Free Imposition by Juniper Gray Page A

at all."
    "Then what?” Gen yelled, holding his arms out wide. “What stopped you telling me for four fucking years if it wasn't that?"
    "What the fuck difference does it make anyway?” Therse shouted back. “So I like to screw men! So what? So fucking what ?"
    The words bounced off Gen's back as he stormed out of the mess.
    * * * *
    He was still astonished by Gen's reaction. Of all the ways to take it, Therse had never imagined he'd be pissed. Sure, he didn't find out in the best way, but Therse was more mortified about it than he imagined Gen could ever be.
    Therse had lost track of how long he'd been wandering around the corridors of the ship, trying to get his head around what to do next.
    He felt like he should apologize for not telling Gen sooner, but it would be difficult to explain why exactly he'd held out for so long. And anyway, he was damned if he would be the one to apologize first after Gen's idiotic overreaction. And it was an overreaction. He was only secretly gay, not secretly planning to commit genocide.
    He looked up and noticed Meitou coming towards him. Seeing him again made Therse's stomach do somersaults.
    "Hey."
    "You look troubled.” Meitou's lips pulled up at one corner as Therse watched them.
    "Yeah, well,"
    "Lovers’ tiff?"
    "...No...He just didn't take it too well that I've been lying to him for years."
    "Lying?"
    "Technically, I guess, I never made it clear..."
    "Why lie about it?"
    "I don't know...” he shrugged. “Look, it really has nothing to do with you,"
    "Right, right.” Meitou waved a hand. “Just give him some time to cool off."
    "I think it's going to take a little more than that. There was yelling on both parts."
    "He'll come around. You're his closest friend, right? He's got no choice. Wounds like this always seem deeper when they're fresh.” Meitou's hand rested on Therse's shoulder. “Once you've let the dust settle, things won't seem so bad."
    Therse could feel the intensity of Meitou's gaze. The effects of that look went straight to his groin.
    He sloped his shoulder so Meitou's hand slipped off. “He's right you know. I don't know
    anything about you."
    Meitou's gaze was cool, determined. “All you need to know you already do."
    "I've never fucked a guy without even knowing his name before."
    "You know my name."
    "Your full name. Or anything else about you."
    "Why, need something more to shout out next time?"
    Therse raised an eyebrow. “'Next time'?"
    Meitou just smiled at him, a self-assured, intoxicating sideways grin that set something alight in Therse's gut. He felt himself beginning to give in already, before a proposal had even been made. Meitou stepped closer.
    Therse decided to put a stop to it before it started. Doing it the first time had really been bad enough.
    He put his hands out as Meitou was leaning in, his palms meeting the soft material covering the man's chest. He could feel the stiff, taut muscle beneath, and the night before came flooding back. “Look, I don't know."
    "Yes, you do,” Meitou said, voice low and close to a whisper. He leaned in and pressed against Therse's outstretched hands, tilting his head to speak into Therse's ear. “You're already hard just from thinking about it."
    Therse wanted to push him away, wanted to deny it and stalk off down the corridor hoping never to see him again.
    But it was true. He couldn't stop thinking about last night. It had been a long time since he'd felt that good, since anyone had made him feel so alive, and he wanted more even if he knew it was a bad idea. Perhaps that was what made it so thrilling. He looked down, fingertips clenching slowly into Meitou's perfect black uniform.
    Meitou's lips grazed his cheek.
    Therse pushed him away, just far enough that they were no longer touching, and looked Meitou straight in the eye. “It's not right,” he said. “After what happened earlier..."
    Meitou chuckled. His lips were so close Therse could almost taste them. “Don't be such a prude,” he was