vilakins | Ficlet: Entertainment

Last week's b7friday topic was entertainment. I nicked the vidshow Alien Emergency from a story which is going into a zine. 500 words, cut for length.

Entertainment

"That vidshow you like is on in five minutes," Avon said, reaching for his number 6 probe.

"Alien Emergency?" Vila, sitting opposite him, deftly slid the number 4 closer. "Nah. It's the one where they make Doctor Malik and Nurse Ling the size of peas so they can fix the cataracts in that insect alien's hundreds of little eyes. It's a repeat. Seen that one."

Avon frowned in irritation as he realised he had the wrong probe.

"I'm not too keen on the insides of eyes. Besides," Vila went on, "it was a bit silly. I mean, they'd've been far too dense if all their atoms were shrunk, and if they weren't, where'd the mass go?"

"I wouldn't speak of density if I were you," Avon said automatically. He stared at his probes, all lined up neatly, but no longer in ascending order from the right. "Have you been fiddling with these?" he asked suspiciously.

Vila ignored the question. "I mean, look at that time they blew Malik up to the size of a dome to treat that huge alien. He'd be a giant cloud of gas and just blow away. They'd never get him back together again, not with all his molecules all mixed up with the air. And his tools'd be the same, all light and airy. They wouldn't work."

"Rather like you." Avon reordered his probes and checked the circuitry again. He reluctantly decided to sacrifice one of his books for a bit of peace and quiet. It might work; Vila liked reading and had surprisingly good taste for a Delta. "I have an old novel you might enjoy. Something called The Diamond Age."

"That the one you got on Lindor? Not bad, that. I liked the nanotech, and that final battle was exciting stuff." Vila stretched and leaned back in his chair. "Read it weeks ago along with those tunic-rippers you downloaded off the Galacnet."

All of those had been in his cabin. His locked cabin. "I thought you promised Blake--"

"Not to steal, yeah. Didn't promise him not to borrow anything, did I?"

Avon's fingers tightened and the component he was working on snapped. His patience was about to do the same. He glowered at Vila and looked around quickly. If the others found out about his secret taste for romances, he'd never hear the end of it. "Vila--"

"Don't worry. That soppy stuff will stay between you and me. Just like that gadget you're working on."

Avon was about to retort that it wasn't a gadget, but that would only be playing into Vila's hands. He tried to keep his voice even. "Why don't you have a game of chess or pyramids with Jenna?"

"Nah, she's no fun. She takes it far too seriously. I like a social game, myself."

"Vila." Avon put his tools down. "Surely you can find something to amuse you."

"Course I can." Vila beamed at him and put his chin in his hands. "I already have."