Lt. Starbuck watched his friend, Captain Apollo. Or rather, he watched
Apollo watching him. He smiled to himself. For the last several sectares
he'd had the growing suspicion that Apollo's feelings for him went beyond
friendship. He was beginning to believe that Apollo was attracted to him. 
He was certainly attracted to Apollo - had been ever since they were young
cadets in the Academy.  The problem was that Apollo was always very
serious, part of being the Commander's son, Starbuck assumed.  He had
become even more serious since the destruction of the colonies and the
deaths of his mother, brother and wife. Becoming an instant parent hadn't
helped, though Starbuck had to admit to being fond of Boxey himself. But
all the responsibilities left Apollo with little time or inclination for
some good old-fashioned fun, especially fun of the sexual kind. Even if
Apollo acknowledged his attraction to his wingman, Starbuck was afraid
he'd never actually do anything about it. 

Maybe he could change that. He and Apollo were together quite often - on
patrol, during briefings, playing Triad, relaxing in the Officer's Club
after missions. What he wanted to do was get up close and personal with
his friend - make certain that Apollo couldn't help but notice him.  Maybe
tease him a little. 

His first opportunity to do so was that afternoon's triad match. During
the game, he stumbled slightly, and fell. Apollo immediately signalled to
stop the game and hurried over to him. "Are you all right?" he asked in
obvious concern. 

"I'm fine, Apollo," Starbuck replied, but when he got up, he winced a
little. Seeing that Apollo was apparently worried about him, he
exaggerated a little. "Ouch!" he exclaimed, then added, "I think I
sprained my ankle." 

The game was called off, and Apollo helped Starbuck off the court.
Starbuck couldn't help but smile a little at the opportunity to lean on
his friend's shoulder. Of course, it didn't hurt that the Triad uniform
left little to the imagination. It covered very little of his body. He had
to see a doctor, of course, and Salik gave his opinion that the ankle was
probably not sprained, just twisted a little, but he wrapped it and gave
Starbuck some mild painkillers. Then Starbuck got Apollo to 'help' him
undress and get into the shower. 

In the shower, Starbuck took every chance he could get to show off his
naked body. He deliberately dropped the soap a few times so that he could
bend over and pick it up - while Apollo had a good view, of course. 

When they were finished, Starbuck hobbled out of the shower on his own and
sat down on a bench. He started trying to rub the sore ankle but seemed to
be having trouble reaching it. "Guess I'm not as young as I used to be,"
he commented.

"What was that?" Apollo asked.

"I'm getting old, Apollo. I can't even bend over far enough to give myself
a good foot massage,"  Starbuck replied. 

Apollo came over and sat in front of his wingman, and started massaging
his foot and ankle.  "That better?" he asked. 

"Much," smiled Starbuck. "Thanks. But really, a couple of yahrens ago I
would never have missed that shot, let alone sprained my ankle. I can't
pretend I don't hear what the younger guys are saying about me." 

"What have they been saying?" Apollo inquired curiously.

"That I'm getting old! I'm out of shape. The body is not as beautiful as
it once was," Starbuck said sadly. 

The Captain laughed. "Your body is just fine, Starbuck."

"You think so?" the blond man asked, unable to keep the smile from his
face. 

"Yes, I think so."

"Aw, thanks, Apollo. Hey, do you think Daran might be interested in me?" 

"Daran? You think Daran is interested in you? What gave you that idea?" 

"He always watches me at practices. He always tries to find something nice
to say to me, like 'good shot' or 'great game' or something. I thought
maybe he had a crush on me. It's kind of flattering." 

"I didn't know you swung that way, Bucko."

"Where have you been, Pol? Okay, I haven't really been with a guy since
the Academy, but that's because I just never found anyone that interested
me enough. There have always been plenty of women around to make up for
it." 

"And you find Daran interesting?" asked Apollo carefully.

Starbuck grinned. "Well, he's cute. Kind of young, though."

"Like that ever stopped you before," commented Apollo, finishing the
massage. 

Starbuck rose to get dressed and stumbled slightly - right in front of
Apollo, of course. The Captain caught him and held him just a micron
longer than necessary. Starbuck noticed, but all he said was, "Thanks,
Pol." 

"You're welcome."

A few days later, the Lieutenant approached Apollo after patrol. "Hey,
Apollo, do you want to go dancing on the Rising Star with me tonight?" 

"Wouldn't you rather go with Cassiopia, or maybe Daran?" his wingman
wanted to know. 

Aha. Apollo was jealous. "Cassie and I aren't really seeing each other
these days. As for Daran, that turned out to be more a case of hero
worship than actual attraction. He's a nice kid, though,"  Starbuck added. 

He noticed what looked like a relieved look on Apollo's face. "It's been
awhile since I went dancing," the Captain commented. "I'd like that. Sure
your ankle is up to it?" 

"Ankle's just fine. So, meet me in the shuttle bay at 2200?"

The two warriors were very popular on the Rising Star. It wasn't hard to
find willing dance partners of either gender. Apollo stuck to women, but
Starbuck danced with both males and females, though he and Apollo both
took women back to their table. The four of them chatted politely for
awhile, though Starbuck found both women intensely boring. He decided to
liven things up a bit. "Apollo, do you remember the dance classes we had
at the Academy?'

"You took dance at the Academy?" one of the women, whose name was Sarita,
asked in surprise. 

Apollo chuckled. "Yes, our instructors thought we should learn a few
social graces along with our flight training. And dance is good exercise -
it was part of our physical training." 

"They also thought it would be a good way to learn things like physical
coordination, following instructions, and working with a partner,"
Starbuck put in. "And there weren't many girls in our class, so Apollo and
I had to dance with each other. Do you remember the Caprican Two Step,
Apollo?" 

"How could I forget?" laughed Apollo.

Starbuck stood and offered his hand to his friend. "Want to show these
ladies how it's done?" 

The Captain frowned. "It's been a few yahrens, Starbuck."

"Come on, " Starbuck encouraged him. "I'm sure your body hasn't forgotten
its moves." 

So Apollo followed Starbuck on to the dance floor. Taking Apollo into his
arms, Starbuck was taken back to the time in the Academy when he'd first
had Apollo for his dance partner. It had been hard to keep his attraction
to the dark-haired boy from showing. He'd had to make some rapid
adjustments to his clothing to hide the hard-on he'd developed as soon as
he'd felt Apollo's body pressed against his. He had the feeling he was
going to have to do that again tonight. Not that he would mind if Apollo
noticed his erection - he just didn't want the entire ship to see it too. 

But if Apollo noticed, he didn't say anything. Frac. What did Starbuck
have to do to get this man's attention? 

But Apollo had noticed. He just didn't want to jump Starbuck in the middle
of the dance floor on the Rising Star. Besides, he figured that Starbuck
was probably drunk.

But the next day when they went on patrol, he couldn't help but notice
that Starbuck made a rather elaborate show of undressing before getting
into his pressure suit. And when their patrol was over, Starbuck took off
his suit, but didn't get dressed right away. In fact, he spent quite some
time just walking around the locker room naked, discussing the mission in
a simple matter of fact way, as if he always walked around with no clothes
on. Maybe he did. After all, when you lived in communal quarters with
dozens of other warriors, privacy was rare and modesty didn't last long.
Since Apollo was a family man, he had his own quarters, and didn't spend
much time in Bachelor Officer's Quarters. 

The same thing happened after their next Triad match. Starbuck came out of
the showers and wandered around the locker room wearing nothing but a
rather skimpy towel. Apollo couldn't deny that Starbuck had a very nice
body. He'd meant it when he'd said Starbuck's body was perfectly fine - in
fact, it was more than fine. 

Starbuck, meanwhile, had just about given up. Nothing he'd tried seemed to
have worked on Apollo. No amount of flirting, showing off, or teasing had
made Apollo look at him any differently. He must have misjudged his
friend's intentions. As he walked Apollo back to his quarters, he wondered
if he could go back to just being friends with the Captain, and nothing
else. He supposed he would have to. It wasn't like he had much of a
choice. 

They stopped outside the cabin door, and Starbuck was about to say
goodnight, when Apollo asked him, "Do you want to come in for a bit?" 

With a shrug, Starbuck accepted. As he walked in, Apollo grabbed him,
shoved him none too gently against a wall, and kissed him like there was
no tomorrow. When they broke apart, gasping for air, Starbuck asked, "So,
what was that all about?" 

Apollo's mouth dropped open. How could Starbuck not know ? Then he
realized his friend was teasing him again. "You have been driving me mad
for the past secton," he growled. "I figured it was time to do something
about it." 

"Only a secton?" Starbuck inquired before kissing him.

"Actually, you've been driving me mad for yahrens," Apollo replied. "Since
the Academy. Do you know the first time I danced with you in Physical
Training I had to adjust my clothes so nobody would see the hard-on I had
because of you?" 

"You too, huh?"

Apollo took his new lover into his arms and held him tightly. "How long
have we been fooling ourselves?" 

"Too long. But not any longer."

"You have that right," Apollo stated as he led Starbuck to the bedroom. 

As they made love for the first time, Starbuck couldn't help but compare
it to the times the two of them had danced together. Two bodies moving
together as one, only this time it was to a rhythm they created
themselves, rather than to a piece of music that came from outside. 

When they were finished and lying in each others' arms, Starbuck brought
up the subject that had been weighing heavily on his mind since he had
begun his attempt at seducing Apollo. 

"Pol - what happens now?"

"What do you mean?" asked his lover, confused.

"I mean - do we ever do this again? Was this a one time thing? Do we keep
chasing women, or do you want to be exclusive?" He didn't ask, Do you love
me? But it was what he really wanted to know. 

Apollo looked deep into his eyes. "Starbuck, you must know by now that I
don't give my heart, or my body, easily. And now that I've given them to
you, I don't plan to give either of them to anyone else. They're yours, if
you want them - both of them." 

To Starbuck, it sounded like a promise, and more than he had ever hoped
for. But he wanted to be absolutely clear. "Apollo, what are saying?" he
asked. 

"I am saying that I love you, and I want us to be lovers, and more than
that - I want us to be together permanently. Life mates. That is, if
that's what you want." 

Starbuck grabbed him in a fierce embrace. "Apollo, that is everything that
I have ever wanted. I love you." 

END