Chapter 35 Tainted
Kara sat in the mess at a table by herself, head propped up by a palm at her temple. She was poking disinterestedly at her dinner, a meal of some kind of fake meatloaf and reconstituted potatoes when a tray clinked against hers, and she looked up as Helo took the seat beside her. It was the first time they'd been together since her return to Galactica three days ago.
Karl's grin spread to his eyes as he gave her meatloaf a poke with his own fork and said, "I think it's already dead, Starbuck. Probably safe to eat it now."
"Like you'd know." She swatted his fork aside with her own and said, "Put anything on your plate, call it food and you'd eat it. No accounting for taste with you, Helo." His eyes darted to hers as his gaze narrowed, and Kara realized that he might have misconstrued her comment. She grimaced; she hadn't meant his taste in companions, though now that she thought about it, her stomach did twist at the image of him with his Cylon lover.
"Yeah, well," he hedged as he speared a green stalk off his own plate and waved it before her, "You should eat your vegetables like a good little officer, Starbuck. They'll make you strong and put hair on your chest," he said, his tone teasing as he let the uncomfortable moment pass.
"Right, like I need hair there. It's enough already having to shave my legs," she said, feeling a little better as Karl's presence soothed an ache she couldn't identify. The Lords knew how much she'd missed the big lug. Feeling the heaviness that had been weighting her down lift slightly in his presence, she scooped up a forkful of the potato mixture and managed to swallow the bland mouthful.
"Don't know why you'd bother shaving, Starbuck. I've always liked running my feet up the hairy legs of a pretty girl. It kinda tickles my toes, you know," he mumbled, trying to talk and munch the undercooked greens at the same time.
The ache returned in force as Kara wondered if the skin-job now known as Athena bothered to shave. Assuming that Cylons even had to worry about things like unwanted hair growth. She stabbed a section of meatloaf and shoved into her mouth before she could voice one of the less kindly thoughts she was having at that moment. She could feel her friend's sidelong glances as she kept her head bent over the tray, pretending to a hunger she hadn't felt since the return of the Cylons into her life over four months past now. Each swallow was a struggle but it was better than letting Helo see the bitter hate she knew was reflected in her eyes as his presence stirred up its own reminder of her time in captivity.
"Hey, slow down there, Starbuck. No one's gonna to steal your food," he said, and she felt him lean a little closer, yet refused to raise her head and meet his eyes.
With her plate now half empty, Kara decided that she'd eaten enough to be convincing, so she rose and picked up the tray.
"Gotta go, Helo. I'll see you around later," she said, keeping her tone light as she dropped her half-finished dinner at the wash-up station and exited the mess hall.
Walking away as fast as she could from her long time friend, Kara bitterly came to the conclusion that the Cylons had tainted every good thing in her life.
Or maybe it was just her that they had tainted.