Ficlet: Party Games

[vilakins]

I didn't write the proper story she wanted, but I have written kerravonsen a birthday ficlet. It's a companion piece to Gauntlets Down, and the idea was suggested by mistraltoes.

Party Games

Ah. Perhaps it was here. Vila quickly unscrewed the side panel of Avon's console and peered in. No such luck.

"While you're in there," Avon said behind him, making Vila jump and bang his head, "you could fix the proximity light. It flickers."

"Oh, very funny." Vila backed out and stood up, dusting himself down. That was the last of the flight deck stations, and he was really beginning to need that drink. Now, that gave him an idea...


"Hello, Vila," said Cally. "Looking for something?"

"Um, no." Vila closed the medicine cupboard and put on his most innocent look. "I mean yes. I need something for a headache."

"Not yet, surely." Cally opened a bottle and carefully decanted one pill into Vila's hand. "There. Use it wisely."

"Oh, thanks. Very generous of you."

Cally smiled as he left.


The next stop was the galley.

"Feeling peckish, Vila?" Gan looked up from a sandwich the size of a doorstep.

"Nah, just looking for something," Vila said through a mouthful of leftover curry as he rummaged through the fridge. It wasn't there, nor in the pantry, though a slice of chocolate cake was which slowed Vila's search for a few minutes. Where else could it be? He'd searched Avon's cabin; first place he'd looked. Ah, but wait. Avon would know that, and Avon was sneaky. Right.

Vila went back and let himself in and looked around.

It was in the little bathroom attached, and it hadn't been there before. It was labelled Damask Rose Bubble Bath, but Vila knew the shape of the bottle too well, and he peeled it back to see the correct label. Old Sarkoff: Finest Lindorian Brandy. "Gotcha!" Vila grinned with delight, and went to Avon's desk to leave a note.


Avon smiled as he read it: "Very clever, moving it around, but I found it!"

He went straight to Vila's cabin. "As you have just purloined my private bottle of brandy, Vila, the least you could do it share it with the rightful owner."

"Fair enough." Vila waved at the two fine balloon glasses on the table in front of him. "Sit down."

"Those glasses," said Avon, pulling up a chair, "are also mine."

"Well, Lindorian brandy deserves the best."

"It does indeed." Avon lifted his glass and swirled the golden liquid, then looked at Vila over the top of it. "Pity it got a tasteless fool who would drink anything." He allowed himself to smile at a well-executed plan: this was the only way he could give Vila a birthday present and still preserve his pride.

Vila sipped his brandy. "Not bad. Must be at least a few months old, this." He grinned back at Avon.

"Twenty years."

"Lucky I got it before it went off, then."

Avon shook his head, though he knew perfectly well that Vila appreciated fine liquor almost as much as he did. "Pearls before Deltas."

"Cheers, mate."

Good old Ave. A treasure hunt was almost as good a gift as the brandy, but it would never do to let him know that.

Comments

[hafren.livejournal.com]

Good old Ave. A treasure hunt was almost as good a gift as the brandy, but it would never do to let him know that.

Oh, and I think he does know.... that's lovely!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

He probably does! Those two will do anything rather than admit they're friends.

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

"Pity it got a tasteless fool who would drink anything."

::chortle::

Very nice, I enjoyed it lots. :)

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Very cute.

[alinewrites.livejournal.com]

Aw, very nice.
Of course, after that, they would feel mellow and go to bed. Together.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

And you gave me the idea! :-D

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I do tend to see them as friends, and that something they'd rather not admit.

[alinewrites.livejournal.com]

I know. I tend to see them this way too. But I think that in a moment of deep desperation they could seek solace in each other's arms.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I tend to think the opposite; they all seem to withdraw when hurt. In S4, Avon and Vila were both rather desperate because they had lost so much and failed at everything they tried, but Avon reacted by being either distant or cruel, and Vila by drinking on his own when he's really normally a gregarious person. That crew didn't have anything like the camaraderie of Blake's.

[alinewrites.livejournal.com]

Yes. My vision of them as friends doesn't include season 4.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'm not even sure about S3. There are some nice moments (Avon's smile after Vila saves them from the giant brain in Ultraworld) but there are others that make me wonder, e.g. Avon telling Tarrant he despises Vila. Even if it wasn't true, saying so because he was ashamed of having a Delta friend was a sign of it being pretty shaky and Tarrant's opinion being more important.

[kerravonsen]

A treasure hunt was almost as good a gift as the brandy, but it would never do to let him know that.

Awww.

Thanks.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

:-D I'm glad you liked it!

I hope you have a lovely day tomorrow too.