy. I don't need any of that. All I need is you. None of that other stuff matters so long as it's you." He leans down to press smiling lips to Billy's. "Understand. No matter what or how, so long as it's you, I'll says yes. There's no one I'd rather spend my life with."

[deadlyhairpin]

The two of them. As long as it's the two of them. Billy nodded, feeling rather dumb doing so, because of course that would be what Goody thought about. What he felt. Still... "I know that. But I still want to do it right. And I want... I want to make sure that I make it a day and a place that we can both look back on and remember. But it's coming, nae salang. I am able to make you my legal husband, now. And I intend to do so." He smiles and pulls his lover down for a kiss, again.

"You can plan the wedding," he concedes. "Just tell me where to go, where to stand, what to say. I don't care as long as, at the end, you're all mine. And everyone we know and everyone we don't know can see the proof of it on your finger."

The ring he has is tucked away in its box, locked up in the library in a fake book that is labelled with the most boring thing he could think of for it. Hiding things in plain sight usually worked fairly well. Besides, using a book had been half his idea for how to propose. Not now, but some day, certainly.

He turns their bodies, pushing Goody back onto his side and curling up against him.

"I love you. I love both of you. The you from before and the you that I have now. I...am going to do this right. Right for both of you. But until then, well." He tilts his head over and shoots Goody a teasing grin. "It's enough to know that you're so easy.

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It really makes his heart ache to hear that Billy...no. That Byeong-Lee would go to so much trouble for him. It ached in a good way. He understands more and more each day how his former self must have felt for this man. So lucky to have someone who cared so much for him. He can't help but smile. Smile and nod and look forward to the day it happened.

He laughs a little at the acquiescence that he gets to plan the wedding. A part of him thinks of huge Southern weddings but in the end, he knows he doesn't really have all that much in the way of family to attend. Byeong-Lee doesn't either. A huge to do would be terribly wasted. So he gives a sigh and murmurs, "I'll have the base chaplain preform it and I'll wear my dress blues one last time before putting them away for good. And you... You'll have to tell me some Korean traditions between now and then. So I can represent us both."

But he's not going to go hog wild and start planning now, no matter what his romantic poetic heart wants. He's going to wait and make sure they do this like they've done everything else. Together. That doesn't mean however, that he doesn't give Byeong-Lee the weakest little scowl at the tease before cuddling against him more. "Guilty as charged. But only for you."

[deadlyhairpin]

"Better be just for me," he said with a small laugh, turning them over with a small chuckle, starting to kiss along his jawline. He was still too exhausted to put that much effort into it, but just kissing John made him feel a bit more like he was on normal footing. That this was just a normal night instead of one where he'd fallen apart on the floor.

"I can't wait to see what you make for us," he said honestly, blanketing John's body with his own, now. His breath came out in small puffs against his neck, relaxing more and more into the inescapable lure of sleep. After all the excitement of the day, it was impossible for him to really resist it for more than a few more minutes, really. But he was making a grand effort.

"I don't care about any of my old traditions, really. I would rather you have me show up in my boots and my old clothes. Have the wedding we could never have, back when." Part of him was joking, of course. He loved John's uniform nearly as much as he liked his old clothes. But there was something almost poetic about them marrying as Billy and Goody.

But then again, them marrying at all would have them bringing those two along.

He let out a long yawn, letting the topic go as he settled back down and let his eyes shut slowly, comforted by the presence of the man he'd loved once, loved now, and always would love.

"I can't wait for you to be my husband. You were, all those years ago. I want to make it official. Want everyone to know that we're a matched set. Nothing can ever take us apart."