Orange
Eyes raw and straining, Laura yawns widely, covering her mouth but unsuccessful in covering her fatigue. From across the desk, Billy rubs his eyes and glares at her – he told Laura to grab a cat nap five minutes ago – and yet there she is, still awake. Standing and smiling gently, Laura concedes to his wishes, and proceeds to walk to and lie down on her cot, eyes blissfully shut for the first time in days. Orange, burnt and raw – clouds her vision, a visual representation of her frayed nerves, now close to breaking point. Shivering slightly, she draws her arms around herself tightly, hoping to forget for just one minute before returning to the fray. Orange. Now she's thinking about food, and the wakeful feeling an orange can give – painfully attempting to ignore her stomach's protestations of hunger. Too soon, her ten minutes are up, and she's out of her cot – ready for the onslaught. Every frakking 33 minutes.
If all of this wasn't bad enough, Laura still has a call scheduled with the Commander, at the moment he's not her biggest fan. In fact, he's probably so orange; he can't remember who she is. That'd be the day.
Years later, Laura and Bill sit together on his couch, enjoying the brief respite from trouble together (her legs entwined with his, since she is perpetually cold), when Bill asks, "What do you miss most? From the Colonies, I mean?"
She has to think about it for a surprisingly long time, since their struggle has left little time to reminisce about the finer things in life. Before she can really register though, she blurts out, "Orange."
"Orange? The colour or the fruit?" asks Bill teasingly.
"Well, I guess I miss Caprica in Fall – I never could get over the multitude of shades of brown, orange and yellow that emerged. But honestly, I was thinking of orange as a whole. Oranges- the citrus – and real, naturally occurring hues of orange."
Stunned by the intensity of her answer, Bill laughs quietly, amused and endeared by how much she seems to have considered the simple question. A hum escapes her in humour, and he sees her smile – and suddenly, what's missing no longer matters.
He has everything he could ever possibly want in her.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it :) If you did, please leave a review! I'd also like to thank Guest and Tel Nok shock for consistently reviewing - I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to do so!
Just two more chapters left! :D
