Ordered Off Duty

Posted on Sun Aug 6th, 2023 @ 5:35pm by Daniel Martinez & Fleet Captain Maxwell Culver
Edited on on Sun Aug 13th, 2023 @ 12:07am

862 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Good Will Tour: Mountain Home [Part Two]
Location: Triton Seabase: Max’s Quarter’s
Timeline: MD27: 1230 hours

By the time Max walked up to his door and entered, he was so tired he barely registered that the door lock was open. He pulled off his pips and combadge and placed them in a large bowl on the stand next to the door. It had become a habit from before he was allowed to replicate new ones when he’d lost his last, back to his Academy days.

Max looked from the couch to the bedroom. Suddenly his brain registered why the door was open as Dani stood staring at him. Max felt his chest tighten as he explained, “I’ve been ordered to take some time off. Maybe you could come back later to collect your belongings?” he suggested.

Dani chewed on his lower lip while he looked at Max. His hair was dull and unkempt, he had dark circles under his big brown eyes, which Dani noticed seemed to be on the verge of tears. Max’s face was typically stubbled, but he was almost at full beard now.

Dani sighed heavily. “I don’t think so, not yet at least,” Dani answered firmly. “Come on,” he all but ordered.

Max followed Dani into the bathroom with Dani. “Take off your jacket and shirt and throw them into the recycler.”

Max took his time doing the things, or at least it felt like he did. He was so tired. Dani took out the hair clippers and set it to Max’s preference before shaving his head, following his previous lines. Pulling out a pair of scissors, Dani cut the top of Max’s hair medium-short. Adjusting the clippers, Dani shaved Max’s face clean, down to the skin. By the time he got back to work, there would be some stubble.

Dani set the timer on Max’s shower and set his preferences. “I think you can do the rest,” Dani said as he left Max in the bathroom. It took a while before he was up, but Max caught Dani just about to leave his quarters. “Can you wait? I know what we agreed to, and I don’t want to talk you out of it, but can you just stay a bit? There’s still some things to talk about.”

“Yeah…” Dani conceded. Despite sharing each other’s minds and most intimate thoughts recently, Dani agreed that they still needed to talk.

It wasn’t much more than fifteen minutes before Max shuffled out, grabbed some clothes before disappearing back into the bathroom. When he next appeared, he was in a pair of shorts and a shirt that was cut from shoulder to just above his shorts.
“Off to spend time with Mister Hart?”

“Yeah,” Dani said with about as much enthusiasm as Max had asked with. “It’s been a whirlwind just knowing you…but it’s changed my life a lot.”

Max nodded. “I know. I just barged in, made myself comfortable, trashed your life with your family and then literally took over your life without knowing I was doing it. Nothing with me has been normal or easy.”

Dani wrapped his arms around Max. “Maybe not, but I wouldn’t be smarter than I am to my father’s tricks and surprises. I found another tracker fluid the other day, one swallow and I would have been a target again.

“My brother got a quiet package with instructions on how to remove his trackers and then keep them out for himself. I just wish I could see my father’s face when both of his sons went off his tracking system.” Dani gave a small laugh.

Max laughed with him. “¡Probablemente estaba cabreado!” They both laughed together. Out of habit, Dani ran his fingers through Max’s now short hair. Max slowly leaned back, the pair getting comfortable.

Dani could see Max’s eyelids growing heavier. “I’m still just a dumb kid, trying to figure out how to live on my own. What do I have to offer you? You said it yourself…even if I spend the rest of my life with you, you wouldn’t be able to do the same with me.”

“I could,” Max said quietly, as he grew farther and farther from wakefulness.

“Nunca te pediría que hicieras eso y tampoco te dejaría hacerlo,” Danny answered, tears started to flow down his cheeks. He let Max go to sleep. Once he had fallen asleep, Dani carefully extracted himself from the physical and emotional entanglement he’d gotten himself into again.

He waited a while, gathering some things and putting them in his duffel bag. Then he watched the first man he’d loved for a little while, just until he had stopped crying and his heart didn’t feel so heavy.

Dani wiped the rest of the tears from his cheeks, caught his breath, shrugged the strap of the duffel over his shoulder and walked towards the door. “Te quiero, Maxwell Culver, y siempre lo haré. Sé libre…”

Dani locked the door and left. There wasn’t anything much left on Triton Seabase for him. Maybe he could live without whatever he had left behind…

 

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