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."