It seemed like an eternity had passed since the debrief on earth and the little celebration they all had in Alex’s house, finally watching a sunset back on earth.

Now, however, life was going well, and his body was finally able to rest for the first time in years. No war, no more assignments, nothing of that sort. Just a simple break.

A break he was spending back in the UK with his boyfriend. His actual boyfriend who was now sitting beside him, on a love seat with him, in a cosy cottage in the Scottish Highlands.

Never in his life had he ever felt so old and young at the same time.

But it was rather nice watching the sun slowly go down, both of them cradling drinks inside of the cabin with a fire slowly burning, looking out at the setting sun through the bay windows.

It’d be nice to have a proper house. But while he had sorted out the mortgage with little issue with his new admiral’s paycheck, the people selling it had to move out and they were taking their time with it. So, he was living out of this rented cottage in the meanwhile with most of his valuables kept at his parent’s house or a storage space in a military base in the moors. Not exactly a bad arrangement, however.

It'd been a long day so far, with the trip up to the place and the small walk that Elliot took him for around the surrounding countryside. But now, now it was time to cuddle up to each other in the early spring night.

And as Edward’s muscles started to relax, a realisation came over him.

That he finally had some proper free time with nothing that he needed to do. He could truly lie back with Elliot in pure bliss. Well, apart the general election anxiety, but that was something he could never shake whenever one came around…

“Hey, Edward?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you alright?”

Edward chuckled, “Just having some thoughts about the election and some thoughts about how much free time we have together now.”

“You didn’t get much, did you back then?”

“Yeah… Its nice to finally have it though…”

“And I’m happy you’re spending it with me, all nice and tight in this little secluded getaway…” A smirk then formed across Elliot’s slender face as he cuddled up closer, “If I knew any better, I would be assuming you’re expecting us to be having a lot of fun together…” he whispered, finishing by placing a finger of Edward’s flushed face.

Edward’s breath caught in his throat, taking a few moments to compose himself and to respond, “And how could I not? You were so passionate last time and how could I stay away from someone as beautiful as you? Skin and eyes so radiant…”

Edward trailed off, taking his turn to smirk as Elliot became completely flustered, his finger slipping from Edward’s face as his own flushed a deep red. Only to made worse be Edward giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“And with your cute expressions, it makes you all the more irresistible…”

“Edward…” He whimpered, “You’re gonna make me go wild at this rate…”

“Its so shockingly easy to do that El.”

“You’re one to talk! You went could speak for a minute after I took my shirt off for the first time!”

“We- I-“

His stammering was cut short by the still flustered Elliot diving in to kiss Edward on the lips, preserving the moment for a few seconds before pulling back, the deep flush now on both of their faces.

“And now we’re equal!”

Edward was left in a mixture of shock and bliss that left him frozen for what felt like an eternity looking into Elliot’s mismatched eyes.

“I think we’re going to have to continue this later…”

“O-Oh? How so Ed…”

“In a way that makes very good use of the seclusion and thick walls of this place.”

“And when I met you, I thought you were the quiet and uptight sort. How wrong I was!”

“Oh, don’t worry, the shock was mutual…”

“So…” Elliot mumbled, circling a finger around his drink, “Are finishing this so we don’t have anything to spill...?”

“And then we’ll be seeing who’s going to come out on top…”

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David was re-thinking his life choices at the end of a pint glass.

He’d been doing that a lot recently.

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Since about last month about when he finally got home and decided he wasn’t wasting the opportunity anymore to get sloshed without anyone objecting to it.

But getting sloshed in merry old England is boring, and the new world government and nation brings easier internationa- No. Interstate? Interstate travel and his pay packet included plenty of money for a holiday to somewhere he always wanted to go. The Canaries.

So hence, on this picturesque afternoon, he was taking his nightly drinking session in a tourist friendly bar along the coast.

But the main reason he chose it wasn’t the vista, but rather to avoid the sad fate of drinking by himself. And having a bunch of Spaniards give him funny looks as he tried to order in broken Spanish, the damned language. Alex had told him that the sentence for “one beer please” was “me gustaría una puta por favor” in Spanish, but when he used it on the first day, he was stared out of the bar. Though on second thought he should have realised it was wrong given the lack on a “uno” in there.

So, it was better to hang out in a place where he might have to interact with more Northerners and Londoners than necessary than face any of those two fates.

“So… What was your name again?” David asked, looking over to the portly, red-faced man sitting next to him drinking his own beer. The man’s plain white shirt not doing much to conceal their beer belly.

He laughed, “Barry, Barry Carpenter. And its very nice to meet another good Englishman ‘ere!”

“Same here… Though… What part are you from?”

“Portishead, you?”

“Ah, I’m Bristol man through and through! And isn’t Portishead-”

“Yeah, it’s just round the corner! Good to see someone from around god’s own county then!”

“Same here, same here… So, what’s brought yourself to this place by yourself then?”

“Oh, well, the misses went home about fifteen minutes ago after she finished her pint, but I’m not going home before I’ve had more than that.” Barry chuckled before taking a large sip of his pint. “So, what brough you ‘ere then? You look like you’re try’en to drown something in there.”

“You’re spot on there… How did you guess?”

“Oh, you don’t spend the sort of time I spend at the pub for all your life and not gain a feel on the people who go down there. Far too many young lads like you do so and I did it in the 80s, even though I had no one t’ talk to. Now, I’m not letting anyone else do that, so, what’s your reason for it?”

David took a swig before firmly placing his pint down and taking a deep breath.

“Barry, did you see the invasion thing on the news?”

“What? Of that medieval place? I thought I was hallucinating when I first saw that. Why do you ask? Did you fight there?”

“Yeah… And in the unification war…”

“Christ… You didn’t see some good stuff then?”

“Oh, I was up there so I didn’t really see much. It was more the constant stress with not breaks. Though that’s not to say I don’t enjoy serving, because I do and I need to do it, its what I’m here for. But I did end up getting into a fight, face to face with em, and it- It messed with my head a little.”

He sighed, feeling Barry’s hand pat against his back, “You’re far braver than I could ever be, I’ll tell you that, and I’m not sure what would be going on now with you lot. You got a bird to talk to at all?”

“No, last one ditched me because I wasn’t all that interested in uhh- Sex.”

Barry slowly nodded, “They sound like the opposite of my misses. Though I don’t think I’ve seen a lad who isn’t all that interested in it.”

“Well, now you have. Don’t want it from the lads or lasses. Though my friend and boss are making it hard to live a life free from it. He’s loud enough with his partner to make the sound go through a metal wall.”

Barry cackled, a smile going across his face, “Guess he’s having some happy days then!”

“Yeah, a couple of weeks ago the two of them went off to some cottage in the highlands and I do not want to think about the state of their bed right now…”

He laughed again, “You know, you’re a good lad, you know that? How about I buy you another pint and you can talk a bit more about what’s wrong mate. There’s nothing worse than drinking alone.”

David waved his hand, finishing his pint with a quick swig at the same time, “No, no! You’ve been good enough to talk with me so I’m going to be paying for this round. So, what are you having?”

Barry sniffed, finishing his pint, “Alright, but I’m paying for the next one. And I’ll have another Stella, you?”

“Oh, I’m just going to be boring-“

David’s phone started to buzz, cutting him off before he could finish.

“Who’s that then?”

David’s face went dark as he pulled it out and looked at the number, “My boss. Sorry, I’ve just gotta get it but I’ll be back.”

“No worries lad, I’m not going anywhere.”

He nodded, picking up the call as he walked to the balcony, not wating for Edward to speak first and instead cutting him off, “Alright Edward, what the fuck is this about. I know this is urgent as you would have just texted me if you wanted a casual chat.”

A sigh floating over the line as David could just imagine the admiral clenching the bridge of his nose, “I don’t like to be the bearer of bad news mate, but this is urgent.”

“How urgent?”

“As in our leave is getting cut short by a month as we’re getting called up for a new mission-“

“Fucking hell!”

“You don’t have to yell that loud David; I nearly lost my hearing there…”

“I know, I know, don’t shoot the messenger. But I’m a little pissed here!”

“Yeah, and I was about to start properly moving but it seems like I’ll be just getting the keys and then rushing off now as we’re having to get back by next Monday.”

“You’re kidding me!?”

“Not at all.”

“So, what mission do they even bloody want us for!?”

“That’s something we’ll learn in the briefing. But, considering that managed to experience space piracy first hand and the news has had a bunch of reports on it of high-profile ship hijackings, I’d guess it’s something about pirates.”

“That’ll be quite the step down from the last one…”

“And a step down I appreciate over having to manage a planetary invasion. So, are you able to get to the base on time?”

“Yeah.”

“Great, now I’ve got to drop this gently on Elliot…”

“You didn’t tell him first?”

“Well, he’s outside right now, so I’ll tell him when he gets- And speaking of… Alright, I have to go, bye.”

The line cut to silence, leaving David stood in a solitary corner of the bar’s balcony with nothing but the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks, with the subtle background noise of the rest of the bar.

He sighed, slinking back to the bar and pulling out his wallet.

“Your boss gave you bad news then?”

“Well, my holiday has been cut short. And just when I thought the PEU winning the election would signal me ending up on peacetime patrols for the rest of my life.”

“PEU?”

“The Labour like party international thing- Look, I don’t care that much about politics to properly follow it.”

“So, are you still up for the other pint.”

“I need it more than ever now.”

----------------------------------------

Alex’s face was in their hands, their plans for a blitz through road trip of the US and Canada now just a hundred cancellation forms. But so was military life…

The sighed, trying to get their still swirling emotions in order, just as the phone rang.

It was David.

The sighed once again and picked up the phone, “Hello? Whats happened?”

Out from the other side blasted the sound of music and raucous laughter, with David taking ten seconds to finally say a word. “You know- know we’re going bawk?”

“Yes… I do.”

“I’m coming back than ever baby! Back better! Yeah! We’re going to kick the fucking shins in on them! Oh, I’m a zzzider- Barry!“

They put the phone down, cradling their head.