AN: Thank you for reading this far, I hope the update was worth the wait! Oh Abel, why do you have so many feelings?


Cain

Cain shifted outside Abel's door a few nights later. It was late; he was a little drunk. Not a whole fuck of a lot else to do these days, and what would command do if they found out, pull him from active duty? And anyway, he had to be drunk to work himself up to this, to admit he'd rather eat his pride to get back on active rotation than hold out and hope Bering could find him another option.

He'd just brought his hand up to bang on the metal door when it slid open, Abel standing there smiling over his shoulder at another navigator. Looking tired and pleased, his neat uniform jacket undone and open. No hickies. No bruises. Just clean, unmarked skin over his collarbone and neck.

"Yeah, we'll look it over again in the morning," Abel said as the other navigator shouldered past him, carrying a computer and printouts of ship plans. Abel turned towards the door and frowned as he realized it was Cain standing there.

"Have a good night, Abel," the other navigator said, giving Cain a doubtful look. Abel stood there in the doorway, watching him as Cain scanned the room over his shoulder, waiting for the other navigator to get out of hearing. Two glasses and bottles of contraband liquor and tonic sitting on the floor, more wiring diagrams scattered across the bed and the floor, Abel's computer sitting open at the foot of the bed.

Abel smelled like cheap gin. Cain scowled; he'd never really thought about what the unassigned navigators did in their spare time and he didn't like the thought of Abel out gossiping and getting trashed with the other navigators. Who the hell knew what they talked about and how far it got?

"Who the fuck was that?" Cain asked, making to shoulder past Abel into the room, but the little blond put up an arm across the door and stuck his chin out.

"A friend. Are you here to pick a fight, or do you want something?" Abel asked, and he sounded pissed, or maybe just tired. Cain ground his jaw, thinking about pushing Abel into the room so they could do this in private, so it couldn't get around that Cain had asked instead of putting his foot down and telling Abel how it was going to be. What kind of asshole got pushed around by their navigator anyway? Cain might as well bend over in the cafeteria and ask Abel to fuck him for everyone to see. Abel stuck out his chin. "If you just came to threaten and push me against the wall, get it over with. I have things to get done tonight," Abel said. Cocky little shit.

"Came about the transfer," Cain said through gritted teeth. "When'd your balls get so big anyway?" Couldn't help it; if he had to crawl back to Abel on his belly, he didn't have to be nice about it, even if it meant having Abel spit in his face and tell him to fuck off for good.

"They were always this big," Abel said, stepping aside to let him in with a little shrug and a half smile. "You just had your head too far up your ass to notice." Cain growled as he brushed past Abel into the room, but didn't say anything because it was probably true.

Cain stood in the middle of the little space, making Abel squeeze past him chest to chest to get to the glasses sitting on the floor. Watched as Abel crouched and poured them both with liquor and tonic water. Abel glanced up at Cain from the floor and blushed when he realized how close his face was to Cain's crotch. Cain backed off and sat on the edge of the bed.

Abel straightened and handed him a glass, but stayed standing. Cain knocked back his drink in one go, bitter tonic and harsh, shitty gin, the same fake smell they used to clean the urinals. Abel frowned and sipped his, but took Cain's glass without a word and poured him another one. Just watched as he knocked that one back too.

"So you going to put in for the transfer or not?" Cain asked to break the silence. Abel had made the offer and Cain had shown up; the least the little shit could do was save him the embarrassment of asking for it.

Abel just sipped on his gin and tonic. Leaned on the far wall, not that it was all that far away. If Cain stood up he'd be standing right on top of Abel, in his face and pressing him against the wall. Cain stayed sitting.

"Do you want me to?" Abel asked.

"I'm not going to beg you for it," Cain said, flexing his hand on his knee.

"I didn't ask you to. I asked if you want me back."

Cain scowled at the floor. Put his glass down next to his foot and avoided looking at Abel.

Abel sat down on the bed next to him, not as far away as he could have, but not touching either. Cain sat leaning his elbows on his knees, trying to follow all the wiring diagrams around. Didn't know why Abel had to make this so difficult. Abel just sat there drinking, and Cain couldn't tell what he was looking at.

"You remember that first time?" Abel asked.

Cain snorted and almost said something vulgar, but didn't want to risk getting kicked out and losing his shot at getting back on active duty. Fuck, when had he started worrying about what Abel thought? "Yeah," was all he said instead.

Abel leaned elbows on his knees and rolled his glass between his hands, frowning down at it. "I was so scared of you. Everything went so fast."

"I know," Cain said, still looking at the wall. Didn't think about it too hard, since it was just how those things happened. Nobody enjoyed their first time getting fucked. You just got through it and hoped next time you were the one doing the fucking.

"It was better than I expected. You weren't as mean as I thought you'd be," Abel said, and Cain thought he maybe smiled a little, but couldn't tell. Abel took another sip of his drink. Went back to rolling the glass between his hands.

Cain wondered how drunk Abel was. He didn't seem even tipsy, but what the fuck did Cain know, the only time he'd seen Abel drunk was when he'd made the little princess take so many vodka shots they both fell on their asses trying to get into bed. That had been a good night.

"Would you have stopped if I had asked you to?" Abel asked, not looking at him.

Abel, all curled up that first night like he was trying to wish himself anywhere else. Defiant and angry, shocked and bashful even with Cain's mouth on him. Begging for it with his face pressed to the bed.

Would he have stopped? "Yeah," Cain said, and didn't think it was a lie. And so what if it was? Abel would never know the difference. Things just were the way they were, didn't matter if it was true. Cain could tell any lie Abel wanted if it got them back to how they'd been and it got him off Bering's shit list.

But Cain didn't think it was a lie.

Abel knocked back the rest of his drink. "I requested the transfer this morning," he said. Cain stared as Abel leaned down to pour himself another drink. Mostly gin, just a splash of tonic this time. Abel sat up and watched him sideways. "I was going wait and see if it went through before I told you. Are you mad?"

"Uh," Cain said. Didn't know if he should be angry Abel had made him drag himself in here and ask, or angry that Abel had done it without waiting for his say-so, or just relieved they'd get put on active duty again. With luck, anyway, which he'd thought he'd run out of lately, but maybe Abel had a little left to spare. Cain cleared his throat and stood. "Good." Put his hands in his pockets and turned towards the door. No sense in dragging this out more than it needed to be. Now he could go finish off that bottle of vodka and worry about whether the transfer went through later. "See you later, princess."

"Cain."

Abel was watching him, sitting on the bed with his glass on his knee. How many times had they done this, Abel looking up at him? And Cain still couldn't figure out the look on Abel's face.

"I don't know if we'll get the transfer, but you can stay here tonight if you want," Abel said.

Cain shifted on his feet, suddenly uncomfortable with Abel's plain invitation without the neediness. "My place has a bigger bed," Cain said finally, trying to make it sound like an offer. Didn't know how well it came out.

Abel shook his head. "We're not having sex, not tonight anyway. Too drunk," he said, raising his glass a little. "But you can stay anyway. If you want."

Both of them in that narrow little bed, in Abel's space, on his terms. Why the hell would Cain stay if they weren't a team and they weren't fucking? He looked at the door, thinking. Looked back at Abel. "You want me to?" he asked.

Abel smiled and reached out to grab Cain by the wrist. "Yeah," Abel said, and pulled him back to the bed.