K is for Kite | My Baby Fluff Fic for Gen Fic Day
I've been trotting around Canada with my family these past two weeks. We're conducting some genealogy research in Trois Rivieres and just spent the whole day in the archives handling 300-yr old documents. They gave us gloves and everything, it was AWESOME.
We're having a lovely time, but I (naturally) didn't write this in advance and had to churn something out while in the car. So this fic turned out very short and simple, but I hope it'll make you smile at least once :) I had fun throwing it together anyway. It'll be a quick read!
Jack O'Neill was woken by a sharp tug on his arm. He jerked awake and blinked heavily, his fingers twitching toward his weapon automatically. Large brown eyes in a child's face gazed back at him from not four inches away. They regarded each other silently for a moment.
Jack pulled his head back so his old eyes could focus better.
Another moment passed, before he finally snapped." What?"
The young girl, Ambi, was barely 6 years old. She beamed at him and leaned against the bed. "You did promise!"
Jack rubbed at his eyes. "I did nothing of the sort."
"Of course you did!" she declared as she tugged on his arm again.
Jack jerked his arm out of the child's hand and abruptly sat up with a dramatic inhale through his nose. He looked around at his sleeping team. Well… mostly sleeping. Teal'c was meditating in the corner, politely ignoring the goings on. Daniel was snoring softly. Carter had one eye open and was trying to hide a smile.
"Will you come?" Ambi implored, clasping her hands together. Jack allowed himself a few seconds to feign ignorance a while longer, but he did get up at last, stretching magnanimously and pulling on his BDU jacket before following the girl outside the tent.
The sky was a blue-toned slate grey, but the wind was waking and had already begun to push the clouds away. The morning winds were strong and came every day, but they always slowed to a gentle breeze by mid-morning and a lazy huff of air in the afternoon.
"Did you do your chores?" Jack asked.
Ambi spread her hands and spun in a half-circle to face the other direction. "Oh yes!" she cried, darting off.
Jack stretched some more as the wind pulled playfully at his jacket. He turned to the path that led down the hill from the encampment and spilled out upon the large mesa below, with its open fields for miles.
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Ambi had brought him perfectly good supplies. She listened well. Eagerly they set to work. Jack showed her how to wrap the "paring grass" that grew nearby, a local plant he'd been unsuccessfully trying to convince Carter to let him take back. They wrapped it around the strong branches, then took the scrap cloth Ambi had nicked and stretched it over the backing. A few adjustments, some twine and a decorative ribbon that Jack plucked from Ambi's hair, and they had themselves a kite.
Jack spun the kite in his hand experimentally and looked at the kid. She was sitting, hands on her knees, lip between her teeth, constantly pushing her hair out of her eyes. Patient but clearly brimming with excitement.
He held the end of the twine out to her. "Think we should give this thing a test run?"
"Oh yes!" Ambi exclaimed, getting to her feet.
Jack had her stand put and started walking away with the kite. He turned to take a few steps backward, feeling the wind against the fabric. Despite having already died down from the early morning, it was trying to pull the kite away. Perfect.
Once Jack was a fair distance, he shouted back. "Ready?"
"Of course!"
And with that, Jack launched the homemade kite into the air. The wind immediately swept it up and into the sky.