hackthis_archive | From me to you.

I just walked in on someone saying something was bananas and my immediate thought was "That shit's bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!" *sighs* I hate that song.

Happy Venereal Disease Day! What? You want to tell me that VD stands for something else? Oh, right, Veterans Day. My bad.

Seriously to all the singletons, and smug-marrieds, and partnered up folk, or polygamists out there – whatever your tax-filing status may be – Happy Tuesday. Don't give Hallmark anymore of your hard earned cash. You don’t need someone else to validate you. You don't have to be loved by everyone; you just have to love yourself. [/independent babble]

[sidebar: Mad love to

kattiya for my flower :D]

In honor of my friends, I present two gifts.

First, two zip files One for the Lovers and One For the Others...

Secondly, four short stories about friendship:

How Many Times? Grey's Anatomy.

Derek Shepherd wants to be Preston Burke's friend.

Preston is friends with Derek's wife, and dating his ex-girlfriend's best friend, and Miranda and Preston just seem to click so well. Anyone Bailey likes must be worthy, and Derek wants Preston to like him a little, at the very least. Every time he tells Preston this though, Preston just rolls his eyes. "I let you call me by my first name, don't get ahead of yourself."

Derek just sighs and goes back to whatever he's doing. Sometimes it's rounds, sometimes it's avoiding Addison, sometimes it's prepping for surgery.

"I'm not asking you out on a date," he points out to Preston when they're standing in front of the board, trying to decipher all the small black print. "I just want to, you know, hang out. Shoot some hoops. Play a few holes. Do something together."

"Shepherd -– Derek," Preston corrects. "I'm touched, but you're not my type."

Derek's still sputtering when Preston walks away.

They're in prep later, when Derek tries again. "Why don’t you want to be my friend?" he asks bluntly. The OR nurse glances at them the out the corner of her eye.

Preston sighs. "I work with you; I don't have to be your friend."

"But I want to be your friend," Derek's dangerously close to whining. It's a little disconcerting for him; Burke -– Preston, just seems amused.

Preston crosses his arms. "Why do you want to be my friend, Derek? Because of Grey, or because of the Chief, or because of Addison?"

Derek just rolls his eyes. "Uh, because I like you?"

Preston just snorts. "You're a very strange man, Derek," he says heading into surgery.

"Does that mean you want to hang out sometime?" Derek calls.

The doors swing wildly after Preston, and Derek sighs. The OR nurse shakes her head and shrugs. And then, just when Derek's given up, Preston head pokes back through the doors. "If we hang out, you have to stop acting like a girl. I already have a girlfriend; I don't need another."

Derek just grins. "Whatever you say, Dr Burke."

Cozy in the Rocket. Battlestar Galactica.

If Kara had a brother, he would be like Helo -- or at least Kara thinks he would be like Helo. Kara's mother was too busy with her career for Kara; she did nothing but complain about having one child, so there's no way that Helo could've been Kara's actual blood brother. Instead, they just act like family, which for Kara, is probably a lot better.

If Helo were Kara's brother, he would probably be a lot more damaged and a lot less tolerant. Kara got lucky; Helo's just Helo, good-natured, and there in a frakking mess. Helo always has Kara's back, making sure she doesn't get tossed in the brig all the time. It's only when Helo's not around that she gets in trouble.

It's only when Kara's not around that Helo ends up falling for frakking Cylons.

Their relationship works both ways.

They don't talk about it that much, but they don't talk about Zak and Lee either. Instead, there are headlocks and sparring matches, and staying up at all hours, drinking and singing fight songs and missing the pyramid games on Gemenon.

Instead of focusing on the bad, they focus on the mundane. The every day. The things they share. It's not ideal, it's not the most stimulating interaction ever, but it works for them, because they're friends, and a lot of friendship is about just hanging out and not saying anything at all.

Erase/Rewind. Smallville.

Clark has this dream where Lana falls in love with him -- mind-blowingly, heart-stoppingly in love with him -- only to leave him for someone else.

Sometimes the other guy has blonde spiky hair and a demonic mother, other times the man is bald. Sometimes the other man is Lex.

Clark, inevitably, wakes up from this dream, sweating profusely, with his hands tangled in the sheets and his eyes burning. He reminds himself that it’s all a dream. Lana would never do that. Lex would never do that. It still takes him forever to get back to sleep.

Clark has another dream where he only uses Lex for what Lex can give him. He abuses their friendship and lies about his lineage, until Lex can't take it anymore, and he snaps. Lex vows to ruin Clark, and they become enemies. Horrible enemies who spend the rest of their lives hating each other and tearing the world apart with their disgust and hurt over being abandoned and betrayed.

After these dreams, Clark finds himself outside, running through the corn, leaving inexplicable designs in other people's property until he's at the castle. His breath heaves, but not from exertion, and he X-rays the property wildly until he finds Lex sitting in his office and playing with his computer.

On nights like these, Clark paces Lex's property, trying to make himself go inside and talk to Lex. He tells himself that this needs to happen, but inevitably he tells himself he'll do it tomorrow.

He'll always do it tomorrow.

And then one day he's standing in front of Lex, talking about nothing of any relevance, lying for no reason at all, and he sees the doubt and the distrust flicker over Lex's face, and he decides that today is the day. Some friends are more important than the secrets you think you need to keep.

Dustbusterman

Ari is George's Dustbuster. Yes, he's George's agent, and his friend, and his sounding board, and on some occasions, the person who hires other people to go slap George's exes silly, but he's also the one who is there when George has been abandoned for the fifteen thousandth time by Brad or Matt or Anderson, and doesn't understand why. This is when Ari just shakes his head and has George come over for dinner and to play with the kids.

Despite whatever other people think, being George's agent isn't always free hookers and trips to Tahiti; sometimes, it's a fucking mess. Sometimes, George being George ruins everything, and Ari thinks he should just dump him as a client -- but that would be stupid, because then someone else would be getting Ari's ten percent.

George's relationship with Ari isn't actually about the money, but Ari tells himself it is. George tells himself the same thing. It's easier for them to be friends when they can fire each other at any minute, and Ari knows this, because they discuss it all the time like they discuss everything. Actually, they don't discuss anything -- Ari's no bitch -- they insult. Loudly. And often.

At the end of the day though, their friendship isn't built on money, but on time and investments they've made in each other. It's about loyalty and belief and all kinds of chick-flick shit that makes Ari's teeth hurt. So, they don't talk about it. Instead they talk about everything else, Brad and Angelina, Jake and his toyboy, Ang Lee and that Brokeback bitch that's going to rob them of their Best Picture Oscar.

Other people may not quite understand it, but it works for them, so they keep it.

-end-