"Yee-OUCH! Watch where you stick that thing, it hurts!"

Steve Sloan glared over his shoulder at his young lover, who had the gall to return his grimace with a grin, dimples flashing at his disgruntled mate.

"C'mon, Steve, that was just the antiseptic," Jesse cheerfully said, giving a fond pat to the detective's exposed posterior. "We haven't even got to the injection part yet."

As the doctor brandished the syringe at his lover-turned-patient, the older man stoically turned back around to face the wall. "Now I know why my dad always advised me to make sure a nurse was the one to give me a shot and not a doctor- they have a gentler touch."

Jesse just shrugged off Steve's bad humor. He knew that the other man's vile mood had everything to do with his situation and was nothing personal against his lover. The policeman had stepped on a rusty nail while searching a dirty alley in a questionable neighborhood. That was enough to put a dent in anyone's day, but when he'd come in to Community General to have the puncture wound seen to, they'd discovered that Steve was overdue for a tetanus shot.... and the LAPD detective was none too fond of needles. So it came as little surprise that the big man was unhappy to find himself with his trousers undone and down around his calves as he leaned over an examining table, waiting to get an injection.

"You weren't complaining about my touch last night," Jesse teased to get the older man's mind off the upcoming shot, keeping his lover's attention otherwise occupied as he tapped the syringe to get all of the air bubbles out.

Steve snorted. "That was last night, in your apartment. Not in the middle of the ER with my cheeks flapping in the wind for God and everybody to see."

It was Jesse's turn to laugh. "We're in a private exam room, which is not exactly the middle of the ER. And you're the one that insisted that you get the shot in the hip and not in the normal spot..."

The policeman mumbled something indistinct about not wanting the shot in his arm in case it got sore and messed up his ability to shoot his gun.

"Okay, then," Jesse said, getting ready to stick the needle in the proffered cheek, "You didn't want it in the arm, so you're just gonna have to take it in the ass like a man..." Since the two men were alone in the exam room, he leaned in for a quick kiss to the back of Steve's neck. "Anybody tell you that you're cute when you're cranky?"

"I am not cranky!" Steve flushed to the tips of ears, not liking being in such a vulnerable position in a public place. "And will you quit taking your sweet time about this and just do it already?"

"Ummm... Steve?"

"What?"

"I already gave you the shot, right after I kissed you. It's over, you can pull your pants up now."

The detective straightened, gathering his dignity as he pulled his trousers up. "You're sneaky. They teach you that in medical school?"

Jesse's eyes darted towards the door and, deciding it was worth the risk, the young man braced himself against Steve's shoulders and stood on tiptoe for a kiss. "Yeah, kissing your patient was the number one distraction technique they taught in Injections 101."

Steve wrapped his arm around Jesse, snatching another kiss before letting his on-duty lover go. "Well, believe me, that's one lesson that you aced." The older man turned to leave and then thought of a nearly forgotten ritual he'd had years ago with his pediatrician. "Hey, doc. I was a good boy, don't I get a lollipop to suck on?"

Jesse nearly choked. "You call that being good? Besides, I've got something much better than a lollipop for you..."

"Promises, promises...." Steve's good humor was back, along with a decidedly wicked twinkle in his eye.

Jesse answered that twinkle with a leer of his own. "Yeah, just you wait until tonight."

The detective looked at his mate, a question in his eyes. "Tonight?"

"Yeah. Tonight's when I'm gonna kiss it and make it all better."

~finis~