[Realm of the Muse] Response
Oct. 3rd, 2007 02:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
his_sarah_janeBoard Games Prompt – Choose one of the popular board games listed, and write a prompt somehow based on the game, it’s name or something related to it: Candyland
“Mummy, look what D’Argo lent me!”
That was the greeting that Sarah Jane came home to that one unsuspecting Tuesday evening. It had been a long day at the Globe and, in all honesty, all she had wanted was a warm cuppa accompanied by a snuggle on the couch with her husband. Domesticity, while still not entirely their lifestyle of choice, sometimes did seem like the proper path to follow for an hour or two. What she hadn’t wanted was a rather energetic five year old daughter begging for ‘quality time’ with her parents.
Apparently it was all the rage in the Sun-Crichton household according to Valerie, even if Sarah did have her doubts.
“…an’ Uncle John says that every Thursday, he and Auntie Aeryn and D’Argo and that grey girl go an’ meet in Pilot’s chambers and play a board game. It’s family bonding time and he says it’s loads of fun! And D’Argo even agreed! An’ then he gave me this and said he’s outgrown it but I think he’s lying because Uncle John was smiling a lot when he gave it to me. And Daddy says never to trust Uncle John when he smiles.”
There was a small pause in the long-winded explanation as the girl wrinkled her brow. “I think Daddy says I’m not supposed to trust him at all. But you do. An’ I like playing on Moya . Even when you and Daddy scold me for sneakin’ into Milliways without permission.”
Which, it had seemed, Valerie had apparently done today. Sarah reminded herself to have a talk with Nanny Williams about keeping a closer eye on the girl. Thankfully, the woman only babysat at a minimum now that Sarah Jane’s schedule was more closely adjusted to school hours. The last thing she really needed to happen was to have a perfectly down to earth and logical, no-nonsense woman discover a pathway to the end of the universe. Or find out why exactly Valerie had such an obsession with watching Doctor Who.
“Can we play, then? Please? I promise I won’t go into Milliways anymore without you or Daddy if we can play. No matter how much Allana wants to.” Valerie looked up at her mother with wide blue eyes. In so many respects, she was clearly her parents’ daughter. Sarah Jane doubted that promise in its entirely. She had made too many similar ones to her aunt when she was a child.
“All right,” Sarah finally conceded. She accepted the game box with only a small sigh. To her credit, she kept the sardonic grin off her face. She was certain that John had put both D’Argo and Valerie up to this. Candyland wasn’t exactly the sort of game she ever had interest in playing, even as a kid of Valerie’s age. She could only imagine James’ reaction when he found out.
---
“Sarah, she had gone into Milliways without our permission again. We shouldn’t be humouring her with a game night. Otherwise, she’ll keep doing it.”
As expected, James was less than thrilled at the idea of a family round of Candyland. Sarah Jane was certain that she would face the same reaction with any sort of game board suggestion. He wasn’t the type to sit about a table and play a game designed for those a fifth of his age. For that matter, Sarah wasn’t that sort of person either. But Valerie had her heart set on this. She had a hard time saying no, even if it was the proper decision.
Sarah shrugged, resting her head against James’ shoulder. Valerie was in the room she shared with her adoptive sister, playing with her toys before dinner. Allana wouldn’t be home for another week yet, away in her own universe for Force training. This gave Sarah Jane ample time to talk with her husband as they waited for food to arrive. As they had both worked late, ordering in seemed like their best bet. No one in the Smith-Bond family ever complained about a posh, well-cooked meal. And time without daughters running afoot was more the necessary at times.
“In her defense, she did promise never to go there without us again.”
“Sarah…” She could just picture James sighing patiently beside her. “She’s our child. One promise will be broken just as easily as the last one. Where did she get that bloody game in the first place?”
“D’Argo.”
This time, James’ sigh was rather audible. He was irritated and hiding it. It seemed as if Sarah Jane wasn’t the only one who had a long day at work. Either that, or too much time had passed since his last investigation. Sarah was guessing a mixture of both. John should have known better than to tempt Valerie like this. The prospect of proper domesticity didn’t help his mood at all. Sarah knew that he loved their family. But both were rather unconventional in expressing that love.
“Darling, it’s just a game. One round and then, maybe, she won’t disappear to Milliways for another week.” Sarah lifted her head up to smile at him, a similar pleading glint in her brown eyes that matched that of her daughter’s from earlier. She placed a hand on his cheek, tilting his head downward for a long kiss. After, she rested her forehead against his; murmuring against his lips a promise to make up for it afterwards. Even after all these years of loving each other, sex was still the best way to bribe him into doing anything.
“Fine,” he grumbled. “But only under the condition that she is not to go back to Milliways for the next two weeks. She can’t keep breaking the rules.”
Sarah raised an eyebrow, grinning in amusement. “This coming from James Bond, the annoyance of MI-6?”
He scowled in return, only to be cut off for by kiss. Sex wasn’t only an effective bribe. It was an effective, and rather wonderful, way to silence an argument as well.
---
That night was certainly an event for the Smith-Bond family. The meal was typical, with Valerie talking more than she ate, wanting to tell her parents all about the day she had at school. Dinner, Sarah realized, was as exhausting as normal. And Valerie was too enthused by the prospect of having her very own quality time to even consider putting her to bed early. Everything leading up to the point of game night passed by quickly, too quickly for both adult Bonds. Seconds after the table was cleared, Valerie had ran back into the kitchen clutching the box to her chest.
It was Candyland time.
The game, it turned out, was simple enough. More than simple: it was simplistic. There was a winding track of a hundred and thirty four spaces in rainbow colours or representing locations and people. You had to pick a card off the stack and follow the colour or object on the card. You could move forward or backwards. Landing on the last space won the game. Sarah and James shared a look of frustration that goes straight above Valerie’s head. She’s too excited about playing a proper board game with her parents to even care.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night to Sarah were the occasional glimpses of smiles and laughter that would appear on James’ face. He really did try his best to remain stoic throughout the whole game. Valerie, used to her ‘grumpy daddy,’ didn’t care. But when she started giggling after landing in Gloppy’s Molasses Swamp, Sarah saw a flicker of a smile on James’ face. The smile widened when Sarah found herself meeting the same fate (this, she reminded herself, was what happened when your heart wasn’t truly into the game). It was the closest either of them would get to a full out grin that night when he won.
“Daddy, that’s not fair!” Valerie complained at the end of the game, her messy blonde hair flying as she shook her head. “You didn’t even enjoy it!”
Obviously in the five year old’s world, that individual that enjoyed the game most was the one expected to win. Sarah Jane only laughed, leaning across the table to give James a congratulatory kiss. It was only supposed to be a peck. She should have known better than to expect anything but.
Giggles were what finally broke them apart. Valerie was squirming in her seat with laughter, hands over her face. She beamed up at both of them, looking very much like the little angel that she wasn’t. “And now you and Mummy are being mushy again!”
“And now it’s time for you to get to bed,” Sarah countered with a smile. She stood, walking the short distance between seats to pick Valerie up off hers. She adjusted her daughter against her hip, planting a small kiss against her bangs. “Why don’t we get ready for bed while your father cleans up the table. That’s the true prize for the winner.”
“Aside from mummy kisses,” Valerie responded, earning another faint grin from James. She tugged on Sarah’s sleeve, her typical cue to start moving. “Nighty, Daddy!”
For such a menial and average event like playing a board game with her family, Sarah was surprised to discover it hadn’t been half bad. Maybe, if she could talk James into it, this could be something to do once a month. Although, they would have to find much more challenging games than Candyland. She chuckled to herself as she sat in the rocking chair, watching her daughter fall asleep. Who was she kidding? This was certainly a onetime event.
Still, Sarah realized that it had been worth every second of it. When a warm hand was placed on her shoulder, she looked upward to see James watching their now sleeping daughter with love in his eyes. Worth every second of it indeed.
[ooc: Clearly based on Milliways continuum.]
“Mummy, look what D’Argo lent me!”
That was the greeting that Sarah Jane came home to that one unsuspecting Tuesday evening. It had been a long day at the Globe and, in all honesty, all she had wanted was a warm cuppa accompanied by a snuggle on the couch with her husband. Domesticity, while still not entirely their lifestyle of choice, sometimes did seem like the proper path to follow for an hour or two. What she hadn’t wanted was a rather energetic five year old daughter begging for ‘quality time’ with her parents.
Apparently it was all the rage in the Sun-Crichton household according to Valerie, even if Sarah did have her doubts.
“…an’ Uncle John says that every Thursday, he and Auntie Aeryn and D’Argo and that grey girl go an’ meet in Pilot’s chambers and play a board game. It’s family bonding time and he says it’s loads of fun! And D’Argo even agreed! An’ then he gave me this and said he’s outgrown it but I think he’s lying because Uncle John was smiling a lot when he gave it to me. And Daddy says never to trust Uncle John when he smiles.”
There was a small pause in the long-winded explanation as the girl wrinkled her brow. “I think Daddy says I’m not supposed to trust him at all. But you do. An’ I like playing on Moya . Even when you and Daddy scold me for sneakin’ into Milliways without permission.”
Which, it had seemed, Valerie had apparently done today. Sarah reminded herself to have a talk with Nanny Williams about keeping a closer eye on the girl. Thankfully, the woman only babysat at a minimum now that Sarah Jane’s schedule was more closely adjusted to school hours. The last thing she really needed to happen was to have a perfectly down to earth and logical, no-nonsense woman discover a pathway to the end of the universe. Or find out why exactly Valerie had such an obsession with watching Doctor Who.
“Can we play, then? Please? I promise I won’t go into Milliways anymore without you or Daddy if we can play. No matter how much Allana wants to.” Valerie looked up at her mother with wide blue eyes. In so many respects, she was clearly her parents’ daughter. Sarah Jane doubted that promise in its entirely. She had made too many similar ones to her aunt when she was a child.
“All right,” Sarah finally conceded. She accepted the game box with only a small sigh. To her credit, she kept the sardonic grin off her face. She was certain that John had put both D’Argo and Valerie up to this. Candyland wasn’t exactly the sort of game she ever had interest in playing, even as a kid of Valerie’s age. She could only imagine James’ reaction when he found out.
---
“Sarah, she had gone into Milliways without our permission again. We shouldn’t be humouring her with a game night. Otherwise, she’ll keep doing it.”
As expected, James was less than thrilled at the idea of a family round of Candyland. Sarah Jane was certain that she would face the same reaction with any sort of game board suggestion. He wasn’t the type to sit about a table and play a game designed for those a fifth of his age. For that matter, Sarah wasn’t that sort of person either. But Valerie had her heart set on this. She had a hard time saying no, even if it was the proper decision.
Sarah shrugged, resting her head against James’ shoulder. Valerie was in the room she shared with her adoptive sister, playing with her toys before dinner. Allana wouldn’t be home for another week yet, away in her own universe for Force training. This gave Sarah Jane ample time to talk with her husband as they waited for food to arrive. As they had both worked late, ordering in seemed like their best bet. No one in the Smith-Bond family ever complained about a posh, well-cooked meal. And time without daughters running afoot was more the necessary at times.
“In her defense, she did promise never to go there without us again.”
“Sarah…” She could just picture James sighing patiently beside her. “She’s our child. One promise will be broken just as easily as the last one. Where did she get that bloody game in the first place?”
“D’Argo.”
This time, James’ sigh was rather audible. He was irritated and hiding it. It seemed as if Sarah Jane wasn’t the only one who had a long day at work. Either that, or too much time had passed since his last investigation. Sarah was guessing a mixture of both. John should have known better than to tempt Valerie like this. The prospect of proper domesticity didn’t help his mood at all. Sarah knew that he loved their family. But both were rather unconventional in expressing that love.
“Darling, it’s just a game. One round and then, maybe, she won’t disappear to Milliways for another week.” Sarah lifted her head up to smile at him, a similar pleading glint in her brown eyes that matched that of her daughter’s from earlier. She placed a hand on his cheek, tilting his head downward for a long kiss. After, she rested her forehead against his; murmuring against his lips a promise to make up for it afterwards. Even after all these years of loving each other, sex was still the best way to bribe him into doing anything.
“Fine,” he grumbled. “But only under the condition that she is not to go back to Milliways for the next two weeks. She can’t keep breaking the rules.”
Sarah raised an eyebrow, grinning in amusement. “This coming from James Bond, the annoyance of MI-6?”
He scowled in return, only to be cut off for by kiss. Sex wasn’t only an effective bribe. It was an effective, and rather wonderful, way to silence an argument as well.
---
That night was certainly an event for the Smith-Bond family. The meal was typical, with Valerie talking more than she ate, wanting to tell her parents all about the day she had at school. Dinner, Sarah realized, was as exhausting as normal. And Valerie was too enthused by the prospect of having her very own quality time to even consider putting her to bed early. Everything leading up to the point of game night passed by quickly, too quickly for both adult Bonds. Seconds after the table was cleared, Valerie had ran back into the kitchen clutching the box to her chest.
It was Candyland time.
The game, it turned out, was simple enough. More than simple: it was simplistic. There was a winding track of a hundred and thirty four spaces in rainbow colours or representing locations and people. You had to pick a card off the stack and follow the colour or object on the card. You could move forward or backwards. Landing on the last space won the game. Sarah and James shared a look of frustration that goes straight above Valerie’s head. She’s too excited about playing a proper board game with her parents to even care.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night to Sarah were the occasional glimpses of smiles and laughter that would appear on James’ face. He really did try his best to remain stoic throughout the whole game. Valerie, used to her ‘grumpy daddy,’ didn’t care. But when she started giggling after landing in Gloppy’s Molasses Swamp, Sarah saw a flicker of a smile on James’ face. The smile widened when Sarah found herself meeting the same fate (this, she reminded herself, was what happened when your heart wasn’t truly into the game). It was the closest either of them would get to a full out grin that night when he won.
“Daddy, that’s not fair!” Valerie complained at the end of the game, her messy blonde hair flying as she shook her head. “You didn’t even enjoy it!”
Obviously in the five year old’s world, that individual that enjoyed the game most was the one expected to win. Sarah Jane only laughed, leaning across the table to give James a congratulatory kiss. It was only supposed to be a peck. She should have known better than to expect anything but.
Giggles were what finally broke them apart. Valerie was squirming in her seat with laughter, hands over her face. She beamed up at both of them, looking very much like the little angel that she wasn’t. “And now you and Mummy are being mushy again!”
“And now it’s time for you to get to bed,” Sarah countered with a smile. She stood, walking the short distance between seats to pick Valerie up off hers. She adjusted her daughter against her hip, planting a small kiss against her bangs. “Why don’t we get ready for bed while your father cleans up the table. That’s the true prize for the winner.”
“Aside from mummy kisses,” Valerie responded, earning another faint grin from James. She tugged on Sarah’s sleeve, her typical cue to start moving. “Nighty, Daddy!”
For such a menial and average event like playing a board game with her family, Sarah was surprised to discover it hadn’t been half bad. Maybe, if she could talk James into it, this could be something to do once a month. Although, they would have to find much more challenging games than Candyland. She chuckled to herself as she sat in the rocking chair, watching her daughter fall asleep. Who was she kidding? This was certainly a onetime event.
Still, Sarah realized that it had been worth every second of it. When a warm hand was placed on her shoulder, she looked upward to see James watching their now sleeping daughter with love in his eyes. Worth every second of it indeed.
[ooc: Clearly based on Milliways continuum.]
