Dirty Ball (fic)
Title: Dirty Ball
Character/Pairing: Hunter, Maddy, cameos by Tasha, Sky, Reynolds, Taylor and Wash.
Word Count: 1051
Rating: PG
Spoiler alert: None
Summary: Hunter sets his sights on the new girl, Maddy. He gets an eyeful of something else.
Author's Note: I was prompted Hunter/Maddy (could be one-sided) by inu_midoriko, and bruise by both inu_midoriko and sky_kiss, and decided that wasn't enough so also prompted myself 'Dirty Ball', a song by Electric Six.
There was one thing a skinny white kid like him could never get in the future: an exotic girlfriend. Neighborhoods were so segregated in his city, he barely saw a face any darker than his own. Tasha had been a sight to behold, so unique he had been unable to take his eyes off her for the first two weeks he'd known her.
Of course, then she'd called him a creep and told him to piss off. The honeymoon had ended before it had begun.
It also turned out, as he'd gotten to know her, Tasha really wasn't his type. Skye was much more his type of girl, much calmer, and more level-headed. Too bad she wasn't terribly interested in him, or apparently anyone. They remained friends, and only friends.
So when the tenth pilgrimage arrived, and with it a pretty girl that was top on Hunter's lists of physical likes, he had to get to know her. Her brother, who was inexplicably even whiter than himself, was a good in to get to know her. He seemed like a good enough guy, but Hunter never found the right occasion to ask him about his sister, not even her name.
To ask in front of everyone else would be humiliating, for both of them, so he let his unspoken attraction stay that way until the moment presented itself.
It took a few weeks until Hunter happened to spot the lovely Maddy Shannon (he'd finally learned her name) walking one late afternoon toward the fields at the rear of the military housing. He jogged to catch up with her. "Maddy!"
She paused, turned, and gave him a smile.
It was the polite smile, friendly and not at all interested smile that Hunter was used to, but it wouldn't stop him from trying to change her mind at least a little. "Hi," he said when he caught up to her. "Where you headed?"
"Just out for a walk before dinner. Thought I'd look at the wheat fields."
By the way her eyes roamed around the bunkhouses and mess hall, it wasn't really what she was interested in looking at. Hunter sighed silently, defeated. "Into agriculture?"
"A little." She definitely perked up at the question, though she still showed no interest in him as anything other than a fellow colonist.
And then Maddy Shannon started talking. Immediately Hunter knew they were not meant to be. Nice girl, definitely not his type. His brain tuned out her exact words after the second sentence involving ancient strains and the danger of over-processing; he only nodded in politeness, knowing that they would only ever be passable acquaintances.
Something more interesting caught his ear as they passed the last bunkhouse. "Hey, let's see what that is," he suggested, pinched Maddy's shirt, and headed off the path.
With only a minor protest, Maddy followed, her eyes still on the lookout for her favorite soldier.
There was an open space between the bunkhouse and the field. Currently there was a mud pit, roughly the size of a basketball court, filled with a dozen filthy soldiers. They had a ball they looked to be fighting over.
Covered in mud, Hunter couldn't tell any of the participants apart. He saw a soldier yank the ball away from another, and then pass it to someone else. That person started to pass it, closer to one end of the pit, where a small woven basket was sitting, when someone charged through the mud to tackle him.
"That's the round!" Taylor, off to the side where both Hunter and Maddy had missed him, yelled. He was watching the game with an uncommonly stern expression on his face, though his more casual attire softened it.
Hunter looked at his own arms, then back at Taylor's, perfectly displayed in a black tank top. Maybe that was his next step.
"That is disgusting," Maddy said, frowning. "What are they doing?"
"It's a game." He didn't know the rules, but after seeing it in action, he recognized what he'd heard spoken of several times around the motor pool. "To build strength, stamina, and teamwork."
"Gross," Maddy repeated, shaking her head now as they watched the soldiers fight their way out of the thick mud to get to the hose Taylor was currently holding. Her tune changed when she saw one soldier step up, get hosed down, and the mud washed away to reveal Mark Reynolds. Her legs were taking her to his side as fast as they would move.
Hunter sighed again, leaning against the corner of the bunkhouse and sliding down to end up sitting on the ground. Why couldn't he get some girl to fall for him like that Reynolds guy? The soldier wasn't even that smart or good-looking. He stayed there on the ground, not really listening to the group of soldiers talk as they each waited to get most of the mud removed from themselves, too busy wallowing in his own self-pity.
It was only when it had silent that he looked around the corner, but it wasn't empty quite yet. Commander Taylor was still there with the hose, along with one last muddied soldier. He had mud splattered on him, but was otherwise clean, until he stepped into the soldier.
His hand wiped the mud away, revealing smooth skin beneath. "Wash, you're filthy."
Eyes popping open wide, Hunter withdrew to his unseen spot, afraid to move.
"Then why don't you hose me down, sir?"
Hunter listened as the hose came back on, hand over his mouth to control the volume of his breathing.
"Looks like an uncomfortable spot for a bruise right there."
"It is, and thank you for giving it to me last night."
"You'll recover."
"Until the next one."
"And now you'll probably need a shower, to get the mud out of all those tough to reach areas."
"You volunteering to assist?"
"When don't I?"
The hose turned off, two pair of footsteps crunched over the gravel away from Hunter's hiding spot. He still waited another five minutes before daring to move, and deciding in the meantime this was information he'd keep to himself.
Character/Pairing: Hunter, Maddy, cameos by Tasha, Sky, Reynolds, Taylor and Wash.
Word Count: 1051
Rating: PG
Spoiler alert: None
Summary: Hunter sets his sights on the new girl, Maddy. He gets an eyeful of something else.
Author's Note: I was prompted Hunter/Maddy (could be one-sided) by inu_midoriko, and bruise by both inu_midoriko and sky_kiss, and decided that wasn't enough so also prompted myself 'Dirty Ball', a song by Electric Six.
There was one thing a skinny white kid like him could never get in the future: an exotic girlfriend. Neighborhoods were so segregated in his city, he barely saw a face any darker than his own. Tasha had been a sight to behold, so unique he had been unable to take his eyes off her for the first two weeks he'd known her.
Of course, then she'd called him a creep and told him to piss off. The honeymoon had ended before it had begun.
It also turned out, as he'd gotten to know her, Tasha really wasn't his type. Skye was much more his type of girl, much calmer, and more level-headed. Too bad she wasn't terribly interested in him, or apparently anyone. They remained friends, and only friends.
So when the tenth pilgrimage arrived, and with it a pretty girl that was top on Hunter's lists of physical likes, he had to get to know her. Her brother, who was inexplicably even whiter than himself, was a good in to get to know her. He seemed like a good enough guy, but Hunter never found the right occasion to ask him about his sister, not even her name.
To ask in front of everyone else would be humiliating, for both of them, so he let his unspoken attraction stay that way until the moment presented itself.
It took a few weeks until Hunter happened to spot the lovely Maddy Shannon (he'd finally learned her name) walking one late afternoon toward the fields at the rear of the military housing. He jogged to catch up with her. "Maddy!"
She paused, turned, and gave him a smile.
It was the polite smile, friendly and not at all interested smile that Hunter was used to, but it wouldn't stop him from trying to change her mind at least a little. "Hi," he said when he caught up to her. "Where you headed?"
"Just out for a walk before dinner. Thought I'd look at the wheat fields."
By the way her eyes roamed around the bunkhouses and mess hall, it wasn't really what she was interested in looking at. Hunter sighed silently, defeated. "Into agriculture?"
"A little." She definitely perked up at the question, though she still showed no interest in him as anything other than a fellow colonist.
And then Maddy Shannon started talking. Immediately Hunter knew they were not meant to be. Nice girl, definitely not his type. His brain tuned out her exact words after the second sentence involving ancient strains and the danger of over-processing; he only nodded in politeness, knowing that they would only ever be passable acquaintances.
Something more interesting caught his ear as they passed the last bunkhouse. "Hey, let's see what that is," he suggested, pinched Maddy's shirt, and headed off the path.
With only a minor protest, Maddy followed, her eyes still on the lookout for her favorite soldier.
There was an open space between the bunkhouse and the field. Currently there was a mud pit, roughly the size of a basketball court, filled with a dozen filthy soldiers. They had a ball they looked to be fighting over.
Covered in mud, Hunter couldn't tell any of the participants apart. He saw a soldier yank the ball away from another, and then pass it to someone else. That person started to pass it, closer to one end of the pit, where a small woven basket was sitting, when someone charged through the mud to tackle him.
"That's the round!" Taylor, off to the side where both Hunter and Maddy had missed him, yelled. He was watching the game with an uncommonly stern expression on his face, though his more casual attire softened it.
Hunter looked at his own arms, then back at Taylor's, perfectly displayed in a black tank top. Maybe that was his next step.
"That is disgusting," Maddy said, frowning. "What are they doing?"
"It's a game." He didn't know the rules, but after seeing it in action, he recognized what he'd heard spoken of several times around the motor pool. "To build strength, stamina, and teamwork."
"Gross," Maddy repeated, shaking her head now as they watched the soldiers fight their way out of the thick mud to get to the hose Taylor was currently holding. Her tune changed when she saw one soldier step up, get hosed down, and the mud washed away to reveal Mark Reynolds. Her legs were taking her to his side as fast as they would move.
Hunter sighed again, leaning against the corner of the bunkhouse and sliding down to end up sitting on the ground. Why couldn't he get some girl to fall for him like that Reynolds guy? The soldier wasn't even that smart or good-looking. He stayed there on the ground, not really listening to the group of soldiers talk as they each waited to get most of the mud removed from themselves, too busy wallowing in his own self-pity.
It was only when it had silent that he looked around the corner, but it wasn't empty quite yet. Commander Taylor was still there with the hose, along with one last muddied soldier. He had mud splattered on him, but was otherwise clean, until he stepped into the soldier.
His hand wiped the mud away, revealing smooth skin beneath. "Wash, you're filthy."
Eyes popping open wide, Hunter withdrew to his unseen spot, afraid to move.
"Then why don't you hose me down, sir?"
Hunter listened as the hose came back on, hand over his mouth to control the volume of his breathing.
"Looks like an uncomfortable spot for a bruise right there."
"It is, and thank you for giving it to me last night."
"You'll recover."
"Until the next one."
"And now you'll probably need a shower, to get the mud out of all those tough to reach areas."
"You volunteering to assist?"
"When don't I?"
The hose turned off, two pair of footsteps crunched over the gravel away from Hunter's hiding spot. He still waited another five minutes before daring to move, and deciding in the meantime this was information he'd keep to himself.