Eli's Chance

Posted on Sat Aug 6th, 2011 @ 2:19pm by Cadet Senior Grade Eli Ziyad & Cadet Senior Grade Chance Conradi
Edited on on Sat Aug 6th, 2011 @ 5:15pm

Mission: In Our Time of Need
Location: The Nexus Club / Chance's Quarters
Timeline: Following First Day Of School

It was evening and their first day at the Academy was behind them. So was the formal dinner but it had run a little later than was comfortable for Eli. When it had finally concluded, he'd politely excused himself, done a quick change in his quarters and took off at a run for the Nexus Club. He was almost an hour late and he hoped Jackson would understand.

Slipping behind the bar, he finally stopped moving and took a deep breath. Jackson gave him a thumbs up gesture and Eli went to work just as the house lights lowered and the stage lights came up. Music started, the mellow notes drifting across the crowd, soon joined by the smooth dark honey of Janice's voice. The bar was shadowed and mostly clear as those here for the show wanted the better view afforded by the tables. Eli filled a few orders for the waitresses, then leaned against the bar, as spellbound by Janice as everyone else in the room.

Several minutes behind Eli, and at a much more leisurely pace, Chance entered the Club, paused for a moment to get his bearings then sauntered towards the bar, and Eli. He and his sister had shared more than a bottle of wine at the formal dinner; she'd gone off home with Connor and he'd promised he'd behave for the rest of the night. It was a good bet, though, that his sister's and his definition of 'behave' didn't match up. Chance grinned at Eli and quietly said, "You ran out of the dinner like Cinderella at the ball. If only you'd left a glass slipper behind, that'd make me Prince Charming."

Eli hadn't seen Chance approaching, so wrapped up in Janice's song was he, but hearing the man's noticeable twang caused him to start.

"Oh, Chance. I didn't see you come in." Out of habit, he took a step back from the bar putting a little distance between them. There wasn't much room to move, however.

Oh, ouch, Chance mentally winced, both at Eli's distancing move and his not-so-subtle dismissal of Chance's flirtatious opening. "Yeah," he nodded and glanced at the woman singing, "She's attention-grabbing, isn't she?"

"Janice is amazing, and about as old as Professor Drake." With a bartender's memory, he recalled the wine Chance had been drinking at dinner and poured out two glasses. "Here you are, Prince Charming." He grinned as he set it before Chance, moving back closer as he did so. "Best to stick to the same poison."

"Yeah, there's some old Earth saw about...," Chance searched for the adage and came up with: "'Beer and liquor, never sicker but wine's just fine'...? I think? Seems weird. I'm surprised this isn't synthahol, though." He looked Eli over and put his flirting aside for the moment. It might be best for them to be friends, since they'd be in classes together, rather than anything else. Plus, Chance had left all his friends back on Earth; he had the feeling Eli had left his behind as well. Later, Chance would wonder just where that particular line of thinking had cropped up; it wasn't like him to not flirt.

"Candy is dandy, but liquor's quicker is what Jackson says." Eli smiled once more. He didn't want to have any undue influence on Chance but he liked the guy. He seemed open and friendly and likely the source of vastly amusing entertainment. A sudden loneliness spiked in Eli, the realization that he had no real friends anymore pricking at him.

The one feeling Chance disliked most was loneliness and it was suddenly hitting him hard. He smiled despite the feeling and said, "Hey, do you have any free time between working here and doing classwork and classes?"

"Sure. Actually, Jackson's thinking I could take off early if I wanted to, in honor of not having a certain lights out time tonight." He paused to take a sip of his wine.

Frowning, Chance wondered if the slightly strange wording was due to the universal translator or something else. "He's thinking that or did he tell you that?" What had he read about Enarans? He tried to recall anything about the species but nothing special came to him.

Eli's smile lingered as he lowered his wine glass. We are extremely telepathic. We can read people, send thoughts, memories, whatever to them... even close physical proximity can influence others. He remained silent as he sent the thought to Chance.

The wine Chance had in his mouth nearly dribbled back out, but he caught his jaw just in time and swallowed the suddenly bitter liquid. He locked eyes with Eli and frowned. Telepath, huh? The thought was followed with a string of mental cursing before Chance finally laughed, smiled as he shook his head and took another drink of his wine. "I'll bet you find humans fun to be around, then, Eli. Since we tend to assume others can't listen in to our thoughts." He wasn't entirely pleased to learn about the telepathy and made a mental note to kick his sister for not telling him.

"I thought you knew," Eli answered quietly. "It's why I tend not to get too close to people."

"Too close in the sense of physically or emotionally?" Chance's irked surprise had turned into curiosity. He was already wondering whether sex with an Enaran would be like sex with a Betazoid - and whether he'd ever find out.

"Well, that's a good question. I've not really made any friends since I got here. I don't count that Orion who hit on me. And I try not to stay too close to people for more than a few minutes so I don't affect them. This job works out well since I hand over drinks and move on." He paused, watching Chance. "And now you're curious."

"I'm always curious," Chance said, poking fun at himself, "It's one of my better qualities." He paused, checked out Eli again then smirked, "Never count Orions; the females tend to go after anything male and rob 'em blind. Can't you control it? Block it out or keep from sending out," he waved a hand, meaning to indicate wavelengths, "...or something?"

"It takes some effort, but yes. Would it make you more comfortable if I did?" The thoughts he was picking up from Chance were not what he'd expected but he liked the fact that the guy was not trying to hide it. And especially that Chance hadn't taken the news and made a quick exit.

He shrugged and shook his head, "Nah, so long as you don't hold my thoughts against me." Chance's flirtatious smile came back and he gave Eli the visual once over, "There are other things you could hold against me, though."

"Such as?" Even as he spoke, Chance's brow rose; realization dawned and Eli was suddenly very glad it was dark since he was sure his face must be flaming red. He drained his glass and set it behind the bar to be washed. "Yeah, maybe we should talk about this somewhere else?" He gave Jackson a wave and stepped out from behind the bar.

"Payback's a bitch, right?" Chance laughed even as he felt a slew of emotions roll over him: embarrassment being the top one. "C'mon, I know this great little place over on the promenade. Unless you'd rather talk in your place or mine?"

Eli's smile was shy but he gave a silent groan. Talk about looking like an idiot. Running a hand through his hair he nodded. "Let's start there, okay?"

"Gladly," Chance headed for the bar's doors. As Eli came with him, he commented, "My quarters aren't far and it looks like I don't have a roommate yet. You'll have to ignore the decor; I haven't had time to put up anything yet."

His quarters? But.... Eli hesitated a moment, then fell in step beside him. Probably a better choice than a bar where he'd have to block an entire crowd of people. "Did you get the memo about moving down to the Academy level?"

"Uh..., no, I... missed that," Chance glanced at Eli as they walked; truth was, he hadn't read much of any of the information that'd come across to him about the Academy. He had faith that someone, such as Eli, would fill him in on all the details. "I'd thought that the quarters I had now would be it. Why the special level?"

Eli shrugged. "I suppose the idea is keeping us all working and ..uh..playing together? Avoiding distractions, study environment, that sort of thing? I guess to try and recreate the dorm idea from the academy on Earth."

"Oh. I don't mind the idea of playing and working together, but do we have to live together?" He sighed as they boarded a turbolift and headed down.

"I promise I don't snore. Or steal the blanket." He kept his gaze straight ahead, leaving Chance to wonder if it was a joke...or not.

The joke ...joke?... made Chance falter as they stepped off the turbolift. But he recovered quickly and, taking Eli's arm in his own, said, "Really? Let's test that idea, shall we?"

The question was met with a wave of uncertainty mixed with hints of need. It washed over Chance far more strongly than the emotions had in the bar a few minutes earlier, perhaps due to the physical touch.

Full adulthood was just around the corner for Chance and, sometimes, it shown through at the strangest moments; getting a sense of Eli's uncertainty had that adult pulling back on Chance's teenage libido. "Or not," he smiled and navigated a corner, pulling Eli along with him. He could understand the play of emotions he was getting, though just barely, with the uncertain desire and need all mixed in. "We'll play it by ear, Eli."

"I'm a lot to deal with I know." He fell silent as they reached Chance's door. "I'll do my best not to intrude unless...invited."

"Please, intrude," Chance invited him and keyed open the door to his quarters. A lot to deal with? Let me be the judge of that, m'kay? In the back of Chance's head, there was a question, again, of whether Eli meant emotionally only or also physically.

Eli stepped in with him and waited till the doors closed. Without a word, he reached up, resting his fingertips against Chance's cheek in the dim light. The sensations Chance had felt out in the corridor were nothing compared to those that hit him now, burning through him like flash fire from head to toe.

"Sunovabit...," Chance gasped.

"See what I mean?"

"Yeah, I do. And...." Chance took a chance and quickly grabbed Eli and kissed him hard.

Fireworks bloomed in Eli's head as Chance's lips held his own. He softened slightly, then took hold of Chance's shoulders, breaking the contact. "Careful, I don't want to spoil you for anyone else." Again, it was not clear if he was serious or teasing his friend.

"Uh-huh, that's what the Betazoid said, too," Chance replied breathlessly. 'Course, she was a little less... intense..., he added as an afterthought while pulling Eli to his bedroom.

Eli rested a hand against the wall by the bedroom door, stopping them. "We're going to be living together for the foreseeable future. Is this a good idea? What happens when you come home with that Betazoid?"

"Well...," Chance made a face like he was thinking hard, eyebrows up, eyes looking up. "That'd be sort of difficult, since she's on Earth." He grinned then turned more serious, "Okay, yeah, what does happen? Does doing this lock us into some relationship?" He started reciting baseball statistics in his head in an effort to keep Eli from catching the answer he wanted. He hadn't a clue whether that would actually work.

"The 1998 World Series was the 24th win for the Yankees, not the 23rd." He studied Chance's face for a long moment. "And I don't know how to answer that."

"How would you know baseball history? It was their 23rd win!" Feeling the need to draw back and cool off, Chance moved to the other side of his room. "It's a bit early to start talking long term for anything."

"Since we just met, yes." Eli turned slightly, running his hand through his long hair. "But to quote this guy I know, 'we'll play it by ear'." Closing his eyes, he heard Chance's voice echoing in his thoughts. Please, intrude....

"And what will I hear you saying when I bring home the pretty blond cadet, Ashley?" It better not be: 'Can I join in?'

"I think that will be 'I'll stay at Jackson's for the night.' You think she likes you?"

"I have the feeling that you've got a better read on that than I do," Chance grumbled. So far, Ashley hadn't given him much more than a smile and that cute, almost shy tucking of hair behind her ear move. He decided he liked that move. If Eli could read him, then Eli might have read Ashley and might know just where Chance stood with her.

"I swear I didn't snoop. Well, except on you in the turbolift. It was coming through kinda loud, I couldn't help it."

"Tonight?" He wondered whether Eli meant just now or in the turbolift before classes that morning. Chance shrugged - both shoulders this time - and continued, "Tonight I wouldn't have cared; I knew you could read me."

"Exactly." He eyed Chance with some resignation. "And this is why I tend not to get close to people. It makes them wonder if I am listening to their every thought and they get uncomfortable around me."

For a moment, Chance just eyed Eli back, frowning. Somewhere in here, they'd just missed a beat; Eli was pushing the 'I'm a terrible telepath' mantra a little too hard. Which, had Eli been having this conversation with Oralia... such a conversation would never have happened: Oralia would have thrown her drink at Eli and walked out. She wasn't overly fond of telepaths. For Chance, he didn't mind, so long as his thoughts weren't used or held against him.

As for Eli..., Chance sighed and observed, "No, you use it as a reason to keep people at bay. An excuse to stay in your lonely little comfort zone. Or did you miss that, since you told me you can read me, I haven't been uncomfortable around you?" Honestly... I sort of like it, was one of Chance's top thoughts; underlying it was another: Are we going to get back to the kissing part tonight?

That stopped Eli completely, leaving him at a loss for words. He liked it? That was certainly not the usual reaction. Chance's words hit deep and he had to agree that perhaps he was right. And maybe this might be a good time to let that guard down for just a little while. He didn't speak this time, but the message reached Chance loud and clear.

Yes.

A slow, wide grin spread on Chance's features. "Good."

********
Eli Ziyad
Taking A Chance

Chance Conradi
Giving the Boy a Chance