B7 flashfic

[igenlode]

I wrote this while trying to demonstrate to someone the different possibilities of attributing dialogue *without* ransacking a thesaurus...

Avon looked up. "Do you have to hang over me like that, Vila? If I hadn't already had to watch you devouring that appalling garlic-laden stew at lunch-time, I can assure you I'd be able to name its principal ingredient by now."

"I happen to like garlic." Vila assumed a look of injured innocence. "Besides, you ate it too, so I don't believe you can smell a thing."

"You flatter yourself," Avon said drily, bending again to the task of repair. "Is it merely the unaccustomed spectacle of work that fascinates you, or would it be the thrill of watching other people engaged in gainful employment while you enjoy this period of enforced leisure?"

"My fingers are my fortune. You think I like having them all smothered up like that?" He thrust his gauze-swathed hands in front of Avon's face, obscuring the view of the damaged circuit-boards. "Suppose -- just suppose you wanted me to get you in through a locked door in a hurry, or to lift a key out of some guard's pocket? Can't do it like this, can I?"

"Then you should have been more careful about trying to handle stolen goods. Particularly ones that turned out to have a heat-field protecting them."

(Not sure Avon would actually use that many gratuitous multi-syllabic words; I was trying to illustrate the concept that if your characters' 'voices' are sufficiently distinct then you don't necessarily need to attribute dialogue at all...)

Comments

[igenlode]

There always were a lot of fans of Avon/Vila interaction ;-)

I wasn't planning to upload this as 'a story' because there's basically no content -- 'Avon insults Vila once, badly' does not a story make -- but I could possibly be flattered into it! (I feel that actual fans of Avon and Vila might find it a little lacking...)

I'm not sure why I reached for Blake's 7 in that particular context to give the example; I wanted two characters with distinctive voices, and for some reason those two came to mind even though I haven't been reading/writing about them in years.