"You're nothing I have to force," Jim breathed, ignoring the laughter and the tsk taking that reached his ears. Khan's appearance, thankfully, was short. He slipped away into the shadow of the corner. A restless sort of sigh escaped from Jim's throat as his thumb very lightly stroked over one of Sasan's ears. "I'm sorry."

It was difficult to do any of this. Since Sasan had come into his life, Khan had stayed almost completely away from him. It had been ridiculous to think that he was gone and worse to forget he even existed.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but when did you start being so patient?"