Title: The Benefits of Rank
Author: Ayiana
Category: Vignette
Spoilers: None:
A/N: This bit of silliness was written as a spur of the moment response to a challenge on the livejournal sg500 community. Please take it in the goofy manner in which it was intended. And yes, before you ask, I am still working on a full length story.
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This, he knew, was lust. He'd felt it before, though it had been a long time since the feeling had been this intense. He couldn't help himself. He knew it was rude, knew that his rapt expression was a dead giveaway to his thoughts. Ordinarily this would bother him, because he'd always prided himself on his ability to maintain strict self-control no matter the provocation. This time, though...
He blinked, rubbed his eyes, and looked again. The image hadn't changed -- creamy golden perfection sheathed in shimmering reds that reflected the light in a thousand different directions.
He sighed. Licked his lips. Sighed again. So, so gorgeous. So... sexy. He couldn't remember a time when he'd seen something as deserving of adoration.
Daniel had once told him that being "the man" meant he could do anything he wanted, and right now, the "anything" was sitting in front of him adorned in eye-popping splendor and his for the taking. All he had to do was reach out a hand and...
He hesitated, considering the import of what he was about to do. Would his touch somehow diminish perfection? At the thought, his heartbeat accelerated to a pace the doc would've found alarming, and his palms grew damp. If he answered the siren's call, would the beauty disappear - lost to mankind forever? Or, worse yet, if he didn't stake a claim, would some other man walk away with that which was rightfully his?
That did it. No matter the risk, he had to take the chance.
Decision made, he reached out, plucked the slice of cheesecake from its place of honor, and put it on his tray.
Sometimes it paid to be the man.