Crossing to the opposite corner of the bar was either Lio's best or worst decision of the night. The buttoned-up subal was hotter than the desert in daylight, and delightfully unexpected. Ravi played along effortlessly with the game Lio had made of concocting ludicrous backstories for all the undercover aliens in the bar. But he was far too easy to talk to. A random man in the corner had no right to be quite so wonderfully, dangerously comfortable.

"Lio?" Ravi cocked his head to one side.

First Goddess damn him, but he loved the way Ravi said his name, like he held it on his tongue for a hesitant heartbeat, and then exhaled the rest as if he couldn't help himself. Ravi arched an eyebrow at him, still waiting for an answer to whatever he was asking.

He straightened from his slouch against the table. "What? Sorry, I got distracted—what was I saying?"

"You were talking about your family. They sounded kind of...pushy."

"My mother does like to remind me that it's pressure that makes the diamond," he said, before he realized that he was talking about his damn mother. Hardly suitable for flirting. He smiled, gave a hollow laugh, and tried to salvage the situation. "They're fine, really. Very well-intentioned. Just the territory that comes with being the youngest among ambitious siblings." Perfect. Now he'd made himself sound like a child.

Ravi was examining him with bright-dark eyes, lips slightly pursed. As if he awaited a kiss Lio badly wanted to give him. "Shot in the dark," Ravi began slowly, "but I'm guessing doing your service way out here with Fennec region units isn't the route your brother and sister took."

"Accurate shot." His smile faltered when he held Ravi's gaze across their second round of drinks. "They joined specialty units in the capitol for their service years. Their ambitions always were more acceptable."

"And yours aren't?"

"According to everyone else, I don't have any ambitions. Just idle fancies." Chief among them was getting this man into a bed. But he wasn't certain that this encounter was headed any of the places he wanted—with an alarming degree of intensity—to go.

Another piercing look from his companion, almost shrewd, as Ravi settled back into the booth seat. "You weren't entirely joking about wanting to find a Mastali lightship, were you?"

Lio's mouth ran dry and he dropped his gaze to the tabletop. It was hardly his goal for Ravi to think him a frivolous dreamer untethered to reality, the way everyone else did. Which is why he should keep his mouth shut, laugh it off, and make some joke. "Well," he began, "I don't think the capitol's efforts to create their own lightships are going anywhere. And everyone just discounts the possibility that undiscovered Mastali tech might still be left here—" He stopped. None of that was remotely close to humorous.

Ravi tapped a finger against his drink. "The Mastali's last base was supposedly out here, wasn't it? People say they were last seen in the Fennec region?"

"Yes," Lio said, a bit breathlessly. "They've discovered pieces that seem to be Mastali-made out here. Why try to reinvent something that already exists, if we just spent a bit more time looking for it?" Ravi didn't sound like he was making fun of any of this, far-fetched as it was.

"Is that why you came out here? You think you can find something that'll help the Enlightment units build a replica lightship?"

The truth slipped out. "I think that an actual lightship might still be here."

Ravi's eyebrows flew up, but there was still no trace of laughter in his expression. Lio had become painfully good at recognizing when someone was holding back a disbelieving snicker.

Blue light glimmered on the ancient holowatch Ravi wore, disconcerting them both. The subal glanced at the code hovering on the bulky, old-gen wristband and shook his head. "Don't really need to take that right now." But when he went to swipe the call away, the holowatch imager projected instead, springing up over the tabletop.

"Ravi, darling!" A female voice crackled, and Lio found himself starting at a dark-eyed woman, garlands woven into her hair. "I'm sure I've killed your ficus plant already, my heart, but I swear I was watering it—oh, who's that?" She peered closer, her face looming toward Lio's.

"That's fine, I'll talk to you later!" Ravi yelped, and stabbed the holowatch again. The imager vanished. Ravi seemed frozen, staring at the empty space where it had been.

Lio cracked an uncertain smile. "Please tell me that wasn't your wife." He really should've asked earlier. Married or otherwise involved men were more trouble than they were worth.

"No! I—" Ravi covered half his face with a hand and mumbled from behind his palm. "That was my mother."

"Your—" The laughter bubbled up his chest and burst free before he could help relieve any of Ravi's embarrassment. He cleared his throat and nudged Ravi's shoulder. "Well, she's lovely. And very concerned for your plants."

"I swear I didn't mean to answer that."

Lio indulged an impulse and touched his shoulder again. "It's fine. Really. Doesn't bother me at all."

Ravi finally stopped hiding, twirling a glass between his palms instead. "This is how you flirt with people in a bar, isn't it? A smooth pick-up line, then we call our mothers for introductions—"

"In that case I insist we call her back so I can make sure she approves." Lio grabbed for Ravi's wrist.

"Fuck no." Ravi dodged him easily, grinning as he warded Lio off with his other arm. Lio ended up with one foot on the barstool and one knee on the bench, which gave him a convenient excuse to abandon the stool altogether. He toppled forward, and Ravi caught him by the waist, settling him onto the booth bench.

They were suddenly thigh to thigh. Lio's stomach swooped, and Ravi looked so startled and hopeful and vaguely terrified that he nearly kissed him right there without asking. Neither of them moved to regain any space from each other. The fuzzy chatter and clattering glass in the rest of the bar evaporated from his mind.

Ravi stared at him, and Lio drank in his dazed expression in the faded light. When the subal spoke, his voice was low. "You are really...really..." He swallowed and kept staring, his lips barely parted.

"Yeah." Lio smiled and looped an arm over Ravi's shoulders. "You are really, really, too." Somewhere underneath the pleasant thrills chasing back and forth under his skin, there was a muted warning he would much rather not consider. Ravi was a treasure. It was also becoming very clear that he wasn't accustomed to falling into bed with strangers who had no intention of hanging around in the morning. Which meant there was a high probability one of them was going to end up disappointed.

He cleared his throat. "So now that I've met your mother—"

Ravi blinked and smiled. "That doesn't count."

"I believe I know everything about you that I need. You are an alien with a dead ficus and your mother deeply approves of me."

Ravi's shoulders shook with laughter beneath his arm. "Okay, maybe that pretty much is all the important stuff."

"And," Lio leaned into him, "there is some fool who let go of you and if he comes here trying to fix his mistake I'm going to blast the fuck out of him with a Mastali lightship." He meant it more than he should, because whoever had cast Ravi aside was both a colossal idiot and a gift.

Ravi's lopsided smile was unbearable. The man had no idea how sweet he looked, damn him. It was enough that Lio considered sliding right under the table and getting quite a bit more convincing. His pants cost four hundred credits and would be ruined as soon as his kneecaps hit Ferdi's disaster of a floor, but it would be worth it, just to see Ravi's face.

"What are you thinking?" Ravi asked.

"Considering whether anyone will notice if I get on my knees under the table."

Ravi's chest hitched, his eyes going wide. Flattering that he needed a moment to recover. "I'm...uh, I'm not that much of an exhibitionist."

"Then..." At some point, he had to just make the proposition. But he wasn't ready for the night to end if this was pushing too far. He shrugged a little and finished the thought. "We could go somewhere else."

"We could," Ravi echoed slowly. "I...uh...well, the rest of my stuff is in a room." His throat bobbed. "Upstairs."

Lio's pulse charged ahead, stomach constricted with longing. Ravi had only made half an invitation, and an unsteady one at that. Flinging himself at strangers was more fun when they were twice as desperate for him than he was for them. There were too many ways for everything glorious about this to be ruined. But he had a feeling the reward was worth the risk.

Carefully, he reached for Ravi's nearest hand and took it in his, weaving their fingers tightly enough that he could feel the tremble in his companion. "I would like very much to help you carry that upstairs." He nodded toward the bag, forgotten near Ravi's feet. "But don't feel that you have to invite me in. You don't have to do anything."

Silence for a moment, and then Ravi gave his hand a tentative answering squeeze. "I think I probably need your help with the bag."

"Understandably. In your weakened state—"

"My what?" It was bliss to hear him laugh again. Lio stood, tugging on Ravi's hand to pull him up from the bench.

"Don't forget the bag," he said, once he'd maneuvered clear of the table.

Ravi snorted. "Some help you are. What about my weakened state?"

"You've had a miraculous recovery, but I'm here to supervise just in case." Lio grinned and waited for Ravi to catch up before he found the stairs that led to the rented rooms. They climbed hand in hand, which he found unexpectedly charming.

Damn the hallways, they were brighter than the bar. Practical lighting did not provide the mood he needed. Especially because in the time it took them to finish the climb to the second floor and turn down several corridors, Ravi started to look more apprehensive. Reality tended to catch up faster under florescent panels.

Ravi dropped his hand outside the door to the room, rummaging in a pocket for the old-fashioned key fob that Ferdi's insisted on using. But when he found it, he did not open the door, just stood there jangling the fob in his hand and staring down at it.

Lio slouched against the wall beside the entrance. "Alright?" he asked.

The answer came in a rush. "I've never done this with someone I know so little about." Ravi looked at him, the fob still bouncing in his hand.

He smiled, and only spoke once he could purge the hunger from his voice. "It's meant to be a bit of fun, that's all. Whatever you want. But if you'd rather leave it here, that's alright. Or...you could kiss me goodnight and then leave it there."

Ravi let the bag slide from his arm. "I don't know," he muttered. But he did step into reach, gaze flickering. Lio drew him closer, and traced a careful fingertip from Ravi's temple, down his cheek, to the line of his jaw.

"I think...I'd kiss you, if you're—" Ravi began. Lio pitched forward to cut him off.

Kissing him was bliss with a side of tortured desire, knowing there was more and he might not be allowed any of it. Ravi leaned into him, one hand on the wall, one tentative hand at his neck. The subal was asking to be claimed for the entire night, whether he knew it or not. So soft and slow. He didn't normally prefer it like this. Too much sweet time for the kiss to steal down and open him up so there was nowhere for desperation to hide. He had one hand on the small of Ravi's back, pulling him forward and one hand at the nape of his neck, and everything went wild and a bit frantic. Appallingly undignified.

He slipped hands to hips and swung Ravi around so that he was trapped between the wall and the kiss. A soft, eager sound broke from the man in his arms and lust knifed through him. He flattened his palms against Ravi's chest pressing through the damnably thick fabric of the uniform. His hands slid down until Ravi tipped his head back against the wall and groaned, quick breath spilling from parted lips. His hands ringed Lio's wrists, stopping him.

No hope of holding back anymore. "Please don't say goodnight yet," he begged. Dignity was overrated.

"I...think I'm about to fall over."

"I won't let you." He braced his arms on either side of Ravi and kissed him again. More gently and less like he was trying to tear Ravi's heart right out of where it should stay.

Once he was steadied, Ravi looked back at him. "You really know what you're doing, don't you." Somehow, it didn't exactly sound promising.

Lio opened his mouth to protest or reassure, but something had him by the throat. He'd hate himself a little more than usual if the morning brought the realization that they weren't after the same thing. He forced himself to meet Ravi's gaze. "I like you," he said. "I'd like to stay with you. It doesn't have to be a momentous decision, just an enjoyable night."

"One night," Ravi said softly, uncertainty shifting in his voice again. Lio almost winced. But it was better that they both knew it before they went any further.

"Yes. If you're up for it."

"Well." Ravi pressed his lips together and shot a chagrined look down at his own body. "Uh. Apparently I'm up for something—"

Lio wheezed, and Ravi kissed him again before he was done laughing, and somehow they got the door open and into the room without ever quite untangling from each other.

The room was nice, or not. It might've been a damned ancient throne room, and Lio wouldn't have noticed nor cared. All his attention was trapped on Ravi, underneath him on the bed. He undid buttons on the uniform tunic, fingers moving as slowly as the kisses they traded. This night could be divine. He could make it so.

He pressed kisses along Ravi's neck and felt the answer he wanted in a fluttering pulse. Ravi's warm palms skidded up inside his shirt, against his back. The touch turned almost delicate, feather light. Shivers raced up his spine and across his ribs, just ahead of Ravi's exploring fingers.

The row of buttons finished, Lio slipped his hand between the panels of the open tunic. "Goddess," he murmured between kisses, "I have spectacular taste in men."

Ravi laughed. "Yeah, but historically, mine is shit. Not sure what that says about you."

He sounded so sweet and a bit shaky as he said it, and Lio couldn't even pretend to take offense convincingly. His growl collapsed into a grin, and Ravi brushed a forefinger across his lip. A delight, to be wanted so much.

He returned the soft touch he'd been given, fingers gliding from the shadowed dip at the base of Ravi's throat down across muscles he felt draw tight. His fingers struck against the edge of a waistband, and Ravi shuddered. The easy move would be to unfasten the button, ease away the zipper, and get at his cock. Tempting.

Instead, he stretched back up so that their faces were level, and he could look right into Ravi's dark eyes. "You are very beautiful," he said.

Ravi looked a bit stunned. He inhaled slowly, his rising chest brushing Lio's. "Funny thing is," he said, voice ragged, "I've been thinking the same thing about you all night."

Lio kissed him, and let it linger until it was too intimate, and dropped his lips to the shell of Ravi's ear. "Will you tell me what you like?" He kissed the edge of Ravi's earlobe. "I'm fairly desperate to know what you like."

Lashes brushed against his cheek, as Ravi closed his eyes and opened them again. "I'm...not set on anything particular. I think..." Ravi's head fell back as he kissed the sensitive skin below his ear. "Lio, fuck it," he groaned, "You could make me want to try pretty much anything."

That filled him with too many ideas for a single night. "Delicious," he said, grinning. "But not an answer." He sidled to the edge of the bed and slid off to stand at the foot of it. Ravi propped himself up on his elbows, a worried furrow lining his forehead.

He waved a hand. "No, stay there. I'm not going—" He stopped, waylaid by Ravi's reaction.

The way his long body stilled immediately, the tunic falling from his shoulders, his dark eyes still fastened on Lio's face, as if he were waiting for the next instruction—very interesting. Of the endless parade of ideas whirling through his head, a few in particular stepped to the fore.

He held Ravi's gaze as he undressed. The shirt was loose enough that he could have peeled it over his head without trouble, but then he would have missed drawing out the way Ravi was watching him. The man looked if he hardly dared to blink. Pants were a bit more of a nuisance, but at least he was able step out of them without flailing all over the room. He stripped everything away and left a pool of fabric as he curved back onto the bed and over Ravi.

On all fours, he leaned in and Ravi eased back until his head hit the pillows, lips parted around swift breaths. He looked entranced. Lio wanted him to look that way all night. "Take the tunic off," he said, experimenting with the tone of an order. Ravi hesitated, and then shook free of the tunic and let it drop over the side of the bed.

"Do you mind me being demanding?" He was only halfway teasing.

A huff of a laugh, and Ravi shook his head. "No," he said. He sounded breathless. His hands caressed Lio's hips, slid over his ass, and gripped his thighs. Goddess, that felt good.

He slunk down so that they were a breath away from kissing again, his fists sinking into the pillows on either side of Ravi's head. Their lips touched when he spoke. "Do you like me being demanding?"

Hesitation only made the admission sweeter. "Yes," Ravi said.

This was most definitely a game he could play. He skimmed a fingertip along Ravi's bottom lip. "Say it again."

Ravi swallowed. His hands tensed against Lio's skin. "Yes," he breathed.

Lio sprawled on his side beside Ravi's prone form and pressed him gently back to the bed when he started to rise as if to mirror his position. "Lie back." He drummed his fingers lightly against Ravi's chest. There were plenty of things he could try, but most required a more extensive conversation first. He would stick to words alone and see where it got him. "Hands under the pillow."

The pose should have made Ravi looked relaxed, lounging with arms propped beneath his head like a sun basker. But his breath was shallow, and his eyes tracked Lio's every move and one of the muscles in his arm twitched. He was stretched out like a harpstring, drawn taut in a way that made Lio's blood pulse far south of his head.

He climbed off the bed, glancing over his shoulder at Ravi. "Don't worry," he drawled. "I'm just going to get supplies."

Taking his time, he strolled into the bathroom and touched the amenities screen, swiping through the limited options Ferdi's offered. Nothing exciting in terms of lube, but at least they had the good condoms, not the ones that felt like being swathed in a rubber mat. The thought made him grin. Let no one say he was a miserly host. He always set out the good condoms for company.

The order was shuttled to the bathroom through pressure pipes a moment later, everything in a series of metallic packets. He prowled back into the bedroom and tossed the packets onto the bedspread beside Ravi.

Waiting was not his strong suit, and he'd done quite enough of it. He trailed the back of his hand over Ravi's cheek, down his throat, and floated down the length of his torso. It won him a sweet, pleading sound. Lio rolled closer to kiss his collarbone and inhaled the clean scent of his skin. This one was going to be as good as he looked. Maybe better.

He hooked a finger around the button at the top of the trousers and teased it loose. Ravi's hips lifted after his touch. He was so much more vulnerable than he should be with a stranger, and Lio wanted to warn him, or please him so well it ached. He wanted to be a dream that Ravi thought of every idle night for the rest of his life.

"Look at me," he whispered, and Ravi did, his eyes heavy lidded.

With his gaze still pinned to dark eyes, curling lashes, parted lips, he slid his hand inside the band of the uniform trousers. Inside the thin fabric in his way, wrapped his hand around Ravi and stroked a moan out of him. His heart was a bass beat slamming at every pulse point.

"How the fuck are you so—" Ravi's whisper was half-strangled by the glide of Lio's hand. Eyes closed until Lio commanded them open again. He drank in the sight of his unguarded lover, capturing him for memory. His slow hand pulled another pleading sound from Ravi's lips, and a shiver rushed down his nape at the music of it.

Ravi, his kiss and his touch and his undisguised desire, was addictive. And so willing. Every needy sound made Lio heavy and hazy, granting pleasure only when Ravi did what he said. Rewarding with his fingers and then his tongue, and then his mouth, but not enough, never quite enough.

He relieved Ravi of his clothes and his hesitations and went exploring. Taking his time, discovering a thousand ways to make his lover need him. Relentless against every inch of responsive skin, until Ravi was wrecked and abandoned on the bed. Having him like this was better than he dared to hope. Sweet pleasure and lust turned to bright elixir in his blood.

"Little Goddess," Ravi said, pleading to the dark. He couldn't keep still on the bed, eyes half-open to watch Lio rear up over him.

"Better pray to me," Lio murmured. "This is only the beginning."