The Corpsman

Last night I heard from an old friend for the first time in a long while.
I'll call him the Corpsman here.
We went to Navy Boot Camp together- Great Mistakes, ah how dearly I don't miss you!

Less than a year later, I was discharged for medical reasons, but the Corpsman went on to be just that: an FMF Corpsman. Not only did he get me through Boot Camp- every time I thought I wasn't strong enough, couldn't do it, hurt too damned much (I was injured through most of Boot Camp but graduated on time anyway), he was there to tell me that I could- but he went on to be exactly what I wanted to be. A Fleet Marine Force Corpsman.
See, I'll explain.
I grew up around cops, cowboys, bikers, and Marines. But I knew that the Corps itself wasn't for me. I'd just spent most of my young life patching people up, though, so I knew where I did fit in with my Marines: as a corpsman. The Marines don't have medics (or dental or religious personnel) of their own, they rely on Navy Corpsmen. FMF Corpsmen are those who choose to train to an extra level so that they can be attached to Marine units. They train with them, are deployed with them, fight beside them- and save them.
That's what I wanted to do.
And that's what the Corpsman did.

After we graduated, we stayed in touch, stayed close friends. We fell a little in love with each other- the way that people do who survive an intense experience together.
But I got out of the Navy, and moved to Tampa.
We kept chatting sometimes. He was deployed to Iraq, and I wrote him every week, and sent boxes every 2-3 weeks. I kept his unit supplied with $2 dvds :)
Halfway through the deployment, we started flirting. Well, we'd always flirted, but it wasn't serious. It started to be. We started talking about getting together, and whatthat would take. He always encouraged me to follow my dreams, reminding me that he'd never give up his, either. We talked about BDSM, about fantasies, desires. We talked about polyamory and desire.

One day, though, I realized that I wasn't sure how much of our attraction was a combination of my codependence and his "girl back home" ideal, and how much was really us.
So I started backing off. We still talked a lot, but eventually I met Jack and he met another girl.

We stayed in touch a while, then drifted away.
And now he's back.

Still funny, still wickedly intelligent, still bi, still switchy. And I'm still as fascinated with him as I was 5 years ago (this month!) when I saw him last.

He is *so* coming to visit us when we move!