Dirt in the Sky
By Drew Zachary

"Markham, we've got a blip down by the labs again."

Captain Markham Spencer, head of the tiny security force on the station, moved to the monitor where his second pointed out a flashing light on the screen. "Biology, not physics," Markham noted. "You know what that means."

His second grinned. "Gordon Watts couldn't sleep and went to play with his plants."

"And got lost again, looking for a shortcut." Markham rolled his eyes. "All right, I need the walk. I'll go fetch him and send him back to bed, you look for real trouble."

"Yes, sir. Enjoy the stroll."

Markham snorted and left the security room, striding down the corridors with an easy knowledge of exactly where he was going. Unlike certain scientists, who in three weeks on the station hadn't really gotten a grip on the path between 'quarters' and 'work'. He shook his head to himself, fighting back a grin. As much as he hated playing babysitter in the middle of space, there were perks. Like scientists who perpetually got lost. Cute scientists.

He made a series of left hand turns and a few rights, making his way to the other end of the station in the muted lighting. Their orbit was off of standard Earth time so they regulated time internally, and it was currently the middle of the night. Too bad Gordon's body didn't agree.

Markham was almost to the bio labs when he made a right hand turn away from them, into a corridor that lead to supply storage. "Lost again, Flash?" he said easily to the man standing there, looking a little befuddled.

Gordon started a little, hazel eyes finding his, managing to look both sheepish and relieved. "I was sure this turn would take me right down to my quarters..." Gordon's voice was quiet, whether in deference for the 'night' or not, Markham didn't know, and his knees were covered in dirt, as were his hands.

"Nope, but you might find some blankets or such in the supply closet," Markham said with a grin. "Don't suppose you'd consider tying a string to your door that you could follow back?"

Gordon's cheeks went pink and he pushed his hair back off his ears, leaving a streak of dirt on one cheek. "The station is just so big and convoluted. I'll get it figured out. I was sure this was a shortcut."

"That's what you said last time," Markham teased. "C'mon, let's get you back to your room so you can clean up. You know, sleep could be a thing, too. You're not going to adjust to the time if you keep getting up to work." He looked down a little at Gordon, the difference in their height only a couple of inches. Still, it was a nice view, dirt and all. He smiled and nodded down the corridor with his head. "Bedtime, Flash."

"Oh, I've never needed a lot of sleep. And I don't sleep well away from home." Gordon laughed a little, moving in the direction Markham'd indicated. "I never would have guessed it was this way. If you hadn't come along I would have eventually backtracked and headed off down the corridor behind us." The man had a nice laugh and, despite the dirt, he smelled good, like soap and something green.

"That would have made the pretty blue blip on my screen turn red," Markham said, pointedly not checking out Gordon's ass. Well, pointedly not checking in the sense that he was definitely looking, but on the sly, not wanting to get caught at it. Not until he was sure Gordon wouldn't kick up a fuss, anyway. So far he hadn't gotten any indication from Gordon one way or the other, but that didn't mean he couldn't keep looking.

"Red?" Gordon frowned. "I'm not sure I like being a blip to start with, but red sounds ominous."

"Red's not so good," Markham conceded. "And you're not a blip at all unless you show up in a place where you shouldn't be at a time you shouldn't." He fell back a half-step to get an even better non-look at Gordon's ass, which was also streaked with soil. "Blue just points you out. Red means you're too close to systems and power sources."

Gordon laughed. "Systems and power sources -- it sounds like magic or something. Of course, physics was never my thing, so I have to admit this whole being out here is kind of like magic or voodoo to me anyway." Gordon stopped at one of the portholes and looked out. "It still all seems rather unreal. And a little bit... well it's so vast, isn't it? I woke up tonight and found myself looking out the window in my room and I sort of needed something familiar." Gordon shrugged and looked as if he were embarrassed for having admitted it.

"I get that," Markham said with a nod. "I go more for consistency of habit than actual things, though. Like, I made sure my work schedule stayed the same rotation, that the shifts are the same. Routine, you know?" He turned them right at a forty-five degree angle. "Watch that turn," he said, pointing to where three corridors met. "You'll get turned around easy if you're not following the yellow line on the floor."

"Follow the yellow brick road, eh?" Gordon laughed again, and this time he got to see the man's eyes light up with it. There were green flecks in the hazel, Markham realized, brown and yellow and green, like a garden. "I admit, I haven't been looking down when going places, so I kind of never noticed the yellow line before."

"No one let you know?" Markham asked, surprised. "Follow the yellow from your quarters until you hit brown, blue and purple. Purple goes to the labs, blue to ops, and brown to engineering." He shook his head, distracted by the thought that new personnel were getting half-assed orientation. He'd have to mention it to the CO. "You have pretty eyes," he said absently, following the yellow line around a corner.

"Me?" Gordon sounded surprised. "I have confused eyes. You know -- they can't figure out what color they're supposed to be. Yours are... oh, blue. I always wanted blue eyes."

Markham realized they'd stopped walking and were just kind of standing there, sort of close together, staring at each other. He decided that was fine with him; Gordon was pretty, and not just his eyes. He had pretty hair too, dark blond with curls around his ears, pretty much in contrast with his own severe cut and dark hair. "Your eyes suit you," he finally said. "Earth and green and light."

"Oh." Gordon stared up at him for what seemed like a long time before blinking, cheeks going pink again. "Thank you. I um…" Gordon shrugged again. "I wouldn't have expected something... poetic like that from a man like you. Oh! Man, that was kind of rude and you were being nice. I'm sorry." Gordon turned and started walking again, head down, eyes on the yellow line.

Markham laughed and caught him by the arm. "No offence taken," he said with a grin. "I do other unexpected things, too."

Gordon stopped and looked at him again, head tilting. "Yeah? Like what?"

Markham hesitated for a second. Most of his brain was thinking 'don't be stupid' but the louder part said 'fuck it', so he tilted his head, too, leaned forward, and kissed Gordon on the mouth. Not a gentle peck, but something more firm. Serious.

Gordon gasped and pulled away, mouth open as those pretty eyes stared up at him. "Oh."

He'd decided that Gordon was going to either try to slug him or turn on his heel and high tail it back to his quarters when the man leaned forward and pressed their lips together again. The part of him that thought this was stupid took an interest, sort of unexpectedly, and joined in with the rest of him. Markham slid a hand into Gordon's hair and kissed him right back, trying to add a little tongue to the game, and when Gordon swayed toward him, Markham smiled into the kiss. Unexpected was fun at times. Almost as often as the times it got him into trouble. Maybe especially the times it got him into trouble.

Gordon's hand slid around his waist, fingers stroking him through his uniform. Just as suddenly as he'd moved in, Gordon backed off again, eyes huge and blinking at him. "I." Gordon cleared his throat and looked past him. "Oh, this is my room. I. Thank you. For the escort. I should. Go."

Markham blinked. "Seriously? You don't want to--" He tried to shut up before his dignity utterly fled in disgust.

"Yes. I mean no. I mean." Gordon ducked his head, blushing hard and moved around Markham, slipping into his room. Just before the door closed, Gordon looked back and Markham would swear he heard the man say "I do want to," right before the door closed.

Markham frowned at the door. Huh. He raised one fist and knocked politely.

The door opened a crack, Gordon peeking out at him. "Oh. Hi."

"Hi. Want to tell me why I'm on this side of the door?" It was kind of confusing, really.

"Because it's my room? Do you... want to be on this side?"

Markham tried really hard not to roll his eyes. "Was thinking that way, yes," he said. "What with the kissing and you smelling good and all."

"You think I smell good?" Gordon blushed again, and smiled. "The kissing was nice. And you smell good, too. Do you. Is this just." Gordon cleared his throat and suddenly stood straight, tall. "I'm not interested in wham bam thank you, Gordon, don't get lost again."

"I can't promise to marry you," Markham said after a pause. "But I'm interested. Not that I know you really well -- rescuing you every few nights is fun and all, but that's hardly a long term relationship. Like to know you better, but at this particular moment I'm more about the kissing." He shrugged. "Won't lie, so that's what you've got to go on."

"I don't need a marriage proposal, but I won't be a notch on anyone's belt, Captain."

"I don't do that," Markham said, leaning on the door frame. "Ruins the leather." Gordon looked less than impressed, and Markham sighed. "Look, I've been out here for almost four months and you're the first person who's so much as caught my eye, let alone touched me back. I don't fuck around, but I don't like drama if it doesn't work out in the long haul."

Gordon reached out unexpectedly and stroked his cheek, hand sliding down to rest against one of his pecs. "I'd like another kiss. Maybe more than just one. But then... well, you said it's been four months and I'm not asking for the long haul, but why don't we see if your eye stays caught after another day or two?"

Markham considered that, the voices in his head alternately cheering for kisses and lamenting the lack of actual orgasms. "Fair enough," he said, nodding. "Not like I've got more than half an hour anyway before they'll buzz me. Slow nights, but that doesn't mean we can really just take off." He took a tentative step forward.

Gordon met him halfway, head tilted, mouth moving in toward his. The kiss started out soft, Gordon's mouth opening under his, tongue sliding to touch his lips.

They kissed languidly, Markham trying to keep things slow, but it wasn't easy. It had been a longish time for him, and the sudden assault of creature comfort was heady. He forced himself to pull back a bit. "You even taste earthy," he whispered. "Like home."

Gordon groaned, the sound guttural, needy, and pressed up against him. One hand slid behind his head. "Don't make me change my mind." Then he was tugged back into the kiss.

Right. Like that was going to be easy, Gordon pressed up against him, not exactly oblivious to the way Markham was getting hard. Markham kissed him a little harder, a little deeper, hands coasting over Gordon's ass and pulling him close enough to rub against.

Gordon jerked and then stiffened, mouth going lax beneath his a moment. Then suddenly Gordon was pressed close again, rubbing against him eagerly, tongue pushing into his mouth like the man was starving.

"Flash," Markham groaned, then dove into the kiss again, his hands flexing on Gordon's ass. His cock was happy, getting a little friction, but if they kept it up he would either have to go back to work in wet pants with a broken understanding, or he'd have to pull back.

He decided to wait a few more minutes before making a final choice.

Gordon fed needy little noises into his mouth, the hand at his neck alternately stroking and clutching. The rubbing was getting faster, harder and they were quickly headed toward the point of no return.

"Damn," Markham gasped, yanking his head back. "Gotta stop if you don't want to shoot, Flash." He couldn't quite make himself let go of the man's ass though, and he didn't even try to stop his own hungry moan.

Gordon blinked up at him, cheeks flushed, eyes wide, dark, chest rising and falling with each panting breath. "Oh. Oh, God." Stepping back, Gordon broke his hold on that fine ass, shaking his head. "I'm not a tease. Really. I just. Sorry." With that the door swung closed, forcing him to back up a step or two in a hurry.

Well. Markham looked at the door and then down at his own groin. "Go to sleep, you," he said. "Got a long slow walk back to work. And some courting to do." Because one taste was sure as hell not enough. He gave Gordon's door a long look, wondered if Gordon was jacking off, and fled before the image could really solidify. A taste was definitely not enough.

***

"Two nights, no blips," his second said to Markham. "Nice quiet shift."

"You mean boring."

"Yeah, that." His second smiled. "Still. Nice to know that Watts can find his way to work now."

Markham shrugged. He should have shut up about the lines; he didn't have any excuses to go find Gordon now. "Whoever did the orientation fucked up," he said, nodding to the relief team coming on duty. "Well, that's it for me. See you in twelve."

"Night, Cap."

Markham waved and glumly made his way to the quarters area. Two mornings and he hadn't managed to time it right to see Gordon, and he didn't want to just go down to the bio lab in case his presence messed with the work. Still though, it was damn tempting, and with one of his unpredictable turns of mind, he changed course, speeding up as he went. The bio lab should at least be quiet, this early in the day.

Sure enough, Gordon was there, on his knees, elbow deep in dirt. He was surrounded by little pots with fragrant plants in them. Maybe herbs? Markham couldn't be sure, but then he wasn't the botanist.

"Damn, what time do you go to work?" Markham asked, glancing at his watch. "It isn't even eight ten yet." He moved around so he could stand behind Gordon; better to admire his ass.

Gordon twisted around and looked up at him, surprise clear in the hazel eyes. "I've been here since four today. Couldn't sleep." Gordon stood and stretched, tilted his neck from side to side, making it creak. "I thought you'd decided I wasn't worth the trouble."

"Hardly," Markham said dryly. "I've been trying to find you in the corridors. You're not getting lost anymore." He looked Gordon up and down with appreciation. "Get many people wandering in here?" he asked casually.

"Well, you showed me how to find my way back to my room," Gordon pointed out, looking back, though his gaze was slowly, working its way up from Markham's feet to his eyes. "Nobody comes in here except me."

"Told you before I knew how good you taste," Markham admitted. "Door lock isn't busted, is it?"

"No," Gordon said slowly, eyes puzzled. "Oh! No, the door lock isn't broken at all. Works just fine."

"Uh huh. And if I were to suggest we lock it, are you at a point in your work where you can take a break?" He looked Gordon over again and shifted his weight slightly forward, onto the balls of his feet.

Gordon looked down at his hands, at the plants and then at the door and nodded. "I just need to put the mints in the ground. They've got sensitive roots." Gordon leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the lips before going back to his plants, giving him another great view of Gordon's ass.

Markham watched happily, one hand straying to his cock, which was waking up nicely. "The plants smell nice," he offered, his eyes fixed on the flex of Gordon's ass and the way it lifted when Gordon leaned over a little more.

"Aren't you supposed to be locking the door?" Gordon asked, and he could hear the grin in the man's voice.

"Oh, right," Markham said blithely. "But that would mean looking away."

Gordon's ears went pink.

Chuckling, Markham walked backward to the door, hitting the lock button with his hand and nodding when he heard the quiet bing of it engaging. "Locked," he said, his voice dropping several notes. Not once did he have to look away, and he gave himself a few points for being focused.

"I'm almost done here," murmured Gordon, sounding rather distracted, and given the man was looking at his plants, it wasn't the right kind of distracted. Gordon stretched and put a plant in the ground, fingers delicately pressing dirt down around the base of it.

Markham didn't even try to listen to his more sensible side. "I like the way you do that," he said, straddling Gordon's thighs and leaning over him, almost covering him. Markham buried his face in the curls at the nape of Gordon's neck and inhaled deeply.

Gordon shivered, arms locking. "I'm not very steady," Gordon warned, his ass pushing back. God, the man smelled good, natural and earthy. Like a summer's day when he was younger.

"So?" Markham didn't care if they wound up in the dirt. He had a clean uniform in his quarters and Gordon was already a mess, and really as long as they didn't kill too many plants, where was the harm? He ground his cock against Gordon's ass and moaned softly, then licked where he'd just been sniffing.

Gordon whimpered, ass rubbing back against him. It was all Gordon could do really, the way they were, aside from drop his head forward, which Gordon did, making little noises: whimpers and sighs and soft words.

"Want you," Markham whispered. "Like the way you sound, the way you move. Even better than the way you smell."

"I do, too. Want you, I mean," Gordon whispered back and it made it more intimate somehow, that they were whispering, even though they were all alone in the big lab full of green and growing things.

Markham rocked his hips, his cock lined up just right, and nipped at Gordon's neck. "How do you want to do this, Flash? Aside from with less clothes."

"Definitely less clothes. And I'm gonna fall!" The last was tacked on as they went down, the smell of earth and crushed herbs suddenly filling the air.

Markham huffed and lifted his chest up enough that Gordon could breathe, but his hips had their own plan. And now, traction. With a groan he thrust harder, his dick solid and his balls starting to tingle. "Oops," he said mildly, grinding down slowly.

Gordon whimpered, shifting back more firmly now, ass pushing up against him. "You're hard," Gordon murmured. "And hot. I can feel you through our clothes."

"Been hard for most of the last two days," Markham said roughly. "Tell me, when I left the other night, did you jerk off?" He shuddered and thrust again, starting to worry that he'd finish before they got rid of the clothes.

Gordon whimpered. "I. You. Yes." Gordon's hands curled in the dirt, fingers digging into the black earth and releasing more of the pungent smell.

"I had to go to work," Markham said, inhaling the richness around them. "Had to go to the head and take care of myself." He balanced himself on one hand, careful not to crush any more plants, and ran his free hand over as much of Gordon as he could reach. It wasn't much, given the way they were sprawled, but any little bit was good. He rocked a little faster. "Flash. We gotta move or I'm gonna shoot."

"Really? Already? Because of me?" Gordon was a little breathless, sort of writhing beneath him in a twisting mix of trying to rock back against him and push into his touches.

"Well, it's not the plants, though they're kind of nice." Markham closed his eyes and breathed again, picking Gordon's scent out of the mix. "Top or bottom? 'Cause I switch, but at this exact moment I want to bury myself in you for a year or two and fuck you until we both scream." He could feel his pants developing a distinctly damp patch.

"Oh. Oh, that's. I. Yes." Gordon nodded, little whimpers intermixed with the words, body going a bit nuts beneath him. "We could do that."

"Soon? Please?" The 'please' came out a little squeaky and Markham groaned as he made himself stop moving.

"You're the one on top," murmured Gordon, still moving, pushing up hard against him.

"Good point." Markham heaved himself up and backed away, on his hands and knees until he was clear of the soil, then knelt up, one hand going to his fly. "Slick?" he asked, looking around.

Gordon shifted around until he was on his back and shook his head. "I don't exactly walk around with stuff in my pocket, Captain. Hey, wait a minute." Those eyes met his. "You got a name?"

"Markham. And if there's no slick, you got anything else? Lotion, oil, anything?" He got his fly undone and eased his cock out, rigid and a little too sensitive to touch.

Gordon made a noise at the sight of it, hand reaching out, dirt encrusted fingers wrapping around him and stroking.

"Ah, fuck," Markham hissed. "You do that, you're gonna wind up fucking me." Still, he rocked into the hand, the dirt and grit adding to the sensation with a sharp intensity.

"Can't go twice?" Gordon asked, voice breathless, eyes on his cock.

"Sure I can," Markham managed to pant, his hands braced on the floor behind him as his hips pushed up and back, fucking Gordon's hand. "Just might take me a couple of minutes." It was quickly becoming moot though, his balls lifting.

"We've got time. More than wham-bam, remember?" Gordon leaned in suddenly, licking at the tip of his prick. "Oh! You taste good."

That was good because they were about three seconds away from Gordon getting more than a little taste. Markham groaned and thrust up hard, his body vibrating and his legs shaking. "Flash," he warned.

Gordon looked up at him, tongue out again for another flick across his slit. Markham barely had time to grunt out another curse before he came, his cock twitching in Gordon's hand. His spunk splashed all over Gordon's face, but the hand on him never stopped moving, pulling out aftershocks and making it go on and on.

His breath burning in his lungs as he tried to regain some control, Markham over balanced and fell, yanking Gordon with him by the arm. "God," he gasped out. "God." He licked a swath of come off Gordon's cheek and kissed him, aftershocks still rolling through his body. Gordon hummed a little, tongue coming out to lick at his lips.

"Was it good? It sounded good."

"Felt good," Markham purred. He wriggled a bit and kissed Gordon again, then started feeling the man up. "How're you doing?"

Gordon gasped as his hand found the bulge in the dirty overalls. "Horny."

"That's good," Markham approved, cupping and rubbing a little. "Now think for me. Something smooth and wet that'll let me get in you. Anything on the tables over there? A first-aid kit or something?"

Gordon groaned, humping into his hand. "By the sink. Predecessor left hand-lotion." Gordon's nose wrinkled. "Smells girly."

"Don't care what it smells like," Markham said. "You smell good enough for me. Just need something to ease the way." He let Gordon go and got to his feet, grinning at the fairly pitiful sound Gordon made. "You get naked. I'll get the lotion," he said, shrugging his uniform jacket off and undoing his shirt as he went to the sink.

When he got back, Gordon had his jumpsuit open and was lying back in the dirt, pumping his thick, leaking cock, the head an eager, dark red.

"Oh," Markham said, staring. "That's pretty. Sure you don't want to go first?"

"Go?" Gordon frowned, looking around. "Go where?"

Markham blinked and shook his head. "My ass. Never mind." He got rid of his shirt and shoved his trousers down. "Get your kit off. Please."

"Trying. Got distracted." Gordon let go of his prick and wriggled right out of his overalls, seeming unconcerned about the fact he was now rolling around in the dirt. He blinked and half sat, hand going back to his prick. "Where did you want to go?"

"What?" Markham tried to figure out what Gordon was talking about but his attention was mostly on what the man was doing with his hand. He really did have a pretty cock. "Didn't want you to go anywhere," he added, squirting lotion into his hand and then wrinkling his nose. "Rose and vanilla?"

"Told you!" Gordon looked smug for about two seconds and then he groaned and shifted himself, humping harder up into his hand. "I thought you were gonna fuck me."

"Fuck, yes," Markham said, kneeling between Gordon's thighs. He rubbed his hands together to warm the lotion and then wrapped one around Gordon's fingers, spreading the slippery stuff around. When Gordon moaned and humped up, he used the other hand to tease at Gordon's hole, taking his time.

Gordon started panting, making little sounds that were trying to be words but didn't quite make it. Those legs spread in invitation, that little hole hot, tight.

Markham eased a finger in, teasing when he reached the second knuckle but twisting it and pulling back. "What turns your crank?" he asked. "Hard and fast or slow and deep? Like to be fingered as much as fucked?"

"S-slow and deep. Big." Gordon's head tossed and he groaned, body pushing, trying to get more.

Markham looked down at his own cock, which was pleasantly at attention. "Let me know how that works out for you," he said, taking Gordon with two fingers, a third teasing around the edge of Gordon’s hole.

Gordon rode his fingers with enthusiasm, whimpering and moaning. "More. Now. Do it. More."

Christ. Markham nodded, mostly kind of lost in watching Gordon move on his hand, and then shifted forward a bit. He hooked Gordon's legs over his thighs and pulled out his fingers, shushing Gordon's protests by lining up and pushing gently, the head of his dick sliding in. Tight and warm and slick, and he moaned himself and started a long glide, his slick fingers lubing up his cock on the way.

"Oh, fuck, oh, fuck." Gordon's body undulated on his cock, the man practically fucking himself, one hand wrapped around his own cock, the other grabbing at the loose, black dirt.

The smell of the soil and the crushed plants welled up again and Markham leaned over Gordon, right to his chest, and licked him. He rocked gently with his hips, inhaled Gordon's scent, and pushed back in, sighing. "Fuck, you feel good," he whispered. "Smell good."

Whimpering, Gordon nodded. "Don't stop, Markham. Do me good."

He groaned and leaned up again, his hands planted in the soil near Gordon's shoulders. "You asked," he pointed out, drawing back his hips. He pushed forward, a little faster, and when he was balls deep he rotated his hips a little before pulling back again.

Gordon's eyes shot open and he gasped, whole body going tight around Markham's cock. Then Gordon relaxed, eased, his breath hitching a little. "Do it again."

That was an easy instruction to follow, and the next time Markham thrust in, he rolled his hips a little longer, a long luxurious circle.

Gordon's hands wrapped around his shoulders, a shudder going through him. "Yeah... oh, yeah." Those eyes seemed almost all green now as they gazed up at him, Gordon's breath coming in soft little pants.

"Like that?" Markham asked, doing it again. The thrusts got shorter, the grinding a lot longer. He was deep and that seemed to be where Gordon liked him.

"Uh-huh." Gordon bit his lower lip, groaning as Markham ground down again. "God. More."

Markham laughed softly and leaned back, pulling Gordon with him. "Hang on," he ordered, one hand on Gordon's back, the other on his butt. It took a moment and a scary tip to the side, but then he was on his back with Gordon straddling him. "Sit up straight and try that," he said, hands on Gordon's hips. "Fuck, it feels like my dick is three inches longer this way."

"Oh, fuck!" Gordon groaned, head dropping back, hands landing on his chest, spreading the dirt. A moment later Gordon was moving on him, less up and down and more just sort of sitting on his prick and circling.

"God, yes," Markham agreed. He tightened his hands on Gordon's hips and guided him, then braced his feet and pushed up, hard. "Fuck!'

Gordon's eyes rolled back in his head and that panting was back, accompanied by moans and more of the half-words that didn't really seem to mean anything.

Markham worked him, grinding and fucking and watching, waiting for it. When Gordon's hips started shaking a bit he let go on one side and made a grab for that pretty cock, fingering the tip gently.

"Markham!" Gordon shouted his name out, body going tight enough to hurt around his cock, spunk shooting up over his hand and landing on his chest, his chin.

"Fuck." It was more of a stunned drawl than a cursed yell, Gordon's ass squeezing him harder than expected. The sight of Gordon's cock shooting, the way Gordon's eyes rolled and his head tipped back... it was stunning really. He had no idea how he'd lasted four months without anything like this at all. As soon as Gordon relaxed a bit, Markham grabbed his hips and lifted, yanking him back down again. He stabbed into Gordon twice more and then let go, his own eyes squeezed shut as his body contracted and sparked.

Gordon collapsed down onto him, groaning softly, breath warm and damp against his skin. It smelled like sex and earth and crushed greens, the air warm and heavy around them.

Markham fought for breath for long minutes, his arms wrapped around Gordon, feeling the dirt on his back and just trying to recover. "So," he said slowly. "I'm thinking that was successful. Want to do it again some time?"

"Gimme a few minutes," murmured Gordon, undulating gently against him and groaning softly. "Okay, maybe an hour."

"Hey, that gives us long enough to have breakfast. Or you know. Clean up a little."

Gordon laughed, fingers rubbing against him, spreading bits of earth on his skin. "What, you don't like dirt?"

"I love the dirt," Markham said. "Seriously. I like the feel of it, the smell. Not as much as the way you smell, but I do like it."

"Yeah, me too. Like playing in it and with the plants." Gordon raised his head up and looked down at Markham. "Like playing with you, too, eh? I like it a lot."

"Good." Markham thought he might be grinning. "So, since you've been here for four hours, I think it's time for your break. Clean up, come have some breakfast with me?"

"I'd like that, too." Gordon leaned back down, mouth sliding against his. "I'd like it a whole lot."

Markham smiled into the kiss, glad that no one was notching belts. Sometimes playing the in the dirt had a better than expected pay-off.

*** "Hey, Cap."

Markham looked up from his screen where he'd just spent two boring hours filling out logs. "What's up?" he asked, his head still mostly in the paperwork.

"Think someone might need a refresher course in colored lines," his second said with a rueful grin. "We've got a blue that's about to... yep. Red."

Markham stood up and rubbed his sore back as he crossed to the screen. "Where?" he asked, not really worried about it. "God, maybe I need the walk anyway."

"Back down at the labs. Haven't had that particular wanderer out in the middle of the night for a while."

Markham bit back a grin, actually had to chew on the inside of his cheek. "All right," he said easily. "I'm on it. Back in a bit."

"Take your time, it's slow up here," his second said, turning away from the screen. "Seriously, I'm going to start bringing a book to work."

"You do that," Markham said, turning away so he wasn't showing off the start of his erection. He knew damn well who that blip was down near the bio lab. And he knew just as well that it wasn't Gordon getting lost. No, this little walk-about was on purpose, and Markham wasn't about to let anyone else go find his man. He could take care of this all on his own, and get back to work a lot happier.

Sometimes he loved it when Gordon couldn't sleep.

end