Packing Up Rated PG13 1/1
Title: Packing Up
Claim: Xander Harris
Author: amejisuto
Prompt: #96 Writer's Choice: Moving
Fandom: Buffy TVS/Stargate Atlantis
Pairing: None
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be. No harm, no foul, no money made.
Warnings/Squicks: None really, but it is a gen fic at this point.
Summary: Xander packs for a move across galaxies.
Written for: crossovers100. Find my Xander table here.
Word Count: 1128
Beta'd by the wonderful kitty_poker1. Thank you dearest!
Notes: This is just a beginning bunny that I'm floating just to see if I can write in this verse. Well, if I ever find the time that is. This is a sort of What If... ficlet for me. What if Xander left Sunnydale after the whole Dracula thing. Joined the Marines because after the Initiative he didn't want anything to do with the Army. Knowing Xander's luck he'd get assigned to work at the SGC for a few years. And what if the only good thing his parents did for him was pass along a certain gene that gets him assigned to the Atlantis Expedition.
So that's the concept. Hope you enjoy.
Packing Up
PFC Alexander Harris stood in his small apartment on the outskirts of Colorado Springs and tried to decide what needed packing up and what he needed to put into storage.
It was almost impossible. After nearly three years in the military, Xander had quite a bit of savings and until now he hadn't really done all that much with it. Even on a private's salary, a primo posting like Stargate Command paid big bucks and yet now that he had a reason to spend the money, he could only bring enough personal items to fit in a small duffel bag and what he could smuggle with him under his clothes. Add in the fact that he had one week to get all of his, snicker, earthly affairs in order and Xander was feeling the crunch. And he sure as hell wasn't going to be late. His new posting was better than Cheyenne Mountain.
After all, what sci-fi geek wouldn't love the idea of going to a mythical city in a galaxy far, far away?
Still, thoughts like that weren’t helping him pack. One thing Xander knew he'd need was weaponry. Yeah, the SGC were sending extra hand guns and P-90's, but his early years of living on the Hellmouth made Xander rather fond of the old fashioned kind of weapon. Luckily he had a couple of boot knives and a few throwing knives that friends of his who were on Gate Teams had given him.
What he really wanted was a good sword. He had several, but they were mostly big, hand and a half swords or Ivanhoes and that just wouldn't be practical. There was no way he could sneak a sword in his duffel so he was going to have to cheat and wear it under his clothes. Luckily he'd had his eye on a katana for a while now but had been unwilling to pay over seven hundred dollars when he already had something...
Okay, Xander had to admit it to himself. He was getting the katana and hiding it under his clothes due to his obsession with Duncan MacLeod. Because, really, the man was damn good looking and had an accent to die for.
Besides, while Xander had never been assigned to a Gate team, he knew how fast things could get FUBAR'd. You never knew when the ability to handle a sword and stake vampires would come in handy, even if you were leaving the galaxy.
Xander made plans to shop for that the next day and while he was out he'd get two or three more Swiss Army knives. Those he could carry in his pockets or in his gear somewhere. He could also get a couple of new packs of playing cards. The reality of the SGC had always been fight, save the world, kill the snakes and in between you sat around being bored a lot unless you were one of the civilian scientists. Grunts like him and the other Marines that guarded the base didn't get nearly the amount of action that the guys assigned to teams traveling through the Stargate did and he knew how easy it was to get bored.
Then again, they didn't get injured like the other grunts and Airmen assigned to the teams either. And they seemed to totally miss out on the whole “aliens forcing people to have sex and/or get married” thing, too.
Sometimes being the guy standing all day in the Gateroom was a good thing. Especially the times when one of the SG teams came through missing assorted clothes for one reason or another. It made life interesting.
Still, he would need more entertainment than a couple of packs of cards. Xander went to the bedroom and grabbed a small chest filled with various kinds of dice. From the base gossip, he'd heard that Dr. Corrigan was being sent to Atlantis as well. The man was one of Dr. Jackson's hand-picked protégées and knew more about Europe and Asia in the Middle Ages than even Giles had.
All of that combined to make the man one hell of a Dungeon Master for RPGs. Considering the number of scientists being assigned to Atlantis, Xander was sure they'd have plenty of people interested in playing.
While he was in his room he went to the closet and picked out three of the most annoying, colorful Hawaiian shirts he owned. Xander might be a good little Marine but the thought of wearing nothing but his uniform every day made his brain melt. Yeah, that meant he probably wouldn't be able to fit any books into his duffel but he wasn't a reader anyway.
Besides, he'd already bribed one of the computer techs on base to help with his entertainment issues. Between the equipment and paying for the work, Xander had ended up selling his pickup but it was worth it. Two laptops with compressed data. Data like the entire run of Babylon 5, Highlander and the original Trek along with a selection of other shows and movies. Add in his MP3 player and Xander was good to go.
That didn't leave much room in his bag. Xander decided that he should take some of his wood carving tools as well. It probably wouldn't be too hard to find regular building tools like a hammer and saw; in fact, the expedition was probably including them in the supplies. But for the detail work he'd need his own tools. From what he'd heard, and from how the General complained, most worlds had trees. Given enough time to get bored, Xander figured with help he'd be able to build stuff to keep them amused.
Okay, so he'd have to scrounge to find wheels the right size, but Xander still figured he could build a skateboard.
After packing that, Xander didn't have much room. He'd bought three five pound bags of coffee, one chocolate mint, one chocolate nut fudge and one just regular chocolate. He shoved those in his bag and tried to scrunch them down.
That only left Xander a little room. Enough for two more items, maybe, if he didn't mind everything getting squished. Then he'd be able to pack up the rest of his stuff and get it put into storage. He wasn't even attempting to keep the lease on his apartment -- who knew when or if he'd ever get back?
That left him with one big decision to be made before he could start to box up the rest of his stuff. Enough room in his duffel for two boxes. Xander sighed and looked at what he had to choose from.
Should he take two boxes of Twinkies to Atlantis? Or just one and a box of HoHo's?
The End?
****
Additional Author's Note: I've never been able to pin down just how many personal items the people going to Atlantis were allowed to have. If it was just one item, Sheppard would have either his book OR his poster, not both. And McKay wouldn't have half the power bars he had. So I figured they were allowed a small bag. ~shrug~ It may not be true but it works for me.
~ Ame
Claim: Xander Harris
Author: amejisuto
Prompt: #96 Writer's Choice: Moving
Fandom: Buffy TVS/Stargate Atlantis
Pairing: None
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be. No harm, no foul, no money made.
Warnings/Squicks: None really, but it is a gen fic at this point.
Summary: Xander packs for a move across galaxies.
Written for: crossovers100. Find my Xander table here.
Word Count: 1128
Beta'd by the wonderful kitty_poker1. Thank you dearest!
Notes: This is just a beginning bunny that I'm floating just to see if I can write in this verse. Well, if I ever find the time that is. This is a sort of What If... ficlet for me. What if Xander left Sunnydale after the whole Dracula thing. Joined the Marines because after the Initiative he didn't want anything to do with the Army. Knowing Xander's luck he'd get assigned to work at the SGC for a few years. And what if the only good thing his parents did for him was pass along a certain gene that gets him assigned to the Atlantis Expedition.
So that's the concept. Hope you enjoy.
Packing Up
PFC Alexander Harris stood in his small apartment on the outskirts of Colorado Springs and tried to decide what needed packing up and what he needed to put into storage.
It was almost impossible. After nearly three years in the military, Xander had quite a bit of savings and until now he hadn't really done all that much with it. Even on a private's salary, a primo posting like Stargate Command paid big bucks and yet now that he had a reason to spend the money, he could only bring enough personal items to fit in a small duffel bag and what he could smuggle with him under his clothes. Add in the fact that he had one week to get all of his, snicker, earthly affairs in order and Xander was feeling the crunch. And he sure as hell wasn't going to be late. His new posting was better than Cheyenne Mountain.
After all, what sci-fi geek wouldn't love the idea of going to a mythical city in a galaxy far, far away?
Still, thoughts like that weren’t helping him pack. One thing Xander knew he'd need was weaponry. Yeah, the SGC were sending extra hand guns and P-90's, but his early years of living on the Hellmouth made Xander rather fond of the old fashioned kind of weapon. Luckily he had a couple of boot knives and a few throwing knives that friends of his who were on Gate Teams had given him.
What he really wanted was a good sword. He had several, but they were mostly big, hand and a half swords or Ivanhoes and that just wouldn't be practical. There was no way he could sneak a sword in his duffel so he was going to have to cheat and wear it under his clothes. Luckily he'd had his eye on a katana for a while now but had been unwilling to pay over seven hundred dollars when he already had something...
Okay, Xander had to admit it to himself. He was getting the katana and hiding it under his clothes due to his obsession with Duncan MacLeod. Because, really, the man was damn good looking and had an accent to die for.
Besides, while Xander had never been assigned to a Gate team, he knew how fast things could get FUBAR'd. You never knew when the ability to handle a sword and stake vampires would come in handy, even if you were leaving the galaxy.
Xander made plans to shop for that the next day and while he was out he'd get two or three more Swiss Army knives. Those he could carry in his pockets or in his gear somewhere. He could also get a couple of new packs of playing cards. The reality of the SGC had always been fight, save the world, kill the snakes and in between you sat around being bored a lot unless you were one of the civilian scientists. Grunts like him and the other Marines that guarded the base didn't get nearly the amount of action that the guys assigned to teams traveling through the Stargate did and he knew how easy it was to get bored.
Then again, they didn't get injured like the other grunts and Airmen assigned to the teams either. And they seemed to totally miss out on the whole “aliens forcing people to have sex and/or get married” thing, too.
Sometimes being the guy standing all day in the Gateroom was a good thing. Especially the times when one of the SG teams came through missing assorted clothes for one reason or another. It made life interesting.
Still, he would need more entertainment than a couple of packs of cards. Xander went to the bedroom and grabbed a small chest filled with various kinds of dice. From the base gossip, he'd heard that Dr. Corrigan was being sent to Atlantis as well. The man was one of Dr. Jackson's hand-picked protégées and knew more about Europe and Asia in the Middle Ages than even Giles had.
All of that combined to make the man one hell of a Dungeon Master for RPGs. Considering the number of scientists being assigned to Atlantis, Xander was sure they'd have plenty of people interested in playing.
While he was in his room he went to the closet and picked out three of the most annoying, colorful Hawaiian shirts he owned. Xander might be a good little Marine but the thought of wearing nothing but his uniform every day made his brain melt. Yeah, that meant he probably wouldn't be able to fit any books into his duffel but he wasn't a reader anyway.
Besides, he'd already bribed one of the computer techs on base to help with his entertainment issues. Between the equipment and paying for the work, Xander had ended up selling his pickup but it was worth it. Two laptops with compressed data. Data like the entire run of Babylon 5, Highlander and the original Trek along with a selection of other shows and movies. Add in his MP3 player and Xander was good to go.
That didn't leave much room in his bag. Xander decided that he should take some of his wood carving tools as well. It probably wouldn't be too hard to find regular building tools like a hammer and saw; in fact, the expedition was probably including them in the supplies. But for the detail work he'd need his own tools. From what he'd heard, and from how the General complained, most worlds had trees. Given enough time to get bored, Xander figured with help he'd be able to build stuff to keep them amused.
Okay, so he'd have to scrounge to find wheels the right size, but Xander still figured he could build a skateboard.
After packing that, Xander didn't have much room. He'd bought three five pound bags of coffee, one chocolate mint, one chocolate nut fudge and one just regular chocolate. He shoved those in his bag and tried to scrunch them down.
That only left Xander a little room. Enough for two more items, maybe, if he didn't mind everything getting squished. Then he'd be able to pack up the rest of his stuff and get it put into storage. He wasn't even attempting to keep the lease on his apartment -- who knew when or if he'd ever get back?
That left him with one big decision to be made before he could start to box up the rest of his stuff. Enough room in his duffel for two boxes. Xander sighed and looked at what he had to choose from.
Should he take two boxes of Twinkies to Atlantis? Or just one and a box of HoHo's?
The End?
****
Additional Author's Note: I've never been able to pin down just how many personal items the people going to Atlantis were allowed to have. If it was just one item, Sheppard would have either his book OR his poster, not both. And McKay wouldn't have half the power bars he had. So I figured they were allowed a small bag. ~shrug~ It may not be true but it works for me.
~ Ame