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Ivo had been staring at him for close to 10 minutes now.
Normally Stone didn’t take much note of it, Ivo starred quite a lot when they were in private, but it was brief, little 30 second moments of adoration when he thought Stone wasn’t looking.
Ivo wasn’t the best at expressing his feelings. The two of them had yet to properly address the thing they had going on between them. Any time Stone tried to bring it up Ivo would abruptly close himself off and excuse himself from the conversation.
So Stone didn’t bring it up. Instead he drew hearts in the lattes he brought Ivo. And sometimes he would slip his hand into Ivo’s when the doctor stood proudly over a new creation, or he would circle his arms around the man and pull him into a hug when Ivo was frustrated with a project.
And slowly, over time those little touches had turned into presses of his lips on the Doctor’s temple, his hands coming up to rub tension out of Ivo’s shoulders. To Stone slipping into Ivo’s lap to kiss the man breathless after a successful mission.
And Ivo let him.
More so than that, as Ivo gradually got used to Stone’s touching, to the little displays of affection, he began to reciprocate. Over the course of a few months he went from barely acknowledging it, to actively seeking out the agent first.
The first time Ivo had pulled Stone into a dance instead of stopping entirely, Stone nearly swooned. It was a mess, the doctor danced to his own rhythm and Stone had only ever learned how to do a waltz, but somehow they made it work.
It had ended when Stone tripped, either over Ivo’s feet or his own, and had gone careening towards the railing only for Ivo to catch him and stop him from braining himself.
It hadn’t been the most graceful or romantic, but it was worth it to see a smile light up the doctor’s features.
By the time they’d ended up in bed together Stone was fairly confident they were dating.
He’d been working up to talking about it, finally addressing and helping with Ivo’s inability to acknowledge his own feelings, when the situation with the blue hedgehog happened.
It wrecked Stone.
At first he’d been in shock, watching the live feed of one of the drones as Ivo disappeared into the ring and didn’t come back. He hadn’t known what to do, standing in the lab and trying desperately to re-establish communications with the prototype only to fail every time.
He then sent out the drones to collect every piece of whatever could possibly be important that they could find.
Most of what they brought back was useless beyond the single gold ring, identical to the ones the blue creature had been throwing.
Stone never got time to use it.
He certainly figured out how, had tracked down and interrogated Tom Wachowski and using some methods he wasn’t quite proud of he finally acquired the information on just how the ring worked.
He’d been intending to use it immediately, to head straight to that planet and get Robotnik back only to get caught up in the sudden legal wiping of the doctor, and the government trying to claim everything Ivo made as their own property.
And then finally, once everything had calmed down and Stone had successfully handled everything, Ivo came striding back onto earth.
Manic and bald and with a squirrel for a mustache, heaving a heavy rock that resembled a face in his arms and positively terrible looking, and yet the first thing Stone did was rush forward to pull the man into a kiss.
For a brief moment he’d worried that he’d messed up as Ivo went beyond tense against him, only for him to relax a moment later and practically melt against Stone.
The recovery was long and tedious, but Stone was there for Ivo the entire time, both handling all the legal issues and standing by as a hand for Ivo to hold when it got tough.
It took a few months, but Ivo was finally back to being the man he was before.
Mostly, anyway.
It had shocked Stone how touchy feely Ivo was upon returning, the doctor was practically always hanging off Stone’s arm in private and had taken up staring at Stone, only to reach out every once in a while and touch him as though to make sure Stone was really there.
Stone had always taken it to mean he should stop what he was doing and reaffirm the doctor whenever he started the starring. Typically by giving him a hug or a kiss.
So he put down the gun he’d been cleaning and crossed the lab over to where Ivo was sitting in his chair and leaned down to press a chaste kiss against the doctor’s lips. Ivo returned the kiss briefly before pulling back, and Stone went back over to the table to finish up.
Except Ivo didn’t stop staring. If anything, the intense feeling of being watched only increased and Stone sneaked a glance at him to find Ivo frowning in his direction.
Okay, so maybe this was one of the bad days when they had to silently retire to the mini bedroom in the back of the mobile lab to relax and cuddle.
“Doctor? Is there anything I can-”
“Marry me.”
Stone blinked, certain he was hearing incorrectly.
“I’m sorry?”
“Marry me Aban.”
He’s serious. Stone can tell. He’s making that serious face he does.
“I don’t legally exist”
It’s the first thing to pop out of Stone’s mouth, and he wants to shoot himself immediately for the words as the light in Ivo’s eyes dies slightly and his face twists up. The doctor continues on however.
“That’s- pah, just- here.” Ivo pushed himself out of the seat and crossed the room, reaching out to take Stone’s hand and place something in it. He then withdrew, not back to his seat but enough to place a bit of distance between himself and Stone.
He looked down.
It was a ring, a gorgeous smooth glass band that was undoubtedly bulletproof, filled with little bits of circuitry and metal and a geometric pattern that had been fashioned together. Stone wouldn’t be surprised to find out it had loads of hidden features.
“It’s functional of course, it will track your vital signs and location and there is a built in taser for emergencies. In a typical relationship, the next step after the dating period would be marriage. I know we’ve never been a typical case of a relationship however I thought-”
“Yes.”
Ivo trailed off, not used to being interrupted.
“Yes?”
“Yes, I’ll marry you. As soon as I get a ring for you.”
Ivo went through a small facial journey that Stone couldn’t even begin to dissect before settling on a broad, genuine smile. He leaned forward and gave Stone a much deeper kiss that was great by no means given that the two of them were smiling like idiots.
“I’m looking forward to it, but don’t make me wait too long Aban.”
----------------------
It takes him two days to figure out the perfect ring for Ivo.
During that time Ivo had been simultaneously showing much more affection, and also giving Stone a ridiculous amount of free time in order to acquire a ring.
In the end he doesn’t have to look far.
The answer is obvious when he stumbles across the pile of scrap metal and blue hedgehog fur the drones had collected when Ivo had first disappeared. The ring is still in his breast pocket, and it’s simple work to find a discreet jewelry maker to craft an additional piece for the ring to click into in order to size it down to Ivo’s ring size.
The end product is white plasteel casing with a gold band in the center that was smooth and not overly clunky. A careful pressure lock on the interior of the ring released it and would let Ivo take the gold ring out so he could use it if necessary.
Stone let himself into the lab, finding the doctor at his desk working on a drone, the ring he’d gotten Stone in its case on the desk next to him.
He watches the doctor work for a moment, caught up in Ivo’s tempo. Just as captivating in his engineering as he was dancing. After a few minutes he cleared his throat, not wanting to startle him.
Ivo doesn’t look up, but he does pause in what he’s doing.
“Agent Stone?”
“Ivo.”
Some of the tension in his shoulders drops when Stone calls him by his first name and he starts to turn, but Stone crosses the room and reaches him before he can, wrapping his arms around Ivo and resting his chin on Ivo’s head.
Something flutters in Stone’s chest when Ivo merely relaxes and leans back against him.
“I have something for you. Close your eyes.”
Ivo made a soft questioning noise, but when Stone adjusts to pull out the ring and glances down, his eyes are shut.
“I’m going to grab your hand.”
Even with the warning Ivo flinched slightly, but his eyes stayed fully shut. Stone carefully took his hand and uncurled it, sliding the ring over Ivo’s finger. It fit perfectly.
“Okay, go ahead and look.”
From his position above Ivo he can’t see his exact reaction, but Stone would wager it’s a good one by the quiet gasp the doctor lets out.
“What is it?”
“It’s one of the rings that blue creature had. I recovered it after you… disappeared. I know it might be a bit in your face but... “ he trailed off, nervous suddenly as he realizes Ivo may not want a reminder of that failed encounter.
“Go on Aban.”
It’s gentle, and Stone squeezes Ivo slightly before he continues.
“I just, I thought that with it you would always have a way back to me. I don’t think I could handle if you were stranded again.”
“It’s perfect.”
Ivo reached across the desk to grab the case that Stone knows his ring is inside. He takes it out and takes a hold of Stone’s hand, slipping the ring on Stone’s finger. Stone slips his left hand into Ivo’s and twines their fingers together, displaying both bands next to each other.
It’s quiet for a few moments, the two of them just existing in the moment.
“Aban.. you know I….” Ivo trailed off, but Stone knew what he meant.
“I know. I love you too.”