Jason shifted in his seat uncomfortably. The DIs had not been joking when they said they’d be focusing on small unit tactics over the next few weeks. It had only been six days since that fateful announcement and Jason was already totally over it.

His everything was sore. So sore that he almost missed drill practice, which was what the wargames had replaced.

Almost.

“Come on, Jason.” The twins each tugged ineffectually at an arm, trying to rouse him from his beanbag roost. “It doesn’t have to be long. We can be quick.”

“We’ll even make it romantic.”

“Leave him alone,” Raisha rumbled from his side, slumped in her own beanbag. “He’s hurt.”

Jason nodded to her in thanks, eliciting a smile, before he rolled his head up to look at the pair of pouting aliens who were surreptitiously glaring daggers at Raisha.

“Ladies,” he began, “I am flattered. I truly am. However, due to the actions of someone who will remain nameless-” As he spoke, he glared over to where Freyxh was lounging, eliciting an utterly unrepentant toothy grin from the alien. “-I currently have a bruise the size of her fist positioned somewhere delicate.”

Even as he said it, he felt his face twitch as a jolt of pain lanced up from his right side.

“Something the medical staff have assured me they can do nothing about until tomorrow. Apparently, after the last week, the amount of ‘anti-bruise solution’ in my system is approaching levels that might actually be dangerous for a human – and thus, they are unwilling to apply more until what’s already in me disperses.” He shook the little container held limply in his right hand. “Which is why I’m drinking this lovely, vaguely urine colored – and flavored – drink. It’s supposed to help clear my system faster.”

Even as he grimaced at the reminder of how much of the foul fluid he still had to consume, a small smile crept onto his lips as an idea occurred to him. “So I’m sorry to say that as it stands, not even the possibility of a dalliance with the Empress herself could convince me to rise from this chair.”

The reaction was instantaneous, as from the side he saw Raisha’s lips twist into a disgusted and horrified grimace. “Ugh, don’t talk about the Empress that way, Jason…that’s just...ugh.”

Jason twisted in his seat, ignoring the way his body screamed in protest. “Oh? That’s rich. You and Vieyshi can debate the differing merits of King Leonidas vs Hannibal all you want? But the second I mention the distinguished bosom of your lovely head of state-”

“You can’t talk about the Empress that way!” Raisha squeaked, nearly throwing her hands over his mouth, before pulling back at the last second. An action echoed by most of the occupants of the rec-center to various degrees. Only Freyxh was unbothered, the woman seemed more amused by the reactions of her contemporaries than anything else.

“Plus, she’s old,” Vieysha pointed out hurriedly.

“Super old.” Vieyshi nodded frantically in time with her sister. Then she paused, as if an idea had just occurred to her. “…You aren’t…into that, are you?”

The room seemed to take a collective intake of breath.

“He did seem very into Nuiy,” Vieyshi pointed out, a hint of suspicion on her face. “Maybe he’s a…Matriarch Hunter….”

He had a feeling that if Nuiy were present she’d have protested that label. Perhaps it was for the best that she, along with the other members of that week’s Red Team, were off enjoying a night on the city as a reward for their victories on the battlefield. Adrilla had certainly been ecstatic to finally get off base, though she’d been disappointed that neither Tarcil or Jason could join her.

More to the point, was a ‘Matriarch Hunter’ like the equivalent of a girl who was only into older dudes? Silver Foxes or whatever? Actually, was the Silver Fox the hunter or the prey? He didn’t know. He doubted the Data-Net had the information either. The Shil’vati had ported over a lot of information from Earth on their massive courier ships in the years since the invasion, but that information net still had some pretty massive gaps. Probably because a good chunk of each courier ship’s server capacity was taken up by porn rather than anything actually useful.

…Which he’d admit, the exact specifications on the proper allocation of the label ‘grey chaser’ was not.

He wasn’t a hunter, chaser or whatever the moniker was. He enjoyed an older woman as much as the next guy, but that appreciation had pretty solid upper limits. If the pictures he’d seen of her were anything to go by, the Empress just happens to be the exception that proves the rule. If she wasn’t a tyrannical imperialist dictator, who’d undoubtedly signed off on the orders to subjugate his entire planet, he’d happily have rocked that distinguished older lady’s world.

“Well, there’s something to be said for a more experienced woman,” Jason said, enjoying the looks of horror that stole over the room. “She’s got, what, four husbands now?”

“Five,” Raisha pointed out automatically. “She married Duke Helfen’s son last year.”

“Five husbands.” Jason whistled dramatically. “I bet there’s a lady who knows her way around a bedroom.”

He could practically smell the envy in the air. Oddly enough, from what he’d heard, the Shil’vati didn’t seem to begrudge the Empress her lavish lifestyle. By contrast, he heard far more grousing from his fellow recruits about the high and low nobility, who only had to share their single male with one other woman, or none at all.

“You don’t like inexperienced girls?” a surprisingly shy voice chimed in from his right, so quiet that he was sure only he had heard it.

Raisha was sitting there, looking a little flushed and downcast, her fingers touched together as her glistening eyes looked down at him. It was kind of horrifying to him, that the first thought he had about her change in demeanor was just how sexy it was. To be fair, he hadn’t seen shyness of any stripe in nearly two months. Shil’vati women were many things, but none of them were shy.

The closest he’d gotten was Tarcil – who was off limits for...reasons.

Part of him wanted to drag her from the dorms right then and there. Of course, the very thought sent pain lancing up his side, so instead he settled for just smiling at her.

“An experienced girl can be fun,” he whispered, leaning in, “but reducing a virgin to a puddle can be just as enjoyable.”

Raisha’s face seemed to cycle through a few emotions, embarrassment, happiness, arousal, then sadness, before finally settling on frustration. It was bewildering to watch, and Jason had no idea what caused it.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long to understand as Raisha pinched his shirt between her fingers.

“Can I talk to you?” she asked. “In private.”

Surprised, Jason nodded, slowly levering himself up to follow after her as she stood. The pair barely made it a few steps before one of the twins called out.

“Hey, where are you taking him?”

Raisha didn't even break stride as she snapped, “To talk!”

Jason wasn’t the only one who froze in his steps, totally surprised by the outburst from the usually affable Raisha. Glancing back, the twins were both equally paralyzed and wide-eyed. Hell, even Freyxh seemed a little surprised, though she was quick to cover it.

Looking back, Jason had to jog a little to catch up with Raisha as the woman hadn’t even broken stride.

Seriously, what was that about?

----------

Naturally, the dorm was deserted because the rec-center was open.

“What’s up?” Jason asked when Raisha finally came to a halt.

Well, a relative halt. He no longer had to hop every third step to keep up with her, but she was still pacing in front of her bunk.

“Did you mean it?” she asked, turning to him, a surprising intensity glistening in her eyes.

“About the virgin thing?” he asked, deliberately not sitting down on the bunk behind him, despite the aching pain in his side from the short trip over here. The sheets had been made up neatly for evening inspection after all, and messing that up was a serious ‘no no.’

Raisha nodded, somewhat frantically.

He nodded in turn, somewhat bemused. If that was what this was all about, then he’d been right to assume Raisha was practically at the end of her rope.

The girl smiled beamingly, but that smile quickly morphed into a frown as she turned away.

“Gah,” she grunted, leaning her head on the frame of her bed. “That’s nice. Very nice. But I don’t want to be just another quick lay.” She paused, turning back to stare at him, cheeks blazing blue. “I mean, I did. At first.”

Before he could speak she was pacing again. “I mean, who wouldn’t? Exotic guy from the alien sex planet. He walks around looking all sexy. Being all flirtatious. What kind of girl wouldn’t be interested? I thought to myself, this is it Raisha! This is why you joined up. For the guys. You can finally lose your virginity and prove all those girls back home wrong.”

She laughed, somewhat humorlessly, which was just plain off coming from the usually upbeat young woman.

“I’m still tempted, too. Empress above am I tempted.” She turned to look at him again, her voice solemn and serious. “But I’d sooner spend the next few years a virgin if it meant ending up like Adrilla.”

Jason felt his gut churn uncomfortably.

“What about her? We’re still friends.”

“No you’re not.” Raisha shot him down. “You’re comrades who happen to have slept with each other once. She isn’t even trying – hard at least – to sleep with you again, or even get close to you. She’s had her fun, got a story out of it, but now she doesn’t want to step on the toes of the girls who haven’t ‘had a turn.’”

Jason shifted uncomfortably at the frank description. Certainly, he wasn’t ignorant to the vibe of everyone wanting and expecting a turn with him. He tried to shut it down a bit with the twins, but that approach had been somewhat hampered by the fact that he honestly wanted a turn with most of the unit himself.

It felt downright shitty to even think, but since he’d grown accustomed to the idea he’d been acting like a guy at a buffet.

“I don’t want to be that,” Raisha said. “Just another notch on your bedpost.”

Jason raised his hands defensively. “Come on, Raisha. You know I would never think of you that way. And as far as Adrilla goes, sure, there’s some truth to what you said, but she’s probably avoiding pursuing anything deeper because we’re all likely to be split up as soon as basic is over.”

He’d admit that had certainly played into his own thought processes. As soon as basic training was over, they’d all be shipped off to different vocational training facilities. Sure, some of them might end up on the same bases, but that came down to the whims of the military, not the recruit.

Raisha threw her hands up in frustration, a snarl on her face. “I know that. I know it’s stupid. Mom always said I’d fall for the first guy to give me a saucy smile. And I have. It’s such a stupid fucking cliché.”

She turned around to rest her head on the frame of her bunk. Jason stood there, hands raised, unsure of what to do. He wanted to comfort her, but he had no idea how. People joked about engineers being crappy at relationships, but in his case, there was some truth to that statement.

He could talk to people just fine, but when it came to the delicate minutia of relationships, more often than not, he was lost.

“I like you,” Raisha said, her voice muffled by the bedsheets. “I really like you.”

He liked her, too.

She was funny and quirky. Endlessly upbeat. She never let her failures get her down. Even her negatives were more endearing than not. Sure, she was impulsive and scatterbrained, but that only served to make her more of a lovable goofball. He knew that had she been a girl from Earth he’d have been all over her, even with his own awkwardness.

…This wasn’t Earth though.

Even ignoring the whole alien thing, which came with its own issues entirely divorced from his or her feelings, they were both in the military. Hell, they were both in basic training. His life was insane. He didn’t know what he’d be doing next month, let alone a year from now. Sure, he’d applied for vocational training in engineering, but ultimately that decision lay with the military. He could end up as a steward if that was the administration’s whim.

Hell, Raisha wanted to go into exo-suits, which was a pretty elite program. If she got in, which was far from totally likely, she’d be shipped off to the Aviary. It was pretty much guaranteed they’d be split.

A long distance relationship was difficult when you were on the same planet. Space was a whole other kettle of fish. The Shil’vati didn’t even have real-time FTL communications. The best they’d be able to do was send messages via courier ship.

The whole thing bordered on the absurd, and Jason wasn’t the sort of guy to act based on feelings. He was practical…yet...he liked Raisha.

He really did. It was kind of ridiculous that he hadn’t really noticed that until she’d practically thrown it in his face.

He just…couldn’t say it. Give her false hope. He didn’t have it in him to discard the realities of a situation in favor of the romantic.

His silence answered for him.

He tried not to notice as she stood up, surreptitiously wiping her eyes with the back of her sleeve.

Then she strode out.

And he watched her go.

Silently.

He wanted to call after her. To say something. Anything.

Nothing came to mind though. Just a litany of reasons as to why a romantic relationship was a terrible idea - against the one massive reason as to why it wasn’t.

He slumped onto the bunk behind him, uncaring of the fact that he was messing it up. He’d fix it later. Right now he needed to sit.

His side hurt.

Silence reigned.

“You going to stand there forever, or did you want something?” he called out eventually.

He heard the tiny gasp from over in the doorway.

“I, uh, came to get something from my locker,” Tarcil said, peaking around the corner.

Jason scoffed at the obvious lie, even as he raised a hand, gesturing to the row of metal containers. “Be my guest.”

The alien scampered in, throwing him a concerned glance as he stepped over to his locker.

“How much did you hear?” Jason asked.

“…Most of it,” the other male admitted.

Jason nodded. He’d figured as much. He glanced over as Tarcil rifled through his locker. He might even have actually been looking for something, but Jason doubted it.

He had to admit, the other male was attractive in the low light. High cheek bones. Delicate waist. Feminine in all ways but one. The creature across from him just didn’t register as male.

“What about you?” Jason asked, mouth moving before his brain could catch up. “You after a relationship or just sex? An opportunity to ride on my ‘magical human dick?’”

Tarcil froze entirely.

Silence reigned in the dorm.

Then the male stood up, slamming his locker shut, his movements robotic and jerky. Then he ran out and sprinted from the room.

Leaving Jason alone.

Again.

“Idiot,” he grunted to himself.