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curator-on-ao3 · 9 months

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Ten Random Lines

Rules: Pick any ten of your fics, scroll roughly to the midpoint, pick a line (or three) and share it. Then tag ten people.

I was tagged by @starrybouquet. 💕 Thank you so, so much for tagging me in this super-fun game!

1. Boots That Touch at the Toes (Una Chin-Riley/Christopher Pike, T)

Heat cracks like fire across her hand, sharp and searing as numbness gives way to life, Chris’ breath hot on her skin, his exhalations steady, even as she shudders.

His lips brush her palm, pain fading as quickly as it started.

And her throat sticks with thank you and oh my God and don’t go.

2. Hello, Again (Una Chin-Riley/Jack Ransom, T)

“Captain,” Una turns toward Chris, all business, “I can recreate the solution Starfleet Academy devised to correct for the temporal imbalance in the planet’s atmosphere, which also explains the trouble we had with transport. It should take about a week to refit the transport ionizers, plus run a few tests.”

“I can help.” Jack flexes a bicep that didn’t need flexing. “Double Number One fist-punch to the problem.”

Is Una chuckling? Jack’s joke wasn’t that funny. Not compared to some of the really funny stuff Chris says.

3. The One That Is You (Una Chin-Riley/Christopher Pike, M)

“Yeah, I’m going to go back in time.” My toes nudge her ankle monitor. Not enough for the metal to dig into her skin, but enough to remind us both of the present. “Someone once told me that she refused to believe there isn't another way. I listened. Now she’s in prison and I’m trapped in a war that the Klingons say could have been avoided if I’d met my fate. So, yes, I’m going to go back in time and convince my younger self to do what’s right, not what’s convenient.”

4. Hold My Hand and We’re Halfway There (Kelly Grayson/Ed Mercer, G)

“Hey there,” Kelly holds up a bottle of wine, “I wasn’t sure if this was business or pleasure, so I brought a red blend.”

“Because, ‘Sometimes being a little blended is the best way to enjoy all the cultures that blend to form the Union,’ right?”

He expects her to chuckle.

But her head tilts, light catching her hair and playing across her cheekbones. “Did you just quote my father?”

5. Chrysalis (Una Chin-Riley/Christopher Pike, E)

“What?” Chris pulls away just enough to look at her, confusion and pride chasing each other across his face. “One of the Talosians said that you … you fantasize about me?”

How is it possible to be more embarrassed the second time? Her cheeks warm, not even the distraction of irritation at an alien probing her mind available to save her.

6. Synchronous Orbit (Kathryn Janeway & Tom Paris, G)

“I remember what you said about wanting my help to find the Maquis.” He forces his hands to rest on his lap, fingers splayed, useless. “But we both know you could have gotten that information and not taken me along for the ride. This has been the best seven years of my life and … before I go … I want to know why.”

Her chair, always so quiet when the ship pulsed with activity, creaks again. He swivels and the captain is the same size she’s always been, yet also somehow smaller.

“Looking back can be dangerous, Mr. Paris.” She glances toward the viewscreen, then at him. “Sometimes the best course is forward.”

7. The Haze (Una Chin-Riley/Christopher Pike, T)

There’s a rustling from his darkened alcove, then quiet again. “I’m glad not knowing your past is pleasant for you, Una.”

Maybe he’s not listening well because he’s very tired and having trouble falling asleep.

“The haze is pleasant. Not knowing my past can be confusing. I like when you explain things so I can understand.”

There’s more rustling. “Is that why you didn’t want to go into your quarters? You didn’t want to be by yourself without someone there to explain things to you?”

8. Gotta Admit, It’s Pretty Sweet (Churrolivia/Jack Ransom, T)

Jack is about to ensure his irritation is clear in his voice, but he remembers just in time — he promised Olivia he would try to be more patient with the ensigns. So Jack’s pecs rise with a deep, calming breath and he calls out as cheerfully as he can, “Come on in, Ensign Mariner.”

She waltzes in like she owns the place, sits crooked in a chair as if she’s Captain Riker or something. “Hey, do I smell cinnamon?”

9. The Melody of You (and Me) (Una Chin-Riley/Seven of Nine, T)

There’s a chuckle from Seven.

“This,” Seven squeezes Una’s hand, “isn’t solely your affections. You’re worried about me tripping and falling with my ocular implant low on power. I’m all right.”

10. City Lights (Seven of Nine/Liam Shaw, T)

He sits heavily in the chair across from her, all clean scents of soap and shampoo. “Look, Hansen, my buzz is nearly gone and I’m not exactly in the habit of entertaining mesmerizing company as yourself, so —”

Mesmerizing? The captain is a lot of things, but he’s not a liar or a flatterer.

Her cheeks go warm, both from the unexpected compliment and from the frustration that balls her fists and hardens her voice.

“So why don’t you call me by my damn name?”

As always, I love being tagged but my tag anxiety keeps me from tagging others. If you’re reading this and want to play, please consider yourself tagged! 💕

#tag games #ten random lines #(except the directions say the lines should be roughly from the midpoint so that’s what i did)#this was funnnn!#thank you again for tagging me #starrybouquet

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