BSG Drabbles: Five Old (newly discovered) Prompts!
As with everything I've done in BSG fandom, I'm incredibly late to the game in discovering ar_drabbles but did today in a moment of conference call boredom and was inspired to take up some very old prompts. Apologies to the wonderful writers who did justice to these as many as three years ago.
Prompts, in order: dreams, recovery, bad boy Bill, clumsy Laura, things I can't do on Colonial One
Title: Hauntings
Prompt: Dreams
Word count: 200
Summary: A/R, angst, no warnings.
The night the Cylons returned, he saw her lined up alongside his best friend and his adopted daughter. The occupiers had ordered the settlers to gather for a public assembly. Silent tears streaked the former president’s face as she watched his family ripped apart, one by one, by Centurion fire.
When her turn came, she held her head high, smiled reassuringly at her people, and stepped forward into the spray of bullets.
Other nights, she died alone in the grips of delirium. From a fever Cottle could not cure. From drugs they pumped into her fragile body in a fruitless attempt to get information. From being beaten until she plead for merciful death.
The night before he returned for her, a sobbing colonist gently placed her broken, bleeding body into his arms on his own hangar deck.
“Bill, it’s alright. Wake up. I’m here.”
His eyes spring open. Sweat or tears or some combination blur his vision.
“It’s ok, it was just a dream.”
He brings his body back under control by focusing on her warmth at his side. He pulls her closer to bury his hot face in her hair.
“No, a nightmare. This, Laura, this is a dream.”
Title: AM Date With An Airlock
Prompt: recovery
Word count: 200
Summary: A/R, hurt/comfort, no warnings.
She can barely hold her body upright against the couch. She’s gone pale in the last fifteen minutes and the lines around her eyes have crawled deeper into their purple pillows.
Bill keeps his silence. She already snapped at him for suggesting an early end to the meeting.
She tries to reach for the water on the table and gasps when the attempt proves both exhausting and painful.
He hands it to her wordlessly, looking down at his report so as not to see the embarrassment in her eyes.
When she hands it back, he can’t ignore the tremor wracking her too pale hand.
Wordlessly, he stands and takes the report she’s holding. Her questioning look turns to horror when he bends down and scoops her into his arms.
She pounds on his chest in protest all the way to his rack. The blows are harmless but buoy his heart tremendously. Two weeks ago, she couldn’t even spare the strength to lift her head.
“This is humiliating, Admiral. I’m the president of the Twelve Colonies.”
“And you’ll live to airlock me for it if you want. But wait for the morning. Rest now.”
“Alright. In the morning.”
“Goodnight, Madame President.”
Title: Viper Pilot Groupies
Prompt: bad boy Bill
Word count: 100
Summary: A/R, fluff, no warnings.
He couldn’t process anything but the smell of her hair and the almost painful desperation of her lips against his.
He was dreaming. He wasn’t really sucking face with the president against the cold metal of his bulkhead.
Cool fingers exploring his biceps brought him back to reality. He realized with sudden clarity that he was no longer wearing his uniform jacket.
He pulled away and gave Laura Roslin an incredulous look.
“The only women I’ve ever known who could do that were Viper pilot groupies.”
She leaned in to nip at his ear.
“Whoever said I wasn’t one, Husker?”
Title: Higher Up on the Ladder
Prompt: clumsy Laura
Word Count: 100
Summary: A/R, fluff, no warnings.
The first time was humiliating. Heels were not proper footwear for a Battlestar.
His strong arms encircled her waist. He was surprisingly gentle as he eased her to her feet.
“Madame President, are you alright?”
“Fine, Commander. Sorry. I’m so clumsy sometimes.”
The second time she felt herself falling but didn’t try to stop the descent.
He smelled so good and his arms were the only warmth she’d felt in a long time.
They laughed about her clumsiness before successfully climbing the ladder to their meeting.
The third time, both knew and neither mentioned that she deliberately missed the rung.
Title: Inverted
Prompt: Things I can’t do on Colonial One
Word Count: 100
Summary: A/R, fluff, no warnings.
Bill smiled when he entered his quarters and spied unmistakable presidential pumps discarded near the door.
He looked toward his desk and found it unoccupied.
He wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or relieved she was wearing slacks the day she decided to propel herself into a handstand against his bulkhead.
“Madame President?”
She slid down from the wall with the grace of a gymnast, landing on bare feet with a soft thud.
“Admiral! You’re early.”
“Lucky me, I think.”
She blushed.
“Billy freaks out when I do that on Colonial One. But it helps me think.”
“His loss, ma’am.”
Prompts, in order: dreams, recovery, bad boy Bill, clumsy Laura, things I can't do on Colonial One
Title: Hauntings
Prompt: Dreams
Word count: 200
Summary: A/R, angst, no warnings.
The night the Cylons returned, he saw her lined up alongside his best friend and his adopted daughter. The occupiers had ordered the settlers to gather for a public assembly. Silent tears streaked the former president’s face as she watched his family ripped apart, one by one, by Centurion fire.
When her turn came, she held her head high, smiled reassuringly at her people, and stepped forward into the spray of bullets.
Other nights, she died alone in the grips of delirium. From a fever Cottle could not cure. From drugs they pumped into her fragile body in a fruitless attempt to get information. From being beaten until she plead for merciful death.
The night before he returned for her, a sobbing colonist gently placed her broken, bleeding body into his arms on his own hangar deck.
“Bill, it’s alright. Wake up. I’m here.”
His eyes spring open. Sweat or tears or some combination blur his vision.
“It’s ok, it was just a dream.”
He brings his body back under control by focusing on her warmth at his side. He pulls her closer to bury his hot face in her hair.
“No, a nightmare. This, Laura, this is a dream.”
Title: AM Date With An Airlock
Prompt: recovery
Word count: 200
Summary: A/R, hurt/comfort, no warnings.
She can barely hold her body upright against the couch. She’s gone pale in the last fifteen minutes and the lines around her eyes have crawled deeper into their purple pillows.
Bill keeps his silence. She already snapped at him for suggesting an early end to the meeting.
She tries to reach for the water on the table and gasps when the attempt proves both exhausting and painful.
He hands it to her wordlessly, looking down at his report so as not to see the embarrassment in her eyes.
When she hands it back, he can’t ignore the tremor wracking her too pale hand.
Wordlessly, he stands and takes the report she’s holding. Her questioning look turns to horror when he bends down and scoops her into his arms.
She pounds on his chest in protest all the way to his rack. The blows are harmless but buoy his heart tremendously. Two weeks ago, she couldn’t even spare the strength to lift her head.
“This is humiliating, Admiral. I’m the president of the Twelve Colonies.”
“And you’ll live to airlock me for it if you want. But wait for the morning. Rest now.”
“Alright. In the morning.”
“Goodnight, Madame President.”
Title: Viper Pilot Groupies
Prompt: bad boy Bill
Word count: 100
Summary: A/R, fluff, no warnings.
He couldn’t process anything but the smell of her hair and the almost painful desperation of her lips against his.
He was dreaming. He wasn’t really sucking face with the president against the cold metal of his bulkhead.
Cool fingers exploring his biceps brought him back to reality. He realized with sudden clarity that he was no longer wearing his uniform jacket.
He pulled away and gave Laura Roslin an incredulous look.
“The only women I’ve ever known who could do that were Viper pilot groupies.”
She leaned in to nip at his ear.
“Whoever said I wasn’t one, Husker?”
Title: Higher Up on the Ladder
Prompt: clumsy Laura
Word Count: 100
Summary: A/R, fluff, no warnings.
The first time was humiliating. Heels were not proper footwear for a Battlestar.
His strong arms encircled her waist. He was surprisingly gentle as he eased her to her feet.
“Madame President, are you alright?”
“Fine, Commander. Sorry. I’m so clumsy sometimes.”
The second time she felt herself falling but didn’t try to stop the descent.
He smelled so good and his arms were the only warmth she’d felt in a long time.
They laughed about her clumsiness before successfully climbing the ladder to their meeting.
The third time, both knew and neither mentioned that she deliberately missed the rung.
Title: Inverted
Prompt: Things I can’t do on Colonial One
Word Count: 100
Summary: A/R, fluff, no warnings.
Bill smiled when he entered his quarters and spied unmistakable presidential pumps discarded near the door.
He looked toward his desk and found it unoccupied.
He wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or relieved she was wearing slacks the day she decided to propel herself into a handstand against his bulkhead.
“Madame President?”
She slid down from the wall with the grace of a gymnast, landing on bare feet with a soft thud.
“Admiral! You’re early.”
“Lucky me, I think.”
She blushed.
“Billy freaks out when I do that on Colonial One. But it helps me think.”
“His loss, ma’am.”