I need to make love to you tonight
(so this was totally not what I set out to write??)
--
The worst part about taking a stray warp round and the cracked rib that it had resulted in was ending up in the medbay.
It was still weird, hunched on the biobed while Dr Kate worked around him. She gave him a tight, but vaguely reassuring smile as she worked on him, smearing the rapid healing gel over his side with a gloved hand to help with the bruising. It would take a while for the bones to knit, but there wasn’t much to be done about that.
The gash on his thigh from his dive to escape the brute bearing down on him in the seconds before Ajax got to it was a different story. The skin pulled and itched where it was being fused back together and the discomfort must have shown enough on his face for Kate to sigh softly and pat his shoulder.
“You’ll be sore there for a while, Luca. I’m sorry about that.”
“Hey, at least I still have my leg. And all my other bits,” he tried to smile. He held up a hand and wriggled his fingers weakly. “Could have been worse.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “It could hav-“
She was cut off by heavy footsteps and someone new shoving their way into the room. There was a brief flurry of curses and barked demands at the other staff before the curtain was yanked back.
“Where is he? Katie, tell me he’s alright-“
Luca’s face split into a wide grin at the sight of the pilot. Ryan’s expression, clearly worried when he stepped into the medbay, softened the moment their eyes met. He rushed to Luca’s side.
“He’s fine,” Kate interjected quickly. There was a tightness to her voice a distant part of Luca noticed, but he couldn’t dwell on it because Ryan was suddenly hugging him and cradling Luca’s head tenderly against his chest. Luca breathed him in, noticed the slightly fevered tempo of his heartbeat. It had been a successful mission over all, but Luca wasn’t the only one who’d come back with bloodied boots and in need of some medical attention.
Luca wondered if Ryan, always cool under pressure, had really been that worried.
“I’m okay,” he said into Ryan’s shoulder. He let the warmth from Ryan’s arms around him seep in deep. It wasn’t just the physical he soaked up, but the knowledge that he was loved and missed and treasured. He felt bad that Ryan had been concerned enough to leave his post to check on him but mostly grateful too. The first thing he’d wanted when the squad had stepped back onboard the Berlin was find Ryan and kiss him and it had killed him that he couldn’t do just that. “I promise, Blake,” he murmured when Ryan didn’t let him go straight away.
“He is,” Kate said again and they drew apart. Ryan kept his arm around Luca as he turned to face the Dr, and tilted his head. Luca had heard the slightly pinched tone to her words too.
There was a moment of awkward silence as Luca watched the former lovers regard each other.
It was Kate that spoke first. Just one word that sounded like it was carved from the very centre of her chest. “Blake?” she whispered.
A small swallow against Ryan’s throat was the only indication he’d heard. He turned to Luca and tucked him closer and Luca was forced to peek over Ryan’s shoulder only to see the doctor turn away, a stricken expression on her face.
Ryan hesitated, cupped Luca’s face and stared into his eyes as though to assure himself Luca really was alright.
Then he pressed a kiss to Luca’s forehead and reached out long enough to catch Kate’s hand. “I’m sorry,” he said and Luca knew Ryan’s tones well enough now to know the heartfelt sincerity behind it. He blinked, then frowned slightly as his gaze flicked between Ryan and the doctor. There was something at play here he didn’t quite understand and he found himself gripping Ryan’s hand nervously as Ryan waited the scant beats for Kate to reply.
She forced a smile but it was watery. “You never let us call you that.”
“I ken,” Ryan said. “I cannae explain it, it-“
“No, I understand. You love him. And I can see it. I can see it all over you.” Her gaze flicked to Luca briefly. “All over the both of you. And I am happy for you, Ry. I mean that. But… It still hurts a little too. I think it always will.”
She held up a hand as a complicated shift flowed across her features. Luca had always thought of her as beautiful, he’d been jealous of her once, deep down in the places of his heart he refused to acknowledge. It seemed so strange that he would be part of the reason she looked so heartbroken now.
“No. No more. Your boy is going to be okay. In fact, the grafting will be finished in an hour and you can take him back to your room as long as you make sure he stays off his feet for the next twelve hours.”
“Then if you’ll excuse me, I have other patients to see.” She focused her attention on Luca for a moment. “One hour, Luca. Then you can go.”
“Okay,” he said, his voice smaller than it probably needed to be. “Thank you, Dr Kate. For… uh..”
She waved him off, not saying anything more as she walked away.
When she was gone, Luca exhaled heavily. “I think she might hate me,” he said miserably, mumbling it into Ryan’s shoulder.
“No, love,” Ryan’s chuckle was forced lightness. “She doesn’t. It’s not your fault.”
“It kinda is. For existing-“
“It was inevitable. Nothing could can keep us apart. I ken that now.”
“I don’t know, that brute came pretty close today.” It was supposed to be an attempted at humor but it fell flat for both of them. Luca stared at the floor. “Sorry.”
Ryan cupped the back of his neck and drew him close. “It’s alright, love.”
Luca savored the press of Ryan’s forehead against his. The adrenalin dump of the battle was starting to catch up to him. He suddenly felt exhausted, even with Ryan there to prop him up. “Has it been an hour yet? I need you so much. I need...”
The brute’s roar and the bellow of Ajax’s battle cry as he ripped the brute apart suddenly echoed between his ears.
Kalahira, it had been close.
“-I need to make love to you tonight.” It came out as a rush in the end.
“Ah, sweetheart.” Ryan kissed him, slow and sweet until the anxiety receded. His gaze was tender with promise as he drew back. “It will be me making love to you. Over and over until my love is the only thing you can feel.”
Luca’s eyes pricked and his chin wobbled with held back relief. “Promise?”