WARNING! This is bad. bad bad bad. Why do I have such a dirty mind? I apologize greatly for this chapter but once I wrote it I figured it would be wasted if I never posted it. I'm really sorry for this smuttiness.

There were many things Alek appreciated about his friend Dylan Sharp. The boy was clever, strong, and punctual. He encompassed a delightful sense of humor and had a marvelous way with the other crew members. Dylan was always willing to help in a difficult situation, he was honest and Alek knew he could trust the midshipman with anything. In fact, if he admitted to it, Alek was certain that Dylan was his favorite new Darwinist companion. There was nothing about Dylan that would upset the young prince. That is, almost nothing.

Now that the airbeast was taking on more cargo since their departure from Istanbul, the men were being forced to share rooms. No one wanted to be paired with Dylan Sharp as a roommate, and Alek knew exactly why.

Dylan talked in his sleep.

He didn't know about it at first until he heard the rumors from the other crew members. Some complained that they could hear the boy screaming all the way down the hall while Newkirk swore that Dyaln kept him up all night from his strange nightmares.

From the few times Alek had seen Dylan sleeping he never witnessed any sleep talking. He had no quam with his room arrangement when he learned that he'd be paired with the midshipman. Dylan, on the other hand, had been devastated.

"You're with me?" The boy questioned. "But…..that…that won't do!"

"What's wrong? I thought this would be perfect. I don't have to room with Volger and you don't have to pair with Newkirk. You do keep complaining about his smell."

"Aye," Dylan had responded. "But….."

"But what?"

"Nothing."

He had seemed terribly embarrassed about something but Alek didn't see it as anything more than being shy. Yet when he learned later about the sleep talking, he assumed it was what Dylan was ashamed of and decided to discuss it with him that night.

"I've overheard that you talk in your sleep." Alek stated as he began to fluff his pillow and settle in for bed.

"Is that so?" Dylan chuckled. He had changed into his nightclothes under the covers and now had a large wool blanket draped over him. "Aye, I suppose I've always been a squick of a night mumbler. Usually only happens if I'm stressed or sick. That's when I tend to have nightmares. If it wakes you up, just yell at me a tad and I should hush up. My brother used to throw rubbish at me sometimes and that worked too." He grinned with one side of his mouth. "I shouldn't be a bit of a problem tonight, let's hope."

Alek nodded while a yawn caught him. "Very well. But I don't think I'd feel comfortable throwing something at you."

"Ah, don't worry yer'self. I wouldn't even feel it."

"Really? Well, in that case, I suppose I may resort to that if necessary. But do try and sleep soundly, Dylan, I have to be up fairly early."

"As do I, your highness. So, goodnight then."

"Yes, goodnight."

Dylan whistled to lower the glowworms and soon they were both fast asleep. Alek figured he had made if through half the night when Dylan started yelling.

"HELP! Barking spiders! OUCH!"

Alek shot up like he had been bitten by a snake.

"God's wounds! Dylan, are you all right?"

"HELP, I'm trapped!"

"Trapped?"

"AYE! I'm trapped in an omelet!"

It took a moment for him to realize that Dylan was speaking to him from a nightmare.

"It's all over me! Help, get me out!"

Perplexed, Alek rose from his cot and crossed the room to see what Dylan was screeching about. The boy was completely tangled in a cocoon of blankets. The heavy wool cloth was practically suffocating him it was wrapped so tightly around his body. Alek sighed with annoyance before grabbing the blanket and quickly tugging it away from Dylan's form. Immediately the midshipman gasped for fresh air before grumbling a bit under his breath.

"Go back to sleep." Alek said before stomping back to his bed.

Dylan grumbled a bit more of what sounded like swear words.

"HUSH!" Alek shouted, taking the boy's advice to yell at him in order for the sleep talking to stop. There was a brief moment of silence before another mumbled: "Yes, captain." And Dylan turned over and instantly was fast asleep.

Alek rolled his eyes and shook his head. No one ever said that Dylan was a normal young man. It was bothersome but it wasn't unexpected. Alek found he was even chuckling a bit at the other boy as he finally drifted off to sleep again.

It wasn't long for the sleep talk to start again, only this time it was more like sleep moaning.

"God's wounds, now what?" Alek murmured. To his left, Dylan was contorted in a bizarre position while he was gasping and moaning like mad. Alek figured he was suffocating again, but there was no longer a blanket over his head since Alek had removed the heavy covers earlier. Instead, the boy was twisted amongst a light sheet that was tightly wound around his hips. His legs were bent in odd angles and he appeared to be twitching and quivering oddly.

For some reason Alek couldn't stop staring. He even whistled for the glowworms to brighten so he could get a better look. As soon as he did, he terribly wished he hadn't. The light illuminated the red flush that had overcome Dylan's cheeks and neck. The boy was sweating as well and along with the moaning he was rocking with his hips and moving his hands suggestively over his pelvis.

Alek could tell he was still dreaming. Between the groans and deep breathing Dylan was still muttering to himself. It was terribly disturbing but Alek still couldn't turn away. In fact, his own breath was catching and he could feel his body getting hot just by watching Dylan's pleasure.

This is wrong! Alek told himself. I need to get him to stop!

"DYLAN!" He suddenly shouted. His cry seemed to pierce through Dylan's dream a little and the rocking stopped for a moment.

"ALEK!" Dylan crooned in a voice that clearly wasn't his own. "Alek, please….I can't …I can't do it myself.…" The shuddering and groping continued. "Please, Alek, help me."

Alek swallowed. And swallowed again. He didn't move or yell but simply continued to stare at his friend struggling. This was too much. He may have had dreams like this in the past but certainly not this explicit and definitely, DEFINITELY not about another man!

Eventually the groaning began to get louder. It had never been terribly noisy but now he was beginning to worry that someone else would hear. Quickly he grabbed his pillow and thrust it across the room where it made contact with Dylan's face. Almost instantly the boy was broken from his trance and awoke wide eyed and confused.

"Blisters, what was that for!?"

"You….you were….er….talking in your sleep." Alek was able to grumble.

Dylan suddenly seemed perfectly fine and was behaving as though nothing had happened. He tossed Alek back his pillow while giving him a puzzled expression.

"What happened to you? Are you sick?"

"I'm fine." Alek lied. He tried fanning himself with his hand to relieve some of his heat.

"Are you sure? You weren't having a nightmare were you?"

"I told you, I'm fine!" He snapped, perhaps a bit too loudly. Dylan was now looking at him suspiciously.

"You look all hot and bothered." The boy smirked. "I bet I know what you were dreaming about!"

Flustered, Alek began to stammer.

"You….you… what are you talking about? I wasn't dreaming about anything! You, on the other hand…..my God, Dylan, you were having one very heavy dream."

Unfortunately Dylan didn't believe him. He only laughed.

"Oh, Aye! Then why are you all sweaty, your highness? Too busy wondering what I was dreaming about, I'm sure."

The sarcasm in Dylan's voice was irksome enough, let alone that he was almost dead on about why Alek was so red in the face.

"Be quiet!" Alek snapped again. "I was serious about getting up early!"

"Fine." Dylan shook his head and smiled. "Just don't wake me up if you have another wet dream."

Dylan easily turned over and went back to sleep peacefully. Alek, on the other hand had a bit more difficulty managing to calm down after the previous episode. Annoyed with himself he decided to get out of bed and head for the restrooms where he could splash his face with some cool water.

After that, Alek promised he would try to find another person to roommate with.