Opalina Outpost

Chapter 18: Bliss

Ravi lay with blankets tangled at his feet, watching the circling blades on the fan above his bed. He'd been awake for an hour, but so happy he didn't want to move. Lio was curled against his side, having stolen his pillow for the fourth night in a row.

Best dispensation break of his life.

For two weeks, they'd navigated around each other at the outpost. He'd gotten back into the habit of keeping space from Lio, even if they did still talk and tease and smile at each other for too long. That first dispensation day had been weird. Waving the crew off to the mag lane, and then turning around knowing that the only people left at the outpost were the two of the them.

And then he readjusted to a reality he could barely believe existed. Lio was with him all the time. Making him laugh. Kissing him. Sleeping in his bed. No more slipping away in the middle of the night to avoid being caught. Waking up with Lio next to him was a goddess blessing. It had the added benefit of leading to some truly glorious mornings, extending into glorious days. They'd barely gotten dressed yesterday.

Careful not to jostle the bed, he reached for his holowatch. It was already morning-ten. What he should be doing was getting his slate and tackling some of the shit he'd been neglecting for the entire break. Instead, he rolled onto his side and tucked his chin against Lio's bare shoulder. He curved his arm around the steady rise and fall of Lio's ribs. Happiness had found him.

Lio shifted and turned, snuggling into him, head tucked beneath his chin. Ravi wrapped him up and squeezed him close. "Morning."

He got an unintelligible mumble against his neck. Lio could sleep past noon if Ravi let him. Probably longer. Too bad they didn't give out commendations for sleeping, because Lio would've represented the team pretty well.

"Today," he said, "we are getting up."

"Yes," Lio murmured. "Later."

"At least I'm getting out of bed," he amended. "I need to get outside."

A sigh, and then Lio hoisted himself up on one elbow, blinking at him from beneath heavy-lidded eyes. "You sound very determined." His hand trailed across Ravi's stomach. "I don't know that I shall allow you to escape my lair."

"Okay, hang on, my room can't be your lair. Get your own lair."

"Too late. I've claimed it. You must be my minion." Lio grinned and threw a leg across him, which was very effective distraction, mostly because morning wood was real and his dick was apparently fully on Lio's side about this.

"I'm still getting up—"

"I'd say you're up enough as it is." Lio rolled his hips, and Ravi couldn't control the shudder in his breathing.

"I'm...I will eventually...at some point...get out of this bed." Lio was on top of him, and if he wanted this to stop, he should probably get the bottle of lube out of his reach. But he didn't really want it to stop. So he just lay there kissing Lio and touching him and letting Lio's fingertips tease him. On his way to another glorious morning.

He did actually stumble out of the bed later, body still woozy with satisfaction. A towel wrapped around his waist, he left his holowatch on the dresser. He stooped back to the bed and kissed Lio's cheek. "Gonna go shower."

"Can I watch?" Lio asked sleepily.

Ravi grinned. "No." And he ran from the lair before Lio could convince him otherwise. As much as the idea of Lio in a shower with him was appealing, the gloomy, minimalist facilities at the outpost weren't what he pictured. Even with no chance of someone else walking in, it was still shared space, and the idea of having sex in it made him uncomfortable.