*Robbie*

"You so need to get laid."

Robbie opened his eyes and glared at Jane. They were sitting in the station's one upscale restaurant, looking down on the people walking the merchant quarter below them. The place was bustling. It was amazing what you could find, even out here at the end of the universe.

Jane, at least, had been looking. Robbie had been quiet, eating, drinking and failing miserably at relaxing. Word of his treatment of Greene had circulated around the station, and hardly anyone would meet his eyes now for fear of drawing his attention. He didn't mind being feared, but he didn't like it either. The only person who wasn't intimidated by him was Jane, and she was no help at all when it came to commiseration.

"I'm serious," she continued, spearing a slice of apple-roasted chicken. "You haven't been with anyone since you got here, I'd know. You need to blow off some steam. Find some sweet young thing and have your way with him."

Robbie sighed. Easy for Jane to say—she would jump anything that moved the right way, and with her looks she never had any problems finding a companion for the evening. It wasn't that simple for Robbie. "I'm not so good at casual, Jane."

"So who were you last with, then?"

It felt like the words were being drawn out of him with hot pincers, but he knew he needed to get some of his frustration off his chest. "My lover of three years. The day before I left for this station."

"Oh. A committed man." Jane nodded. "So when's he coming to join you?"

"He isn't. He's the son of an Alliance senator, from a very wealthy family. He could never be happy out here."

Robbie's voice was a little bleak, but Jane pushed anyway. "Not even for a visit or three?"

"No. He's a city boy through and through, he doesn't like space travel, and honestly, we were on our last legs anyway." He sipped his coffee, then added a little more milk to it. "He wanted to branch out. I didn't."

"Not comfortable with adding a third party, huh."

"Not comfortable with a completely open relationship. We'd brought a few other people in, but nothing serious. Garrett wanted to go one way, I wanted to go another. And now it's done." The finality in his voice told Jane that this was the time to stop pushing, but she didn't listen to it.

"There's still no reason you can't enjoy yourself a little. The guys here might be afraid you're going to bust their asses into the brig, but the travelers won't. Or you could use an android. Or the sim. Or―"

"God, Jane, stop." Robbie scowled at her. "Back off, okay? It's none of your business."

"You're right," she agreed. "It's absolutely none of my business, but that doesn't stop me from worrying. You're going to tie yourself in knots from depression and anxiety, and I'm the one who'll have to put out the fire when your issues get the better of you."

Robbie stared at her for a long moment. "You studied psychology, didn't you."

"Got my degree before entering the marines, for all the good it did me."

"Then you might want to consider the relative merits of voluntary celibacy as opposed to meaningless fornication. Being alone might be depressing, but waking up next to a different person every morning can't be any less so."

"Yeah, but my way is more fun!" She grinned, then sobered a little. "Look, I'm sorry to pry. You're just, I don't know...the only thing you do is work, and that's enough to drive anyone crazy after a while. It would probably be good for you to do something else. Or someone," she added with a wink.

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"You’re ridiculous, you know that?"

"And proud of it." She touched the left corner of the tabletop and the time appeared. "I've gotta run, need to get cleaned up for my date tonight."

"Anyone you've seen before?"

"He just got off a ship today." She leered suddenly. "And he brought his sister with him."

"Oh my god, get out of here."

Jane stood up, giggling. "And they're twins!" Robbie's balled-up napkin hit her back as she hurried away, laughing out loud.

He watched her go, unaware of the broad smile on his face until a muscle in his cheek twinged. The smile gradually disappeared. Robbie couldn't remember the last time he had smiled before now. His face was out of practice for it. He pulled out his credit strip and drew up the bill, paid, then left for his quarters. No one made eye contact with him as he walked down the halls. He knew he was glowering, but he couldn't help it.

He got to his quarters, entered and shut the door as fast as he could. His place was pretty nice, actually, nicer than what he was used to living in as a marine. There was a large living room with one wall entirely dedicated to a holoscreen, an equally large bedroom with a bed made for two, a bathroom with two sinks and an actual, honest-to-god bath in it, and a kitchen with space to let him order from the station's menu or make things for himself. It had been the apartment for the last marshal commander, and he'd had a wife. That meant Robbie had plenty of extra room.

He’d filled some of it with basic workout equipment, a few bookshelves, and a case which housed all of his guns and knives. Even with those and the standard furnishings, it still felt empty. Like everything in his life.

Running on the treads for an hour didn't get his mind off what Jane had said. Neither did lifting weights, even when he keyed their heaviness to the point where they were nearly impossible to lift and he had to drop them three reps in. Obedient mechanicals, they thumped to the floor at half a pound each, not the hundred-twenty he had set them to. Robbie put them away, then stalked off to the bathroom, stripping himself out of sweaty clothes as he did so. He turned on the bath and waited for it to fill, glancing at himself in the full-length mirror set into the opposite wall.

Garrett had loved his body. The sex had stayed good, even when everything else was falling apart. Robbie had been given certain modifications for metabolism, strength, and endurance when he'd entered the marines, and although they'd mostly been deactivated upon his retirement, a lifetime of living with them had left him so solid that it would take years to wear him down, even if he were to completely let himself go.

The bathwater stopped automatically. Robbie slipped into the warm water, leaning back against the edge of the tub and closing his eyes, enjoying the steam eddying around his face and shoulders. Tension he hadn't noticed before eased out of his neck and back, making him feel loose and relaxed. Robbie wanted to keep it that way, but he couldn't get his mind off of Jane's words.

Why didn't he want anyone? Was he still not over Garrett? No, that wasn't it. The love had gone out of their relationship months ago. Maybe it was because, deep inside, Robbie was a romantic. Casual sex was just...too easy. Flippant. Meaningless. He did so much these days that felt meaningless to him; another adjustment, another order, another lost potential. He wouldn't compound that feeling with the tendrils of desire he knew would throw his life into a tailspin, no matter how much he missed the touch of another man.

Idly, Robbie reached down and stroked his lengthening cock. His hand smoothed itself along his length easily, as reliable as an old friend, and the only friend he trusted right now. He visualized his last time with Garrett, only feeling the slightest pinch of pain at the memory. A handsome blonde man, as beautiful as ego and money could make him, on his hands and knees while Robbie knelt behind him, thrusting into him hard and fast, a last goodbye fuck. Garrett arched his back and moaned, and Robbie knew he was hitting his spot, the perfect spot, the perfect fit. They had always fit together well.

He held onto those smooth golden hips and caressed his ass, finally reaching around and gripping his lover's steely cock as he felt his own orgasm approaching. It had never taken Garrett very long to get off, and he came with a strangled cry and a convulsive clench of his ass as he shot his load onto the bed beneath them while Robbie finally let himself go, reveling in the tightness and the heat as he began to—

His hand stroked himself to completion as he remembered, and thick ropes of come jetted into the water. Robbie held himself, breathing hard, and groaned under his breath. It felt good, it was good, but it was an empty pleasure now that he had no one to share it with.

Fuck. He had read way too many romance novels. They had ruined him for hedonism. He smiled slightly at the thought of his guilty pleasure, wondering what Jane would say if she knew. She’d probably laugh.

Robbie cleaned himself up, toweled off―he had never been comfortable with the damn air dryers―and flopped down on his bed, pulling the sheet over him as he grabbed the antique paperback book off his nightstand to read for a few minutes before he passed out.

Tomorrow would be a long day. The gem merchant's ship was coming in, and he wanted to be a part of the inspection. There was a story there, he knew it.