WIP meme
Gakked from all over the place, I'll share with you some of my works in progress from my fic folder. Beats grading!
She has the shakes, which is bad for a pilot, but fortunately they haven’t shown up when she’s in the cockpit. A hundred hours into their nightmare, however, it hardly seems to matter. With only an occasional fifteen minute catnap here and there over the endless day, Kara counts herself lucky this is her worst problem. Still, she watches her hand tremor with growing fascination as she tunes out the drone of yet another briefing.
“Starbuck?”
Lee’s raspy voice penetrates her growing fugue and only then does Kara realize her head was slumping forward into sleep.
*****
"Don't do it."
"Tightass."
"Just don't."
"Dipshit."
Lee sighed and slumped lower against the bar. "Kara. Stop it." He reached forward with both hands to cradle his drink because that kept them from circling Kara's throat, choking her into silence. It hadn't been an easy evening.
"Why? I'm not nearly out of insults, jackass." Kara leaned lazily back on one elbow as she downed the last of her ambrosia. Slapping her glass down, she prepared to order another.
"Don't."
Kara bristled. "Frak off, Lee. You're not my babysitter." She paused. "There's another one: babysitter. Asswiper. Jerk. Three! On a roll!"
*****
Her feet squelched out an inexorable rhythm as she made her way towards the distant, dim lights of the manor. I * hate * Har * ry. - I * hate * Har * ry.
The words repeated themselves in a deadly monotone as the rain beat down on her sodden head, rolled along her forehead and dripped off her eyebrows into her stinging eyes. Her robes were plastered to her and she shivered with the cold as she forced her feet to keep up their steady march towards rest and heat and hopes of revenge against *Har * ry. - I * hate * Har * ry.
Ginny stumbled as one boot mired in the mud and tensed as a hand touched the small of her back. Fiery warmth seemed to blossom in that momentary contact and she scowled.
“I’m doing just fine, Harry,” she said as she wrenched her boot out of the mire and resumed her march, keeping her head down and resuming her mental chant.
Harry hurried up beside her. His robes and glasses seemed to shed the water effortlessly and she enviously noted he had a hood to protect his head from the steady downpour. Anger curdled her empty stomach. . I * hate * Har * ry. - I * hate-
“I’m sorry, Ginny,” he said, and put a hand beneath her elbow to help her over the stile. Again, that traitorous heat flooded her body and she found herself leaning into his grasp before he stepped over the obstacle, himself.
*****
The last glow of sunlight faded from the sky. Only distant elf-lights and the moon lit their way through the forest. They paced slowly, her elbow cupped in his calloused hand, her dark hair poured over his silver-clad arm.
"Long have you waited. Too long. And what have I done to forward matters while you have waited? Not nearly enough."
She stopped and turned to regard him, steadily. "Long, perhaps, in your reckoning, love." Her free hand rose to cup his cheek and raise his gaze to meet her own. "But I would gladly wait longer, to the end of days, for you."
*****
She has the shakes, which is bad for a pilot, but fortunately they haven’t shown up when she’s in the cockpit. A hundred hours into their nightmare, however, it hardly seems to matter. With only an occasional fifteen minute catnap here and there over the endless day, Kara counts herself lucky this is her worst problem. Still, she watches her hand tremor with growing fascination as she tunes out the drone of yet another briefing.
“Starbuck?”
Lee’s raspy voice penetrates her growing fugue and only then does Kara realize her head was slumping forward into sleep.
*****
"Don't do it."
"Tightass."
"Just don't."
"Dipshit."
Lee sighed and slumped lower against the bar. "Kara. Stop it." He reached forward with both hands to cradle his drink because that kept them from circling Kara's throat, choking her into silence. It hadn't been an easy evening.
"Why? I'm not nearly out of insults, jackass." Kara leaned lazily back on one elbow as she downed the last of her ambrosia. Slapping her glass down, she prepared to order another.
"Don't."
Kara bristled. "Frak off, Lee. You're not my babysitter." She paused. "There's another one: babysitter. Asswiper. Jerk. Three! On a roll!"
*****
Her feet squelched out an inexorable rhythm as she made her way towards the distant, dim lights of the manor. I * hate * Har * ry. - I * hate * Har * ry.
The words repeated themselves in a deadly monotone as the rain beat down on her sodden head, rolled along her forehead and dripped off her eyebrows into her stinging eyes. Her robes were plastered to her and she shivered with the cold as she forced her feet to keep up their steady march towards rest and heat and hopes of revenge against *Har * ry. - I * hate * Har * ry.
Ginny stumbled as one boot mired in the mud and tensed as a hand touched the small of her back. Fiery warmth seemed to blossom in that momentary contact and she scowled.
“I’m doing just fine, Harry,” she said as she wrenched her boot out of the mire and resumed her march, keeping her head down and resuming her mental chant.
Harry hurried up beside her. His robes and glasses seemed to shed the water effortlessly and she enviously noted he had a hood to protect his head from the steady downpour. Anger curdled her empty stomach. . I * hate * Har * ry. - I * hate-
“I’m sorry, Ginny,” he said, and put a hand beneath her elbow to help her over the stile. Again, that traitorous heat flooded her body and she found herself leaning into his grasp before he stepped over the obstacle, himself.
*****
The last glow of sunlight faded from the sky. Only distant elf-lights and the moon lit their way through the forest. They paced slowly, her elbow cupped in his calloused hand, her dark hair poured over his silver-clad arm.
"Long have you waited. Too long. And what have I done to forward matters while you have waited? Not nearly enough."
She stopped and turned to regard him, steadily. "Long, perhaps, in your reckoning, love." Her free hand rose to cup his cheek and raise his gaze to meet her own. "But I would gladly wait longer, to the end of days, for you."
*****