prillalar: (starbuck)
prillalar ([personal profile] prillalar) wrote2005-01-26 07:02 am
Entry tags:

BSG Fic: Arithmetic (Starbuck et alia)

Request ficlet the second, for [livejournal.com profile] lasultrix, who asked for Starbuck being a playboy. R, 500 words.
This is new BSG, not old. (Is there a standard way to indicate that yet?)

No spoilers past the miniseries.


Arithmetic

Kara is tired, Kara is always tired, and Kara doesn't want to think. Kara doesn't want to think about sabotage, about dead friends, about the Cylons. Kara wants to fly, to shoot, to smash, to win.

Every moment Kara is out of the cockpit is a waste and she tries to find ways to make the time go faster, faster until the seconds and minutes and hours smear together in a blur of lights and colours that will dazzle her eyes and numb her mind.

Kara gambles, for booze, for stogies, for money that no longer has any value, winning more hands than she loses and only cheating when it's a really good pot. Kara works out, pushes her body until it screams, until it hates her, until she can hardly walk without wincing.

And still the thoughts come crawling into her brain, under her skin, buzzing and clicking against her bones. When it gets too loud, Kara finds a boy, a good healthy one, and pulls him into an access corridor and rides him for as long as he'll last. The sweat, the grunts, the skin scraping skin: sex is white noise for Kara and it keeps her mind blank for hours afterwards.

One night, Kara is walking through the corridors, trying to stay one step ahead of the buzzing. And there is Dr Baltar and a girl, a civilian with an access pass hanging on a chain around her neck. Baltar has the same idea as Kara or maybe he's just horny. He's leaning in and touching the girl's hair and whispering something that is sure to be both awkward and oily, perfectly calculated for maximum effect.

Kara stops. She walks up to them. "Lieutenant Thrace," Baltar says and Kara can tell he is adding her into his calculations. One plus two equals three. Even Kara knows that and she's not a genius scientist.

But Kara makes her own calculations. "Is this guy bothering you?" she says and Baltar's mouth drops open.

Three minus one equals Kara and the girl in the corridor, half hidden behind a pile of crates, with Kara's tongue in the girl's mouth and Kara's hand under the girl's shirt. This is new for Kara and she likes it, likes the roundness of the girl and the way she clutches Kara's hair in her fist as they kiss.

Kara keeps her eyes open and watches people passing. She dares them to stop, to say something, but they just stare and keep walking. Nobody wants to mess with Starbuck.

Even Colonel Tigh is walking by, disgust on his face, not quite pissed off enough to stop. But Kara has to meet his eyes, to run her tongue over her lips as the girl kisses her throat.

Two minus one equals Kara in the brig, with Tigh yelling at her from the other side of the bars. Kara wonders if he's going to spit in her face. "Wouldn't you rather be in here with me?" she says when he stops to breathe.

And then he's gone and Kara is alone. In the brig there's nothing else to do but think.

[identity profile] jjtaylor.livejournal.com 2005-01-26 07:12 am (UTC)(link)
Oh my god. This is terrific. I love this: sex is white noise for Kara and it keeps her mind blank for hours afterwards. And that she has a run-in with Tigh: "Wouldn't you rather be in here with me?" she says when he stops to breathe. Wonderful.

[identity profile] lasultrix.livejournal.com 2005-01-26 07:19 am (UTC)(link)
You are wonderful! I love your way with words, and the short rhythm of the sentences conveying the impatience and itching she feels.

Kara works out, pushes her body until it screams, until it hates her, until she can hardly walk without wincing.

Don't you love that scene later on in the series where she's working out and Adama piles more and more weight onto her injured knee because that's the only way to make her realise that she can't fly this time?

But Kara has to meet his eyes, to run her tongue over her lips as the girl kisses her throat.

I can see her expression. It's making me grin.

And then that touch of sorrow at the end, after her succinct little question of rebellion to Tigh. Fabulous.

[identity profile] thepouncer.livejournal.com 2005-01-26 07:36 am (UTC)(link)
Starbuck! *loves the Starbuck*

I've been pondering her lately, how much she attempts to bury her true self, with bravado and attitude and duty. But she can't always.

[identity profile] mooselet.livejournal.com 2005-01-26 07:51 am (UTC)(link)
Gorgeous. I love the arithmetic gimmick, it's very clever. Kara seems so empty and desperate.

[identity profile] xanthelj.livejournal.com 2005-01-26 07:57 am (UTC)(link)
Great stuff - I love how you express Kara's personality so vividly. I can see her kissing girls *very* easily...

[identity profile] mooselet.livejournal.com 2005-01-26 08:07 am (UTC)(link)
Xanthe? As in "24/7" Xanthe? *really embarrassing fangirlish SQUEEEEEE!* It's so exciting seeing my favorite fanfic authors (you and Hal) on LJ. I hope you don't mind if I friend you?

[identity profile] serialkarma.livejournal.com 2005-01-26 08:02 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, I really liked this. What an excellent bit of character exploration.

[identity profile] corilannam.livejournal.com 2005-01-26 09:16 am (UTC)(link)
This was awesome -- very gritty and raw, and so very much Starbuck and how she manages to be both out-of-hand spontaneous and shrewdly calculating at exactly the same time. And of course, Starbuck + girl = hot. *g*

Great stuff.

[identity profile] kestrelsan.livejournal.com 2005-01-26 09:18 am (UTC)(link)
Every moment Kara is out of the cockpit is a waste and she tries to find ways to make the time go faster, faster until the seconds and minutes and hours smear together in a blur of lights and colours that will dazzle her eyes and numb her mind.

If you didn't already know it, I love you dearly :).

Happy Birthday! *hugs and kisses*

[identity profile] lasultrix.livejournal.com 2005-01-27 05:55 am (UTC)(link)
I am seriously considering killing you for your icon, you know. Mmm, Guinness.

[identity profile] kestrelsan.livejournal.com 2005-01-27 09:13 am (UTC)(link)
Mmm, indeed. Actually, this was made for me by Miss [livejournal.com profile] prillalar herself--you should nudge her *g*.

[identity profile] lasultrix.livejournal.com 2005-01-27 09:16 am (UTC)(link)
Hal, you listening to us there? Have you been to Ireland and tasted proper Guinness?

You should call this one "New Math". *g*

[identity profile] laurashapiro.livejournal.com 2005-01-26 09:57 am (UTC)(link)
Gorgeous. Hot and perfectly in character, and I'm so glad Tigh is here.

Yum.

Re: You should call this one "New Math". *g*

[identity profile] laurashapiro.livejournal.com 2005-01-27 09:59 am (UTC)(link)
I was thinking the same thing!
ext_2060: (bsg2003 (evil toaster))

[identity profile] geekturnedvamp.livejournal.com 2005-01-26 10:00 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, man, could Starbuck BE any hotter? I think not--this is great!

And yes, happy birthday!

[identity profile] viper-8547.livejournal.com 2005-01-26 12:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Damn I love that Gal! You write Starbuck very well :)

[identity profile] boniblithe.livejournal.com 2005-01-26 02:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I like this, and also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

[identity profile] boniblithe.livejournal.com 2005-01-27 05:14 am (UTC)(link)
*fangrlz kira*
ext_6533: (Starbuck - captain_sam)

[identity profile] greenet.livejournal.com 2005-01-26 07:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh yes. *happy*

[identity profile] poohmusings.livejournal.com 2005-04-01 05:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Um, wow. Found my way here via BSO and am oh so happy that I did. Love love love.
ext_7651: (Default)

[identity profile] idlerat.livejournal.com 2005-08-09 04:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Very belatedly sniffing around for BSG fic, came to this- it's dynamite. 2 minus 1- excellent!

[identity profile] 3jane.livejournal.com 2005-12-11 06:58 pm (UTC)(link)
This is about seventeen kinds of wonderful.

[identity profile] deltachild.livejournal.com 2006-03-03 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
Came here via [livejournal.com profile] crackvan , and holy hell this is good! Due to my randomness in watching episodes I tend not to read too much fic for fear of being spoiled, but I'm so glad I read this.

There's a very punchy flow to the piece, and it's exactly like reading the mind of someone who's thinking quite suddenly and aggressively.

Kara and the girl? Guuuh!

Heh, my feedback isn't too coherent, but I really like this!

[identity profile] apatheia-jane.livejournal.com 2006-03-03 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)
It's such a shame fitting 6 into this wouldn't have worked. I'd have loved to see her mocking Baltar for the girls running off with each other.

sex is white noise for Kara and it keeps her mind blank for hours afterwards.

Loved the Kara.

[identity profile] ubiquirk.livejournal.com 2008-08-19 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I love the way you use the reoccurring motif of arithmetic in this and esp Kara taking the other woman away from Baltar. Nice character study.

[identity profile] longleggedgit.livejournal.com 2008-12-29 03:02 pm (UTC)(link)
I just randomly stumbled upon this, and, guh. You have her down so well. Excuse me while I go fan myself off now.

[identity profile] longleggedgit.livejournal.com 2008-12-29 04:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Like I said, this was kind of a random stumble-upon. I think I was looking for something else in your fic tags and just got pulled in! *g* But um, yeah, me too. I've still only seen season one, though, so I really need to get on top of that. Add it to the list . . .

[identity profile] longleggedgit.livejournal.com 2008-12-30 03:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Holy shit, I love you. THOSE WERE ALL SO AMAZING. And LOL, you totally did call him. Not that it was a tough call, exactly.