Mixed Plate Lunch

Disclaimer: I don't own H50.
Summary: A collection of short oneshots/drabbles/ficlets – unconnected to any current work in progress or each other. Mostly just writing exercises to get my muse going again. Featuring mostly – you guessed it – Steve/Kono. Next Installment: Steve and Kono on a case. Steve/Kono if you squint.

Spoilers: None

A/N: So my hubby challenged me one night. He gave me 10 words and I wrote a drabble (100 word paragraph) on each word and managed to turn it all into ficlet. It's kind of not what I intended, but I think it works somewhat. Heavy references btw to BSG. I'm such a dork.

Science Smart Doesn't Equal Street Smart

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MOUNTAIN

Kono is nauseated. This always happens when she doesn't drive and seeing as how they're making their way up Haleakala at break neck speed, it's no surprise that she feels like emptying everything in her stomach. She doesn't know how she gets paired with Steve on this trip to Maui for this case, but she's gesturing that he stop ASAP so that she doesn't ruin the interior of their borrowed Maui PD car.

He throws her an apologetic look and pulls over, just in time for her to throw the door open and vomit off the side of the mountain.

WATER

Steve's worried that his reckless driving may have permanently scarred Kono. She looks sickly and she's bracing herself against the door. The only thing he can do, is to grab a bottle of water he brought with him earlier and to help her hold her hair back.

"Thanks, I think," Kono mumbles, giving him the stink eye. She finally stops and settles back into her seat. Kono's used the whole bottle to rinse out the nasty aftertaste and regrets it as she's suddenly finding herself thirsty. But Steve, clearly apologetic, reads her mind and hands her another bottle of water.

RABBIT

"You know at one time, there was a rabbit overpopulation problem up here," Kono says, her voice still hoarse even though she's feeling better.

Steve's making the rest of the drive up Haleakala slowly, for Kono's sake. "Yeah. I remember hearing that. People couldn't care for their pets and set them free, here," he responds, glancing at her. He's relieved to see that she's got some color back in her features and impulsively reaches out to lay the back of his hand against her cheek.

Kono leans into his touch and says, "I'm okay." She smiles, hoping to reassure him.

SKY

Kono is admiring the sky as Steve pulls up to the observatory. Haleakala makes her feel like she's on top of the world – surrounded by clear blue, peppered with puffs of white. She feels god-like, as if she's Athena, sitting atop Mount Olympus. It's no wonder why there's an observatory up here. She looks at Steve and the graceful way he exits the car to come and stand next to her and sees another version of him, perhaps Apollo.

It's too bad she muses, that they're up here to solve a string of unsolved robberies from tourist's rental cars.

CAT

Back at the visitor center, Steve discovers the lone astronomer in charge of the observatory hasn't been seen all weekend. The volunteers seem worried. Not for him, for his faithful cat – a chubby tabby named Starbuck.

It's enough to get Steve to look at the scientist from the University of Hawaii, more closely. When he returns to the observatory, to tell Kono about Doctor Godfrey Baltar, he finds her and the cat, who seems to be guarding a door in the rear of the observatory. He's meowing loudly and hissing every time she steps forward and he can guess why.

BLACK

Having no choice but to give up on Starbuck for the time being, Kono and Steve search other parts of the observatory. Because unfortunately, Maui PD's only lead is that the thief was dressed in black.

Kono's searching through the office and considering calling Animal Services, but makes a call to the University of Hawaii's Astronomy Department to get more information on their suspect when Steve asks her to come to the sleeping quarters.

When she finds him, he's got a crooked smile and a handful of black clothing, and she marvels at how simple this case has become.

SWEATER

They revisit with Starbuck and notice that he's made a nest of an article of clothing at the base of the door that he's 'guarding'.

Kono smirks and guesses, "black sweater?"

"Yup," Steve answers, nodding. "Just like the one found in the bedroom."

Quirking a brow and studying the cat who starts hissing at them again, Kono asks, "Starbuck seems awfully loyal, don't you think?"

"He sure does," Steve says, warily eyeballing the tabby. "Any ideas on how to get him to move without losing a finger?" he asks back, smiling at her.

Kono's grinning in response. "I've got this."

FOOD

Kono disappears into the makeshift kitchen and emerges with a can of tuna that she just opened and Starbuck doesn't even need prompting. He leaves his post and runs towards Kono as she sets the food down on the floor. The cat takes a seat in front of the can and starts scarfing down large chunks of tuna and Kono's concerned at how fast he's eating.

Steve's just happy the food did the trick. But as he reaches for the handle, the door flies open. He's stunned and falls backward as their suspect emerges, flees the observatory, escaping on …

BIKE

... a bicycle! A bicycle? Kono and Steve are surprised. They're at the highest point of Maui, one road up, one road down and their perp bolts down the mountain on a bicycle. They give each other an incredulous look and Steve grabs another bicycle that's propped up along side the building. As he hops on, he's chuckling at how absurd this case has become. Kono races to the car, giggling too. She follows Steve down. She's right behind him when they make the first hairpin turn and notices that there appears to be a traffic jam a few meters ahead.

BUS

The tour bus is stopped at an angle because it was making the climb up Haleakala. The driver stands on the road as Steve and Kono approach and sitting down, leaning against the mountain is Godfrey Baltar. He looks slightly bloody but okay, and according to the bus driver, lucky to be alive because he almost didn't see him. Good thing he did. Good thing for Steve and Kono too. Because when Steve and Kono get back to the observatory, they discover the back room is loaded with stolen items from hundreds of tourists to the visitor center. Case closed.

End.

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Thank you for reading!