Gil and Alex - In the Same Boat

It must be the night for discontent, or perhaps fate has decided to lend a hand, for Gil Briar has also felt the need for escape, a trying first week at the base sending him in search of solitude and a drink. He sits in a corner, brooding and alone, gazing down into his glass as though it might contain the answers to questions he does not yet even know how to ask.

Alex orders a drink and goes to a table in the corner, close to where Gil is sitting, and stares into the glass. Ironically, he suddenly feels even more alone than he has recently, and isn't sure if that is a good thing or a bad. He happens to be sitting so that he is facing Gil, if at a different table, and when he glances up, he catches the stranger's eye and nods slightly.

Gil just looks at the blond man for a moment before returning the small nod with one of his own, returning his attention to his drink almost immediately after.

Alex hesitates, but the fact of the matter is, it feels pretty absurd for the two of them to be looking at one another and pretending the other doesn't exist. "Evening," he says after a moment.

Gil looks up again, somewhat surprised and not a little peeved at being addressed. "Yes, it appears to be." he responds after a moment.

Alex snorts.

Gil shrugs, taking a sip of his drink.

Alex watches the man with a raised eyebrow for a moment. Well, you can't get much more 'away from everyone' than conversing with someone who was probably here temporarily, he muses as he notes Gil's accent. "So... what brings you here?" he asks after another moment.

"The same as you, I would imagine." Gil observes, nodding at the glass before him. "A drink."

"Point," Alex returns wryly. "Are you visiting, then?" A pause, and then he adds, "Oahu, that is, not the bar."

"I'm beginning to wish so." dryly. He pauses a moment, somehow sensing that more information is going to be required from the inquisitive stranger, and adds, "Work and all that..."

"Ah... I just assumed..." he trails off.

A raised eyebrow.

"...that you didn't live here," Alex finally finishes a bit awkwardly.

"Whatever made you think that?" Gil deadpans.

A tiny chuckle. "Sorry..."

"Anyone would think there'd never been a British person in Hawaii before."

"Look, I said I'm sorry," Alex tells him. "Most of the people I know would probably be insulted to be mistaken for a tourist."

Another shrug, as if the whole matter is of too little consequence to care one way or another. "I'm assuming you live here then."

"Guilty as charged."

A dry laugh.

Alex suddenly seems to realize that they're having a conversation across two tables. "Mind if I join you?" he asks as he begins to stand. "Since we're having a conversation anyway..."

Gil, who hadn't realised that their few brief exchanges could be considered as such, finds himself nodding in response, unable to find an objection fast enough to do otherwise.

Alex takes his drink and goes to sit across from him with a slight smile. "Alex Kennedy, by the way."

"Gil Briar." clearing his throat as he takes a drink.

A small nod. "Good to meet you."

"Likewise."

Alex, ironically, falls into awkward silence, taking a drink from his glass.

Gil drains the last of his drink, setting the glass down before getting to his feet in order to replace it. "Another?" he finds himself asking, gesturing to Alex's nearly empty one.

"Sure, thanks," Alex agrees and finishes the glass in the next sip.

Gil makes his way to the bar, returning shortly with a drink for each of them. "This your local?" he asks after they have sat in silence for a moment, gesturing around the room.

Alex shrugs. "Not really," he admits and takes a sip of his drink.

"A change is as good as a rest and all that..." Gil observes, taking a sip of his own.

"Something like that," Alex agrees. "Just needed to get away for a while." He looks up at Gil. "And you?"

"Just needed to get away," Gil responds, throwing his words back at him.

A small chuckle. "In the same boat, then."

"So it would appear." Gil agrees, still not entirely sure how he ended up having company but finding he doesn't altogether mind. He looks around again as he takes a sip of drink. "I can think of worse places to be though."

"So can I." Alex raises an eyebrow. "Somewhere specific in mind?"

"A certain damp foggy island across the other side of the Atlantic for starters," Gil tells him dryly, the drink having gone some way to loosening his tongue already.

A small chuckle. "That bad?"

A shrug. "Came over here 9 years ago and haven't looked back." Gil turns his attention to his glass, not elaborating further as he takes a long sip.

A low whistle. "Any particular reason?" Alex asks after a moment.

"Other than being wanted for murder?" completely straightfaced.

Alex snorts and raises an eyebrow.

"What? I don't look the type?" unable to hold back a chuckle.

A small smirk. "Let's just say I'm skeptical."

"Brave of you." a small smirk of his own, followed by another long sip of drink.

A snort. "Is that what's considered brave these days?"

"I could be anyone."

Alex chuckles and raises an eyebrow. "So could I."

"True enough..." Gil reflects.

"So we're even."

"So it would seem."

Alex chuckles, taking a sip of his drink. "You still haven't told me what's brought you here," he observes after a moment.

"You're right, I haven't." Gil agrees.

Alex rolls his eyes. "And you're not going to, right?"

"It's a story far too long and far too boring to inflict on a stranger."

Alex shrugs. "All right, all right. Don't tell me."

"For someone who has come here to ‘get away from it all’, I would think you'd understand my reluctance." Gil observes, realising as he does so that his glass is again almost empty.

At that, Alex winces slightly. "Sorry...Didn't mean to pry."

A shrug. "Curiosity - natural human trait."

"And I admit completely to having more of it than most," Alex declares wryly. He finishes off his drink and glances at Gil's now empty one. "Want me to buy the next?" he asks, nodding at the empty glasses.

Gil is about to refuse, but the thought of returning home little appeals, and so he nods, managing a slight smile. "Thank you."

"Just returning the favor," Alex assures him before going to order them. As he returns a few moments later and sets the drinks down in front of him, it occurs to him that it would probably be a good idea not to get himself drunk, but he quickly assures himself that he is not, not really, and sits down again.

Gil, mind turned to somewhat gloomier thoughts due to Alex's recent probing, gladly takes one, drinking deeply.

Alex watches him worriedly, searching for a new topic of conversation in an attempt to avoid falling into awkwardness. "So... where do you work?" he finally asks after a moment.

"Officially?" Gil asks. "Nowhere, as yet." a sigh, "Blasted bureaucracy."

"How fun," Alex comments dryly with a sympathetic wince.

"Makes you wonder sometimes."

"Wonder...?"

A dry laugh. "What the bloody point is."

"Oh, I'm sure it's buried in there somewhere," Alex tells him with a wry smirk. "It's finding it that's the problem."

"And if we can't?" Gil demands after a moment.

"Look somewhere else," Alex responds with a shrug.

"After 9 years, you start to run out of places."

"So you'd found it before then? That's better than I've done."

"Be careful what you wish for." Gil advises. He takes a long drink, feeling his mood slip yet further.

Alex's mood really isn't doing much better. "What if I told you that that's what I came looking for tonight?"

"I'd say that your chances of finding it in a place like this are somewhat slim."

"As good a place as any to look," Alex insists with a shrug.

"Let me know if you have any luck."

A dry chuckle. "I will." Alex falls silent, the cheerful mood he had been able to create at the start of the conversation beginning to slip away.

"What if we only get one chance?" Gil muses after a long moment of silence. "And once we've blown it, it's gone for good?"

"I don't know," Alex admits. "But that doesn't seem particularly fair."

"That's the funny thing about life." Gil tells him. "It isn't."

"I don't know about that," Alex counters quietly. "I mean, everyone says that, and there's got to be some kind of fairness in that, right?" He chuckles dryly. "Knew there was a reason I hated philosophy."

"Either that, or the world is just well and truly screwed." Gil suggests.

"Or that."

"I have to say that your theory is somewhat more appealing." Gil admits.

Alex shrugs. "It really comes down to the same thing, anyway. We're still being screwed. It just makes sense in the theoretical scheme of things."

"How comforting." draining his glass. "And think it's my turn to go..." getting to his feet, a little unsteady as he does so. Gil heads off to get them, making a brief detour to the bathroom before buying drinks and returning to the table.

"Thanks." Alex smiles and takes a gulp from the glass. "Probably should be the last, though."

"Suppose it depends on what answers you are looking to find." Gil tells him, settling back down in his seat.

Alex raises an eyebrow.

"Surprising how clear things can become after enough pints." As if to illustrate the point, Gil takes a long sip, shaking his head.

"Giving it a try?" A small chuckle.

Gil shakes his head. "Gave that up long ago." he responds. "Now it's more a case of simple escape. I highly recommend it."

"Clearly." Alex shakes his head and takes another gulp from his glass.

"Not sounding like such a bad idea after all?" watching him.

A long pause. "You could say that," he finally responds quietly.

"So what exactly are *you* running away from?" Gil finds himself asking after another sip.

"If I told you, I might have to kill you," Alex tells him in response with a smirk.

"I'm failing to see the bad side of this arrangement."

Alex snorts.

"Might solve a few things at least." dryly.

Alex chuckles and shakes his head. "It's a bunch of things," he finally tells him quietly. "And most of 'em don't make much sense."

"Doesn't mean they don't plague the hell out of us though."

"Not very polite of them when you think about it," straightfaced.

A snort. "I'll have to agree with you on that one...Guess it comes down to whether you want to *do* anything about it or not."

"I am entirely open to suggestions."

"Then I say we drink the place dry and forget everything until the morning."

Alex laughs. "Sounds as good as any other plan."

A number of drink and very little conversation later, Alex finally sets down his glass one last time. "Don't think I've gotten this drunk in a while," he informs Gil with a laugh.

"That makes two of us," Gil informs him, looking somewhat worse for wear himself.

"Should probably...get going..." Alex manages to tell him.

"Think they want to chuck us out of here anyway..." Gil observes blearily, as he realises it is getting close to closing time.

"Quite possibly." Alex runs his hand across his face before struggling to his feet.

Gil does the same, swaying a little as he does so. "Know of anywhere else we can go?" he asks as they make their way to the door.

"Glad to hear that you're not smart enough to go home, either," Alex comments dryly, then shrugs. "Not really..."

"Guess we just start walking then." Gil observes, before, rather unsteadily, he begins to do just that. Gil's wanderings bring them eventually to the beach, deserted now, and as they have nowhere better to go, he begins to head along it, gradually making his way towards the water.

"Please don't tell me you've decided to go swimming," Alex comments with a snort, following after him.

That is, however, precisely what Gil has decided to do. "You don't fancy it?" he questions, almost overbalancing as he leans down to remove his shoes.

Alex just laughs, collapsing down onto the sand just out of reach of the waves. "Think I'll pass."

"Suit yourself." Gil tells him, finishing with his shoes before moving to remove his shirt. He continues to undress, alcohol clearly having freed him of any inhibitions as he strips off his trousers.

"You are drunk," Alex comments with a laugh.

"No, that would be swimming in my clothes." a snort, struggling with his belt. He eventually manages it though, and a very short time later it is safe to say that Guillaume Briar is not wearing a stitch.

Alex rolls his eyes. "Just don't expect me to join you."

Another snort, and then Gil is heading for the water, leaving Alex to gaze bemusedly after him.

"Holy mother of God," Alex comments under his breath with another snort as Gil goes to the water. He lies down on the sand, already beginning to regret that last drink as his head begins to spin.

Gil is gone for some time, the water refreshing and inviting compared with the thoughts he is trying to escape from. Eventually however he makes his way back up to where Alex is waiting, dropping down onto the sand beside him.

Alex raises an amused eyebrow at him. "Enjoy yourself?"

"You should've come in..." Gil tells him, shaking the water from his hair as he speaks.

"I'm fine here, thanks," Alex tells him with a laugh.

"Suit yourself." a shrug, reaching for his trousers. Once semi-dressed, Gil leans back on his elbows with a sigh, closing his eyes.

Alex watches him for a long moment, and then just laughs. "Well, you look comfortable, at least."

"Told you..." a murmur, "Was nice out there..."

"Clearly." Alex's voice goes quiet, just watching him. After a moment he looks away from him sharply, swallowing hard.

Totally oblivious to the turmoil afflicting his new companion, Gil stretches, before settling back down against his elbows once more.

Alex stares silently up at the sky for some time, clearly struggling with himself. Finally, though, he takes a deep breath and turns back to the man lying down next to him. "Gil?"

"Hm?" eyes still closed.

Alex says nothing for another long moment. Finally, with a gulp he quickly apologizes before leaning over and very briefly pressing his lips to Gil's.

Gil's eyes fly open at that, even as he tells himself he *really* did just imagine what he thinks just happened.

Alex is probably trying to pretend that didn't happen just as much as Gil is, truthfully. He bites his lip hard, looking anywhere but at his companion.

"Or then there's *that* way of dealing with it," Gil observes after a long moment, before, for some reason known only to Gil Briar, he slips a hand behind Alex's head and pulls him down to kiss him again.

A sound of surprise escapes Alex's lips, but he returns the kiss, probably too shocked at both his and Gil's actions to do anything else if he wanted to.

"Is that what you're running from?" Gil demands when he finally breaks for breath, hand still against Alex's hair so he can't pull away.

"I..." Alex swallows, and it's probably a good idea that Gil is holding him there, or he would most likely be quite a ways down the beach by now. He attempts to speak a few more times, but when nothing comes out, he finally nods very slightly in silence and ducks his head away from Gil's gaze.

"Looks like you were running in the wrong direction then." a little dryly.

"Hell..." Alex finally manages weakly, still not meeting his gaze.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

A shaky laugh. "Sorry...I don't know what the hell..." He swallows hard. "I should just...."

Gil studies him for a long moment, wishing his head wasn't swimming quite so much. "Any closer to finding your answer?"

"Not really," Alex admits quietly. He bites his lip. "But I've definitely had too much to drink..."

"Makes two of us." a flicker of pain crossing his face as he continues to hold him.

"That haven't figured it out or who have had too much to drink?" Alex laughs shakily again.

"You can never have so much that it makes it all go away." Gil tells him. "And as for figuring it out - think I've given up trying."

"I...I still shouldn't have...shouldn't have kissed you," Alex finally manages, flushing. "I'm sorry." It seems to have entirely escaped him that Gil didn't object very much.

"Probably not." Gil agrees, even as, a hundred jumbled emotions getting the better of him, he pulls Alex's lips back down to his.

And with that kiss, Alex finally seems to realize that Gil's response to his actions weren't exactly negative. He returns the kiss, still feeling as lost as ever, but at least slightly more aware of what he is quickly getting himself into.

The kiss is long and not exactly gentle, Gil's hands tangled firmly in Alex's hair by the time they have to break for breath.

Alex stares at him, already rather breathless. He realizes that he is losing any real sense of what is going on in his mind that is still swimming with alcohol and just plain confusion, a fact that is quickly made clear when he brings his lips to Gil's again.

Gil, not in any state to offer up a protest, responds, working his hands up under Alex's shirt as he does so.

Alex breaks away after another long kiss and closes his eyes as he struggles to catch his breath. "Wait..." he finally manages shakily.

Far from steady himself, one of Gil's hands flutters to the ribbon about his neck, instinctively reaching for the small ring that hangs from it. "Do you want to know what *I'm* running from?" he asks suddenly, words falling from his lips almost unbidden.

"Now you want to tell me?" Alex laughs shakily, bordering on hysterical. "Guess that would make as much sense as anything else that's happened tonight..."

"Seems only fair, considering." Gil responds, eyes burning as he gazes up at him.

"Guess so..." Alex swallows hard.

"Have you ever loved someone?" Gil questions, gaze fixed intently on him.

Alex looks away from the intent gaze as his thoughts - for the first time that night, really - go to Hannah. "I don't know," he finally responds quietly.

"Then you clearly haven't." Gil informs him, unable to keep the pain from his voice as he continues. "Because when you do, you know damned well that you couldn't ever live without them. And you'd wish more than anything that whoever runs this screwed up world could have had the decency to take you at the same time so you wouldn't have to know how that feels."

Alex winces. "I'm sorry," he says quietly. "Is that why you left?"

"Nothing to stay for." Gil looks away, quite unable to pull the barriers back up around himself now he has let them down.

Alex sits up and puts his head in his hands. "Hell...I shouldn't be here," he tells Gil shakily. "I've got a girlfriend, for god's sake. And I'm..." But he trails off, not voicing his next thought. And I'm in the goddamn Navy...

"Then go."

"Wish it were that simple."

"It is." Gil tells him flatly. "You just get up and go."

Alex looks up to meet his gaze. "And what if I'm not ready to go back to it all?"

"Then I guess I'll have some company."

It takes Alex a moment to realize how his words must have been taken. "I..."

"Well I'm certainly not intending to go home." Gil tells him, again a response that could be taken in one of many ways.

Really just wishing that his head would stop swimming so that he could make more sense of all this, Alex just nods slowly.

"So looks like you're the only one with a decision left to make."

"No pressure or anything." Another shaky, near hysterical laugh. "Oh, what the hell. What were your plans?" He meets Gil's gaze again.

"Can't say I exactly had any," Gil returns after a moment, "But I'm open to suggestions."

Alex swallows hard and stares at him intently for a long, still struggling to make sense of the situation. A long moment later, though, he gives up for good trying to makes sense of it all, and for reasons he doesn't entirely understand and will most certainly regret, yet again kisses Gil.

posted at 1:33 p.m. on 12-20-03