( The M pants in the top right are literally because I can just imagine Mark sticking an M on so many things once they’re on the colony. Also bottom left is direct reference to colony verse specifically, Dirk.
In general Charlie is very chill about sleepwear. He’ll fall asleep in the same shirt he spent the day in, or do a full outfit change, or somewhere in between. )
"Just a fluke?" repeated Gunther with an unconvinced tone, "When it has been the start of, whatever it is your call your normal mood? I've had several members of the team approach me about your behaviour and how you act like you're two seconds from pouncing or running at any moment." Even now! Gunther could see how antsy Dirk was quickly becoming. No attempt to save face or give a snarky response was given by the other. If anything, Dirk looked like an animal trapped in a cage.
"All this seemed to escalate after that day, which leads me to believe it's more than simply being a fluke. I understand that being confined in a place like this can mess with people, but you need to face whatever is going on in that head of yours. I can't have one of the most qualified members of my team performing at such a dismal standard. If you want a relationship with someone, you can have it. It isn't against protocol to have a need to be with someone, but it is against protocol to be unable to work consistently. On top of that, running around and kissing people willy-nilly is not considered 'good manners', according to my understanding of the matter."
It almost felt like he was saying it to wind Dirk up, but nothing in his body language hinted at smugness. In fact, he had removed his shades to properly look at his colleague. There was genuine concern in his eyes. "If there is someone, talk to them when you're ready. It'll help ease that stress, or so I've heard."
( move ) : for sender to move receiver out of harms way — @invinciblecrew, from millie <3
the last thing pollux expects in his journey from home to the mess hall is for one of the great big access panels to swing open, leaving him suddenly exposed. he jumps, but so does the human. wide-eyed stare fixed on him, mouth dropping open. uh oh!
pollux steps slowly away, one step at a time. step. step. step. loud noise and flash! sudden blur of motion! a grab and a yelp!
it takes a second for him to catch up in his brain. something had sparked blue and bright, nearly catching him in the stomach. and now there’s fingers around his waist! the person snatched him! out of harm’s way, maybe, but still!
the crew person is kneeling, but there’s still two or three feet to the floor beneath his dangly feet, and after that, another ten to a different entry point. he can make it! he’s gonna chomp them and run! serves them right! he’s gonna —
they are petting his head. it’s just the pad of one finger, gentle little strokes over the wild fuzz. it’s … nice. he’s so thoroughly distracted by it that he hardly catches whatever they’re cooing about. something about being careful ‘cause they were just in time. he doesn’t care. his eyes flutter shut.
the person makes a concerned noise and pauses. pollux gives a huff, peeking an eye open and grabbing both hands on their finger to make it pet him again.
they’re smiling. smiles are usually a bad thing but maybe this one isn’t. it feels soft, like rubbing your face against something silky.
then it sizzle-sparks again inside the panel! now pollux knows why the person is here. they have tools and things. he wants them to make the sparks go away so he can have his tunnel back, please. pointedly he kicks at them until he can clamber out of their grip. he scrambles up their arm to their shoulder, winding his fingers into thick curly hair to climb higher, and tucks himself into their hat.
it’s a little dome of fabric with just enough light filtering through to see by. and their hair makes a very good nest. he digs in and fluffs a little before curling up and settling. he can peek out the gap beneath the seam and watch their progress! no one’s getting past pollux’s watchful eyes!
Illinois saunters through the halls of the ship after ‘dark’ - it was always dark, of course, but the ship’s interior lights were dimmed to communicate the same effect. Millie had insisted that he hide during the ‘day’, just so that no one else thought he was a stowaway of some kind. He wasn’t particularly worried about it, but it seemed to distress them quite a bit, so he obliged.
Now, though, the ship was quiet as the crew slept, and Illinois was free to roam.
“ Psst! Illinois! ”
He turns on his heel, and spots Millie leaning around a doorframe, gesturing to him. He lifts a brow and wanders over, huffing a laugh as he’s tugged on the moment he’s in reach. “ It’s evening, sweetheart, I thought I was free to go. ”
Millie still looks distressed, saying something about evening patrols, and Gunnerson, and—
Illinois really stopped paying attention, somewhere along the way. He leans in and gently, lightly, pecks him on the mouth, and Millie chokes to a stuttered halt, face flaming bright red.
“I don’t usually do this - but for you, anything.” from mr van der berg ;) @invinciblecrew
Nothing could have ever prepared him for this. Nothing could have truly prepared him for Dirk.
When Charlie had first met the man from ADS, all these months? ago, he’d had a pretty good idea of how all of this was going to play out. He’d experienced it before, after all. Repressed man acts angry about his existence but actively seeks out his company?
Tale as old as time.
He’d imagined a few weeks of being a nuisance would pay off in a quick, rough fuck in a closet somewhere, and then they’d settle into an acquaintanceship at best. Maybe Dirk would call on him every now and then to scratch the itch, if he was lucky.
They’d make it to the colony and their fates would be decided. He’d either eventually come out of the closet or he’d force himself into a loveless straight relationship and they’d never speak again.
It’s the process he prepared himself for, so when weeks passed and Dirk never made the move, yet seemed to grow more tolerant of him, Charlie didn’t know what to do except to continue as he was.
Charlie thought maybe they were just becoming friends. He could handle that. He could put his horniness aside for a friend.
But Dirk kept giving him these looks sometimes, and he’d turn red if Charlie lingered close for long enough, and then he started flexing, showing off, seemingly trying to work him up? Not very straight man on campus of him.
When they’d started hanging out after hours together, Charlie had started feeling hopeful again, despite how he tried to keep the feeling locked up tight. He’d said that he was grateful for everything Dirk could give him, and he’d meant that.
Gradually kissing had become commonplace. He could reach for Dirk in the privacy of their rooms or kitchen storage or an empty ADS and he could usually receive even a brief kiss without too much fuss from the man. Heads ended up in laps - innocently of course - and hands in hair.
Charlie was losing his mind. Jerking off was only taking the edge off, not delivering true relief. Half the time he didn’t even finish, just resolving himself to be itchy and dissatisfied. His own fingers could only do so much after this long.
Then - finally - he’d been allowed to give Dirk head. Enough wine and Dirk’s own need apparently being built up enough had resulted in a quick and dirty blowjob, with Dirk’s hands gripping his hair tight and muffled moans ringing out over his head. Charlie had been in heaven.
He’d jerked himself off twice that night, once during and once after. Absolute bliss.
Getting it to repeat had been another matter.
Dirk - as usual - went a bit skittish with each new advancement in their relationship. Charlie had to be patient, to gently encourage, to wait for the right time and place to try and get him to recreate the scenario.
He hadn’t expected that to lead them here. Not anytime soon, anyway.
His clothes are shoved down just enough to give him room to work with, fist curled around himself as he stroked it swiftly, whimpering out Dirk’s name, eyes squeezed shut as he tried to pretend the hand on him might not be his own—
In his defense, Dirk was the one that had rushed in without knocking.
Charlie jerks his hand away as though burned, fumbling to drag the blankets into his lap and shove down his hard cock out of sight. The friction of the blanket against the slick head of it has him groaning thickly though, his face bright red. “ D-Dirk! Sorry, I— uh, I didn’t— ”
The door slid shut behind Dirk before he could just stumble back out of the room again. Which was more what Charlie was anticipating. Humiliated - blessed - privacy. To smother himself with his own pillow in.
He wished the embarrassment would do absolutely anything to help make his cock less hard but it seemed determined to make this as absolutely awkward as it could be.
So when Dirk’s hand is suddenly brushing his own, he nearly jumps off the mattress in shock. His head jerks up, staring at the other wide eyed. He can’t speak - he doesn’t have the words - as Dirk slowly lowers himself down onto his knees.
Your leg, he wants to protest, but his mouth has gone bone dry.
“ I don’t usually do this - but for you, anything. ”
Dirk tugs aside the blanket as he begins to stammer out a half-hearted defense, a shaky ‘You don’t have to—‘
It’s clumsy, for sure. A hesitant kiss at first, and then a few sloppy attempts at bobbing his head on it before he finally seems to figure out how to accommodate the dick in his mouth.
Charlie keens all the same, struck far more by the who than by the how or how long. A hand fists in Dirk’s hair, his breathing a shudder as he gasps out the other’s name. It takes a rather intensely short amount of time for Charlie to finish up what he’d started, most of his cum landing on Dirk’s face rather than in his mouth when he unexpectedly pulls back from it.
Charlie feels like he might collapse. A shitty blowjob should not have rocked him this badly, but from Dirk? It might as well have been an aphrodisiac pumped directly into his bloodstream.
He dizzily says something about returning the favor, yet he’s brushed off. Dirk borrows his discarded shirt to wipe off his face, and tucks Charlie properly into bed.
He’s asleep before he hears Dirk leave the room, and he sleeps peacefully through the night in a way he achieves far too rarely.