vilakins: (servalan)
Nico ([personal profile] vilakins) wrote2006-02-01 07:18 pm

Ficlet: Enhancement

A bit of silliness written for last week's [livejournal.com profile] b7friday challenge. We had to use at least one of these three cricket terms: caught, bowled, stumped. This uses all three and was inspired (if I can use that word) by a picture [livejournal.com profile] snowgrouse made (behind the cut) and a lying advertisement [livejournal.com profile] spacefall rightly complained about. 360 words set in season 1. Sorry, Avon.

Enhancement

"Hello, what's this, then?" said Vila, pulling a slim metal cylinder from Avon's toolbox.

"Avon'll be annoyed if he finds you doing that," Gan said mildly. "Just don't get caught."

The tool had a thin line around its middle. Vila shrugged and unscrewed it into two pieces. He stared at the little spiral brush in his right hand. "What d'you think this is for, Gan?"

Gan put his mug down and lumbered over for a look. "I dunno. Maybe you clean components with it."

Vila wiped it over a laser probe and recoiled at the black smear. "Dirty them, more like." He quickly wiped the gunk off and put the little brush back in its container with a soft squelch. "I'm stumped."

Jenna smiled from her station. "Perhaps it's not a tool, Vila."

"Eh?" Vila opened it and looked again. "Oh! I remember those ads on the vid. 'The more you use, the sexier you are.'" He grinned. "I should've known. Bet he bowled 'em over back on Earth every time he blinked." Vila did so himself. "Hmm. I've been told I have nice long lashes. Let's see." He leaned over the shiny inside of the toolbox lid and stuck his tongue out with concentration.

Gan swirled his cocoa round his mug to mix it. "Avon uses makeup?" He sounded disapproving. "On Zephron, only women of low virtue do that. Though, come to think of it, some of the bigger ones might have been--"

"On Earth, Gan, it is quite acceptable for either sex among the Alpha grades to enhance their appearance." Avon came up from behind Vila and snatched the mascara wand out of Vila's hand. "I was looking for that."

"Avon!" Vila jumped. "Thought it was a tool."

"It is, of sorts." Avon paused, momentarily lost for words. "Vila!"

Avon and Vila stared at each other, horrified. Avon's eyes looked strangely naked, and Vila's were fringed with long, thick, curling lashes.

"I shall have to boil the damned thing," Avon said furiously as he stalked off.

"Well?" Vila turned to the others. "Does it work?"

Gan almost snorted his cocoa and Jenna laughed, but Cally smiled thoughtfully.



And here's the picture. :-D

avon with mascara

[identity profile] snowgrouse.livejournal.com 2006-02-01 08:03 am (UTC)(link)
You don't need to say sorry to Avon, I've just unveiled The Truth;)...

[identity profile] vilakins.livejournal.com 2006-02-01 08:22 am (UTC)(link)
Next up: just what a too-tight perm did to Blake's memory, and the exact albedo of Tarrant's teeth.

[identity profile] snowgrouse.livejournal.com 2006-02-01 08:27 am (UTC)(link)
Aww, but Blake's is not a perm... it's poor Cally with the perm disasters...8-) Hey! Maybe she chopped her hair short to better read people's minds, while still insisting she couldn't! Sneaky...;)

[identity profile] vilakins.livejournal.com 2006-02-01 08:31 am (UTC)(link)
Auron hair contains metals and the curls set up interference.

[identity profile] snowgrouse.livejournal.com 2006-02-01 08:36 am (UTC)(link)
Did you see that hilarious site where students measured whether tinfoil hats really did prevent mind-reading rays?:D Turns out they amplified rays! HEE!

[identity profile] vilakins.livejournal.com 2006-02-01 08:57 am (UTC)(link)
Haha, yeah, I saw something about that.

[identity profile] vilakins.livejournal.com 2006-02-01 08:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[grin] Can you believe that they actually said in an ad that the more you use, the sexier you are? I hope they get done for it.

[identity profile] daiseechain.livejournal.com 2006-02-05 10:57 pm (UTC)(link)
So gloriously funny!

Am now stuck with image in head of Vila batting lashes coquettishly. *blinks*

[identity profile] vilakins.livejournal.com 2006-02-05 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Bugger, reposting because link wasn't permitted. Maybe this works.

Mmmmm.. [dreamy sigh] There's a pic of him doing just that to Cally here (cut and paste if the link doesn't work):
http://www.framecaplib.com/b7lib/images/shadow/shado038.jpg
And he does have lovely lashes.

Hey, you got [livejournal.com profile] snowgrouse's lovely icon! Go, you!

[identity profile] daiseechain.livejournal.com 2006-02-06 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
Lovely shot. Thanks for the link. Yes he does have lovely lashes. And shiny hair. They all had lovely shiny hair on tv back in the 70's/early 80's and I can't quite work out why no one does these days.

Yes! I love my snowgrouse icon. There was one you did a while back which I was also going to snaffle, but got distracted with RL. I think if was on the b7 icon comm. Off to search for it now.

[identity profile] vilakins.livejournal.com 2006-02-06 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
Ooh, really? I'm flattered! Comment there so I know which one it was. :-)

[identity profile] vilakins.livejournal.com 2006-02-06 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
And yes, they did have shiny hair. This icon shows Vila's off well.

I'm not sure why people don't now. Inara on Firefly does (and so do I, actually). :-P