The next few days were full of sneaking back and forth between their rooms, subtle glances, and above all else, keeping all of it a secret from Ego specifically. It mostly went well, no one seemed to suspect anything. And they tried to keep everything to when they were alone, slipping every once in a while, but nothing serious enough to get caught. Until one day the worst thing imaginable happened.

The day started fairly normal, Paranoia successfully snuck out of Manipulation's room without getting caught and back to their own. They both got dressed and made their way into the kitchen, being very careful to stagger their entrances. Mani was the first to arrive, the only other person in the room when they got there was Ego. They were sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and a magazine. Mani was about halfway through fixing his breakfast when Parry showed up. Parry checked to make sure that Ego wasn't looking before giving Mani a small smile, which he quickly returned. Parry got a cup out of the cupboard and turned on the electric kettle for a cup of tea.

"Hey Mani, can you hand me the box of tea bags."

Mani reached for the box "Sure baby."

All in the same moment Ego did a spit take, Parry dropped their cup, and Mani froze.

"I'm sorry, WHAT?!" Ego was staring at the other two, both of them were still frozen. "What did you say?!" Paranoia opened their mouth to say something, but the only thing that came out was a slight squeak. Ego looked at Parry's shocked face "Are you...?" They turned and looked at the back of Mani, who still had one hand on the box of tea bags. "Did you...?" Back to Parry "You did, didn't you?!"

Simultaneously they both answered. Mani said "That's none of your business, Ego." as he turned around.

But Parry said "Yes." Now both sets of eyes went directly to them, as they stared at the broken cup on the floor without really seeing it. For possibly the first time since the switch, Ego was stunned into silence. "Mani is right" Parry looked up and directly into Ego's eyes "it is none of your business. But 1, I know you're not going to stop bugging us until you finally get an answer. And 2," now their eyes shifted to Mani, who was also in a stunned silence "I'm tired of sneaking around like what we're doing is wrong. We're allowed to make our own decisions." They went to Mani, careful to avoid the shattered mug. "And you" they looked into his eyes "are a decision I definitely don't regret making. They then reached up to hold his face and planted a kiss on his lips, not overly passionate but not exactly gentle either. Initially Mani was too shocked to move, but eventually his hands found their way gently to Parry's waist.

They were in their own little world for a brief moment before they got interrupted. "Well it's about freaking time!"