Ficlet: Double Bluff

[vilakins]

I didn't cross-post this b7friday story at the time, but whatthehell, mehitabel. The topic was cons; 200 words set in season 1 or 2.

Double Bluff

Once he knew that what Vila had wasn't catching, Avon took the small chessboard to the medical unit. He sat down by the bed and began setting the pieces out. "Zen informs me that the cold air down there exacerbated the damage done to your lungs sometime ago." He raised his eyebrows. "Breathing a dusty atmosphere for an extended time. Didn't you ever clean your apartment?"

"Oh, ha, very funny. It's from when I stowed away on a freighter after escaping from CF1. Bad choice--it was full of fertiliser for a colony."

"So in fact you do have a weak chest."

"Well, I said so, didn't I?" Vila coughed pitifully and looked sideways at Avon in the hopes of sympathy.

The fact that he was here was more than enough. "As a joke, yes. You can't tell me you expected us to believe you."

"Not really, no."

"So why--"

"Didn't want anyone kicking me off the ship as damaged cargo, did I? Not till you were used to me."

"But you also wanted to cover yourself so you could claim to have told us."

Vila grinned.

"A double con."

"I am, yes, what with CF1 and Cygnus Alpha."

Comments

[lizamanynames.livejournal.com]

*howls*

If someone were to ever collect one drabble/ficlet for each character in B7 (Or hell, all of fandom) as THE perfect character peice, perfectly capturing everything you need to know about the character, this would be Vila's.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you!

[lizamanynames.livejournal.com]

Hey, it's true! This is the quintessential Vila fic.

[daiseechain.livejournal.com]

Write more of this! I'd just love to read an entire series of Avon and Vila playing chess at Vila's hospital bed. Endless scope for witty dialogue. You've set the scene, now give us more damnit! :)

You might be able to tell I quite liked this...

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you! I do rather like getting them talking over a game. :-D

I'll have to see if I can come up with anything, but Vila spends about half of Friendship (http://www.farsight.net.nz/fiction/friendship.htm) in bed recovering from being shot, much of it with Avon doing his best not to be concerned. I can promise a few jokes, but it's a bit more serious since their pasts also come up.