[Stargate: Drabble] "Just Like Uncle Rodney" [G]
Title: Just Like Uncle Rodney
Prompt: writerverse challenge #36 quick fic amnesty (‘what would ___ do?’)
Word Count: 448
Rating: G
Original/Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairings: none (technically)
Warnings: none
Summary: Torren gets himself out of trouble.
Note(s): originally posted to the writerverse wv_bookclub
Just Like Uncle Rodney
It was a planet they’d been to dozens of times, so nobody worried when four-year-old Torren wandered out of sight. They did start getting concerned a few minutes later, when he didn’t come racing back to show them the bug or rock he’d found.
“He can’t have gone far,” said John, when they’d all called his name several times with no response.
“Yes,” Teyla agreed. “But he could have gone in any direction.”
“Shoulda given him a radio,” said Ronon.
“They’re too big,” said Rodney. “But I’ll build him a little one as soon as we get back. And- the life-signs detector!”
John frowned, as Rodney dug it out. “I thought you said there were too many animals here for that to work?”
“Yes, I did, and there are. But too many places to look is better than none.
“Hey,” said Ronon, pointing to a single life-sign dot on the screen. “Aren’t those the rocks with the caves?”
They took off at a run. The caves were at the bottom of a rise, and just as they reached it, something in the rock wall rumbled. A panel creaked open- a heartbeat later, Torren emerged, covered in dust but completely unhurt. He blinked at them for a moment, then launched himself at Rodney, who caught him automatically.
“You should not have disappeared like that, Torren,” said Teyla, sounding equal parts reproving and relieved.
“I didn’t mean to!” her son protested. “I just walked in, and it closed up!”
“Then how did you get it open?” asked John.
“It was really dark,” said Torren. “So I tried to be brave, like Mama. But the door didn’t open again when I asked it nicely or when I hit it with a stick! So, I tried to be like Uncle John, instead.”
“Good thinking, little buddy,” said John.
“But I don’t have the Ancestors’ gene,” he continued, “so nothing happened. And I’m not big and strong like Uncle Ronon, so I couldn’t push the door open.”
John frowned. “Then how did you get out?”
Torren smiled. “I thought like Uncle Rodney! So first, I panicked a little. But then I did science to make the door open. I felt all the way around it, metha- methol- a little bit at a time.”
“Methodically,” Rodney told him. “Really?”
The boy nodded. “There was a sticky-outy thing, so I turned it and the door opened.”
“That was very smart, Torren,” said Teyla, with a smile.
Torren smiled again. “Just like Uncle Rodney,” he said.
He put his hands on Rodney’s shoulders and leaned forward, smiling more broadly when Rodney touched their foreheads together.
“Thank you, Uncle Rodney,” Torren said.
“No, thank you,” Rodney replied.
THE END
Current Mood:
hungry
Prompt: writerverse challenge #36 quick fic amnesty (‘what would ___ do?’)
Word Count: 448
Rating: G
Original/Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairings: none (technically)
Warnings: none
Summary: Torren gets himself out of trouble.
Note(s): originally posted to the writerverse wv_bookclub
Just Like Uncle Rodney
It was a planet they’d been to dozens of times, so nobody worried when four-year-old Torren wandered out of sight. They did start getting concerned a few minutes later, when he didn’t come racing back to show them the bug or rock he’d found.
“He can’t have gone far,” said John, when they’d all called his name several times with no response.
“Yes,” Teyla agreed. “But he could have gone in any direction.”
“Shoulda given him a radio,” said Ronon.
“They’re too big,” said Rodney. “But I’ll build him a little one as soon as we get back. And- the life-signs detector!”
John frowned, as Rodney dug it out. “I thought you said there were too many animals here for that to work?”
“Yes, I did, and there are. But too many places to look is better than none.
“Hey,” said Ronon, pointing to a single life-sign dot on the screen. “Aren’t those the rocks with the caves?”
They took off at a run. The caves were at the bottom of a rise, and just as they reached it, something in the rock wall rumbled. A panel creaked open- a heartbeat later, Torren emerged, covered in dust but completely unhurt. He blinked at them for a moment, then launched himself at Rodney, who caught him automatically.
“You should not have disappeared like that, Torren,” said Teyla, sounding equal parts reproving and relieved.
“I didn’t mean to!” her son protested. “I just walked in, and it closed up!”
“Then how did you get it open?” asked John.
“It was really dark,” said Torren. “So I tried to be brave, like Mama. But the door didn’t open again when I asked it nicely or when I hit it with a stick! So, I tried to be like Uncle John, instead.”
“Good thinking, little buddy,” said John.
“But I don’t have the Ancestors’ gene,” he continued, “so nothing happened. And I’m not big and strong like Uncle Ronon, so I couldn’t push the door open.”
John frowned. “Then how did you get out?”
Torren smiled. “I thought like Uncle Rodney! So first, I panicked a little. But then I did science to make the door open. I felt all the way around it, metha- methol- a little bit at a time.”
“Methodically,” Rodney told him. “Really?”
The boy nodded. “There was a sticky-outy thing, so I turned it and the door opened.”
“That was very smart, Torren,” said Teyla, with a smile.
Torren smiled again. “Just like Uncle Rodney,” he said.
He put his hands on Rodney’s shoulders and leaned forward, smiling more broadly when Rodney touched their foreheads together.
“Thank you, Uncle Rodney,” Torren said.
“No, thank you,” Rodney replied.
THE END
Current Mood:
hungry