003- Dirt
Title Dirt
Author bakatulip
Rating PG
Word Count 1157
Prompt 003, Planetside, New Caprica
Characters/Pairing (if any) Kara/Lee, hint of Kara/Sam
A/N: Not up for voting, beta'd by somewhereapart
Lee didn’t cut class often in high school-some might’ve called him a goody-two-shoes, he’d’ve said he valued his education-but as he’s slipping away from “President” Baltar’s blathering on and on about his plans for settlement, he can’t help but feel like he’s playing hooky.
When he finds her, she’s standing at the edge of the river (alone, he notes with a happiness he doesn’t have the right to feel), puffing out breath like rings of smoke from cigars she’s long run out of. Maybe some of the civilians have some left and will be looking to trade in that new marketplace Baltar is so excited about, or maybe they’ve all been burned and breathed in futile attempts to calm nerves. There are a thousand reasons he shouldn’t be standing here, starting with the color of the piping on his new jacket and ending with the last time he’d seen her-sprawled over Anders’s lap. She’s noticed him before he can move.
“So, we’re really giving up Earth for this ball of dirt.” Kara kicks at a rock on the ground, sending it towards him. It comes to a stop abruptly against his boot. She isn’t looking at him, just at the vast grey dirt and the vast grey mountains and the vast grey sky and the vast grey river; it’s nothing like tall green grass brushing their legs or dark skies set ablaze with stars.
He doesn’t catch her gaze until he kicks the stone into the water and steps up alongside her. She twists her head to look at him and he sees something in all that hazel that looks like regret. It’s about the planet. Nothing more. For a moment it looks like she’s waiting for him to say something but before he can speak she steamrolls over him.
“And you’d think they’d come up with a better name than New Caprica.”
He digs his hands into his pockets a stiff wind gusts through the valley, seeping through blue wool and skin and into his bones. “I don’t know,” he says ignoring the fact that no matter what they call it or how hard they try this will never be home; but they’re just going to have to try to make do. “I was a fan of the old one.”
She tugs her BDU jacket tighter around herself even though the wind has stopped. “You haven’t seen it lately.”
There’s nothing but the sound of voices in the distance and a heavy silence settling between them. He watches her like she’s about to jump away again, disappear off dradis, because it looks like she has nowhere left to go. He remembers the look on her face, the brightness that rivaled Earth’s night sky, and he knows that nothing he can say can make this the least bit better. “Might as well try to make the best of it. It’s not home, but-”
Her laughter rings hollow and her eyes roll. “We should make our own bright, shiny futures?”
The words shoot through him, and there’s a look in her eyes like she wants to take it back. Too late. It’s out there. He folds his arms and she turns away.
“Something like that.” Maybe if they close their eyes and pretend really hard…
“I guess it’s not too bad.” Whiplash. “Not exactly Caprica Beach but we’ve got water right here.” She turns back towards him with her lips curled into a wicked grin. She’s always been good at pretending. “Wanna go for a swim?”
So is he. His jaw drops slightly. “Are you kidding? It has to be freezing.”
She’s striding toward the river, studying the places where boulders stick up from under the surface. “I don’t see any ice, so it’s gotta be above zero.”
“You’re insane.”
“Can’t catch me.”
And before he can move to stop her she’s hopped three rocks out into the water and isn’t showing the slightest inclination that she’s coming back. He plants his feet firmly on the ground, arms folded over his chest. This is childish and immature and he knows she knows it. “I’m not coming in there after you if you fall in.”
“Oh please, Lee,” she calls over her shoulder, “I’m going to be the one fishing you out of the drink!” There’s a wild kind of grin on her face that he hasn’t seen in months, maybe years at this point. She jumps one more rock out into the river before turning back to him.
When she turns around he sees her foot slipping and every muscle in his body is ready to spring into a run. The only thing that stops him is the way she doubles over, clutching her stomach and filling the air with loud laughter, cackling and just… her. “I can’t believe you fell for that!”
And while he’s still riding the wave of relief he folds his arms over his chest and imitates the sternest look he can imagine his father giving. “Alright, you’ve had your fun, now come back here.”
“Come on, Apollo, where’s your sense of adventure?”
“Actually, I left it on Pegasus today, but I do have my desire not to die of hypothermia on hand.” Did she actually just stick her tongue out at him? “Captain! You get your ass back here, right frakking now,” he yells, using the best Commander voice he can.
“You’re just afraid you’re gonnaaaaaa-“
Splash.
She isn’t even under for a second before she resurfaces gasping and swearing and kicking her way over to shore with no grace whatsoever. “Holy frak! It’s freezing!” He barely bites back a laugh as he wades out, knee deep into the water, waiting until she’s close enough that he can grab her hand. She does a better job of pulling herself to her feet than he does, but the first thing she does once she’s standing is throw her arms around him, nearly knocking him into the water as well.
She’s dripping wet and the icy water bleeds through his jacket and tanks, right to his chest. “Gods, you’re soaked,” he says but she just clutches tighter.
“And you’re warm. Deal with it.”
Her teeth start to chatter and standing in the river isn’t doing them any favors, so they trip their way back onto dry land. “Let’s get you into some dry clothes, before you get sick.” And he can pretend that he wants her to let go. He can pretend he doesn’t want to hold her in his arms until she stops shivering, because it isn’t his place. So he’ll pretend that it doesn’t hurt when they get back to the pathetic collection of tents that they’re calling a settlement, and it’s Anders who wraps her up in a blanket, instead of him.
Just like she’ll pretend that this rock out in space can actually be their home, that humankind can be happy here, that they don’t need Earth.
Author bakatulip
Rating PG
Word Count 1157
Prompt 003, Planetside, New Caprica
Characters/Pairing (if any) Kara/Lee, hint of Kara/Sam
A/N: Not up for voting, beta'd by somewhereapart
Lee didn’t cut class often in high school-some might’ve called him a goody-two-shoes, he’d’ve said he valued his education-but as he’s slipping away from “President” Baltar’s blathering on and on about his plans for settlement, he can’t help but feel like he’s playing hooky.
When he finds her, she’s standing at the edge of the river (alone, he notes with a happiness he doesn’t have the right to feel), puffing out breath like rings of smoke from cigars she’s long run out of. Maybe some of the civilians have some left and will be looking to trade in that new marketplace Baltar is so excited about, or maybe they’ve all been burned and breathed in futile attempts to calm nerves. There are a thousand reasons he shouldn’t be standing here, starting with the color of the piping on his new jacket and ending with the last time he’d seen her-sprawled over Anders’s lap. She’s noticed him before he can move.
“So, we’re really giving up Earth for this ball of dirt.” Kara kicks at a rock on the ground, sending it towards him. It comes to a stop abruptly against his boot. She isn’t looking at him, just at the vast grey dirt and the vast grey mountains and the vast grey sky and the vast grey river; it’s nothing like tall green grass brushing their legs or dark skies set ablaze with stars.
He doesn’t catch her gaze until he kicks the stone into the water and steps up alongside her. She twists her head to look at him and he sees something in all that hazel that looks like regret. It’s about the planet. Nothing more. For a moment it looks like she’s waiting for him to say something but before he can speak she steamrolls over him.
“And you’d think they’d come up with a better name than New Caprica.”
He digs his hands into his pockets a stiff wind gusts through the valley, seeping through blue wool and skin and into his bones. “I don’t know,” he says ignoring the fact that no matter what they call it or how hard they try this will never be home; but they’re just going to have to try to make do. “I was a fan of the old one.”
She tugs her BDU jacket tighter around herself even though the wind has stopped. “You haven’t seen it lately.”
There’s nothing but the sound of voices in the distance and a heavy silence settling between them. He watches her like she’s about to jump away again, disappear off dradis, because it looks like she has nowhere left to go. He remembers the look on her face, the brightness that rivaled Earth’s night sky, and he knows that nothing he can say can make this the least bit better. “Might as well try to make the best of it. It’s not home, but-”
Her laughter rings hollow and her eyes roll. “We should make our own bright, shiny futures?”
The words shoot through him, and there’s a look in her eyes like she wants to take it back. Too late. It’s out there. He folds his arms and she turns away.
“Something like that.” Maybe if they close their eyes and pretend really hard…
“I guess it’s not too bad.” Whiplash. “Not exactly Caprica Beach but we’ve got water right here.” She turns back towards him with her lips curled into a wicked grin. She’s always been good at pretending. “Wanna go for a swim?”
So is he. His jaw drops slightly. “Are you kidding? It has to be freezing.”
She’s striding toward the river, studying the places where boulders stick up from under the surface. “I don’t see any ice, so it’s gotta be above zero.”
“You’re insane.”
“Can’t catch me.”
And before he can move to stop her she’s hopped three rocks out into the water and isn’t showing the slightest inclination that she’s coming back. He plants his feet firmly on the ground, arms folded over his chest. This is childish and immature and he knows she knows it. “I’m not coming in there after you if you fall in.”
“Oh please, Lee,” she calls over her shoulder, “I’m going to be the one fishing you out of the drink!” There’s a wild kind of grin on her face that he hasn’t seen in months, maybe years at this point. She jumps one more rock out into the river before turning back to him.
When she turns around he sees her foot slipping and every muscle in his body is ready to spring into a run. The only thing that stops him is the way she doubles over, clutching her stomach and filling the air with loud laughter, cackling and just… her. “I can’t believe you fell for that!”
And while he’s still riding the wave of relief he folds his arms over his chest and imitates the sternest look he can imagine his father giving. “Alright, you’ve had your fun, now come back here.”
“Come on, Apollo, where’s your sense of adventure?”
“Actually, I left it on Pegasus today, but I do have my desire not to die of hypothermia on hand.” Did she actually just stick her tongue out at him? “Captain! You get your ass back here, right frakking now,” he yells, using the best Commander voice he can.
“You’re just afraid you’re gonnaaaaaa-“
Splash.
She isn’t even under for a second before she resurfaces gasping and swearing and kicking her way over to shore with no grace whatsoever. “Holy frak! It’s freezing!” He barely bites back a laugh as he wades out, knee deep into the water, waiting until she’s close enough that he can grab her hand. She does a better job of pulling herself to her feet than he does, but the first thing she does once she’s standing is throw her arms around him, nearly knocking him into the water as well.
She’s dripping wet and the icy water bleeds through his jacket and tanks, right to his chest. “Gods, you’re soaked,” he says but she just clutches tighter.
“And you’re warm. Deal with it.”
Her teeth start to chatter and standing in the river isn’t doing them any favors, so they trip their way back onto dry land. “Let’s get you into some dry clothes, before you get sick.” And he can pretend that he wants her to let go. He can pretend he doesn’t want to hold her in his arms until she stops shivering, because it isn’t his place. So he’ll pretend that it doesn’t hurt when they get back to the pathetic collection of tents that they’re calling a settlement, and it’s Anders who wraps her up in a blanket, instead of him.
Just like she’ll pretend that this rock out in space can actually be their home, that humankind can be happy here, that they don’t need Earth.