It had been forever since Alek had slept so soundly. For the first time since he had left Prague, Alek felt like he had gotten a comfortable night's rest. This was terribly confusing and as he lay half awake in the morning sunlight, he tried to ponder out what had caused this night to be different.

It took a few seconds for the events from last night to come back to him but they came back with a fury. Images of the Leviathan sinking into a frozen lake, snow hurdling into his face, barking sniffer dogs and even the sounds of the cracking ice beneath his feet were still echoing in his head. And, of course, there was Dylan. The midshipman was still huddled close in Alek's arms. Surprisingly this wasn't an uncomfortable position. In fact it was rather nice lying there beside his friend. He guessed it was due to the fact that he hadn't been this close to another person in ages. Come to think of it, Alek couldn't remember the last time he had been held for an extended period of time. Physical signs of affection had been frowned upon back when he lived in the palace. He recalled that his parents had to sneak kisses to one another without anyone seeing, and it was very rare when he would receive an occasional embrace from his mother or father. Since the assassination there was even less. That is, unless Volger decided to start hugging him.

Realizing how starved he had been for human contact, Alek pulled the boy a bit closer. Sunlight had started to stream through the porthole above the bed. It glistened innocently through the room shining on particles of dust and stopping gently on the pillows and bed sheets that surrounded them. A touch of the delicate light had caught in Dylan's hair. The golden color of his strands sparkled a bit and Alek wondered why he had never noticed the lovely shade of bronze before. Out of pure impulse he reached out to brush a fragment of hair from Dylan's eyes. After being frozen all night his hair had melted and dried and was much softer than Alek's coarse auburn hair. Even his skin was soft and pale as cream in the morning sun.

The touch caused Dylan to stir in his sleep. He barely opened one eye and glared at Alek. The movement made the prince jump and he quickly pulled his hand back.

"Sorry! Pardon me! I just…..um…there was something in your hair." He lied.

Dylan grumbled something that resembled a curse before turning over so they were no longer facing one another. By doing so, Alek's arm brushed up against the boy's bandages which he realized were still fairly soaked from the night before.

"Dylan, you must be freezing in this. Perhaps since it is light out now I could take you to the medic and have it properly removed?"

The midshipman merely snorted and pulled some of the blankets away from Alek.

"Then again, maybe you would prefer to sleep a little longer. In that case….."

"Could you shut your barking trap?! Go back to sleep."

Alek sighed and gave a meaningless shrug. He supposed the wet bandages weren't all that harmful. It was still pretty early judging from the sun and a little more sleep couldn't hurt. Alek gladly snuggled up again next to his friend and began to drift off.

However, as soon as he had nodded off again, there was a loud yelp that awoke him suddenly. Both he and Dylan nearly shot out of the bed in fright as they were greeted by a very surprised looking soldier at the bedroom door.

"Bloody Christ! What the hell are you doing in my room!?" The man cried.

"That's a smart question!" Dylan hollered while snatching the blankets around him and bolting for the door. "But I haven't the time to talk, sorry. Goodbye!"

Alek didn't have the airman's sense to jump out of the room as quickly so he stood there for a moment before Dylan shouted at him.

"Barking spiders, Alek, get your clothes. Run!"

In a few seconds Alek had thrown his shirt and pants on and ran after Dylan who was already out on the deck in nothing but his undergarments and a ragged ship's blanket. He hastily followed his friend until they reached the midshipman's quarters. Dylan didn't realize that Alek was behind him until he was right outside the door.

"Blisters, ALEK! You followed me!? You really are a ninny!"

"But, I had to make sure you were alright!"

"I'm fine, you bumrag!" Dylan had opened the door and now stood behind it so it blocked most of his body from view. "Get the hell out of here before he comes chasing after us! He's already going to start a bunch of rumors. If we escape to the same room it could be even worse!"

"Rumors? What rumors?"

Dylan rolled his eyes dramatically. "You are such a barking prince! Rumors about us….you know…." His voice trailed off as he gave a swirling gesture with his hand as if to fill in the blanks.

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Arghh! Come on Alek, he probably thinks we were, you know…..sleeping together."

Alek blinked. "What?! That's absurd! What kind of man thinks of such things!? Honestly, I'll have you know that…"

"Just get out of here, numbskull! We can't be seen together!" And with that, Dylan slammed the door in Alek's face.

"Well, I never…." Alek grumbled to himself as he started to drift away from Dylan's room. Clearly Dylan was an idiot to believe in such ridiculousness. Yet as he started for his own chambers Alek began to consider the possibilities of Dylan's claim.

Did such incidents of men sleeping together actually occur? He had heard about the ancient Greeks and Romans behaving in that manner but he had never believed it could happen nowadays. Then again there had been a story or two of men falling in love with other men while away at war. It had something to do with being separated from women for so long that the soldiers started to forget their girlfriends and wives and start having affections for each other out of sheer necessity.

Alek quivered nervously. Was Dylan suggesting that he and Alek were participating in that way? God's wounds! What would make him come to that conclusion? Obviously Alek had only been trying to save Dylan's life, not attempt at anything romantic!

He tried to dismiss the idea from his mind, but unfortunately now that the idea was brought up he couldn't shake it away. Furious with himself, Alek finally made it back to his own room and tried to dash the ridiculous concept from his mind. Yet as he began to change his clothes and prepare himself for the day, Alek couldn't stop picturing Dylan's scantily clad form asleep in the sunlight. What on earth had come over him?

He blamed it on the Darwinists.

If I can come up with more I will continue this...Thanks for the great reviews everyone! I would respond to every single one but I'm either too lazy or too busy. (most likely the first) but I love you all! Sorry for the lousy grammar