Date:12/9/01
Title: Green Daggit
Author: rita
Category: Romance
Rating: PG (for m/m kissing)
Pairings: Implied past pairings - SB/Cass, SB/Athena; implied future
pairing - SB/Appy (what else!)
Summary: I received the "body" of this as a chain email from of all
people my mother-in-law. But it's kind of a neat one and I thought I'd
send it to the lists. Then the plot bunny bit (do bunnies bite?).
Here's the result.
Warning: Teensy bit of cute kid, but not enough to make those who are
allergic sick, I think.
***
You have been Tagged by the Green Daggit!
,-._,-.
\/)"(\/
(_o_)
ruff!!!!!!
You will Have Good Luck For Two Yahrens if you send this to eight people
or more and if this is sent back to you then you are a true friend......
***
'Great! Another frakking send-it-along,' Starbuck thought and his finger
reached for the Delete key. Then he paused and reread the line. Would
it be worth the risk to find out if he had any "true" friends, he
wondered.
You must send it in 5 centons or your good luck will run out.
And to give them only five centons? Well, he could be careful whom he
sent it to, making sure they were off-duty, even - he grinned and rubbed
his hands together at the thought of defeating the "system" once again -
even send it only to those who were actually at their computers and
receiving messages. Sure. Why not?
***
While his little anti-privacy program ran, he read the next few lines.
***
True friends: How many people actually have eight true friends?
Hardly anyone I know! But some of us have all right friends and good
friends!!!
***
'Yeah, ain't that the truth?' Starbuck thought as he perused the list his
program had produced. 'Wonder if I even have eight "all right" friends?
Well,' he decided, ever the gambler, even with his supposedly hard heart,
'I guess I'll find out.' He looked through the list. Apollo was at his
computer and receiving messages - what a surprise. Was the man ever
actually off duty? Adama, on the other hand, was at his computer but
with privacy turned on. 'Well, that doesn't have to stop me,' Starbuck
thought with a smirk and ticked off his name without pausing to consider
that he'd just put the Commander into the "friends" column of his life.
Boomer, Cass - she was on-duty, but this wasn't obscene or anything,
right? Athena, Boxey - Boxey? It was probably Boxey who sent the
send-it-along while his dad thought he was doing his lessons, Starbuck
realized and ticked off his name, too. Two more. Two more people he
considered friends. This was harder than he thought. Bojay's name
flashed as it was added to the list. He ticked it off with a wistful
smile - they had been friends - just as Sheba's name came up. 'Well, she
is his wing man, Bucko,' he chastised himself. 'And she will make eight.
Sometimes she's nice to you.' He ticked her name off and counted on his
fingers to make sure. Yup, eight. He pressed the Send button and read
the rest of the message while the Galactica's computers processed his
request.
***
I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am
with you. 'This one's for you, 'Pol, but don't worry, I'll never put you
on the spot about it.'
No man or woman is worth your tears, and the one who is, won't make you
cry. 'Yeah? How about that time you sealed with Serina? Or now, when
you're headed the same way with Sheba? Tears for two of us. Wonder if
Bojay thinks Sheba isn't worth his tears? Wonder if I could ever believe
you aren't worth mine?'
Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, doesn't
mean they don't love you with all they have. 'Too true. You love me like
a brother and you've made your whole family accept me as part of them. I
guess I shouldn't complain. You've given me all you can.'
A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your
heart. 'But don't hug this junior officer that way again - unless you
mean it. Please.'
The worst way to miss someone is to be sitting right beside them knowing
you can't have them. 'Oh, boy. Whoever wrote this must know me from the
inside out.'
Never frown, even when you are sad, because you never know who is falling
in love with your smile. 'Hey! My motto. Works, too. Sometimes too
well. No one ever believes I'm sad. Hades! No one thinks I'm deep
enough to be sad or even serious.'
To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the
world. 'Yeah, 'Pol, you are my world, even though I'm just one person in
yours.'
Don't waste your time on a man/woman, who isn't willing to waste their
time on you. 'Define "waste your time." Spending time with Apollo is
never wasting it, even if he doesn't always drop everything to spend time
with me. It's just ... a different situation. He's got Boxey and the
rest of his family, and now Sheba. He's got obligations as Strike
Captain that a lowly lieutenant just doesn't have - not that I'd want
them! He's got the rest of his life. All I really want is him in my
life.'
Maybe the Gods want us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the
right one, so that when we finally meet the person, we will know how to
be grateful. 'I've certainly met my share of "wrong people". Apollo's
the right one and I am grateful - even if I'm never the right one in his
eyes.'
Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened. 'But what about
if it never happens?'
There's always going to be people that hurt you so what you have to do is
keep on trusting and just be more careful about who you trust next time
around. 'Now there's a lesson I've learned. Over and over again.'
Make yourself a better person and know who you are before you try and
know someone else and expect them to know you. 'Maybe that's the key?
But would anyone notice? Would anyone believe it? Or would everyone
think it's just my latest con and try to figure out what I was up to?'
Don't try so hard, the best things come when you least expect them to.
'Sure. And the Cylons are building a new Kobol just for us to inhabit.'
REMEMBER: WHATEVER HAPPENS, HAPPENS FOR A REASON. 'Lords, if that's true,
what are the reasons?'
***
'Five centons, folks,' Starbuck thought looking at his empty message box.
'Guess that answers that question.' Just then the system beeped
repeatedly. He read through the messages:
"Bucko, you know we're friends. But don't send me this kind of stuff.
When I get a message, I interrupt what I'm doing because I think it's
important. Boomer." 'Sorry, Boom-Boom. Won't happen again.'
"Thanks for sending me this, Uncle Starbuck! I love you! Boxey." 'I love
you, too, Boxey.'
"Lieutenant, your next message, addressed to both the Commander and
myself, will be an explanation of how you got a message through his
privacy screen. We will be expecting it before your next duty cycle. Is
that understood? Colonel Tigh." 'Frak!'
"Don't you have better things to do than to bother people when they're on
duty? Cassiopeia." 'Funny. Never stops you when you want something from
me.'
"Don't you have better things to do than to bother people when they've
just come off patrol? Sheba." 'If "people" means you, then yeah, I do.
Flossing my teeth comes to mind.'
"Good to hear from you, Bucko. I'm bushed - just off patrol - but let's
get together later this secton for a drink or something. Bojay." 'Well,
what do you know? Maybe he does remember we were friends once.'
'No answer from Athena or Apollo. Or from the Commander either, really;
he just referred my little faux pas to the Colonel. Must run in the
family. Good thing Boxey's not an Adaman by blood!'
Just then the comm sounded. "Lieutenant Starbuck, please report to
Captain Apollo's quarters immediately. Repeat. Lieutenant Starbuck to
Captain Apollo's quarters immediately."
'Frak! I think I liked "no response" better,' Starbuck thought as he
checked the state of his uniform and headed for the door.
***
"Come!" Apollo called as soon as Starbuck had rung the bell. "Have a
seat," he said, swinging away from his computer screen as the blond
hesitated just inside the door. "Sorry if I caught you at a bad time,
Starbuck."
"Not particularly," Starbuck answered warily, sitting on the edge of the
couch. "If you're going to yell at me about the send-it-along, Tigh beat
you to it, though."
"You sent it to Tigh!?" Apollo gasped in shock that even his brash
wingmate would go that far.
"Not exactly," Starbuck admitted. "I sent it to your father. He sent it
to Tigh."
"Lords, Starbuck," Apollo began, then changed direction and tone. "That
was a nice gesture. You meant it then."
"Well, I guess it would have been a nice gesture if I hadn't had to break
his privacy screen to send it to him," Starbuck said. Then he bristled
defensively. "Of course I meant it!" He flung himself back into the
couch petulantly.
"That's what I called you here to ask. Oh, before I forget, Athena said
to tell you she thought it was 'sweet'. She didn't reply because I
commed her just then to take Boxey for the rest of sleep cycle."
"Athena. Well, good; I wondered when I didn't hear from her," Starbuck
murmured, then backpedaled. "Of course, I don't mean it the same way for
everyone I sent it to. I mean I love your dad and Boxey, but not the
same way. Umm, maybe Cass and Athena the same way, but maybe 'love' is
too strong a word there. And Boomer's a friend, you know brother-love..."
"And me?" Apollo breathed.
Starbuck wondered when Apollo had moved from his desk to the couch. And
when had the couch become so small the two of them barely fit on it
together? "And you," he confirmed, managing not to look into those
intense green eyes - 'green daggit?' he wondered belatedly - although he
couldn't retrieve his private space from Apollo. On the other hand, he
wasn't sure he wanted to.
"*How* do you love me, Starbuck?" Apollo asked, barely audible but not to
be denied.
"Uh." Now there was the multimillion cubit question. Only one thing to
do with it, short of lying, and this just wasn't the time for a lie.
"How do you want me to love you, Apollo?"
Apollo drew back, not expecting to have the tables turned, although, he
reflected, this was Starbuck; he should have. "I asked you, Lieutenant,"
he said sternly.
~Sigh~ "However you want me to," Starbuck murmured, risking the whole
ante pot that was his life on one sentence.
"How about like this?" Apollo said, finally getting the answer he'd tried
for decayahrens to dredge out of the Star of his existence. He poured
his body over Starbuck's, pulling the blond hair gently to bring the
frightened blue eyes up to meet his green ones, overflowing with love and
lust. Then his head descended, his mouth capturing Starbuck's slightly
open one and ravishing it, inside and out.
"Like that would be very good," Starbuck whispered dazedly when Apollo
relented enough to let him speak.
"Then that's how I want you to love me, Star. That's how I want to love
you." Apollo lowered his head again, this time gathering the blond's
whole body to his.