The Morning After

Posted on Thu Dec 12th, 2024 @ 9:56pm by Ensign Tyler Williams & Sub-Lieutenant Osirin Acainus

2,492 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Shore Leave & Ship Repairs
Location: Osirin's Cabin Space Station
Timeline: After Chance Meeting

Osirin's eyes slowly fluttered open. He wasn't sure exactly what time it was, he only knew it was past the time he usually got up He didn't care, he had no agenda for the rest of the day, except to follow his new Captain's suggestion of visiting the planet below them. As she said, there was no guarantee they would have shore leave anytime in the near future. But, that didn't have to happen anytime soon.

It had been close to 0200 by the time he and Tyler, he did remember the man's name this time, which wasn't always the case, which was a plus. They'd gone to bed almost immediately upon entering his quarters, not even bothering to find the bed for their first go around. But neither of them had been interested in sleep. Not for an hour or two.

The night had been fun, very fun. By the groans and moans that Tyler had let out, it had been that way for both of them. However, as he lay there his eyes closed, trying to keep his breathing slow and deep so as not to wake the man sleeping beside him. One of the reasons he didn't want to wake his bed partner was because it wasn't the polite thing to do. But there was another reason in the back of his mind. This man was a shipmate, one he would see on a regular basis in a fairly confined space. Would Tyler expect more than a casual, one-time fling? Was he looking for a relationship? How did Osirin feel about those things?

He wasn't sure, but he pushed those thoughts aside and just lay there trying to go back to sleep.

Still passed out asleep from the activities only a few hours before, Tyler shifted in his sleep but didn't wake up. He was lying next to Osirin, the man who'd picked him up at the bar, and was on his stomach with one leg hiked up for comfort and his arms were wrapped around the soft pillow his face was currently melted into with his hair covering his face and he was facing away from the other man. If he were awake, Tyler would've been questioning the effect last night had on him and what it would mean for not only him, but Osirin going forward.

He shifted again to move into a more comfortable position with his head on his hands, this time facing Osirin, and opened his eyes with a slight groan escaping him. Seeing that the other man was still asleep, Tyler smiled and propped himself up on his elbows so that he had one hand free to move his own hair out of his face properly before moving Osirin's out of his and behind the ear. He contemplated doing something but thought against it, the man deserved some sleep after last night. Instead, Tyler just stretched himself out and watched.
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Osirin felt the bed shift as Tyler moved. Then he felt Tyler's touch. He smiled and slowly opened his eyes."

"Good morning," he greeted.

"Good morning," Tyler replied, still smiling. He didn't know what to say after that, "How'd you sleep?" That was a good follow up, right?

The Akadian didn't respond immediately, at least not verbally. He lifted his head as he stared into Tyler's eyes. Eyes that reminded him of the rich soil of the McClendon Valley. He leaned in and kissed his fellow crewman. It wasn't chaste, but it held less heat than the last one they had shared. And, he let it linger.

"What little sleep I got was good," he finally spoke after their kiss had broken. It was worth it though, I'll tell you that much. What about you?"

Tyler chuckled and gave Osirin a lopsided smile as he slowly opened his eyes, "I'm not complaining about a thing right now. Later on though, that's a different story." It was true, he wasn't feeling the hangover headache just yet, nor was he feeling the bruised ribs. He rolled over slowly onto his back and shifted closer to Osirin, eventually taking hold of his hand and looking at him. "I enjoyed last night, and I hope you did too?"

"I think I just said that, you know that I enjoyed last night," Osirin responded as he squeezed Tyler's hand.

"If you want, I can apply more of the salve"

Then with a grin, he added, "This time just to your ribs."

"Sorry," Tyler apologised with a sleep laced tone, "I'm still mostly asleep... After last night, you can do whatever you want with that salve," He mustered up a sleepy yet suggestive grin, "What's actually in it? Or did you tell me that one too and I forget?"

"You were pretty, what's the Terran term, waste. But not that wasted. No, I didn't tell you. I will however say that you rather liked where I applied it last night."

"But to answer your question, the primary ingredient is from a plant on Akadia called the media. I believe it is similar to aloe?"

"There are also some other plants, even I have a hard time pronouncing."

"Not to change the subject, but what would you like to do next?"

Given that he wasn't a morning person, Tyler simply closed his eyes again and still grinning, mumbled, "You, preferably." With a deep breath in and out through his nose, he added, "I'm starting to feel the pain back in my ribs a little bit but it's not too bad at the moment." He'd never thought about how aloe was a natural lubricant. "What would you like to do next? We've got all day, I'm pretty sure."

In response, Osirin sat up in bed. "Breakfast sounds like a good start. I might be small, but I have a big appetite, But first, let me put this on your ribs and we can get dressed. As much fun as last night was, I wouldn't recommend a repeat until you're better.""

"Okay fine," Tyler surrendered. Osirin did have a point though, repeating last night wouldn't be ideal at this stage. "Breakfast sounds good, but I might have a quick shower first so I don't keep smelling like I drank the entire bar." He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, realising his underwear was nowhere to be seen. "You.. wouldn't happen to know where my underwear disappeared to, do you?"

Osirin laughed at the question. "I'm pretty sure it's by the replicator in the other room. Though as long as we're here you don't really need them."

"I mean, I'm happy to stay in here all day if you are, but I swear you just said you wanted some food," Tyler leaned backward toward Osirin and grinned at him before kissing him and straightening back up again, pushing off the bed, "I'm gonna find them, have that shower, then I'll be right back in that bed. Sound good?"

"That's a grand idea, but I promise to not try anything you don't want to do. I'm going to grab a shower too by the way."

"How does the saying go? Shower together and save water? I know I, for one, like that idea." Tyler replied with a playful tone as he bit his bottom lip and stood at the edge of the bed stark naked and offered his hand to Osirin. "I prefer not being the one in charge, in case you haven't guessed."

"I am a man known for being intuitive, but I needed zero intuition to figure that out. As you may have also gathered, I have no problem being the one in charge."

"As far as your shower idea, I couldn't agree with you more."

Lucky for both of them, the shower had enough room for at least two people. Tyler took Osirin by the hand and led him toward the shower.

* * Fade to black * *

Forty-five minutes later the two men emerged from the shower cleaner than when they had gone in.

"How about some breakfast? What are you in the mood for?"

Tyler flopped face down onto the bed, "Some sort of fruit bowl would be good right now, and an energy drink too. Or even a drink that's got tonnes of electrolytes in it." He'd had maybe four hours of sleep and the morning shower fun times high would start to wear off soon.


"I know what you mean," Osirin who was standing next to the bed stretching like a cat. He bent down and pulled a shirt off the floor. After glancing at it, he tossed it on the bed beside Tyler, "That one's yours, I think. He bent down again retrieving the shirt he was looking for.

"I was going to suggest eating in, but that might lead to a round four, or is it five? Anyway, I think we should probably go out. What do you think?"

Tyler nodded in agreement as he fumbled to get the shirt not inside out and put it on, "I think it'd be round four, but yeah, let's go out somewhere, maybe a little cafe?" He found his pants and put them on too before he towel-dried his hair and put it up into half knot. His hair was one of the things he took the most pride in, making sure it was acceptable at all times. "Ready when you are."

As Osirin finished dressing, he said, "So, do you want to go down to the planet? You mentioned maybe going to a little cafe. I like that idea. Did you have anything particular in mind?"

"I think I saw a cafe that does some out-of-this-world kind of food, it's nice and relaxed and quiet at this time of the day, so there's not too many people that will overhear unwanted conversations. I'm pretty sure they would even cater to Akadian culture too?" Tyler suggested as he opened the door to the quarters and wondered for a moment if he would ever come back there.

"That sounds, like a great idea. Though there are very few Akadians in Starfleet, or the Federation for that matter. But, you never know."

"I love to experiment, and not just with food if you know what I mean. Are we planning on having an unwanted conversation?"

Tyler shrugged in response, "I dunno, you tell me, and we'll both know." His mood soured slightly at the experiment remark, making him think it was just a one-night stand. "Shall we make our way down now? My stomach is about to devour itself."

Osirin noticed the change in Tyler's demeanor. but he didn't show, nor did he push to find the reason. "Mine too. Let's go and eat. I guess we can decide what kind of conversations we can have."

The two of them made their way to the cafe Tyler had mentioned earlier and stood a little way back to look at some of the specials on the board above the counter. Tyler already knew what he was going to get and that was a massive Earth breakfast that had tomatoes, hash browns, sausage, bacon, toasted ciabatta bread, and eggs of his choice with an extra-large coffee. He did, however, wonder what Osirin was going to get because he looked as though he could definitely put away a decent amount of food.

The Akadian looked over the menu. It took him a few minutes to decipher some of the words into his native tongue while trying to keep one eye focused on Tyler. "What is an English Breakfast?" he inquired.

Tyler quirked an eyebrow up and smiled wide, "I'm not sure what foods you're used to on Akadia, but an English Breakfast is a favourite dish amongst many on Earth and what's in it can usually vary." Food was actually a favourite topic of his, so the excitement in his voice was evident, "There's bacon and sausages, eggs to your liking, fried or grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, baked beans and bread, either, or both, toast and fried bread. I personally am not a fan of fried bread, so I replace that with potato hash." He hoped that made sense to Osirin.

"Some of those foods I haven't heard of, but they do sound savory. Not sure about baked beans for breakfast, but I guess I could try them. I've had tomatoes before, the fried kind and I enjoyed them. I think I'll get that and steal your idea of potato hash. That's another new thing I want to try."

"Did I say something wrong earlier? You seemed a little, I don't know, off?"

There it was. The beginning of that conversation, "I highly recommend getting the baked beans, they really tie in everything together. And make sure you put a little bit of salt and pepper onto the tomatoes and it's a chef's kiss moment. As for the potato hash, it's got to be crispy to get the full effect." He hadn't forgotten Osirin's question, "I'm all good. Just a passing emotion. Everything is fine, and I'm enjoying a breakfast with some good company."

"I will try the beans then on your recommendation and add the salt too."

He wasn't sure if Tyler was really okay, but for the moment, he wasn't going to push it."
want
"So, what do you want to do after we eat?"

"I'm open to whatever you suggest." Tyler replied as he ordered and waited for his food. "Eventually I'd be keen to get a bit of a more standard workout in, but that can be later on in the day. Is there anything you want to do?"

"Not especially," came the reply. "I want to do a little exploring. Have you had a chance to check anything out down here yet?"

Tyler shook his head in reply, "Nope, can't say I have. I mostly only went down there for that party last night, otherwise, I've just been staying on the ship because someone's got to, right?" He laughed, "When the Security Chief and her boyfriend decide they want to go and do their own thing for the time we're all here, everyone else gets delegated her tasks." He rolled his eyes.

"I guess things are the same regardless of whether it's Starfleet, Akadia or some other organization. I think that's pretty universal. I guess we could just go down there and check things out. I think the Terran term is flying by the seat of your pants?"

Tyler nodded in response, "Make it up as we go, see where it leads."

The two of them continued to chat and eat their food once they got it. The conversation cycled through many different topics and both of them ending up learning quite a bit more about each other. Once it came time to finish up, they set their trays by the trash receptical and walked off to go do some more exploring together.


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