"If I fall behind, I'll have to repeat my classes," Danec said with a sigh.

"You're such a gwarp," Slek said fondly.

"You're pretty gwarpy yourself," I told him.

"Hey," he protested. He paused, frowned and said, "You're right. Don't tell anyone."

I snorted. "Our lips are sealed." I glanced at Danec, who nodded and mimed sealing his lips.

"I think everyone knows though," Danec said. "You are an engineer after all."

Slek pouted. "Hey, I have a reputation to uphold. Player, lover, fighter, badass."

I patted his bulging bicep. "Keep telling yourself that. Meanwhile, we're all gwarps, so you might as well accept that."

"Gwarps and proud of it," Danec declared.

A Centauri man in the uniform of a cook gave us a funny look and hurried past.

I bit back a laugh, but Slek slapped himself on the forehead.

"So much for my reputation. It'll be around the whole ship in an hour." His eyes smiled from around his arm.

"They've seen you with us more than once," I said. "It's likely not news to anyone."

We reached the infirmary and the door opened automatically.

"At least that's working," Danec muttered.

Slek opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when I gave him a glance. The last thing Danec needed right now was ribbing. Whatever was causing the glitch, it had him worried, or at least frustrated. That was understandable. I would be pissed too if it was me.

I nodded to the doctor on duty and waved toward a bed to the side of the infirmary.

"Lie down and I'll turn the machine on."

"I'm already turned on," Slek said.

I shook my head and ignored his comment.

Danec frowned at him, but climbed onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.

I caught sight of his face in the bright infirmary lights and blinked.

What the fuck?

I glanced at Slek, but if he'd noticed anything strange he gave no sign. He wouldn't have held back if he had seen anything odd. I must have imagined it.

I swallowed back my misgiving and swung the scanner over Danec's feet.

"This will move slowly all the way up to your head." I pressed the buttons on the side.

"The good news is, it can see you," I said happily, trying to mask my real concern.

"That's great." Danec gave me a grin which made my heart flutter and flip. He always had that impact on me. Slek too, but they were both different guys. Slek was a jokester and seemed to think about sex ninety-nine percent of the time. Danec was sweet, smart and probably thought about sex just as often, but he kept quiet about it.

The scanner gave a soft whir and began to slowly move up Danec's body.

Half way up, I stopped it and stared.