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It is, against all odds, not Guy who brings it up.
Hal's spread out over the couch, staring at the football game he stopped paying attention to ages ago, while Guy's in the kitchen, heating up the take out they've got left over. It feels so horribly natural and domestic that the thought just occurs to Hal, and because no one's ever accused him of thinking before he speaks, he just blurts it out.
"You wanna get married?"
His reply is a loud crash and a wall of swears, making him jump, try to get to his feet and stumble over himself so hard he crashes to the floor.
Smooth, Hal thinks, getting to his feet just as Guy appears in the doorway, looking almost manic.
"You -" Guy says, mouth moving silently as he points at Hal. "You - fucking shit -"
"You don't have to say yes", Hal says, peeved.
"Shut up", Guy says, "I'm not - You can't just fucking propose to me -"
"Why, were you gonna do it?"
"You would've said no!"
"You can't know that", Hal says, before thinking it over and wincing.
Guy has started to pace up and down the room, muttering to himself.
"I don't think it's that surprising", Hal says. "We can do it now, I don't see why you're so -"
"You don't think - You nearly broke up with Carol when she wanted to get married!"
"That was different", Hal starts to argue, "And how do you even know that, I never said - Do you talk to Carol about me?!"
Guy pauses in his pacing to stare at him.
"We teamed up to murder you before", he says faintly, "Of course we talk about you."
"That's so rude", Hal says, feeling horror rise inside of him. "Who else? Do you invite Arisia - Do you invite Kyle?"
"It's not a support club for everyone you've ever fucked, Jordan", Guy says, rolling his eyes. "That's only every second month. You really just proposed to me?"
"You have a support club -"
"Stop trying to distract me! You proposed!"
"You stop trying to distract me or I'll take it back!"
"You can't do that! You said it, you gotta deal with it! No take-backsies!"
"You can't 'no take-backsie' a wedding!"
"Watch me, Jordan!"
"Fuck you!"
"This is the worst proposal I've ever gotten!"
"How many proposals have you gotten?!"
"More than you!"
"Oh yeah?" Hal says, crossing his arms. "By who?"
"Fuck off", Guy says, quieter, because Hal's won. "I bet it's the worst proposal you've ever gotten too."
"Well -"
"Kari's was definitely better than this."
"How do you - Did you see that?"
"I saw most of your time together. You really wanna get hitched?"
"I mean", Hal says, faltering a little. "It's not my life's goal, but - We could, on Earth now, and - Aren't we, you know -"
He gestures around helplessly, around the messy apartment they share when they're on Earth, trying to encompass both it and the room above Warriors they share on Oa, the domesticity of it all.
"Marriage ain't gonna change this."
"I know", Hal says, "That's the point."
Guy meets his eyes, and something about it makes Hal want to squirm, but - Being with Guy has never felt like a chore, not like with Carol, when she wanted proof she was the most important thing in his life. She wasn't, and that's probably why they never worked out. Guy isn't the most important thing in his life either, but it's never been a problem for them - the most important thing in both their lives is the Corps, and being together on the side just feels - easy.
They had a rough start, but after Hal got his head out of his ass, being friends was easy, and getting together just felt like the most natural next step, even if Hal's not in love with Guy the way he loved Carol. Getting married doesn't seem so... scary, when it's with Guy.
"Yeah, alright", Guy says, softly. "Let's get hitched."
"Why can't we just go to a courthouse and sign the papers", Hal groans, resting his head on the bar top. "Elope and shit."
"I'm not passing up any chance to throw a party", Guy says, sticking his head in the fridge under the bar for some reason. "And if we don't tell anyone, people will cry. Oh, we should do two parties, one Space Party and one Earth Party."
"Who's gonna cry over not getting invited to our wedding?"
"Tora, Kyle, and both of us after Carol gets her hands on us."
"Fair point", Hal says, "But if you try to get me into a church I will fuck Ollie on the altar."
"You can fuck Arrow anywhere you like", Guy says, pulling his head and a tupperware filled with something purple and wriggling out of the fridge. "Why would I make you go to church?"
"I don't know", Hal says, frowning as he watches Guy poke at the - thing. "I didn't think about a ceremony, aren't you christian?"
"Not enough to stand still for half an hour. You wanna do whatever the jewish thing is?"
"I want to elope", Hal says, stomach turning at the thought of making a spectacle of them in front of a group of people - or maybe it's the smell of Guy opening the box.
"We could just do the legal thingy alone and party after", Guy allows, before sticking a finger into the wobbling mass and licking it.
"Yeah, let's do that", Hal says, watching Guy start to cough his soul out judgingly.
"You gonna invite your mom?"
"She'd ask how much money being a Lantern makes you", Guy says, frowning down at the people they're helping evacuate from a magically caused tornado.
Right now, it means shielding a large area from its effects while others get the people and their belongings out.
"You gonna invite your folks?"
"Yeah", Hal says, thinking of Helen and Jim and his family. "Ollie, Dinah and whoever they want to bring too, Carol and Tom, obviously, Barry... The Space Party's going to be bigger, I feel like."
"Oh, totally", Guy says, "I'm gonna invite everyone."
"The Guardians?"
"If they can behave", Guy snorts, "But I've got some people to invite on Earth too."
"Tora?"
"Yeah, just a shame she'll bring Fire too. I'll invite Steel and his folks, and my old Warriors crew - we gotta ask 'Wog and Arisia if they wanna come to the Earth party. Gonna ask the old Young Justice crew too, love those kids."
"Not your old League pals?"
"You gonna invite yours?" Guy snaps, then sighs. "I'll invite J'onn, but the rest... I don't know if I'll enjoy having them there, but I don't wanna regret not having them."
"Yeah, that's fair", Hal says, "We're inviting Diana and Supes though, right?"
"Yeah, if you ask him the Boy Scout might even turn up", Guy says, grinning. "Bats can come, but only if he brings expensive gifts."
"At least three thousand cash", Hal says, "Which is - watch out, we've got incoming!"
The water around Hal's feet is crystal clear and cold, sharp and beautiful.
He is seven years old and collecting rocks in the creek, excited to show them to Mom. There's two he likes more than the rest - they laid in the river bed together, round and soft and fitting together perfectly, one a speckled grey, the other marbled with white lines.
"Mom!" Hal calls out, water splashing around him as he runs towards her, rocks clutched in his hands. "Look what I found!"
"They're beautiful, sweetie", Mom says, leaning down to press a kiss on his head gently.
"Mom", Hal protests, laughing.
"Jim has mine and your dad's old rings", she says, "But I would've been so happy to see you use them."
"They wouldn't have fit us anyways", Hal says, watching his mom cup his hands in hers. "Guy has really thick fingers."
"Of course they'd have fit", Mom says, "You just have to make them."
She closes her hands around his, brings them up to kiss them gently.
"We just want you to be happy, sweetie", she says, smiling.
"I wish you could be there", Hal says, "You both. Even if you'd make us have a ceremony."
"We'll be there", she promises, "Whenever you think of us, we'll be there."
Hal wakes up with a warm feeling in his chest, Guy snoring next to him and the sun not up yet.
He hasn't... thought about that afternoon with his mom for decades, but he's pretty sure he still has the rocks.
Through all the times he's lost his apartments or possessions, these rocks have made it, tucked away safely in a box with other memorabilia he hasn't looked at in ages.
They're warm in his hands when he takes them, like they've never lost the warmth of his small kid hands carrying them.
Not really traditional to include them in the rings, but - well, most of what they're doing isn't traditional and he's pretty sure it just got officially sanctioned.
"What if", Guy says, turning the speckled stone over and over in his hands. He had immediately declared that that one was gonna be Hal's and that he's gonna get the ring done, and that Hal wasn't allowed to look, and he had grinned so brightly when he'd said it.
Now, he's frowning down at the rock in his hands, deep in thought.
"What if", he says again, "We could - I want to throw a party, but - I just... I know we said it wasn't gonna change anything but I want my wedding to be good, you know? Don't say that makes me sound like a girl, I just -"
"Not until we're through the honeymoon phase", Hal says, "Do you... not want the party after all?"
"I just don't want people to be shitty!" Guy says explosively, hand closing around the rock so hard his knuckles go white. "I don't want - I just want to have this one thing, without anyone being a dick about it! And they might be! So many of them might be, and I -"
He sounds almost choked up, and Hal reaches out to take his hand gently.
"You know", he says after a moment, "We don't have to tell everyone. You could just throw a party, and the ones we tell would know, and the rest -"
"The rest would just think it's a tuesday?" Guy replies, grinning. "That's evil, Jordan."
"Worst thing I've ever done", Hal agrees. "Would make inviting people less awkward, too."
"Let's just - Let's just tell the other Lanterns, and your family, and Tora, and no one else -"
("Barry", Hal says, speeding alongside Barry as he runs. "I'm getting married."
"Huh?" Barry says, stumbling and crashing through a hedge.
"To who???" Ollie yells, when Hal tells him, making him blink.
"Uh, Guy", he replies awkwardly, making Ollie sag in relief.
"Oh, thank god it's not the new kid - Gardner, seriously?"
"What do you mean 'thank god it's not the new kid' - Ollie -"
"Congrats", Carol says, "Is it going to be an all cape event or can I bring my husband?"
"Well, Guy doesn't have a secret identity, and he knows mine, so -"
"It's not John?" Carol says, frowning. "I thought for sure -"
"Oh, I'm so happy for you!" Tom says, smiling brightly. "It's about time, really, you've been obsessed with him for so long -"
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean", Hal says, deeply offended.
"Oh, you know", Tom says, waving a hand dismissively.
"I'm glad you've found someone to settle down with", Jim says, making Hal frown.
"Not sure how much settling down we'll do, honestly", he replies. "But it's nice, having someone to come home to."
"As long as he makes you happy", Jim says, and Hal smiles at him.
"He does.")
They sign the papers with very little fanfare, one sunny afternoon in the courthouse. There's no one there but them and the registrar, and it feels weird but it is what they wanted.
Hal signs his name with Guy leaning over his shoulder, trying not to be too distracted when Guy makes stupid comments, like - "Don't forget your second name, Marold -"
"My name is not Harold Marold, you cretin", Hal says, handing Guy the pen.
"Duck", Guy says, trying to lean over him to get to the paper.
"Just move", Hal says, rolling his eyes fondly and hunching over the table so Guy can reach.
"Where's the fun in that?"
"You're such a child."
"Yeah, and you love me."
"Yeah", Hal says, looking at Guy's chicken scratch signature next to his own, binding them together.
"Wanna get your ring now?" Guy says, sounding excited.
"You might want to wait until your party's here", the registrar says.
"We don't have a party coming", Guy says, finally getting off Hal's back.
"That's not what I heard", the registrar says, raising an eyebrow, walking towards the door and pulling it open.
"Oh, shit", Kyle says, stumbling into the room and almost falling over. "Hi!"
"What -"
"Did ya try to eavesdrop on us?!" Guy interrupts, "Kyle -"
"We wanted to catch our cue", John says, unapologetically.
"What are you even doing here?" Hal says, staring at the group outside the door. John, Kyle, Tora, Bea and... a rabbi?
"We brought a gift", Tora says, smiling. "Not a big thing, but - we thought you'd appreciate it."
She turns the frame she's holding over, and Hal blinks at the beautiful ketubah in it.
It's done in beautiful calligraphy, shaped like the Green Lantern symbol - Aramaic on top and Hebrew on the bottom, with a circle left free in the middle.
"Oh", he says, quietly, throat suddenly feeling tight.
"You don't have to read it out or sign it at all", the Rabbi says. "Your friends explained that you weren't big on ceremony, but even if you don't want to sign it, it can still be a reminder of this day and your marriage."
"No, we'll sign it", Guy says, "Right, Hal?"
"Yeah", Hal says, throat dry. "No, yeah, we'll sign it."
Signing the Ketubah feels different to the civil contract, and for all his talk about not wanting a ceremony, having their friends here makes Hal bite back tears. Tora and John sign as their witnesses, and Guy holds his hand tightly, looking a little dazed but still grinning brightly enough to light up the whole room.
"You want your ring now?" Guy says, leaning closer and bumbind their shoulders together.
"Yeah", Hal says, reaching into his pocket to pull the ring out.
"Did you just have it lose in your pocket?" Kyle says, sounding aghast.
"Why not", Guy says, grinning as he waves his fist at Kyle. "We're gonna wear 'em now, what do we need boxes for?"
"You're insane", Kyle says.
"They deserve each other", Bea says, "Can you imagine him acting like that at your wedding?"
"He wouldn't act like that if I was marrying him", Tora says, "I'm not you."
"Hey -"
"I don't want to marry her anyways!"
"You should still get cases", John says, "Just so you have somewhere safe to put them if you ever have to take them off."
"I'll eat it before I do that!"
"You're insane!"
Hal presses a hand to his mouth, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.
"Why would", he gasps out, "Why would you want to eat it - Guy -"
"Oh, don't you start", Guy says, which just fuels the fight again, and Hal can't help himself, breaking into loud, roaring laughter.
It feels good. Cleansing. A good sign, even, if Hal put stock in things like that.
The ring Hal had made for Guy is simple - silver above and below a ring of stone, the lines in it wrapping around Guy's finger. It's simple, nothing people would notice at first glance, nothing too fancy. He knew Guy would prefer that over something immediately recognizable as a wedding ring, or something glittery and delicate.
The ring Guy gives him is gold, sophisticated and beautiful, thinner and decorated with ovals shaped out of the grey stone, a big one in the center and two smaller ones on either side. Because Guy knows Hal 'secretly loves that pretty girl shit'. He kicked him for that comment, but it is true. He loves the ring, and it is very pretty.
"What's it say?" Guy asks that evening, nodding towards the ketubah they've put on the wall.
"It", Hal says, "Can't you use your ring to translate?"
"More fun to hear you read it out", Guy says, grinning in a way that makes Hal's face feel hot.
"It's about what we promised each other when we got married", Hal says, walking over to stand next to Guy in front of the wall, leaning into him and clearing his throat as he begins to read.
"Oh this day, Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan have joined each other before closest friends to enter into the mutual covenant of marriage, and with love and compassion, each vowed the other: 'I betroth you to me forever. I betroth you to me in everlasting faithfulness. I will be your loving friend as you are mine. Set me as a seal upon your heart, like the seal upon your hand, for love is -for love is stronger than d-death. And I will cherish you, honor you, uphold and sustain you in all truth a-and sincerity. I will respect you and the divine image within you. I take you to be mine in love and t-tenderness. May - May my love for you last forever. May we be consecrated, one to the other, by these rings. Let our hearts be united in faith and h-hope. M-May - ' Guy, I - I'm -"
"It's alright, honey", Guy says gently, kissing the tears running down Hal's face. "Want me to finish reading it?"
"Y- You said -"
"I used to ring to read it while we signed it", Guy says, grinning. "Just thought - It means something, to read it out, yeah?"
"Yeah", Hal says, sobbing like a baby, and Guy kisses him again before clearing his throat. His voice is deep, rumbly and the most beautiful thing Hal has ever heard.
"'May our hearts beat as one in times of gladness as in times of sadness. Let our home be built on understanding and loving-kindness. May our home be rich with wisdom and reverence. All of this we take upon ourselves as valid and binding.' It's beautiful."
"Yeah", Hal agrees, still sobbing. He reaches up to grab Guy's hand - the one with the wedding ring on it, and when Guy grabs him back, it feels like warmth spreading through his whole body.
It feels like coming home, like resting after along day, like a vacation and a spa day, solid ground on his feet after hours of flying, all wrapped up in a warm hug.
It feels like a steady kind of love, of contentedness and trust.
It's the warmest thing Hal has ever felt.