E-MAIL: eli @ popullus.net
RATING: PG to R
POSTED: Oct. 7, 2004
NOTES: A meme went around LJ to take the first lines of stories by other people and turn out a drabble starting with that line. A whole bunch of people offered up their first lines, and they're a ton of fun to do, but these are all I had the time to put together. Fandoms are marked, and include Stargate, Farscape, Alias, Sports Night, Pirates of the Caribbean and Good Omens. (Apathy got a double because she begged.)
One Mind (Stargate), for Katie M.:
There are a lot of topics they try to avoid in casual conversation.
It's still a conscious effort, the avoiding; not something worn into instinct. Jack hasn't reached the point where his mind and tongue don't need to agree, they just do. Sure, been there, been trained to do that, but it doesn't seem to mean shit. The inside of his cheek is raw.
All the same, it isn't hard keeping track of what's on the list and what's not. The list being one of those topics hasn't been a problem for them, either.
They are a team, even broken.
This Bed (Stargate), for Tripoli:
Daniel remembered the first time he'd woken up in this bed--they had both been tired and a little drunker than he usually liked to get, and had wandered into Jack's bedroom talking and fell asleep without really meaning to.
The second time the sun woke him, seeping through his eyelids, and he'd panicked until Jack grumped that it was Christmas and he wouldn't mind if sleep was his present.
The last time he'd smiled into the kiss, then grinned as Jack moved down, continuing to lead with his mouth.
Turning, Daniel flung the pillow into the only open box.
Days and Days and Days (Farscape), for Thea:
Ten solar days. That couldn’t be right, could it?
Not that there's a proper star to circle around here, but the old Pilot's doing the best she can to convince...Elack, that's the name. Doesn't sound right in his head, or said out loud, which he's really trying not to do because it makes the sluggish little guys stare and frell. DRDs making him twitchy. What's next, forgetting how to work doors?
John shifts down in the module seat to frown up at the dull walls curving around him.
Ten days, plus six drifting.
How long until he starts losing count?
Changes (Stargate), for Salieri:
It's strange being like this. Not as strange as you'd think if you imagined this, which maybe Sam had; now's the time to be honest.
But imagination -- building a picture around a good hypothesis based on facts gathered deliberately, or even through chance observations, along the way -- couldn't measure up to a field test. Until you're here, there's really no way to describe what it's like not just being pressed up against, leaned into, covered on all sides, but...touched and tasted and, yes, loved.
Simple words, easy to breathe as she arches back against the colonel and into Daniel's hands.
Unexpected Peace (Stargate, Mooshee-style) for Otter:
His favorite pastime is watching her sleep.
The others are good for being, listening...even nibbling because it's amusing (except when The One catches him on the nose; that hurts) and their hair smells of trees.
She doesn't like him much. He knows this the way he knows that the armored ones shouldn't be taunted, or they will send fire through the air without pausing.
He doesn't know the reason in her case, and it's confounding, frustrating. Yet when he visits her -- in-out, here-gone -- and finds her, head curled down over arms, he's soothed. She is a center in this place.
A Man's Best Friend (Pirates of the Caribbean), for Melusina:
Brute force can only go so far. Jack learned that early, being somewhat smaller than most of those he comes up against.
Lessons in trickery and cunning started even earlier, but during the six years he'd had at the time, he'd made a point of prodding at others' truths. Then he met a man considered large by everyone's standards who took some exception to Jack lightening his burden, and even more to having his blows returned. And now Jack would rather lead with a well-honed façade at his fingertips and in his smile.
Not that he'll part with his blade.
Pass/Fail (Alias), for Vanzetti:
It happens all at once and seems to take forever: the way his body jerks back, and then the slow collapse of his limbs.
Then Sark blinks, pulls back from the scope, and there's only blurred figures swarming around the crumpled mass 250 yards away, 50 more than the woman in Prague.
Between that moment and when the rifle is back in its case and Sark is on the subway -- someone shadowing with proud eyes -- not a single figure does anything other than move closer to the man who might have done nothing thing wrong in his life beyond jaywalking.
Last Night in Town (Farscape), for feldman:
"But I don't have a cat, John."
Olivia's face crumples, her lips tightening. She's failing spectacularly in keeping the tears at bay, but John isn't backing away with his hands up and panic in his eyes. Which only makes it worse.
The sound that forces its way out of her throat is muffled against his shoulder as he pulls her close, tucking her under his chin. That gun digs into her waist until he shifts.
"And you need a cat because...?"
"I-I don't knoooww," she sobs, and he snorts.
Seconds later they dissolve into a snickering heap on the carpet.
Four Walked In... (Sports Night), for cofax:
The room is small for four people, and they are wedged in together, hip to hip, their breath mixing in the dank air.
"We're being filmed, aren't we?"
The snort comes from Dana. "What?"
"Filmed, taped, captured for posterity and anyone who's looking to blackmail us," Dan elaborates.
"Who would blackmail us and what for?" Casey sounds like he's sneering, but there's a hint of fear.
"Oh, I don't know. You got something to hide, Jeremy?"
After the obligatory cough: "I would rather that no-one found out about my stapler collection."
Silence.
"My entire kingdom for a key," Dana mutters.
Let the Sun Shine (Alias), for Brix:
It was a beautiful day.
It was always a beautiful day when disasters came; that dark and stormy night stuff was complete and utter bullshit, Weiss found. Although him saying that now was a clear signal to the universe to prove him wrong.
Go ahead, do it, he sneered up at the clouds starting to block the sun. I dare you to make this worse by fucking raining on me. Nothing.
Any other day, the cough to his left would've given him a heart attack.
"Sark?"
"Wh-why am I alive?"
The laugh ripped something else in Weiss' chest.
"Good question."
It's Not the End of the World (Yet) (Good Omens), for Gabby:
There is music in the background. It's the sort of music that Aziraphale would have around, all light and unobtrusive until it hits you over the head with a clash of symbolic cymbals.
And there, on cue...
Crowley hunches deeper into the chair, wishing that did something other than bend him in uncomfortable ways.
"Would you unearth yourself from there before I glare that thing into submission?" he calls out. "You'll only have to go buy another!"
A head emerges from the stacks, leading with a disapproving frown. It gets a raised eyebrow, which brings forth a deep, resigned sigh.
Merry and Bright (Sport Night), for Apathy:
Fingers brush against his thigh, and he stiffens, face reddening.
"That's a nice look for you," Dan observes as he straightens.
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Casey hisses.
"'Let'? There was permission involved?"
Casey keeps glaring at the door. "I could've said no."
"That's a nice dream," Dan chuckles. There's probably head-shaking, too.
The door opens, letting in a flood of excited voices. And Natalie's head.
"He ready?"
"Indeed he is."
"He is sitting right here," Casey mutters.
He jerks when Dan leans down and tugs his beard.
"Now, now, Santa's supposed to be jolly."
"Spirits up, Casey!" Natalie calls, and disappears.
Casey pastes on a toothy grin and looks Dan in the eye.
"Hey." Dan steps back, hands up. "You're the one who drew the low card."
"I walked off the elevator and you handed me the low card," Casey growls.
"Yes, okay. But Kim handed me two cards. I didn't look at yours."
Casey huffs at that before turning away to face his doom: 33 small beings he can't destroy because they're property of the network.
But as the door opens, Dan casually tells the ceiling, "Naughtiness comes later if there's niceness now..."
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