FIC: Crescendo
Apr. 20th, 2009 08:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lls_mutantTitle: Crescendo
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lls_mutant
Characters: Barolay, Anders, Gaeta, Seelix, Helo
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Five drunken conversations that took place on the Demetrius.
Author's Notes: Thanks tofalafel_musings for the fantastic beta!
1.
"Gods bless whoever thought to bring booze on this frakking ship," Jean says, knocking back a shot. It's bitter- worse than bitter- but no one cares. After all, when all you can smell is shit, that's all anything tastes like as well. Anders grins at her, and she ruffles his hair. "You holding up there, Sammy?" she asks him affectionately.
"Yeah," he says with a sigh, and she knows that while he is, he's not enjoying it. He fiddles with his drink, staring at it like it's the most fascinating thing in the world. "I'm starting to get used to the smell," he says, like that's something to be happy about. "It's only taken, what, two weeks?"
"Still stinks," Jean grouses.
"My problem is that there isn't any room to play a decent game." He looks around the common area and grimaces. "It's criminal. You and me on the same ship with tons of free time and we can't even so much as toss the ball around."
"Cards just aren't the same," Jean agrees. She pours herself a bit more of the booze. "Surprised you aren't up in the Captain's quarters."
"Kara's busy," Anders answers with a shrug.
Jean isn't so easily fooled. Or distracted. "I don't mean right now," she says. "I mean in general. I mean, she is your wife."
"And we were sharing quarters before she came back from the dead, right?" Anders says. There's a forced cheerfulness there, and Jean realizes he doesn't want to be pushed on the matter. "Kara and I are complicated."
"Yeah." Jean swallows her drink again.
It's funny, because in his way, Sam Anders is the least complicated man that Jean has ever known. Oh, it's not that he's a one-trick pony or dumb as a box of hammers or anything like that. Quite the opposite. But Sam has always known what he's about and known what he wants, and that's what she's always envied in him. That confidence, that belief… that simplicity. If Sam doesn't like something, he changes it or deals with it.
"See," Sam's saying, "the thing that people don't get about Kara is that she's got her own rules. You have to understand what Kara values. Kara doesn't value sex. It doesn't mean anything to her. But what she does value…" he points a finger and a half-cocked grin in Jean's direction. "She doesn't make her promises lightly. When Kara makes a promise, it's because she believes in it. Because she means it. People don't get that, but it's true."
He believes it, she can see that. But at the same time, he's got the look of a man convincing himself, and she realizes that he believes it because he wants to.
"Ever think life would have been easier if she'd just stayed dead?" Jean asks before she can stop herself.
Sam's smile suddenly turns bitter and ugly. "All the time."
2.
It's late when Sam leaves Kara's quarters, and most of the crew is either working or is sleeping. But as he stumbles into the common area, he sees Felix Gaeta sitting alone at a table, working with a bottle beside him.
"Mind if I join you?" Sam asks as he staggers over.
Gaeta gives him a thin, sardonic smile and pushes the bottle to the middle of the table. "Go right ahead," he says, turning his papers over. As he does so, Sam can see they're not work, but letters. "Thought you were in for the night."
"Yeah, well, I was hoping so, too." Sam realizes he's really drunk. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have said that. He also wouldn't be noticing the structure of Gaeta's arms, or the fact that when he smiles again, there's a dimple in one cheek that's really rather cute. He only notices men if he's really, really hammered. He snorts and pours himself another shot from Gaeta's stash.
"You know," he tells Gaeta, "you are the only man on board that I am positive has never slept with my wife."
Gaeta picks up his drink. "Never have and never will," he agrees wholeheartedly. "I can promise you that."
"Cause you don't like women, right?"
"Because I don't like your wife." He gives that wicked grin again. "Never have and never will," he repeats.
Sam holds up his glass and Gaeta clinks it in a cheers fashion. He knows he shouldn't be so bitter- Kara's got too much on her shoulders right now- but Gods damn it, even he's entitled to a night of drunken anger at his lot every now and then. "You know what would really piss her off?" he says to Gaeta. "If you and me slept together."
Gaeta chokes on the alcohol he just swallowed so hard it comes out his nose. He dissolves into a fit of coughing, and Sam wonders if he should take offense. He debates it for a moment, and then decides not to. "Sorry, man," he says, as Gaeta begins to pull himself back together. "Didn't mean for that to happen."
"Extremely attractive, huh?" And for a moment, Gaeta's eyes roam over him, assessing and measuring. But there's something about the way he still sits, angled away and tense, that Sam knows the answer already.
"Not your normal type?" he asks lightly.
"For a relationship, no," Felix answers, as if it's an academic question. "But for a quick, meaningless frak? Sure, I think I could handle you." He winks.
"I'm not looking for the relationship. I've already got one of those." Sam rolls his eyes.
"Yeah, me too," Felix says. His hand falls on the letter he was writing. "And that's why I'm saying no."
It's not an argument when Sam says, "So, wait a minute. You're out here on this ship. It's just you and me right now, and no one would ever know."
"Except Starbuck. That was the point."
"Right. But pretend she wouldn't. You and me and no one would ever know, and you won't do it because you've got someone else?"
"Exactly." Felix smiles. "Just like you don't really want to do it, either."
He's right, but Sam ignores that. He takes the letter before Felix can fight it and turns it over. Dear Louis. He has to think for a moment, and then he finally remembers exactly who that is.
"Right," he says, getting to his feet. "When we get back to the Galactica, I'm gonna tell Hoshi just how lucky he is." He claps Gaeta on the shoulder, and then stumbles off to his rack. "Good night."
3.
Felix tries not to think of Louis too often. It's not that he doesn't want to. It's that he's afraid that if he does, he'll jinx it somehow. That while he's gone, Louis will find someone else, someone who isn't still raw and bleeding inside. Intellectually, he knows that Louis would never do that. But after loving Gaius Baltar, it's kind of hard to believe that emotionally.
It's gotten to be something of a joke among the crew, the way he writes to Louis when he can't send the letters. And so he's hardly surprised when someone sits down across from him and says, "Another letter?"
It is a surprise when he looks up to see Seelix.
But Seelix has a pack of cards and a bottle of booze, and she takes the papers away from him without a word. Ironically, this time they were actual star charts, but he's been at them for hours and he doesn't really mind their momentary absence. Without asking, she deals.
He picks the cards up, and she quirks up an eyebrow. "Got a seven?" she asks, spreading the cards across the table.
He almost laughs. "Go fish."
It's an easy game to play, and without them discussing it they start evolving more grownup rules. If you have to fish, you take a drink. If you have to hand over a card, you take a drink. If you lose, you down a shot.
They play three games before Seelix says it, out of the blue. "I'm sorry, you know. For the Circle."
"I know," Felix says, because he does, and also because that doesn't mean he feels like talking about it.
Amazingly enough, she gets that, and she just nods. And that's why he says, "You were going to let me go after you found out what I was doing."
"I'd like to think so. I was… angry." He looks up at her, meets her eyes, and wonders what all really happened to her on New Caprica. But they're on the same side again and New Caprica is a divider, so he doesn't ask. He just accepts that it was bad. "Not that anger excuses everything," Seelix says. "It doesn't excuse that Starbuck still would have opened the airlock, even after Chief told us what you'd done. Do you have a five?"
"Go fish." He debates answering her last comment, but the alcohol loosened his tongue and his mouth doesn't bother to connect to his brain. "Every time she comes into my life, she seems to manage to make it a little bit worse."
Seelix doesn't glare at him disapprovingly. Instead, she actually considers the little she knows of him and the chaos that is Starbuck. "Yeah," she says, and lays down a pair. "I can see that. She kind of does it to me, too."
Sam's not in the room, but everyone knows that Seelix has a thing for him. Even Sam knows it, although he plays dumb. Felix doesn't think anything ever would have come of it, but what does he know? After all, he was the one who was in love with Gaius Baltar for over two years. He doesn't say anything, just pulls a card from their fish pile and drinks.
"Even Anders is getting frustrated with her," he finally says, after he's had to swallow his drink for losing at a child's game. "When she can't even manage to lead him around by the balls anymore, you know it's getting bad."
Seelix nods and smiles, and the mood finally relaxes between them.
4.
There is nothing to do on this frakking ship, and it drives Diana crazy. She doesn't mind being on duty at all, because at least then she's busy. Diana's never been afraid of work. But this idle sitting around… it lets her mind wander, and that's really not what Diana wants.
When her mind wanders, she thinks of New Caprica. When her mind wanders, she thinks of Aerelon. And when her mind wanders, she can't help but think too much about this frakking mission they're on.
She didn't volunteer. Some people did, but a few of them, like her and Gaeta, were conscripted because of their skill sets. So when Helo, who put her name on the list, sits down with her, she glares.
"What do you want?" It's been a month and a half, but still can't be gracious to him. She will be after they're off this frakking shit ship.
But Helo's not looking for a fight. "I'm just looking for a drink," he tells her. In the dim lights of the common area, he looks worn, tired. She softens a bit and pushes the bottle to him. He pours his glass and takes it neatly, barely grimacing at the taste.
"Any news on where we're going this time?" she asks wearily.
Helo shakes his head, and suddenly, Seelix realizes that he's not happy, either. That he's got a kid back on the Galactica that he hasn't seen in a month and a half. They're no closer to Earth than when they started, no matter what anyone says. And everyone is miserable. "She changed the course again," Helo says.
Seelix sighs and rubs her forehead. "Helo," she begins, and she doesn't know where she's getting the courage to say this, "do you ever wonder what really happened to Starbuck those two months she was gone?"
He scowls. "Of course I wonder," Helo says. "Who doesn't?"
"But what is she? How can we be sure-"
He cuts her off with fire in his eye. "The Old Man would know," he says, but his protest lacks any fire.
With what? Seelix thinks. He didn't know Boomer was a Cylon. Cavil was on board for how long before we found out? The Old Man isn't a walking Cylon detector. But she doesn't say it, because Helo's got that look and she's pretty sure it won't make a difference anyway. "Right," she says. But she can't help asking, "How the frak do you put up with it?"
Helo glares at her. "It's my job," he says. "And it's your job, too. Remember that, soldier."
She sticks her tongue out at him. He stares at her for a moment in shock, and she looks cross-eyed down at her tongue, unbelieving that she just did that. And suddenly, they both dissolve into laughter.
5.
Two more days left. There are only two more days left. Helo can't wait. He can almost feel Hera in his arms again, her curly hair against his cheek and her little arms around his neck. Just two more days, and then this joke of a mission can come to an end.
He's got pressure on him every day. From Athena, who doesn’t trust a word Starbuck says. From Seelix, who hasn't said it, but everyone knows she thinks that Starbuck's a Cylon. From Pike, who flat-out agrees with Seelix and has said it. From Gaeta, who keeps his barbs veiled and his anger passive, and is at his most annoying that way. From Anders, who insists that Starbuck is Captain and a goddess resurrected, and all must obey her whims. From Hot Dog, who just wants to go home.
They all just want to go home.
He's wishing he had the Admiral's gift of words, or at least the Colonel's way of making everyone shut the frak up when Jean Barolay sits down with him. After two months on a cramped ship, they all know each other pretty well, so Helo isn't surprised at all. What he is surprised about is the aura of… well, he doesn't know what to call it, but it's not anger.
"That's the first smile I've seen all day," he says.
She hands him a drink. "Hopefully this will bring on another."
He accepts the drink but doesn't think he'll give the smile. "Thanks. What's got you so happy?" he asks.
"I wouldn't say happy," Barolay says with another smile. "Just going on faith."
"Faith," Helo snorts. "Faith in what?"
"We're going to find Earth."
"In the next two days? You've got a lot more faith than I could ever have."
Barolay cocks her head. "She's your best friend, isn't she?"
"Friendship doesn't mean I grant her supernatural powers," Helo says. "She's not psychic."
Barolay swallows the rest of her drink. "Sam told me something, back when we first started this mission. He said when Kara makes a promise, she keeps it. She's got her faults, but you know that much is true."
"It is," Helo has to agree.
"She promised she'd find us Earth. I believe her." Barolay makes it sound so simple.
Helo nods absently. There's something true in what she says, and even a month ago he would have agreed with her entirely. But he also knows there are some promises that you just can't keep, because it's beyond your control to make them happen. "Yeah," he finally says. "She doesn't break her promises easily."
Barolay seems to think that solves everything, and stands on up. But as Helo watches her walk off, the crew's discontent whispers at the edges of his mind, and he knows that they're the ones that are right. And the fact that Kara doesn't break her promises only makes what he has to do that much harder.
Author:
lls_mutantCharacters: Barolay, Anders, Gaeta, Seelix, Helo
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Five drunken conversations that took place on the Demetrius.
Author's Notes: Thanks to
falafel_musings for the fantastic beta!1.
"Gods bless whoever thought to bring booze on this frakking ship," Jean says, knocking back a shot. It's bitter- worse than bitter- but no one cares. After all, when all you can smell is shit, that's all anything tastes like as well. Anders grins at her, and she ruffles his hair. "You holding up there, Sammy?" she asks him affectionately.
"Yeah," he says with a sigh, and she knows that while he is, he's not enjoying it. He fiddles with his drink, staring at it like it's the most fascinating thing in the world. "I'm starting to get used to the smell," he says, like that's something to be happy about. "It's only taken, what, two weeks?"
"Still stinks," Jean grouses.
"My problem is that there isn't any room to play a decent game." He looks around the common area and grimaces. "It's criminal. You and me on the same ship with tons of free time and we can't even so much as toss the ball around."
"Cards just aren't the same," Jean agrees. She pours herself a bit more of the booze. "Surprised you aren't up in the Captain's quarters."
"Kara's busy," Anders answers with a shrug.
Jean isn't so easily fooled. Or distracted. "I don't mean right now," she says. "I mean in general. I mean, she is your wife."
"And we were sharing quarters before she came back from the dead, right?" Anders says. There's a forced cheerfulness there, and Jean realizes he doesn't want to be pushed on the matter. "Kara and I are complicated."
"Yeah." Jean swallows her drink again.
It's funny, because in his way, Sam Anders is the least complicated man that Jean has ever known. Oh, it's not that he's a one-trick pony or dumb as a box of hammers or anything like that. Quite the opposite. But Sam has always known what he's about and known what he wants, and that's what she's always envied in him. That confidence, that belief… that simplicity. If Sam doesn't like something, he changes it or deals with it.
"See," Sam's saying, "the thing that people don't get about Kara is that she's got her own rules. You have to understand what Kara values. Kara doesn't value sex. It doesn't mean anything to her. But what she does value…" he points a finger and a half-cocked grin in Jean's direction. "She doesn't make her promises lightly. When Kara makes a promise, it's because she believes in it. Because she means it. People don't get that, but it's true."
He believes it, she can see that. But at the same time, he's got the look of a man convincing himself, and she realizes that he believes it because he wants to.
"Ever think life would have been easier if she'd just stayed dead?" Jean asks before she can stop herself.
Sam's smile suddenly turns bitter and ugly. "All the time."
2.
It's late when Sam leaves Kara's quarters, and most of the crew is either working or is sleeping. But as he stumbles into the common area, he sees Felix Gaeta sitting alone at a table, working with a bottle beside him.
"Mind if I join you?" Sam asks as he staggers over.
Gaeta gives him a thin, sardonic smile and pushes the bottle to the middle of the table. "Go right ahead," he says, turning his papers over. As he does so, Sam can see they're not work, but letters. "Thought you were in for the night."
"Yeah, well, I was hoping so, too." Sam realizes he's really drunk. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have said that. He also wouldn't be noticing the structure of Gaeta's arms, or the fact that when he smiles again, there's a dimple in one cheek that's really rather cute. He only notices men if he's really, really hammered. He snorts and pours himself another shot from Gaeta's stash.
"You know," he tells Gaeta, "you are the only man on board that I am positive has never slept with my wife."
Gaeta picks up his drink. "Never have and never will," he agrees wholeheartedly. "I can promise you that."
"Cause you don't like women, right?"
"Because I don't like your wife." He gives that wicked grin again. "Never have and never will," he repeats.
Sam holds up his glass and Gaeta clinks it in a cheers fashion. He knows he shouldn't be so bitter- Kara's got too much on her shoulders right now- but Gods damn it, even he's entitled to a night of drunken anger at his lot every now and then. "You know what would really piss her off?" he says to Gaeta. "If you and me slept together."
Gaeta chokes on the alcohol he just swallowed so hard it comes out his nose. He dissolves into a fit of coughing, and Sam wonders if he should take offense. He debates it for a moment, and then decides not to. "Sorry, man," he says, as Gaeta begins to pull himself back together. "Didn't mean for that to happen."
"Extremely attractive, huh?" And for a moment, Gaeta's eyes roam over him, assessing and measuring. But there's something about the way he still sits, angled away and tense, that Sam knows the answer already.
"Not your normal type?" he asks lightly.
"For a relationship, no," Felix answers, as if it's an academic question. "But for a quick, meaningless frak? Sure, I think I could handle you." He winks.
"I'm not looking for the relationship. I've already got one of those." Sam rolls his eyes.
"Yeah, me too," Felix says. His hand falls on the letter he was writing. "And that's why I'm saying no."
It's not an argument when Sam says, "So, wait a minute. You're out here on this ship. It's just you and me right now, and no one would ever know."
"Except Starbuck. That was the point."
"Right. But pretend she wouldn't. You and me and no one would ever know, and you won't do it because you've got someone else?"
"Exactly." Felix smiles. "Just like you don't really want to do it, either."
He's right, but Sam ignores that. He takes the letter before Felix can fight it and turns it over. Dear Louis. He has to think for a moment, and then he finally remembers exactly who that is.
"Right," he says, getting to his feet. "When we get back to the Galactica, I'm gonna tell Hoshi just how lucky he is." He claps Gaeta on the shoulder, and then stumbles off to his rack. "Good night."
3.
Felix tries not to think of Louis too often. It's not that he doesn't want to. It's that he's afraid that if he does, he'll jinx it somehow. That while he's gone, Louis will find someone else, someone who isn't still raw and bleeding inside. Intellectually, he knows that Louis would never do that. But after loving Gaius Baltar, it's kind of hard to believe that emotionally.
It's gotten to be something of a joke among the crew, the way he writes to Louis when he can't send the letters. And so he's hardly surprised when someone sits down across from him and says, "Another letter?"
It is a surprise when he looks up to see Seelix.
But Seelix has a pack of cards and a bottle of booze, and she takes the papers away from him without a word. Ironically, this time they were actual star charts, but he's been at them for hours and he doesn't really mind their momentary absence. Without asking, she deals.
He picks the cards up, and she quirks up an eyebrow. "Got a seven?" she asks, spreading the cards across the table.
He almost laughs. "Go fish."
It's an easy game to play, and without them discussing it they start evolving more grownup rules. If you have to fish, you take a drink. If you have to hand over a card, you take a drink. If you lose, you down a shot.
They play three games before Seelix says it, out of the blue. "I'm sorry, you know. For the Circle."
"I know," Felix says, because he does, and also because that doesn't mean he feels like talking about it.
Amazingly enough, she gets that, and she just nods. And that's why he says, "You were going to let me go after you found out what I was doing."
"I'd like to think so. I was… angry." He looks up at her, meets her eyes, and wonders what all really happened to her on New Caprica. But they're on the same side again and New Caprica is a divider, so he doesn't ask. He just accepts that it was bad. "Not that anger excuses everything," Seelix says. "It doesn't excuse that Starbuck still would have opened the airlock, even after Chief told us what you'd done. Do you have a five?"
"Go fish." He debates answering her last comment, but the alcohol loosened his tongue and his mouth doesn't bother to connect to his brain. "Every time she comes into my life, she seems to manage to make it a little bit worse."
Seelix doesn't glare at him disapprovingly. Instead, she actually considers the little she knows of him and the chaos that is Starbuck. "Yeah," she says, and lays down a pair. "I can see that. She kind of does it to me, too."
Sam's not in the room, but everyone knows that Seelix has a thing for him. Even Sam knows it, although he plays dumb. Felix doesn't think anything ever would have come of it, but what does he know? After all, he was the one who was in love with Gaius Baltar for over two years. He doesn't say anything, just pulls a card from their fish pile and drinks.
"Even Anders is getting frustrated with her," he finally says, after he's had to swallow his drink for losing at a child's game. "When she can't even manage to lead him around by the balls anymore, you know it's getting bad."
Seelix nods and smiles, and the mood finally relaxes between them.
4.
There is nothing to do on this frakking ship, and it drives Diana crazy. She doesn't mind being on duty at all, because at least then she's busy. Diana's never been afraid of work. But this idle sitting around… it lets her mind wander, and that's really not what Diana wants.
When her mind wanders, she thinks of New Caprica. When her mind wanders, she thinks of Aerelon. And when her mind wanders, she can't help but think too much about this frakking mission they're on.
She didn't volunteer. Some people did, but a few of them, like her and Gaeta, were conscripted because of their skill sets. So when Helo, who put her name on the list, sits down with her, she glares.
"What do you want?" It's been a month and a half, but still can't be gracious to him. She will be after they're off this frakking shit ship.
But Helo's not looking for a fight. "I'm just looking for a drink," he tells her. In the dim lights of the common area, he looks worn, tired. She softens a bit and pushes the bottle to him. He pours his glass and takes it neatly, barely grimacing at the taste.
"Any news on where we're going this time?" she asks wearily.
Helo shakes his head, and suddenly, Seelix realizes that he's not happy, either. That he's got a kid back on the Galactica that he hasn't seen in a month and a half. They're no closer to Earth than when they started, no matter what anyone says. And everyone is miserable. "She changed the course again," Helo says.
Seelix sighs and rubs her forehead. "Helo," she begins, and she doesn't know where she's getting the courage to say this, "do you ever wonder what really happened to Starbuck those two months she was gone?"
He scowls. "Of course I wonder," Helo says. "Who doesn't?"
"But what is she? How can we be sure-"
He cuts her off with fire in his eye. "The Old Man would know," he says, but his protest lacks any fire.
With what? Seelix thinks. He didn't know Boomer was a Cylon. Cavil was on board for how long before we found out? The Old Man isn't a walking Cylon detector. But she doesn't say it, because Helo's got that look and she's pretty sure it won't make a difference anyway. "Right," she says. But she can't help asking, "How the frak do you put up with it?"
Helo glares at her. "It's my job," he says. "And it's your job, too. Remember that, soldier."
She sticks her tongue out at him. He stares at her for a moment in shock, and she looks cross-eyed down at her tongue, unbelieving that she just did that. And suddenly, they both dissolve into laughter.
5.
Two more days left. There are only two more days left. Helo can't wait. He can almost feel Hera in his arms again, her curly hair against his cheek and her little arms around his neck. Just two more days, and then this joke of a mission can come to an end.
He's got pressure on him every day. From Athena, who doesn’t trust a word Starbuck says. From Seelix, who hasn't said it, but everyone knows she thinks that Starbuck's a Cylon. From Pike, who flat-out agrees with Seelix and has said it. From Gaeta, who keeps his barbs veiled and his anger passive, and is at his most annoying that way. From Anders, who insists that Starbuck is Captain and a goddess resurrected, and all must obey her whims. From Hot Dog, who just wants to go home.
They all just want to go home.
He's wishing he had the Admiral's gift of words, or at least the Colonel's way of making everyone shut the frak up when Jean Barolay sits down with him. After two months on a cramped ship, they all know each other pretty well, so Helo isn't surprised at all. What he is surprised about is the aura of… well, he doesn't know what to call it, but it's not anger.
"That's the first smile I've seen all day," he says.
She hands him a drink. "Hopefully this will bring on another."
He accepts the drink but doesn't think he'll give the smile. "Thanks. What's got you so happy?" he asks.
"I wouldn't say happy," Barolay says with another smile. "Just going on faith."
"Faith," Helo snorts. "Faith in what?"
"We're going to find Earth."
"In the next two days? You've got a lot more faith than I could ever have."
Barolay cocks her head. "She's your best friend, isn't she?"
"Friendship doesn't mean I grant her supernatural powers," Helo says. "She's not psychic."
Barolay swallows the rest of her drink. "Sam told me something, back when we first started this mission. He said when Kara makes a promise, she keeps it. She's got her faults, but you know that much is true."
"It is," Helo has to agree.
"She promised she'd find us Earth. I believe her." Barolay makes it sound so simple.
Helo nods absently. There's something true in what she says, and even a month ago he would have agreed with her entirely. But he also knows there are some promises that you just can't keep, because it's beyond your control to make them happen. "Yeah," he finally says. "She doesn't break her promises easily."
Barolay seems to think that solves everything, and stands on up. But as Helo watches her walk off, the crew's discontent whispers at the edges of his mind, and he knows that they're the ones that are right. And the fact that Kara doesn't break her promises only makes what he has to do that much harder.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-04-21 01:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-21 02:39 am (UTC)Yeah, she does, doesn't she? Poor girl. I wish we'd seen more of Barolay. Maybe in The Plan. She was an interesting character.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-21 01:50 am (UTC)EEE!! Sam and Felix!! :D
*Now we return you to your regularly-scheduled comment*
"Ever think life would have been easier if she'd just stayed dead?" Jean asks before she can stop herself.
Sam's smile suddenly turns bitter and ugly. "All the time."
Poor Sam. One of the things I love about Anders is he's usually pretty honest with himself, which has to be hard when you're married to Kara. I also really liked how you worked in that Sam and Jean were from the same pyramid team and had a history--actually, they probably go back longer than most relationships in the Fleet, maybe even longer than some of the Galacticans who served together before the attacks. I'm really hoping that "The Plan" will go more in-depth with Anders's Caprica Resistance, because it seems like there should be some interesting stories to tell there.
"You know," he tells Gaeta, "you are the only man on board that I am positive has never slept with my wife."
Gaeta picks up his drink. "Never have and never will," he agrees wholeheartedly. "I can promise you that."
"Cause you don't like women, right?"
"Because I don't like your wife." He gives that wicked grin again. "Never have and never will," he repeats.
Ha! I love how you make Anders hitting on Gaeta such a great character moment for both of them and how they feel about their separate relationships. And also, Gaeta has an amazingly strong will.
This comment is going to get too long if I don't start summarizing a bit better, so: Seelix is awesome in her pragmatism, perceptiveness, and ability to break the ice with anyone, and Helo wins the award for best friend a crazy prophet could ever ask for. Also, I appreciate that you pointed out Helo must be missing Hera. I had very, very few beefs with Season 4.0, but I thought it was really strange that nobody even *mentioned* Hera until Hera started drawing Cylons.
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Date: 2009-04-21 02:44 am (UTC)I've heard rumors we will hear more about the Caprica Resistance in The Plan, which I agree with you would be really cool. I like the Jean/Sam friendship- it's really what makes me like her character- so I'm with you for hoping for more about that.
And also, Gaeta has an amazingly strong will.
Heh. Doesn't he? :) Although truthfully, I don't think so. I think Gaeta knows perfectly well he'd somehow get caught, because Gaeta never gets away with ANYTHING, and wouldn't risk it. Actually, I have to admit, for all I drool over celebrities, I don't have a "list of five" or whatever. The infidelity thing and I just do. not. mix. (I know he kissed the Eight in the Raptor. I am firmly attributing that to being high as a kite, oxygen deprived, and desperately trying to help her project. the "I have someone now" was "Sure I'll kiss you, but it ain't going anywhere after this." Because damn it, my boy does. not. cheat. End of line.)
I thought it was really strange that nobody even *mentioned* Hera until Hera started drawing Cylons.
I did, too. And also, who thinks it's a good idea to send BOTH Mom and Dad on the same mission? Really? I mean, I adore my husband. But if there was a mission that could easily end in death, it would take a lot for both of us to go. I mean, really. Who was going to take the Moppet if something happened to them both? (A real fear on this mission, as it turns out?) Especially since it didn't end up being Baltar and Cap6 raising her?
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Date: 2009-04-21 02:59 am (UTC)AMEN!
I always wondered how both Athena and Helo ended up on the mission, too. Helo makes sense, because he's about the only one besides Anders and the Adamas that would trust her at all at that point, mostly because they're good friends. But Athena seems like an odd choice. If Kara is a Cylon, why send another one with? The only thing I can make of it is maybe Helo hand-picked her to come along and made the same big mistake that Chief made by assigning Cally to work with him on the same project in "A Day in the Life," only on a much, much larger scale of stupidity. Maybe there were really that few people Helo thought he could trust to stay in line with Kara in charge? I don't know.
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Date: 2009-04-22 05:11 am (UTC)So the big guy got a new job, and Hera got overlooked.
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Date: 2009-04-21 01:55 am (UTC)Nice moments here. Poor Sammy. Poor Helo. Really, you're making me feel sympathy for everyone.
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Date: 2009-04-21 02:45 am (UTC)I know- BSG does that so well, where you just feel bad for EVERYONE. ::sniff::
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Date: 2009-04-21 02:37 am (UTC)I liked seeing the possible interactions on that ship. You captured Jean's character there. I really liked her.
Also, how poor Sammy was getting dragged around too.
Nice.
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Date: 2009-04-21 02:46 am (UTC)Yeah, poor Sammy really let himself get dragged around. But I gotta give him credit, he knew exactly what was happening. That's devotion, boy. ::contemplates the idea of Anders/Hoshi. If they'd ever gotten together, nothing in the world would have torn those two devoted guys apart.::
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Date: 2009-04-21 03:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-21 03:11 am (UTC)(I still suck at reviews! :D)
(the notion of Felix/Sam is gonna do awesome things for my dreams, heehee. X3)
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Date: 2009-04-21 03:15 am (UTC)And glad I could help. Sammy is a cutie, that's for sure. ::wishes she'd been able to catch Big Bang Theory tonight::
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Date: 2009-04-21 05:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-21 08:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-21 08:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-21 03:39 am (UTC)That, right there, made me laugh so loud the cat glared at me. *cackles* It's still making me laugh.
I love this look into the time on Demetrius--we have all the later moments, and a little of the middle, but not enough to be satisfying.
=D
And Jean's faith in Kara (and Sam's faith in her), and Sparky's missing Hoshi, and and and. *draws hearts all over fic*
(I refuse to sob, like Rose)
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Date: 2009-04-21 09:14 am (UTC)If you have any other Jean icons rocking round, point me in their direction? Cheers m'dears :)
And yeah, Jean's faith in Kara always compelled me. They were secretly frakking. We all know it.
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Date: 2009-04-22 04:00 am (UTC)(I have the suspicion I need to sit down and do a bunch of Jean, Kendra and Dee at some point.)
Jean/Kara.... Surprisingly, that wasn't one of the femslash pairings I'd considered (Jean/Dee was my one crack pairing at some point, there). Hrm. *contemplates*
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Date: 2009-04-22 01:18 pm (UTC)I always thought Jean/Kara, initially for the pure proximity - her and sam are close friends, she'd be around, alot, and probably the only other person that would understand Sam. Kara wouldve confided in her at some point, or spoken to her to glean information on how to frak Sam off. Starbucks just like that. And then Demetrius arc came along - remember that line in the Raptor after they'd just boarded the baseship for the first time? Jean says that she volunteered to go, and that "I dont care what any of the others say, youve always kicked ass." Theres obviously respect there, maybe even admiration? Maybe my femslash goggles were turned up ultra high at the time, but Im convinced.
Besides, its always nice to imagine! :)
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Date: 2009-04-22 06:25 pm (UTC)(and I feel the urge to say we should go be babbly in
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Date: 2009-04-21 08:25 pm (UTC)I wish they'd had more time, too, but I guess that's what fanfic is for. (But fanfic cannot capture the wonderful arm porn from that time period. ::sigh::) Glad you enjoyed it- thank you! :)
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Date: 2009-04-21 05:35 am (UTC)Oh, Felix/Sam, a pairing I love but can't do much with because the roleplay partner plays both of them. Alas. It will share the same fate as Gaius/Galen in my mind. (Which is to say plotbunnies, but probably not as much fic.)
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Date: 2009-04-21 08:29 pm (UTC)Hey, at least Felix's loyalty this time appears to be well-earned. From what we've seen of Hoshi, he was designed to be The Good Boyfriend. :)
Felix/Sam would be fun, wouldn't it?
Thanks so much!
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Date: 2009-04-21 06:17 am (UTC)Hee! I so love when Felix is snippy. Even though in my world Felix would have slept with Kara in season 1. But Sammy doesn't need to know that. ;-)
"Exactly." Felix smiles. "Just like you don't really want to do it, either."
Aww, Felix is so loyal. That's sweet. I can't pretend I wasn't hoping for . . . something. Sam/Felix? I never thought of that! Ever! Where is the Little Black Dress list? Has it been written before? ;-)
Aww, the ending! Poor Helo! You do really have those suckerpunch endings. Here I was all full of sympathy for Felix (Felix and Kara always get my sympathy on that ship), but now I'm sad for Helo not being a good X.O. But being a good friend. :-(
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Date: 2009-04-21 08:31 pm (UTC)I'm glad you enjoyed it! And yeah, I actually felt bad for Helo while they were committing the mutiny. Until he wouldn't do anything to help our boy keep his leg, anyway :P
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Date: 2009-04-21 09:12 am (UTC)Jean and Sam are so cute in this, I wish we'd seen more of their friendship in the show. You captured them both perfectly and it made my heart sing. Sing.
YAY Seelix. I dowonder what happened to hero n NC sometimes and its like, so we could understand her a bitbetter. I felt that the writers just kind of twisted her this way and that whenever they needed a female supporting character inthe scene ya know? This gave some proper insights into how she thinks, and how stuff affects her, which I loved. Great little ficlets.
I even squeed at Gaeta/Sam, and Im not a gaeta fan at all! He was such a puppy in this. I wouldnt mind being stuck on the demetruis purely for a change of scenery, get of the Bucket for a bitya know? BUt he just seemed so negative all the time, it was really awesome you giving his charaacter some light and life, and showing his love for Hoshii.
LOVE. Totally rec'ing to my flist. xx
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Date: 2009-04-21 08:35 pm (UTC)I have a theory Seelix was raped by a Cylon down on New Caprica. There's just something about the way the actress plays her... it makes sense to me. I'd like to know more about Seelix, though. I think I'm actually going to write her for the
I'm glad you liked the Gaeta/Sam bits, too. Gaeta is actually my favorite character (although he was totally negative in this timeframe, and probably a real bitch to be around, although I get why. Gaeta + Starbuck =/= anyone being happy.)
Thanks for the rec as well! :)
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Date: 2009-04-22 05:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 01:27 pm (UTC)Re: Seelix!theory, I'd never thought of that. There is soemthing about her thats so broken, and SO hateful of the cylons, it does make you think. Jen is an amazing actress and really captured her complexity, and the strength she had to draw on through the NC saga. *hugs her*
If youre a Seelix fan, myself and theastolat are supersize seelix fans and have written a few fics with her in - i'd defo recomend theastolats 'Dust Days'. Its a Seelix/Jean, Seelix/Laura fic. Obvs its fic and not canon, but its the best I can do!! xx
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Date: 2009-04-21 09:27 am (UTC)I like how Kara doesn't feature yet her presense seems to loom threateningly over every conversation. I loved the Sam/Felix moment. Sam/Felix are one of my favourite *we don't really see it on the show but I like the idea of it* relationships. They would make an interesting odd couple and they are tragically linked as casualties of mutiny. And yes, Sam/Felix sex would be the IDEAL thing to piss Kara off!
I like the idea of Felix being all soppy and precious over his Hoshi ship at this stage. Not wanting to mess it up; he still has hope! *cries* And so does Jean *cries more* Again you do really well at characterising minor characters like Barcolay and Seelix. I wish I could do that.
Nice little fic. Now get back to finishing YFL, girl!
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Date: 2009-04-22 11:44 am (UTC)And yes, Sam/Felix sex would be the IDEAL thing to piss Kara off!
You know what would be sad? If they did it, and it DIDN'T. They'd both hate themselves (well, depending on the timeframe. If he's with Hoshi, I refuse to believe Felix wouldn't feel guilty), and Kara would just be laughing at them. That would suck, and sounds totally like something BSG would do. ::sigh::
Thanks so much! (And I'm trying with YFL. I REALLY hate navigating canon!)
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Date: 2009-04-21 10:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 11:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-21 02:50 pm (UTC)This was painfully well done, with all the heartbreak associated with the Demetrius storyline. Missing loved ones seems a theme, whether a wife who's only physically there, a lover back on ship, or a daughter who had to be left behind. I like that, as much as Sam loves Kara, he knows exactly what a rough ride he's on, and sometimes he just wants to push back and give her a taste of her medicine. And how he has Jean, who's been with him from way back, and she's one of the best friends a man could have. This story fits nicely before The Ties That Bind, at least in my mind.
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Date: 2009-04-22 11:49 am (UTC)I like that, as much as Sam loves Kara, he knows exactly what a rough ride he's on, and sometimes he just wants to push back and give her a taste of her medicine.
I think that's what I love best about Sam/Kara. He KNOWS, and has known from the beginning, what he signed on for, and he accepts it and doesn't come across as the victim so much. But that doesn't mean he's always happy about it. Poor Sam. (I have a lot more sympathy for him than Kara. Infidelity never sits well with me.) I do wish they'd shown us more of him and Jean. That must have been such a good friendship. ::Sigh::
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Date: 2009-04-22 02:35 pm (UTC)(I have a lot more sympathy for him than Kara. Infidelity never sits well with me.)
*nods* I love Kara, but I agree, I don't feel sorry for her at all about the relationship stuff. The infidelity thing is why I couldn't ever support Lee/Kara.
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Date: 2009-04-21 05:43 pm (UTC)I love all these conversations. I'm rather fond of Sam drunkenly propositioning Felix, because that would be one hot frak, and I love that neither of them would never actually do it, because both of them are too good for that.
I also liked the Seelix/Gaeta conversation- anything involving Gaeta talking with a member of the Circle about the airlock is always fascinating, and I think that this moment makes a lot of sense. It's also a hugely amusing mental image, in its own way, that Seelix is apologizing for nearly killing him over a game of Go Fish.
I also like how every member of the crew, including Sam, isn't sure about Starbuck. Especially the observation about the Old Man not having any real proof that Kara is Kara- it's kind of crazy that anyone volunteered for that mission with the dead girl. And the last conversation, with Barolay being the one to show some faith in her- that was hurty.
Wonderful as always. Good luck getting Tom and Felix to cooperate- looking forward to more YFL.
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Date: 2009-04-22 11:55 am (UTC)I thought it was interesting that Gaeta and Seelix were on the same side in the mutiny, and what's more, she seemed to be in his command structure, given that she was in the CIC at one point. But then, it seems like the two he channels most of his anger at are Tigh and Starbuck, and Starbuck more than Tigh.
Glad you liked it, and thanks again!
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Date: 2009-04-22 01:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 11:57 am (UTC)I didn't think to warn about the slash. I knew Anders/Gaeta wasn't happening, and I figure Gaeta/Hoshi is canon and wasn't a big part of the story.
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Date: 2009-04-22 08:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 09:05 pm (UTC)I agree that Sam is WAY too loyal to cheat on Kara. I think that if Gaeta had said yes, Sam would have backtracked in this. In my head, Sam asked here partly because he knew Gaeta would say no, just because of the kind of guy Gaeta is when he's not hyped up on morpha and helping an ex-lover Cylon project.
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Date: 2009-04-22 05:18 am (UTC)Unless you are talking to a certain subset of fandom. ;}
"Got a seven?" she asks, spreading the cards across the table.
I was totally not expecting that, so it made me laugh out loud. A lot of this fic engaged my funny bone; it completed a lot of missing parts on the Demetrius arc, and the cycle through the characters was wonderful. I love how Barolay keeps on believing, and Helo, who always believes, can't.
You are a really fantastic writer. I am running over to Across The Salt to rec this, this second.
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Date: 2009-04-22 12:06 pm (UTC)Unless you are talking to a certain subset of fandom. ;}
True :) But I like Sam, and while he's not Gaeta or Baltar in terms of intelligence, he's got more street smarts and people smarts than most of the characters. And he couldn't have been that dumb if he helped come up with resurrection! (Actually, he's starting to veer into Mary Sue territory there. Smart enough to come up with resurrection, wrote All Along the Watchtower, and professional athlete? AND hot to boot?)
Thanks again!
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Date: 2009-04-22 05:17 pm (UTC)I will say, however, that this fic needed 100% more Erin Mathias. ;-)
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Date: 2009-05-13 08:51 pm (UTC)