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Eli inhales sharply as the alien chief lays out his demands.
Rush looks a little panicked as he answers that they need time to discuss it with their group, and Eli feels a thick flood of relief flow through him when the alien leader seems to think that that's completely reasonable. Because so far the chief's definition of reasonable has not really coincided with Eli's own. He wraps the military issue jacket tighter around himself as a gust of cold, dry desert wind pelts them with grains of sand and the occasional tangle of dry grass.
“What's happening?” Young asks, with a sharp look at Rush.
Rush seems to hesitate, and Eli steps in before Young can get impatient. “They want you and Brody to stay here.”
Young raises his eyebrows, and Volker and Brody exchange a confused look.
“Why?” Camile asks.
Eli glances over at Rush, but Rush refuses to make eye contact, instead opting to frown at a blue-green plant that is growing from underneath a nearby boulder.
“For, uh, marriage... reasons,” Eli says lamely.
“Marriage reasons.” Brody does not sound impressed.
“The alien chief wants to have sex with you, okay?” Eli blurts out, and geez, of course Rush is letting him be the messenger here. Jerk.
“What?” Volker says, just as Brody asks, “Why?”
Eli shrugs uncomfortably. “I don't know, maybe he's into that whole Roman Emperor look you two got going on.”
Young sends him a nonplussed look, before turning to Rush. “I assume you declined politely?”
Rush turns even further away from the conversation, and Eli shakes his head in exasperation. “Yeah, not so much.”
“I did,” Rush objects heatedly, his eyes landing on Eli with an angry glower.
“Fine, you tried,” Eli amends. “But the chief didn't really accept that. So Rush said you were already taken.”
The corner of Young's mouth quirks up, because apparently the idea of him being in a relationship is funny to him. Eli isn't sure whether to feel admiration or pity for the Colonel.
“And did that work?”
“Er,” Eli says.
Rush had told the chief that Young had been with Camile, and that Brody was seeing Volker. That last one had seemed surprisingly petty to Eli. He knew Rush didn't particularly care for Volker – everyone on the ship knew that – but he hadn't pegged Rush for stooping to homophobic put-downs.
The alien chief had accepted that Brody was off-limits when Rush had pointed out Volker. But he'd said something about 'purity' or 'clean blood' or something similar when Rush had gestured at Camile. Apparently being romantically attached to a woman didn't mean much for the beings on the planet, because the chief seemed determined to keep Young here.
Eli isn't sure exactly what had gone through Rush's head in that moment, but he'd looked on with open-mouthed astonishment as Rush had suddenly changed tacks and bitten out that Young was his, and that the chief could bloody well keep his hands to himself.
“Sort of,” Eli answers, feeling his cheeks flush. “They want you to prove it.”
Young sighs, seemingly already resigned to an unhappy ending to this expedition, and motions at Eli to keep talking.
“Ehm,” Eli starts articulately. “I think they have some sort of ritual you'll have to do. Something about 'showing passion' or... something.”
“I'm not going to let anyone be coerced into sex,” Young says with a hard look in his eyes. “We'll fight our way out of here if necessary.”
“Yes, that seems like a great idea, Colonel,” Rush interrupts, suddenly deciding to be part of the conversation again. “We don't have enough ammo to shoot even half of them, and most of our team don't have any weapons training at all. We'll never make it to the gate.”
“We'll think of something,” Young insists darkly.
“Uh, I don't think the ceremony was about sex, though,” Eli says, before Rush and Young can get into an all-out shouting match. He gives Rush a meaningful look. “Right?”
Rush sends him an intense glare, and Eli has to fight to keep his gaze level.
“Rush,” Young says, but it sounds enough like a question that Rush lets out an aggrieved sigh and gives in.
“The explanation seemed to focus mostly on... oral procedures,” Rush says, and Eli almost lets out a hysterical laugh, because only Rush would think that that sounds less invasive than 'kissing'.
Young looks vaguely scandalized. “That still counts as sex, Rush!”
“He means kissing,” Eli says, unable to keep an unsteady warble out of his voice, even if the situation itself is kind of not funny.
“Oh,” Young says. “Well, that seems a bit less terrible, at least.”
“Uhm,” Eli says, and he really should stop saying that, but it's hard when you're about to tell the commanding officer of your spaceship that he has to make out with... well, with Rush, basically.
“Who would I have to kiss?” Brody asks, and Eli sends him an apologetic look.
“Volker.”
Oddly enough, both Brody and Volker seem to sag their shoulders in relief at that. Huh.
Oh. Ohhh.
Maybe Rush hadn't been petty and homophobic, then. How the hell had Rush found out before him?
“And me?” Young asks, and Eli stops staring at Brody and Volker – did they always stand that close together, or is that a more recent development? – and focuses his attention back on Young.
Eli flicks his eyes over to Rush for a quick moment, and sees Rush staring intently at Young's face.
“Rush,” Eli says to Young, and watches as his expression goes from surprise to confusion to something unreadable.
Young glances over at Rush, and Rush averts his eyes, and all of it just feels a little bit too surreal for Eli. He half expects Dali-esque melting clocks to pop up all over the barren landscape.
“And you are not opposed to this?” Young asks Rush.
Rush looks up at him with an irritated expression. “If you're asking if I'd rather be shot in the back on our way to the gate, the answer is no, obviously.”
That appears to be good enough for Young, who nods slowly and turns to Brody and Volker. “And you two?”
Volker shrugs one shoulder, and Brody just says, “It's not a problem.”
“Alright. Tell them we'll do their ceremony if they can guarantee our safe departure from their planet.”
Rush is refusing to make eye contact again, but he nods minutely before he turns back to the alien chief. Eli listens as the chief promises him no harm will come to them if they complete the ritual to their satisfaction, but that lying about romantic involvement is considered one of the worst transgressions possible in their culture. He warns Rush not to agree to the ritual lightly, and Eli looks at Young with worried eyes when Rush doesn't translate any of that and just scoffs at the chief before agreeing.
Damn. Right about now, he really wishes Young had allowed him a gun. And that his aim didn't suck so much.
Young feels an insistent flutter of nervousness as he follows the alien chief to the tent where they apparently have their ceremonies. It's made of a dark, leathery material, and decorated with intricate symbols made of metal that looks like a rose-colored silver. It very much has the feel of a religious structure. When the chief opens the flap at the entrance for them, Young can see the inside is lit up with a dim, warm light emanating from large pots filled with pinkish-orange flames.
He steps inside, Rush following reluctantly behind, and realizes there's an audience. Rows of aliens, similar to the chief, only with slightly less ornate head-dresses, gaze at him quietly. Young swallows down his nerves and watches the chief as he starts his explanation. He has no idea what the man is saying, or what Rush is asking in reply, so he keeps his face stoic.
Finally, or much too soon, Rush turns away from the chief and says, “You lot, out,” to Eli, Camile, Brody, and Volker. They leave the tent, Eli sending Young a questioning look and lingering near the exit until Young nods at him to go.
“How bad is it?” he asks Rush, who is refusing to look at him again. Young is starkly aware of the aliens watching them, the overall sense of bated breath hanging thick in the air.
“Just a kiss,” Rush mutters, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.
“Now?”
Rush's eye-roll is both annoying and oddly calming for its familiarity. “Well, it won't do much good to wait until Destiny has jumped back into FTL, will it?”
Young feels his lips quirk up. Because Rush is obviously nervous, too. And even with all his hostility, he still stands close enough to touch. The warm, copper-toned flames from the fire pots make Rush's skin glow. His eyes look nearly black. Young has a sudden urge to stroke the backs of his fingers against Rush's beard, and instinctively quashes that thought.
But maybe he shouldn't... Because they're supposed to kiss, and maybe it doesn't have to be a terrible, horrifying, embarrassing experience.
Well, it will probably be embarrassing no matter what he does. But if Rush isn't opposed to this, Young can certainly do it.
Rush had told the chief he and Young were together... The thought keeps looping around in circles in Young's head.
“Why did you say it was you?” he asks, and Rush gives him an infuriated scowl before crossing his arms even tighter around himself and turning away.
“Would you have preferred doing this with Eli?” he bites out.
Young steps closer to Rush and puts a hand on his elbow. “Not what I meant, Rush,” he says, as he carefully turns Rush back to him. “Is this something you're going to be okay with?”
Rush huffs out a breath. “It'll hardly be the worst thing I've ever experienced, Colonel.”
And Young isn't sure if that's meant to be a dig at him or not (it probably is), but he ignores the barb and absorbs the message, and slowly moves his hand to tilt up Rush's face ever so slightly.
“Tell me if you want me to stop,” he says, and then he's pressing their lips together, and Rush stays completely still, completely frozen for a second, until suddenly he surges forward hard against Young – gripping his hands into Young's jacket and opening up to him, thrusting his tongue into Young's mouth with the kind of fervor he usually reserves for solving Destiny's bigger mysteries. And, oh, yes. This is...
This is something he hasn't ever let himself contemplate before (and oh, isn't that a bit of a lie), but damn, it's good. It's really good.
Rush pulls him closer with a surprising amount of strength, and Young tangles his hands in Rush's hair as their tongues slide against each other with a hint of heated desperation that makes his cock twitch with interest. God, he wants—
Suddenly a bell chimes, and reluctantly, Young breaks away from the kiss. Rush follows his mouth for an inch or two, and then opens his eyes with a dazed look that makes Young want to dive right back in. The aliens are clicking, though, and Young isn't sure what that means, but then the chief says something to Rush, and Rush sends him a relieved nod to let him know they passed. Young doesn't let himself pay too much attention to the wet gleam of Rush's bottom lip.
They walk out of the tent somewhat awkwardly. Young tells everyone that they've passed, before taking Brody and Volker aside to explain the ritual to them and sending them into the tent.
“So, uh. How was it?” Eli asks.
Camile sends him a mildly chastising look from where she's sitting on a stone bench, her chin resting on her palm.
Rush narrows his eyes at Eli and makes an annoyed sound in the back of his throat.
Young ignores the question altogether, and looks out over the desert landscape. The tent is on the edge of the village; the entrance looks out over a wide stretch of nothing. Large rock formations and singular boulders break up the sandy plains here and there, and in the distance Young can just make out the contours of the stargate.
He keeps imagining that his lips are tingling. That he can still feel Rush's hands fisting in his jacket. Was that just Rush's way of kissing, regardless of who it was? Or had that been Rush trying to one-up him, trying to say 'Anything you do, I can do better'?
Had Rush liked it, or had he just tried to give a convincing performance to the chief and his horde of followers?
Young steadfastly refuses to let his eyes wander over to Rush. Instead he focuses on the entrance to the tent, and it's been a long while, hasn't it? Surely he and Rush didn't take this long.
Suddenly a loud, rasping sound emits from the tent – like a dozen chairs with metal legs being dragged over cement – and Young can hear the outraged anger in it. Without thinking he rushes inside the tent to find the chieftain standing up, pointing threateningly at Volker and Brody in turns as he speaks in that weird Ancient accent that sounds nothing like the Ancient Young has heard people aboard Destiny speak.
Rush is beside him in a heartbeat, looking at the proceedings with a troubled expression. He says something back to the chief, and Young may not recognize the words, but he recognizes that tone. Rush has used that tone on him. It's his 'I can see you're very upset, but let me tell you why you're wrong' tone, and it's not a good sign.
The alien chief responds, and the other aliens in the room make that scraping metal-on-stone noise again, and Young hears Eli take in a short breath.
“What's happening?”
Eli's worried eyes flick over to him before going back to the chief, and then to Brody and Volker.
“He says their love is not true, and that as per their laws Volker will be put to death and Brody will be made a slave.”
Jesus.
“We won't accept that,” Camile says, steel in her voice.
“Rush just said something along those lines. He's arguing about their definition of love, now.”
Young watches Rush debate his point with the alien leader for a minute or so, noticing the slight surprise on Rush's face before the man can hide it. Young turns to Eli with a raised eyebrow.
Eli is looking a bit red, his flush visible even in the flickering light of the warm flames.
“What?”
“The, uh, the ritual is based on sexual attraction,” Eli says. “Apparently Brody's reaction wasn't sufficiently, uhm, physical.”
Young looks over at Volker and Brody, refusing to acknowledge that apparently he and Rush had enough sexual chemistry to pass the test. Although that does answer some of his earlier questions, at least.
Brody only seems mildly perturbed. “I'm asexual,” he says, matter-of-factly.
“That doesn't have anything to do with love!” Volker looks scared, but more than that, he looks outraged.
Rush follows their conversation with an inquisitive little tilt to his head, before turning back to the chief and resuming his argument.
“What is he saying?” Young asks Eli under his breath.
Before Eli can answer, though, two aliens with embellished, spear-like weapons get up and move in on Volker. Brody steps in front of him, arms slightly held up. “Rush, tell them I'll stay here without argument if they let him live.”
“We're not going to leave you behind, Brody,” Young says.
“Right now I don't see that you have much choice,” Brody answers, as the two aliens come closer menacingly.
“Are you crazy? I'm not going to leave you behind,” Volker says fiercely, grabbing Brody's hand and stepping to stand beside him.
Rush is talking at the chief again, voice fast and almost panicky, but Young is looking at the two men in front of him. Brody angles his body between Volker and the aliens, and Young watches as he places his free hand on the back of Volker's neck and leans forward to press a kiss against his temple. He sees Volker lean into Brody, tangle his fingers in Brody's shirt, and say something to him, low and inaudible.
How these aliens can think the two of them don't love each other is beyond Young, and when the spear-wielding aliens take another step closer Young grabs his firearm and moves to stand in between them and Brody and Volker.
“Colonel,” Rush warns him with a low tone. “Don't do anything rash.” Then he resumes his rapid-fire delivery to the chief.
“Eli,” Young says.
“I think it might... He's saying that Brody's willingness to sacrifice his freedom to keep Volker alive should be an indicator of love. I don't know if the chief really understands it, but at least he's still listening.”
Everything is completely frozen, no one moves except for Rush, who is still talking, and the seconds tick by at an excruciatingly slow pace.
Finally, the chief speaks, arms in the air, and suddenly the aliens are all making that clicking sound again. Young looks up at Rush, and feels something relieved and jittery wash over him when Rush gives him a slight nod.
“He did it,” Eli breathes out. “Oh my God, that was awesome.”
Young turns away to give Brody and Volker some privacy – they've been forced to share more than enough of their private lives today already – and shares a brief smile with Camile.
Later, when they're on their way back to the gate, he wonders if he should urge the others to keep this between them. Not that he thinks Rush will share this tale with anyone on board. And Brody and Volker can clearly be discreet, seeing as Young hasn't even once heard a rumor about them being together. And Camile won't talk, of that he's reasonably sure. Eli can sometimes be a bit... naïve, though.
Young is still thinking when Eli speaks up.
“So obviously no one wants to be the first to say this,” he starts, and Young sees Brody's shoulders tense just the slightest bit – he probably wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't been staring at the man's back already. Young feels his own fingers itch to fidget with the hem of his jacket. He doesn't give in. “But can we talk about how those aliens just let all their junk hang out?”
It's not what Young expected, and he feels the corner of his mouth twitch as Volker huffs out a startled laugh and Brody bumps his elbow against Volker's in silence. Young really should stop watching the two of them; it's becoming a bit invasive.
He's happy for them, though. Finding love with each other all the way out here, billions of lightyears from home. It's nice, even if he doubts it's something he'll ever get to have for himself. Not out here. Not on Destiny.
He averts his eyes, only to find himself face to face with Rush, and that's not exactly better for his peace of mind.
Rush looks away, and Young feels like the ground gives way underneath him when he sees Rush's tongue dart out to lick at his bottom lip. Rush's expression freezes for a second, and then he flicks his gaze back to Young. They make mortified eye contact for a short moment before both of them turn away quickly.
Well. At least everything will be incredibly awkward from now on, it seems. So he's got that to look forward to.
He catches Camile looking at him with a controlled little smile, and he gets the distinct impression she's laughing at him. Great.
Just fucking perfect, really.
Young sighs.
He seriously hopes the pseudo-potato plants TJ's team found on the planet are worth this goddamn trip.