"Marriage?"

The word, internally uttered by every stitchpunk in the room, was met with a pair of synchronised nods. The twins' optics flickered in excitement as they held up a fairy-tale book which was not only missing its cover, but several pages as well. Unfortunately, the missing pages did not include the marriage ceremony between the beautiful princess and the handsome prince, which left the others to answer to the twins questions.

"Good lord, you aren't thinking of getting married are you!?" One looked positively horrified, but looked visibly relieved with the twins shook their heads. Even he had a protective streak when it came to those two.

"I think it's something new for them." Two smiled kindly, leaning down to scan the words on the pages. "A fairly standard fairy-tale." He mumbled, and Five sighed, deeply. "You had me scared for a moment there." He whined, but a smile cracked on his face. "And I think you broke Seven." He glanced over at the female warrior who looked as if she'd just woken up from a nightmare. The twins giggled silently, internally vowing to use that to their advantage in the future.

"I...feel like I'm missing something here." Nine mumbled, slowly, as he glanced at the book. Luckily, it was clear that Two was willing to fill in the blanks, as always.

"Marriage is simply a legal, and possibly religious bond between a man and a woman. It generally involves a ceremony, a person with the authority to oversee the marriage, the exchanging of vows and rings and whatnot..." Two trailed, hoping Nine was getting the idea.

"A bond..." Nine sounded thoughtful, as if he'd heard it before, but his face became a little brighter. "A-Ah, it's nothing like...soul-bonding..." One made a rather odd choking noise around here, "...but it does mean that the man and the woman must remain faithful to each other and only each other." He looked as if he were about to continue when One cut in.

"But there are always people who become unfaithful to their marital partners and gallivant off with other people." One said with a wave of his hand, disgust laced into his voice. Two rolled his optics, but did look rather apologetic. "I'm afraid that does tend to happen." He admitted.

"Well, that's what happens when you rush into something as important as marriage." One harrumphed, leaving Two and Nine in silence. "Marriage is considered one of the most important things between a man and woman, or at least, to humans, but many of them regretted getting married, most likely because they rushed into it without thinking. It loses importance if people are getting married for the sake of it."

Nine raised an eyebrow at Two, hoping to get a similar response, but Two seemed to be staring off into the distance, wrapped up in his own thoughts, allowing One to continue his rambling.

"Does it have to be between a man and a woman? I mean..." He glanced over towards Five, who was reading a passage from the fairy-tale book with interest. One looked momentarily displeased, as it was so obviously clear what Nine was implying, but he continued.

"Marriage between two men and two women was fiercely looked down upon in human society. Of course, I assume many people went about their relationships in secret, but it was most likely considered illegal for two people of the same sex to marry."

Nine frowned. "That's not fair! If two people loved each other, they should be able to be together. Why did some humans hate that?" One shrugged, not bothered in the slightest by Nine's tiny outburst. "Religious reasons, I assume. It was considered a sin in religious texts to bed another man or woman. Humans may be interesting to you, but they weren't as nice as Two may have led you to believe." He seemed to relish his words greatly, but Nine ignored him.

"Do you think it's a sin?"

"I'm not religious."

"That's not what I asked."

One exhaled deeply. "Contrary to whatever opinion you have of me, I don't see the wrong in it. Besides, if I did, then clearly that would make Seven the only eligible partner and the thought of that is just...sickening." He looked somewhat disturbed by this thought, and Nine found that the tiniest bit amusing, pushing away the fact that One had virtually insulted Seven.

"I'd quite like to get married..."

The two stitchpunks were stunned into silence by the inventor's quiet words. He looked somewhat saddened, but he allowed his lips to turn into a small smile as he looked up at his two friends, both still taken aback by his words.

"You...what?" One let the words fall from his mouth faster than his brain had time to comprehend the situation and Nine clearly had nothing to say.

"I'd like to get married someday. I mean, not for religious reasons. I think it would be nice to have a lifelong partner." He smiled wider, specifically at One, and it took about three seconds for the oldest stitchpunk to pick up what his younger friend meant by that.

"You aren't planning to propose to me, are you?" He said, incredulously, but in a fashion that suggested Two was joking and Two chuckled quietly. "Well, no, I was hoping you would, but never mind." He shrugged, diverting his gaze to the rest of their group, all doing their own thing.

Nine looked between the two. Despite his expression of worry, he was smirking ever so slightly.

"I assume this is just a joke to scare me, so I'll ignore the last three minutes of this conversation." One muttered, his expression hard. Two shifted his gaze down to his feet, looking a little downcast, causing One's hard expression to revert to something more surprised.

"You were serious?" He hissed, optics widening frantically. Two actually looked guilty, and although Nine felt like he should leave and let them converse alone, the situation was far too intriguing to ignore. He'd wait until One would inevitably shoo him off.

"We've been on and off for years now, you know. Ever since we were created." Two's voice was barely above a whisper. Nine couldn't deny he'd suspected the two may have been mates, but he didn't imagine it would be an on and off relationship. Then again...

"I know that!" One hissed back in response, crossing his arms. "It's just..." He was clearly frustrated by all of this, and especially by the fact he couldn't quite get his words out. Luckily, Two was their to articulate.

"It's just we've never been properly serious about this. We fall out time and time again and let time heal what was left, but if we pursue an actual relationship then we'll have no choice but to work things out ourselves. That scares you, doesn't it?" Two cocked his head slightly.

One sputtered. "It does not scare me! I merely think that it's a little too...soon for something like this to be cemented." He said, indignantly, but was met with a harsh retort. "Too soon? It's been years! You're afraid that if we get too close and cement our relationship, I will leave you for some reason or another. You're afraid that I'll abandon you." Two poked at One's chest with a frown, but he had trailed off sadly, as if he had just realised his own words.

One remained stony silent for a few moments, bowing his head slightly as if he didn't want the smaller stitchpunk to see his face, but it was far too late for that.

"I suppose...you may be right." He finally agreed.

"I'm sorry..." Two apologised, quietly, "...I didn't mean to say all that, but...it's true, you know. You've always distanced yourself from me just a bit. You know I won't leave you." He reached up to cup the older stitchpunk's cheek with his slightly gnarled hand.

"Well I don't know that for sure..." One grumbled, eliciting a small chuckle from Two.

"Well you won't know until you find out! And since you clearly won't be making the first move anytime soon..." He trailed.

He didn't bend down. He didn't drop to one knee. He didn't produce a ring of any kind. He merely took One's hands in his own.

"Will you...marry me?"

One knew this was coming, yet the words still took him by surprise. He exhaled, shakily, his grip on the other's hands tightened, but he forced a smile.

"I suppose I can do that."

His forced smile split into a slighter bigger, and more sincere smile, and Two beamed, pulling himself closer to the leader, but it was only then they realised the youngest stitchpunk had witnessed the entire thing.

Nine was stood, rooted to the group, with his hands over his mouth as if he'd been trying to hold in his breath. A smile was peeking out from behind his clenched fists and he bounced on the spot slightly.

"D-Did you not think to let us converse alone when we began discussing our relationship? Are you an idiot?" One snapped, albeit shakily. Two chuckled sheepishly, resting his head against the leader's chest. "Oh, One, he was bound to find out sooner or later." He chided, softly.

"Are you going to tell the others?" Nine squeaked, visibly excited by the prior events. One rolled his slanted optics. "I suppose we're going to have to. Otherwise, you will." He snarked, and Nine nodded, curtly. "Exactly. Would you like me to call the others?"

"...fine." One clucked his metaphorical tongue, leaving Nine to dash off and find the others. As the two older stitchpunks watched him leave, Two wrapped his arms around the leader.

"I'm not pushing you into this, am I?" He said, in a tiny voice, looking up at the leader with wide eyes which One found completely and utterly adorable, though he'd never admit it aloud.

"No..." He sighed, "...I know I don't seem thoroughly invested in the idea, but I'm beginning to think this may be a good idea." The corners of his mouth twitched upwards and all of Two's fears had disappeared in a sudden moment.

"You do?!" His sudden hopeful tone of voice took One by surprise. He really wanted this, didn't he? Despite having upheld a somewhat tyrannical reign for the first few years of his life, he couldn't say no to the inventor. He bent down to press a kiss on the younger's lips, which was returned eagerly, as their arms wrapped around each other.

"As nice as this is, I'm gonna be disappointed if this is what you brought us here for."

They shot apart, out of pure reflex, as Seven's voice rang out through the room. The rest of the group, brought over at precisely the perfect moment, were standing a cluster by the door, watching the two with wide, interested eyes.

One groaned, bringing his hand to his head, and Two patted his back in an almost apologetic fashion. "Well that was a bit untimely." He mumbled.

"No, that wasn't really what I brought you here for." Nine deadpanned. "These guys have something they want to tell us." Cue many pairs of optics to dart to the couple in curiosity. One had never felt so much pressure talking in front of a group before, he instinctively tightened his grip on Two, pulling him into a side hug in a rather uncharacteristic fashion. (Two was absolutely delighted, so he didn't complain about the sudden manhandling. Not that he ever would anyway...)

"We're...getting married." He voice went oddly high towards the end, and Two snorted quietly, chuckling into his hand. One glanced at him with his slanted optics, which seemed even more so now.

Much to One's surprise, he was met with an all-around delighted response. The twins clapped furiously, now very pleased that they would be able to witness a marriage with their own optics. The rest gave murmured congratulations and smiles.

"You're getting married?" Five trotted up to Two, a big smile on his one-eyed face. As much as Two didn't mind receiving attention from his peers, this meant the spotlight would be on him and One for quite some time. He flushed slightly, snuggling a little closer into One's side, as if to emphasise his point.

"That's great! I'm really happy for you!" He said, clasping his hands together, beaming as he did so. "I must admit, it took a while. I was beginning to think you'd never get hitched."

This drew One's attention away from whoever he was talking to at the point.

"You already thought we were getting married?" He questioned, almost accusingly. Five looked unsure for a moment. "I knew it would inevitably happen, I mean, I think you two were made for each other, and I mean that in the most literal sense there is."

Two snickered, watching his mate and husband-to-be...well, husband sounded strange. Fiancee? Betrothed? Or maybe mates was fine. He looked up at the leader, contemplated just what to call 'them'.

"We're mates now, aren't we?"

One raised an eyebrow. "I...suppose? I suppose we're a bit more than mates now. Besides that, we've always been mates...even if we haven't acted like it." He turned away slightly, a blush settling on his face.

This was enough to make Two smile, as he snaked an arm back around One's waist and snuggled into his side.

"Mates it is, then."

This was a pretty sweet request to write I'm sorry if you wanted me to write the actual ceremony! I ain't so great with that stuff ;-; but if you really want me to write a ceremony too, just gimme the word and I'll whip up another chapter! Aaaaand if anybody else would care to request, you are certainly welcome to do so! No matter how strange XD