mini-fics
I participated in the Three Sentence Fic-a-thon hosted by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rthstewart! Now over, sadly. I believe these were all my contributions. I tinkered with a couple for reposting. Two of them (West Wing and Robin Hood) went over three sentences.
Battlestar Galactica, Six/Baltar
"What would you have been," Six says (always with that scythe of a smile), "if it hadn't been for me?"
Gaius thinks about it--for the first time, honestly thinks about it: endless lines of code, defense software, databases; that sleek apartment, all glass--always still too close to the sick stench of sweet hay, always escaping the rough furrows of the plough, never far enough away (until now).
"A machine," he tells her; the most basic command of any program is run.
*
A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Fairies
The first time Titania ventures into the mortal world, poets still pipe of love; lads and lasses dream of her in troubled sleep; lords and ladies still applaud when she takes her bow.
I have time, she thinks.
The second time Titania ventures into the modern world, Puck's gone and got himself a Corvette.
*
Jane Austen's Emma, Emma & Jane
"Perhaps now that the whole silly business of Mr Churchill is behind us, we might become friends," Emma said, feeling that she had grown up immeasurably in the last few months.
"I have found that very nearly anything might be achieved, if one has the fortitude to apply hard work, understanding, and patience," said Jane, with a kind smile.
Growing up was overrated, Emma decided.
*
North & South (BBC), Margaret Hale/John Thornton
"You must allow Fanny the chance to grow," said Margaret; "she benefits from guidance." Her voice was gentle, but her expression forthright, as easy to interpret as a map.
Mr Thornton benefited from guidance as well, but he supposed it perhaps too forward to suggest he took pleasure in it also.
*
Avengers, Bruce/Natasha
"Show me who you really are," Bruce said, perhaps because he had once shown her.
"Okay," Natasha said.
It was the only way to show him she was a liar.
*
Firefly, Mal/River
Sometimes that girl just got it into her head that they were pieces that didn't go together, like you could really define people the way you did words, the way she had his name.
"Hey, you know what they say," Mal tells her, "only a stagnant pond stays foul."
She looks at him like he's bumfuck crazy, tells him, "River doesn't mean anything in Latin, stupid."
*
Greek Mythology, any, high school AU
They whisper in the hallways new girl, new girl new girl, but more often: she's too smart, she's too stuck up, rich girl isn't she, daddy's girl, what did a cat crawl up her ass and die? She never shows a hint of where she comes from, where she's been; she's merely a warrior, facing battle like she's done it all before.
Athena steps into freshman year in her armor, fully formed.
*
His Girl Friday, Hildy Johnson(/Walter Burns)
When the story breaks, pretty much all the journalistic accolades Hildy had ever dreamed of rain down until she's swimming in pools of words, novels of words, careers of words--but for some reason, no one she actually knows really congratulates her, except Walter.
"You hid a murderer in a desk," Bruce points out.
It was the happy ending, Hildy frets; no one in news media likes a happy ending; no one likes all the loose ends tied up in a happy bow; maybe it's better when there's room for a sequel; should she have ended with a question?
*
The West Wing, CJ/Danny
"The White House has no comment," CJ says, and Danny says, "Okay."
"And Leo definitely wasn't involved," CJ adds, and Danny says, "Okay."
"And I can't date you," that's CJ; "Okay," that's Danny.
"And no sex on the desk," says CJ, while Danny just looks at her and looks at her and looks at her, and says, "Okay."
CJ gives him that slightly derisive look where she's trying not to be confused, and says, "Does it turn you on when I say no?"
"Sure," says Danny. "Is that okay? Does it turn you on when I say okay?"
"No," says CJ.
*
Robin Hood legends, Robin Hood
Sometimes Much still can't believe he's one of them.
"'Course you're one of us," John says, with a sort of grunt. He far prefers vague pronouncements to explaining things; Tuck prefers tangents, and Robin seems to prefer laughter over any form of speech, so it's left to Alan to explain.
"It's in the name," he says. "You're Much. All anyone ever has to be is much more than Robin. He can't help but cede to better men."
Robin laughs and laughs and laughs.
Much looks bewildered, and not a little hurt.
Will glares and stabs a slabs of venison, while Alan goes on talking in circles, John goes on grunting, Robin goes on laughing, and Tuck stifles his tangents with a large mouthful of mushrooms. "Much more innocent," Will finally elucidates, when he figures the torture's gone on long enough.
"But." Much looks around at all of them, bites his lip, but his gaze finally comes to rest on Robin.
Everything always comes to rest on Robin.
Robin stops laughing. "John's much more talented with a staff," he says, but he's still smiling.
Much looks at Alan.
"Charm," says Robin.
Much looks at Tuck.
"Girth," says Robin.
"Marian," Alan says.
"Beauty," says Robin.
"It stands to wonder then," says Tuck, "why Sir Guy is not among us."
"Oh, he is very beautiful too," Robin cedes, voice lazy.
Tuck rolls his eyes. "I meant that he is by far the superior swordsman."
"Naturally," says Robin, "but he has such a tendency to gloat. It sets my teeth on edge."
"And you never gloat at all," Will says, from his dark corner.
"My dear Will," says Robin, "I meant that I do it well. He does it so poorly, it makes my stomach turn. If only he could become a virtuoso braggart, I would willingly cede my place."
"And the sheriff?" asks Much, sounding eager now.
"Oh him." Robin waves a hand. "He's not better than me in anything."
"And Will?" asks Much.
Robin licks his lips. "Stamina."
Much looks surprised. "In battle?"
Robin laughs; if he were in the throes of death, the last breath to leave his lips would be a guffaw. "I'd tell you to ask him," says Robin, "but he's a worst boaster than Sir Guy." Upon Much's look of confusion, Robin hesitates, then tells him gently, "He doesn't do it at all."
Will could not help but think that one day, this one skill, by merit of which Robin claimed he was a member of their band, would fail him. One day, he would no longer have the stamina for Robin--the smiles, the sly eyes, the underhanded murmurs--and it would all be over. Until then, though, Will could outdo his leader in this one thing: endurance.
*
Star Trek (2009), Nyota Uhura and Gaila
It's late, and Gaila's talking about squid sex, something about tentacles, her eyes bright and happy and last night it was a male Andorian, and before that it was a hermaphroditic Deltan, which might be what finally causes Nyota to say, "Do you even know what orientation means?"
Gaila's lips tighten; she looks down, and Nyota knows she's said the wrong thing, but Gaila says, "Of course I know what it means; it means what direction I'm facing."
Gaila doesn't mean that disingenuously; she does know what it means, and right now she's facing Nyota.
*
James Bond (Daniel Craig era), Bond + or /M
A bond is an instrument of indebtedness.
A bond is an affinity between two people, a relationship of mutual trust.
James is Biblical--Saint James, James the Just, brother to Christ our Lord, King of Forgiveness, the symbol of sacrifice--and there's a reason she never thinks of him by his name, as a human being, as just a boy, just an orphan, just someone who is alone (just like her); there's a reason that in her mind, he's only ever been double-oh-seven.
*
Farscape, Aeryn Sun, hardass
"If you think I'm being a hardass now," Aeryn says, hefting the heavy bag of Peacekeeper weapons, "you just wait."
For a moment, Crichton just blinks.
As Aeryn realizes she's just used the words 'hard' and 'ass' in very quick succession, and that though John can sometimes be patient, at other times it takes very little to short-circuit his brain, he's already saying, "I can't wait; please, could you start right now?"
*
X-Files, Dana Scully
The intimidating thing about Catholicism is there is a price to pay, if you don’t believe—you might be wrong, and Scully doesn’t like to be wrong. Admitting that there are truths that may be unknowable is her way of dealing with those proofs Mulder seeks but she believes he will never find.
By the time Scully’s hiding the pain and wiping away the blood, she’s beginning to wonder whether she’s made a grave error in equating correct answers with what is right.
*
due South, Fraser & Dief
Benton Fraser first came to Chicago on the trail of the killers of his father, and for reasons which definitely needed exploring at this juncture, he had remained, attached as liaison to the Canadian consulate.
“I disagree,” Fraser told Diefenbaker, who was very insistent on the subject.
Their apartment had burned down and there was a new Ray who wasn't his Ray and nothing was really the same; if they explored anything at all at this juncture, they'd get lost.
*
Iron Man movies, Tony(/Pepper) + Justin Hammer
There used to be an actual, honest to God list of people he didn't like--terrorists, some foreign dictators, couple House Democrats who used to get up in his face, couple Senate Republicans who turned on him once he stopped the military contracts, half a dozen pop stars he really just can't stand and not just because he slept with them, and Wesley Crusher, but Hammer was such a dickly little tool he'd never even merited mention.
Pepper had . . . extensive files, lists, graphs, for fuck's sake, annotated inventories of everyone he'd ever fucked fought bought from sold to glanced at with passing interest; she had a color coded index of his motherfucking ties, and Tony had never realized that this was how she'd done the job until the day she wasn't there to do it any more.
That day, Tony didn't need a list; there was now only one person on it.
*
rthstewart! Now over, sadly. I believe these were all my contributions. I tinkered with a couple for reposting. Two of them (West Wing and Robin Hood) went over three sentences.Battlestar Galactica, Six/Baltar
"What would you have been," Six says (always with that scythe of a smile), "if it hadn't been for me?"
Gaius thinks about it--for the first time, honestly thinks about it: endless lines of code, defense software, databases; that sleek apartment, all glass--always still too close to the sick stench of sweet hay, always escaping the rough furrows of the plough, never far enough away (until now).
"A machine," he tells her; the most basic command of any program is run.
*
A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Fairies
The first time Titania ventures into the mortal world, poets still pipe of love; lads and lasses dream of her in troubled sleep; lords and ladies still applaud when she takes her bow.
I have time, she thinks.
The second time Titania ventures into the modern world, Puck's gone and got himself a Corvette.
*
Jane Austen's Emma, Emma & Jane
"Perhaps now that the whole silly business of Mr Churchill is behind us, we might become friends," Emma said, feeling that she had grown up immeasurably in the last few months.
"I have found that very nearly anything might be achieved, if one has the fortitude to apply hard work, understanding, and patience," said Jane, with a kind smile.
Growing up was overrated, Emma decided.
*
North & South (BBC), Margaret Hale/John Thornton
"You must allow Fanny the chance to grow," said Margaret; "she benefits from guidance." Her voice was gentle, but her expression forthright, as easy to interpret as a map.
Mr Thornton benefited from guidance as well, but he supposed it perhaps too forward to suggest he took pleasure in it also.
*
Avengers, Bruce/Natasha
"Show me who you really are," Bruce said, perhaps because he had once shown her.
"Okay," Natasha said.
It was the only way to show him she was a liar.
*
Firefly, Mal/River
Sometimes that girl just got it into her head that they were pieces that didn't go together, like you could really define people the way you did words, the way she had his name.
"Hey, you know what they say," Mal tells her, "only a stagnant pond stays foul."
She looks at him like he's bumfuck crazy, tells him, "River doesn't mean anything in Latin, stupid."
*
Greek Mythology, any, high school AU
They whisper in the hallways new girl, new girl new girl, but more often: she's too smart, she's too stuck up, rich girl isn't she, daddy's girl, what did a cat crawl up her ass and die? She never shows a hint of where she comes from, where she's been; she's merely a warrior, facing battle like she's done it all before.
Athena steps into freshman year in her armor, fully formed.
*
His Girl Friday, Hildy Johnson(/Walter Burns)
When the story breaks, pretty much all the journalistic accolades Hildy had ever dreamed of rain down until she's swimming in pools of words, novels of words, careers of words--but for some reason, no one she actually knows really congratulates her, except Walter.
"You hid a murderer in a desk," Bruce points out.
It was the happy ending, Hildy frets; no one in news media likes a happy ending; no one likes all the loose ends tied up in a happy bow; maybe it's better when there's room for a sequel; should she have ended with a question?
*
The West Wing, CJ/Danny
"The White House has no comment," CJ says, and Danny says, "Okay."
"And Leo definitely wasn't involved," CJ adds, and Danny says, "Okay."
"And I can't date you," that's CJ; "Okay," that's Danny.
"And no sex on the desk," says CJ, while Danny just looks at her and looks at her and looks at her, and says, "Okay."
CJ gives him that slightly derisive look where she's trying not to be confused, and says, "Does it turn you on when I say no?"
"Sure," says Danny. "Is that okay? Does it turn you on when I say okay?"
"No," says CJ.
*
Robin Hood legends, Robin Hood
Sometimes Much still can't believe he's one of them.
"'Course you're one of us," John says, with a sort of grunt. He far prefers vague pronouncements to explaining things; Tuck prefers tangents, and Robin seems to prefer laughter over any form of speech, so it's left to Alan to explain.
"It's in the name," he says. "You're Much. All anyone ever has to be is much more than Robin. He can't help but cede to better men."
Robin laughs and laughs and laughs.
Much looks bewildered, and not a little hurt.
Will glares and stabs a slabs of venison, while Alan goes on talking in circles, John goes on grunting, Robin goes on laughing, and Tuck stifles his tangents with a large mouthful of mushrooms. "Much more innocent," Will finally elucidates, when he figures the torture's gone on long enough.
"But." Much looks around at all of them, bites his lip, but his gaze finally comes to rest on Robin.
Everything always comes to rest on Robin.
Robin stops laughing. "John's much more talented with a staff," he says, but he's still smiling.
Much looks at Alan.
"Charm," says Robin.
Much looks at Tuck.
"Girth," says Robin.
"Marian," Alan says.
"Beauty," says Robin.
"It stands to wonder then," says Tuck, "why Sir Guy is not among us."
"Oh, he is very beautiful too," Robin cedes, voice lazy.
Tuck rolls his eyes. "I meant that he is by far the superior swordsman."
"Naturally," says Robin, "but he has such a tendency to gloat. It sets my teeth on edge."
"And you never gloat at all," Will says, from his dark corner.
"My dear Will," says Robin, "I meant that I do it well. He does it so poorly, it makes my stomach turn. If only he could become a virtuoso braggart, I would willingly cede my place."
"And the sheriff?" asks Much, sounding eager now.
"Oh him." Robin waves a hand. "He's not better than me in anything."
"And Will?" asks Much.
Robin licks his lips. "Stamina."
Much looks surprised. "In battle?"
Robin laughs; if he were in the throes of death, the last breath to leave his lips would be a guffaw. "I'd tell you to ask him," says Robin, "but he's a worst boaster than Sir Guy." Upon Much's look of confusion, Robin hesitates, then tells him gently, "He doesn't do it at all."
Will could not help but think that one day, this one skill, by merit of which Robin claimed he was a member of their band, would fail him. One day, he would no longer have the stamina for Robin--the smiles, the sly eyes, the underhanded murmurs--and it would all be over. Until then, though, Will could outdo his leader in this one thing: endurance.
*
Star Trek (2009), Nyota Uhura and Gaila
It's late, and Gaila's talking about squid sex, something about tentacles, her eyes bright and happy and last night it was a male Andorian, and before that it was a hermaphroditic Deltan, which might be what finally causes Nyota to say, "Do you even know what orientation means?"
Gaila's lips tighten; she looks down, and Nyota knows she's said the wrong thing, but Gaila says, "Of course I know what it means; it means what direction I'm facing."
Gaila doesn't mean that disingenuously; she does know what it means, and right now she's facing Nyota.
*
James Bond (Daniel Craig era), Bond + or /M
A bond is an instrument of indebtedness.
A bond is an affinity between two people, a relationship of mutual trust.
James is Biblical--Saint James, James the Just, brother to Christ our Lord, King of Forgiveness, the symbol of sacrifice--and there's a reason she never thinks of him by his name, as a human being, as just a boy, just an orphan, just someone who is alone (just like her); there's a reason that in her mind, he's only ever been double-oh-seven.
*
Farscape, Aeryn Sun, hardass
"If you think I'm being a hardass now," Aeryn says, hefting the heavy bag of Peacekeeper weapons, "you just wait."
For a moment, Crichton just blinks.
As Aeryn realizes she's just used the words 'hard' and 'ass' in very quick succession, and that though John can sometimes be patient, at other times it takes very little to short-circuit his brain, he's already saying, "I can't wait; please, could you start right now?"
*
X-Files, Dana Scully
The intimidating thing about Catholicism is there is a price to pay, if you don’t believe—you might be wrong, and Scully doesn’t like to be wrong. Admitting that there are truths that may be unknowable is her way of dealing with those proofs Mulder seeks but she believes he will never find.
By the time Scully’s hiding the pain and wiping away the blood, she’s beginning to wonder whether she’s made a grave error in equating correct answers with what is right.
*
due South, Fraser & Dief
Benton Fraser first came to Chicago on the trail of the killers of his father, and for reasons which definitely needed exploring at this juncture, he had remained, attached as liaison to the Canadian consulate.
“I disagree,” Fraser told Diefenbaker, who was very insistent on the subject.
Their apartment had burned down and there was a new Ray who wasn't his Ray and nothing was really the same; if they explored anything at all at this juncture, they'd get lost.
*
Iron Man movies, Tony(/Pepper) + Justin Hammer
There used to be an actual, honest to God list of people he didn't like--terrorists, some foreign dictators, couple House Democrats who used to get up in his face, couple Senate Republicans who turned on him once he stopped the military contracts, half a dozen pop stars he really just can't stand and not just because he slept with them, and Wesley Crusher, but Hammer was such a dickly little tool he'd never even merited mention.
Pepper had . . . extensive files, lists, graphs, for fuck's sake, annotated inventories of everyone he'd ever fucked fought bought from sold to glanced at with passing interest; she had a color coded index of his motherfucking ties, and Tony had never realized that this was how she'd done the job until the day she wasn't there to do it any more.
That day, Tony didn't need a list; there was now only one person on it.
*