Diell Breaker (LGBT- Sci-Fi - Romance)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 

Everyone worked hard and by the end of the day, all the passengers were safely down on the planet, settling in to their new homes, and the cargo unloaded. The Voyager was now refilling its cargo bays with wood and more plant samples for the scientists to study back on Capella. A few passengers were also getting ready to make the return trip having completed their work on Fayruz. Voyager would return to Capella the following day, accompanied by the Diell. Both ships were already scheduled for the next trip back to Fayruz the following fortnight. 

When the two Lieutenants returned to the Diell, Shehu found an excuse to cancel their chess game for that evening. It hardly came as a surprise, but what Petrov hadn't expected was the hurt he felt at the other man's decision. 

And great. As an added bonus, now he had both Farrell and Shehu watching him. Shehu was more surreptitious but he caught him out several times, before he quickly shifted his gaze. All he could do was ignore them, try and behave just as he normally did. Surely they'd get bored and give up soon, right? 

A couple of days later, Petrov was playing cards in the common room with Nguyen, thank heavens he hadn't told him he was an om, when he saw Shehu coming towards them. His heart sank, couldn't they just leave him alone? He was only playing cards for god's sake. He had already discovered Nguyen had a string of hopeful girlfriends around the galaxy so he was hardly likely to make a pass at him even in private, let alone in the middle of the common room. He deliberately focussed on his cards, as if they were the most important thing in the room, ignoring the First Lieutenant who was standing at his elbow. 

Shehu cleared his throat awkwardly, aware of the other man's coiled tension. "Uh, Petrov? I was wondering if you might have time for a game of chess later?"  

Petrov looked up, his face closed. Was this for real or was the Lieutenant setting him up, only to shoot him down in flames later? He'd pretty much ostracised him for the last couple of days, could this be a peace offering, could he trust him? Shehu appeared increasingly uncomfortable as the silence lengthened between them and he started to backtrack. 

"Sorry, I can see you're busy. Another time perhaps." 

Perhaps he should give him the benefit of the doubt. "Tomorrow."  

"Sorry?" 

"I'll give you a game tomorrow, if you like."  

"Good, I'll see you here then." Shehu ventured a small smile. He nodded at both men and went out of the room. 

Nguyen seized on his opponent's momentary distraction to win the hand. "Gotcha!" He grinned.

The next evening, he and Shehu had their chess game but the atmosphere had changed. The First Lieutenant was tense and jumpy around him, and lost the game in less than an hour, another first. 

"Relax Leo," Petrov told him. "I'm still the same person, you know. Nothing has changed, really." He reached out and gripped his arm, feeling the other man flinch in response. He kept his hold and tried a smile. "See? Not the end of the world is it?" Shehu seemed to freeze as he stared at Petrov's hand on his bare arm. He licked his lips and tried to get himself back under control. "No," he agreed, "Not the end of the world." 

Petrov took his hand away and set out the pieces again. "Let's see if you can do better this time," he encouraged. This time the game was a draw. The Second Lieutenant started to relax, maybe things were going to work out after all. 

The Captain was in the gym halfway through his workout when Petrov went in there the next day. As part of his routine, Farrell made sure he had a practice bout with a different member of the crew each time. He said he got a better idea of his men's character and fitness with a round on the mat than through hours of interviews and evaluations. So far he had excluded Petrov but this time he called him over. "When you finish warming up we'll have a match." It wasn't a question. 

"Yes sir." Petrov found himself assessing the Captain's body, stripped to the waist above his red shorts. He was an extremely strong man, muscles rippled across his chest as he went through his exercises. He looked as if he could crush walnuts with his ab crunches. Petrov was fit, but not like that, more along the lines of a runner, his long body built for endurance and speed rather than strength. He wondered if he was about to be smeared over the floor. 

A couple of hours later he stood, bent over, his hands on his knees drawing in large gulps of air, sweat pouring off his body. The Captain hadn't quite wiped the floor with him but he had had to use every trick he possessed to get to the end of the round without conceding. For someone who didn't like oms the Captain seemed to enjoy body slamming him to the ground rather too frequently. He suspected he was going to be feeling the effects for some time to come. Farrell of course was standing there, upright, with only a light sheen of sweat coating his manly chest which was hardly moving any faster than usual.  

"Not bad, Petrov," he spoke with guarded appreciation. "You fight harder than I expected." 

My god, was the Captain actually expressing approval of something he'd done? 

"Thank you sir," he gasped. His legs felt rubbery and he only hoped he could make it to the shower without falling over. 

Shehu moved into step alongside of him and he remembered catching a glimpse of him, along with about half a dozen other crewmen, watching the match from the sidelines. Shehu was frowning. "He was too rough on you. Are you all right?" 

"I'll live." Petrov managed a smile, appreciating the other man's concern. Shehu kept looking him over as if he was making sure he was still intact. He followed him all the way into the shower room, only stopping as he went into a cubicle. "I think I can take it from here," Petrov smiled. 

The other man stiffened up immediately. "I was just worried about you," he protested, frowning again. "You looked about to fall flat on your face." 

Petrov smiled even harder. He bit his lip to stop from teasing him further, it was a really nice feeling to have a friend who cared about him. For the first time in a while he thought of Rhys, and was relieved to discover it finally didn't hurt any more, well not much. Maybe he was ready to go back to the All Stars and find a new lover, just a casual one this time where no-one expected anything from anyone except a fun night or two.