Resonance
Title: Resonance
Pairing: Ayase/Cam, Ayase/Tatsuya
Rating: PG-13
Ayase Shinnosuke, Chief Science Officer of the Sky Island, was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. He didn't know what had caused it, seeing as up until about ten minutes ago he'd been feeling fine. Of course, the past couple of days had been hectic, including alternate universes, rescue missions and research experiments blowing up in their collective faces, so it was probably just a case of all of that catching up with him in one go.
It still seemed odd, though, it hitting him all at once like this, but he didn't really have any energy to spare wondering about it. All he wanted right now was his bed. His nice comfortable bed with its soft, inviting pillows. Ah, sleep; when he had had more than three hours at any given point? There was always something that needed his attention.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Cam asked in concern, half walking him, half carrying him into the room. Now that they were away from their unexpected visitors Cam had dropped the veneer of formality he'd been wearing to let his concern show through.
"I'm fine," Ayase repeated for what felt like the hundredth time. It had been a long day, even without their unexpected guests from an alternate reality; there'd been that accident in the biology section, for example and he'd just been coming out of there when he'd literally walked right into their newest arrivals.
"Biology?" Cam asked sharply and Ayase blinked in surprise. Damn, he was thinking out loud again, his thoughts tripping from his brain to his mouth without stopping for pause on the way and he only got that bad when he was really tired. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt like this, Tatsuya had never let him push himself like this; always there to forcibly turn off the lights and computers whenever he felt Ayase was working himself too hard. Oh, damn. Tatsuya. For an AI he'd been so real...
But no, Tatsuya was gone and there was no bringing him back. He'd thought he was past this; why was it every time he thought that something inevitably proved him wrong?
And it wasn't Tatsuya now, was it? Not Tatsuya keeping him from working himself into an early grave, not Tatsuya keeping him from falling into depression. Not Tatsuya, not anymore. But he didn't think Cam could be what Tatsuya had and he wasn't sure he wanted him to be. Something different maybe, but not what Tatsuya had been.
***
Cam carefully steered Ayase towards the bed, wondering if he should mention the small fact that Ayase's head had dropped to rest against Cam's own. He decided not to, they were inside Ayase's quarters, there was no-one else to see the normally reserved CSO so out of it. It just wasn't normal, he fretted. Ayase had been fine one moment, a little tired, maybe, but this? He'd gone from 'a little tired' to 'dead on his feet' in less than five minutes and that... that wasn't normal. Couldn't be normal. But what had the Lt. Commander been doing that could have that kind of effect on him? Ayase liked complex equations, so it couldn't have been those that had him swaying on his feet.
It was distinctly unnerving, seeing Ayase like this; Lt. Commander Ayase Shinnosuke, CSO, was always cool and collected, always in control and unless you caught him in a vulnerable moment - which Cam had somehow managed to achieve a couple of times now - you'd never guess there was so much pain lurking under that calm surface. He almost dropped the other man when he muttered something about an accident in one of the biology labs, a chill going down his spine along with cold certainty that whatever that accident had been, it was the cause of Ayase's current state. "Biology?" he asked quickly; it looked the biology labs were going to be his next destination. What could they possibly be doing in there that could incapacitate the CSO?
"Ayase?" he asked quietly. "Sir? What was the experiment? What went wrong?" Not that he could do anything about it now and biology wasn't exactly his area of expertise anyway, but maybe the bits and pieces he'd picked up from various places would help.
Or not. Ayase wasn't paying attention anymore, just gazing blearily at his bed and muttering something Cam couldn't quite-- No. Ah hell. If he'd thought Ayase's condition had been bad enough before, it was worse now. Ayase never talked about Tatsuya, never; Cam knew first hand just how much the memories of Tatsuya still haunted Ayase, how much they still hurt, even when the accident on Eltar's main AI research facility had been years ago. Ayase had never got over Tatsuya's death and there were times Cam was afraid he never would.
"Alright," he said, forcing his voice to remain even. "Think you can manage from here, sir?" Keep the distance, he reminded himself firmly as Ayase managed a nod. He had a good relationship with his commanding officer and he thought he could honestly call the man a friend, possibly the closest friend he had on board, not that that was saying much, but he'd come very close to ruining that friendship back in its fledgling stages by putting his foot in it. One stupid observation regarding Tatsuya and the obvious route the relationship between Ayase and Tatsuya had gone and the progress he and Ayase had been making had vanished as if it had never been there, with Ayase shutting down completely. They'd gotten past it, but Cam never made the same mistake twice and he wasn't stupid enough to bring Tatsuya up now. No, better to maintain some kind of professional distance between them, at least for now; doing anything that even hinted at being more than just two colleagues wouldn't go down well later, even if Ayase didn't care right now.
He frowned as Ayase gave up the battle with his uniform jacket, wondering if he should offer to help, but as Ayase chose that moment to slump down onto his bed, his eyes sliding shut, Cam suppressed the question and settled for quickly untying Ayase's boots and tugging them off. When he was satisfied that the other man was settled and not in any immediate danger of, well, anything, he nodded to himself and ordered the computer to lower the lights.
He tugged the hem of his uniform jacket automatically as he stepped out into the corridor, barely suppressing a groan as Umeko gave him a conspirital grin as she walked past. Wonderful. Now the rumours would start flying and he'd have to fend off both the teasing and the implications that he was sleeping with his boss for personal gain; the last thing he - and Ayase - needed. His mouth set in a thin, hard line, Cam stalked off down the corridor towards the nearest turbolift, fully intending to read someone the riot act, preferably whoever in Biology was responsible for knocking the Lt. Commander out, but anyone unfortunate enough to say something stupid was fair game, too. Some people hit things to relieve their tension, Cam ripped people to shreds verbally to relieve his frustration; it all evened out in the end.
Pairing: Ayase/Cam, Ayase/Tatsuya
Rating: PG-13
Ayase Shinnosuke, Chief Science Officer of the Sky Island, was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. He didn't know what had caused it, seeing as up until about ten minutes ago he'd been feeling fine. Of course, the past couple of days had been hectic, including alternate universes, rescue missions and research experiments blowing up in their collective faces, so it was probably just a case of all of that catching up with him in one go.
It still seemed odd, though, it hitting him all at once like this, but he didn't really have any energy to spare wondering about it. All he wanted right now was his bed. His nice comfortable bed with its soft, inviting pillows. Ah, sleep; when he had had more than three hours at any given point? There was always something that needed his attention.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Cam asked in concern, half walking him, half carrying him into the room. Now that they were away from their unexpected visitors Cam had dropped the veneer of formality he'd been wearing to let his concern show through.
"I'm fine," Ayase repeated for what felt like the hundredth time. It had been a long day, even without their unexpected guests from an alternate reality; there'd been that accident in the biology section, for example and he'd just been coming out of there when he'd literally walked right into their newest arrivals.
"Biology?" Cam asked sharply and Ayase blinked in surprise. Damn, he was thinking out loud again, his thoughts tripping from his brain to his mouth without stopping for pause on the way and he only got that bad when he was really tired. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt like this, Tatsuya had never let him push himself like this; always there to forcibly turn off the lights and computers whenever he felt Ayase was working himself too hard. Oh, damn. Tatsuya. For an AI he'd been so real...
But no, Tatsuya was gone and there was no bringing him back. He'd thought he was past this; why was it every time he thought that something inevitably proved him wrong?
And it wasn't Tatsuya now, was it? Not Tatsuya keeping him from working himself into an early grave, not Tatsuya keeping him from falling into depression. Not Tatsuya, not anymore. But he didn't think Cam could be what Tatsuya had and he wasn't sure he wanted him to be. Something different maybe, but not what Tatsuya had been.
***
Cam carefully steered Ayase towards the bed, wondering if he should mention the small fact that Ayase's head had dropped to rest against Cam's own. He decided not to, they were inside Ayase's quarters, there was no-one else to see the normally reserved CSO so out of it. It just wasn't normal, he fretted. Ayase had been fine one moment, a little tired, maybe, but this? He'd gone from 'a little tired' to 'dead on his feet' in less than five minutes and that... that wasn't normal. Couldn't be normal. But what had the Lt. Commander been doing that could have that kind of effect on him? Ayase liked complex equations, so it couldn't have been those that had him swaying on his feet.
It was distinctly unnerving, seeing Ayase like this; Lt. Commander Ayase Shinnosuke, CSO, was always cool and collected, always in control and unless you caught him in a vulnerable moment - which Cam had somehow managed to achieve a couple of times now - you'd never guess there was so much pain lurking under that calm surface. He almost dropped the other man when he muttered something about an accident in one of the biology labs, a chill going down his spine along with cold certainty that whatever that accident had been, it was the cause of Ayase's current state. "Biology?" he asked quickly; it looked the biology labs were going to be his next destination. What could they possibly be doing in there that could incapacitate the CSO?
"Ayase?" he asked quietly. "Sir? What was the experiment? What went wrong?" Not that he could do anything about it now and biology wasn't exactly his area of expertise anyway, but maybe the bits and pieces he'd picked up from various places would help.
Or not. Ayase wasn't paying attention anymore, just gazing blearily at his bed and muttering something Cam couldn't quite-- No. Ah hell. If he'd thought Ayase's condition had been bad enough before, it was worse now. Ayase never talked about Tatsuya, never; Cam knew first hand just how much the memories of Tatsuya still haunted Ayase, how much they still hurt, even when the accident on Eltar's main AI research facility had been years ago. Ayase had never got over Tatsuya's death and there were times Cam was afraid he never would.
"Alright," he said, forcing his voice to remain even. "Think you can manage from here, sir?" Keep the distance, he reminded himself firmly as Ayase managed a nod. He had a good relationship with his commanding officer and he thought he could honestly call the man a friend, possibly the closest friend he had on board, not that that was saying much, but he'd come very close to ruining that friendship back in its fledgling stages by putting his foot in it. One stupid observation regarding Tatsuya and the obvious route the relationship between Ayase and Tatsuya had gone and the progress he and Ayase had been making had vanished as if it had never been there, with Ayase shutting down completely. They'd gotten past it, but Cam never made the same mistake twice and he wasn't stupid enough to bring Tatsuya up now. No, better to maintain some kind of professional distance between them, at least for now; doing anything that even hinted at being more than just two colleagues wouldn't go down well later, even if Ayase didn't care right now.
He frowned as Ayase gave up the battle with his uniform jacket, wondering if he should offer to help, but as Ayase chose that moment to slump down onto his bed, his eyes sliding shut, Cam suppressed the question and settled for quickly untying Ayase's boots and tugging them off. When he was satisfied that the other man was settled and not in any immediate danger of, well, anything, he nodded to himself and ordered the computer to lower the lights.
He tugged the hem of his uniform jacket automatically as he stepped out into the corridor, barely suppressing a groan as Umeko gave him a conspirital grin as she walked past. Wonderful. Now the rumours would start flying and he'd have to fend off both the teasing and the implications that he was sleeping with his boss for personal gain; the last thing he - and Ayase - needed. His mouth set in a thin, hard line, Cam stalked off down the corridor towards the nearest turbolift, fully intending to read someone the riot act, preferably whoever in Biology was responsible for knocking the Lt. Commander out, but anyone unfortunate enough to say something stupid was fair game, too. Some people hit things to relieve their tension, Cam ripped people to shreds verbally to relieve his frustration; it all evened out in the end.