Supporting Character, Week 2: Sharing is Caring
Title: Sharing is Caring
Author: yvi
Genre: Supporting Character Appreciation Day
Prompt Not what you think
Word Count:~1,200 words
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: alcohol consumption
Summary: Laura is drunk. But at least the others are, too. And they all have stories to tell.
Notes: Warning: One of my very rare attempts at some humour.
Sharing is Caring
There were things people knew about Laura Cadman. That she was military. That she was tough as nails. That she got up early to work out, running through the corridors of Atlantis, occasionally bumping into scientist that had just staggered out if bed.
There were other things, things that few people knew. The tap dancing. The reason she joined the Atlantis mission in the first place.
And then there were those that nobody knew. Unfortunately, from time to time, these things had a habit of coming out when you least expected it. Often when you were drunk. Laura was pretty drunk by now.
"You did what?" Katie exclaimed, her eyes very close to falling out of her head, as Laura thought.
"Didn't we all once?" Laura asked, knowing fully well the answer to that.
Katie continued to stare at her. "No. Not really."
Kate, however, was by now laughing so hard that her head was starting to change colours into a saturated red.
"You need to breathe," Laura remarked and took another sip of her drink. Coke with vodka. Good for times like this.
"It's just," Kate gasped, "that picture in my head."
Harriet, who had so far been pretty quiet and only laughed a little bit, nodded. "Oh yes. The picture."
Laura glared at the scientist. She suspected there would be quite a lot of glaring in the immediate future. Why couldn't she have just kept her mouth shut? "And what exactly is so funny about that picture?" She hoped she sounded sufficiently dangerous to keep the other three women in check. They all knew she could beat Sheppard in a fight, after all. Unfortunately, she had no such luck.
"Laura... how do I say this nicely? You... don't seem to be the most graceful person."
Laura put Katie Brown on her list of scientists to deliberately bump into the next time she passed her on her morning run. "I don't?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
Three women shaking their heads while trying to look sympathetic was the result.
"Okay, so maybe I am not. But what's so funny about me figure skating anyway?"
"That you just told us you were drunk and wearing a tutu while doing it, maybe?" Kate answered the question that was not supposed to be answered.
"It wasn't a tutu, it was a... well, okay, it was a tutu." Laura gave up. "It was a dare."
Kate grinned knowingly. "I certainly hope it was."
"This falls under doctor-patient confidentiality," Laura said.
The psychologist shook her head. "Only under girls-evening-in confidentiality. Which I observe religiously, I assure you."
Laura glared at the other two women a bit and they nodded in agreement. Good, they were sworn into secrecy. Now came the next step in not getting to be tomorrow's gossip topic: get them to admit similar things so they would be too embarrassed to even think about talking. "So, how about you, Katie?"
Katie immediately adopted the deer-in-headlights look. "What about me?"
"Oh, don't look all innocent," Laura said. "You know exactly what I mean. What stupid thing did you do while drunk?" She also noticed Harriet trying to blend with the wall behind her as she said that. There was definitely a well-guarded secret there. This would be interesting.
"I didn't do anything like that."
Kate grinned. "Katie, you went to college for years. Of course you did something stupid."
Katie blushed. "Well, there was... You won't tell anyone, right?"
Everyone nodded.
Katie took a sip of her drink. Laura didn't know what Katie was having, but it probably contained quite a bit of alcohol. "I was nineteen, just moved away from home into the big city and... I was out with my friends and we had something to drink and when we went home..." She stopped.
"Go on," Laura encouraged her. "It's just us."
Katie took another sip. "I flashed."
"You flashed?" Harriet asked.
"Your breasts?" Kate enquired.
Katie nodded and blushed a bit more. "The whole drive home."
Laura could not help it, she had to laugh. The timid Botanist, showing her boobs to the whole wide world.
"There might have been picture," Katie added, grinning a bit herself. "On one of the notice boards. Without my face, though. Nobody ever knew that was me."
"Oh, this is good," Laura said. "Kate, sharing is caring."
Kate grinned. "Okay, here goes. Stupid drunk moment number one in my life. It was my senior years in high school, and there was that guy... There's always that guy. The popular quarterback guy with the pretty girlfriends, loved by everyone, you know the drill."
The other three women nodded.
"I had a crush the size of Montana on him. We were at this party and there was alcohol and we were young and stupid and I let my girlfriends encourage me to just go for it. So I tried to think of things to impress him with."
There was a moment of silence. "What did you do?" Katie asked.
"I sung."
"You what?" Laura gasped.
"I sung. Well, first I tried to dance with him, but then this sort of slow song came on and I just found myself singing it to him. Drunk and in front of about 30 people I had to see every day for the next few months."
Laura tried to contain herself for just one more moment to ask the obvious question. "What did you sing?"
Kate hesitated for a second before admitting it. "I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight."
Four women could not hold it in any longer. They dissolved into giggles.
As they were finally composed enough to talk again, all eyes turned towards the last one. Harriet tried to blend into the background a bit more.
"So?" Laura asked. "Your turn."
Harriet looked onto the table. "I don't have a story."
Kate raised her eyebrows. "I would only believe that had you not spent the last few minutes praying no-one would ask you."
Katie nodded. "Come on, don't be ashamed."
"Nobody outside of this room will ever know," Laura joined in. Gosh, this was going to be a good one.
"It's not so much embarrassing or anything... And it wasn't in college," Harriet started. "It was here."
"In Atlantis?" Kate asked.
"Yes. After our first girls evening."
A very good one. Laura leaned back.
"McKay had been annoying me all week and I had this idea when I passed the lab on my way back. I was pretty drunk."
Laura got even more excited. This was about McKay.
Harriet looked around nervously, as if to check whether her boss was watching. Her voice dropped down to a whisper. "I stepped in and there was no-one else there. I went to the controls and manipulated a few things so that the next evening, when he got back from work, the emergency system in his room went on. The water in that system is very cold."
Laura imagined Rodney, coming back from a whole day of work and being condescending towards his subordinates, being soaked in cold water. It took three whole minutes for her to recover from that image.
"This must stay between us," Harriet said. "McKay was really irritated when he couldn't find out who did that. I am good with the Atlantis computers."
"No worries, hon," Laura said, tears still in her eyes. "This won't leave this room." She glared a bit to remind everyone of that again, but failed. Harriet, the shy scientist had managed to do what she only dreamed of.
They had to do more of these girls-only evenings. They were so much fun.
Author: yvi
Genre: Supporting Character Appreciation Day
Prompt Not what you think
Word Count:~1,200 words
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: alcohol consumption
Summary: Laura is drunk. But at least the others are, too. And they all have stories to tell.
Notes: Warning: One of my very rare attempts at some humour.
Sharing is Caring
There were things people knew about Laura Cadman. That she was military. That she was tough as nails. That she got up early to work out, running through the corridors of Atlantis, occasionally bumping into scientist that had just staggered out if bed.
There were other things, things that few people knew. The tap dancing. The reason she joined the Atlantis mission in the first place.
And then there were those that nobody knew. Unfortunately, from time to time, these things had a habit of coming out when you least expected it. Often when you were drunk. Laura was pretty drunk by now.
"You did what?" Katie exclaimed, her eyes very close to falling out of her head, as Laura thought.
"Didn't we all once?" Laura asked, knowing fully well the answer to that.
Katie continued to stare at her. "No. Not really."
Kate, however, was by now laughing so hard that her head was starting to change colours into a saturated red.
"You need to breathe," Laura remarked and took another sip of her drink. Coke with vodka. Good for times like this.
"It's just," Kate gasped, "that picture in my head."
Harriet, who had so far been pretty quiet and only laughed a little bit, nodded. "Oh yes. The picture."
Laura glared at the scientist. She suspected there would be quite a lot of glaring in the immediate future. Why couldn't she have just kept her mouth shut? "And what exactly is so funny about that picture?" She hoped she sounded sufficiently dangerous to keep the other three women in check. They all knew she could beat Sheppard in a fight, after all. Unfortunately, she had no such luck.
"Laura... how do I say this nicely? You... don't seem to be the most graceful person."
Laura put Katie Brown on her list of scientists to deliberately bump into the next time she passed her on her morning run. "I don't?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
Three women shaking their heads while trying to look sympathetic was the result.
"Okay, so maybe I am not. But what's so funny about me figure skating anyway?"
"That you just told us you were drunk and wearing a tutu while doing it, maybe?" Kate answered the question that was not supposed to be answered.
"It wasn't a tutu, it was a... well, okay, it was a tutu." Laura gave up. "It was a dare."
Kate grinned knowingly. "I certainly hope it was."
"This falls under doctor-patient confidentiality," Laura said.
The psychologist shook her head. "Only under girls-evening-in confidentiality. Which I observe religiously, I assure you."
Laura glared at the other two women a bit and they nodded in agreement. Good, they were sworn into secrecy. Now came the next step in not getting to be tomorrow's gossip topic: get them to admit similar things so they would be too embarrassed to even think about talking. "So, how about you, Katie?"
Katie immediately adopted the deer-in-headlights look. "What about me?"
"Oh, don't look all innocent," Laura said. "You know exactly what I mean. What stupid thing did you do while drunk?" She also noticed Harriet trying to blend with the wall behind her as she said that. There was definitely a well-guarded secret there. This would be interesting.
"I didn't do anything like that."
Kate grinned. "Katie, you went to college for years. Of course you did something stupid."
Katie blushed. "Well, there was... You won't tell anyone, right?"
Everyone nodded.
Katie took a sip of her drink. Laura didn't know what Katie was having, but it probably contained quite a bit of alcohol. "I was nineteen, just moved away from home into the big city and... I was out with my friends and we had something to drink and when we went home..." She stopped.
"Go on," Laura encouraged her. "It's just us."
Katie took another sip. "I flashed."
"You flashed?" Harriet asked.
"Your breasts?" Kate enquired.
Katie nodded and blushed a bit more. "The whole drive home."
Laura could not help it, she had to laugh. The timid Botanist, showing her boobs to the whole wide world.
"There might have been picture," Katie added, grinning a bit herself. "On one of the notice boards. Without my face, though. Nobody ever knew that was me."
"Oh, this is good," Laura said. "Kate, sharing is caring."
Kate grinned. "Okay, here goes. Stupid drunk moment number one in my life. It was my senior years in high school, and there was that guy... There's always that guy. The popular quarterback guy with the pretty girlfriends, loved by everyone, you know the drill."
The other three women nodded.
"I had a crush the size of Montana on him. We were at this party and there was alcohol and we were young and stupid and I let my girlfriends encourage me to just go for it. So I tried to think of things to impress him with."
There was a moment of silence. "What did you do?" Katie asked.
"I sung."
"You what?" Laura gasped.
"I sung. Well, first I tried to dance with him, but then this sort of slow song came on and I just found myself singing it to him. Drunk and in front of about 30 people I had to see every day for the next few months."
Laura tried to contain herself for just one more moment to ask the obvious question. "What did you sing?"
Kate hesitated for a second before admitting it. "I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight."
Four women could not hold it in any longer. They dissolved into giggles.
As they were finally composed enough to talk again, all eyes turned towards the last one. Harriet tried to blend into the background a bit more.
"So?" Laura asked. "Your turn."
Harriet looked onto the table. "I don't have a story."
Kate raised her eyebrows. "I would only believe that had you not spent the last few minutes praying no-one would ask you."
Katie nodded. "Come on, don't be ashamed."
"Nobody outside of this room will ever know," Laura joined in. Gosh, this was going to be a good one.
"It's not so much embarrassing or anything... And it wasn't in college," Harriet started. "It was here."
"In Atlantis?" Kate asked.
"Yes. After our first girls evening."
A very good one. Laura leaned back.
"McKay had been annoying me all week and I had this idea when I passed the lab on my way back. I was pretty drunk."
Laura got even more excited. This was about McKay.
Harriet looked around nervously, as if to check whether her boss was watching. Her voice dropped down to a whisper. "I stepped in and there was no-one else there. I went to the controls and manipulated a few things so that the next evening, when he got back from work, the emergency system in his room went on. The water in that system is very cold."
Laura imagined Rodney, coming back from a whole day of work and being condescending towards his subordinates, being soaked in cold water. It took three whole minutes for her to recover from that image.
"This must stay between us," Harriet said. "McKay was really irritated when he couldn't find out who did that. I am good with the Atlantis computers."
"No worries, hon," Laura said, tears still in her eyes. "This won't leave this room." She glared a bit to remind everyone of that again, but failed. Harriet, the shy scientist had managed to do what she only dreamed of.
They had to do more of these girls-only evenings. They were so much fun.