The Thief and the Commander : 10
Jan. 12th, 2001 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
manicdakChapter 10: Crossing the Line
Ehren slowly made his way back to Galiana's flat, dreading what Robin would have to say about his failure at capturing the Biron and feeling slightly guilty for hiding the conspiracy theory that was gaining a foothold in his brain. He had no other reasons besides a gut feeling for trusting two men, who, for all intents and purposes, should have been the bad guys. Ehren had been through twenty-four years of life though, and he was by no means naïve enough to think that people either lived on one side of the fence or another. Everyone lived in that shady gray area every once in a while. He had to look no further than Robin himself for evidence of that.
Robin had said nothing over the ICD when Ehren had called for directions, and he said nothing upon his return. He was sitting in the living area with his mother quietly nestled in his arms as they chatted. She jumped up to greet Ehren and practically pushed him into the kitchen to feed him another plateful of Utopian vegetables.
Robin entered the room once she'd gone with a bitter smile contorting his features.
“I think my mother likes you more than she likes me,” he said.
“Don't be stupid,” Ehren said. He held up a red vegetable on his fork. “What is this?”
“It's a carmine,” Robin said. “It's a root.”
“It's good,” Ehren replied as he shoved it in his mouth, followed quickly by another forkful. He thought maybe if he kept his mouth full it might keep Robin from asking about the Biron.
“So you didn't catch him, I see,” Robin said despite Ehren's hope that he wouldn't.
Ehren shook his head.
“He was really fast, and there was this gate...”
“Fine,” Robin muttered. “I'm going to bed.”
He stood up and slowly made his way to the kitchen doorway before turning back.
“You coming?”
Ehren nearly choked on a mouthful of carmine. He turned around slowly and glared at Robin who was predictably smirking at him from the doorway.
“I told you I wasn't giving up.”
“Robin...”
“C'mon. I'll even go easy on you,” he said; a comment that piqued Ehren's ire.
He narrowed his gaze and stood up from his chair, slowly approaching Robin.
“Is taunting me some kind of weird foreplay, Sir? Because it's not doing it for me. At all,” he said.
“I'm not taunting you,” Robin said as Ehren paused a few inches from where he was standing. “I'm just trying to be sensitive to your probable inexperience.”
“My probable...” Ehren burst out laughing. “Are you kidding?”
“When was the last time you got laid?” Robin asked.
“Regardless,” Ehren grumbled then poked Robin defiantly in the chest. “I have it on good authority that I'm very excellent at sex. It's one of my finer skills actually.”
“Oh, really?” Robin's eyebrows shot up and he grinned. “Care to demonstrate?”
“Didn't we just have this conversation this afternoon or whatever the hell time it was?” Ehren said.
“That was then,” Robin replied. “This isn't a reaction, Ehren. I told you; I like you. I'm not going to stop.”
“I'll have you for sexual harassment,” Ehren said.
“No. You won't,” Robin replied. He took a step closer and gestured at the corner of his own mouth. “You've got a little...carmine right there. It's really unattractive and distracting when I'm trying to seduce you. Don't you Earthians chew with your mouths closed?”
“Your seduction techniques must be extremely rusty.” Ehren frowned in dismay and wiped at the side of his mouth with his sleeve.
"You don't say?" Robin chuckled and stepped into Ehren, forcing him backwards and off balance. Robin grabbed him to keep him from falling over and planted a kiss on the corner of his mouth where the carmine supposedly was even though it had never been there in the first place.
Ehren hesitated as Robin waited for him to make the next move. He sighed and tucked his head beneath Robin's chin as he leaned against him.
"This is like every stupid idea I ever had rolled into one," he said.
"Yeah, I know...and you've had some extremely stupid ideas," Robin replied.
"It must be true," Ehren said, "since you're the expert."
"So...are we going to just stand here? Because, I'll tell you right now, I don't have the patience or the stamina for another one of your damned conversations right now, Ehren."
"Fuck no," Ehren agreed. He pulled away, grabbed Robin's wrist and marched him out of the kitchen and into the bedroom.
***
Ehren woke some time later feeling hot and cold at the same time and with his face firmly planted in Robin's chest hair. He didn't really feel like moving at that moment, but he didn't especially want to be there when Robin woke up either.
As quietly as he could, he extricated himself from Robin's grasp and stumbled out of bed. His foot landed awkwardly in a pile of the rubble that still littered the floor. He pushed the pile out of the way and found that when he was finished, he was standing on a photograph that was torn nearly in half. His big toe was pointing directly to a man who looked a lot like Robin. He was holding a baby and beaming at the camera.
He was just bending over to grab the photo for a closer look when, much to his chagrin, Robin's voice was ringing in his ears.
"Nice view," he said. He sounded content, and his voice was heavy with sleep.
Ehren straightened up, and whirled around, self consciously moving to cover himself up despite what he and Robin had been getting up to earlier in the evening. He realized that he was still holding the photograph and moved his hands behind him to hide it. He didn't know for sure, but he had a feeling that Robin wouldn't like him snooping around in his personal belongings.
"Even better," Robin said once Ehren was exposed again.
"Shut-up," Ehren muttered.
Robin smiled at him and yawned.
"Come back to bed," he said.
"No!" Ehren shouted a little too loudly, causing Robin to frown.
"But..."
"I just gotta go right now," Ehren said. He glanced away from Robin who was looking increasingly cross with every passing second.
"I see. Well... later then." He rolled back over in the bed and pulled the blanket from where it was pooled around his ankles, back over his head.
"Uh...I..." Ehren sighed and mouthed an inaudible Earthian curse under his breath. "I'll see you later."
He stumbled his way out of the room, pulling on his trousers on as he went. He found his shirt and jacket in a pile in the hallway outside and cursed under his breath yet again. There was no way it would have escaped Galiana's attention. Aside from his clothing being strewn about the public areas of the flat, he was pretty sure that the walls there weren't soundproof either. Despite his best efforts, neither was he.
He pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead and shook his head as if to clear it, which wasn't effective at all. There was only one topic that remained entrenched in his mind and that was Robin; the way he looked, the way he smelled, the way he tasted, the way he seemed to get cooler as Ehren heated up in a strangely titillating mixture of opposing temperatures.
"Tornado weather," Eheren muttered to himself.
He shook his head again and scrambled away to the guest room where he spent the rest of the evening trying to concentrate on studying a textbook he had brought with him.
***
Robin spent the sleeping hours in a sleepless state. There really was no going back at that point, and he wasn't quite sure how to feel. Despite his insistence that his attraction to Ehren wasn't some sort of a reaction to the massive upheaval in his life, he wasn't convinced that was the case. Nonetheless, he had taken his flirtation to another level entirely there on Golden Utopia. He didn't regret it at all. Ehren was as enthusiastic and as eager to prove himself in bed as he was in the field. They'd had a good time, but when Robin had wakened from that restful sleep afterward (roused from a sudden lack of warmth at his side), Ehren's defenses had gone up.
No, Robin had no regrets, but it was blatantly obvious that Ehren was filled with them. He had a feeling that there weren't going to be any repeat performances of that afternoon's acrobatics, and his idea was only reinforced by the words out of Ehren's mouth the next rising cycle after Robin had broached the subject.
They were sitting at the kitchen table with Galiana humming behind them and fiddling with a pan of yet another kind of vegetable that Ehren had never heard of.
"About yesterday..." Robin said. He left the question hanging in the air, and Ehren ignored him in favor of staring at a spot on a far away wall.
Robin frowned and shrugged off the non-response as a lack of caffeine. Since Ehren's coffee remained untouched in front him, Robin reached over and dumped a sizable spoonful of sweetener in it. He stirred it in and pushed the cup back at Ehren, who was glaring at it as if he were trying to cause it to explode with the power of his mind.
Robin looked away, unable to deal with a perceived rejection. He wasn't expecting things to be perfect, but Ehren's cold demeanor and unresponsiveness was answer enough for him. He didn't like it, but he could take a hint.
"...It didn't happen," he said brusquely and turned his attention to his own beverage.
"That's for the best, Sir," Ehren said.
Robin swallowed his disappointment and stood from the table.
"Where are you going?" Ehren said.
"To Pack," he muttered, and disappeared from the room.
***
He wasn't there very long before Galiana appeared in his room with a small frown on her face. She went straight to the point without stopping for small talk.
"What's going on with you and that boy?" She said. "He is a little bit young for you, don't you think?"
Robin snorted a laugh and shook his head.
"I am so old, I might as well retire right now, right?" He said. "Look, Mom, just because you like him doesn't mean I do."
"Robin." She sat down on his bed and watched as he pushed the mess in his room around into more manageable piles.
"What? I don't even want him here," he said. "I told you."
"Robin." She said his name louder and in an even more disapproving motherly tone.
"What!" He whirled around to glare at her.
"Look, I know what you were doing in here yesterday," she said. "You weren't exactly the picture of discretion."
"Mom," he grumbled. He glanced down at the floor, feeling like an embarrassed teenager. "You were supposed to be at the store."
"I wasn't gone for that long," she said. "Look, You don't even care about silly little things like...the law when it comes to your love life, so I know you obviously aren't going to listen to me. Just be careful, okay?"
"There's nothing to be careful about," he muttered. "It's a one off thing, okay? He's made that much clear, and I don't really give a shit anyway."
She stood up slowly and patted her son sympathetically on the back as she passed him on her way out of his room.
"Sure you don't," she said.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You always were a sensitive one, Robin," she replied and gave him a short hug then disappeared from the room, leaving Robin to mull over her comments in private.
He wasn't interested in spending time alone with his thoughts, however. If he was thinking, there was a very real danger that he would think about Ehren. That recruit had been under his skin since the very first day he had been assigned to Robin's squadron.
Robin remembered that day very clearly. He was standing at attention in a formal line with the other fresh recruits as Robin did his best to appear intimidating in front of them all. Ehren was inches shorter than everybody else, and Robin couldn't help but wonder how he had even passed his pre-recruit test. Robin had learned since then that he was very determined, and it seemed to him that Ehren was determined to forget what had happened between them, so he decided to try and forget about it too.
He spent their last morning on the GU not speaking in anything but occasional grunts to anybody. He kept catching Ehren looking at him with terrified and remorseful glances that somehow filled him with guilt. He had never wanted Ehren to be afraid of him, so he decided the best thing to do would be to stay as far away from him as he possibly could while they had to work together.
***
Ehren felt miserable and confused on the way back to the spaceport. He was embarking on an illegal investigation of his own, that was true, but that wasn't what weighed most on his mind. In his heart he knew it wasn't right to close an investigation with so many loose ends still dangling. The Utopian government and the Inter-Galactic Action Squad, as well as the Temporal Detective Agency seemed perfectly content to let the matter lie. If there was a further truth to be found then Ehren wanted to find it.
None of that was more worrying then what had happened between him and Commander Grey. They had shared some kind of moment there on the GU, but he still had no idea where he stood with the man.
Robin had gone from being resentful, to proposing an affair, to having an affair, to complete disregard in an unfathomably short period of time. Ehren felt it best to take a step back while he worked on his undercover project and let Robin figure things out for himself.
This made their travel back to Tarain a somewhat awkward affair once they returned to the spaceport and said their goodbyes to Galiana. Robin stood in their designated area of the room with his bag slung over his shoulder, and Ehren stood a few feet away, looking as nervous as he felt.
He was feeling no greater regret than having lost the privileged of his own TTD in that moment, knowing that he would have to make physical contact with Robin in order for them to jump with the same device.
"Come on," Robin growled at him. "They're waiting for us."
Galiana gave him a reassuring push in Robin's direction and told him it would be okay. Soon enough he found himself standing side by side with the commander as the tech gave them the go ahead to jump back to Tarain.
"Well, come on," Robin grumbled and thrust out his elbow awkwardly.
Ehren sighed and tentatively reached out. He held on to Robin's arm and as soon as he made contact he was gone. They were back in Tarain and Robin was walking away from him before he even knew what had happened.
He frowned at the Robin's retreating back then sighed.
"What have you gotten yourself into this time, Behrendt," he muttered under his breath.
He decided to sleep on it and hope for the best come morning. It was a restless sleep as his mind was heavily occupied with many things. He finally woke with a start as he felt he had been perched on the edge of a steep precipice ready to fall over at any moment. He sighed with relief that he was safe in his own bed...alone.
He scrambled nervously through his morning routine, and brought his dress uniform to the laundry station then made his way to the mess hall.
Ehren found himself sitting at the usual table waiting for his coffee and staring at the icebox where his plears were stored. Robin never appeared and Ehren spent all day hungry, decaffeinated, and in a terrible mood.
He remained in that state for a day or two until he was sure that he was indeed being avoided. Robin referred him to Beatriu for all of his squadron training assignments and stayed away from the communications room where he had always dropped in before.
Ehren decided that two could play at that game and subsequently ignored Robin in turn. He threw himself into improving his field abilities and continued working out on his own as well as working on his clandestine project looking into Aina Grey's assassination.
Ehren wouldn't lie to himself though. Despite his best intentions, he missed the coffee and the company that the Commander had provided. Robin spent his time when they returned storming through the hallways and shouting at everybody who crossed his path, except for Ehren. When it came to Ehren, one look in his direction and Robin would huff loudly, turn around, and walk in the opposite direction.
The offer to transfer out of HQ was looking more and more inviting every day.
***
"You really need to stop hovering," Rasa said to him one day as he flitted around her desk, offering up his amateur suggestions since decoding ciphers was far from his specialty.
"Haven't you found anything yet?" He said.
"It's only been a week. Do you know what I'm dealing with? The code of the entire Universe is flying through my brain in my sleep already. I haven't found anything but wild geese!"
"Keep trying," he said as he settled himself in behind her with one hand on her chair, leaning slightly forward, staring at a screen full of incomprehensible numbers.
"Go away!" She pushed back from the desk causing him to lose his balance and his grip on the chair so he almost plunged to the floor.
"What you do that for?" He grumbled once he had righted himself.
"You're annoying the crap out of me, Ehrenfried," she said. "I'm not going to get anything accomplished at all with you breathing down my neck, okay? I don't know what you're expecting, but unscrambling coded time signatures is absolutely not going to yield instant gratification. Especially when I don't know what I'm looking for. I may be good at this, but I'm far from the best."
"Sorry, I get it," he admitted and held his hands up in defeat. "I just want this over and done with either way."
"Yeah, me too. I'm still on the record as thinking this is crazy, by the way," she said.
"Thank you again," he said. He gave her a short pat on the back and marched out of the computer room she had holed up in as her base of operations.
He pulled his timepiece from his pocket once he had wandered aimlessly around the hallways for a while. There was still time left until he was to report to the squadron room, so he headed towards the mess hall. The place was nearly empty except for Robin Grey, who was seated alone at a table staring out at nothing.
Ehren gritted his teeth and strode deliberately past the Commander. He found a table directly in Robin's eye line and slumped down in his chair with his arms crossed. He felt Robin's presence beside him almost immediately.
"You're avoiding me, Ehren," he said.
Ehren didn't reply. He instead pretended to meticulously inspect his fingernails.
"Silent treatment? Really?" Robin said. He reached out a hand and placed it on Ehren's shoulder. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were up to something."
Ehren cringed and hoped that Robin wouldn't notice.
"I've been busy. I have a lot of work to catch up on from last week. I don't want to get behind."
Robin sat down beside him. He didn't say anything and they were silent for a long time before either one of them spoke.
"Besides, you're the one who's avoiding me," Ehren finally said.
"I thought you wanted things to go back the way the were before," Robin said.
"Things can't go back the way they we're before. I was stupid to think that could happen, and now... After what happened on the GU?"
Ehren held his hands out in front of him in a gesture of helplessness.
"What exactly is it that you want from me, Sir? I need you to tell me because I'm tired of dancing around you."
"I want you to stop talking. Fucking shit, you talk so damn much!"
"That's fine," Ehren said. "My life would probably be better off if we didn't speak so candidly."
"Why do you say shit like that?" Robin pitched forward suddenly in his chair, inching close enough to Ehren so that he could feel his cool breath on his face.
"Because it's true," Ehren said.
"You'd be living in a shack in a desert!" Robin spit out the words without mind for the hurt they might cause.
Ehren sat bolt upright in his seat, biting back a hot rush of anger.
"If you're trying to bait me, it's not going to work," Ehren said. His voice was calm. "There is nothing wrong with where I lived on Earth. There is no shame in it. I like being in I-GAS, but it's not so bad in the desert should I ever be dismissed and have to return home. I owe you nothing, and clearly you know fuck all about Earthian culture if you think I'm going to take that as some kind of an insult."
"I'm sorry," Robin muttered.
They were silent once again; Robin's simple apology sitting so heavily in the air that Ehren could barely stand it. He wasn't even quite sure he knew the exact reason for the cold shoulders they were giving each other, so he reached into his pocket and timidly placed the photograph he had taken from Robin's room the week before on the table and pushed it forward. It had been there for the entire week, waiting on his person making him feel guilty like a telltale heart.
"What's that?" Robin looked up from where he had been staring down the tabletop.
"I'm sorry. I found it in your room," Ehren said. "I should have left it there."
Robin glared at the photo for a moment then snapped it up. Ehren was afraid he was going to fly into a rage like the time he had smashed an ICD against a wall. The thought conjured up the image of Robin trying with all his might to fling a piece of paper at a solid object only to have it sail straight into the air and come to a fluttering rest only a few inches away.
He tried to stifle the giggle that welled up inside him, but he failed at it completely.
"What are you laughing at?" Robin growled, his attention jumped from the image to Ehren who had his head bent over the table with his shoulders shaking with laughter.
"Nothing!" He glanced up, caught one look at the expression of impotent rage on Robin's face and burst out even louder than he had before.
Robin's expression melted as he sat there and watched Ehren. He smiled as he realized that no matter the situation, Ehren had a tendency to render him completely useless.
"I don't know why you think I'm so damn funny, Recruit," Robin said as he joined in. Finding the mirth to be infectious rather than rage inducing was a far more pleasant experience. Besides, If history was any indicator, attempts to discipline Ehren without thinking carefully about his words would only result in more laughter at his expense.
Their laughter came to a slow stop after a minute, and Ehren found that he had attached himself to Robin with his hand clutching the sleeve of his uniform as he was doubled over.
He quickly righted himself and mumbled a hurried apology, but couldn't keep the smile off his face.
"It's Ensign by the way, Sir," he said quietly.
Robin turned his attention away from catching his own breath so that he could regard his companion. Ehren's face was streaked with happy tears, his complexion had visibly reddened despite the deep tan he had developed while on the GU, and his dimple was clearly apparent.
Robin reached out, seemingly involuntarily, and touched Ehren's cheek, wiping away an errant tear. His sharp intake of breath was clearly audible and Robin quickly dropped his hand away.
"What are we doing?"
"I'm afraid I don't know, Sir," Ehren said. He glanced away and sighed. "I'm not quite sure I'm really comfortable with this. You are my commanding officer."
"Yeah, well. That's easy enough to fix," Robin said. "I have a plan."
"Oh, is that so?" Ehren arched an eyebrow skeptically. "I'll bite. What's the plan?"
"Well," Robin said. "Considering my rate of demotion and your current rate of promotion then we should meet somewhere around lieutenant pretty soon and we won't have to worry about it."
Ehren made a big show of pondering the idea as he nodded sagely and stroked his chin.
"You know, that could work," he said eventually. "Except for one thing..."
"What's that?" Robin leaned forward in mock anticipation. "It's foolproof."
"Right," Ehren said. His grin widened and he leaned forward himself to look Robin in the eye. "It will work until I'm inevitably promoted to outrank you."
The harsh stubble that covered Robin's jawline scratched against Ehren's cheek as he closed the gap between him to whisper in his ear.
"Then I'll have to call you 'Sir'."
Ehren closed his eyes.
"That'll be kind of hot," Robin said then nipped at Ehren's ear.
Ehren couldn't contain the 'Oh-My God' or the small breathless sighs that escaped him as Robin made no efforts to remove himself despite the fact that they were in a very open and very public space. Eventually he regained the presence of mind to suggest a change of venue; a prospect that Robin wholeheartedly agreed with. A while later they found themselves in Robin's room fully satisfied and extremely late for their shift.
Previous || Next
Ehren slowly made his way back to Galiana's flat, dreading what Robin would have to say about his failure at capturing the Biron and feeling slightly guilty for hiding the conspiracy theory that was gaining a foothold in his brain. He had no other reasons besides a gut feeling for trusting two men, who, for all intents and purposes, should have been the bad guys. Ehren had been through twenty-four years of life though, and he was by no means naïve enough to think that people either lived on one side of the fence or another. Everyone lived in that shady gray area every once in a while. He had to look no further than Robin himself for evidence of that.
Robin had said nothing over the ICD when Ehren had called for directions, and he said nothing upon his return. He was sitting in the living area with his mother quietly nestled in his arms as they chatted. She jumped up to greet Ehren and practically pushed him into the kitchen to feed him another plateful of Utopian vegetables.
Robin entered the room once she'd gone with a bitter smile contorting his features.
“I think my mother likes you more than she likes me,” he said.
“Don't be stupid,” Ehren said. He held up a red vegetable on his fork. “What is this?”
“It's a carmine,” Robin said. “It's a root.”
“It's good,” Ehren replied as he shoved it in his mouth, followed quickly by another forkful. He thought maybe if he kept his mouth full it might keep Robin from asking about the Biron.
“So you didn't catch him, I see,” Robin said despite Ehren's hope that he wouldn't.
Ehren shook his head.
“He was really fast, and there was this gate...”
“Fine,” Robin muttered. “I'm going to bed.”
He stood up and slowly made his way to the kitchen doorway before turning back.
“You coming?”
Ehren nearly choked on a mouthful of carmine. He turned around slowly and glared at Robin who was predictably smirking at him from the doorway.
“I told you I wasn't giving up.”
“Robin...”
“C'mon. I'll even go easy on you,” he said; a comment that piqued Ehren's ire.
He narrowed his gaze and stood up from his chair, slowly approaching Robin.
“Is taunting me some kind of weird foreplay, Sir? Because it's not doing it for me. At all,” he said.
“I'm not taunting you,” Robin said as Ehren paused a few inches from where he was standing. “I'm just trying to be sensitive to your probable inexperience.”
“My probable...” Ehren burst out laughing. “Are you kidding?”
“When was the last time you got laid?” Robin asked.
“Regardless,” Ehren grumbled then poked Robin defiantly in the chest. “I have it on good authority that I'm very excellent at sex. It's one of my finer skills actually.”
“Oh, really?” Robin's eyebrows shot up and he grinned. “Care to demonstrate?”
“Didn't we just have this conversation this afternoon or whatever the hell time it was?” Ehren said.
“That was then,” Robin replied. “This isn't a reaction, Ehren. I told you; I like you. I'm not going to stop.”
“I'll have you for sexual harassment,” Ehren said.
“No. You won't,” Robin replied. He took a step closer and gestured at the corner of his own mouth. “You've got a little...carmine right there. It's really unattractive and distracting when I'm trying to seduce you. Don't you Earthians chew with your mouths closed?”
“Your seduction techniques must be extremely rusty.” Ehren frowned in dismay and wiped at the side of his mouth with his sleeve.
"You don't say?" Robin chuckled and stepped into Ehren, forcing him backwards and off balance. Robin grabbed him to keep him from falling over and planted a kiss on the corner of his mouth where the carmine supposedly was even though it had never been there in the first place.
Ehren hesitated as Robin waited for him to make the next move. He sighed and tucked his head beneath Robin's chin as he leaned against him.
"This is like every stupid idea I ever had rolled into one," he said.
"Yeah, I know...and you've had some extremely stupid ideas," Robin replied.
"It must be true," Ehren said, "since you're the expert."
"So...are we going to just stand here? Because, I'll tell you right now, I don't have the patience or the stamina for another one of your damned conversations right now, Ehren."
"Fuck no," Ehren agreed. He pulled away, grabbed Robin's wrist and marched him out of the kitchen and into the bedroom.
***
Ehren woke some time later feeling hot and cold at the same time and with his face firmly planted in Robin's chest hair. He didn't really feel like moving at that moment, but he didn't especially want to be there when Robin woke up either.
As quietly as he could, he extricated himself from Robin's grasp and stumbled out of bed. His foot landed awkwardly in a pile of the rubble that still littered the floor. He pushed the pile out of the way and found that when he was finished, he was standing on a photograph that was torn nearly in half. His big toe was pointing directly to a man who looked a lot like Robin. He was holding a baby and beaming at the camera.
He was just bending over to grab the photo for a closer look when, much to his chagrin, Robin's voice was ringing in his ears.
"Nice view," he said. He sounded content, and his voice was heavy with sleep.
Ehren straightened up, and whirled around, self consciously moving to cover himself up despite what he and Robin had been getting up to earlier in the evening. He realized that he was still holding the photograph and moved his hands behind him to hide it. He didn't know for sure, but he had a feeling that Robin wouldn't like him snooping around in his personal belongings.
"Even better," Robin said once Ehren was exposed again.
"Shut-up," Ehren muttered.
Robin smiled at him and yawned.
"Come back to bed," he said.
"No!" Ehren shouted a little too loudly, causing Robin to frown.
"But..."
"I just gotta go right now," Ehren said. He glanced away from Robin who was looking increasingly cross with every passing second.
"I see. Well... later then." He rolled back over in the bed and pulled the blanket from where it was pooled around his ankles, back over his head.
"Uh...I..." Ehren sighed and mouthed an inaudible Earthian curse under his breath. "I'll see you later."
He stumbled his way out of the room, pulling on his trousers on as he went. He found his shirt and jacket in a pile in the hallway outside and cursed under his breath yet again. There was no way it would have escaped Galiana's attention. Aside from his clothing being strewn about the public areas of the flat, he was pretty sure that the walls there weren't soundproof either. Despite his best efforts, neither was he.
He pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead and shook his head as if to clear it, which wasn't effective at all. There was only one topic that remained entrenched in his mind and that was Robin; the way he looked, the way he smelled, the way he tasted, the way he seemed to get cooler as Ehren heated up in a strangely titillating mixture of opposing temperatures.
"Tornado weather," Eheren muttered to himself.
He shook his head again and scrambled away to the guest room where he spent the rest of the evening trying to concentrate on studying a textbook he had brought with him.
***
Robin spent the sleeping hours in a sleepless state. There really was no going back at that point, and he wasn't quite sure how to feel. Despite his insistence that his attraction to Ehren wasn't some sort of a reaction to the massive upheaval in his life, he wasn't convinced that was the case. Nonetheless, he had taken his flirtation to another level entirely there on Golden Utopia. He didn't regret it at all. Ehren was as enthusiastic and as eager to prove himself in bed as he was in the field. They'd had a good time, but when Robin had wakened from that restful sleep afterward (roused from a sudden lack of warmth at his side), Ehren's defenses had gone up.
No, Robin had no regrets, but it was blatantly obvious that Ehren was filled with them. He had a feeling that there weren't going to be any repeat performances of that afternoon's acrobatics, and his idea was only reinforced by the words out of Ehren's mouth the next rising cycle after Robin had broached the subject.
They were sitting at the kitchen table with Galiana humming behind them and fiddling with a pan of yet another kind of vegetable that Ehren had never heard of.
"About yesterday..." Robin said. He left the question hanging in the air, and Ehren ignored him in favor of staring at a spot on a far away wall.
Robin frowned and shrugged off the non-response as a lack of caffeine. Since Ehren's coffee remained untouched in front him, Robin reached over and dumped a sizable spoonful of sweetener in it. He stirred it in and pushed the cup back at Ehren, who was glaring at it as if he were trying to cause it to explode with the power of his mind.
Robin looked away, unable to deal with a perceived rejection. He wasn't expecting things to be perfect, but Ehren's cold demeanor and unresponsiveness was answer enough for him. He didn't like it, but he could take a hint.
"...It didn't happen," he said brusquely and turned his attention to his own beverage.
"That's for the best, Sir," Ehren said.
Robin swallowed his disappointment and stood from the table.
"Where are you going?" Ehren said.
"To Pack," he muttered, and disappeared from the room.
***
He wasn't there very long before Galiana appeared in his room with a small frown on her face. She went straight to the point without stopping for small talk.
"What's going on with you and that boy?" She said. "He is a little bit young for you, don't you think?"
Robin snorted a laugh and shook his head.
"I am so old, I might as well retire right now, right?" He said. "Look, Mom, just because you like him doesn't mean I do."
"Robin." She sat down on his bed and watched as he pushed the mess in his room around into more manageable piles.
"What? I don't even want him here," he said. "I told you."
"Robin." She said his name louder and in an even more disapproving motherly tone.
"What!" He whirled around to glare at her.
"Look, I know what you were doing in here yesterday," she said. "You weren't exactly the picture of discretion."
"Mom," he grumbled. He glanced down at the floor, feeling like an embarrassed teenager. "You were supposed to be at the store."
"I wasn't gone for that long," she said. "Look, You don't even care about silly little things like...the law when it comes to your love life, so I know you obviously aren't going to listen to me. Just be careful, okay?"
"There's nothing to be careful about," he muttered. "It's a one off thing, okay? He's made that much clear, and I don't really give a shit anyway."
She stood up slowly and patted her son sympathetically on the back as she passed him on her way out of his room.
"Sure you don't," she said.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You always were a sensitive one, Robin," she replied and gave him a short hug then disappeared from the room, leaving Robin to mull over her comments in private.
He wasn't interested in spending time alone with his thoughts, however. If he was thinking, there was a very real danger that he would think about Ehren. That recruit had been under his skin since the very first day he had been assigned to Robin's squadron.
Robin remembered that day very clearly. He was standing at attention in a formal line with the other fresh recruits as Robin did his best to appear intimidating in front of them all. Ehren was inches shorter than everybody else, and Robin couldn't help but wonder how he had even passed his pre-recruit test. Robin had learned since then that he was very determined, and it seemed to him that Ehren was determined to forget what had happened between them, so he decided to try and forget about it too.
He spent their last morning on the GU not speaking in anything but occasional grunts to anybody. He kept catching Ehren looking at him with terrified and remorseful glances that somehow filled him with guilt. He had never wanted Ehren to be afraid of him, so he decided the best thing to do would be to stay as far away from him as he possibly could while they had to work together.
***
Ehren felt miserable and confused on the way back to the spaceport. He was embarking on an illegal investigation of his own, that was true, but that wasn't what weighed most on his mind. In his heart he knew it wasn't right to close an investigation with so many loose ends still dangling. The Utopian government and the Inter-Galactic Action Squad, as well as the Temporal Detective Agency seemed perfectly content to let the matter lie. If there was a further truth to be found then Ehren wanted to find it.
None of that was more worrying then what had happened between him and Commander Grey. They had shared some kind of moment there on the GU, but he still had no idea where he stood with the man.
Robin had gone from being resentful, to proposing an affair, to having an affair, to complete disregard in an unfathomably short period of time. Ehren felt it best to take a step back while he worked on his undercover project and let Robin figure things out for himself.
This made their travel back to Tarain a somewhat awkward affair once they returned to the spaceport and said their goodbyes to Galiana. Robin stood in their designated area of the room with his bag slung over his shoulder, and Ehren stood a few feet away, looking as nervous as he felt.
He was feeling no greater regret than having lost the privileged of his own TTD in that moment, knowing that he would have to make physical contact with Robin in order for them to jump with the same device.
"Come on," Robin growled at him. "They're waiting for us."
Galiana gave him a reassuring push in Robin's direction and told him it would be okay. Soon enough he found himself standing side by side with the commander as the tech gave them the go ahead to jump back to Tarain.
"Well, come on," Robin grumbled and thrust out his elbow awkwardly.
Ehren sighed and tentatively reached out. He held on to Robin's arm and as soon as he made contact he was gone. They were back in Tarain and Robin was walking away from him before he even knew what had happened.
He frowned at the Robin's retreating back then sighed.
"What have you gotten yourself into this time, Behrendt," he muttered under his breath.
He decided to sleep on it and hope for the best come morning. It was a restless sleep as his mind was heavily occupied with many things. He finally woke with a start as he felt he had been perched on the edge of a steep precipice ready to fall over at any moment. He sighed with relief that he was safe in his own bed...alone.
He scrambled nervously through his morning routine, and brought his dress uniform to the laundry station then made his way to the mess hall.
Ehren found himself sitting at the usual table waiting for his coffee and staring at the icebox where his plears were stored. Robin never appeared and Ehren spent all day hungry, decaffeinated, and in a terrible mood.
He remained in that state for a day or two until he was sure that he was indeed being avoided. Robin referred him to Beatriu for all of his squadron training assignments and stayed away from the communications room where he had always dropped in before.
Ehren decided that two could play at that game and subsequently ignored Robin in turn. He threw himself into improving his field abilities and continued working out on his own as well as working on his clandestine project looking into Aina Grey's assassination.
Ehren wouldn't lie to himself though. Despite his best intentions, he missed the coffee and the company that the Commander had provided. Robin spent his time when they returned storming through the hallways and shouting at everybody who crossed his path, except for Ehren. When it came to Ehren, one look in his direction and Robin would huff loudly, turn around, and walk in the opposite direction.
The offer to transfer out of HQ was looking more and more inviting every day.
***
"You really need to stop hovering," Rasa said to him one day as he flitted around her desk, offering up his amateur suggestions since decoding ciphers was far from his specialty.
"Haven't you found anything yet?" He said.
"It's only been a week. Do you know what I'm dealing with? The code of the entire Universe is flying through my brain in my sleep already. I haven't found anything but wild geese!"
"Keep trying," he said as he settled himself in behind her with one hand on her chair, leaning slightly forward, staring at a screen full of incomprehensible numbers.
"Go away!" She pushed back from the desk causing him to lose his balance and his grip on the chair so he almost plunged to the floor.
"What you do that for?" He grumbled once he had righted himself.
"You're annoying the crap out of me, Ehrenfried," she said. "I'm not going to get anything accomplished at all with you breathing down my neck, okay? I don't know what you're expecting, but unscrambling coded time signatures is absolutely not going to yield instant gratification. Especially when I don't know what I'm looking for. I may be good at this, but I'm far from the best."
"Sorry, I get it," he admitted and held his hands up in defeat. "I just want this over and done with either way."
"Yeah, me too. I'm still on the record as thinking this is crazy, by the way," she said.
"Thank you again," he said. He gave her a short pat on the back and marched out of the computer room she had holed up in as her base of operations.
He pulled his timepiece from his pocket once he had wandered aimlessly around the hallways for a while. There was still time left until he was to report to the squadron room, so he headed towards the mess hall. The place was nearly empty except for Robin Grey, who was seated alone at a table staring out at nothing.
Ehren gritted his teeth and strode deliberately past the Commander. He found a table directly in Robin's eye line and slumped down in his chair with his arms crossed. He felt Robin's presence beside him almost immediately.
"You're avoiding me, Ehren," he said.
Ehren didn't reply. He instead pretended to meticulously inspect his fingernails.
"Silent treatment? Really?" Robin said. He reached out a hand and placed it on Ehren's shoulder. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were up to something."
Ehren cringed and hoped that Robin wouldn't notice.
"I've been busy. I have a lot of work to catch up on from last week. I don't want to get behind."
Robin sat down beside him. He didn't say anything and they were silent for a long time before either one of them spoke.
"Besides, you're the one who's avoiding me," Ehren finally said.
"I thought you wanted things to go back the way the were before," Robin said.
"Things can't go back the way they we're before. I was stupid to think that could happen, and now... After what happened on the GU?"
Ehren held his hands out in front of him in a gesture of helplessness.
"What exactly is it that you want from me, Sir? I need you to tell me because I'm tired of dancing around you."
"I want you to stop talking. Fucking shit, you talk so damn much!"
"That's fine," Ehren said. "My life would probably be better off if we didn't speak so candidly."
"Why do you say shit like that?" Robin pitched forward suddenly in his chair, inching close enough to Ehren so that he could feel his cool breath on his face.
"Because it's true," Ehren said.
"You'd be living in a shack in a desert!" Robin spit out the words without mind for the hurt they might cause.
Ehren sat bolt upright in his seat, biting back a hot rush of anger.
"If you're trying to bait me, it's not going to work," Ehren said. His voice was calm. "There is nothing wrong with where I lived on Earth. There is no shame in it. I like being in I-GAS, but it's not so bad in the desert should I ever be dismissed and have to return home. I owe you nothing, and clearly you know fuck all about Earthian culture if you think I'm going to take that as some kind of an insult."
"I'm sorry," Robin muttered.
They were silent once again; Robin's simple apology sitting so heavily in the air that Ehren could barely stand it. He wasn't even quite sure he knew the exact reason for the cold shoulders they were giving each other, so he reached into his pocket and timidly placed the photograph he had taken from Robin's room the week before on the table and pushed it forward. It had been there for the entire week, waiting on his person making him feel guilty like a telltale heart.
"What's that?" Robin looked up from where he had been staring down the tabletop.
"I'm sorry. I found it in your room," Ehren said. "I should have left it there."
Robin glared at the photo for a moment then snapped it up. Ehren was afraid he was going to fly into a rage like the time he had smashed an ICD against a wall. The thought conjured up the image of Robin trying with all his might to fling a piece of paper at a solid object only to have it sail straight into the air and come to a fluttering rest only a few inches away.
He tried to stifle the giggle that welled up inside him, but he failed at it completely.
"What are you laughing at?" Robin growled, his attention jumped from the image to Ehren who had his head bent over the table with his shoulders shaking with laughter.
"Nothing!" He glanced up, caught one look at the expression of impotent rage on Robin's face and burst out even louder than he had before.
Robin's expression melted as he sat there and watched Ehren. He smiled as he realized that no matter the situation, Ehren had a tendency to render him completely useless.
"I don't know why you think I'm so damn funny, Recruit," Robin said as he joined in. Finding the mirth to be infectious rather than rage inducing was a far more pleasant experience. Besides, If history was any indicator, attempts to discipline Ehren without thinking carefully about his words would only result in more laughter at his expense.
Their laughter came to a slow stop after a minute, and Ehren found that he had attached himself to Robin with his hand clutching the sleeve of his uniform as he was doubled over.
He quickly righted himself and mumbled a hurried apology, but couldn't keep the smile off his face.
"It's Ensign by the way, Sir," he said quietly.
Robin turned his attention away from catching his own breath so that he could regard his companion. Ehren's face was streaked with happy tears, his complexion had visibly reddened despite the deep tan he had developed while on the GU, and his dimple was clearly apparent.
Robin reached out, seemingly involuntarily, and touched Ehren's cheek, wiping away an errant tear. His sharp intake of breath was clearly audible and Robin quickly dropped his hand away.
"What are we doing?"
"I'm afraid I don't know, Sir," Ehren said. He glanced away and sighed. "I'm not quite sure I'm really comfortable with this. You are my commanding officer."
"Yeah, well. That's easy enough to fix," Robin said. "I have a plan."
"Oh, is that so?" Ehren arched an eyebrow skeptically. "I'll bite. What's the plan?"
"Well," Robin said. "Considering my rate of demotion and your current rate of promotion then we should meet somewhere around lieutenant pretty soon and we won't have to worry about it."
Ehren made a big show of pondering the idea as he nodded sagely and stroked his chin.
"You know, that could work," he said eventually. "Except for one thing..."
"What's that?" Robin leaned forward in mock anticipation. "It's foolproof."
"Right," Ehren said. His grin widened and he leaned forward himself to look Robin in the eye. "It will work until I'm inevitably promoted to outrank you."
The harsh stubble that covered Robin's jawline scratched against Ehren's cheek as he closed the gap between him to whisper in his ear.
"Then I'll have to call you 'Sir'."
Ehren closed his eyes.
"That'll be kind of hot," Robin said then nipped at Ehren's ear.
Ehren couldn't contain the 'Oh-My God' or the small breathless sighs that escaped him as Robin made no efforts to remove himself despite the fact that they were in a very open and very public space. Eventually he regained the presence of mind to suggest a change of venue; a prospect that Robin wholeheartedly agreed with. A while later they found themselves in Robin's room fully satisfied and extremely late for their shift.
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