Spliced - 4.2

[flighty_dreams]

TITLE: Spliced - Part 4, Chapter 2
AUTHOR: flighty_dreams 
WARNINGS: NC-17. slavefic. scifi setting. M/m.
WORD COUNT:  3,944 (this chapter)
SUMMARY:  4.2 - Alex rethinks this insanity.
NOTES:  The index to this story available here.
FEEDBACK: Always welcome. :) Enjoy!

 

Chapter Two

 

 

If Ten were here right now, Alex would’ve punched his brother.

How had Ten convinced him this was a good idea?

First, Matt had ordered him to remove the prosthetics and the wig as soon as they reached the car. Alex had refused without giving his main reason; he didn’t want to be seen out in public with Matt until he was ‘Min.’ It was too risky, considering Hayeston might be watching and catch the resemblance between Matt’s ‘friend’ and his newly returned Andorian slave.

Then they’d bickered over whether to leave the top of the convertible down or not, and the Kartan, it being his vehicle and all, had won that argument. They'd also fought over the choice of music - Matt insisted on this boring instrumental crap, and Alex had finally turned the stereo off in disgust, tired of Muldane's bitching. So now they were driving through Alister in the murky glow of twilight, top up and a stony silence thickening between them like his anticipation before a bounty hunt. Nah, this wasn’t awkward at all. He shouldn’t have come as himself; he couldn’t see how it would ever work. But he was mounted on this horse already, so there was no turning back.

Definitely going to torture Ten later though, he promised himself.

Matt sat beside him in the driver’s seat of the Spectra. The Kartan was driving the car – the car’s AGS hadn’t been set yet – but Alex could feel the man’s gaze raking him periodically with the heat of a bonfire. He glanced over at the man, and he watched Muldane’s eyes swing from the road to him, the possessive flash unmistakable. Was Matt even aware of the way he looked at him?

Alex shifted in the passenger seat, unsettled by the man next to him. Not that he showed much outwardly; he was careful about that. His years of freedom aside, he’d still spent most of his life – including his childhood – as a slave, and there were certain lessons that stayed with you. Not showing how uncomfortable you were with a situation was one learned early and permanently, and he’d often found it useful even as a free man.

But Matt had certainly stretched that control to its limits already today. He wasn’t sure why the annoying Kartan affected him so; maybe it was the lingering remnants of that stupid crush he’d had on the man as Min. Despite the passage of time and all the frustration dealing with Matt stirred up, Alex still had feelings for him, and it allowed the man to get under his skin as constantly as planets orbited a sun. At least the other man was just as easily riled by him though.

But if he wasn’t still attracted to Matt, he would never have considered coming back here in the first place, even before Hayeston became an issue. With his relationship with Kate finished now – as much as that still saddened him – he could no longer deny that he’d never stopped feeling something for Matt. It had never been just about the Andorian needs, he finally admitted, although they were certainly involved, just as guilt had been a huge part of his returns to slavery. Something about Matt kept drawing him in, and it wasn’t just the challenge of convincing a Kartan man to change his whole mindset on clones.

He was crazy, but he wasn’t that crazy.

No, it was the knowledge that beneath that Kartan attitude and polished businessman veneer – well, polished when he wasn’t infuriating the man – Matt was as broken in some ways as he was. The revelation courtesy of Hollis that Matt avoided relationships with the same persistence that some men avoided marriage had opened Alex’s eyes. He’d thought Matt’s issues were relegated to his parents, but it was more than that. One day he hoped to find out more, if the man ever learned to trust him.

However Alex knew he’d done far more to damage that possibility than to encourage it. And the pleasure he got out of teasing Matt made it all too tempting to continue on that course. He knew he needed to let up, at least a little. If he was annoying Matt to death all the time, how could the man ever like him?

And he did want Matt to like him. Back on Festun, between the tension of executing his plan and revealing his true self to the Kartan with the satisfaction of a wronged prisoner granted release and revenge, he’d been distracted enough to resist the attraction he had for Matt, at least for the most part. There’d been that moment there, after they’d kissed and Matt had demanded more, when he’d wanted to give in. The thought of Kate, as well as the knowledge that what he wanted in that moment didn’t align with Matt’s desires, had stopped him.

That damnable attraction hadn’t gone away though. The enormous physical distance between them during their calls had made him secure enough to resist the man, even as he’d still craved Matt’s respect. But now, that safety barrier gone, and the repercussions of his recent decision to accept the Andorian urges into himself weakening him further, he found himself more susceptible to the man’s draw.

It didn’t mean he would just submit to any of the man’s demands; for one thing, he was too stubborn for that. For another, he couldn’t allow Matt to discern any weakness within him. No doubt Matt would declare them further evidence of his true identity as an Andorian, a slave meant to obey him in all things.

No, this was a war Alex could not afford to lose. But like a ship skimming deftly through an asteroid field, how could he avoid the various obstacles in his path? He needed to gain Matt’s trust and respect, both for their relationship and to deal with Hayeston when the time came. However, any progress he made might be cratered when Matt discovered he’d kept the Hayeston problem from him. And how could he earn Matt’s respect if he had to act the part of a slave again, because of Hayeston? It would be all too easy for the man to slam the Andorian label on him, proclaiming him a slave and nothing more.

And finally, how the hell could he combine the two aspects of himself while still being someone that satisfied both Matt and himself? How could he be the submissive clone Matt desired and yet remain true to himself and who he had become? It seemed an impossible balance.

If he swerved to avoid one asteroid, he’d hit another.

At least he’d had time to prepare, to formulate ideas and plans. This date had been one of them, taking the narrow window before they settled back at the house to have Matt spend time with him in a different light. He knew it was a chance he’d only get once, and he’d pushed the Kartan into it with the desperation of a dying man clinging to life. He’d have preferred to avoid an interrogation, but he’d known he would probably need to offer Matt some incentive. Besides, Matt’s face when he used the word ‘date’ had made it all worth it.

Alex knew this dinner would only delay the inevitable scene where Matt tried to have everything his way. But perhaps the realization that there were other alternatives – such as having a real relationship, or at least understanding that their situation was different now – would help Matt see sense. Unfortunately, Alex suspected that sense and Matt Muldane would only intersect far, far down the road. But he’d needed things to start off on a different note, and catching Matt by surprise had allowed it to happen.

However now that he’d gotten the date, he was changing tactics. Tormenting and teasing Matt, as fun as it was, was not the way to win him over. The Kartan would never make progress if Alex just made him spiral all the time. What was that saying of Acto’s? In the end, a kind nudge got you farther than a forceful shove. He needed to be… nice to Matt, not sarcastic or annoying. And a date was a perfect venue for that.

“So where would you like to go? Liander’s or Bushevi’s?” Alex asked, breaking the heavy silence. They were still near Matt’s office, but heading towards one of Alister’s popular commercial districts.

Matt sent him a nasty sideward glare, and Alex grinned back at him unrepentantly. Being nice didn’t mean not teasing the man at all. His restraint had limits. Small ones.

Matt and Hollis went to both restaurants often. Not having been to either in a long time – or ever being able to choose his own meal there before – Alex had no objections to either. In fact, they suited his purposes well; he preferred to go somewhere Matt frequented, so that every time he went there afterwards he’d remember eating there with Alex. He had no intention of letting Matt toss aside this evening.

Sighing, already feeling tired, Alex leaned back against the headrest. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Matt shot him a smirk. “Doesn’t feel so good from the other end, does it?”

Normally Alex would’ve ignored the comment, knowing it would annoy Matt further. You’re being nicer, remember? So instead he admitted gruffly, “No.”

Letting a pause pass, Alex changed the subject. “What about Liander’s fondue? Haven’t had that in ages.” And whenever he had, Matt had fed the cheese covered bread to him by hand.

Alex brushed that image away with a silent curse, focusing on the present. He knew Matt loved fondue, but Hollis rarely went for it. The fact that Liander’s fondue was for two people would only enhance the ‘dateness’ of the dinner.

Perhaps sensing his intentions, Matt frowned, his narrowing with suspicion. “I’ll pass.”

“What? But you love fondue. All that delicious cheese and bread and meat,” Alex argued. “What could be wrong with that?”

“The kilos I’ll put on afterwards,” Matt countered, surprising Alex. Usually Matt wasn’t overly careful about what he ate, preferring to indulge himself occasionally and exercise the weight off instead.

However, the Kartan’s dry comment explained his decision. “I’d like to last at least a day before the stress eating begins.”

Alex chuckled, knowing exactly who would be the cause of that predicted stress. “But you’ll also be getting plenty of exercise,” he pointed out, his voice lowering an octave.

Matt’s eyes darkened, no doubt picturing the possibilities, and Alex found himself unable to look away, desire curling in his belly. Their gazes linked, and not wanting to relinquish control of the situation, Alex licked his dry lips deliberately, knowing the flick of his tongue would hold Matt’s attention.

“Fondue it is then,” Matt murmured, making the decision they both wanted.

A quiet fell then, tense and expectant. Matt programmed Liander’s in as a destination and switched on the AGS. Half-expecting the Kartan to use the opportunity to make a move now, such as shoving Alex back against the door and molesting him – an image Alex found himself disturbingly not unhappy with – he distracted them both quickly, uttering the first inane question that came to mind.

“How have you been, Matt?”

Matt blinked, frowning at him as suspiciously as if he’d drawn a gun on him. Again. After a pause he finally said, “As well as can be expected. I’m tired and I’d rather be going home, not out to dinner.”

“You go out with Hollis often enough after work,” Alex countered the complaint. “Besides, your curiosity is stronger than your reluctance.”

“I suppose it is,” Matt conceded only grudgingly, like a mother relinquishing her newborn child.

Alex was still wincing inwardly at the amount of questions Matt had maneuvered him into agreeing to. The businessman, true to form, had been difficult to negotiate with. Shit, six more questions would be tricky.

“But I could just get answers out of you later,” Matt added, hostility flaring in his eyes and a potential for violence coating his words.

Biting back a retort, Alex stared at him for a long moment. Finally he asked soberly and softly, like a paramedic questioning an accident victim, “Is that really how you want to do it?”

A street light illuminated Matt’s features for a moment as they passed under it, showing his reddened face. The Kartan looked away from him then, his gaze shifting to the passing scenery.  A few city blocks streamed by as Alex waited tensely for a response.

When it came, his answer floated out with the softness and slow pace of falling leaves. “I suppose it wouldn’t be my first preference.”

Something in Alex’s chest eased at those words, his body relaxing against the seat again. His head turned sideways, he stared at Matt, who was still facing away from him. He stretched his arm out across the gap between the seats, his hand finding Matt’s, which was resting on the wheel.

The touch made Matt’s head turn, and the man’s eyes landed on their nestled hands. Alex squeezed Matt’s fingers for a moment, and the Kartan’s gaze shifted up to look at Alex wonderingly. Alex gave him a gentle smile, his eyes studying Matt’s face for a long moment before reluctantly lowering his hand.

Any prolonged physical contact with the Kartan affected his brain too much. Especially when it was coupled with anger and an edge of violence, like the scene back in Matt’s office. They’d both spiraled, and the fighting – both verbal and physical – had only charged the situation further. He’d have gladly fucked Matt against that wall, just like he knew Matt had wanted to do the same to him. And yet, when Matt had held his arms like that, his back had arched instinctively, and the desire to be taken had ridden him just as hard as the cock he wanted inside him.

Panicking over the conflicting needs the Kartan brought out of him, both pissed and aroused by the manhandling, he’d kicked Matt. The tiny thread of disappointment afterwards, mingling with the flood of relief at being released, had only infuriated him more.

He touched his arm now, feeling for the ache that lingered there like the bittersweet memories of Arri in his heart. The sore twinge made him wonder if he had bruises forming already – Andorian healing was notoriously fast after all - and he pushed the sleeve of his gray sweater up to examine it. As he’d suspected, the discoloration was starting. He felt Matt’s gaze on him, that familiar possessive heat, and he glanced up.

Catching Matt looking at the bruise, his hazel eyes intense but inscrutable, Alex commented wryly, “Soon these won’t be the only marks I have from you, will they?”

Smile curving his lips, Matt murmured, “No, I suspect not.”

A gleam shone in Matt’s eyes then, but Alex wouldn’t ask what exactly the man meant by that. Ignorance was surely bliss in this case. Personally he was hoping wistfully for just sex, but no doubt Matt fully intended to pay him back for his transgressions. His open ended question left many possibilities available, he realized, repressing a nervous shudder. Alex wished he could say there wasn’t a bit of anticipation within him as well, but he’d promised Arri he’d be more honest with and accepting of himself now.

However, when the time came, no amount of Andorian urges would stop him from putting up a good fight.

They rode for a few minutes in silence, and Alex wondered what the Kartan really thought of him. Did he still think of him as property, a slave that shouldn’t be allowed to make any decisions for himself? He’d obviously proven he could make decisions, so Matt couldn’t deny that much. But there was a difference between ‘could’ and ‘should’, and which choices Matt considered okay for him to make. He hoped Matt had progressed enough to understand and acknowledge the points he’d made earlier in his office.

He also couldn’t help wondering, how did Matt feel about him? Was he just a good fuck? Did the man care about him at all?

Had Min’s disappearance simply meant an infuriating loss of what Muldane regarded as a valuable item that belonged to him? The idea made Alex bristle, that the man might only care in that way, but it seemed wrong. After all, how could the man be so upset with him if he only felt for him on that level? No, it seemed like it went deeper than that, but perhaps it was his old foolish infatuation still affecting him, making him read more into it.

Well, he wasn’t the Min that Matt had known before. He was Alex, and he wouldn’t be afraid of asking for answers. Of course he wouldn’t barrage Matt with questions either though; he hadn’t left his good sense back on The Cutter.

“Matt, after I disappeared, were you just upset over losing your… property? Or were you actually worried about me?”

The Kartan had turned to look at him as he spoke, but upon hearing the question, his head shifted to gaze forward again.

The pause was heavy, the air thickening around them. “Matt?” Alex prompted uncertainly.

The man didn’t say anything, but the tightness of his jaw and the clenching of his hands was answer enough.

A stab of remorse pierced Alex, even though he found the idea of apologizing to Matt as distasteful as bedding a drug-addled Pyrunian prostitute. Sucking in a breath, Alex recalled his own admonition from earlier. Be nice.

Inwardly cursing the need, he said aloud, “I suppose you thought it was cowardly of me not to even try explaining. Part of me agrees with that, but I also had my reasons,” he began. Frowning as he thought back to their earlier time together he added, “And you didn’t exactly demonstrate that you were open to differences.” That was an understatement, but he was trying to be polite.

“I knew you’d never believe me – or support it – so I didn’t bother trying.” Alex took a deep breath before adding the more crucial part. “But I’m sorry if I worried you, just disappearing like that. It wasn’t my intent to hurt you. I had my life to live, and you had yours. I thought you would just move on, buy a new slave.”

Matt sent him the dubious look of a man being told the sky was green instead of blue. “You really thought that? Or is that what you said to justify it to yourself?”

Alex flushed at the implied criticism, but he didn’t look away. “A mix of both,” he admitted honestly.

For a quick second Alex wondered if he could pass that off as another one of the questions, but decided it would be going too far at that moment. Who said he didn’t know when to quit?

Kate would be proud of me, he mused wistfully, love for her and happy memories of them together washing through him. He missed her very much.

Matt’s gaze flicked hotly along his body then, anger and other intense emotions Alex couldn’t decipher flashing in his eyes, along with that ever present tinge of possessiveness. The look stirred up Alex’s own complicated tangle of feelings, mixing with his regrets over Kate, and he reddened further, turning his head away in discomfort.

“And what you did to me on Festun? No apologies for that?” Matt demanded, cutting into his inner turmoil.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Alex sent out a silent plea for patience. Concede one thing, and the man simply pushed for more.

“I’m sorry, if I could have avoided taking such extreme action, I would have. I responded in equal degree to your unreasonableness,” he explained, a sharp edge to his tone that he couldn’t help. “If you’d shown you could be reasoned with, I would’ve just called. I knew you needed more proof than that; you needed to see me in person, and in a situation where you wouldn’t be able to recapture me.”

Matt snorted with disbelief. “Right, you would’ve just called. Ridiculous.”

Exasperated, Alex replied, “Exactly. That’s why I didn’t.”

He paused before continuing, “I’m sorry for hurting you. I didn’t want to shoot you.” That was actually a lie; he’d been more than happy to shoot the infuriating Kartan with his plasma gun, but Matt didn’t have to know that. The lie would hopefully soothe him. “I acted out of necessity, not spite.”

Matt said nothing to that, his lips twisting in thought as the car continued on for another few minutes.

Realizing they were approaching the restaurant, Alex decided to apologize one last time. Striving to make himself sound as earnest as possible, he laid a hand on the Kartan’s shoulder and said, “I really am sorry, Matt.”

The man skewered him with a scowl that told him he wasn’t forgiven, but uttered nothing aloud. It was enough of a warning for Alex to remove his hand though. He might bite it off, Alex thought with a twinge of dark humor.

They pulled into the parking lot, the AGS now turned off and Matt guiding the car. Once Matt directed the hovercar into a parking space and shut off the engine, the skids dropped down as the car lowered itself to the ground.

Glancing at the restaurant, Alex risked putting his hand on Matt again briefly and added, in one last parting move before dinner, “Matt, before we go in, I have a request.”

Matt’s brows rose, clearly unable to believe Alex would dare ask anything else of him. He obviously doesn’t know me well enough yet, Alex mused, hiding a grin.

The Kartan’s glare spoke volumes, even before he opened his mouth to exclaim with outrage, “How could you possibly think I’d do anything for you? I don’t owe you anything!”

That was debatable in Alex’s mind. Matt would always owe him apologies for the way he’d treated Min months ago, but he supposed the events of the past month had erased a lot of that debt. Alex had certainly gotten some payback of his own on the man. Of course, he’d still owed Matt that apology he’d just given as well. So perhaps they were fairly even by now; it was too hard to tell.

But all that was beside the point. Narrowing his attention back onto the present, Alex ignored Matt’s outburst and said, “I was wondering something. During dinner can we just enjoy the meal, and not focus on who owes who what? Leave the baggage behind for an hour or two, and not play the blame game?”

Observing Matt’s suspicious stare, Alex added, “We’re still going back home afterwards.” He applied the word ‘home’ to both of them to appease Matt, even if he didn’t feel it. It was Matt’s home, not his.

Before Matt could argue, he continued on. “You’ll have plenty of time later for,” he couldn’t help hesitating here, “dealing with my transgressions.”

Matt’s eyes flashed at that, but he still remained silent and unconvinced.

One last try, Alex decided. “Come on, Matt. We have a nice dinner, and you get to ask me six obnoxious questions.”

“Seven questions,” Matt gritted out, as Alex had known he would.

Smirking, Alex said, “We can debate that over dinner too.”

“No,” Matt denied fiercely, in a tone that sent a shiver through Alex – not that he’d show any outward reaction to Matt.

In the same voice the Kartan added, “No debating, and no forgetting. We go all in.”

Ending the discussion, Matt exited the car. With a sigh, Alex followed him into the restaurant, conceding this skirmish as lost.

But the war continued on, and he intended to win it.

Chapter 3