Alexander's recovery continued steadily and he was back on duty in a further two days, the same day in fact that Fraser was brought on board by Major Pattisson for transport to Capella. He was lying down in his quarters, a little tired after his first full day when Major Pattisson flashed his ID at his door.
"Yes sir?" he opened the door and was surprised to see the Major standing there in a plain gray singlesuit which patrol officers used when they did not want to advertise their rank. It was the nearest a man could get to casual while on assignment. His black hair was slightly damp, as if he'd just showered.
"Can I come in?" He looked tense. Alexander hoped it was not bad news about Fraser or the case against him.
"Of course, sir, nothing wrong I hope?"
"No, no it's nothing to do with work." Pattisson stood awkwardly in the middle of his cabin. "It's personal."
Alexander stared at him, not daring to imagine what he was getting at.
Pattisson looked away, then braced himself, gathering his courage in both hands. He looked back at him, "I keep thinking about that time, when you ... you showed me what Morgan did." He stopped.
"Yes?" Was the Major going to lodge a complaint about him?
"I ... I was wondering," he swallowed, "If you would consider doing it again." He looked rather desperately at Alexander, hoping he would understand and not sneer at him, or worse, make him explain.
The Lieutenant stared at the older man with wide eyes. It was absolutely the last thing he had expected to hear. He had to say something, he couldn't just stand there as if a meteorite had hit him on the side of the head. "Uh. We need to talk about this. Let me set the privacy seal - is that okay with you?"
Pattisson nodded, looking extremely nervous. Once the privacy seal was set it meant he couldn't leave unless Alexander let him out.
Alexander pulled forward his two chairs. "Let's sit down." He waited until Pattisson seated himself on the edge of the chair. Then he went right to the heart of the matter. "Let me get this clear. You think you might be an om?"
"I don't know, but I can't stop thinking about you, ever since ..." The Major shut his eyes for a second. "God this is so awkward!" His eyes opened suddenly, as if a nightmarish thought had just crossed his mind. "You'll keep this just between us, won't you? Whatever happens?"
Alexander spoke calmly, not taking offence. "You have my word, this is solely between you and me." He sought a way to lower the tension. "Would you like a drink? I have some Amberi."
For a second the Major stared at him as if he'd offered a plasglas of poison, then he took a deep breath, "Thanks, I'd like that." He fiddled with his collar as Alexander poured them both a drink and handed him one.
"Let's slow down a minute," Alexander said with a faint smile as he sat down. "What's your first name? I don't think I can keep calling you Major."
"Ethan, it's Ethan." He took a gulp of his drink.
"And you never considered you might be an om until, ah, recently?"
Pattisson shook his head. "I can honestly tell you the thought never crossed my mind. I've had relationships, with women, everything seemed all right." He hesitated, as if he was going to add something else, but then stopped.
Alexander was still feeling his way carefully. "And you want me to make a pass at you again?"
The other man nodded, "To see if ... if it was for real or just ..." his voice trailed away.
"What then?" asked Alexander.
Pattisson looked at him, not understanding.
"Do you want me to kiss you? I'm assuming you don't want to go as far as having sex," he smiled to let Pattisson know he didn't need to take this too seriously, but it didn't have the effect he intended.
The Major turned scarlet and leapt to his feet. "I'm sorry, this was a really bad idea. I better go!"
Alexander stood up quickly and put a hand on his arm for a brief moment. "No, I'm sorry, Ethan. I wasn't making fun of you, I just wanted you to think this through a bit further." He stepped back a pace to give him room. "Let me see if I've got this clear. You don't want to do anything ... physical, you're just wondering if I can help you find out if you should be looking at our half of the population for your next relationship, am I right?"
"Yes," agreed the other man in relief. "Can we do that?" Obviously, the talk of kissing and sex had panicked him. He was still standing, poised for flight if Alexander should try and come any nearer.
Rather to his astonishment, the Lieutenant found the Major's nervousness exciting. It brought out the predator in him, a side he had never known he possessed. For the first time in their conversation, he found himself checking out the other man, assessing him as someone he might like to have sex with, even if it did turn out to be only a kiss.
Like Alexander himself, Pattisson's looks weren't anything to call home about - two eyes, a nose, a mouth - but pretty looks weren't everything, as he kept telling Duran. His black hair was thick and glossy, intelligence shone in his eyes and surely there was a dusting of freckles over his nose. When was the last time he had seen anyone with freckles? And he had thought his meeting with Alexander important enough to shower first, how sweet was that? Luckily he kept his mouth shut, he didn't think the Major would appreciate being called sweet.
He heard the Major's breath quicken as he saw his expression change, and felt a surge of arousal start low in his belly and ripple through his whole body. He fought down a sudden urge to jump on him.
The Lieutenant sat down quickly. He made an attempt to seem unthreatening and took a sip of his Amberi. "I'm really not sure," he said thoughtfully. "You're very tense. Perhaps you need some more time to think about this." He watched as Pattisson frowned and bit his lip; it had taken him so long to psych himself up, he could tell he didn't want to just let the issue go unresolved. Alexander threw out a careful lure.
Looking steadily into the Major's eyes, he made a suggestion. "The simplest thing would be if you were able to come and hold me, and then if that wasn't so bad we could try a kiss, just one kiss. If you find it really upsetting or unpleasant, you'll know you can put the whole episode behind you as just one of those things. We'll shake hands and that will be that."
He took another sip, giving the Major time to consider the bait. He thought the reference to shaking hands was a masterpiece, it was so very non-sexual and masculine. "Or we just can shake hands now and you walk out the door, no hard feelings. It's your choice." Another small pause, "Perhaps you could sit down and finish your drink while you're making up your mind."
Pattisson gave him an unexpectedly dry look, as if he realised exactly what Alexander was doing. Oh well, he'd known he was intelligent. The Lieutenant tried to look innocent.
Pattisson turned back towards him, evidently considering his suggestion.
"If we give it a try, you won't ...?" he asked uncomfortably.
"I won't do anything you don't want me to," Alexander offered. "I promise," he added with a reluctant smile.
The Major took a tentative step nearer and Alexander stood up slowly, waiting. The other man took another step forward then seemed to freeze. Before he could change his mind, Alexander closed the gap between them and very carefully put his arms around him, drawing him nearer. Their bodies touched only lightly but Alexander could feel how tense the other man was - it was like holding a statue. Their faces were merely centimetres apart. Pattisson's eyes were wide and nervous.
"Try and relax," Alexander murmured. "It won't hurt," he teased. Very gently he drew the older man into a closer embrace, letting him become accustomed to the feel of a man's body against his own. They were almost exactly the same height. "How's that?" he asked, "All good?"
Pattisson nodded and shut his eyes. Taking that as an invitation, Alexander bent his head and brushed his lips lightly over the other man's closed mouth. He could feel his warm breath on his cheek. He opened his own mouth and licked the tightly clenched lips with the tip of his tongue. He drew back a little and whispered. "Ethan, open your mouth for me."
He continued to place gentle kisses around his mouth and then up along the underside of his jaw until he reached his ear and back again. Pattisson opened his lips a fraction. Alexander licked his way inside, slowly pushing them further apart until their tongues touched. The other man jumped and pulled back. But Alexander didn't let him go, if anything he held him tighter, hard against his hips. "If you really don't like this, you'll have to tell me to stop," he said in a low voice and then he kissed him again.
Pattisson shuddered abruptly, then surrendered to the attraction. His arms came up around Alexander and he pressed his body back against his for the first time. Alexander pushed his tongue into the other man's mouth, deeper and deeper as Pattisson tilted his head for a better angle.
Gentleness disappeared as Alexander pulled the Major's head down even harder into the kiss, both tongues were now thrusting strongly, the sound of their breathing growing loud and harsh in the small room.
Alexander could feel that Pattisson was heavily aroused, carried away on a tide of previously unknown feelings and sensations. The small voice of his conscience whispered faintly that this had gone far enough, they had already moved several steps in the direction of the bed without his even being aware of it. He was almost certain he could get his hands inside the Major's clothes without him protesting, he was desperate to touch him, skin to skin ... Instead, he tore his mouth away and gripped Ethan by the shoulders.
"Wow seems inadequate," he joked, giving them both time to recover.
For a long moment Pattisson just looked at him. Then he could see shocked disbelief start to replace the passion in his face. "You said one kiss!" he accused.
Alexander just looked at him. Both of them were quite well aware he hadn't done anything Pattisson hadn't wanted him to.
Pattisson looked around rather wildly. "Oh my god, I have to go! Please!"
"That's probably a good idea," the Lieutenant replied. "Much as I would really, really like you to stay, you should take some time out to come to terms with ... with what just happened." He stepped forward, feeling a bit hurt but unsurprised as the other man flinched away from him.
"It's all right, I'm just getting the door," he said quietly.
"Sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I can't think what to say right now, I need to go."
Alexander deactivated the privacy seal and the door opened to reveal the last person either of them wanted to see at that point.
Marc Duran took one look at the Major's flushed face, Jack's tension and the bed rumpled from Jack's rest earlier and leapt to the obvious conclusion. "What the fuck's going on?" he demanded incredulously.
(Author's note - please remember to add some comments along the way - comments make my day!)