tanaquific

Title: In The Arms of Morpheus
Author:

tanaquific
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Pairing: : Lorne/Zelenka
Rating: General
Words: 720
Summary: Even after the crystal entity is returned to its home planet, Lorne finds himself waking up in the strangest of places, with no memory of how he got there. Set just after Doppelganger and written for the

cliche_bingo prompt "Hey, it's that guy. Minor Characters".
Author's Note: Thanks to

scribblesinink for the beta.

oOo

The first time it happened, Evan ended up in Ops trying to persuade Amelia to dial Earth and get them to send through pizza. Apparently he'd been quite insistent that it should be Domino's and not Pizza Hut. That was when Amelia realized he wasn't just kidding around, because she knew from the friendly argument they'd had in the mess hall a few weeks back that he liked Papa John's best.

She'd snapped her fingers in front of his face; when that didn't work, she'd slapped him. Which, considering this was Amelia—he'd seen her training a few times when he was working out in the gym himself—probably meant he'd got off quite lightly. He didn't remember a word of the conversation when he woke up, although he was glad to discover he was at least fully clothed.

oOo

Maybe the entity had shaken something loose when it left, because it happened again a couple of days later. That time, Katie Brown—who'd been making a midnight trip to the botany labs to check some precious new seedlings they'd acquired—discovered him trying to hold a conversation with a plant. That the plant turned out to be the one Katie had named after Rodney just made it all the more embarrassing.

oOo

The third time, he woke up to find he was kissing Radek Zelenka. Or rather, Radek was kissing him, the kiss being what had woken him up.

"What the—?" Evan pulled back abruptly from the kiss, wondering how the heck he'd ended up with his arms round the Czech scientist. But he didn't pull back too far. Because, hell, he'd wanted to do this for months. Just hadn't managed to screw up enough courage, even though he was nearly sure Radek wanted it too.

Radek looked at him in surprise. A totally different kind of surprise to the shock Evan was feeling. There was a lot more hurt in it, for a start.

Evan licked his lips, still trying to get his bearings. "How the heck did we end up—?"

"You asked me," Radek protested. "You...." His eyes widened in shock. "Oh my god. You were sleepwalking again?"

"I—. Yes." Evan nodded. "Yes. I must have been."

"Oh my god! I thought—! If I'd realized.... I am so sorry." Radek tried to step back, but Evan wouldn't let him.

"Hey." Evan shook his head and tightened his grip on Radek's shoulders. "Where are you going? I don't know what the hell I said to you while I was out, but this.. this is definitely the nicest way I've ever been woken up."

"It is?" Radek peered at him uncertainly. Evan realized Radek's glasses were dangling from one hand and that he must have taken them off before kissing him.

"Uh-huh." Evan nodded again, this time more vigorously. "Just because I was sleepwalking didn't mean I didn't know what I was doing. That I wouldn't want to do it when I was awake. I did. I do. I just—." Evan looked around and realized with relief that they were in Radek's quarters and that he'd not just confessed his feelings in, say, the middle of the Mess Hall. "Look, it's just the Air Force isn't exactly cool with its officers doing... this." He slid his hands up Radek's shoulders and cupped his face, his thumbs catching on Radek's stubble as he gently stroked his cheeks.

Radek nodded. "I understand. My family is also not so cool with how I am." He gave Evan an awkward smile. "But they will not take my job away...."

"Yeah." Evan gently drew Radek back towards him. "I've wanted to tell you for months, but I was too much of a coward. If you didn't feel the same way...."

"It might be bad for you." Radek nodded. "It is why I did not tell you, either. It might be bad for you if people even suspected, I think? But I think in here," he rested his hand on Lorne's chest, over his heart, "deep down, you knew. You knew I wanted to be with you."

Evan grinned and nodded. And after that, they were too busy to talk for a while.

oOo

The fourth time—.

There was no fourth time. Evan guessed there didn't need to be.