Battlestar Fic: "Shore" (Kara, Leoben, PG)
Title: Shore
Characters: Kara, Leoben
Rating: PG for tone
Spoilers: 4x10, "Revelations"
Length: 765 words
Notes: For the Porn Battle at wisteria_'s lj. Prompt of "Kara/Leoben, rocks in the stream". It says it doesn't have to actually be porn and for that I'm darned glad, because the muse just wouldn't cooperate.
Summary: Kara finally deigns to teach him something.
Leoben had wandered away from the rest of them, and it wasn't like Kara was looking for him or anything, exactly. But she had an idea where he might be.
She found him further down the beach, at the water's edge. He was crouched down by where wave met land, the slight flow from the tide washing lightly over the sand before ebbing back out once more. He held out one hand, fingers dripping in the water.
"It's not a stream, but I guess it's close enough," Kara said. Or rather, didn't say. She only thought it.
What she said was nothing.
Leoben stood, pulling away from the water. Droplets ran from his hand but he didn't shake them off. He stayed where he was, silent, gazing out at the ocean: the almost motionless gray waves beneath an endless gray sky.
Kara grew restless. Or maybe she'd already been restless, and the shock of finding this place had worn off enough for her to feel it.
She glanced down. There were rocks on the beach. She searched around until she found a few good ones and then went closer to the water's edge and started skipping them.
It was harder to do across waves, even faint ones, than it was across still water but she got a few good ones anyway. She counted one that skipped seven times before it sank when she remembered the Cylon. She looked over her shoulder and he wasn't watching the waves anymore. He was watching her.
"You wanna give it a try?" Kara held out her palm, and the stone that had been resting in it. It had been cold when she'd picked it up but in her hand it had slowly started to grow warm.
"I don't know how," Leoben said. His voice was flatter than the water's surface. It was only through experience that she could hear the faintest trace of curiosity in it.
"It's easy. You just find a nice smooth rock, like this, and you hold it in your hand..." she demonstrated. "And then you flick it with your wrist."
Leoben was giving her that patient, empty-eyed look that meant he either understood everything or nothing.
Kara handed him the stone. "Here."
He held it the right way but with clumsy hesitation, over-thinking. He curled back, let go, and it made one pathetic hop that Kara wouldn't even call a skip before sinking under.
"Not enough force," she observed. She found another one, gave it to him and then shaped her fingers around his, holding it in place. His hand was as cold as the stone.
"You need to grip it tightly, okay? With conviction."
"Conviction," he repeated. She was looking at the water not him, but it sounded like he might be smiling a little. Like he was making fun of her. She kept talking, ignoring it.
"And then you bring it back, tight, and flick it hard when you let go, and-"
It flew out, skipping one, two, three times before vanishing with a splash.
"See?" Kara smiled in satisfaction, letting go and taking a step back. "Not so hard. Even a toaster like you can manage."
"Guess so." Leoben smiled too, but in that "you're so amusing" way. The way that would have made her split his jaw not too long ago.
She stared out at the water. It wasn't like the oceans she remembered, not blue or green, and no birds circling overhead.
The smell and the sound were the same.
"Who taught you to skip rocks, Kara?" Leoben asked her. He had another in his hands, smooth and flat, turning it slowly around.
"My dad. He took me to this river, once." She could see it in her mind's eye.
"Ah yes, your father the musician," he murmured. "The one you saw as the creator, as opposed to your mother the destroyer."
"I don't want to talk about them," she said sharply, or would've said, except he didn't keep going. He just trailed off into silence.
They stood there for a moment, both watching the water.
Finally, Kara drew in a small breath of air.
"So," she said, "we found it." She turned back to him. "What are you going to do now?"
"Now?" Leoben repeated. "Now I'm going to bring the others down here, and teach them to skip stones." He pocketed the one he held and smiled. "I think they will enjoy it."
Kara laughed a little.
"Yeah." She craned her upwards to the clouds swirling overhead. Where the seabirds should have been, but weren't. "They probably will."
Characters: Kara, Leoben
Rating: PG for tone
Spoilers: 4x10, "Revelations"
Length: 765 words
Notes: For the Porn Battle at wisteria_'s lj. Prompt of "Kara/Leoben, rocks in the stream". It says it doesn't have to actually be porn and for that I'm darned glad, because the muse just wouldn't cooperate.
Summary: Kara finally deigns to teach him something.
Leoben had wandered away from the rest of them, and it wasn't like Kara was looking for him or anything, exactly. But she had an idea where he might be.
She found him further down the beach, at the water's edge. He was crouched down by where wave met land, the slight flow from the tide washing lightly over the sand before ebbing back out once more. He held out one hand, fingers dripping in the water.
"It's not a stream, but I guess it's close enough," Kara said. Or rather, didn't say. She only thought it.
What she said was nothing.
Leoben stood, pulling away from the water. Droplets ran from his hand but he didn't shake them off. He stayed where he was, silent, gazing out at the ocean: the almost motionless gray waves beneath an endless gray sky.
Kara grew restless. Or maybe she'd already been restless, and the shock of finding this place had worn off enough for her to feel it.
She glanced down. There were rocks on the beach. She searched around until she found a few good ones and then went closer to the water's edge and started skipping them.
It was harder to do across waves, even faint ones, than it was across still water but she got a few good ones anyway. She counted one that skipped seven times before it sank when she remembered the Cylon. She looked over her shoulder and he wasn't watching the waves anymore. He was watching her.
"You wanna give it a try?" Kara held out her palm, and the stone that had been resting in it. It had been cold when she'd picked it up but in her hand it had slowly started to grow warm.
"I don't know how," Leoben said. His voice was flatter than the water's surface. It was only through experience that she could hear the faintest trace of curiosity in it.
"It's easy. You just find a nice smooth rock, like this, and you hold it in your hand..." she demonstrated. "And then you flick it with your wrist."
Leoben was giving her that patient, empty-eyed look that meant he either understood everything or nothing.
Kara handed him the stone. "Here."
He held it the right way but with clumsy hesitation, over-thinking. He curled back, let go, and it made one pathetic hop that Kara wouldn't even call a skip before sinking under.
"Not enough force," she observed. She found another one, gave it to him and then shaped her fingers around his, holding it in place. His hand was as cold as the stone.
"You need to grip it tightly, okay? With conviction."
"Conviction," he repeated. She was looking at the water not him, but it sounded like he might be smiling a little. Like he was making fun of her. She kept talking, ignoring it.
"And then you bring it back, tight, and flick it hard when you let go, and-"
It flew out, skipping one, two, three times before vanishing with a splash.
"See?" Kara smiled in satisfaction, letting go and taking a step back. "Not so hard. Even a toaster like you can manage."
"Guess so." Leoben smiled too, but in that "you're so amusing" way. The way that would have made her split his jaw not too long ago.
She stared out at the water. It wasn't like the oceans she remembered, not blue or green, and no birds circling overhead.
The smell and the sound were the same.
"Who taught you to skip rocks, Kara?" Leoben asked her. He had another in his hands, smooth and flat, turning it slowly around.
"My dad. He took me to this river, once." She could see it in her mind's eye.
"Ah yes, your father the musician," he murmured. "The one you saw as the creator, as opposed to your mother the destroyer."
"I don't want to talk about them," she said sharply, or would've said, except he didn't keep going. He just trailed off into silence.
They stood there for a moment, both watching the water.
Finally, Kara drew in a small breath of air.
"So," she said, "we found it." She turned back to him. "What are you going to do now?"
"Now?" Leoben repeated. "Now I'm going to bring the others down here, and teach them to skip stones." He pocketed the one he held and smiled. "I think they will enjoy it."
Kara laughed a little.
"Yeah." She craned her upwards to the clouds swirling overhead. Where the seabirds should have been, but weren't. "They probably will."