Apollo was nervous.

He'd asked his lover to meet him for dinner at the Rising Star. He
intended to ask Starbuck a Very Important Question tonight. No, he wasn't
nervous - he was absolutely terrified. 

He didn't know what it was that scared him so much. So he was going to ask
Starbuck to marry him. He was almost completely certain that Starbuck
would say yes. They'd been together for half a yahren already and intended
to stay together for the rest of their lives. So why wouldn't Starbuck say
yes? 

Same-sex sealings weren't all that common, but they weren't unheard of,
either. However, the fact that Apollo was the Commander's son made him
somewhat of a celebrity in the fleet.  His wedding would probably attract
some attention.

That was, if Starbuck accepted his proposal.

Starbuck alighted from his viper with a slight groan. He was exhausted. It
had been a mostly uneventful patrol, but sitting in his viper for centares
was tiring to say the least. All he wanted to do now was return to the
Bachelor Officers' Quarters and sleep for about a sectare, but Apollo
wanted to meet him for dinner on the Rising Star. He went to a
communications panel on the wall and called Apollo's quarters. 

"Hey, Pol, can we cancel dinner? I'm beat after my patrol," he told his
lover. 

"Star, I'd really like to see you tonight, and I've already made
reservations," Apollo said cautiously. There was no way he was putting
this off.  It would take another half yahren to work up the courage again. 

Starbuck sighed. "Is dinner really that important to you?" he asked. 

"Yes," answered Apollo honestly. "I've missed you."

"I just saw you yesterday," laughed Starbuck.

"So, I'd miss you even if I only saw you fifteen centons ago," replied his
lover. 

"All right," said Starbuck. "But can we make it a short dinner?"

"Anything for you, my love."

Starbuck headed for the turbowash. Apollo had been acting kind of strange
lately, and he wondered what was up. Maybe he'd find out tonight. 

Sometimes the amount of love he felt for Apollo surprised Starbuck. He'd
never felt this way about anyone before. Maybe it was because Apollo was
his best friend as well as his lover. He wished there was something he
could do to show Apollo how much he loved him. Sometimes just saying the
words didn't seem like enough. He tried to show him in bed, but he wanted
Apollo to know that it wasn't just about sex for him. 

He looked at the time. He'd better hurry if he didn't want to keep Apollo
waiting. 

Apollo adjusted his uniform nervously. He couldn't recall having been this
apprehensive when he'd proposed to Serena. He'd planned this meal
carefully. Dinner was Starbuck's favorite. A bottle of the best ambrosa
would be delivered after the food was finished, and the proposal would be
made then. 

Why did he have the feeling that it was always the best laid plans that
went awry? 

Nothing could go wrong, he told himself. He repeated that phrase silently
like a mantra.  /Nothing can go wrong./

Starbuck arrived right on time, looking gorgeous as always. Apollo noticed
that his hair was still wet from the turbowash. That made him look even
more adorable. He chuckled silently to himself. Boy, did he have it bad.
He greeted his lover with a kiss. 

"Glad you could make it," he said.

"Hey, I wouldn't stand up the most gorgeous man in the fleet," laughed
Starbuck. 

"Not possible," answered Apollo, "since that's you."

Starbuck smiled at him. Gods, Apollo loved that smile. "I think you need
to get your eyes examined, Apollo," he said. 

"My eyes are fine. You're just too modest."

The two continued their light chatter as dinner was served. Starbuck
noticed that it was his favorite meal.  He was certain Apollo was up to
something - this meal would have set him back a fair amount of money. But
what was it? 

Apollo barely tasted his food. He wished he could get the meal over with.
He mentally rehearsed exactly what he was going to say to Starbuck. 

"Well, hello, boys," said a familiar voice. Commander Adama and Colonel
Tigh approached their table. 

"Father, Colonel," Apollo greeted them politely.

"May we join you?" Adama asked.

"Er..." Apollo stammered.

"Of course," said Starbuck. "How can we refuse the Commander?"

"Now, now, I'm not here as the Commander," Adama replied kindly. "I'm here
as a father and, I hope, a friend." 

As Starbuck and Adama continued to talk, Tigh watched Apollo. He noticed
that the Captain seemed uncomfortable. He also noticed the waiter hovering
in the background with a bottle of ambrosa. He nudged Adama. 

"Aren't we supposed to be somewhere at 2100?" he asked.

"Not that I recall," Adama answered.

"I'm quite certain we are," Tigh insisted. "We should get going. It was
nice talking to you, Apollo, Starbuck." And he almost dragged Adama away
from the table. 

"What was that about?" Adama asked his friend when they were out of
earshot of the two warriors. 

"I think Apollo has a surprise planned for Starbuck," Tigh told him. "In
fact, I think if we sit just about here ..." he found a table, "we can
watch them without being seen." 

Meanwhile, not far away, Athena and Cassiopia were finishing a meal. 

"Thank you for dinner, Athena," Cassie was saying. "I can't normally
afford to eat here." 

"It's the least I can do," replied Apollo's sister. "You really helped me
out. I didn't want to go to Salik with my ... little problem." 

"You're not the only woman on the Galactica who's come to me with little
problems," replied Cassie. "Lots of women don't want to see a male doctor
for that kind of thing. " 

"Does Sheba have little problems?" asked Athena.

"You know I can't tell you private medical information about my patients,"
scolded the med tech.  Then she smiled. "But off the record? No, she's
never come to me. Sometimes I wonder if Sheba is even female. I know Cain
wanted a son. I think he got one." 

Athena almost choked on her drink laughing at Cassie's assessment of
Sheba. Then she noticed her brother across the room. "Look, there's Apollo
and Starbuck. Aren't they cute together?" 

"They are, aren't they?" said Cassiopia with a smile. "Shall we go say
hi?" 

"Yes, let's," agreed Athena, and they approached the table.

Apollo had just opened the bottle of ambrosa and was preparing to begin
his proposal when he was interrupted. 

"Hi, guys," said Athena. "Cassie and I were having dinner and we thought
we'd drop by and say hello." 

Apollo wanted to crawl under the table, preferably taking Starbuck with
him. Then maybe they wouldn't be interrupted again. 

The two warriors made polite conversation with Athena and Cassiopia. When
the women had left, Apollo resumed pouring the ambrosa. He was just about
to say something when Boomer and Jolly appeared. 

"Hey, fancy meeting the two of you here," said Boomer cheerfully.

Apollo was beginning to think that strangling someone sounded like a
really good idea. He wondered if he should kill Boomer first or Jolly. 

"What are the two of you doing here?" Starbuck asked them, wondering why
Apollo looked murderous. 

"I lost a bet," said Boomer cheerfully, "so I had to buy him dinner." 

Apollo wondered, in spite of himself, why Boomer seemed so cheerful about
having lost a bet.  Then, when he saw the way the warrior was looking at
Jolly, he reconsidered. Perhaps Boomer was happy about the company, not
the bet. 

Just then the red alert klaxon sounded. Starbuck groaned at the thought of
having to sit in his viper again so soon after finishing patrol. Apollo
groaned too, but for an entirely different reason. 

As they were returning to the Galactica, Tigh turned to Adama. "It appears
that your daughter has lousy timing," he commented. 

"So do Boomer and Jolly," said the Commander.

"I wonder if Apollo will ever actually get around to his proposal?"
wondered Tigh. 

"Do you think that's what he had planned?" Adama asked.

"I'd say so. The dinner, the ambrosa, the way Apollo was desperate to be
left alone with Starbuck - it looked like a proposal to me." 

The Commander smiled. "I was hoping that was what he had planned, but I
was afraid it was wishful thinking." 

Athena and Cassiopia were also wondering about Apollo's plans. "Hey,
Thee," said Cassie, "did you catch the way your brother was looking at us
when we dropped by his table?" 

"Yeah. He looked ready to strangle us," Athena noted. "Do you think we
interrupted his and Starbuck's romantic dinner?" 

"We interrupted something, that's for sure."

Jolly was wondering the same thing. "So what do you think was Apollo's
problem?" he asked Boomer as they prepared to launch their vipers. 

"Apollo had a problem?" Boomer asked.

"Didn't you see the look on his face?"

"I wasn't paying attention to Apollo," his wingman replied. "Or to
Starbuck either, for that matter." 

"You have a one-track mind, Boomer," laughed Jolly.

"You like my mind," was Boomer's reply.

"I like the rest of you, too," Jolly answered.

Fortunately for the warriors, the alert was short-lived. The few Cylons
that had approached the Galactica were quickly dealt with. 

By the time he returned to the ship, Starbuck was dead on his feet. He
turned to head for the Bachelor Officers' Quarters when Apollo stopped
him. "Come back to my quarters with me," he said. 

"Mm-kay," mumbled the Lieutenant sleepily.

Apollo steered Starbuck to his quarters, helped him undress, put him to
bed and climbed in beside him. Starbuck was asleep almost before his head
hit the pillow. Apollo watched him sleep for awhile. He was sorry that he
hadn't been able to propose, but the brief encounter with the Cylons had
reminded him of what was important - the fact that Starbuck was with him
at all.  Any fight with the Cylons could be his or Starbuck's last.
Proposals could wait for another day.  He kissed his lover gently. "I love
you, Starbuck," he whispered before he drifted off to sleep. 

The next morning, Athena rooted around Cassiopia's kitchen. "Cass, don't
you have anything decent to eat around here?" 

Cassie slipped her arms around Athena from behind. "I don't usually eat
breakfast." 

"You're a med tech and you don't eat breakfast? Come on, let's go to the
crew mess." Then she added, "And then, you and I are going to move your
things into my quarters, and starting tomorrow I am going to cook
breakfast for both of us from now on." 

"Is that a proposition, Athena?" Cassie asked.

"No, it's more like a proposal," replied Athena. "That is - if you want it
to be." 

"Yes, I do want it to be. And I accept."

In the Bachelor Officers' Quarters, Boomer turned to Jolly. "We have to
get quarters of our own,"  he announced. "These beds are just too small,
and we have no privacy." 

"And how are two unmarried warriors going to get quarters?" asked Jolly. 

"Get married?" suggested Boomer.

"Are you proposing to me?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so."

"Well, if Starbuck and Apollo can get married, I guess no one can object
to us doing it," Jolly mused. 

"Starbuck and Apollo?" asked Boomer.

"There's a pool going around as to when Apollo will ask Starbuck to get
sealed with him," Jolly told him. "My money was on last night, but I think
the Red Alert killed my chances of winning." 

"So will you marry me or not?" Boomer demanded.

Jolly grinned at him. "Yes."

Tigh and Adama were already in the Officers' Mess eating breakfast.

"So, I wonder if Apollo has gotten around to proposing yet?" wondered
Tigh. 

"I do, too," said Adama. "But after the alert last night, I imagine both
of them were too tired to do anything but fall into bed." 

"Like we did?" joked Tigh.

"I doubt they had enough energy to do what we did last night," answered
his lover. 

Cassiopia and Athena joined them. 

"So, when are the two of you going to make it official, anyway?" Athena
asked her father partway through the meal. 

"Official?" asked Adama, pretending not to understand.

"When are you and the Colonel going to get sealed? You've been together
for over a yahren." 

"I could ask the same of you and Cassiopia," answered the Commander. 

"Hey, we've barely been together a couple of sectares," Athena replied.
"Besides, I don't want us to upstage Apollo and Starbuck." 

Boomer and Jolly approached the table. "Hey, are you guys talking about
our favorite couple?"  Boomer asked. 

"Yes, we were just wondering when Apollo is going to propose," Athena told
him. 

"My money was on yesterday," said Jolly sadly.

"Money? You're betting?" asked Tigh.

Jolly coughed and looked away. "Relax, Lieutenant, I was wondering if I
could get in on the wager, if there is one," Tigh laughed. 

"Sure," Jolly answered.

"I would also like to place a bet," Adama put in.

"Certainly, Commander," Jolly said as he finished writing down Tigh's
wager. "What day do you want?" 

"Today," answered Adama.

Jolly checked his notebook. "All right, today's not taken." And he took
Adama's money and wrote down his bet. 

Apollo woke that morning before Starbuck. He wasn't surprised. His lover
had already been worn out before the fight with the Cylons. It was
probably a good thing neither of them had had a chance to drink any of the
ambrosa he'd ordered with dinner. 

After he'd seen Boxey off, Apollo busied himself preparing breakfast and
carried it on a tray to the bedroom. He wondered if he should wake
Starbuck or continue letting him sleep. As he stood and looked at the man
he loved, Starbuck slowly opened his eyes. 

"Morning," said Apollo.

"Is it still morning?" Starbuck asked.

"Barely. Here, I made you breakfast."

"Thanks. Boxey at school?"

"He left more than a centare ago," Apollo informed him.

Starbuck looked at the tray. "Not that I don't like your cooking, but I
think I'd rather have you for breakfast." 

His lover grinned at him. "Food first, then play. You need your strength." 

"I have plenty of strength," Starbuck grumbled, but began to eat.

Suddenly, Apollo blurted out, "Starbuck, will you marry me?"

The Lieutenant stopped in mid-bite. "Pardon me?" he asked.

"Frack. Listen, I had this whole thing planned, dinner last night on the
Rising Star, all your favorites, ambrosa and everything, and I had this
entire speech composed in my head, but as you probably noticed, we barely
got five centons alone last night." 

"I noticed. Now, please repeat what you just asked me."

"Will you marry me?" Apollo asked.

A broad grin split Starbuck's face.

"Yes," he answered.

END