As always a big thank you to Zion's Starfish for her stellar work beta reading my stuff.
 

The Bare Bones of it by Moonloon
 

Tyr heard the unmistakable sounds of someone trying to override his door lock and jumped out of bed. He picked up his Gauss gun and triggered the door release. Harper stood in the doorway with a big shit-eating grin on his face.

"Hey Tyr!"

Tyr grimly resisted the temptation to strangle Harper and settled for grinding his teeth instead. "Why were you trying to break into my quarters?"

"Would you have let me in if I asked?"

"No."

"Well there’s your answer then."

Tyr glared and hit the door close button, but before the door could slide shut Harper jammed his foot into the track preventing it from moving.

"Tyr, we live on the same ship. You can’t avoid me forever. Sooner or later you are going to have to hear me say thank you for saving my life."

Tyr scowled and considered kicking Harper’s foot out of the door track. Still, Harper was right: the annoying little man would just find another time and place to accost him. At least here there were no witnesses. "I didn’t save your life, I just decided not to kill you."

Harper stepped into the room and let the door shut behind him. "Nuh uh, you risked your life so I’d live. That’s pretty uncharacteristic for a Nietzschean."

"Harper is there a point to this?" Tyr said, exasperation tingeing his voice.

"Why’d you do it? Even if I’m lucky I’ve still only got a few months of life left. You know I wouldn’t mind dying rather than face what’s coming. Why spend half an hour dead and risk permanent damage or death to save me?"

Tyr turned away and growled. He didn’t have an answer for Harper; even he still didn’t know why he’d done it.

Harper got tired of waiting for an answer and said, "Well it has to be one of three things. Number one: All the idealism around here wore off on you and now you really are one of the team, prepared to lay down your life for your comrades yadda yadda yadda."

"Spare me." Tyr rolled his eyes.

Harper’s grin widened, "Yeah, that’s about what I thought too. So, number two: You’ve got some latent parental feelings for me. I’m a surrogate son figure. Most Niets your age have half a dozen rugrats running about and you need something cute and irresponsible to protect."

"Harper, you are less than ten years younger than me. In no way are you like a son to me."

"Cool. I was a bit worried about that one. All that calling me ‘boy’ and ‘child’, I didn’t like to say anything but it freaked the Hell out of me. That leaves number three: you have the hots for me."

Tyr blinked. "Harper, you are insane."

"C’mon Tyr, admit it. You want to play ‘hide the bone spur’ with me doncha?"

Tyr grabbed Harper by the back of the neck, opened the door and hurled him into the hallway.

"Ouch. I’ll take that as a ‘no’ then shall I?" Harper said as Tyr’s door slid shut again.

"Do that," Tyr murmured as he climbed back into bed and tried his hardest to forget what had just happened. It wasn’t so easy: why had he risked his life to save Harper? Despite his posturing to Rev, sacrificing Harper had never really been an option in his mind. Why though? It wasn’t as if Harper was all that necessary to his survival. His engineering expertise would be missed but there were plenty of engineers in the Universe. He was dying anyway. There had to be a fourth option.

There had to be.

<><><>

Now that Harper had placed the idea in his mind Tyr found himself thinking about it more and more often. Suddenly he was noticing what Harper smelled like and what he wore. Tyr hoped that Harper’s recent decision to wear tighter clothes wasn’t for his benefit.

There could be an advantage to be gained from this though…

"Harper," Tyr said, sitting down across from Harper in the mess deck.

Harper grinned. "Hey Tyr. Not avoiding me any more?"

"Apparently not."

"So what’s up? Decided which door to choose?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Y’know…Behind door number one is friendship, behind door number two is responsibility and behind door number three is mind blowing sex."

"You have a high opinion of your skills little man."

"Hey, not so little where it counts. If you catch my meaning."

"I could hardly fail to catch it. I’m beginning to realise why you have such abysmal luck attracting a woman."

Harper scowled slightly. "Well pick one then. I don’t have that much time left, and listening to you think of witty put-me-downs isn’t really how I imagined spending my twilight months."

"Three."

"Huh?"

"I said three."

"Y’know you picked the sex right? With me." The scowl had slipped and Harper just looked puzzled.

"Are you backing out? This was your suggestion. It wouldn’t have even crossed my mind if you hadn’t put it there."

"I’m not backing out, I’m just surprised. Want to go do it now?" Harper’s trademark grin had resurfaced.

"I think I can wait until our shifts are over." Tyr said dryly

Harper’s eyes had glazed over. "Uh, okay. 1900 in your quarters?"

Tyr got up. "That’s fine. I’ll see you later." Tyr strolled back to the bridge, anticipating the knowledge he’d gain from wringing out a sexually tormented engineer.

<><><>

Tyr was amused to note that the tap on his door sounded quite…tentative. He opened the door to an apprehensive looking Harper. Deciding that the direct approach would be the best line of attack he pulled Harper in, closed the door and kissed him.

Harper almost scrambled up Tyr’s torso, grabbing braids and sucking at Tyr’s tongue. Tyr was just a little shocked at Harper’s passion. Still, it meant extra leverage so he went with it and carried Harper over to the bed.

Pinning Harper down with one hand Tyr put his plan into action. Using his free hand he stripped off Harper’s shirt and proceeded to lick, suck and occasionally bite the soft skin under him. Within minutes Harper was an incoherent mess on the bed.

Tyr started out casually. "You must really need to relax." Soft kisses around Harper’s dataport.

"Mmmm hmm."

"The stress of the last few months must have been tough." Just a hint of teeth over the collarbone.

"Uh huh. Oh God, lower."

"I don’t suppose anyone realises how hard it’s been on you?" Tyr brushed his dreads over Harper’s chest.

"S’okay."

"You need to be around your friends." A soft lick around the navel.

"Mmm, Tyr."

"Not shut up in machine shop five." It was time to find out what Dylan was hiding from him.

"Don’t mind."

"It must be something important to Dylan before he’d jeopardise your sanity like that."

"Wha….?" Tyr stopped Harper’s question with a deep sensual kiss.

It didn’t work.

Harper struggled under him. When Tyr didn’t let go Harper sank his teeth into Tyr’s lower lip. Tyr grunted in pain and pulled back. Tyr couldn’t help but be impressed with the depth of Harper’s anger; despite being pinned down by a fully-grown Nietzschean he showed no fear.

"You bastard!" Harper hissed. "All this was just to get information out of me?"

Tyr sat back on his heels and shrugged. He was a little annoyed that his plan hadn’t worked. Either he wasn’t as physically irresistible as he thought or Harper had more self-control than was evident.

Harper threw a punch that Tyr knocked aside almost carelessly. The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Harper scrambled off the bed, grabbed his shirt and ran out of the door.

Tyr sighed and flopped back on the bed. His plan hadn’t worked and during the ‘interrogation’ he’d become surprisingly aroused. Tyr tried to banish the memory of Harper moaning and writhing on the bed beneath him but found it difficult to do so. Rather surprising was the guilt he felt. Guilt was an ever-present companion; ever since his pride had been destroyed he’d had to live with survivors guilt. Feeling guilt over his use of a human though…that was new.

Tyr played the last few moments of his encounter with Harper in his mind. There hadn’t been any fear but there had been something else mingled in with the anger. Hurt. He’d hurt Harper. Tyr got off the bed and stripped for a shower. So he’d hurt Harper, he didn’t care.

The feelings of an annoying little engineer were beneath his notice. It didn’t matter that his body had some small attraction to Harper.

It didn’t matter.

<><><>

Tyr stood on the command deck watching Dylan. The captain had shown no sign of knowledge about the events of the previous night. Harper had evidently decided not to tell him about Tyr’s imitation of Mata Hari. Tyr had divided feelings about that. On the one hand it was good that Dylan didn’t have one more reason to distrust him. On the other, Harper usually only kept silent when something was bothering him.

Tyr gave himself a mental shake. Why would he care if Harper were upset? Damn! Tyr realised he was going to have to do something to appease his guilt. Apologising was out of the question, but he needed to do something to get rid of the guilty feelings: they brought his thoughts too often to memories of Harper on his bed.

After his shift was over he went looking for Harper, eventually finding him in one of the access tunnels. Harper gave him a black look and ignored him, concentrating on the open panel he was working on.

"I found some more of that beer you like down in stores. It’s in locker 154 if you want it."

Harper grunted.

Tyr was irritated, this wasn’t going as planned. He felt silly squeezed into the access tube and Harper wasn’t co-operating. "You’re welcome. I was trying to make you feel better." Tyr said dryly.

Harper turned and glared at Tyr. "No you’re not. You’re trying to make you feel better."

"I don’t have anything to feel bad about."

"Yes you do. We’ve worked and fought together for over a year. Whether you want to admit it or not that sort of thing forges bonds between people, even arrogant Ubers and puny little kludges. You feel guilty because that was a shitty stunt you pulled last night." Harper’s voice was low and hard and obviously he was still very angry. "You can shove your guilt and you can shove your fucking beer too."

Tyr climbed out of the tube and walked to the gym. An hour of working out did nothing to calm him down. At the back of his head there was a voice telling him that he was angry because every word Harper had said was true. He spent another hour working out his frustration and anger on the gym equipment before returning to his quarters to shower and consider what to do next.

Tyr was sitting trying to read one of his books but really just brooding when Dylan appeared at his door.

"So, do you want to tell me what’s going on?" Dylan was using his ‘Oh God what now?’ tone of voice.

"There’s nothing going on."

"Funny, that’s exactly what Harper said. And yet somehow I don’t believe either of you. Rommie says you spent two hours in the gym and almost wrecked every bit of equipment in there. She said it looked as though you were trying to get rid of a huge adrenaline rush or a really bad mood. And then there’s Harper. You wouldn’t happen to know why he drank the last bottle of Scotch on the ship now would you?"

"No."

"I don’t which of you two it’s harder to get information out of." Dylan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine. But I want whatever this is fixed. Soon."

<><><>

Dark fingers on pale skin.

Heat.

The taste of sweat and electricity.

Ice blue eyes full of passion.

Soft lips.

Arousal.

Ice blue anger.

Tyr woke up suddenly and cursed. He’d been dreaming. Dreaming about being with Harper. He was hard and pissed off.

"Dammit!" Tyr wanted to throw something hard but the only thing within reach was his pillow which didn’t have the necessary heft to it. He climbed out of bed and marched into the bathroom.  Turning the shower controls to cold he stepped in and purged his thoughts of Harper.

Dylan was right, he decided, he had to do something about this. It was beginning to affect his judgement.

<><><>

Tyr decided that the best course of action would be to avoid Harper until he’d calmed down. He’d observed that Harper couldn’t hold a grudge for too long. The next few days saw Harper’s mood get worse instead of better though. Tyr had heard him snap at Trance and Beka and call Dylan something that had earned him a shift cleaning the environmental systems. Strangely enough, Harper hadn’t said anything to him apart from routine ship matters.

Eventually Tyr realised that the situation between Harper and himself wasn’t going to resolve itself. After Harper’s punishment shift Tyr went to Harper’s quarters.

Harper opened the door in a towel. When he saw Tyr standing there he folded his arms across his chest and asked, "Yes?"

"Can we talk?"

Harper chewed his lip. "Well we’re both able to talk. Whether or not we have anything to talk about is something else."

"May I come in?"

"I’m not dressed."

"I don’t mind."

Harper scowled. "Well I do. I’ll meet you in the mess deck in half an hour."

"Fine."

Tyr was sipping a cup of tea when Harper arrived. Tyr noticed with some amusement that Harper had put on his old baggy cargo pants and one of his more disreputable shirts. The boy gave away clues to his mental state in everything he did.

Harper picked out some packages from the chiller and heated them, without looking over at Tyr. When the ‘wave beeped he piled them on a plate and sat down opposite Tyr. "So?"

Tyr looked at the mess on Harper’s plate. "What is that?"

"An omelette."

"That is not an omelette. It has…things in it."

"Cheese, croutons, pepperoni, hot-dog chunks, more cheese and garlic mushrooms."

"You really do want to die, don’t you. Trance and Rev said you have to stay healthy."

"Mushrooms are a vegetable. That’s healthy. Now did you want to say something or are you just here to criticise my diet?" Harper started shovelling the eggy mass into his mouth.

Tyr looked away from the sight of Harper eating and braced himself. "I…I’m sorry." There was no response from Harper and Tyr took a quick look over at him.

Harper was watching him closely and chewing slowly. "Are you saying that because Dylan told you to?"

"No."

"Are you saying that because you really are sorry or because you think it’s what I want to hear?"

"Dammit child…" Tyr’s voice rose

Harper said quietly, "Would you please stop calling me that. Just because I look young doesn’t mean I am. I’m a lot older than I look and my childhood ended so long ago I barely remember it. Now would you stop being so fucking condescending and answer the damn question?" Harper continued eating.

"Probably a bit of both," Tyr said after thinking about it for a moment.

"Well that’s honest I suppose. I should be grateful that a part of you is sorry. Funny though: I was never very good at doing what I should."

"I’d noticed," Tyr replied. "Are you going to drink any more of Dylan’s scotch?"

"None left."

"What about the beer in locker 154?"

Harper paused. "Well there might be one or two bottles less in there than there had been last time you looked." Tyr threw his head back and laughed. When he stopped he smiled at Harper who stared back unsmiling. "Don’t take it personally, I was thirsty."

"You have plenty of Sparky to drink if you’re thirsty."

Harper sighed and put down his fork. "I guess I’ve been fucked over by Nietzscheans so much in my life once more doesn’t really matter too much. You can go and tell Dylan we’re all made up and pals again."

"Are we?"

Harper rubbed his face. "Hell if I know. I don’t want to kick you out of the nearest airlock any more though."

Tyr nodded. "Close enough."

<><><>

Tyr felt much better now that he’d made his peace with Harper. The only thing that bothered him was the fact that Harper obviously hadn’t completely forgiven him. The easy relaxed banter that Harper usually inflicted on him had dried up somewhat and Tyr was surprised to note that he missed it.

Tyr was coming back from the gym late one night when he turned a corner to see Harper stumbling out of his quarters holding his stomach.

He grabbed Harper just as he was about to fall to the floor. "What’s wrong? Is it the larvae?"

Harper was pale and sweating. "I don’t know. I can’t feel them moving but it feels as though something got ripped inside. Shit Tyr, it hurts."

"SHIP!"

Rommie appeared on a screen beside them. "I’ve woken Trance. She’s on her way to medical now. I suggest you hurry."

"Suggestion noted," Tyr said as Harper curled into a ball and whimpered. Tyr picked him up and ran for the medical deck. They arrived before Trance and Tyr put Harper down on one of the beds. Harper immediately curled up again, fists knotted in the fabric of his shirt.

Tyr moved away to get some diagnostic equipment but Harper shot out a hand and grabbed his wrist. "Don’t go Tyr."

"I’m not going anywhere Harper: I just need to get the scanner." Tyr tugged his arm but Harper wouldn’t let go.

"You know what to do if this is time, don’t you?"

"It’s not time."

"I know, I know…just in case though."

Trance arrived and saved Tyr from having to reply. She grabbed the scanner and brought it over to Harper. Tyr felt dizzy with relief at the sight of her. He hadn’t realised how close to panicking he was until she arrived and took over.

Harper’s hand was still wrapped around his wrist and he peeled it off and held it tightly.

Trance looked at the scanner. "Well the good news is it isn’t the larvae."

Tyr and Harper both let out sighs of relief.

Harper squirmed and clutched at his stomach. "What is it then? ‘Cause I have to tell you it hurts like Hell."

"Gallstones," Trance replied.

"Gallstones?" Harper looked blank.

Trance nodded. "Yes, gallstones, caused by too much fatty food. You’ve got one lodged in your bile duct and that’s what’s causing the pain."

"You’re kidding right? All this pain was caused by eating one too many fried meals?" Harper grimaced, "And could we do something about the pain please?"

Tyr eased off his death grip on Harper’s hand but didn't let go, he sat down next to the bed. "More than one meal I’d guess. Why didn’t this show up on any of his other scans?"

"It did, but a lot of people have gallstones and never have any problem with them. Harper makes such a fuss about medical stuff so I didn’t mention it. There was a good chance this would never have happened. I’m preparing some nanobots to clear his system now."

"And would you hurry with that?" Harper moaned.

"You’ve only got yourself to blame you know," Trance said. "I’ve seen those fried egg sandwiches you have for breakfast. No one in their right mind eats fried eggs and mayonnaise together: it’s just asking for trouble. There, that should help."

"Thanks," Harper said dryly. A moment later, "Wow. It doesn’t hurt." He sat up and prodded his stomach. "No pain. It just…stopped."

Trance beamed. "Yep, once the stone clears the bile duct all the pain vanishes. Good isn’t it."

"Good? It’s fucking wonderful!"

Tyr grinned as the colour returned to Harper’s face. "That’s the left over endorphins."

Harper smiled back at Tyr and belatedly noticed his hand wrapped in Tyr’s. Harper blushed but didn’t pull his hand away.

Trance put away the medical equipment. "Well I’m going back to bed. Harper, I’ve cleared all the stones out but if you keep eating junk they’re just going to come back. Please try to eat a little more sensibly in the future."

"I’ll keep an eye on him." Tyr said.

"Good," Trance said, smiling at Tyr and Harper's linked hands as she breezed out.

Tyr and Harper sat holding hands in silence for a moment.

"Thanks." Harper said.

"No problem." Tyr ran his thumb over the skin on Harper’s wrist. "I really am sorry about before. I just realised how much."

"Didn’t want me going out with that on your conscience?"

"I didn’t want your last days to be bad ones."

"Do you want to help me make my last days good ones?"

Tyr smiled. "What do you think?" He turned over Harper’s hand and placed a kiss on the pulse point at his wrist.

Harper made a noise that was very like a whimper and slid off the bed onto Tyr’s lap. Tyr wrapped his arms around Harper and they kissed.

Harper pulled back. "No ulterior motives this time?"

"Well I do have an ulterior motive, but I don’t think you’ll mind."

"Huh?"

"I’m hoping to take advantage of you."

"Um…good?" Harper had a loopy grin on his face. "I can live with that."
 
 

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