embolalia: (Kara/Lee - Return Home 2)
embolalia ([personal profile] embolalia) wrote2012-02-21 10:37 pm

Fic: On the Road

Title: On the Road
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Kara/Lee
Word Count: ~1,000
A/N: Prompt from [livejournal.com profile] sci_fi_shipper during today's [livejournal.com profile] bsg_epics game: Kara is working as a long-haul trucker to earn cash for college. Lee meets her late one night at a diner.

On the Road

Kara yawns widely, then tries to shake herself awake. It’s just past 3AM, still the beginning of her drive, and she can’t get tired yet. It’s starting to snow and the roads aren’t salted; falling asleep is an even worse idea than usual. Glancing out the window as a sign flashes past, she glimpses a sign for a truck stop and swings into the right lane. On the radio, Hendrix starts to play and she grins, turning it up as the music starts to build. All she needs is a twenty minute break and she’ll be ready to go.

In the diner at the truck stop, the florescent lights are flickering unsteadily, but the coffee smells like coffee and that’s all Kara’s looking for. She settles onto a stool by the bar and orders from a waitress who looks like she might have been asleep until Kara walked in. Eggs and toast and coffee - hot and hard to screw up.

The door jingles as someone else enters, and Kara turns in surprise.

A young man looks back at her. He’s gorgeous, that’s for sure, and Kara drags her eyes down his body for a lascivious moment.

“Hey,” he says, smiling. “You wouldn’t happen to know the way back to I-95, would you?”

Kara raises an eyebrow. “Where the hell did you come from besides I-95?”

He sighs in relief. “It’s close then? Thank the Gods.” He heads toward her, sits down on the neighboring stool. “Let me buy you a cup of coffee for your help,” he offers, waving to the waitress. Then he holds out his hand. “I’m Lee.”

“Kara.” She takes it, holding his gaze, then breaking off quickly as her heart starts to race inexplicably. “What are you doing way the hell out here at this hour of the night?”

He shrugs. “My girlfriend brought me home for the holidays...but we broke up. I had to leave.”

She winces broadly. “Ouch.”

“Yeah...” Lee sighs. “It was kind of my idea. I’ve just never found that...that connection you’re supposed to have. Plus I think her dad thought I was there to ask if I could marry her.”

Kara snorts in the middle of a sip of coffee and the liquid spurts out of her mouth. Suddenly Lee’s laughing, and then she’s laughing too. “Go ahead, appreciate my pain,” she grumbles, wiping at her shirt as his shoulders shake.

“I will,” he teases back. They stare at each other for a long moment, eyes bright.

“Eggs and toast,” the waitress calls, sliding a plate down the counter to Kara.

She turns to her food, eating quickly while Lee orders pie and the girl serves it up.

“So what are you doing out here?” he finally asks.

Kara takes a long sip of coffee. “Driving,” she answers. “I can make a thousand cubits a week if I push myself hard enough, and I figure by the end of the year I’ll have enough saved for a few semesters of college.”

Lee blinks in surprise. “Oh.”

She arches an eyebrow. “Didn’t think a girl could be a trucker?”

His lips shift, hinting at a grin. “I was just thinking I’ve never seen the inside of a truck like that before.”

Kara gives him a sideways glare. “Mine’s not a sleeper, so just get that off your mind, Mr. Broken Up.” She looks him over brazenly, taking the sting out of her words. If it weren’t so frakking cold out, she’d suggest they could make do in the passenger seat.

Lee shrugs. “Just saying.” He finishes the last bite of his pie. “Where are you headed?”

She yawns, then shakes her head, fighting off sleepiness. “Caprica City. Three hundred miles by dawn.”

“Me, too!” he bursts out, then blushes faintly at his own enthusiasm. “My mom lives there.”

Kara nods. “Well, honk if you see me drifting.” She drops a few cubits on the counter, and slides off her stool.

“Nice to meet you, Kara,” Lee calls as he pays up.

She waves and heads out into the night.

The air is well below freezing as she heads back to her truck, and she pulls her dad’s old leather jacket tight around herself. Just as she reaches the cab, she hears a shout behind her.

“Wait up!”

Lee’s running across the deserted parking lot toward her, his coat flapping open. As he stops before her, panting, snow settles into his long eyelashes. For the space of three breaths he just peers into Kara’s eyes, and then something shifts and he moves toward her in an instant, his lips hovering over hers for the merest second before he kisses her, fast and hot and sure.

The cold fades aways as Lee’s arms wrap around her, as his body presses hers against the truck. Kara kisses him back, her fingers in his hair, holding him close.

When they separate, panting, they’re both grinning like idiots.

“Can I--” Lee waves back toward the diner. “I know what I said before, about just having broken up, but...can I call you? When we get to the city?”

Kara reaches into her pocket for a paper and pen and scribbles down her number. She slaps it against his chest. “You’d better,” she breathes.

Lee takes it and steps back, heading toward his car. He holds the paper with her number against his chest. “I will,” he promises, and disappears into the dark.

She climbs up into the driver’s seat and starts the truck. The same song is playing on the radio, the Dylan version this time. Kara smiles to herself. Their song. She pulls out onto the highway, peering through the snow as it starts to fall harder. Behind her Lee honks three times, and Kara grins as she presses hard on her own horn. It’s nearly four in the morning and she feels like she’s awake for the first time in her life.


***

(Want more? There's more!)

[identity profile] scifishipper.livejournal.com 2012-02-22 04:16 am (UTC)(link)
*GRIN*

I COMPLETELY LOVE IT. SO PERFECT. *SWOOOOOON*

Thank you for this! <3<3<3

[identity profile] embolalia.livejournal.com 2012-02-22 01:37 pm (UTC)(link)
YAY! Thank YOU for the prompt, it was fun to play with! :)

[identity profile] n-e-star.livejournal.com 2012-02-22 04:32 am (UTC)(link)
That was amazing!

[identity profile] embolalia.livejournal.com 2012-02-22 01:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks!

[identity profile] callmeonetrack.livejournal.com 2012-02-22 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
This is so adorable! I love this! Angst-free just banter and feelings and connection. <3 <3 <3

(And this bit especially made me grin: “Me, too!” he bursts out, then blushes faintly at his own enthusiasm. CUTE LELAND.)

[identity profile] embolalia.livejournal.com 2012-02-22 01:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I wanted to keep this a one-shot, so no angst :) Glad you liked it!

[identity profile] helikedmyshoes.livejournal.com 2012-02-22 07:45 pm (UTC)(link)
I love this!

[identity profile] embolalia.livejournal.com 2012-02-23 12:31 am (UTC)(link)
Glad to hear it! :)

[identity profile] shah-of-blah.livejournal.com 2012-02-22 09:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I have a weird fascination with truckers (or stories about truckers) which, yes, I realize is very strange, but anyway...I'd never thought of Kara as a truck driver before but it's perfect. I totally dig this AU.

[identity profile] embolalia.livejournal.com 2012-02-23 12:31 am (UTC)(link)
Hah! Well, I'm glad it worked out for you ;)

[identity profile] kdbleu.livejournal.com 2012-02-22 10:33 pm (UTC)(link)
*happy sigh* I love the impulse and flirting when they just connect. :D

[identity profile] embolalia.livejournal.com 2012-02-23 12:32 am (UTC)(link)
Yup! Just a little meet-cute :)

[identity profile] justascrewup2.livejournal.com 2012-02-23 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
So awesome. Loved this snippet. Any time, any place. Our pilots belong together :)

[identity profile] embolalia.livejournal.com 2012-02-23 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
Always! Thanks :)

[identity profile] wicked-sassy.livejournal.com 2012-02-23 12:58 pm (UTC)(link)
This was an excellent story--so fun to watch them meet and get drawn together, as always! Nicely done!

[identity profile] embolalia.livejournal.com 2012-02-23 01:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks! I feel like I'm getting more into the swing of AUs :)

[identity profile] kl-shipper1.livejournal.com 2012-02-23 04:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Very nice! I really love angst-free, flirty pilots, and this was perfectly done. And of course, overly enthusiastic Lee always brings a smile to my face! <3

[identity profile] embolalia.livejournal.com 2012-02-23 05:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks! College-aged Lee does always seem to be a little excitable :)

[identity profile] word-vomity.livejournal.com 2012-02-23 04:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Awww! She'd make a good truck driver I bet. Making lewd comments over the radio to entertain herself. Lol. Total cuteness.

[identity profile] embolalia.livejournal.com 2012-02-23 05:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Hee! She totally would. Hilariousness. Glad you enjoyed it :)

[identity profile] onlyariana.livejournal.com 2012-02-23 11:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, this was such fun. Just shiny happy pilots. I loved it.

[identity profile] embolalia.livejournal.com 2012-02-24 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks! They are fun to write this way :)

[identity profile] word-vomity.livejournal.com 2012-03-02 06:09 pm (UTC)(link)
She is the CUTEST TRUCKER EVER! I can so picture her in her little Kutcher Trucker hat. Lol. And impromptu stranger kissing!!!! Wheee!

[identity profile] embolalia.livejournal.com 2012-03-03 09:09 pm (UTC)(link)
<3

[identity profile] pennyante.livejournal.com 2012-03-03 04:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Ugh, I love this. I love the diner setting--"coffee that smells like coffee"--and the instant connection and the flirty back-and-forth. I also have no problem imagining Kara as a trucker--"knights of the road", my grandpa always said. Love it. (On to the next part!)

[identity profile] embolalia.livejournal.com 2012-03-03 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Yay! Glad you had fun :)

[identity profile] rdave1.livejournal.com 2012-03-12 06:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Love it! So adorable!

[identity profile] workerbee73.livejournal.com 2012-04-03 03:55 pm (UTC)(link)
I love this so much. I love the middle of the night meeting, the insta-connection, the dialogue, everything. Can't wait to read this next bit.

You really need to play in the AU sandbox more often. ;)
Edited 2012-04-03 15:55 (UTC)

[identity profile] embolalia.livejournal.com 2012-04-03 04:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks! Glad it worked :)
lanalucy: (Default)

[personal profile] lanalucy 2013-01-15 05:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Heee! Their song. This is just a perfectly perfect snippet of an AU Lee and Kara, still them, and still connected.

[identity profile] embolalia.livejournal.com 2013-01-18 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Always! Glad you liked it, I had fun with this one :)

[identity profile] newnumbertwo.livejournal.com 2013-12-15 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, that's awesome. Love their instant connection. And so cool that "All Along the Watchtower" is their song. What a great AU for them.