it did not fit well and felt loose over his hand but the hue of the stone and patina of the metal made up for it tenfold, he smiled softly and tried not to cry, "felix...?"

He merely nodded and pressed his lips to Zosa's not asking for any more words. Gliding the bodies back among the bed, his kisses turned into something more and after all their ecstasy was expelled he lay once more in Zosa's arms, this time the gleam of the ring could be seen against the noon day sun. The professor closed his eyes. No regrets.

it was evening once more when they finally left the house courtesy of olessya's grandson, it was to get felix a ring to match the one on his own hand as well as to get a sizer so his would not fall off

It secretly amused him to watch Zosa twist the ring about his finger. "I am surprised that you of all people were ill prepared for today." He mused. "Most people have the ring before they propose." He leaned across the back seat covering Zosa's hand with his own. "As I said before since we are so unorthodox, I am just fine with the watch. " He said knowing how much it meant to the boy and time its self.

shaking his head he twisted for a kiss, "no, i need to get you a ring only i wanted you to be ready for it. i would wait forever for you even if i seem impaitent.....but i want you to choose the ring. i want you to choose how we will do this, i am not like the commander, i want you to be happy and regret nothing"

The professors mouth moved in small o. He blinked pursing his lips together. "Then if I wish it, you will get matching tattoos?... we can get a kit so that it will not hurt." He said bringing the boys hand to his lips. "And what if there is no ring that I like?"

"......" biting his lip he looked at the other, "....if it made you happy i would..." this time the kiss was to take the bad taste from his mouth at the thought before moving one to the other question, "one will be made, no expense spared"

The kissing hand turned into a stroke and his lips frowned at Zosa's discomfort. "Do not worry Zosa, it is not painful and I will find a ring that pleases me."

for the second time that day he cried though these were not tears of joy and unable to speak he could only mutely nod his acceptance of getting scars over his body

He reached out and stroked the tears. "Zosa I am sorry." He said searching the face. "We do not have to." He said bringing the hand to his lips not sure what else he could do.

roughly his nod turned into a shake and he pulled the man's hands into his own. staring down at their digits he twined them so that the gold and sienna meshed through the water of his tears. "....no, it would make you happy...i would learn to live with it...you are more important than vanity"

He reached out once more. "Zosa they will not last forever. The paste will dry and stain your skin but nothing more, if you do not re apply it in a week or two it will fade." He merely wanted to match in their wedding photo but he quickly realized he would rather wear his gloves then to make his lover cry. "It is not worth your tears, I am sorry."

"...but yours do not fade." bringing the hand to his mouth he kissed it, "i will tattoo every inch of myself for you"

To that he chuckled. "But I only wish for you to have yours on our wedding day. I... wanted our wedding photos to match." He buried his head into the mans neck. "I am not so foolish to ask for real tattoos, they hurt and your uncle would kill me before we bought our house."

he did not understand but he was relieved all the same, the relief however brought with it shame and he offered a snuffle before melting into a hug, "temporary? ...i did not know, i am so sorry. i am a fool felix"

"Yes temporary, even the ones in India are temporary, just the wives reapply them so often they look permanent." He shook his head against the other and offered him another kiss. "No, just a man with high dreams who fell in love with a listless drifter."

the tears had gone by now and he offered a soft sniffle, "a man who fell in love with an astronaut, the first man to inhabit mars"

The professor found himself leaning once more accross the back seat, this time his other hand. He didn't care about the strange looks from the man in the front seat trying to tell them they were nearing their destination. He pulled Zosa into his arms pressing his lips to his favorite spot. He started to sing a different song from his childhood that his mother loved. "Give me a kiss baby love child." He said teasingly.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFV1J...eature=related )

they remained like that, felix crooning and him wrapped up in the cuddle, until the car stopped and even then he did not want to let go. reluctantly they left the car and took felix with him

In the middle of all the space tourist junk, The professor was surprised to find that they had a jewelry shop, and it sold more then novelty rings of the moon and Saturn. He walked inside the door hearing a jingle as they moved among the display cases. A man with a strange monocular looked up at them after surveying something in his hand. He greeted them with a warm smile.

even without an appointment they were able to talk to a jeweler about a custom ring and were lead to the side were felix was measured with a sizer and was allowed to pick what sort of metal and gems, if any, the man wanted

The jeweler seemed protective of his instruments and though the professor understood, he wanted to touch and weigh the large ring of rings. The man gave him enough looks that he decided against it and held his hand aloft as they found his ring size and the man proudly announced it as ten.

he knew felix's fingers were slender though he did not understand how much until the jeweler let them know the other was the smallest size before women's. he smiled, "i guess i never realized how thin your fingers were for how long they are, we are the same size"

He looked at his fingers and then looked at Zosa's covering the boys hand with his own. "We have let our weight fluctuate a lot since we met. I am missing a lot of myself." With his other hand he rubbed his stomach. "Though I am sure your auntie will remedy that." He said pressing his face into the nook of Zosa's neck. "I would like it if you found my ring, after all it is how usual people propose I believe."

reaching up with his nearest hand he stroked felix's hair, "forget auntie, i will fatten you up on my own. you will be a fat lamb when i am done with you." as he stroked the ring he was given glinted in the artificial light and he smiled, "felix, i know what sort of ring i would like to get for you"

(it will basically be a masculine ver of the same ring but with a fish on the inside, the fish is a secret though and will be asked for in stilted russian)

The man promised that the order would be ready by the time they left Russia. For the first time in a while the professor wore a set of amused brows as they walked about the rest of the city. His thumb continuously rubbed the ghost of the sizer in anticipation. "Zosa is it possible to eat Russian food? Not space food? I do not think I can stomach another gimmick for dinner."

lightly laughing he shook his head in affirmation, "you eat 'russian' every morning but yes, we can find you a place that serves real food. you have to promise though, not to be disappointed it will not be someplace with a bright sign and flashy colors"

"But who doesn't love personified planets?" He said. They were once again outside in the main street that had been transformed by the falling sun. He could see rows of inviting neon lights "I know we have been eating Russian food but I think your nana could use a break." He said cupping his arm into Zosa's and laying one hand over his.

when the cool fingers meshed with his he gave a smile and a light squeeze, "it sounds like you need a break from her, ok, let's find you an authentic dinner"

He grinned letting Zosa lead the way through the neon lit streets. They found themselves on the outskirts of the tourist district at a small quaint little restaurant that seemed very homey. "Zosa..." He said after the waiter came taking their drink orders. "How are we going to tell your family? Wont they want to get involved?"

carefully he gave a small shrug, "i know zayats will be angry and auntie will be heartbroken... i don't know about uncle but i am going to do my best not to think about them, "you want it to be private and i would do anything to make you happy, i will tell them after and deal with the repercussions then"

He raised his hand again looking at the spot where the metal ring should be. "... I just do not want a lot of pomp and circumstance. Your family has traditional values that would make this complicated, even with your uncles money. " He pulled his hand down and curled it into the other. "I just do not feel well under the eyes of a wooden man hanging from a cross."

"then there will be no cross, no uncle, nothing but us a priest and two rings ok?" pulling the hands up he kissed a dove, "as small as you want it and any way you please"

He smiled. "Zosa even eloping we would need a witness. I would vote Auntie if she could do it with out telling uncle however I would not ask her to betray her love like that."

kissing again he leaned against the other as their drinks were brought to them, "actually you need two witnesses to make a wedding contract legal"

His mouth went into a tight line at the thought of having both auntie and uncle at the wedding. "Even if we elope in the legendary land of Vegas?"

nodding he grinned, "all marriage is the same, i figured you had someone in mind anyway for that though"

"Ah but in Vegas we would have the ancient gods Elvis and Michael Jackson to watch over us and bless us as we had our nuptials." He twisted resting his head on Zosa's hands. "Besides it is your wedding as well. I want at least one of the witnesses to be chosen by you."

"no thanks, i don't like classical music.... you know who i would pick but like i said, this is for you. the part that is for me is sliding that ring on on your finger and hearing 'i do'"

He smiled and brought the hand to his face. If that were true then the rings would be enough but he knew Zosa well enough to to know the boy was making an effort to make him happy. He also knew how badly he wanted this and felt horrible robbing and cheapening him of something he wanted. For a long time he said nothing and let them fall into silence as their food arrived.