"Here you go..." Culgan handed the redhead a glass full of apple juice and sat down in the chair. Seed was sitting on the sofa, staring out from the window.

The redhead was feeling a lot better now. They had hugged for he didn't know how long, and when they had finally stopped, Culgan had kissed him on the forehead and told him that everything would be all right. Now they were just sitting in the living room, and the older man had just gotten them something to drink. Seed guessed that Culgan had wine in his glass; after all, that was what the silver-haired man always drank.

"Culgan...?"

"Yes?"

Seed laughed nervously. "Gods, it sounds weird. Saying your name. Anyway, I was... Uh..."

"Well, I never expected to call anyone by your name... But, for me, it's easy. Somehow, it just sounds... right," the older man replied, smiling. "But, what were you trying to say?"

"Just thinking. This place... the lake is..."

Culgan smiled. "This part of the city is on the east side of the lake. The whole city is actually mostly on the southeastern side... The old city and the castle are still on the south side. I take it that you haven't visited there?"

The redhead shook his head. "Seen photos of it on brochures. It looked so familiar... I was thinking of going... someday. But... I was kinda afraid to go..."

"I can take you there one day. I like to go there myself. But, about this place..."

"Hmm?" Seed looked curious.

"There used to be an army garrison and a village in this area. There are still some ruins near the shore... Before you ask, the waterline has risen a little from where it was. Also, there are the ruins of a watchtower on the hills there." Culgan nodded towards the corner of the window.

"Which garrison was it?"

The silver-haired man looked out from the window. "The garrison of the 4th Army. We used to spend a lot of time around here... One of the reasons why I like this apartment. Not that I'd spend that much time in here..."

"Why not?"

"Because I work too much." Culgan turned to look at the redhead. "Funny. That's exactly what my secretary, my sister and my friends always keep telling me."

"A shame. Nice apartment, and a lovely view..."

"Not as lovely as the one I'm looking at..." The older man said mostly to himself, but Seed heard him. He blushed and lowered his head quickly.

Culgan stood up. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"Forget it." The redhead bit his lip, his wine-brown eyes studying the carpet. "What time is it?"

"Evening. 6.07 PM, to be exact."

The younger man got up and put his glass on the table. "Damn it. I... got to go. I still need to get my stuff, and... My shift starts at 9 PM, and I don't even know how long it'll take me to get home from here... I've never been to this part of the city."

Culgan smiled a bit. "Well... You don't have to go. I..." He stopped to look outside, then turned back to the redhead and continued.

"I called my secretary when you were sleeping. I told her to contact your boss and tell him that you're not coming to work today. Maybe I shouldn't have done that... I'm sorry. Maybe I was hoping for too much... I mean... Well, we still have a lot to talk about, but maybe I shouldn't have expected you to... stay for the night. At least, not yet..."

"What do you mean by that?" The red-haired man looked at the other dubiously. "Why would I... ever stay here?"

The silver-haired man sighed. "I didn't mean it that way. I thought that maybe one day... we'd be so good friend's that we could be comfortable with each other. Please, Seed, I already told you I'm not expecting you to..."

"I... I'm sorry." Seed walked around the sofa and stopped to stare at the bathroom door.

I don't get it, he thought. Comfortable? But I am comfortable with you! Otherwise I would never have hugged you... Hell, I've never felt so peaceful... I… Oh, gods, Culgan! You're not 'expecting me to'... while you're obviously... in love with me. Or rather, you're in love with that Seed from your dreams, but... Whatever. I've got to live with the fact that you are... gay. After all... I can't just walk away. I know that from now on, you are part of my life, even if I didn't want to...

The older man interrupted his thoughts. "Seed, don't be sorry. It's my fault. As I said... I shouldn't have. Well. It's about half an hour from here to Daviaux & Caswell. I'll drive you home, if you want to. It's no trouble at all; I'll be happy to do it, if..."

Not that I wouldn't want to.

"I..." The redhead turned around slowly. "No, you don't have to; I'd be happy to stay. Hey, I get a night off. You'll be the one explaining it to Phelps later, though..."

"I'll speak to him," Culgan replied with his typical half-smile. "Don't worry about it."

"Good." The younger man returned to the sofa and sipped his apple juice. "So... what next?"

"It's not late yet, but to save us from the trouble of doing it later... I'll go get some sheets. There's a bed in the guestroom; I'll go make it ready for myself. You can have my bed. Well, make yourself at home. Watch TV or something while I..."

"Hey!" Seed looked at the older man. "That's your bed. Do you really expect me to...?"

"Yes. You slept there earlier, and..."

"It's your bed!"

Culgan shook his head. "I never use it anyway. I sleep on the couch most of the time... I'll be fine in the guestroom."

"More reason for you to sleep in your own bed, then," the redhead replied. "I'll sleep in the guestroom."

"The guestroom isn't too comfortable... I don't want you to sleep there. You are going to sleep in my bed," the older man said calmly.

"But...!" Seed tried to argue.

The silver-haired man crossed his arms, smile on his face. "You never change, Seed... Give up. You know I always win."

The younger man stuck his tongue out at the other man, then grabbed the remote controller from the table and turned the TV on. "Got any good channels on this?"

"I don't watch TV that much, and if I ever do, it's Law TV." Culgan walked to the guestroom door and stopped to look at the redhead. "But, I think it has all the channels available in this area..."

Seed grinned. "Great! Beats my apartment, then... We only have nine channels there."

"Well, enjoy..." The older man smiled to himself and vanished into the guestroom.

When Culgan was done with the bed in the guestroom, he headed for his bedroom to check that the bed would be ready for the redhead. He stopped to look at the other man while passing by; Seed was quite busy checking through the TV channels, and didn't even notice that someone was there.

Just like a child with a new toy, the silver-haired man thought, amused. Well, you were always like that...

He checked the bedroom and returned to the living room, only to find Seed watching... something the younger man surely didn't usually watch.

"Ooh, naughty Culgie. You have a gay porn channel here," the redhead teased him.

"Ah, I think there should be two of them, actually," the older man answered. "Plus several 'normal' ones, but I'm not interested in that stuff. And I wouldn't even know about those channels, but I had Jeffrey - the man who owns that cafe across the street from Daviaux & Caswell - and his partner visiting me once..."

"Aw, you're still such a bore," Seed stated and got back into channel surfing.

The older man's ice-blue eyes studied the redhead who was mostly lying on the sofa. Seed still had the same hairstyle... Well, that wasn't a surprise, because so did the older man. But... everything else was still there, too. The red-haired man still had the same slender body, the same voice, the same wine-brown eyes and the same smile... And, the same way of lying on the sofa, with one arm under the head...

So perfect...

"Uh, Culgan?"

"...Yes?"

The younger man turned to look at the other man. "Don't you have work to do... or something? Anything? Just... stop standing there and staring at me?"

"Well, I think I'll... go read some files then. I'll be there on the computer if you need me..." Culgan gave the redhead a half-smile and walked over to the computer.

But Seed... he thought. I can't help it, I'll still be looking at you...

It had been a long time since Seed had enjoyed his evening this much. He loved watching TV, and here his choices for a program were practically endless.

Time passed without him noticing it. He glanced at the other man from time to time; Culgan was sitting by the computer, working on something. It felt strange to see the silver-haired man... but in a way, it just felt natural.

He suddenly felt a bit hungry. But... he had just eaten a few hours ago. He felt kind of embarrassed, but sat up and looked at the older man.

"Culgan...? Got any... snacks here? I..."

"Hmm?" The silver-haired man turned to look at the redhead, then smiled a bit. "Not really... I don't eat home much. But we could order a pizza, if you want."

He picked up his cellphone from the table, giving the younger man a questioning look. "Any objections if I try guessing what you'd like on it?"

Seed gave the other man a warm smile. "No objections. I'm interested to see if you get it right..."

"All right then..."

The pizza arrived about half an hour later. Culgan smiled almost smugly when the younger man took a look at it and then tasted it, looking a bit suspicious. But when the redhead took a bite, his eyes widened and he looked at the older man, mumbling something around a mouth full of pizza.

"Eat. You can comment later," Culgan told him, almost laughing. The other finished the slice and studied the pizza toppings.

"Funny. I have never thought of this combination of toppings, and yet this must be the one I like the most," Seed finally said. "How did you...?"

Culgan shrugged, a calm half-smile on his face. "I don't really know. I just thought you might like that. I'm glad to see I was right..."

The other nodded with the most cheerful smile on his face and grabbed another slice.

The silver-haired man sat down next to the younger man, keeping a polite distance, as he still wasn't sure how comfortable Seed was around him. He took a slice of the pizza and ate it silently, watching the other man eating. Seed was apparently at the moment quite more interesting in eating and what was on the TV than in Culgan's presence.

The redhead did notice that the other man had sat down, but he was indeed more interested in the current program on TV. It was a show called "The Adventures of Flik and Viktor" and it was obviously loosely based on certain historical characters. It was funny, so he concentrated on watching it, ignoring the fact that Culgan was sitting next to him.

The older man couldn't keep an amused smile off his face. He found watching the redhead quite relaxing, and seeing Seed enjoying the TV show made him feel good, too.

He glanced at the clock on the VCR - it was a few minutes past 9 PM. He sighed silently, not really wanting to move anywhere, but it was getting late and a long shower sounded nice. The water being cold would also be a good idea, he added in his mind, almost laughing to himself.

"Hmm. Getting somewhat late already. I'll go take a shower... Meanwhile, you can do whatever you want."

Seed mumbled something that resembled "okay", so the other got up and walked to the bedroom. He closed the door behind him - mostly not to keep Seed from seeing him undress, as that wouldn't have bothered him a bit, but because he figured the other man wasn't exactly ready to see him undressing.

He removed his clothes, placing them on a chair, well organized. He took a towel from the closet, wrapped it around his waist and went back to living room.

"There's more apple juice in the refrigerator if you want. There actually might be some soda too, I think..."

The younger man turned to look at him. "Nah, I'm... not... thirsty..."

Whether he wanted it or not, Seed had to stare at the other man. Culgan's body was exactly like what he had known it to be. Quite lean, but still muscular body... and very attractive. So attractive that the redhead almost felt the urge to get up and touch... but no, he would never do that. It was not like he would even find another man charming in that way...

Culgan could barely hide his smile. It was quite easy to see that Seed was staring. He didn't mind - actually, he secretly hoped that the redhead would find him attractive. Still, he pretended not to notice and gave the younger man a slight nod before vanishing into the bathroom.

Seed tried to concentrate on watching TV while the other man was in the shower. His mind wandered, finding several dream images from his memories and comparing them to what he had seen. Yes, that sure was Culgan...

"You suck," the redhead mumbled to himself and got up. He walked to the kitchen and checked the fridge – there was indeed some soda in there. He wasn't that thirsty, but he needed something to do to get himself to stop thinking about certain things.

About half an hour later Culgan was done taking a shower, and Seed, sitting on the sofa again, noticed the older man standing behind him in a black bathrobe, smiling.

"Well. You showered earlier, but the bathroom is free in case you want to soak in a hot bath for a while, or just brush your teeth. I... Don't laugh now, but I've got a toothbrush for you there. I don't even know when and why I bought it, but it's there..."

The younger man grinned. "I think I noticed earlier... Silly Culgie."

The silver-haired man just kept smiling. "I think I'm going off to bed... Good night, Seed."

Before the redhead had the time to comment anything, Culgan stepped closer, kissed him lightly on the lips and vanished to the guestroom. Seed stared after him, dumbfounded.

When he finally recovered, he turned to look at the window, pondering the options. He could just watch some more TV, or maybe go take a bath... or just go to bed. It was way too early for him to sleep though; he wouldn't be able to fall asleep until after midnight, if at all.

Watching TV sounded nice, but in the end, he was afraid of disturbing the older man. Culgan probably wanted to sleep, so he'd better try to be quiet. And after all that had happened, he was kind of tired himself... Going to bed wasn't that bad of an idea after all.

Seed got up, turned off the TV and went to brush his teeth with the new toothbrush. It was the same color as the one he had at home, and that amused him to no end. All the things the other man had here... somehow, it was exactly what he knew that Culgan would get for himself. Not to mention that the silver-haired man had things for him here as well...

He finished and went to the bedroom. The bed was ready, with the same wine-red shirt Seed had worn earlier laid neatly on top of the sheets. He undressed, put the shirt on and slipped between the sheets, unable to keep his mind from wandering again.

Only barely a week ago, his life had been pretty normal. New job, nothing out of ordinary... Well, then he had fainted in the middle of his work shift and found out that his dreams were history-related, but what had happened today was... too much to handle. Maybe sleeping would help clear his thoughts.

"Good night... Culgan," He whispered and turned the lights off.

The silver-haired man lay awake, eyes studying the ceiling in the darkness. He was smiling to himself, and just couldn't stop smiling. He wished he could've slept next to the younger man, but guessed it was too early for that.

"Maybe you'll be ready later, Seed. Maybe not. I love you, whatever you do..."

He sighed, feeling more content than ever during his life, then closed his eyes.