[Some of what Toby says are arguments he's heard before, and they weren't any more convincing at that time than they are now. He's never been truly married before, but he knows it's a recipe for the slow death of a relationship and separate bedrooms. He's seen it countless times before. He doesn't want that with Toby - he wants everything to be the same way it was before he lost the man again.

Who cares if marriage is something everyone thinks couples should do once they've been together long enough, or love each other enough? They've - and especially him - never lived their lives along the lines of what other people think, so why should they confirm themselves in the eyes and minds of people who don't matter, and who are all going to die, anyway? It's nonsensical, and not something they need, even if it's something Toby wants.

But none of those objections can coalesce while he's still on his back foot. All he can manage, as Toby grips at him and the face he's longed for is so close to his own, is,]

I don't want anything to change, [he protests.] I've proven myself to you, over and over, and shown you that I love you. That I've chosen you. That I'd die for you. [And die without him.]

If my word and heart aren't enough to prove that to you beyond question, some piece of paper marking a convention people made up isn't going to change that.

[He feels anger and self-pity starting to rise in his chest, along with the desire to get Toby's hands off him. He hates this. Why in God's name did the man have to be so-- himself and do this to them now?]