See part one for warnings and acknowledgements

Toccata in D-Minor

The Complexities Of Simple Games

After three weeks spent mostly in bed with Molly, dining with Molly, walking with Molly and doing whatever else came to mind with Molly Dylan felt good.  He was in one of those semi-delusional states when one thinks that if he feels good the rest of the world should too.  So he didn’t notice Rommie’s pursed lips, Beka’s raised eyebrows and Tyr’s increasing irritability and unprovoked bursts of anger.  So, not suspecting a thing, being his old pre-Magog dense and cheerful self, Dylan suggested a game of basketball to Tyr.  When Beka tried to interfere he just threw “Later, Beka!” over his shoulder and went to change.

When Dylan walked in, bouncing and dribbling the ball, Anasazi already waited for him in Hydroponics. Tyr usually played rough, but this game was downright vicious.  Dylan didn’t stand a chance and neither did the ball.  After one particularly mean foul Dylan went tumbling down, couldn’t get his balance back and fell hard on his face, splitting his lip and almost breaking his nose. The ball blew up from the sheer force of the impact. Hunt was furious: 

“What the hell was that all about?!  What is wrong with you, Anasazi?”

“What is wrong with me?” Tyr’s nostrils flared in rage and lips twitched, his bone blades instinctively went up into fighting position.  “What is wrong with ME?  I should ask what is wrong with YOU, Captain!”

“What are you talking about, Tyr?”

“I am talking about you spending three weeks in bed with this… this harlot!”

“Excuse me?”  Captain’s voice was a mix of hiss and growl. “Since when are you my keeper, Mr. Anasazi? I do not recall putting you in charge of my personal affairs!”

“You tend to forget that your personal affairs have a direct effect on your crew!  You have no idea who this woman is and why was she so … agreeable to sleep with you!  For all we know she could have been a spy and for three weeks you gave her unrestricted access to this ship and the tour of the signed Commonwealth worlds.  Do you have any proof that she is not another Satrina?  I have told you on the number of occasions that you are behaving recklessly, Captain, and you have yet to prove me wrong!”

Rommie’s hologram blinked into view: “Is everything alright, Dylan?”

“Andromeda, stay out of it!”  Hunt’s voice was harsh. Rommie looked hurt but obediently answered “Aye” and flickered out.

Tyr gave a short mirthless laugh.

“What is so amusing, Tyr?”

“You.  You call me cold but you are so careless about the people around you that you even managed to hurt your ship’s feelings.  Did you not notice her reaction to your Belle Di Jour?  You are more self-centered then a three-year-old child!  When that barge exploded we thought we had lost you!  And you didn’t even bother to stop your kissing session to thank Andromeda for saving your ass!” 

Dylan paused; something in Tyr’s eyes stopped him from making another nasty comeback.

“You mean I didn’t thank Andromeda and you for saving my ass.”

“I don’t anticipate gratitude from you, Captain Hunt.  You said to me once that you expect Tyr to be Tyr.  Well, I expect Dylan to be Dylan.”   With that Anasazi turned and walked away, leaving Dylan standing open-mouthed in Hydroponics, holding the remnants of his last basketball.

*  *  *

Later, much later Dylan found that he couldn’t sleep.  He tried to read but the lines blurred and the letters danced in front of his eyes.  He kept thinking of how Tyr’s face looked right before he left Hydroponics.  Could it be?  No, it is not possible.  Tyr can’t be hurt by his behavior.  He can’t be  -- jealous?  Finally Dylan got up, pulled on his sweats and not bothering with shoes left his quarters.  Minutes later he paused before pressing the chime on Tyr ‘s door.

“Enter.” Came short reply and the door hissed open.  Tyr was sitting with his back to the entrance, looking at the stars in the porthole and listening to music. Old Earth Organ classic, Dylan knew that much.  He remembered this particular piece; Anasazi was listening to it quite often right after… Hunt paused.  It was right after Tyr almost died from the surgery, when Trance removed the Magog larvae. 

Tyr’s voice interrupted his thoughts, “What can I do for you, Captain?”

“How did you know…”

“That it was you? I can smell you. So, to what do I owe the honor of your visit?” 

Dylan hesitated.  He was not sure himself why did he came, but it was too late to retreat, so he ran his hand through his already mussed hair and answered wearily, “I think we need to talk.”

“Oh?  About what?”

“About us.”

“Us as what, Captain? Us as a Captain and his subordinate?  Or us as friends? Or maybe…”

“Us as two people who obviously have unresolved issues.”  Dylan walked over to where Tyr was sitting and sat down next to him. Neither of them said anything and pregnant silence hung over them like a blanket, gradually becoming stifling. 

“Tell me something, Captain.” Tyr finally spoke, his voice soft, “What do you think of me?”

“What do you mean?”

“How do you see me, Tyr Anasazi?  Do you see a mercenary, a cold-blooded killer, a self-serving bastard that you need to blackmail to keep on the leash?”

“Sometimes yes, I see all of the above.  Sometimes I see a great warrior, an invaluable asset to this crew who claims not to give a damn but goes and dies for his engineer. And sometimes…sometimes I see a man who suffered so much pain in his life that I have no idea how does he manage to remain sane. Sometimes I even see myself in you.”

“How so?”

“We are more alike then you know, Tyr.  We both lost our loved ones, under different circumstances but still, it hurts all the same.  We were both in the same line of work.”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you think Argosy Special Ops did?”

“You were a spook?”

“More or less.  The only difference between us was that you dealt with individual people and I mostly had to handle governments and planets.”

Tyr laughed; he threw his head back, bared his white teeth and roared with laughter.  After a few minutes he calmed enough to be able to speak.

“This is priceless, our Mister High Ideals and World Order is a spook, a governmental mercenary of galactic caliber!  Oh, I wish I have had someone to share the humor of this situation with!”  

“Well, Tyr, you’ll just have to be content with solitary enjoyment.”

Tyr nodded, serious again.  “So, if you say that we are so much alike…”

“Then I know how you feel.”

“Clarify.”

“When I came out of the Event Horizon and found out what happened and how long ago I was lost, confused, I was – still am sometimes – a fish out of water.  When you and the others agreed to join me I had a purpose and a crew again, I had someone to care about.  I think the same may apply to you.  You were alone for years and now you a part of something, you have people who mean something to you.”

“You know, Captain, your ship is more perceptive then you are.”

“???”

“She figured out that it is you I care about, you who mean something – a lot actually – to me.  Don’t you think that if anyone else would take the Progenitor’s remains from me they would live to see another day, Magog threat or not? Do you think I would face a herd of Calderans for anyone else?  And I did hear your soliloquy when you were sitting with me in Medical thinking that I was dying.  I guess that was what opened my eyes to my feelings toward you.” 

Anasazi finished and looked away, resting his chin on his laced fingers, elbows on his knees.  Unprepared to hear what Tyr just spilled to him Dylan didn’t know what to say so he just put his hand on Tyr’s shoulder.

“You should know, Captain, Nietzscheans are not casually tactile like humans may be.”

“I do know that.”  Dylan’s hand moved further, towards Tyr’s neck, long fingers slightly caressing heated skin.

Tyr turned to face Dylan, the motion so fast and sharp that his braids whipped about his head and hit Dylan across face.  The sudden sensation was so strong it sent a jolt of feeling through his body, a rush of unexpected desire.  He took Tyr’s face in both hands and pulled him close, stopping microns away from his own.

“I thought that Nietzscheans usually take what they want without that much dancing around.” He felt the warmth of his own breath bounce off Tyr’s lips.

“Oh, but we do.  Sometimes we just like it better when what we want comes to us.”  And he kissed Dylan hard, re-opening the cut on his lip and reveling in the taste of blood and something else, uniquely Dylan.  Hunt didn’t hesitate and answered with the bite of his own, making Tyr’s mouth bleed as well. Both men were old enough to have had many lovers, men and women alike, but this was new and different for both.  Somehow their years of loneliness and longing culminated in this joining, all the emotions they pretended did not exist re-surfaced in their thunderous lovemaking.

When the reality seeped back in through the cold tiles of the floor they somehow ended up on, Tyr laughed, “I did not know that High Guard Goody-Two-Boots could be so … skilled and passionate.”

“There are plenty of things, my friend Horatio…” Dylan quoted, and Anasazi laughed harder, “And he reads too!”  Hunt didn’t dignify that quip with an answer; he kept tracing intricate patterns on the soft skin between Tyr’s bone blades.

“Dylan, do you have any idea what that does to me?”

“Mm-hm.”

“And you are still doing it?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Well, then it won’t be my fault when you are sore in the morning.”

Hunt twisted around and pinned Tyr to the floor: “I don’t think I would be the only one who is sore in the morning, Anasazi!”

“May I make a suggestion, Captain?”

“What is it?”

“Shall we move to the bed?”

“We shall.”

*  *  *

Rommie, the Avatar, was walking by Tyr’s quarters and saw her holo-sister flickering in the hallway.

“You shouldn’t be peeking, Andromeda,” the Avatar admonished.  “Some things are meant to be private.”

“The privacy mode was not engaged, so technically I was not peeking. Besides, I was enjoying them from the esthetic point of view.”

“Yes, they do look beautiful together.  Put Ancient Greek gods to shame, don’t they? Now, Andromeda, let’s give them their privacy.” 

The Avatar continued walking down the hall and the hologram blinked off.

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