A Real Eye-Opener

Posted on Mon Apr 1st, 2013 @ 9:08am by Cadet Senior Grade Eli Ziyad & Cadet Senior Grade Chance Conradi

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Chance/Eli Quarters

* * * Chance/Eli’s Quarters * * *

Eli left Camille’s quarters, his thoughts scattered. According to what Jackson had said, and what he’d heard from Camille, the Liam sighting seemed to fit the pattern. Even so, what he’d sensed in her quarters was weird, to put it bluntly. He’d lingered longer than he’d intended at Camille’s and now was moving at a brisk pace to get home. knowing he should have called to let Chance know he’d be late. He emerged from the elevator and two minutes later, he reached their quarters and stepped inside.

From the bedroom came a shout, “That you, Eli?”, followed a moment later by a clothesless Chance appearing in the doorway. “Figured it was,” he said, smiling broadly.

“Sorry I’m late, I had a little detour after work.” Eli crossed to Chance and leaned in for a kiss. “How are you?”

“How do I look?”, Chance answered back, pulling Eli against him, as if to make sure that Eli couldn’t miss his roommate’s physical state.

“Delicious would be my first thought. Gorgeous as always, and still amazing...that you’re standing here talking to me.” Eli’s smile was languid as he looked back at Chance.

Presumptuously, Chance started removing Eli’s clothes even as he possessively held onto the kid. As he moved to kiss Eli’s neck, he breathed in the boy’s scent and stopped, withdrawing from Eli slightly. He growled, “Who have you been seeing?”

“Seeing? A lot of people at work tonight, as usual. Why?” Eli rested his hand against Chance’s chest, worry at his tone threading through him.

“You have a female’s smell on you.” The comment was nearly casual, except for the hard edge of jealousy underlying it.

“I stopped by Camille’s on the way home is all. Took her some food and spent some time settling her down over some weirdness that happened.” The image of Camille holding him, crying on his shoulder flashed through his mind so that Chance could see it.

“I see,” Chance said quietly; the maelstrom of his emotions was difficult to read, but some of the key emotions were possessiveness and irritation. “I’d prefer if you just came home after work, and not go elsewhere.”

“It’s just Camille, Chance,” Eli began. That odd uneasiness that had risen previously when Chance had sniffed him rose again. “She’s lovely but she’s not you.”

“Right,” Chance nodded, his jaw set tightly. “Let me show you how I love you, Eli,” he took hold of Eli’s arm and pulled him into the bedroom. The thought in his head was: And prove how much you are mine.

Eli’s eyes widened and he dug in his heels. Normally, Chance taking charge was perfectly okay with him but this time it was different. This wasn’t about love and desire, it was about proving a point, marking territory, forcing obedience.

“Hold it.” As hard as it was for Eli, he held his ground.

Chance’s grip tightened and when he looked at Eli, his eyes blazed with anger for a split second. He shifted his movement and pressed Eli against the door jamb, his body holding Eli’s to the post. “Here then?”, he whispered.

“Not till you tell me what’s going on,” Eli whispered back. “Why would you doubt me Chance?”

“Because you give me cause to, Eli.” Chance wasn’t taking ‘hold on’ as an answer; he lifted Eli’s shirt, pulling hard enough that a button popped off, and started undoing Eli’s belt and pants. “I love you, and can’t lose you.”

Gently, Eli took hold of Chance’s hands, stilling them for the moment. “You won’t if this suspicion stops. I know that it’s been strange for you, coming back and being in that Hazari’s head but you can’t let him take over.” There, he’d said it, given voice to his big worry. “I know part of him is still in there.”

Chance scoffed and pushed away from Eli. He took a few steps into the bedroom and snatched up a robe, which he threw on. “The Hazari? You think Sakkath fucked up and put parts of the Hazari in my head? Nice. Nice gratitude, Eli. The man saved my life, brought me back at great effort and expense to himself and now you’re going to say he screwed up?” He shot a disgusted look at Eli.

“No, not at all.” Eli stayed where he was, watching Chance. “What I mean is that the time you spent in his head had some effect, that’s all. As for Sakkath? I’d bow down and kiss that man’s feet for giving you back to me.” His voice grew tight as he blinked back a sudden rush of hot tears. “I’d have done anything to get you back Chance. I was the one who realized what had happened and convinced them to try. I can’t live without you. You know that.”

“I know that you say that here, but then you go and spend your evenings with someone else with no regard for me here, waiting for you.” He shot a different look at Eli this time: a wounded one; the feelings beneath the look didn’t match up.

“It was nothing, aside from the fact that she had one of those strange visions, saw her ex-husband who didn’t seem to know he shouldn’t be there or that they were divorced years ago. It sounded violent, which is why I rushed in. That’s all, Chance. She has her eye on Major Smith and I’m already in love with someone that I could never be unfaithful to, not ever.”

A memory tugged at Chance: a woman named... something that started with ‘A’, and him, tangled together on a bed. It was a recent memory, one created in the last year - during his relationship with Eli. His cheeks turned slightly pink. “You’re right: you can’t be unfaithful,” was his arrogant response. Moving close to Eli again, he looked him up and down. “I know you can’t.” And he knew he could be, had been.

Eli closed his eyes as the memory played in his mind as well. He’d known, of course, but hadn’t mentioned it to Chance. The amusements on the side had been a sore point for Eli back then, but he knew they had stopped somewhere along the way.

“Then don’t think the worst, my love. You have what you want, and you will as long as you trust me. You want me for me, that’s wonderful. But don’t come with the urge to prove a point, to mark me as yours so everyone else stays away, to prove who I belong to. That’s not love, it’s domination, obsession. Come because you want me and you’ll always have me.” He smiled finally, hoping that the limb he’d crawled out on didn’t snap beneath him.

Feeling Eli’s hope and love, Chance froze, balanced between a rising jealous anger and an equally strong love for Eli. It would be easier for him to let his anger keep building and he was tempted to let it do so. He realized he couldn’t stop it from rising; he didn’t have a way to step back from the irrationality of it. “Get ou... no, I’ll go,” he said and started for the main door, only to stop and mentally curse the stupidity of getting into a fight while naked. Having to stop and dress prevented one from making a dramatic exit. He made an about face and scowled. “After I dress.”

Eli had to clamp down on the laugh that bubbled up within him at Chance’s ruined exit, though he suspected Chance would pick up on it.

“No.” The one word came out firm and determined. “You’re not leaving.”

“You’re going to stop me?” Chance sneered, angrier still thanks to Eli’s unspilled laughter. He sized up his lover: he outweighed Eli; worse, with his emotions simmering, he was closer to being able to inflict real damage. Not that he wanted to. No, he wanted to kiss Eli, make him his, prove he loved him, and to do it all out of anger, to control Eli.

“Yes.”

Eli closed his eyes and reached out through the link they shared. Images began to flood Chance’s mind, scenes of the two of them together, some sharing laughter, others tender, and still others intense and erotic.

Stay....

Stop! This isn’t fair!, Chance protested and sagged to his knees as the memories inundated him. He squeezed his eyes shut, which only served to give the mental images a clearer screen on which to play out. These were things he didn’t remember, things that were currently lost in the disarray in his head. His emotions went on a roller coaster ride with the memories.

This is me, Chance, and us.The memories shifted to images of Eli waiting outside the room as Sakkath restored Chance’s chakra and with it came all the fear and worry that Chance couldn’t be revived, all the pain and anguish in the days after Chance’s murder when Eli was sure he’d lost his lover for good. This is what you have. The universe knows very well who I belong to. You have no need to fear....

“I don’t, Eli,” Chance managed to say through clenched teeth. When he looked up at Eli, his look was fierce. But you do, he launched himself at Eli, grabbed him by the arms and shook him. “Don’t you get that? I’m not me! I’m not who you grieved,” he hissed. “I’m someone who would hurt you....” He stopped himself, but his tension radiated out from him. Shoving Eli backwards towards the bed, he let him go and grabbed the pair of pants he’d had on earlier. “Don’t stop me,” he growled and headed out of the bedroom.

Eli groaned aloud and covered his face with his hands. His thoughts, however, reached out to Chance. I don’t believe that, I don’t think you would. I know what’s in your heart, you see. There was a brief pause as he heard the doors open. Call if you need me.

So angry that he was, as humans said, ‘seeing red’, Chance stormed out of the quarters wearing only the robe. It wasn’t till he was in a turbolift, getting an odd look from some Engineering tech, that he pulled on the pants he held. He hadn’t a clue where he was headed, but quickly settled on going to see Oz.

Eli waited a few moments before rising from the bed. He was suddenly anxious and unable to be still and began to pace their quarters. As he went from wall to wall, he realized this was no good, he’d go nuts staying here. Removing the ruined tux shirt and changing into casual clothes, he then considered what to do, who to talk to. Camille and Seyla rose in his mind but were quickly crossed off that list, as was every other female on SB900. If he did manage to find Chance later, the last thing he needed was to smell of a woman, though it hit Eli now as odd that the scent of a woman made Chance angry but not the scent of men. He supposed it came down to the feeling that a man he could compete with, a woman he could not.

His first thought was Jackson, but as he went to call him, a message was waiting to inform him that Jackson would be on Archadia for the next few days. Finally dressed, Eli departed their quarters, now knowing exactly who he needed to see for some advice - Norval.

***************
Cadet Second Class Eli Ziyad
Taking A Stand

Cadet Second Class Chance Conradi
Not Feeling Like Himself