madkrazyfic

"Do you find it at all odd, Colonel Mitchell," said Vala over lunch, "that you have a catchphrase?" She tore a piece off the top of her muffin. It was lunch, and she had a muffin. He never knew how she did it.

"I do not," he scoffed, but saw Daniel making that face into his salad. "Do I?"

"You kinda do," Sam admitted apologetically.

Cameron leaned back in his chair. "Naw," he drawled. "I do not. You're totally punking me."

"I've been watching this 'TV Land' channel of yours," said Vala, "although I cannot fathom why you call it that, because obviously, you are already watching TV. But they were having an informative special on catchphrases, such as 'dyn-o-mite!', and 'I am not a crook.'"

Sam's lips were suddenly pressed in a very thin line, and she seemed unnaturally focused on picking at her sandwich.

"I don't know how much I should trust someone whose basis of Western culture is Nixon and Good Times, but okay." Cameron crossed his arms over his chest smugly. "Hit me, Miss Expert. What is my 'catchphrase'?"

"You mean you don't know?" said Daniel.

"You do?"

"Of course."

"Even I know," spoke up Teal'c. "You indeed say it often, Colonel Mitchell."

A laugh bubbled up. "You guys are completely making this up."

"Sorry, Cam," said Sam, "it's true." She rearranged her face, lowered her voice barely, and mimicked him with an enthusiastic, "That's what I'm talking about!"

Cameron cringed. "Oh, I do not sound like that," he said, rising his voice to be heard over the chorus of their laughter.

"Yes you do," said Daniel.

"Indeed," said Teal'c.

"Pretty much," agreed Vala.

"You guys suck," said Cameron.

Minako can feel Zoicite's chest heating her through the back of her fuku, and knows this is the end. No matter the outcome of this battle, which will feature the death of one or both of them, she knows this is the end because she can feel it in the ragged breathing that rubs their clothes in friction. He is not tired, nor is she, because the fight is young and fresh, and they've both been training so long. She feels the tense flexing of his arm as it pins down her hands. She can feel the hot slice of air against her cheek as he expels breath in the shape of a smirk. She is at his mercy physically. But in their silent battle of wills, punctuated only by the tiny grunts of one getting the upper hand over the other, she finds herself falling deeper. This is wrong, she knows. She can see that danger flashing in his eyes, the finality. Her heart beats faster as she crouches for the next round, and she can taste the end, bitter on her tongue. Even if she wins, even if he perishes, she knows she will come out of this encounter forever changed, and will feel loss and sorrow sharper than any blade.

"What is this, again?" Vala asked, eying her toast.

"I believe it is called jelly," said Teal'c.

Cameron shook his head. "It's jam. It's strawberry, strawberry jam. You never hear 'strawberry jelly'. Jelly is for, like, blueberries."

"How come one is jam and one is jelly?" Vala asked, biting into her toast. Her eyes widened. "Oh! That is good!"

"I don't know," Cameron admitted. "I think it has something to do with consistency... or maybe fruit size?" He glanced to his teammates; Teal'c merely shrugged in response. "Carter?"

Sam made a baffled face. "Don't ask me. I'm still trying to figure out what 'marmalade' is."

The first kiss had been a dare. John knew that Piotr liked Kitty, and was just being an asshole.

The second kiss had also been a dare, but by this time, John had left. Kitty'd said that Bobby didn't love Rogue, that he just loved challenges. Kiss me, she'd said, and prove you love her. And he still did.

But the third kiss had been a truth. He could kiss a girl and not die if she kissed him back, and he liked it. Too much to stop.

"You an' Kitty are close, right?" Rogue asked him.

Truth or Dare.

Duncan hasn't played Truth or Dare since Lilly was alive.
They didn't always play it with a group. Sometimes Lilly just dared him to do gross or ridiculous things for her own amusement. And he always went along with it, because it was impossible to say no to Lilly. Even after he threw up from licking the inside of the aquarium, or the time that he got grounded for months for mooning the Bishops while they were driving to church. He misses her.

"Truth or Dare, Donut," the ghost asks.

"Truth."

"Do you remember that night?"

He wishes he could.

"Truth or Dare," Violet said sardonically, which meant she was using a scornful or mocking tone of voice. Never in their lives had either of the elder Baudelaire children played, or had the desire to play, the game Truth or Dare. Perhaps what Violet really meant, was 'trick or treat', as they were standing on the porch of their newest guardian's house.

"Truthfully," said Klaus, "I don't want to go in."

"It would be daring not to," said Violet. "We don't have anywhere else to go."

"Open," said Sunny between them, her voice tired but firm.

Violet rang the bell.

Whenever the B-Squad played Truth or Dare, Jack and Sky always picked Dare. They were constantly competing, refusing to wimp out and pick a Truth. Bridge and the girls had as much fun with this as they could get away with, playing on that competitive streak to get their friends to do ridiculous things.

But this particular game was getting out of hand. They wouldn't stop squabbling, and Z was losing her mind. As far as she could see, there was only one solution. When Sky selected Dare, Z grinned. "I dare you to kiss Jack."

That shut them up.

When he played Truth or Dare, Conner always picked Dare. Truth was too dangerous; he had too many secrets to hide, and he was a lousy liar. The last big mistake he'd made was in freshman year, when he admitted that he had been hungover that game they lost to Stone Canyon. He hadn't gotten kicked off the team, but he went into social exile for two weeks.

But when he'd come back inside after singing the national anthem on the lawn in his underwear, it seemed smart to take a Truth.

"Where are you always running off to?"

Oops.

The client had asked her to play Truth or Dare. It was an archaic game from Earth-That-Was, played by people as young as River and as foolish as Jayne. But Inara didn't think it could hurt. Her client was, after all, paying for the privilege of her company. How he chose to keep that company was his business. She could deliver necessary lies with ease and believability, and Guild Law allowed her to gracefully back out of any potentially dangerous dares.

"Truth or Dare," he said.

"Truth." No need to start off too difficult.

"Have you ever been in love?"