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Kara Thrace was in the confines of her bunk with the curtains drawn to offer herself some more privacy, the only sort of privacy one could get on this ship. At least, for someone who didn’t have private quarters, for a single pilot.
She had started writing a poem, having gotten randomly struck with a bit of inspiration. It had struck her occasionally before but she had never had the time to sit down and do something with it. She wasn’t new to writing poems, as she had done her fair share of writing poetry, but not much.
She had found though that it was a rather nice coping mechanism, and definitely better than any of her other ones. It allowed her to express her thoughts and feelings in an artistic way and she sometimes wished she had more time and resources to indulge in it. It was similar to how painting had been for her on Caprica.
She had just finished writing the last line of the poem when someone pulled open her curtain slightly.
It was Kat, who immediately noticed the piece of paper in Kara’s lap as the blonde quickly moved to hide said paper before turning back to face the brunette and scolding her, “get out, Kat!”
But Kat just smiled as she let her gaze fall down to where she knew Starbuck had the paper hidden, “what ya writing, Lieutenant?”
“None of your business,” she immediately shot back as she fake smiled, giving her a challenging expression.
“It’s a poem, isn't it?” The brunette asked back excitedly, ignoring the response she had just gotten. Even though she had only seen it for a few seconds she had recognized the format and spacing.
“
Kat
,” her superior hissed. It was a warning to leave her alone about it, to drop it.
But since they were the pilots she worked with and taught, that wasn’t something they did easily. They were stubborn and relentless, just like her. And while that was good sometimes, in times like these it wasn’t.
“Come on Starbuck, let’s hear it,” Kat urged her as she pulled back her bunk’s curtain nearly all the way, revealing an annoyed Kara to the rest of the room, where most of the pilots were now looking at them, curious.
“Hey everyone, Starbuck wrote a poem!” Kat announced to make matters even worse, to ensure every pilot had their eyes on them. On
her
, who was already feeling humiliated. While she enjoyed writing poems, that didn’t mean she wanted others to know about the hobby, especially the other pilots. And especially not like this.
Kara gulped, doubting she’d be able to get out of this very easily, if at all.
She wasn’t very eager to share the poem as it was pretty personal, and a bit depressing, so it wasn’t something she wanted to read to a bunch of nuggets she barely knew.
So she said part of her thoughts, but tried to in a polite way, knowing that coming off annoyed would only make them push her more, “I don’t think you guys want me to, it’s depressing.”
All the pilots erupted into arguments to her statement as she rolled her eyes, doing her best to ignore them until an all too familiar voice chimed in from the room's doorway.
“Some of the best writings ever are depressing, you know,” none other than Lee Adama said casually as he entered the room, plopping onto his bunk as he offered her a smile.
She decided that she had been perfectly fine reading it before he showed up. She could read it to all of the pilots, just not
him
. It would be mortifying to read the poem to the person it was about. To the person she had been thinking of when she had written it. She wasn’t going to willingly subject herself to that sort of embarrassment.
But of course none of them knew that it was about Lee and all the pilots were so insistent, especially Kat, so she reluctantly let herself cave as she hastily grabbed the paper from its hiding spot and shifted to sit on the edge of her bunk, to face the room.
She began to read it quietly, making sure to keep her eyes on the piece of paper in her hands, focusing on the words so hard they became blurry, not daring to look anywhere else, especially at Lee.
After she read the first line Kat nudged one of her knees, “read louder, we can barely hear you.”
Starbuck groaned, shooting the younger woman a glare before she cleared her throat and proceeded to read it out loud, ensuring her voice would be heard all throughout the room just so she could get this over with quicker.
“We weren’t sane when we met, but that didn’t stop us,” she started, fighting the urge to look at Lee, to make it obvious that it was about him. She knew he would figure it out by the time she was done, but yet she hadn’t wanted to read it at all. She was going to murder Kat for this, she swore to herself.
She forced herself to continue, ensuring to shove all her feelings down, to not let herself show any strong emotions in front of everyone, “It’s been clear from the start, yet I refuse to indulge.”
She decided to take a glance around, noticing how invested everyone seemed and while that would make most feel proud and confident, it only made Kara shrink, hating the fact that they were all hanging onto her words, soaking up everything she said, maybe even trying to figure out their meaning.
She risked a glance at Lee as she said the next few lines, “So many chances, that I’ve only frakked up, reasons why I don’t know.”
He looked just as invested as anyone else but she could tell his brain was working, trying to find the connections, processing her words.
She let herself keep her gaze on him as she continued, “Can’t even say, hated you for a time, I tried and tried. Never knew why they named you after a God, until I saw for my own eyes.”
She knew he had to know this was about him by now, that line made it painfully obvious.
And her assumption was proven right when she noticed the tiniest flicker of recognition in his eyes as he cocked his head to the side slightly, catching and holding her gaze intensely before she looked away, back down to the paper she was clenching too hard in her hands.
Pull yourself together!
she scolded herself in her head as she tried to calm down, to let her grip loosen slightly, so she wouldn’t seem as tense and anxious as she felt.
“I don’t think we’ll ever get it right, because I won’t let myself, cause pain is all I’ve ever known,” she dragged on, swallowing hard as she felt her voice start to get shaky.
The crowd that had formed around her looked as if they were about to start clapping, thinking that was the last line, but she quickly spoke again before they had the chance, “And Starbuck...”
They all kept their eyes on her, anxiously waiting for what the ending would be. How this poem, this story of hers, would end.
“A River, destined to always flow away and never stop for you,” she finished after allowing herself to take a breath. She relaxed a bit more little knowing it was over now, her grip finally becoming loose on the paper again.
All the pilots applauded and cheered and she rolled her eyes as she set the paper down before raising her voice, “alright, showtimes over, get to sleep!”
A lot of the pilots exchanged amused glances at her obvious want to change the subject but no one said anything as they all started getting ready for bed, and she was thankful for that fact.
And as they did she immediately tucked herself back in her bunk, pulling the curtain closed as she folded up the poem before she stashed it away at the end of her bed.
She just let herself lay there on her back, staring at the ceiling of her bunk as she listened to the room slowly become quiet, letting her know that mostly everyone, if not everyone, was finally trying to sleep.
At that fact she shifted slightly, to start to get ready to head to sleep herself, until Lee himself peeked his head in to visit her and she could already hear the giggles and whispers from the others, knowing they were all listening and watching, waiting to see what would happen between the pair.
She moved back, giving him space, but also not wanting to let herself be too close to him. Not wanting to give herself another reason to get nervous. She gave him a bored sort of look that wordlessly asked him what he wanted.
He gave her a slightly amused smile at noticing her look before he spoke, saying simply, and she hated how he seemed genuine, “I liked your poem.”
She scoffed as she immediately replied, “I didn’t ask.” She hadn’t. And she could care less if he liked it or not, she had just written it for herself only, after all. Sure, it was about him, but it wasn’t like it had been written with the intent of him ever reading or hearing it.
While Kat had changed that fact, it didn’t change that she didn’t care what he thought. And she honestly wished he wasn’t bugging her about it. She wanted it to be over with, left in the past now, but she had known that wasn’t going to happen as soon as he had entered the room. As soon as she realized that he’d hear it too.
“Well, I just thought you should know my thoughts on it, considering it was about me,” he immediately shot back, causing her to send him a glare.
“It’s not about you,” she argued fruitlessly. She’d at least try to convince him that, rather than confirming it. She knew he’d be more likely to drop it if she would be able to get him to believe it wasn’t about him.
He raised an eyebrow at her, “really?”
“Yeah,” she said back with a nod, giving him a serious expression.
“Hand it to me then,” he challenged as he held a hand out.
She gritted her teeth. She didn’t have to hand it to him, she knew that. But she knew if she didn’t he’d just try and forcibly grab it. And right now she wanted the easier option, the less painful one. Especially considering the small space of her bunk, and how she knew they were being listened to and watched.
So she did, watching as he unfolded it and started by reading the first line, “we weren’t sane when we met.”
She nodded dismissively, waiting to see how he would try and connect it to himself.
“We both got drunk when we met,” he explained simply.
She rolled her eyes, “doesn’t mean drunk, not sane could mean many things.”
He just smirked at her as he read another line, “so many chances, that only I’ve frakked up.”
She glared at him, waiting again.
“We’ve had chances to get together but you’ve always been the one to not take them,” he said with a pointed look.
She ignored all the oohs she heard from around the room as she sighed before she waved for him to continue.
“Never knew why they named you after a God until I saw for myself,” he finished with a wide smile, “here you’re directly referring to my callsign, Kara, you can’t deny that.”
She huffed as she snatched the paper back from him, deciding to keep the argument up even though she knew it was no use at this point, she just didn’t want to hurt her pride by admitting that it had, in fact, been about him, “it’s not about you,
Lee
.”
“Then who is it about?” He was quick to ask back as he gave her a look, a look that told her he was no longer amused, and instead, starting to get frustrated.
“No one, it’s just a stupid piece of writing, it has no meaning,” she tried to lie as she shook her head in disbelief.
“You sure weren’t reading it like it had no meaning,” he pointed out to her. Damn him, he had probably been the only one who had noticed her anxiety during the reading. How hard she had been gripping the paper, how she had to pause between lines, how she had been unable to hold eye contact with him for more than a few seconds, which was something she usually never struggled with.
Despite that, she defended herself, pointing out, “I hadn’t wanted to read it at all.”
“Why though? If it actually meant nothing then surely you wouldn’t have cared to share it,” he quickly replied.
She groaned, hating the fact that he had a good point. She didn’t want to keep arguing about it though. So she tried to end it, instead changing the topic, “Can you just go to sleep?”
“Can’t you just admit it was about me?” He asked back immediately, unrelenting.
She gave him a dirty look.
“I won’t leave you alone until you admit it, Kara. So either do that, or deal with me,” he told her stubbornly as he shrugged innocently.
She took in a deep breath before she exhaled with a huff, “Fine, it is about you, you happy?”
He smiled victoriously at her as he nodded, “yeah, I am.”
“There’s no reason to be happy about it anyway since it’s so depressing,” she mumbled, more as an afterthought. It wasn’t like the poem had been a love confession or a proposal. It had been quite the opposite, really.
“I know, but it feels good to know that I’m on your mind enough for you to have written something about me,” he said with a teasing sort of tone.
She scowled, “Don’t let it get to your head.”
“It already has,” he replied with a grin.
“You’re pathetic,” she told him bluntly.
“So are you,” he instantly shot back.
“I am not-” she started to argue but he quickly leaned forward to kiss her, invading the small space that was her bunk more as he moved to get on top of her.
He could tell she was caught off guard from the way she tensed up at the action but it didn’t last long as a moment after she kissed back with even more force than he had started with.
They kissed until they were both out of breath and once they pulled apart Lee spoke with a soft chuckle, “and I’m the pathetic one?”
Kara gave into her urges, her temptations, too much. And she was terrible at denying them, especially if the chance for one arose. She was very much a do now, think later type of person. Especially when it came to her
feelings
.
And while that had frakked her over in the past more than once, old habits were hard to break.
“Shut up,” she hissed at him once she had caught her breath.
He gave her a challenging look, “why don’t you make me, Starbuck?”
She shook her head slightly in disbelief at him with a scoff before immediately grabbing the sides of his face and pulling him back down to meet her lips.
They had both forgotten about the other pilots, having gotten too caught up in each other.
***
“I’d say that poem worked rather well as a serenade,” Kat immediately teased the pair the next morning as they all watched Lee leave Kara’s bunk.
“Yeah, I’d say so,” Lee agreed as he chuckled, going along with it just to piss Kara off. To bug her more.
“How about you all keep your traps shut,” the blonde growled from where she was just starting to sit up in her bunk.
“Damn, you don’t look so hot, Lieutenant. Lee frak you up that bad?” Kat continued to tease as she laughed, some of the others joining her.
At that Kara quickly got up and made her way over to Kat, bringing her face right in front of hers as she breathed into her face, “I told you to shut your mouth.”
Kat wasn’t scared of her. But she knew they had really put her through the wringer with all their teasing, especially after they had made her read the poem yesterday.
So she gave up, and said, not fully meaning it, “sorry, I’ll do better next time.”
Kara backed away from her as she sent glares to everyone else, daring them to try and test her. She had reached her limit, she wasn’t going to put up with anymore of this. Not after last night.
No one spoke a word, showing the authority she had over all of them before she hastily left the room to go to the bathrooms.
While a lot of pilots liked to bug her, they knew not to continue if they got to the point of crossing the line. If they managed to genuinely piss her off. She was not a pleasant person to be around when she was mad.
Kat entered the bathroom as Kara was leaving, and the brunette sent the blonde a subtle teasing look.
“Quit it Kat, before I get tempted to fight you,” Kara immediately hissed at her.
Kat ignored the threat, just scoffing as she made her way fully into the bathroom and settled at the sink next to where Lee was, saying with a laugh, “you better tell your girlfriend to calm down.”
He looked over at her with a slightly amused expression, “why? You push her too far?”
Kat gave him a playful guilty look in return, “…maybe.”
He just rolled his eyes and shook his head.
***
The teasing went on basically all day, but it wasn’t too consistent, to ensure Kara wouldn’t absolutely lose her shit.
Towards the end of the day after Kat had given her a break she came to inevitably bug her again, Kara immediately threatening, “yesterday I told myself I’d murder you for this.”
“Why would you though? It turned out well, didn’t it?” Kat asked back pointedly with a raised eyebrow and almost teasing sort of look.
Kara rolled her eyes, she couldn’t necessarily deny that, but it still had been annoying nonetheless. “Sure, but if you keep bugging me about it I’ll have a reason,” she was rather quick to shoot back. If Kat was going to keep pushing her then she would be more tempted to murder her. While the poem incident could be put in the past, it wouldn’t if Kat kept bringing it up.
Kat mockingly put her hands up in surrender as she smirked, “fair enough, I suppose. I won’t say another word to you about it.” The smirk she had told Kara she had other ideas though, that she wasn’t going to just suddenly become innocent. She had something up her sleeve, she could tell.
That was proven to be true when all the other pilots continued the teasing, Kat never saying anything, only sitting and watching with amused expressions. While Kat wasn’t directly involved, Kara knew she was behind it all, she had caught some of the high fives she’d exchanged with the biggest teasers, and had caught her whispering to some pilots occasionally, always stopping whenever her or Lee would enter the room.
When the teasing didn’t slow down after a week Kara had gotten used to it, mostly ignoring it, occasionally shooting snarky remarks in return. She didn’t let the teasing get to her anymore, as she knew they were all doing it just to get reactions from her.
She just hoped that the less affected she seemed by it, the less they’d start doing it until eventually they’d just quit altogether.
And while she wanted them to stop, she hadn’t expected them to very abruptly one day, with no prior warning at all.