IMPORTANT:

This one boarders strongly on the M rating. I didn't want to change the entire story to a different rating just because of one chapter, so I will warn you right now: this chapter has adult content. It isn't a Lemon Scene, but it is a bit close to that. So if that sort of thing freaks you out, by all means, don't read this chapter. If you are like me, the warning will make you want to read it even more.

That said, this was super fun to write and I had to get it out of my head and into the doc manager. Enjoy!

It had been almost two days since Alek had last seen Dylan. At first he thought the boy was avoiding him, but after asking around, he found that no one had seen him lately. He had questioned all of the crewmembers he knew and none of them had heard a thing from Dylan. All that was left was to ask the man in charge of Dylan's duties, the bosun.

"Sharp?" Mr. Rigby said when Alek asked him for Dylan's whereabouts. "Been wondering how the lad's been doing myself. I haven't seen him since he hurt his back the other day. Told him to take it easy and have a few days off until he feels better. Knowing him he's probably hiding somewhere in the crevices of the ship, too embarrassed to tell anyone that he's injured."

Alek frowned and thanked the bosun for the information.

So Dylan had an injured back and was too ashamed to admit it to anyone except his commanding officer. Alek shook his head with a small grin. Only someone like Dylan Sharp would be so proud that he couldn't ask for medical attention.

He had checked Dylan's room more than once to see if he was there. Knocking and calling through the door had never gotten him anywhere, so this time Alek tried to open it without bothering to knock. It was locked but that had never been a problem. Darwinist locks were easy to pick with the correct screwdriver.

As he expected, Dylan was in the bedroom. He was not, however, lying in his bed. Instead the boy was face down on the floor, his arms and legs outstretched like a beached starfish.

"Are you alive, Mr. Sharp?" Alek asked jokingly.

The boy jumped in surprise from the sound of Alek's voice but soon winced in pain and stretched himself back out on his stomach.

"Go away! I'm fine!" He shouted.

"You've locked yourself in your room for a day and a half; I think you're far from fine." Alek closed the door behind him and sat down on the floor beside his friend.

Dylan looked terrible. The midshipman was usually the image of perfection. He kept his hair combed back smoothly, his boots laced evenly and every button and snap was accounted for. Even Alek didn't spend that much time on his appearance, and he grew up in a palace! Indeed, it was almost as if Dylan were trying to hide something beneath his flawless features.

Now that he was lying on the floor in his nightgown, Alek felt he was seeing what Dylan really looked like for the first time. Surprisingly, it was very refreshing.

The boy's hair was messy and unkempt, his shirt was wrinkled and Alek noted that he was only wearing one sock, leaving the other foot bare.

"I heard that you hurt your back. Is that why you're lying on the floor like this?" Alek asked him.

Dylan sighed and turned his face slowly to face Alek's.

"No, dummkopf, I always sleep on the ground just because I like to!" He quipped. "In fact, I like it so much that I haven't even bothered to move the blankets down from my bed."

Alek fought back the urge to laugh. This wasn't a funny event and Dylan was probably embarrassed enough without someone laughing at his misfortune.

"I know how you feel." Alek admitted. "I can think of several occasions in which I was in the same position."

The nasty expression on Dylan's face softened slightly.

"You?" He asked. "Really?"

"Yes. In fact, there were times I couldn't even turn my head I was in so much pain."

"What the hell did you do!"

Alek did laugh this time. "Fencing, actually, and by the way you look right now I could wager that you may have had a similar experience."

Dylan bit his lip and furrowed his eyebrows in shame.

"Yeah. It might have been something like that. I was just trying to practice a squick before I had to face off with you again."

Alek shrugged and moved a bit closer.

"I figured that might have been what happened. What with you having no experience and terrible posture, it's obvious that you would overextend yourself."

Dylan still didn't look thrilled so Alek continued to explain.

"You must make sure you stretch properly after practicing. If not, your muscles can become very stiff. This is especially the case in the beginning when you are standing still for long periods of time."

Dylan snarled.

"And you think I have time to sit around and stretch when I've got duties to perform!"

"Well, you certainly are making up for lost time now." Alek said. It probably wasn't the best thing to mention since it only sparked Dylan's temper more.

"You're not helping! Get out of my room!"

"I would but I'm afraid you will only get worse. Lucky for you, I know the perfect cure for your problem."

Dylan groaned. "Aye, and what might that be, more stretching? Or just standing and holding a broom handle for hours without moving?"

Alek ignored that comment.

"Back in Austria I had a professional masseur for years. And thanks to him, I've learned many things about proper muscle balance and skeletal alignment."

"A mooser? What the hell is that? Some sort of moose person?"

"A masseur. It's French for a person who gives massages."

"And is a 'moss sage' supposed to be French for something?"

Alek rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, I would think a Darwinist would know more about physical health treatments but apparently I was wrong. A massage is basically a deep tissue back rub."

"A WHAT?" Dylan's eyes suddenly widened dramatically and he tried to push away from Alek without writhing in pain.

"Calm down, Dylan, I won't hurt you. Now hold still. You may actually enjoy this a little."

He rolled up his sleeves and immediately started on Dylan's back before the boy injured himself further by trying to escape. It was easy to find the structure of Dylan's shoulder blades beneath his thin night shirt. Alek gently moved his fingers along the spine, loosening the tension in the skin with gentle scratches and strokes. Dylan lay frozen for a moment, but once Alek began to deepen the touch he almost melted into the floor. His arms and legs seemed to loosen and Alek heard his breath escape in a long hiss.

Alek could feel the muscles relaxing beneath his fingers, but he knew he hadn't found the root of the tension yet. There had to be a large knot somewhere that he needed to find. He searched the boy's back delicately with his fingertips, marveling at the smoothness of his skin beneath the light fabric. Eventually his thumbs settled on a tender spot below the neck and a bit to the right. Switching to his knuckles, Alek pressed harder into the knot and began to knead it like a piece of bread dough.

Suddenly Dylan moaned. It appeared he had been trying to hold it back for awhile because as soon as Alek hit the sweet spot Dylan's voice shot through the room like a stray bullet, sudden and loud.

It was a cry of extreme pleasure, high pitched and gasping and accompanied by a massive body shudder. It was also something that Alek was not expecting whatsoever.

Immediately he released his fingers from Dylan's flesh and jumped back into wall beside him.

This was odd. Way too odd. He had never heard anyone make a noise like that before. It had sent his heart rate spinning and his hands and face were flushed with heat.

On top of that, there was a rush of sensation between his legs. It was hot and hungry and Alek knew from the pressure against the seam line of his pants that this had gone way too far.

Dylan slowly lifted his head and faced Alek in annoyance.

"Did I say you could stop?" He growled.

Dylan was about to say something else when he must have noticed Alek's expression. He frowned for a moment in confusion which faded quickly. The boy was smart and it didn't take him long to figure out what had happened.

Dylan's face was turning redder than Alek had ever seen and his eyes darted dangerously down to Alek's waistline.

There was no hiding it anymore, and the way Dylan continued to stare was not improving the situation at all.

With the last inch of pride that Alek could muster, he rose from the floor, took a deep breath and quickly left the room and slammed the door behind him.

Trying not to contemplate on what had just happened, Alek dashed away as fast as he could.

There was no way he would be giving anyone a massage again soon.