"I can't really claim it's my standards, but I think I have an eye for quality," he teases back, because sometimes it's completely terrifying, even now, to realize how very precious this life is, how fucking rare to travel across worlds to find the perfect person.

And then Marcus has a ring box, and just like when they'd been on this beach a year ago, surprise doesn't hold a candle to the feeling of finally grasping something so dearly wanted. It's realization, expansion, the last block of the slide puzzle clacking into place.

"Okay," he says, meaning please, meaning go on, meaning always.