A little thing, set between A Deeper Season's 13th and 14th chapters. I couldn't come up with a title that didn't sound goofy, so...
"So," Gregor thought to himself, "How does one go about setting up a date for... that, anyway?" It wasn't something he'd done before, and certainly he'd never had the opportunity to do it with someone he loved. In his limited experience, sex had just... happened, usually fairly predictably, but without a lot of planning beforehand. Or, in the case of Cavilo, it had been part of a careful but instantaneous plot, yet another piece of duty to the Imperium.
However, since the night he and Miles had been caught by Alys Vorpatril and Simon Illyan, and Ivan, and Cordelia, don't forget, Gregor had felt the urgency of his need even more. Perhaps it was the simple fact that he'd revealed to Miles just how long he'd been waiting. Ten years' desire, was, after all, fairly overwhelming on the face of it. And the Imperium's demands were such that he and Miles had barely had time to scramble into each others arms for a few stolen moments here and there. Anything beyond that would obviously require... scheduling.
For a moment he was overcome with resentment towards his position, which made him forever bound to obligation and diplomacy. "It's never non-political," he remembered Miles telling him, back on that night when Gregor had invited Miles to a dinner he'd made as non-political as he could. Even the most private things? No. It is all political. But, as images of Miles flashed through his mind, he realized that with each step he and Miles took, they were serving a greater purpose. And Miles, Gregor was discovering, took service to Barrayar at least as seriously as he did.
Finally, he decided he just had to make the call. It wasn't like he had any doubts about what he wanted, or what Miles wanted for that matter; it just seemed impolite to be so... forward. And Gregor was an excruciatingly polite person, both by nature and by training.
Before he could call Miles, however, he had to clear an evening's schedule. Gregor found that by shifting a dinner meeting by one night, thereby annoying Lady Alys and various of his secretaries, he was almost guaranteed an evening two nights hence to... do what he would with Miles. Imperial emergencies were always a possibility, but there were no obvious sources of emergencies looming. Except being found out, before we are ready...
Gregor contacted Miles by a secure vidlink. Somehow he felt it was necessary for Miles to be able to see him, in order to understand just what Gregor was asking of him. If he lost his nerve mid-proposition, hopefully Miles would notice his demeanor, and interpret it as an... offer.
Miles answered the call cheerfully. "Ah, are you getting over that adolescent adventure we had last week?" he asked.
Good G-d, I haven't even said anything yet, and he's figured it out!
"It must have been quite a learning experience, I mean... surprising Lady Alys like that." Gregor blushed, both out of the memory of being walked in on and some ideas about what would have happened if he and Miles hadn't been walked in on. Miles raised an eyebrow, and seemed to be stifling a giggle. Gregor was momentarily annoyed, and then suddenly longing and very, very shy as he lowered his eyes.
"Um, ah, would you care to join me for the evening, 2 nights from now, and..." Gregor ran out of words just then, as Miles raised his eyebrows even further, and then gave him a wicked grin.
"Certainly! Shall I bring a picnic supper?"
Gregor laughed. Even over the vidlink, he saw Cordelia's eyes there in Miles' face, those keen, sparkling grey eyes that a man could drown in. He suspected that everything would turn out just fine, now.