Corinn peered around the corner and relaxed as he spotted the unmistakable form of Haldor Leboyer some twenty meters away, sitting on the edge of the low landing that ran along one wall of the service building. He hadn't seen the man that morning, after the lengthy discussion on T-clones on the previous night, and had been somewhat worried about its effects on Hal. It'd been a hell of a lot to digest, after all.

"Morning," he greeted and strolled closer. Hal turned to look, squinting in the bright light of a rising sun, and waved a hand. "How're you feeling?"

"After the info overload of last night?" Hal granted him a lopsided half-grin. "I guess 'stunned' comes pretty close."

"No wonder," Corinn said apologetically and squatted next to him. "But frankly, that was all necessary information. The clones are such an essential part of this base. After all, this used to be the Union's headquarters for the cloning project."

"It all sounds like some bad movie," Hal mused. "Priming, wiping, missions, terminating... trying to destroy the lot when the security is breached..."

"Yeah, and we're talking about people we deal with every day," Corinn said, lips curling in distaste. "Humans. Each and every one of them, even if they're genetically identical. And such individuals they are nevertheless. Just look at the Ts – André, Adrien, Terry, Salvador..."

Hal's head sank lower and his fingers picked on tiny grains of sand on the concrete landing he was sitting on.

"You all keep rubbing it in," he mumbled. "Salvador, Salvador. Talking about 'mission Benedict' and stuff. Basically I know why, and I also think I understand a whole lot more now. I understand that he didn't do it on purpose, that he couldn't help what the guys did to him to get that information. But you're all missing the point. It's not about that Benedict leaking something to someone. If Troy hadn't betrayed me, then there wouldn't have been anything for Ben to leak!"

His fist banged against the landing, making dust fly all around. Corinn shook his head.

"You still think that way?" he asked. "That Troy betrayed you?"

"He told something so important to a third person!" Hal shouted. "If that isn't betrayal, then what is?"

"But he trusted Ben," Corinn insisted. "If it'd been his own secret, he'd still have trusted Ben to hear it, and suffered the consequences himself! As things are now, he's had to live with the guilt, the knowledge that someone else suffered because of something he did, someone who's important to him. Don't you think he's been punishing himself enough for that mistake? Do you know how badly it's been weighing on him? He's talked about it, over and over again. Our shrinks say that he was clearly suffering from depression when he came here, having trouble with booze, slacking in his studies and stuff... I honestly think that it'd be best for you both to put it behind you. You'd both feel a lot better if you'd just let him apologize, and let yourself forgive him."

Hal fell silent for a good while, his left hand still shuffling sand around, a muscle twitching in his cheek.

"He's always been like a little brother to me," he said at last, very quietly. "I always wanted a brother, and that's what he was. And then I'm taken prisoner, and I know he's the only one who could be responsible..."

"I have a friend with whom I've been hanging out since we were just two chubby kids, and I guess I'd feel the same if he did something like that," Corinn said. "But still, try to. Talk to him."

Hal nodded.

"I suppose I'll have to do that," he muttered. "If only..."

"What?" Corinn prodded.

"That Salvador." Haldor sighed irritably. "The way he's always hanging on Troy. It makes me sick!"

"Why?" Corinn asked sincerely and slid down to sit beside Hal on the edge of the landing, legs hanging in the air. "What is it about them that you dislike so much?"

"He's a bad influence on Troy, that for sure." Haldor's lips pressed together. "Troy used to be okay, before he met that Ben. And really, even with Ben around, I guess he still was pretty much okay. But now, the way they go about it..."

"They like each other a lot," Corinn said matter-of-factly. "And Sal isn't fully recovered yet. He needs a lot of support, friendship, all that. Besides, you know, the TCs in general are really tactile beings."

Hal sighed loudly. "But why does he have to – drape himself all over Troy the way he does? And Troy, well, he's at least as bad."

"Behaving like sissies, you mean?" Corinn's light tone betrayed nothing, and Haldor snorted.

"Yeah, more or less. I just hate it!"

"You'll have a lot of adjusting to do, then," Corinn said. "Over here, being gay is quite a normal thing. And when you start going to Trelissac, you'll be seeing a lot of gays who don't do anything to hide the fact."

"Yuck." Haldor grimaced. "I wish they'd just keep it to themselves. I mean, why do they need to go shouting about it? It's disgusting!"

"Hey, why couldn't they act just like anybody else?" Corinn asked. "Hetero couples hold hands and kiss in public, so why couldn't –"

"I don't see why anybody needs to behave like that," Haldor interrupted acidly. "What is it with people needing to be all over each other while there're loads of other people around? Isn't that something you'd rather do in private?"

Note to self: remember to think about other people's sensibilities a lot more in the future, Corinn thought dryly. Aloud he said: "So it's not only men pawing other men that makes you sick?"

"I suppose not," Hal said a little reluctantly. "Although that is really gross. But quite frankly, I think all that stuff belongs somewhere private."

"So you wouldn't kiss a girlfriend in public?" Corinn asked. Hal squirmed a little, shoulders hunching in discomfort.

"Well... of course I'd kiss her goodbye, if I was taking her to work or something," he mumbled, and Corinn could practically see him, bending forward to give a quick peck on the cheek of a shyly blushing young woman. "But definitely nothing more!"

"Right." Corinn nodded, barely resisting the urge to add 'you're not completely hopeless then'. So Haldor was uncomfortable with public displays of affection in general? At least that was a piece of solid ground to tread on. "Is that why Salvador and Troy squick you, then? The way they're always touching each other?"

Again Haldor seemed to squirm inside his jacket.

"I swear they behave exactly like sissies," he said with a little grimace. "That Ben, I mean Sal, the way he's always hanging on Troy. Why can't he keep his hands to himself?"

"Troy is doing the same," Corinn pointed out and got a snort in return.

"I know, damn it! I told you, he's making Troy behave like him!"

"So it's not that you'd be basically against it if Troy is gay, you just don't like him being public about it?"

"Isn't that the same thing?" Haldor shot him a sideways glance. "Those queers on Tabaimo, jeez, I'm up to here with them! They're all the same."

"What're they like then?" Corinn asked, now intrigued, and made himself more comfortable on the slab of concrete. Hal's lips pursed together.

"It was disgusting," he said. "Saw quite enough of it, back when I was a taxi driver. I used to do a lot of nights, they were busier and I could use the money... and for godssakes, all those sissies really made me want to throw up! Those clothes, and that godawful showing off – and when they were finally headed home with their latest conquests, I sometimes really wanted to kick them out and tell them to have some decency! I mean, why couldn't they wait until they're indoors with all that talk, and making out, and all that?"

He shuddered as if cold despite the warm wind. "Some of them were total jerks, and of course it'd be my luck that some nights I got to drive them around several times in a row! Always the same thing, cooing to their would-be toyboys, that face-licking and hands all around, every time the same lines – I could've easily repeated them word for word..."

A picture was forming inside Corinn's head. Here was Haldor, a reticent, private person, exposed to the more raucous side of the local gay nightlife, repeatedly meeting the more promiscuous exhibits that the obviously showy scene had to offer. Stray words from earlier talks with Troy popped up to fill in minor blanks. Troy, too, had caught glimpses of it, and judging by his observations, had been genuinely shocked by all the posing and exhibitionism involved.

Corinn could imagine well enough what it was like: a world full of clubbing, making oneself as visible as possible, finding a new partner at least every few days. That was something both cousins clearly resented. Corinn didn't want to hazard a guess as to whether their attitude reflected the general atmosphere on Tabaimo or just their upbringing, but that was a minor point. The main thing was that they both disliked showiness, drawing attention to oneself. That might be a key consideration.

"I think I understand," Corinn said slowly. "Well, if that's what it was like on Tabaimo, then I think may have given you a wrong idea about Trelissac. Oh, I know there're places in the city that'd look all too familiar to you, but when I was saying you'd see people being openly gay in town, I had something else in mind. There are lots of gays who live their everyday lives just like anybody else, so in that way they're being open about it. They just don't advertise it."

"Is that then possible?" Hal asked wryly.

"Hey, not everybody is the same." Corinn smiled. "Including gays."

Haldor harrumphed but Corinn decided to press on.

"So you're basically saying that people are free to do whatever they please, with whomever they please, if they keep it to themselves, right?" he asked.

"It's a private matter," Hal said stubbornly.

"Right." Corinn nodded. "Even guys with other guys?"

"None of my business." Hal shifted in clear discomfort. "And I'd prefer to keep it that way, if at all possible."

"Nobody's going to rub your face into it," Corinn said reassuringly and decided on the spot to remember that promise, and also to extract it from Vanya. "What I'm getting at is just that gays are people. There're different kinds of people, with different tastes, and the same applies to gays. Being gay doesn't automatically mean being like the 'sissies' you told me about."

Haldor frowned but didn't say anything, which Corinn took as a good sign. "And it just occurred to me that you might've actually known people, even back on Tabaimo, who were gays even though you never knew it."

Now that produced a reaction. Hal's eyes opened wide and he turned slowly to stare at Corinn.

"What d'you mean?" he asked.

"Exactly what I'm saying," Corinn replied calmly. "If a person is gay, it doesn't necessarily mean that he'd want to posture all night in clubs wearing glitter and pink fur, or try to beat his own record of how many people he manages to shag between midnight and morning. He might be a perfectly ordinary university teacher, or a taxi driver, or car mechanic, who goes grocery shopping after work and then home to fix dinner with his partner. Or the same university teacher or taxi driver or car mechanic who goes home to change into something more relaxed, and then heads to an ordinary bar to have a beer and perhaps to see if he might meet somebody nice."

Hal had to try a couple of times before he managed to swallow the clump from his throat, dark face actually paling a little. "Oh my god..."

"Hey, surely that's not such a horrid thought?" Corinn asked, somewhat perplexed. "Wouldn't those guys be doing exactly like you said? Keeping their private things to themselves?"

"No, no..." Hal was struggling for breath. "I just – it's – shit... could it be?"

"You know someone like that, is that so? Friends of yours?" Corinn asked, realization dawning. Hal nodded jerkily.

"Yeah... Mark and Hito. They shared a flat, said it's cheaper that way. And it's true," he hastened to add, "it was a nice size place – not enormous, but more than just a closet with a bed. But they couldn't... surely I'd have noticed something..."

"Which one of them was a taxi driver?" Corinn asked.

"Hito." The corner of Haldor's mouth quirked into a near-smile. "That's how I knew them. And Mark's a mechanic, a real wizard. You'd like him," he added and Corinn grinned. "But there wasn't anything queer about them. Though – Hito did take a couple of days off when Mark hurt himself at work, even though it wasn't anything serious. And I don't actually remember them ever chasing girls, like some of the other guys..."

"I'm not saying they'd automatically be a couple and not just roommates," Corinn reminded him. "They might be just friends."

"Or then not," Hal mumbled, slowly coming out of his daze. He sighed deep, then glanced at Corinn with a frown. "But I think you're also trying to tell me something else, aren't you?"

"Such as?" Corinn asked innocently.

"That I know some gays here, too, without knowing they're gays," Hal said, thoughtfully gnawing on his lip. "Well, that Lancer is an obvious case – and if you now tell me he's not, I don't think I'm going to believe you!"

"Well, he is," Corinn admitted. "Any other guesses?"

"Salvador," Hal grunted. "And it looks like he's managed to make Troy into one as well."

"Now, now, that's not the way it goes!" Corinn protested. "You simply don't 'turn' or 'make' anybody into a gay."

Hal shrugged. "Whatever. But apart from them, I really can't say. Of course the blond guy with long hair, well..."

"André? Well, you're right, but your reasoning isn't," Corinn said. "After all, if the length of hair is anything to go by, then Kyo would be highly suspect, except that I know for sure he's straight. But you're still missing several names."

"What?" Haldor looked shell-shocked. "Do you mean there are more?"

"Oh yes!" Corinn suppressed a grin. "You see, most people in this base are from Jainah, and as I told you, over here it's no big deal which sex you're interested in. So most people tend to date both girls and guys, and see with whom they click."

"Incredible." Hal shook his head. "Well, go ahead and tell me."

"I guess I should start from the nearest and then see if you want to hear anything more," Corinn said. "After all, I feel like such a goddamn hypocrite, talking so prettily here, when I'm actually one of the most flamingly open gays around."

Haldor's jaw dropped. For the better part of two minutes he didn't get a sound out of his throat, then managed to shake his head weakly.

"No... no way..."

"It's true, though," Corinn said. "Vanya and I have been lovers ever since he came here, back when we were still based in Mount Robillard, and I'm afraid that apart from the dressing part, we've been every bit as bad as the 'Tabaimo sissies' you were telling about."

"But – I never – you're not..."

"Hal, it's true," Corinn said patiently. "I'm going to be totally honest now. Troy told us about you, and we realized that you'd feel horribly uncomfortable here if we didn't do something about our behavior. So we decided to keep our big mouths shut for a change, 'cause we genuinely wanted to help you get settled here. We reckoned it'd be enough of a shock to be whisked straight from a Union prison to a totally unfamiliar planet, without having to deal with everything at once. I hope you'll understand our motives. And –" he took a deep breath, "talking to you now has made me realize that maybe it'd actually be polite towards others if we continued to behave ourselves in the future."

"But – you?" Hal was still grappling for words. "You and Vanya?"

"That's the honest truth," Corinn said. "I hope you'll be able to live with it, now that you know. Because we both think you're a good guy, and we'd like to remain your friends."

"That's something to swallow," Hal admitted. "And I have to say I feel a bit... well, deceived is a too strong word... I dunno, hit under the belt perhaps?"

He thought about it for a while and then looked up at Corinn with a shamefaced little smile.

"Yeah, you can call me narrow-minded, and you're probably very right, but I want to be honest as well. I'm sure I wouldn't be saying this if I had known from the start, but I like you. Both of you. And I really appreciate your consideration. I need friends around, and – I definitely want to count you among my friends."

He reached out a hand and Corinn clasped it firmly. "You're my kind of guys, you really are. What you do with each other... has nothing to do with that."

Corinn smothered a smile.

"But may I ask you something, Hal?" he asked, curious. "Why do you dislike Lancer so much? It's been so obvious from the first time you saw him, and it really bothers us because he's a good friend of ours."

Hal snorted again, good mood giving way to clear distaste.

"He's exactly like somebody I saw a few times too many back home," he said disdainfully. "Pavel, his name was. Probably a few years older than him, but they look so much alike that it makes me sick! He really was the worst of them, except perhaps for that tall guy, Lowett. God, the way he was performing every time I saw him – a slender guy with long hair, usually dyed something bluish, outrageously dressed..."

"So Lancer looks like someone you knew and disliked," Corinn concluded. "Well, I admit it's easy to underrate him because he's too damn pretty for his own good. But don't judge a book by its cover, Hal. Though I know this is not the best time to try and get to know him."

"Why's that?" Hal asked.

"Because of the Zodiac system mission," Corinn explained. "His first boyfriend was a pilot who got killed in action, a couple of years back. Now he's deeply in love with another pilot, Scott, who's currently out there with the rest of the fleet, and he's really depressed and nervous and afraid. Yeah, Lancer looks delicate and fragile and all that, but if you dismiss him as just another little hothouse flower you're dead wrong. There's some steel inside."

"Well, I'll try to remember that," Hal said. "Though I think that if I'm going to start making amends, I ought to begin with Troy."

The sigh that accompanied the name left nothing to imagination. Corinn carefully laid a hand on the man's shoulder and was much heartened when it wasn't shrugged off.

"I think that's exactly what you need to do," he said warmly. "You said he's like a brother to you, and he says exactly the same. Your approval or disapproval means a lot to him, but you can't just wish Sal away. They've both been through a grinder, only in different ways, but they've been helping each other to get their lives together again. They're close, they are friends, and they make each other happy."

Corinn resolutely ignored Haldor's huff of irritation and pressed on. "He may be like your little brother, but this is his life we're talking about. If Troy's found a person he really likes, could you really deny him that? Besides, I'm afraid that if you can't accept or at least tolerate it, then you're going to lose him for real. He's incredibly protective of Salvador, hurting Sal is the surest way to make an enemy out of Troy. And seeing what good friends you've been, I'd hate to see that happen to the two of you."

Hal nodded reluctantly.

"I guess you're right," he said in a low voice. "About everything. I know I want to be friends with him again, and if that means Salvador comes in the deal, then I'll just have to live with it... somehow."

"I'm sure if you have a good talk with Troy, he'll understand that you need time," Corinn assured him. "He's a big boy, give him credit, man!"

Haldor actually laughed a little, then glanced at the clock and straightened himself as if stung. "Corinn, if we've missed lunch then I'm going to blame you! Look at the time!"

"Hey, now I really believe that mind rules over matter!" Corinn jumped on his feet and dusted his clothes. "To be so immersed in talking that I ignore my stomach, that's something that rarely happens to a guy of my size."

Hal chuckled and easily fell in step with Corinn as they headed towards the big canteen building. Corinn saw in the corner of his eye that Haldor's incredulous gaze was still sweeping him up and down, but he ignored it. Yeah, just get used to the idea, he thought gleefully. I believe you're coming round, man.

"Troy!"

Hal took a few running steps as he saw two golden heads and one very dark emerging from the front door. Adrien, Salvador and Troy stopped and turned, and Corinn noticed how Sal cringed as Haldor caught up with them.

"Troy, could I talk to you, please? Alone?"

Troy frowned in surprise and glanced at an alarmed Salvador.

"Please," Haldor repeated and managed a little smile to the two clones. "We'll be all right, I promise. I just... need to talk to Troy."

"C'mon, Sal, we'll go to the T-complex!" Adrien casually wrapped an arm around Salvador's shoulders. "No, you're not staying, there's some things they need to talk about alone..."

Corinn looked after Adrien who was gently but purposely leading his protesting twin away, and stepped past the two cousins who were frowning at each other. He winked encouragingly to Haldor.

"Take your time, guys. I'll make sure to leave something for you, too."