Original: That One Day (Slash)
That One Day
Breathe. Slowly. In. And out. Repeat and concentrate. Don't forget to breath. Just keep your hand steady and-
Be-beep!
It was a good thing that Lukas hadn't actually put the connecting tubes close to each other yet. The way his whole body jumped in shock he might've blown up the whole hangar, or the whole station for that matter. Right, so he might be exaggerating a bit, but this was still the keystone of the whole project, Lukas reasoned angrily, as he carefully let go of the tube so it floated in the still air while he fished out his beeping communicator. Only an idiot would call him right now while he was doing something so important...
Finding that it wasn't his work comm but his personal comm that was beeping meant that it was, indeed, an idiot who was calling him. There was only one person who called his personal comm. Lukas heaved a sigh, pushing away slightly from the control wall and hooking the device in his ear. He took a couple of slow breaths, trying to calm his heart-rate, and answered the call.
Click.
"This better be important, Dymartech." Lukas hissed into the comm, crossing his arms and leaning back in the zero gravity.
"Ooh, testy! Bad timing?" came the irrepressibly cheerful voice over the crackly connection.
"You think?" Lukas snarled. "I'm only working on the most important piece of equipment on this whole station!"
"Don't get so full of yourself; you and I both know it's just the gravity conductors on the new z-gravity training facility for your company." The other man quipped. "Of which they have five. Man, you're such a drama qu-."
Bip. Lukas cut the connection. He didn't have time for this cra-
Be-beep!
SIGH. Click.
"Cole."
"-Like I said, drama queen. Been a long day?" Cole sounded slightly less teasing and slightly more sympathetic. But only slightly. If Lukas were prone to waxing poetic and defending the other man he might say that it was due to their deep and soulful connection that Cole could tell how he was doing even through a comm-link half-way across the system. But Lukas didn't do that kind of shit, so he just grunted in affirmation.
"Bummer man. Right so I'll keep this short no matter how much I've been missing your grouchy voice." Lukas snorted slightly in amusement and Cole's answering chuckle echoed in his ear. "It's all the truth, lover-boy. Yeah, I was just checking again that you were still scheduled to be back on the 18th. That still happening?"
Lukas didn't comment on the fact that this was the fourth time Cole was asking him this. "If we stay on schedule, yeah."
"You on schedule?"
"Of course I'm on schedule." Lukas sounded insulted, and rightly so: he was the most obsessively dedicated and on-time guy either of them knew. The local sun was more likely to blow up than him be late with something.
"That’s my guy." Lukas would never admit to the tiny smile on his lips at the obvious affection in Cole's voice. "Look, I know even you can't control your teammates so just keep me posted on how things are going, yeah? Especially if for whatever reason you might be late. Even a day late. I mean, not that it's a big deal or anything." The deceptive indifference of the statement put Lukas on edge.
"Not a big deal. Right." He said dryly, trying to mask his concern.
"Yeah well I guess, y'know, a couple days isn't too bad." Cole's voice suddenly switched to lets-throw-Lukas-off-with-comedy mode. "I just miss you sooooo much, a month is too long without you keeping me all hot and bothered during the night and Airika thinks I'm depressed and has started telling me jokes all day. Jokes she's been making up. Come hoooome, I'm dying here!" Cole finished on a whining note that had another upwards twitch going on on Lukas' lips, despite himself.
"You're a big boy, suck it up."
"I'd rather suck yo-"
"Cole, I'm hanging up, now."
"Aw, but I was hoping for some phone-se-"
"No."
"Killjoy." Cole huffed petulantly.
"Busy." Lukas countered pointedly.
"Bah. So, what're the chances of you calling when you're not busy?" It was a good thing Lukas couldn’t see Cole right now: this voice strongly indicated that Cole was making That Face - Cole had begging-bedroom eyes that could kill - which was one of the few things in the universe that could make Lukas do anything. Cole knew this. Cole abused his Power. It was a good thing Lukas couldn't see Cole.
Still, even with his stress levels rising again, Lukas couldn't help but admit to himself that he kind of, might be, though only a little, missed Cole too. So he hemmed and hawed during a few seconds of silence, and finally replied: "If I'm not too tired." Which translated from Lukas Speak to: definitely.
Cole didn't even have to say anything for Lukas to hear the blinding smile on his face. "It's a date then!"
"Hm." Lukas acquiesced. "Now look, I've really got to go now."
"Right, right. Sorry, you know how I am." Boy do I, Lukas thought. "I'll talk to you later. Kisses and hugs and all that girly stuff. Mwah mwah!"
Lukas felt his eye twitch. "I get a free hit for that."
"Yeah yeah, I know violence is how you show affection, tough guy." Cole teased.
"Cole..."
"Hah! Yeah, ok. Look, I love you and all that junk and I'll see you later, kay? Ta!" and with that and a bip, the comm link closed and Lukas had blissful silence in his ear.
Lukas stayed where he had drifted for a few seconds after Cole had hung up. Then he carefully pushed himself back to the wall panel and his job.
Ten minutes after returning to work, Lukas gave up. Frustrated, he let go of his tools and pushed off from the wall again, unable to concentrate until he figured out what the hell was going on with Cole this time.
He couldn't figure it out: they'd both gone longer than a month without seeing each other before. Those times had been hard, even for Lukas. But even then Cole usually respected Lukas' need for concentration while doing his job and kept his calls infrequent and only during off-duty times. Did Cole just not realize what time it was at the station? No, no, he was too intelligent for that. Cole always kept a clock that had whatever time standard Lukas was going to be in, just so he would know when to not bother him (or to bother him). Lukas wondered what the hell would cause Cole to call during what the man knew was an important and busy point of the project. But during the call Cole had almost sounded... concerned? No, agitated. Cole was almost never agitated. Not only that, but "it's not a big deal" in Cole Speak translates to: "it's a big fucking deal". Lukas knew Cole well enough to know that these were big signs towards something going on with Cole. I mean, they'd only been together for, what, two, maybe three years...
Lukas tilted his head back, lips moving as he carefully calculated how long the two of them had known each other, and then how long the two of them had been in a relationship. Lukas froze. His eyes widened.
Oh.
Oh.
Lukas' expression abruptly shifted from one of irritated confusion to one of shock and vague awe. He double checked his calculations. He made some new ones. Suddenly his face turned a startling hue of pink and he bit his lip; a set of reactions that would have had anyone who knew him wondering if the universe was ending. Lukas Ulloriaq Did Not Get Embarrassed. It was a law of the universe. There was only one man who could break that law (he had a bad habit of breaking laws).
One man who, it seemed, was planning a celebration of their 2 year anniversary.
Because that’s what it must be. It explained why Cole had been so disheartened to learn when Lukas' project was taking place. It explained why Cole had been badgering him about when he was coming back. It explained his agitation over the idea that the project might be delayed, no matter how much he might be consoled on the fact that it was very on time. Their anniversary was three days after the projects' slated completion date.
On Cole's home planet the 2 year anniversary is the first big important one in a long-term relationship. This fact dredged itself up from Lukas' knowledge about Quol's traditions, and Lukas felt his heart rate speed up again, that stupid floaty feeling called Strong Affection racing through his veins and making his cheeks turn a darker shade of red. Stupid boyfriends and their stupid traditions and their stupid methods of making their boyfriends fall for them over and over again.
Stupid Cole.
The mystery of Cole's behavior solved, Lukas slowly returned to work, forcing himself to concentrate and not rush things. Rushing things is bad, since doing so can lead to mistakes. Mistakes cause delays. Delays mean taking longer to get home.
Lukas couldn't wait to get home.
End