Primeval fic: Five Birthday Presents
Title: Five Birthday Presents
Author: SCWLC
Disclaimer: I make no money from this and I certainly don't own it either.
Notes: So, I figured I'd toss something out for the Team Fest, and since there are five names, a five-very-short-ficlets thing felt appropriate. Yes, it's early. Mostly because I might as well get it out of the way now before I go through the whole month doing my usual Stephen/Connor stuff.
1) Connor Temple
Connor was a lot of things, brilliant often came to the minds of most people, but he wasn't so good at building things. That is, furniture and buildings and things like that. Most kids could manage to stack their blocks pretty high, but Connor'd never been able to build so much as a box out of kiddie blocks. Of course, at the age he should have been doing that he'd been seeing what mixing random cleaning substances together would get him, with rather irregular results, but the point stood, construction wasn't his gift.
He was no better at it in his late twenties than when he was three. But he had a project in mind, and he'd been working on it for weeks, with somewhat injurious results. So, he was delighted to take a break with Abby for a weekend away. They came back the Sunday, and Abby grinned at him, leading him to the section of the house they'd laid aside for Sid and Nancy's romper room.
"Happy Birthday Connor!" she said with a happy smile. It was all his plans realised and then some. Sid and Nancy were already there, clearly enjoying their artificial burrow, Rex was flying overhead and it was just perfect. "I got Becker, Matt and Danny to build it while we were gone."
He slapped on a smile, but internally he was pouting. He'd wanted to do it himself, damnit. As Becker gave him a rolled eye, Connor sighed. They were never going to let him forget he needed their help for home improvement projects, were they?
2) Hilary Becker
If he'd learned one thing over the years, it was that birthdays were something to be wary of. So when Becker got to the ARC that morning and everyone was wishing him a happy birthday, he was concerned. When Jess, Connor, Abby, Emily and Danny greeted him with wide grins and Matt looked apprehensive, he moved on to worried. And when Lester just looked at them all, and walked away without saying anything, he felt a frisson of positive fear.
That was when they led him to a section of the car park that was rarely used, mostly because it tended to be a stopgap holding area for animals rather than cars. That was when he saw her. She was incredible.
"What?" he asked. There wasn't really anything more coherent he could say.
"It took a little creative accounting," Jess said.
"And a bit of creative hacking from yours truly," Connor added smugly.
Danny clapped him on the back and said, "It was my idea."
In front of him was a tank. On it was a large red bow, a massive EMD lashed onto the turret and a giant tag, "Happy Birthday Becker!"
Best. Birthday. Ever.
3) James Lester
The first year he hadn't realised. It was only a throwaway comment from Connor after he'd made scathing comments about proper behaviour that made him realise why they'd done it. The second year, it had made him oddly unsettled, simply because that one day made it clear he'd become used to the normal way of things. The third it was downright eerie and he'd been tempted to let the mammoth loose just to make it stop, despite the fact that it was nominally a favour to him. The fourth time, however, made his heart clench in fear until he saw Abby and Connor well and there, because he'd lived that year without them, and the peace and quiet reminded him more of their absence than he could bear. The fifth time, James Lester snapped.
"It is neither comforting nor helpful for you all to pretend that you all know how to behave once a year," he informed the team. "Moreover, it is clearly wreaking havoc on your normal patterns of behaviour. Just stop it."
And that was how the annual tradition of behaving like ordinary civil servants for Lester's birthday was stopped. Besides, this reminder that his people were all home and safe was a far better present than all the peace, quiet and rationality could be.
"No! Sid!"
"Are the jailbreaking beavers loose again?" Danny asked.
As the diictodon ran by the with novelty tie that was Connor's annual gift to Lester, he sighed. Now if he could only put a stop to that, too.
4) Philip Burton
He had no idea how it was that Nicholas Cutter had turned down such an incredible woman. She was positively brilliant in her own areas of interest and being beautiful and sexy as hell was hardly a downside. She smiled, leading him through the woods. "I promise, Philip, you will love this surprise."
The came out into a dark break in the trees, surrounded by tall oaks and elms, the whole area was shaded. It only served to highlight the strange occurence in the middle of the space. Hovering there was some sort of glowing light with no visible source to it, surrounded by what looked like shattered glass. It was incredible. As he got closer, he felt something tugging in his pockets, and thought for a moment it was her, tugging at them. But when he glanced down, he realised the light, whatever it was, was exerting a tremendous magnetic pull. "Incredible."
"Happy Birthday, Philip," said Helen Cutter.
5) Matt Anderson
He'd finally got around to showing the team his home and his plant collections. He led Emily to the ones that held pride of place. "I've told you all about how, back home, the future that we used to have, everything was dead. Dad had found some people had saved plants, and every year he'd find places where maybe the people'd been lost, but they'd managed to rescue a few green things. They were my birthday presents," he told her. "It was to show me just a little of how things used to be."
Emily smiled at him. "Oh, Matt. That sounds like a wonderful tradition to have."
Lester and Becker had come over, and were both now staring at the voluminous collection. "You said . . . people had preserved these," Becker asked, his voice a little strange.
"Yes." Matt frowned at them. "What's so off about people wanting to preserve something of nature after it all went to hell?"
Emily added, "In any event, they clearly have a sentimental value for Matt, so I hardly think you ought to look like that about this. I think it was an unusual, but thoughtful gift."
Jess, Connor and Abby had joined them by then and made simultaneous inarticulate noises of disbelief along with Becker. Then they all looked at Lester. Their fearless beaurocratic leader narrowed his eyes at them, then clearly capitulated. "I will see what I can do," he said. "But I do wish you all would refrain from so many illegal hobbies and pets."
"Illegal?" Matt said, looking confused.
"Matt," Becker asked, "What do you know about the history of Cannabis plants?"
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Author: SCWLC
Disclaimer: I make no money from this and I certainly don't own it either.
Notes: So, I figured I'd toss something out for the Team Fest, and since there are five names, a five-very-short-ficlets thing felt appropriate. Yes, it's early. Mostly because I might as well get it out of the way now before I go through the whole month doing my usual Stephen/Connor stuff.
1) Connor Temple
Connor was a lot of things, brilliant often came to the minds of most people, but he wasn't so good at building things. That is, furniture and buildings and things like that. Most kids could manage to stack their blocks pretty high, but Connor'd never been able to build so much as a box out of kiddie blocks. Of course, at the age he should have been doing that he'd been seeing what mixing random cleaning substances together would get him, with rather irregular results, but the point stood, construction wasn't his gift.
He was no better at it in his late twenties than when he was three. But he had a project in mind, and he'd been working on it for weeks, with somewhat injurious results. So, he was delighted to take a break with Abby for a weekend away. They came back the Sunday, and Abby grinned at him, leading him to the section of the house they'd laid aside for Sid and Nancy's romper room.
"Happy Birthday Connor!" she said with a happy smile. It was all his plans realised and then some. Sid and Nancy were already there, clearly enjoying their artificial burrow, Rex was flying overhead and it was just perfect. "I got Becker, Matt and Danny to build it while we were gone."
He slapped on a smile, but internally he was pouting. He'd wanted to do it himself, damnit. As Becker gave him a rolled eye, Connor sighed. They were never going to let him forget he needed their help for home improvement projects, were they?
2) Hilary Becker
If he'd learned one thing over the years, it was that birthdays were something to be wary of. So when Becker got to the ARC that morning and everyone was wishing him a happy birthday, he was concerned. When Jess, Connor, Abby, Emily and Danny greeted him with wide grins and Matt looked apprehensive, he moved on to worried. And when Lester just looked at them all, and walked away without saying anything, he felt a frisson of positive fear.
That was when they led him to a section of the car park that was rarely used, mostly because it tended to be a stopgap holding area for animals rather than cars. That was when he saw her. She was incredible.
"What?" he asked. There wasn't really anything more coherent he could say.
"It took a little creative accounting," Jess said.
"And a bit of creative hacking from yours truly," Connor added smugly.
Danny clapped him on the back and said, "It was my idea."
In front of him was a tank. On it was a large red bow, a massive EMD lashed onto the turret and a giant tag, "Happy Birthday Becker!"
Best. Birthday. Ever.
3) James Lester
The first year he hadn't realised. It was only a throwaway comment from Connor after he'd made scathing comments about proper behaviour that made him realise why they'd done it. The second year, it had made him oddly unsettled, simply because that one day made it clear he'd become used to the normal way of things. The third it was downright eerie and he'd been tempted to let the mammoth loose just to make it stop, despite the fact that it was nominally a favour to him. The fourth time, however, made his heart clench in fear until he saw Abby and Connor well and there, because he'd lived that year without them, and the peace and quiet reminded him more of their absence than he could bear. The fifth time, James Lester snapped.
"It is neither comforting nor helpful for you all to pretend that you all know how to behave once a year," he informed the team. "Moreover, it is clearly wreaking havoc on your normal patterns of behaviour. Just stop it."
And that was how the annual tradition of behaving like ordinary civil servants for Lester's birthday was stopped. Besides, this reminder that his people were all home and safe was a far better present than all the peace, quiet and rationality could be.
"No! Sid!"
"Are the jailbreaking beavers loose again?" Danny asked.
As the diictodon ran by the with novelty tie that was Connor's annual gift to Lester, he sighed. Now if he could only put a stop to that, too.
4) Philip Burton
He had no idea how it was that Nicholas Cutter had turned down such an incredible woman. She was positively brilliant in her own areas of interest and being beautiful and sexy as hell was hardly a downside. She smiled, leading him through the woods. "I promise, Philip, you will love this surprise."
The came out into a dark break in the trees, surrounded by tall oaks and elms, the whole area was shaded. It only served to highlight the strange occurence in the middle of the space. Hovering there was some sort of glowing light with no visible source to it, surrounded by what looked like shattered glass. It was incredible. As he got closer, he felt something tugging in his pockets, and thought for a moment it was her, tugging at them. But when he glanced down, he realised the light, whatever it was, was exerting a tremendous magnetic pull. "Incredible."
"Happy Birthday, Philip," said Helen Cutter.
5) Matt Anderson
He'd finally got around to showing the team his home and his plant collections. He led Emily to the ones that held pride of place. "I've told you all about how, back home, the future that we used to have, everything was dead. Dad had found some people had saved plants, and every year he'd find places where maybe the people'd been lost, but they'd managed to rescue a few green things. They were my birthday presents," he told her. "It was to show me just a little of how things used to be."
Emily smiled at him. "Oh, Matt. That sounds like a wonderful tradition to have."
Lester and Becker had come over, and were both now staring at the voluminous collection. "You said . . . people had preserved these," Becker asked, his voice a little strange.
"Yes." Matt frowned at them. "What's so off about people wanting to preserve something of nature after it all went to hell?"
Emily added, "In any event, they clearly have a sentimental value for Matt, so I hardly think you ought to look like that about this. I think it was an unusual, but thoughtful gift."
Jess, Connor and Abby had joined them by then and made simultaneous inarticulate noises of disbelief along with Becker. Then they all looked at Lester. Their fearless beaurocratic leader narrowed his eyes at them, then clearly capitulated. "I will see what I can do," he said. "But I do wish you all would refrain from so many illegal hobbies and pets."
"Illegal?" Matt said, looking confused.
"Matt," Becker asked, "What do you know about the history of Cannabis plants?"
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