Writing meme!
May. 26th, 2016 05:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thisbluespiritI no doubt shouldn't be doing this (I have yet to write my Not For Prime Time fic, although, yay, I finally have a proper idea & it should happen soon), but this is apparently the other half of the meme I did last month & it looks like fun, so...
The usual rules apply - send me a number and a pairing/two or more characters and get a drabble or ficlet if I'm feeling so inspired.
(As ever, anything I know is fair game; my main fandoms are in my interests, my tags have even more & if you happen to pick something I'm not feeling up to, I'll just say so.)
51. “What the hell are you wearing?”
53. “Who crawls through someone’s window at 4am to go for ice cream?!”
54. “I don’t hate you. I could never hate you. That’s the problem.”
55. “Our first date is a picnic on a beach under the stars? Have you swallowed a romance novel? Do I need to call a doctor?”
56. “I can’t stand the thought of losing you.”
57. “Teach me to fight.”
58. “I’d die for you. Of course, I’d haunt you in the afterlife but really, it’s the thought that counts.”
60. “Before you decide to murder me, let me explain…”
61. “I love you. I’m completely and utterly in love with you. Please don’t get married.”
62. “It’s only one night, we’ll just share the bed.”
63. “Stop running from this. I know I’m not the only one who feels it.”
64. “Are you ticklish?”
65. “I wish you could see yourself the way I see you.”
67. “Of all the people I could’ve gotten stuck in an elevator with and it just had to be you.”
68. “PILLOW FIGHT!”
69. “Why the hell are you bleeding!?”
71. “Kiss me, quick!”
72. “I will knock you on your ass if you even think about it.”
73. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
74. “Don’t let go.”
75. “I’m going for a swim. Do you wanna join me?”
76. “I need you to pretend we’re dating…”
77. “There was never a choice.”
78. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you.”
79. “That’s the third time I’ve saved your life!”
80. “How can you think I’m anything but hopelessly in love with you?”
81. “I need you to leave.”
82. “This is all your fault! I can’t believe I listened to you!”
83. “It’s always been you.”
84. “I’m dying.”
85. “I will never apologize for saving your life, even if it costs me my own.”
86. “I guess dying with you isn’t the worst way to go.”
87. “You were never just my friend.”
88. “Don’t panic but I think we might have accidentally gotten married…”
89. “I’m not leaving you!”
90. “I can’t do this anymore.”
91. “I remember everything.”
92. “What do you want me to say?”
93. “I tried, but I just can’t stay away from you anymore.”
95. “There’s no going back if we do this.”
96. “I never thought you’d hurt me but I was wrong. You hurt me the most.”
99. “We’re in an abandoned lodge in the middle of nowhere. Sure, you’re totally right, nothing bad could ever happen here.”
(I deleted some numbers/quotes. There were plenty, after all.)
The usual rules apply - send me a number and a pairing/two or more characters and get a drabble or ficlet if I'm feeling so inspired.
(As ever, anything I know is fair game; my main fandoms are in my interests, my tags have even more & if you happen to pick something I'm not feeling up to, I'll just say so.)
51. “What the hell are you wearing?”
53. “Who crawls through someone’s window at 4am to go for ice cream?!”
54. “I don’t hate you. I could never hate you. That’s the problem.”
55. “Our first date is a picnic on a beach under the stars? Have you swallowed a romance novel? Do I need to call a doctor?”
56. “I can’t stand the thought of losing you.”
57. “Teach me to fight.”
58. “I’d die for you. Of course, I’d haunt you in the afterlife but really, it’s the thought that counts.”
60. “Before you decide to murder me, let me explain…”
61. “I love you. I’m completely and utterly in love with you. Please don’t get married.”
62. “It’s only one night, we’ll just share the bed.”
63. “Stop running from this. I know I’m not the only one who feels it.”
64. “Are you ticklish?”
65. “I wish you could see yourself the way I see you.”
67. “Of all the people I could’ve gotten stuck in an elevator with and it just had to be you.”
68. “PILLOW FIGHT!”
69. “Why the hell are you bleeding!?”
71. “Kiss me, quick!”
72. “I will knock you on your ass if you even think about it.”
73. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
74. “Don’t let go.”
75. “I’m going for a swim. Do you wanna join me?”
76. “I need you to pretend we’re dating…”
77. “There was never a choice.”
78. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you.”
79. “That’s the third time I’ve saved your life!”
80. “How can you think I’m anything but hopelessly in love with you?”
81. “I need you to leave.”
82. “This is all your fault! I can’t believe I listened to you!”
83. “It’s always been you.”
84. “I’m dying.”
85. “I will never apologize for saving your life, even if it costs me my own.”
86. “I guess dying with you isn’t the worst way to go.”
87. “You were never just my friend.”
88. “Don’t panic but I think we might have accidentally gotten married…”
89. “I’m not leaving you!”
90. “I can’t do this anymore.”
91. “I remember everything.”
92. “What do you want me to say?”
93. “I tried, but I just can’t stay away from you anymore.”
95. “There’s no going back if we do this.”
96. “I never thought you’d hurt me but I was wrong. You hurt me the most.”
99. “We’re in an abandoned lodge in the middle of nowhere. Sure, you’re totally right, nothing bad could ever happen here.”
(I deleted some numbers/quotes. There were plenty, after all.)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2016-05-26 04:30 pm (UTC)82 - Liz Shaw and Silver
60 - 8 and Liz Shaw
no subject
Date: 2016-05-26 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-26 05:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-26 05:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-26 05:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-27 08:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-27 11:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-26 04:45 pm (UTC)53 Colin Mathews and whoever else you think is suitable/funny/just want to write
72 Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan
no subject
Date: 2016-05-26 04:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-27 08:42 pm (UTC)“Who crawls through someone’s window at 4am to go for ice cream?!” Colin Mathews + anyone, 548
Date: 2016-05-27 09:24 am (UTC)“It was an emergency,” said Colin, as if it was a perfectly reasonable activity to be engaged in. “I couldn’t remember if I’d switched the freezer on and, I mean, ice cream and room temperature – never ends well. Tell me, Kenny, have you been bothered by a sort of low, whirring noise all night?”
Kenny sat up. Okay, so that explained the weird electric hum he thought he’d heard before he’d fallen asleep. On the other hand, it didn’t explain where the (possibly invisible) freezer was, why Colin had put it in his bedroom or why ice-cream in the first place. But then no one on the news team had ever yet solved the big question behind it all: what went on in Colin Mathews’s head. “Yeah, actually.”
“Great,” said Colin. “You’ve no idea of the weight you’ve lifted off my mind. If those little babies had melted...”
Kenny glared. “Colin!”
“Look, I couldn’t help noticing last time I was here that you had a lot of space in your wardrobe that you weren’t using, so I borrowed it.”
“You can’t borrow space in somebody’s wardrobe, Colin.”
“It was for safe-keeping,” Colin said, now on his knees following a distinctly moth-eaten looking cable across the carpet to the wardrobe. “Just in case. You know how it is. I knew you wouldn’t mind.”
Kenny’s feeling of being put-upon by the universe increased, as did his wariness. Ice-cream wasn’t normally something he considered dangerous, but this was Colin they were talking about. “Colin, I would prefer not to be murdered in my bed by enraged ice-cream thieves or people trying to kill you.”
“Of course,” said Colin. “Don’t worry. Kenny, my friend, I tell you what, since you’ve been so understanding, I’ll cut you into a share of the profits. Call it danger money.”
Kenny lay back down. “I really, really hope this is a dream.”
“Aha,” said Colin, pulling back the wardrobe door, revealing the mini-refrigeration unit inside. “There you are, working perfectly, you little beauty. It’s like a miracle.”
“Colin,” Kenny said from his prone position, “will you take your ice cream and get out of my room? I’d like to get at least half an hour’s sleep before Lynda starts ringing again.”
What Colin might have said to that was lost to posterity in the ensuing explosion. Colin, Kenny and the room were engulfed in first billows of grey and yellow smoke and then startlingly vivid yellow and red ice cream, which seemingly managed to cover everything, running down the walls and over the carpet and dripping down from the ceiling.
“Colin,” said Kenny, eventually, when he was feeling fairly sure he was alive but before he got as far as recovering himself enough to reach for the phone and the fire brigade or worrying what his Mum was going to think. “What flavour is this, exactly?”
“Mustard and ketchup,” said Colin. “Amazing, eh?”
That, thought Kenny, was one way of putting it.
Re: “Who crawls through someone’s window at 4am to go for ice cream?!” Colin Mathews + anyone,
Date: 2016-05-28 06:25 pm (UTC)Re: “Who crawls through someone’s window at 4am to go for ice cream?!” Colin Mathews + anyone,
Date: 2016-05-28 08:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-26 05:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-28 12:37 pm (UTC)“You chicken,” said Tom in response. “Seriously, it’s just us here. It’s perfect.”
“You’re quite sure you’re alone?” Suddenly, there was a woman standing in the doorway, wearing a blue summer dress. Her question had been gently mocking, and she raised an eyebrow, clearly as sceptical about Tom’s optimism as Anna was.
Tom swore as he and Anna clutched at each other.
“You should listen to your fiancée more often,” said the woman in blue. Then she stared past them, towards the opposite wall. “Steel?”
“Since they arrived,” said the other - Steel, presumably - ignoring them and talking to his colleague, “the distortions have increased. It’s every 2.4 minutes now, Sapphire, not ten.”
Anna swallowed, turning towards Sapphire. “Look, we can go –”
“You can try,” said Steel. “I don’t think you’ll succeed.”
Outside the cabin, a storm raged that hadn’t been in evidence when Tom and Anna entered and Anna didn’t feel inclined to put Steel’s assertions to the test.
“But don’t worry,” said Sapphire. “We’ll do everything we can to stop it from destroying you.”
“It?” Tom said, still hanging onto Anna.
Sapphire’s eyes glowed blue. “Whatever’s behind this – the thing that’s lurking in the woodwork.”
Oh, God, thought Anna, they were going to die. Or at least, one way or another, this was absolutely the last time she was going to listen to one of Tom’s stupid ideas.
no subject
Date: 2016-05-28 02:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-28 05:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-26 08:58 pm (UTC)91. Zoe Heriot
62. Sixth Doctor, Peri Brown
84. “I’m dying.” Six + Peri, 546 words
Date: 2016-05-27 01:34 pm (UTC)***
“Nonsense,” the Doctor said. “Never heard such rampant piffle in my life.”
Peri closed her eyes. Even if she wasn’t dying, she felt like she was. She’d never been so ill before. She shivered, first hot and then cold, never quite comfortable: too weak to sit or stand or even just lie there, and her heart kept beating irregularly as if it was panicking as much as she was. The virus was eating up whatever strength she had, that was for sure. “Doctor, I want the truth.”
“It is,” he said, helping her sit up against the rolled up fur that was acting as a pillow. There was another that was currently serving as a sort of mattress on top of the bench and he’d thrown his coat over her as a covering. She hung onto it, not wanting it to fall off. Apart from feeling cold, much as she hated it, it was also kind of reassuring suddenly, like a symbol in the middle of this grey and brown world that everything was going to be all right, despite how bad it seemed.
“I’ve stewed a few of those alaela leaves you were looking at earlier,” he said, and she frowned, because he sounded a bit edgy to her. “Now, drink up, it’ll do you the world of good.”
“Is it safe?”
The Doctor’s steadying hand on her shoulder tightened slightly. “Nothing’s safe, Peri, but if it works, it’ll give your body the chance to fight off this infection without interference. Exactly what you need just now.”
“And if it doesn’t work?”
“It will work, I promise. But there is a chance that the healing coma could be permanent. However, that is an infinitesimal risk compared to the very real possibility that this fever will be the end of you in a few hours if you don’t.”
“Told you I was dying.”
“Yes, and if you do, I shall carve that on your gravestone for you, but I don’t believe there’ll be any need. Come on, Peri. You’re not going to get better if you don’t do what your Doctor tells you.”
Peri let him bring the rough cup to her lips and then nearly choked on the liquid. “It’s vile. I think I’d rather be dead!”
“Peri,” said the Doctor, at his most reproachful.
She drank it.
Peri woke again to find herself back in the TARDIS and while she was still distinctly wobbly if she tried to move too fast, she at least felt like a human being again. When she pushed herself up against the pillows, she turned and saw the Doctor, sitting in the chair next to her.
“Ah,” he said. “You made it. I was beginning to wonder – after all, if there’s anyone I’ve ever known who’d die just to prove her point, it would be you.”
“Hey.”
“Happily, however,” the Doctor added, “it turns out you’re as tough as old boots.” He put a hand to her cheek and then smiled at her, softening the insult.
She gave him a smile in return, grateful right now that he was every bit as stubborn and argumentative and determined not to lose as she was. It wasn’t the first time it had worked in her favour. “Thanks, Doc. I owe you.”
Re: 84. “I’m dying.” Six + Peri, 546 words
Date: 2016-05-27 01:45 pm (UTC)if there’s anyone I’ve ever known who’d die just to prove her point, it would be you.” That line is perfect for Six.
Re: 84. “I’m dying.” Six + Peri, 546 words
Date: 2016-05-27 03:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-26 09:09 pm (UTC)88. “Don’t panic, but I think we might have accidentally got married…” Brig/Liz, 503 words
Date: 2016-05-30 07:29 pm (UTC)“There must be some mistake,” the Brigadier said in alarm. “Certainly neither Miss Shaw nor myself were consulted, nor was there anything to indicate –”
The Doctor shook his head. “Shh, Brigadier. If you insult our guests, your Jeitan-Earth treaty will be broken before it’s been signed. In Jeitan culture, it is imperative that such an agreement is also ceremonially represented by a symbolic union between two individuals on each side. Haeli and Fhei have done so for the Jeitans and so, for Earth, who else could it be? I thought you might object to marrying Sergeant Benton.”
“The divorce proceedings with Fiona aren’t yet over,” hissed the Brigadier. “What happens to your symbolic union if it’s illegal?”
The Doctor paused and then beamed at him. “Well, it is symbolic. Don’t tell them that and I’m sure it will all be fine. You and Liz will need to make, ah, some sort of effort at seeing it through to its usual conclusion, but you’re both reasonable people – well, Liz is a rational person – and I’m sure you can oblige with the minimum of fuss.
The situation was appalling, thought Liz, as was the Doctor’s behaviour. She could tell from his guilty avoidance of their gazes that underneath the airy bluster he knew it. Nevertheless, she couldn’t help observing at the same moment that the Brigadier’s face at that moment was one that would have been worth capturing on camera, if Liz had only thought to bring one.
As the Doctor made a hasty exit, Liz put her hand to the Brigadier’s arm, concerned that he might disrupt the successful ceremony by knocking the Doctor down. “Don’t worry, Brigadier. I’ll go after him and see about a loophole. There’s bound to be one.”
The Brigadier looked at her. An awkward pause ensued, during which Liz thought recklessly about arguing that the Doctor had a point, and it would hardly matter if they did just consummate their somewhat unconventional marriage, but she stuck on several points, not least being the idea of keeping a straight face while claiming that it was for the sake of the planet.
“Yes,” the Brigadier said. “A sensible suggestion, Miss Shaw. Thank goodness someone around here is a rational being – the Doctor was right about that much.”
Liz nodded but inwardly cursed her rationality. She turned back, on the point of leaving, and arched an eyebrow in his direction. “And if it turns out there isn’t a loophole?”
The Brigadier stared back at her and, having regained his usual infuriating implacability, said the thing that she couldn’t even contemplate, and did it with only the smallest suggestion of amusement evident in his face: “Well, if it’s for the sake of the planet, Miss Shaw…”
Re: 88. “Don’t panic, but I think we might have accidentally got married…” Brig/Liz, 503 wor
Date: 2016-06-01 08:29 am (UTC)Re: 88. “Don’t panic, but I think we might have accidentally got married…” Brig/Liz, 503 wor
Date: 2016-06-01 05:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-26 09:23 pm (UTC)55 - Missy / Clara
63 - Lucy / Mina
73 - Ace / Susan Q
no subject
Date: 2016-05-30 08:15 pm (UTC)Clara opened her mouth to reply, but since there were at least six things she needed to say in response to that, she floundered for a minute as to which one, before finally settling on the most important. “This,” she said, through gritted teeth, “is not a date. Definitely not a date.”
“Isn’t it?” said Missy, sitting down on the blanket. She gave Clara a smile that, much to Clara’s dismay, made her shiver in ways that were not entirely due to horror. “What is it, then?”
Clara found herself at a loss for words for the second time in five minutes, which was the sort of thing that only usually happened with the Doctor. “I wanted to say something.”
“Did you?” said Missy, watching Clara. “On a blanket, under the stars, with a picnic basket?”
“That part was an accident.”
Missy considered that. “How odd. I usually have to plan these things.”
Why had there been a blanket and a picnic basket? Clara felt suddenly unsure. She shook her head and tried to think. It was surprisingly hard work.
“I wouldn’t bother,” said Missy. “Thinking about it, I mean. It’ll only give you a headache. So much easier if you let me explain.”
That, thought Clara, was a bad, bad idea, and not at all what she’d had in mind. But then she didn’t know now what exactly she had had in mind and all she was managing to do now was give a pretty good impression of a deer caught in the headlights.
“As dates go,” said Missy, still smiling, “it’s promising despite the company, I’ll grant you. When viewed in certain lights.” She glanced upwards, and it was as if the stars up there reflected in her eyes, just for a moment.
Whose date is it? thought Clara blurrily, but she didn’t move away. She couldn’t. She could barely even breathe. Then, sternly, trying to remind herself, more than anything else: It’s not a date! It’s a – a disaster in the making. She couldn’t seem to say it aloud, however.
“Poor wee Puppy,” said Missy, tilting her head to one side, watching Clara. “Cat got your tongue?”
Clara didn’t pull away from the hand that reached out to touch her. She closed her eyes, because if she kept them open, if she kept looking at Missy, she felt dizzy.
“It’s like the Wicked Witch and Red Riding Hood,” murmured Missy, her hand still on one of Clara’s cheeks, and kissing the other. “Only more fun and with less gobbling up of grandmothers. Well, maybe a little bit of gobbling. Some nibbling at least, maybe. Definitely some biting. How do you feel about biting?”
Clara wanted to say that there would be absolutely no biting or anything else of the kind but instead fell back against the blanket, her best friend’s best enemy still caressing her cheek in a way that was currently gentle but promised at some point to become less so. She had a feeling there might well be scratching as well as biting. However, protesting was a lost cause. Her throat had gone dry, too much so for her to get the words out, and besides she seemed to be melting into the red woollen material underneath her. The worst thing was, despite the sliver of cold fear that persisted in her mind, it felt good. Maybe it even felt good because of the sliver of cold fear. She didn’t know and she wasn’t entirely sure she cared any longer.
“Sometimes,” said Missy in Clara’s ear, before she nipped at the lobe with sharp teeth, “I can play nice. I can play awfully, devilishly nice. Just ask the Doctor.”
Oh God, Clara thought; a last, faint protest before she tumbled into utter incoherence.
no subject
Date: 2016-05-30 09:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-31 11:19 am (UTC)“Stop running from this. I know I’m not the only one who feels it.” Lucy/Mina, 510 words
Date: 2016-06-08 09:17 pm (UTC)***
She could almost hear Lucy’s voice as she had said it, only days before, here in this room. Mina shivered, and remembered: the last evening she’d spent with Lucy before – before –
Lucy had been in an impossible mood all day and tonight she was no better. Mina had already dressed for dinner, but when she came in search of Lucy, she found her friend still sitting at the vanity desk not fully dressed, and staring dreamily into the mirror, leaning her cheek against one hand.
“Oh, honestly, Lucy,” said Mina.
Lucy laughed as she swung around to face her. “Sensible, good Mina! Aren’t you ever late for anything? Don’t you ever wish to misbehave?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Mina, crossing over to her. “What use is there in inconveniencing the rest of the household? I don’t know what’s got into you lately.”
Lucy sighed, and meekly let Mina help her finish her toilette; fastening up her evening gown, rather like a mother with a recalcitrant child. Lucy, reflected in the mirror, pulled faces at her, trying to distract Mina.
“Lucy,” said Mina, but this time she couldn’t help laughing, charmed by Lucy’s nonsense, as ever, and sat down on Lucy’s bed. “Come on. Let’s not keep your mother waiting.”
Lucy perched next to her, giving her a smile. “We’re early yet. There’s time yet before we need go down.” She leaned over and pushed one of Mina’s curls back from her face. “There,” she said, but she didn’t remove her hand.
Mina swallowed, finding Lucy’s touch incomprehensibly disorientating, introducing sensations that she liked to believe were alien to her. “Lucy,” she said, all the more sternly to cover her confusion. “We should go.”
“I suppose we should,” said Lucy, but she gave Mina a more wistful look this time, letting her hand fall, but not fully, trailing downwards to Mina’s neck and chest, revealed by the typically low cut of her evening gown.
Mina gave a smile and then took Lucy’s hand as it finished its fall in her lap and squeezed it. “Lucy, enough of this.” She got up, and brushed herself down: sensible, good Mina, just as Lucy had said.
Lucy didn’t move, not yet. She looked up at Mina by the door and that was when she said it: “Stop running from this. I know I’m not the only one who feels it.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” said Mina. Her voice was firm, but her fingers trembled softly against the door.
Now the room was empty and cold and there was no Lucy, and Mina sat down on the bed again and wondered if perhaps, somewhere deep inside with some part of her she didn’t care to acknowledge, she did know what Lucy had meant.
Except there was only one reflection in the mirror today and it was far too late to tell Lucy anything, since Lucy was dead – stolen away from her and there was nothing Mina could do to bring her back.
She lay down on the bed and let her heart break.
***
Re: “Stop running from this. I know I’m not the only one who feels it.” Lucy/Mina, 510 words
Date: 2016-06-09 08:37 pm (UTC)And I'm sure vampire☛Lucy will be along directly to make sure Mina doesn't show up in any more mirrors either...
Re: “Stop running from this. I know I’m not the only one who feels it.” Lucy/Mina, 510 words
Date: 2016-06-10 04:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-26 09:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-27 07:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-26 11:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-06-06 07:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-27 12:01 am (UTC)86 Avon and Blake
80 Adam Adamant and Georgie
62. Bester + Sheridan, “It’s only one night, we’ll just share the bed.” 118 words
Date: 2016-05-27 09:04 am (UTC)“You know, I’m sure I saw one around earlier. It could be arranged.”
“I’ll just keep watch,” said Sheridan. There didn’t seem to be likely to be anything to watch for down here, but you never knew, and anything had to be better than a night cuddled up with Bester on one narrow single bed in this burnt out hole of a building.
Bester gave a smile. “Whatever you prefer, Captain.” And with that, he took the bed and stretched himself out on it, which now that Sheridan came to think about it, seemed like an unfair arrangement. You couldn’t win with the little creep, could you?
***
(I was v amused at that prompt, but now I think I'm even more amused - I'm pretty sure that is now my very first bit of B5 fic!! :lol:)
no subject
Date: 2016-05-27 01:44 am (UTC)60 - The Fifth Doctor and Mary-Lou Trelawney
73 - Vila and Soolin
73. “We shouldn’t be doing this.” Vila + Soolin, 499 words
Date: 2016-06-06 07:57 pm (UTC)“I don’t know. I’ve never broken into the main vault of the Central Federation Bank before.”
Soolin gave a brief grin. “I’m shocked.”
“Several planetary branch headquarters, of course,” said Vila. He brightened slightly. “So I suppose it was about time – and at least we’ll be remembered after they shoot us.”
Soolin shifted her hold on her gun. “Not going to happen.”
“You mean they’ll probably forget us anyway?” said Vila. “Yeah. Typical. Still, there’s only so much you can cover up.” He tweaked the control panel with a thin tool and paused, waiting.
After nearly a minute had passed, Soolin frowned. “Something gone wrong?”
“No, gone right,” said Vila. He held up a hand and tilted his head towards the wall. “Shh. I can hear the beautiful sounds of an automated system unlocking itself over and over down through several levels.” He waited for the vault door to open, although Soolin still couldn’t see or hear any sign of it doing so yet, and glanced at her, a light she knew only too well in his eyes. “What do you reckon is in there?”
“Don’t you know?”
“I’ve heard rumours. Like the crown jewels of several colonies. You know, the ones that they voluntarily handed over to the Federation when they voluntarily joined it. Voluntarily.”
Soolin smiled. “Ah, that kind of voluntary.”
“I’ve always thought I’d look good in a crown.” Vila gave her a sudden appraising look. “So would you, if it comes to it. Or a sceptre. You could sell it or hit Avon with it. Works just as well either way.”
“As far as I can tell, Vila, we’re waiting here like sitting ducks in the heart of one of the most high-security buildings in the entire system, staring at a closed metal door ten inches thick that still isn’t shifting. I’ll settle for you actually doing what you said you would before Dayna and Tarrant’s antics stop entertaining everyone else out there, thanks.”
The door opened at that point, as if it was in league with Vila, who gave an annoying, showy bow and moved aside for her to pass through. Soolin shot the door a suspicious look as she went through. It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility, given the nature of the AI around these parts.
“All we’re doing is collecting the Gruend box from the Jakran Vault,” said Soolin, grabbing at Vila before he could wander off. “We’ve only got fifteen minutes at the most.”
Vila gave her a grin. “All you’re doing is collecting that Gruel box-thingy. I’ve got my eye on other stuff. Like I said – I’ve heard a lot of rumours…”
Soolin didn’t even bother to argue. If she took a thief into the biggest bank vault in the galaxy, what did she expect? “Fine. Just don’t get caught – and don’t forget to bring me back something nice!”
Re: 73. “We shouldn’t be doing this.” Vila + Soolin, 499 words
Date: 2016-06-07 05:50 am (UTC)Or a sceptre. You could sell it or hit Avon with it. Works just as well either way.” I'll bet she was tempted sometimes :)
Re: 73. “We shouldn’t be doing this.” Vila + Soolin, 499 words
Date: 2016-06-07 07:54 pm (UTC)64. Are you ticklish? Mel Bush + Avon, 562 words
Date: 2016-06-06 08:52 pm (UTC)***
Avon froze. “What?”
“Well,” said Mel, “if I’m about to do my best Houdini impression and get out of these chains, it could be vital information.”
“Just get on with it,” growled Avon. Naturally, he was eager to escape. He rarely enjoyed being captive at the best of times, but right now he was particularly anxious to escape before anyone he knew came to rescue him. After all, how precisely one came to be naked, covered in the worst gateau he’d ever tasted, and chained up to an infuriatingly perky redhead, was a story that his colleagues would be only too keen to have him relate, probably several times every evening for the next month if he didn’t get out in time.
Mel was at least petite and athletic enough to have a good chance at wriggling her way out of the chains that bound them. And, he was fair enough to acknowledge once she started (even if he wouldn’t say so), she had a point with her question. Chains were now moving in places chains had never moved before, certainly in his experience. Luckily, he wasn’t especially ticklish. Except – ah aha – there. He gritted his teeth and glared at the wall.
“I am sorry about this,” she said breathlessly, in between whatever contortions she was performing to get free. “Trust me, I’m going to kill Glitz when I get my hands on him again. I suppose I should have learned by now, but you’d think even he would have thought twice before selling out of date Black Forest Gateaux to someone called Margg the Murderous.”
Avon stared ahead and concentrated on ignoring anything happening with the chains. “I’ll give you a hand if you like.” A case of mistaken identity could sometimes have its advantages, which was why he’d initially played along with the idea of being this ‘Glitz’ person. In this case, however, the mistake was clearly his: it had landed him in a lot of unappetising and rapidly melting gateau, lost him his clothes, and gained him a colleague who was promising to be even more annoying than Vila.
“I’ve told him a hundred times he can’t go round selling dodgy goods,” said Mel. “But then he gets short of cash and he can’t seem to help himself. I did try to tell them you weren’t Glitz, but they wouldn’t believe me. They seemed to think the name explained your outfit. It’s probably why they took it. Um. I really am sorry about all of that – but I promise I’ll get us out, don’t worry.”
She managed to finally slide herself out from under the chains, but even as Avon felt the chains loosen around him as she stood up, the cell door opened. He muttered fervent hopes under his breath that it would be Margg come back to finish them off, or this Glitz person. He’d even take Servalan given the choice. Anybody but his so-called friends would be a mercy.
“Hey,” said a voice he recognised only too well, as Dayna strode in, speaking into her teleport bracelet, and clearly having to work hard to stifle her laughter. “Guess what? I’ve found Avon.”
He carefully remained exactly where he was. “About time too.”
“Oh, good,” said Dayna, circling round to give him her most annoying grin. “That’s all right, then. I thought I must be interrupting something...”
***
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Date: 2016-06-07 05:52 am (UTC)Avon should be grateful it wasn't Vila coming in...
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Date: 2016-06-07 07:51 pm (UTC)