Word Count:
Date: 2004
Series: One
Rating: M
Category: Relationships
Pairing/Focus: William, Laura
Warnings: language and suggestive stuff.
Summary: Things aren’t always as they seem, neither are those around us.
Spoilers/Disclaimers:
Note: This is my response to the FF challenge. It must contain: 1. The line,
“I came as soon as I could.” 2. A mud mask. 3. A bet. 4. A pair of stolen
boxer shorts. <g> This is set the evening of “Colonial Day.” I haven’t
seen the ep but there are minor spoilers and a lot of “this is how it could
have gone.” Muwahahahaha! A special “shout out” to Annie, an endless
source of Roslin/Lee inspiration, especially in unlikely places and certainly
when she doesn’t even know she’s done it.
“What’s the bet?” Adama asked his XO quietly.
“Bet?” Tigh asked blankly.
“C’mon, we always make a bet before one of these shindigs.”
“All right, all right. Give me a minute to think about it.”
“Think quickly, we’re almost there.”
Tigh grinned gleefully and said, “OK, here it is. You know the still you confiscated from me after I confiscated it from the flight crew?”
“Yeah…” Adama said cautiously. He didn’t like where this was going.
“If I win, I get the still back. If you win, I promise to quit drinking. For good.”
“Uh huh. This must be one helluva bet for you to be putting so much on the line.”
“It’s a beauty.”
“Let’s hear it then. I’m ready.”
“Before we get to that, I’d like to ask you a question.”
“Shoot.”
“Have you noticed how tired the President has been looking lately? She’s so…harried.”
“Yeah, I have noticed.” Adama’s tone was concerned and his brow furrowed. He was lost in his own thoughts and missed Tigh’s triumphant smile.
“She needs to relax, have a little fun, maybe get a stiff drink and put her feet up…”
“What are you getting at?”
“The bet.”
Comprehension dawned and Adama stepped back. “Have you lost your frakkin’ mind?”
“I’m not saying you have to get her into bed, Bill. Just flirt a little, get her out of her prepared-for-mass-chaos mode.”
“You’re crazy! She’ll have me thrown out an airlock!”
“The Bill Adama I know never backs down from a challenge,” Tigh said, switching tactics.
“Don’t even start that-”
“Madam President, hello.”
“Hello, Colonel. Commander Adama,” Roslin replied, smiling warmly at the two.
“Madam President.”
“Where is Ellen?”
“She’ll be here soon. Last minute outfit change; you know how it is.”
“Yes,” Roslin drawled, exchanging a look with Adama.
“Shall we?” Adama gestured for her to lead the way.
“Thank you.”
From the corner of his mouth, Adama muttered, “You’re on.”
* * *
“Thank you for the dance, Madam President.”
“Thank you, Commander, and please call me Laura.”
“You’re quite welcome, Laura. But only if you’ll call me Bill.”
Roslin smiled at him and said, “Bill, I had a lovely evening, but I think I’m going to call it an night.”
“Would you like an escort to the flight deck?”
“That would be nice.”
Adama placed his hand on her lower back and led her from the room. For a long moment, neither spoke. Adama searched for a neutral topic, something that wouldn’t incite another legendary battle between them.
“Have you read Dark Day yet?”
“I have. It was wonderful! Again, thank you for lending it to me.”
“It was a gift, Laura. I don’t lend books, remember?”
“Yes, of course,” she said, flushing slightly.
“You’re blushing!” he teased.
“That happens sometimes.”
“You’re cute when you’re embarrassed.”
“I-I uh…”
“I’m sorry. That was inappropriate.”
“No-it’s OK.”
They fell into an embarrassed silence and Adama was mortified with himself. What had possessed him to say she was cute? The truth of it was neither here nor there; it was his saying it aloud that he had an issue with.
Unable to tolerate the silence, Roslin asked, “So, why don’t you lend books?”
“Because they never seemed to make it back home,” he answered and grinned. He was happy to have an inane question to answer; he, too, was uncomfortable with the silence.
“I see. That makes sense.”
“It was twice as hard to get them back if the borrower was transferred to another ship.”
“I imagine so. You can’t exactly go knocking on their door to ask for it back.”
“Nope, you can’t.”
“Well…since you know where I am and since I’m not likely to be transferred anywhere, couldn’t you lend me a book?” she wheedled.
Adama laughed and said, “Come on. We’ll go take a look.”
* * *
Rolling onto his back, Adama gasped, “Gods woman, are you trying to kill me?”
“There wouldn’t have been any fun in that,” Roslin panted, grinning.
“And here I thought you just wanted to borrow a book.”
Roslin turned onto her side, resting her head on his shoulder, tracing patterns on his chest, her touch feather-light. “Sometimes a woman has to use a little subterfuge to get what she wants.”
“Not on my account you don’t,” he murmured, kissing her forehead.
“Bill…” Laura looked uncomfortable with his tenderness; she pulled away from him and climbed out of bed, gathering her scattered clothing.
“Where are you going?”
Laura ignored Adama and began to dress, keeping her back to him. She took no notice as he said her name; she put on her shoes and grabbed her jacket which lay scattered on the floor with the Commander’s own clothing. She draped the jacket over her arm and gathered the books he had selected for her to borrow, just moments before she set out to seduce him. She left the room, never once looking back.
* * *
“What the hell is all over your face?” Roslin demanded upon entering her quarters. She pulled the curtain shut behind her, obstructing the view from the outside.
“I dunno. I found it in the showers.”
“You’re blue!”
“It’s a mud pack, Laura.”
“Your face is blue!” she cried, dropping the books and jacket onto a chair.
“It looked cool?” he offered lamely, waving the empty package. “It says here it’s supposed to deep clean your pores.”
“You are such a girl.” She grinned at him, imagining her hands running over his smooth skin, from his broad shoulders down his muscular biceps…across his chiseled pecs…the vision that was his washboard stomach as he lay stretched out on the bed they sometimes shared…
“Gimme a kiss,” he demanded, pulling her from her reverie.
“I will when I can see your handsome face again.”
“You’d look cute with a blue face.”
“Funny, your ‘father’ says I’m cute when I blush,” she smirked. He moved slowly toward her, an impish smile on his lips. Her eyes narrowed, “Stay back,” she warned.
“C’mon, it feels kinda cool.”
“No! Lee! Stop it!”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, kissing her deeply. She melted into the kiss, forgetting all about the slimy goo on his face. She wrapped her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair. He broke off the kiss and trailed kisses down her throat, smearing blue clay onto her face and neck. She giggled and he lifted his head, staring into her eyes, fascinated by their change according to her mood and the colors she wore.
“You didn’t let him kiss you, did you?” Lee whispered.
“No, I wouldn’t let him.”
“Good.”
Her smile faltered and she dropped her gaze, murmuring, “But I did have to…”
“I knew that would be the only way. We both knew you were going to have to sleep with him.”
“I didn’t want to.”
“I know you didn’t.”
“I wanted to get out of there…to get back to you…I came as soon as I could,” she murmured, resting her forehead against his.
“He wasn’t…y’know, better?”
“No, never. You know I love you.”
Lee smiled and touched her cheek, murmuring “I know you do. I love you too.”
“It’s amazing, the depth of these feelings, isn’t it?”
“Emotions are amazing, period. The things we feel now…I never knew they were so extreme, emotions I mean. I don’t know how they control them…” he trailed off thoughtfully.
“Tell me about it. I felt…guilty…walking away from him and he kept calling after me. He sounded so…hurt,” she replied, her forehead wrinkled with confusion.
“So, did you get it?”
She pulled the stolen boxers from the fold of her jacket. “Rubber duckies? A little light-hearted for the Commander, isn’t it?”
“They told us humans would surprise us with their unpredictability.”
“So, when do we start, Le-I mean, Number Two?”
“It’s already begun, One.”
* * *
“So, how did we do?” Tigh asked.
“I won.”
“No way. She relaxed? You give her one of those legendary massages?”
“Relaxed? She seduced me.”
“Bullshit!”
“I’m serious. I agreed to lend her a book or two and the next thing I knew she was all over me.”
“You lucky dog!”
“It was strange, come to think of it,” he murmured.
“You just haven’t been with a woman for a while, that’s all,” Tigh assured him, clapping him on the back. “Don’t worry, you’ll get back into the swing of it. I’m not surprised about her, though. Anyone that controlled and repressed has to have a hidden side to her.”
“No, it wasn’t that, Saul.”
“What then?”
“Her eyes, there was something in her eyes. It wasn’t…right. I can’t explain it, it’s a gut instinct.”
“You’re worried about her eyes? We have a possible edge here and you’re talking like a sentimental idiot?”
“You’re missing my point. I’m not talking about the absence of feeling. Her eyes were…glowing. Something wasn’t right.”
The End