Night Traveller (Gay Romantic Sci-Fi)

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven 

"I honestly don't think he'll risk getting involved with anyone but good luck anyway. Just be careful though, remember who he is," he remembered saying to Dane, just yesterday in fact, and yet here he was, standing outside the door to Oliver's small apartment. At night. In his sexiest outfit. Totally not taking his own advice.  

He couldn't stop thinking about the man, something about him had all his senses quivering, he was pretty sure it was simply a case of lust at first sight, but what if it wasn't? He didn't know whether their differences in outlook would be an insurmountable barrier to anything more than a brief fling but he wanted to find out. Which meant, he needed to stake his claim before Dane made his own move on the man. 

He had changed his clothes three times before finally deciding on the dark purple shimmer silk pants, and a silver shirt. He had started off with a pair of clean jeans and a denim jacket, but that was too casual. Next he had tried his most conservative outfit, black trousers and a sky blue shirt with long sleeves and was nearly out the door when he changed his mind again. What was the point in trying to be conservative? He might as well try and act straight. No, best to be true to himself. 

He stepped into the dark purple shimmer pants and slipped into the flimsiest of transparent silvery shirts, pulling on the silver sleeveless waistcoat which went over the top, opening in a wide vee from his throat to his navel. He brushed his hair until it shone, carefully allowing a few locks to fall forward into his eyes. Black soft leather boots completed the outfit and he was ready to go. He was as hot as he was going to get. If this didn't work, he promised himself he'd back off, believe that Oliver seriously wasn't interested in him. 

He hesitated outside the door, suddenly nervous, gearing himself up for the rejection the logical part of his brain expected. It was evening, the settlement clothed in the dim light simulating night time, but still bright enough to see the access pad on the door in front of him. He took a deep breath, brushed his wristcom over the pad and waited. And waited. Either Oliver was ignoring him or he wasn't there. 

He smiled wryly at himself. He hadn't expected that he'd be out, not given the severe lack of social life he'd observed. He wasn't working late in the station, he knew, he'd checked before coming around the side to his apartment. Maybe he was out patrolling the streets. Maybe he'd gone out to dinner, sick of cooking for himself, maybe ... He made himself stop speculating. It wasn't helping, it wasn't bringing Oliver to his front door any sooner.  

He was too wound up to simply turn around and go back home. Seeing he was all dressed up, he should go and have a drink or two at the Rising Sun, have a chat to Serra Yoshida, he hadn't seen her for a few days.  

Maybe he would find Oliver there, relaxing after work. The thought popped into his mind before he could help it. 

He stood on the yellow disk, descending into the foyer of the Rising Sun, trying not to get his hopes up. He could hear the noise of people laughing and talking coming from the bar and went in, pausing just inside the entrance, his eyes doing a quick scan around the room to check who was there. 

And guess what? There was Oliver, out of uniform for once and dressed in his favourite black, sitting on a stool next to ... Dane. Dane, who was wearing his grey dress pants and a white shirt, looking hot and classy at the same time. Suddenly the outfit he had been so happy with moments before, seemed overdressed and flashy. Both men were smiling, a glass on the bar in front of each of them. His stomach felt as if he had just been kicked. For a long moment he felt like backing out and walking away before anyone saw him. 

But he was the Governor, he couldn't behave like a jealous teenager. And besides, leaving wouldn't help. He'd only continue to imagine, in rather too painful detail, what they were up to in his absence. Time to be brave and face them head on, so to speak. Too bad if they were out on a date, it was a public place, he had just as much right to be there as they did. He plastered a smile on his face and made his way towards the two men through the small crowd, pausing briefly to respond to peoples' greetings as he went. 

"Lieutenant. Dane," he broke into their conversation with a big smile, pushing ever so slightly between them. "Can I join you?" 

XXX 

Lieutenant Oliver had been bent over his console, studying the background information available on each of his four corpses in greater detail, looking for something he might have missed, anything however small which might indicate a possible lead. 

"Oliver? You still in here?" called a cheerful voice. He just had time to shield what he was looking at before Dane Trenwith popped his head around the door. Trenwith stared at him for a second, taking in the slightly bowed shoulders, the tired eyes. He shook his head disapprovingly. 

"Seriously, you need to get a life!" he chided. "Put that away and come out with me for a drink."  

"I can't, I've got work to do," he had protested. 

"Maybe, but you also need to get out and meet some of the people you're supposed to be protecting. Meet them face to face instead of reading about them on that screen." 

Difficult as it was to admit, Trenwith had a point. 

"I can't go out with you," he blurted. Damn he hadn't meant to say that so crudely, he must be tireder than he thought.  

"I'm not asking you out on a date, just a drink," Dane answered just as bluntly. "I know you don't want to get involved." He drew himself up and put his hand over his heart. "I solemnly swear not to be your friend. There, will you come out for a goddamn drink with me now?" 

Oliver laughed despite himself. Maybe he was being overly cautious, a drink in a public bar could hardly do any harm. He couldn't stay isolated in his office all the time, it wasn't healthy and it wasn't sensible. He should go, Trenwith was right, he did need to get out and meet people. 

He saw that Trenwith had already changed out of his dark green AISS uniform. The crisp grey and white looked really sharp with his new white blond hair and emphasised the blue of his eyes, the only touch of colour about him. For a moment he hesitated, but then he gave himself a mental shake. He might be celibate but he wasn't dead, surely he could go out for a drink with a hot man and just enjoy the scenery, without needing to take things any further. 

And if he was being really honest with himself, he wasn't at all sure that Trenwith fancied him in any case. One minute he thought he was checking him out, the next he thought he was oblivious. He made up his mind. 

"Alright, I'll come with you, just wait a sec for me to get changed."