Hobby, by Teaphile
Oct. 6th, 2005 12:02 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
teaphile.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
sga_flashficTitle: Hobby
Author: Teaphile
Category: Gen
Challenge: Food
Summary: It didn't matter what Kate did with them, since they weren't really food anyway.
Note: It struck me as I was halfway through this that I may have seen something similar elsewhere. My apologies if that's the case.
Hobby
By the third hour Kate had started keeping a wooden spoon by her right hand. Her inner sadist enjoyed the *thwack* of wood against skin nearly as much as the resulting yelp from whichever of her colleagues had tried to eat her building blocks this time.
No one ever said psychologists had to be nice outside the office.
Putting the spoon down once again, she groped for the box of toothpicks just as another hand crossed her field of vision. She was too slow with her weapon, and had to watch as another fluffy white brick was consumed.
At least Carson had the grace to sit down at the end of the table she’d co-opted and really look at her project. He studied it for a long moment, turning his head sideways as if to make sense of it before leaning forward. “But why marshmallows?”
“My requisition for Legos was denied.” She sank another toothpick precisely into the centre of the marshmallow and added to her sculpture. “However, the Daedalus brought plenty of these.”
His hand crept along the table, but this time he took one from the bag instead of her monument. “What if someone wants to eat them?” he asked through a mouthful of sugar.
“That’s what the spoon is for.” Another marshmallow, another section completed.
She glanced at him just in time to see his eyebrows rise up. “I meant in general.”
“Oh.” The central tower was nearly done; all she needed was a spire. A couple of snips with her sharp scissors took care of that. “I calculated what my ration would be. This is it.” Now the powdery whiteness was starting to look like Atlantis in reality as well as in her mind. “It’s not like I can eat them. They’re not vegetarian.”
She stood on the chair to carefully place the spire on the tower, and saw the moment Carson realized what she was building. “That’s incredible,” he said, awe colouring his voice.
“I always wanted to be a structural engineer, but I didn’t have the math grades.” Sitting back down, she started work on one of the smaller towers. Her plan involved building all the towers separately, then constructing a base to set them on. She supposed it didn’t really matter which order she did it in, but she’d gotten the hang of tower-building now. It was always best to continue with a job once you had a rhythm going.
“What’ll you do with it when it’s done?”
She shrugged. It was possible someone on the science team had developed a lacquer that could preserve it. “Take it down and build something else.”
“Seems like an awful lot of work for little result,” came Ronon Dex’s voice from behind her left shoulder. When he reached across her for a marshmallow, she was ready with the spoon, cracking it neatly against his knuckles. He didn’t seem to mind, laughing quietly as he sat beside Carson.
She glared at him and he smirked back. She addressed Carson, trying not to crack a smile. “Other, saner people, see the spoon and stay away. This team can't seem to figure it out. McKay has been by a half a dozen times. I swear, he’s taking this as a challenge. Colonel Sheppard pretended to be hurt the first time, but came back twice more, and now he,” she waved a hand at Dex, "doesn't even flinch. At least Teyla asked if she could taste one.”
“She hasn’t been back?” Carson pulled out a toothpick and handed it to her. He then grabbed a handful of marshmallows and started putting them together.
“She thought they were too bland to bother eating. Frankly, I tend to agree. That’s why I’m not too broken up that nobody packed the kosher kind.”
Carson finished his four-legged animal and handed it to her. Its tail was a toothpick sticking straight up. “I always wanted to be a vet,” he said as he opened another bag of building blocks and passed a few to Dex, who already had the toothpicks he needed.
Kate continued to work happily. Hobbies were their own reward.
Author: Teaphile
Category: Gen
Challenge: Food
Summary: It didn't matter what Kate did with them, since they weren't really food anyway.
Note: It struck me as I was halfway through this that I may have seen something similar elsewhere. My apologies if that's the case.
Hobby
By the third hour Kate had started keeping a wooden spoon by her right hand. Her inner sadist enjoyed the *thwack* of wood against skin nearly as much as the resulting yelp from whichever of her colleagues had tried to eat her building blocks this time.
No one ever said psychologists had to be nice outside the office.
Putting the spoon down once again, she groped for the box of toothpicks just as another hand crossed her field of vision. She was too slow with her weapon, and had to watch as another fluffy white brick was consumed.
At least Carson had the grace to sit down at the end of the table she’d co-opted and really look at her project. He studied it for a long moment, turning his head sideways as if to make sense of it before leaning forward. “But why marshmallows?”
“My requisition for Legos was denied.” She sank another toothpick precisely into the centre of the marshmallow and added to her sculpture. “However, the Daedalus brought plenty of these.”
His hand crept along the table, but this time he took one from the bag instead of her monument. “What if someone wants to eat them?” he asked through a mouthful of sugar.
“That’s what the spoon is for.” Another marshmallow, another section completed.
She glanced at him just in time to see his eyebrows rise up. “I meant in general.”
“Oh.” The central tower was nearly done; all she needed was a spire. A couple of snips with her sharp scissors took care of that. “I calculated what my ration would be. This is it.” Now the powdery whiteness was starting to look like Atlantis in reality as well as in her mind. “It’s not like I can eat them. They’re not vegetarian.”
She stood on the chair to carefully place the spire on the tower, and saw the moment Carson realized what she was building. “That’s incredible,” he said, awe colouring his voice.
“I always wanted to be a structural engineer, but I didn’t have the math grades.” Sitting back down, she started work on one of the smaller towers. Her plan involved building all the towers separately, then constructing a base to set them on. She supposed it didn’t really matter which order she did it in, but she’d gotten the hang of tower-building now. It was always best to continue with a job once you had a rhythm going.
“What’ll you do with it when it’s done?”
She shrugged. It was possible someone on the science team had developed a lacquer that could preserve it. “Take it down and build something else.”
“Seems like an awful lot of work for little result,” came Ronon Dex’s voice from behind her left shoulder. When he reached across her for a marshmallow, she was ready with the spoon, cracking it neatly against his knuckles. He didn’t seem to mind, laughing quietly as he sat beside Carson.
She glared at him and he smirked back. She addressed Carson, trying not to crack a smile. “Other, saner people, see the spoon and stay away. This team can't seem to figure it out. McKay has been by a half a dozen times. I swear, he’s taking this as a challenge. Colonel Sheppard pretended to be hurt the first time, but came back twice more, and now he,” she waved a hand at Dex, "doesn't even flinch. At least Teyla asked if she could taste one.”
“She hasn’t been back?” Carson pulled out a toothpick and handed it to her. He then grabbed a handful of marshmallows and started putting them together.
“She thought they were too bland to bother eating. Frankly, I tend to agree. That’s why I’m not too broken up that nobody packed the kosher kind.”
Carson finished his four-legged animal and handed it to her. Its tail was a toothpick sticking straight up. “I always wanted to be a vet,” he said as he opened another bag of building blocks and passed a few to Dex, who already had the toothpicks he needed.
Kate continued to work happily. Hobbies were their own reward.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 07:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2005-10-06 04:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
From:(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 10:59 am (UTC)I especially like the everyday implications of the Jewish background you create for her.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 04:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 11:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 11:44 am (UTC)I love Kate in this! And her wooden spoon. She's such a mom.
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
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Date: 2005-10-06 11:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 04:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2005-10-06 04:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 12:23 pm (UTC)I enjoyed the story!
WP
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 05:00 pm (UTC)Hey, if you do, let me know how it turns out. I've never tried it. It works in theory....
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 12:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 05:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 12:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 05:02 pm (UTC)Glad you liked it.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 01:10 pm (UTC)Sweet enough to give me a tooth ache.
And that is quite a good use for that awful food.
Nicely done.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 05:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 01:11 pm (UTC)though I'm pretty sure Teyla will kill her if she tries anything.(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 05:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 01:24 pm (UTC)My favourite sort of marshmellows are blackened apricot...no one else likes them, which is also a bonus...
This is a very interesting off side, and perfectly characterised. Rodney would so take it as a challenge.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 05:04 pm (UTC)I've never heard of blackened apricot marshmallows. Those actually sound good.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 02:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-07 05:51 pm (UTC)Thanks for commenting.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 02:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-07 05:52 pm (UTC)Thanks! I'm glad it worked for you.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 02:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2005-10-06 03:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-07 05:55 pm (UTC)Kate is sadly underused. I think I've got an angle on her now, so maybe I'll be more inspired to write her.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 05:09 pm (UTC)lots of toothpicks and thin wires, and several sizes (and colours) of marshmallows enable one to go wild with creativity. plus, as a kid one doesn't mind eating the mistakes or leftovers - but my teeth cringe at the thought of that pure sugar nowadays.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-07 05:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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From:(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 07:46 pm (UTC)K.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-07 05:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-06 08:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-07 05:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-07 01:46 am (UTC)My favorite moment was Carson and Ronon trying their hands at it, too. But I want to know what Ronon makes!
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-07 06:00 pm (UTC)Your icon cracks me up. Five seconds of hilarity, that.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-07 03:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-07 06:00 pm (UTC)