Excuse me. You've just won the Internet. What color would you like it painted?

No, seriously, I've been contemplating this pairing for days now, figuring that if they didn't fall in love exactly like this they would destroy each other (or at least get into really funny hair-pulling fights). So I figure my finding this story must be fate. The emotional depth of this story, for all its sweetness, is amazing, and I love the analogy between the Ascension machine and the metacrisis. Integrating the two 'verses is no small feat, either. Thank you so much for posting this!