p style="text-align: left;"Sunday morning came, and with it a horrible dread. As soon as Martin opened his eyes, the events of last night flooded back. He groaned loudly. br /Why always him? Why couldn't things be easy for him just once? br /What should he do now? He couldn't go to work on monday! He could never go to work again! He would need to find a new job. The panic in him rose. He loved his job! br /What had Arthur told Carolyn after he had gone, he wondered. What had actually happened? He wasn't really sure about it himself, but thinking about it didn't seem like an enjoyable /He didn't want to get up, just lie there and slip into unconciousness again. But his stomach had other ideas. So he went to the kitchenette and peered into the small refrigerator. A half empty bottle of ketchup and a quarter of a week-old loaf of white bread. A sigh escaped his throat. br /Then he remembered the stack of tupperware. Opening them all, he looked for something remotely edible. A box of tiny rolls didn't seem that bad, they had a swirl of something purple on top, and smelled like lavender. Biting into it, he prepared himself for something disgusting, but surprsingly they weren't so bad. Not sweet like he had expected, but very much /He found a creamy substance that went quite well with them. Martin hadn't got the faintest idea how Arthur had managed to make strawberries into something savoury, but in his current situation he didn't care. Was the steward getting better at cooking, or were the captains' tastebuds already so damaged from the constant exposure to his experiments that he couldn't tell the difference anymore?br /Martin smiled faintly. Arthur would be so pleased to see that someone was actually enjoying something he /'Don't mess it up', Douglas had said. Sometimes it was chilling how well the first Officer could predict his every step. Nonetheless he had made a big old mess of /Well actually it wasn't him who did it, but everything around him always seemed to conspire to make him a laughing stock no matter what he /What would have happened had Carolyn not come back so early?br /Even thinking about it made him /To prevent spiralling further down the trail of panic-inducing thought, he spent the rest of the day reading. The local library didn't have many books on aviation and most of them he had read before, but it was calming to skim through the photos of different aeroplanes and read a passage here or /It was already getting dark outside when there was a knock on the door. Probably one of the students from the flats below him, he thought, getting up from his comfortable position. Maybe they had run out of sugar or flour, or they wanted to warn him about a very noisy party that was about to happen. Some of them were polite enough to do /He opened the door, not expecting to see a very familiar looking steward behind it. "Arthur?", he asked, knowing the answer very /"Hello Skip", Arthur /"Um... hi", Martin felt the blush from yesterday creep up his neck again. After a moment he remembered his manners, stepped aside and gestured for Arthur to enter the small flat. "Come on in... uh... what can I do for you?" Had that come out the right way? No, focus Martin focus. br /Arthur had made a few steps into the room and was looking around /"I've never been in here before.", he observed "We always pick you up outside."br /Yes, and for a good reason, Martin thought. He didn't want his colleagues to see that what he called a 'flat' was barely more than an attic room with a scrappy kitchen. And he hadn't even tidied up. Some clothes lay scattered around and the bed was /He dug his hands deep into his pockets in an attempt to appear less awkward, but to no /Arthur wandered over to a low shelf. "Wow, that looks great! Did you build it yourself?", he pointed towards a small model of a Curtiss /Martin nodded "Yes, when I was little."br /If Douglas were here, Martin thought, he would have made fun of that statement. But Arthur just said "Brilliant! I wish Gerti was a double decker. And red. And maybe had a propeller."br /Martin couldn't help but /Arthur found a lot of nice words for his humble collection of furniture and decor, and only fifty percent of them were 'brilliant'. When he was done with that, in absence of chairs, both men sat down on the /"So...", Martin started again "what brings you here?"br /They were facing each other at an angle, both perched on the same edge of the bed, knees almost /"Well...", Arthur fiddled with the sleeve-ends of his jumper "I had a talk with mum..."br /Martin's blood temporarily froze in his veins. Arthur seemed nervous, which was never a good /"... and she told me to go talk to you. Actually she said 'go sort this out for Christ's sake or you will drive me completely insane', but that's basically the same don't you think? And Douglas said I shouldn't be worried, it will all work out fine, but I don't know, I'm a bit scared...", he was rambling now, looking at Martin /"Arthur, Arthur!", placing a hand on the other man's shoulder he tried to interrupt him. It /"What is it? What are you scared of?"br /Arthur looked at him for a moment, thinking. Then he quietly replied "This."br /Before Martin could even phrase a question in his head, enquiring what 'this' meant, he felt Arthur's mouth crash on his. Apparently the steward had slightly misjudged the force with which he flung himself at Martin, so they toppled over sideways onto the /"I'm so sorry Skip, I-", but before he could finish the sentence, Martin had pulled him in for a real kiss. Arthur's lips were incredibly soft, and he felt a glowing warmth spread through his body. Instinctively he wrapped his arms around Arthur's waist, it felt so good to hold him close. Meanwhile Arthur's hands played with the hair at the nape of Martin's neck. It was a long and sweet kiss, and when they stopped to catch their breath, Martin felt like he had been woken from a dream. It was surreal, Arthur's face just inches from his, smiling at him like he was the sun. Martin could just imagine his own goofy grin. He was giddy and at the same time more calm than he had felt in a long time. For a while they didn't speak, none of them daring to spoil the moment by sound. They just lay there, fingers laced together, hearts pounding./p