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“Gale… Gale? Mr. Dekarios! STARSHIP TO MISTER DEKARIOS!”
Gale gasped as he heard the sudden scream behind him, lifting his head and hitting it hard against the shelf just above his head. He hissed loudly, rubbing his scalp and pulling away from the shelves he found himself almost stuck inside, looking back to see none other than his darling Tressym staring back at him.
“Ah finally! I thought one of your crazy experiments had made you go absolutely deaf ” Tara complained, sitting on top of his experiment table and licking her paw calmly. “But, since you are not, would you give me a moment of your time?”
“Tara…” he groaned and continued to rub his head. “You could have been a little softer… I could have cracked my skull.”
“Don’t be so dramatic, and it wouldn’t be anything Shadowheart could not heal” she replied, looking back up at him, her tail flickering around. “Your mother is waiting for your weekly meet up. Would you be so kind as to not arrive late, just this once?”
“Ah yes I… it slipped my mind” Gale replied, grabbing his padd from the side and checking his schedule. Indeed he had around half an hour before she would call… enough time to go back to his quarters and shower. “Sure. I will make my way there immediately.”
“Good, good. I will wait to make sure you do not get distracted with one of your experiments again” she said, tilting her head and looking around. “This place is a mess. You really ought to organize it some day.”
“Well, I know where everything is, at all times, so I don’t think that’s necessary” he huffed, grabbing his bag and turning back towards his plants. He checked their temperature, their humidity, and nodded to himself. Perfect. The captain would be pleased.
He would just have to tweak the amounts of nitrogen by a small margin…
“Mr. Dekarios…” Tara said, her voice a clear warning, and Gale sighed dramatically and shook his head.
“Alright alright! Let’s go” he grabbed his tricorder last, he would take it to his room to go over the results of the plants’ regeneration process after he spoke to his mother. Making his way towards the door, he offered his arm to Tara, and she jumped on it finding a comfortable spot to sit down.
He leaned his head towards her and she purred, giving him a lick on the cheek and a small headbutt before settling down again. Pleased, Gale made his way out of his office and through the ship’s halls towards the turbolift. A quick word to his mother back in Faerun and he would be able to return to his studies.
If Tara allowed him to, that was.
As he walked by his coworkers, he couldn’t help but give them a small nod or a ‘hello’, always smiling and happy, always polite. His mother had taught him well, of course. He stepped inside the turbolift, asking the computer to take him to deck 4, where his quarters were located, and leaned back against the wall while fixing Tara on his shoulder.
“She will be so pleased to see you Mr. Dekarios” Tara said contently while he just rolled his eyes.
“You say that as if we haven’t spoken in years. I talked to her last week. Nothing changed.”
“Ah yes of course, going through a blackhole and coming out alive and then almost getting killed by a village of stone-age aliens isn’t enough for a week” Tara said, shaking her head. “These voyages are getting so dangerous you are growing desensitized to them.”
“Maybe I am. But I guess that’s part of the fun” Gale chuckled. “And besides, I wasn’t almost killed, I wasn’t even in the landing party!”
“Not at first! Which I was thankful for! But when you heard of your elf getting kidnapped, you-”
“He’s not my elf, Tara” Gale groaned and looked at her. “How many times do I have to say that?! We don’t have anything-”
“Official. But he spends more time at your quarters than I do, and you spend more time at the bridge than you should because of him” Tara stared deep within his soul, so he looked away. “Is it a lie?”
“Tara…”
“Is it?”
Before he could reply, the door to the turbolift opened and Gale shut his mouth. He looked over and, well, the subject of the conversation walked in, giving him a short nod while he looked at his PADD.
Astarion Ancunín, navigation officer, elf, and the current target of Gale’s affection.
Tara made a soft little sound as Astarion walked inside, clearly focused on his work, and Gale shushed her not to bother him, but that actually called his attention. Astarion drifted his eyes from the PADD to Gale, focused eyes turning soft and a smirk growing on his lips.
“Gale. Hello” he said, tilting his head. “Finishing your shift?”
“Yes actually” Gale nodded, watching him, his beautiful platinum hair, his red eyes… “I-I’m going to chat with my mother! Now! For a bit!”
“Ah yes. Say hi to Morena for me” Astarion said, giving them another nod as the turbolift stopped. “Goodbye.”
Gale waved at him and then frowned deeply.
“He didn’t say what deck he was going” he said, looking at Tara, who just stared back and waved her tail in a shrug. Gale sighed and walked out, holding his PADD and tricorder close and walking towards his quarters.
He got inside, sighing happily at the coziness of it. He had plenty of decorations, from ancient relics to star maps, all distributed around the room; most of the motif was purple, a color he still loved despite everything; he had large curtains over the windows, shelves and shelves and shelves of real, printed books, a large bed with purple sheets and plenty of pillows, Tara’s bed on the side (even though most of the time she just slept on his bed), a closet with his clothes and a desk for his studies.
The moment he got inside, Tara flew away from his shoulder to the bed and laid down, while he put his things down on the study table and got ready for his sonic shower. He chose comfy clothes, ones that weren’t his uniform, and placed them inside the bathroom before he headed inside and started to undress. He hated undressing in front of Tara.
If he was being honest, he hated sonic showers. They were dry and way too quick for his liking, and still made you feel like you weren’t completely clean. But water showers were impossible on starships, so he managed. He got his shower, walked out and got dressed, before he left the bathroom and found Tara waiting for him.
“So? Do I look presentable?” he asked, giving her a twirl. He was wearing a comfy purple shirt and long black sweatpants, and she nodded.
“Yes, I believe your mother doesn’t care much for fashion” she said, laying back, and Gale rolled his eyes. He sighed and walked to the edge of his bed.
“Computer, screen” he said, sitting down, and a screen started to lower down from the ceiling. He watched as it took the shape of a screen much like the one at the bridge, smiling to himself. Only the head officers had one of those in their quarters. They deserved it.
He knew his mother would call soon, so he sat down and petted Tara, not caring about doing anything else. Not five minutes later, the call went through, and he accepted it with a smile on his face.
His mother’s warm, brown eyes, and happy smile, appeared in front of him.
“Hi mom” he said, watching Tara stretch out and sit next to him.
“Hello Mrs. Dekarios!”
“Gale! Tara! Hello my loves!” Morena said with a happy tone of voice, her smile growing wider as she checked them. “How are you two lovelies doing?”
“Just fine mom, as usual” Gale replied, checking her imagine on screen. Her hair was shorter, more gray hairs were starting to appear in her dark brown shade, some lines were showing up on her face. “How are you? How’s Faerun?”
“Oh same old, same old. Darcy and I are always gathering up to gossip about the neighbors and babble about our darling sons. Her boy Neil is doing very well for himself in the moon base!” she said excitedly, and Gale had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. She always brought Neil up, mainly because he was near them, could visit his mother and Morena whenever he wanted. Not Gale though. He had decided to live amongst the stars, and that stopped him from visiting his mother more than once every year, if he managed at all.
“Well I’m glad. Neil was always a great student” he replied, cutting the conversation about their neighbor short. “Anything else that happened that I should know of?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking that question? You’re the one always getting into trouble in that spaceship of yours” Morena huffed. “What mission did you get pulled into this week? And how are your friends?”
“Nothing worth telling I’m sure” Gale said, shushing Tara off as she started to complain. “As for my friends, they are fine! Everyone performs their duties, as they should, and we still meet for drinks every couple of days.”
“And what about your… more-than-friend friend?” Morena’s eyebrow raised and she shared a quick look with Tara. Gale’s eyes widened and he looked down at his tressym with a betrayed look.
“You told her?! When?!”
“We call each other to chat and gossip over tea almost every day Mr. Dekarios. She is your mother, she has the right to know” Tara said with a shrug, licking her paw. Gale groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose, shaking his head.
“Wonderful…”
“Gale, you should not hide these things from your own mother! Do you know how long I’ve been begging the gods and the stars alike for grandchildren?!” Morena exclaimed, making him wince.
“Mother I am not having children any time soon, regardless of whom I am da-hanging out with” he said, distressed. “Besides we don’t… we are not even anything, we don’t have a label you know? I can’t even say we are dating, because we are not!”
“Having daily meals together, kissing after shifts and waking up on each others’ beds sounds like dating to me” Tara said, and Morena gasped on the other side of the line, making Gale’s cheeks burn and a groan leave his mouth.
“I hate you Tara” he mumbled, looking back at his mom. “Astarion is not like me, mom. His views on relationships are… different. I don’t want to pressure him, and I don’t want to lose him. So… label-less it is.”
“You should ask him. From what Tara told me, he cares a great deal about you” Morena said, wisely, but Gale shook his head.
“Let's talk about something else, yes?” he begged, and Morena sighed but relented, spending the next minutes talking about Gale’s cousins instead, how they were growing to be fine young people and how most of them were following Gale’s exemple, wanting to go to Starfleet and study the stars.
And Gale felt relieved as he heard about things that didn’t involve him, for once.
The whole talk lasted an hour, and after the subject Gale Dekarios was off the table, Gale was able to enjoy it much more. After his mother hung up, he looked at Tara and stood up from his bed.
“Well, time for dinner. I’ll see you later” he gave her a nice chin scritch and then walked to his closet to change into something comfy but a little more presentable than sweatpants and a loose shirt. Tara purred and curled up in response, getting ready to sleep as he walked to the bathroom to change.
He changed, put his hair in a bun, and smiled to himself before he walked out. He gave Tara a last scritch before he walked out and headed to Kalrach’s quarters, just a few doors ahead.
Every other day, the senior officers gathered up for a night of drinking and hanging out, and tonight was one of those nights. Gale had taken some time when he first arrived at the Vah'k'rel to participate at those gatherings, but eventually he relented, and he had never missed one since. It was fun to just drink, eat and chat the night away, even if the next shift turned out poorly for it.
He stopped in front of Karlach’s room and the door opened by itself, already programmed for the time and the people allowed inside. He headed in, finding only Karlach and Astarion there, chatting and drinking.
“Gale! Come in!” Karlach said happily, standing up and rushing to make him a glass of whatever they were drinking. She had a spacious living room in her quarters, the main reason why they always gathered there. He walked to the couch and looked at Astarion and the empty seat next to him, before he decided to sit on the single chair instead.
Before he could, Astarion cleaned his throat.
“Are you scared of me?” he asked, quietly, low enough that Karlach didn’t hear, in that sultry tone of his that always made Gale melt. Gale shifted his eyes to the elf, who simply raised his eyebrow. “You can sit next to me, if you want.”
Gale could feel his cheeks growing warm as he ditched the chair and moved to sit next to Astarion instead. He was looking good, hair curly and messy unlike when he was on the bridge, where he kept it gelled back; tight black shirt that went up his neck and down his arms; and black pants that squeezed his body. Always one of the tight fits, opposite of Gale, who liked his clothes loose and comfy.
Karlach came back and served him some gith wine, it was strong and Gale didn’t like it too much, but he could drink it. Right as she handed him the glass, the doors opened, and Shadowheart and Wyll made their way inside.
“Karlach!” Wyll said happily, already heading to the kitchen to make himself a glass while Shadowheart walked to the living room and sat on the chair Gale would have sat.
“Where’s Laz?” Karlach asked and Wyll hummed.
“At the bridge. The captain sure takes her time to give out her duties. But she will come soon” he walked to the living room with his and Shadowheart glasses in hand, sitting down next to Karlach and handing the medical officer her share. “There we go.”
“Thank you Wyll” Shadowheart replied, sipping on her drink. “Anything special happening tonight?”
“No, just chat” Karlach said. “We need to relax a bit sometimes too you know? We aren’t made of metal.”
“Part of you is” Astarion said, raising his eyebrow and making Karlach stop and laugh, whole heartedly, the room turning a bit hotter as she did.
“Oh Astarion you really know how to make a girl laugh” she said happily, and he winked at her before he casually leaned closer to Gale.
Not that he noticed how close Astarion was.
And how good his cologne smelled.
Nope. He didn’t notice at all.
Their chatting started quite simple, everyone saying how their projects were going and how they were planning their next week to go, when finally the door opened and the last member of their gathering walked inside, rushing to the counter and taking a swig of the gith wine straight from the bottle.
Everyone stopped what they were talking and looked over at Lae'Zel.
“Not a good end of shift?” Karlach asked, and Lae'Zel growled, slamming the bottle back down so hard it almost broke.
“ Tsk’va! ” she cried out loud, and everyone else looked around knowing that couldn’t be good. “All of those shka'keth that think they are better than everyone! I’ll teach them a lesson! I will!”
She took another large gulp of the drink, growling when she saw it was empty and tossing it on the wall, the glass breaking in several pieces.
“Ah… new decor” Astarion said, humming and sipping on his drink while Shadowheart and Wyll stood up.
“Lae'Zel, what’s wrong?” Shadowheart asked, frowning at her captain as she hissed again.
“ We have new orders ” she said, clearly angry. “Instead of aiding in the battle of the second system, as we were before, now we are redirected to collect plants in Alpha Centauri, to aid new settlers ” she growled, opening Karlach’s cabinets and finding herself a new bottle of booze. “I am the captain of the Vah'k'rel, one of the most advanced battle ships of the fleet. And yet, I am reduced to a mere cargo holder. I will have the heads of whoever sent those orders.”
“Knowing the Federation, it was probably a human” Shadowheart said, making Wyll and Gale wince and look at her. “What? We all know most Starfleet admirals are human, and then call the shots.”
“Foolish moment the Githyanki lowered their heads to the whims of those weak humans” she growled and walked to the living room, pushing past Wyll and Shadowheart and flopping down on the couch next to Karlach. “All about conversation and democracy . G'lyck. ”
“Well, not all humans demand peace” Gale said, trying to ease up the tension around the room. “If you check human history, you will see plenty of bloody moments.”
“Not enough” Lae'Zel replied, drinking from the new bottle she acquired as Shadowheart and Wyll returned to their seat. “We are heading over to the plant planet at this instance. I will not be conducting such a useless mission, so Gale, you will lead this one. Your knowledge of plants will be useful. Take whoever you want with you. I will be in my training chambers, dismembering every fighting dummy I can find.”
“... fair enough” Gale said, giving her a nod. “Will be done captain, and as quickly as I can manage. Are the plants for food or medication…?”
Lae'Zel gave him a stare that simply made him shut up with a quick nod. After a moment of silence, Astarion cleaned his throat.
“I wouldn’t mind helping you in this silly little mission. I could use some days out of the ship.”
“I wanna come too” Karlach said happily. “I love plants! Specially the ones that smell good.”
“Alright, I have my landing party set” Gale chuckled and Lae'Zel rolled her eyes, continuing to drink her wine without a care in the world. Wyll and Shadowheart watched her, the first with worry and the second with amusement.
“If that’s settled, I guess we can start our night?” Shadowheart asked eventually, sipping on her drink, and Karlach grinned brightly and nodded.
“Computer! Game table!”
An holographic game appeared on the coffee table in the middle of the group, and they all moved closer to it. It was a strategy game they liked to play, usually played in pairs, so they already had their partners set. Each team had a mission that they developed in secret, the first one to get to their objective won. Sometimes, it ended quickly, and other times it went through the whole night.
Gale loved that game, and he was excited to have Astarion as his partner. He was really cunning, and a great bluff.
“Who starts?” Karlach asked, but Lae'Zel grabbed the first dice and threw it. She would start. No one had a problem with that.
Not when she was in such a sour mood at least.
The night did go incredibly fast: with Lae'Zel in the worst mood she had been in months, she drank way beyond what she normally did, and one wrong move from Wyll resulted in her losing the edge she and Karlach had on their objective, making her so made she threw her bottle at the projector and making the game disappear.
The equivalent of throwing the table when you were losing a game of chess, Gale rationalized.
So, their evening was cut short, and Karlach was left to deal with the mess in her quarters as Lae'Zel stormed off. Shadowheart was kind enough to stay back to help as Wyll rushed after his captain, leaving Astarion and Gale to walk back to their quarters by themselves.
The Omega shift had barely started, there were a few hours before Gale had to go to sleep if he wanted to be functional in the morning, and the empty halls and low humming of the ship made for quite a comfortable scene. He would gladly walk in silence with Astarion by his side all the way to his quarters, but instead, the elf stopped mid way through and looked at Gale, something mysterious in his eyes.
“So. The night ended before I excepted” Astarion said, his voice suggesting nothing, although Gale knew him enough to know there was something in his mind. “Would you care for another drink at the food court?”
Gale, never one to shut down someone’s idea - specially if they were a handsome elf whom he might or might not be falling head over heels for - quickly nodded with a grin on his face.
“Of course. Lead the way.”
Astarion nodded and made his way towards the turbolift, Gale right next to him, the two remaining mostly quiet as they walked. The trip was short, as it usually was in a starship, and soon they were heading inside the foo court where Alpha and Beta shift crewmen were eating and drinking with friends. As they walked past, some didn’t notice their presence, while others gave a few nods and some quiet ‘hello commander’s towards their general direction, something Gale had to get used to still. Always surrounded by his plants and experiments, he barely had time to engage with the other lieutenants and ensigns from the ship except the ones directly underneath him, and he always told them to call him by his name. He had no use for titles.
Still, he respectfully nodded back at every single one of them, and followed Astarion to the bar where each of them ordered their favorites: Astarion requested an elvish liquor, sweet and low in alcohol, while Gale preferred the Blackstaff whiskey, something from his hometown back in Faerun.
He thought for a moment that they would be settling by the bar, but instead, once their drinks arrived, Astarion quickly picked both glasses up and went back to walking. Raising his eyebrow, Gale curiously followed, noticing Astarion taking them to the room next to the food court, the observation deck, where several benches waited to be used and a large window showed off the stars outside the ship.
It was a beautiful place, one Gale did not indulge as often as he should.
Astarion guided them to one of the first benches, sitting down where they could see every star they wanted, and looked up at Gale while he waited for him to sit. He did, taking his drink and getting comfortable next to the elf, looking out into the endless space in front of them.
“I love coming here, watching the stars” Astarion whispered, sipping on his liquor, eyes fixed on the window. Gale looked at him, admiring his features, his eyes and his skin and how he glowed under the lowlights of the room, and under the small lights of the stars outside. “Makes me think of home.”
“Do you miss your home?” Gale asked, tilting his head, watching him. From what he knew, Astarion was from a busy city in Faerun called Baldur’s Gate, one of the main cities on the planet. He had never been there himself, but he heard great things about the place.
“Sometimes” Astarion responded, shrugging and sipping on his drink once more. “Sometimes I think about going back and staying there… but then I ditch the thought. I chose this life for a reason after all” he smiled and looked at Gale. He had one of his few, but beautiful honest smiles on his face. The one Gale loved to see, the one that made his heart skip a beat. “Do you miss your home? Your mother?”
Gale hummed and looked back towards the universe, sipping on his drink, pondering.
“Sometimes” he admitted. “Not usually. As much as I love her, I always felt that Faerun restricted me. That I could go beyond that world, that I could do more for humanity out here in the sky… and I think I was right” he chuckled. “Wouldn’t change this for the world, you know? Or… the universe, I guess.”
“Me neither” Astarion agreed, and Gale saw through the corner of his eyes as he stopped looking at him and turned his attention back to the window.
Their hands were side by side on the bench, and suddenly, Gale felt Astarion’s pinky rubbing his own, almost as if it was requesting to come closer.
Gale moved his hand towards Astarion, until the elf’s hand was covering his own, their fingers slowly intertwining.
These moments made Gale all the more confused. He knew the elf didn’t have good experiences with love (and honestly neither did he), but sometimes he acted so… caring and sweet, Gale couldn’t help but wonder if he was trying to show Gale something. Something he maybe couldn’t put into words.
He turned his head to look at Astarion the same moment he did, his cheeks flushing when their eyes met. He quickly looked away, but Astarion’s hand (the one that had been holding the glass) quickly moved to his cheek, cupping it and turning his gaze back towards him.
“Why are you so shy?” Astarion whispered, and Gale furrowed his eyebrows a bit while his cheeks continued to burn.
“I’m not… I just… what are we?”
He regretted saying it the moment it left his lips, but now it was out and he couldn’t take it back.
After so many months, almost a year of sharing time together… part of him longed for something more. Something real.
Astarion’s eyes widened suddenly before he chuckled, his hand never moving from Gale’s cheek. Not even when he looked at him with a fond expression.
“What do you want us to be?” he replied in return, and Gale’s cheeks burnt harder. They were probably like two tomatoes right now.
“I-I mean I don’t want to pressure you into anything, I know you have… a bad past with relationships… but I kinda… I-I kinda feel like we have been together long enough that we could m-maybe shift our relationship status… from… I don’t know, unlabeled, I guess, to something? E-even if it isn’t something like ‘dating’ or ‘boyfriends’, but something with more substance, something…”
Gale was cut short as he felt soft lips against his own, lips that were colder than his and tasted like fruit. His eyes snapped open before they fell closed, his hand squeezing Astarion’s over the bench, his body sliding closer to his, the glass being forgotten next to his body so his hand could reach up and his fingers could tangle on the elf’s curly hair.
The kiss was soft, it was slow and gentle, and Gale felt himself melting as Astarion pulled away, looking down at the science officer with a smile and a chuckle.
“I thought we were dating, Gale” he said, calmly, and Gale’s eyes widened again.
“What?! But we never-I never-did you ever-” he was cut short again by a peck, and he pressed his lips closed.
“I don’t think we ever said anything, but I thought we didn’t have to” Astarion explained, smiling and tilting his head. “I mean the whole ship thinks we are dating… I thought it was a known thing.”
“I… didn’t know we were dating” Gale said, frowning lightly. “Am I stupid?”
“No… I would say distracted” Astarion hummed, looking away for a moment. “Regardless… if you want to make it official-”
“Yes” Gale said quickly, holding Astarion’s hand firmly. “Do you want to be my boyfriend?”
Astarion couldn’t help but laugh at his determination and excitement, before he nodded slowly.
“Yes Gale. I would love to be your boyfriend.”
Gale felt his body gain a surge of energy and he reached up with both hands, holding Astarion’s pretty face and kissing him firmly, his heart beating so quickly he felt like he would pass out.He could feel Astarion smile against his lips, before the elf’s hands found their way to his waist and pulled him closer, his whole body shivering in response.
The kiss was messy and a bit too enthusiastic, but Gale quickly pulled away panting and with his eyes shining like the stars outside.
“I have a boyfriend!” he gasped out, and Astarion laughed at his reaction. “A boyfriend! I have a real boyfriend! You are my boyfriend!”
“Yes, I am your boyfriend” Astarion nodded and Gale gasped before he hugged Astarion tightly, unable to contain himself. “Oh!”
“Ah this is… this is the best day” he mumbled, pulling away and looking at Astarion again. “Gods I have to… I have to tell my mom!”
“I guess…?” Astarion chuckled and Gale jumped up, looking down at Astarion.
“I have to tell my mom! And Tara! They will be so happy! I’ll talk to you tomorrow Astarion!” he leaned down and gave him a soft peck before he rushed off through the food court towards his quarters.
He had to tell his family!
“Darling! We told you! That’s such good news! When will you bring him here so I can meet him face to face?!”
“I don’t know mom! It just happened I… I think we still need to discuss the whole family thing!”
“Mr. Dekarios, please tell me you did not leave your new boyfriend to come tell us this news…”
“... I… I think I did.”
“Gale Dekarios! Your manners!”
“I’m sorry! I was too excited!”
“You really can’t help yourself, can you, Mr. Dekarios…”
The conversation went on for an hour still, despite how bad Gale felt for leaving Astarion back at the observation deck alone. But deep inside he knew the elf didn’t mind, and next morning, when their shift came, they would be able to talk more about their new… relationship status.
Hopefully without the ship getting into trouble. But that was almost a guarantee anyway.