Packing it in
Title: Packing it in
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Character: David Parrish, OC
Rating: Gen
Word Count: 641
Prompt: Moving
David ran the tape gun over the seam and set it aside. He scrawled “textbooks - storage” across the top of the box and on the side, writing in the space provided on the box he had purchased from the moving and storage company. There had not been time to collect boxes from the local shops and supermarket.
He had not expected to be packing up and leaving on such short notice. He didn’t want to move, he liked his apartment, he had nice neighbors, the place was close to the center of town, and he had decorated it to his liking.
“Pots and pans?” his cousin Anna called from the doorway of the kitchen. When he looked up, she waggled his wok pan at him and smiled.
“Pack ‘em up,” David replied.
She sighed. “I don’t understand where you’re going that you don’t need anything, David.” She had come over to help him pack when he had gotten the call, without asking any questions other than “Do you need packing tape?” She had always been his favorite cousin, they were the closest in age of all the kids in the family, and they were the only two living on the west coast. When he had needed help, she had dropped everything to come to his aid. He had done something similar for her a few years earlier, when she had needed to vacate her ex-boyfriend’s condo. He didn’t feel guilty calling on her, she still owed him for That Couch.
He had been running over how to explain this. He hoped it sounded plausible when he said it aloud. “It’s a special study at a unique military base. I don’t need to cook, they’re going to provide all my food, I’ll eat with the soldiers.”
“Like in a mess hall? David Parrish, you’re the pickiest eater in the world, how are you going to survive on cafeteria food?” she called over the sound of pots and lids banging as she boxed them.
“I’m bringing peanut butter. A lot of peanut butter.” As much as his personal allotment would allow. “And I’m not that picky!”
She laughed in a manner that said she didn’t believe a word of it.
“A shame to leave this apartment. You love this place,” Anna said as she carried the box in to add to the growing stack in the living room. “Maybe I could assume the lease? I always liked it too.”
“That would probably make Mrs Gorman happy.”
“Mrs Gorman? Forget your landlady, it would thrill my mom, to know I’m getting out of that basement. How long will you be gone, David?”
He shrugged, putting a ceramic flower pot he had gotten on a trip to Mexico into the box he was filling. So many of his memories, going into storage. He was moving away from everyone he had known since graduating college, he had quit his job at the University to travel to another galaxy. But he couldn’t tell Anna that. “It depends on how things are going. It might be a few years.” It might be forever.
Closing the box, he crossed the room and hugged Anna. “I’m going to miss you most of all.”
“It’s a big deal, this job?” she sniffled.
“The biggest, the best. The opportunity of a lifetime. Worth giving up everything for, Anna.” He hugged her again and wiped the tears off her cheek with his thumbs.
“Maybe you’ll find yourself a hot, sexy soldier!” she teased, patting the lapels of his sweater as she pulled away.
He snorted. “Yeah, like that will happen.”
The End
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Character: David Parrish, OC
Rating: Gen
Word Count: 641
Prompt: Moving
David ran the tape gun over the seam and set it aside. He scrawled “textbooks - storage” across the top of the box and on the side, writing in the space provided on the box he had purchased from the moving and storage company. There had not been time to collect boxes from the local shops and supermarket.
He had not expected to be packing up and leaving on such short notice. He didn’t want to move, he liked his apartment, he had nice neighbors, the place was close to the center of town, and he had decorated it to his liking.
“Pots and pans?” his cousin Anna called from the doorway of the kitchen. When he looked up, she waggled his wok pan at him and smiled.
“Pack ‘em up,” David replied.
She sighed. “I don’t understand where you’re going that you don’t need anything, David.” She had come over to help him pack when he had gotten the call, without asking any questions other than “Do you need packing tape?” She had always been his favorite cousin, they were the closest in age of all the kids in the family, and they were the only two living on the west coast. When he had needed help, she had dropped everything to come to his aid. He had done something similar for her a few years earlier, when she had needed to vacate her ex-boyfriend’s condo. He didn’t feel guilty calling on her, she still owed him for That Couch.
He had been running over how to explain this. He hoped it sounded plausible when he said it aloud. “It’s a special study at a unique military base. I don’t need to cook, they’re going to provide all my food, I’ll eat with the soldiers.”
“Like in a mess hall? David Parrish, you’re the pickiest eater in the world, how are you going to survive on cafeteria food?” she called over the sound of pots and lids banging as she boxed them.
“I’m bringing peanut butter. A lot of peanut butter.” As much as his personal allotment would allow. “And I’m not that picky!”
She laughed in a manner that said she didn’t believe a word of it.
“A shame to leave this apartment. You love this place,” Anna said as she carried the box in to add to the growing stack in the living room. “Maybe I could assume the lease? I always liked it too.”
“That would probably make Mrs Gorman happy.”
“Mrs Gorman? Forget your landlady, it would thrill my mom, to know I’m getting out of that basement. How long will you be gone, David?”
He shrugged, putting a ceramic flower pot he had gotten on a trip to Mexico into the box he was filling. So many of his memories, going into storage. He was moving away from everyone he had known since graduating college, he had quit his job at the University to travel to another galaxy. But he couldn’t tell Anna that. “It depends on how things are going. It might be a few years.” It might be forever.
Closing the box, he crossed the room and hugged Anna. “I’m going to miss you most of all.”
“It’s a big deal, this job?” she sniffled.
“The biggest, the best. The opportunity of a lifetime. Worth giving up everything for, Anna.” He hugged her again and wiped the tears off her cheek with his thumbs.
“Maybe you’ll find yourself a hot, sexy soldier!” she teased, patting the lapels of his sweater as she pulled away.
He snorted. “Yeah, like that will happen.”
The End