#gerain

Sigerin was a big reader, which suited Gerain just fine. In fact, the role had given the Agent the opportunity to indulge one of his favourite pastimes, and at every opportunity could be found in some quiet corner of the Iskatel with his nose deeply in a datapad. Today’s distraction was the new edition of the Corellian Science Journal, and the Chiss man had taken the opportunity provided by a docking queue at Port Nowhere to settle down on a crate and pore through the articles.

It was a total flight of fancy, but within the scholarly words and holographic diagrams Gerain could lose himself for a while, theorems about things greater than politics and research regarding anything other than machinations filtered into his mind and were placed in well ordered rows for later contemplation. Science made so much more sense than the world he lived in at times, and he revelled in the fact that he could learn about more than just how and when to shoot.

This was how he was when Kyr found him, unmoving and unaware even that he’d been joined by company, with a small smile upon his usually impassive face as he drank in the knowledge he had never realised he thirsted for.

“I knew I’d find you here.” The affectionate rumble was the thing which got his attention, but even so Gerain was a little dazed as he looked up at the sky blue man, his eyes still alight with interest. “What are you reading?”

It was good to be able to indulge an interest, but even better to have someone to share it with, and Kyr was one of the best listeners he’d encountered. It was with this in mind that he could launch into an explanation of the article he’d been reading without preamble or introduction, trusting in the hunter’s intelligence to be able to catch up.

“It’s a fascinating study done into the affixation of hyperroutes as they age. There’s a theory that they tend to narrow as time goes on, and it’s thought that process eventually leads to a stable passage being created through space, but also if they catch one early enough they may be able to use it to travel in time as well, though where one might end up is currently debatable.”

“No way.” Freckled blue wrinkled as Kyr waved away the possibility, perching himself alongside Gerain on the crate as he made his disputation. “Travelling through time is impossible, isn’t it? I mean, that’s what hyperlanes do, let us travel beyond the speed of light without getting sucked into Stars know when. And if you can’t control where you end up, well, there’s no point in going to the future if yours is immediately snuffed out by that star you wound up materialising in!”

“I know, but it’s quite fascinating to ponder on the ramifications if the time barrier could be safely broached. If a hyperroute could be as stable through time as they are through space, then theoretically it is possible. We just need to find a way to calculate what we’d be jumping out into.” The attractant of Kyr was almost as compelling as the draw of the datapad in his lap, but Gerain nonetheless found his eyes moving back to the text, hopeless between his desire to learn and the encouragement from the other.

“Why don’t you read it to me, so I can get a better idea of what you’re saying?” Kyr was all attention as he settled back on the crate, voice warm and inviting despite the note of skepticism to the words, and Gerain silently thanked him for the permission to begin reading once more.

His soft, intent voice filled the room with scientific minutiae, and unseen his audience smiled. Ger had no idea of how his enthusiasm enriched his tone, making even the most dry and boring scientific jargon flow like poetry, and Kyr was more than happy to indulge. It certainly helped that he truly did have an interest in what Ger was saying - that had been the beginning of their friendship, after all - but the man’s voice touched places within him he had thought long abandoned, and he almost laughed at himself and his own small deception.

They were only newly together, moving from friendship to love in a way he had never expected nor anticipated, and the delight was still fresh when fear and suspicion allowed it to surface. There were still barriers between them, but there were moments like these where courage flashed and another would fall. Only a few days ago he would not have sat uninvited beside the oh-so-Chiss Sigerin, and the casual acceptance of it emboldened him.

He craved intimacy, and not the passion fuelled kind they had already shared so marvellously on prior nights. Well, not just that kind, he thought, a faint touch of colour warming his face as remembered sensation impinged on that certainty. But it was so difficult to judge what was appropriate - Chiss, Agent, Imperial; they combined in a quagmire that Kyr frankly was having trouble traversing.

It only takes a moment of bravery, however, to break new ground.

It was with a pang of fear that he turned away from the reader and lay back, his breath catching in his throat at the thought of rejection as he pillowed his head on Ger’s thigh.

There was a pause where the their focus changed, where words faltered for just a millisecond and stumbled in surprise, or perhaps shock. Kyr stiffened in preparation for rebuke…

...And heaved a sigh of relief as a hand moved from the pad to his hair, its fingers contemplatively running through the strands as Ger continued to read his article. Kyr relaxed, settling in comfortably as his hair was lovingly stroked.

Above, Gerain’s smile had softened. Yes, it was good to be able to indulge, and this cozy companionship was certainly indulgence. Kyr’s hair felt like silk through his gentle fingers, and there was a warmth surrounding them in a small bubble of familiarity.