John/Rodney - The Seeing of It (527 words)darkhavensJuly 9 2010, 01:51:46 UTC
^^^pets^^
Thankee for the hopes and the prompt. I ended up writing someone I've never written before. He's barely more than a cypher in canon but his head is the one I landed in when I went POV-hopping. *hands*
~
The first time Kanaan is properly introduced to Doctor McKay and Colonel Sheppard, he is confused. Also wary, uncomfortable, and more than a little disappointed, but mostly confused.
Teyla has spoken of these men so often in the months she has been his ama that he has come to feel he already knows them. And then they finally officially meet, and all of his preconceptions fall apart.
Rodney McKay, the loud one - the one with the crooked mouth, the one who talks with his hands and acts permanently suspicious of everything - is a most unlikely looking hero, yet Teyla has told so many tales of his personal sacrifice and valor, of his dedication and determination beyond all reasonable expectations. This is the man who welcomed his son into the world and shared Teyla's pain in the birthing; the man whose hands and mind keep the City of the Ancestors alive.
This is a man who pouts and complains and acts like a child not yet old enough to go on his first hunt, but who looks at Teyla with awe and love and respect, and looks at her - their - son the same way.
John Sheppard is a military man, so Teyla says; the man who commands the warriors of the City of the Ancestors - he commands the City. This is the man who woke the Wraith from hibernation and stormed a Hive Ship to rescue Teyla and her people before he ever really knew them. A man who, alone, took back the City from an invading armed militia, killing many, and then made trade with them.
With his slouch and his unlaced boots, with a smile than rarely reaches his eyes and a sardonic twist to his mouth - this is the man for whom Teyla would lay down her life in an instant if asked, and he reminds Kanaan of no-one more than his sister-mother's boy Jalla, who spends most of his time acting as though his life, and the lives of everyone around him, bores and amuses him by turns. His mother and the other sister-mothers despair of him finding his way, and Kanaan wonders if introducing them to John Sheppard would give them hope or make them weep.
It's not until the third time Kanaan spends time with Teyla's team that he finally sees what she sees. They are John and Rodney, no longer Colonel Sheppard and Doctor McKay. They squabble and poke at each other like tired children, but the touches linger and the smiles are real.
Now. Now Kanaan can see the man who cradled Torren in his arms and shook with the enormity of that trust. He can see the man who will never forgive himself for finding Teyla's lost childhood treasure and for dooming the Pegasus galaxy with that discovery.
He sees the men who awe his ama with their ability to play and fight and laugh and love with ferocious determination, because anything else is unthinkable.
He sees the men who have laid down their lives to save his people, his ama, his son, his home.
He sees, and is awed at the acceptance that seeing signifies.
Re: John/Rodney - The Seeing of It (527 words)darkhavensJuly 9 2010, 02:34:38 UTC
Thank you!
When I first saw your prompt, I thought I would edn up writing in the POV of someone they trade with, but then Kanaan stepped up and started talking. *g*
Thankee for the hopes and the prompt. I ended up writing someone I've never written before. He's barely more than a cypher in canon but his head is the one I landed in when I went POV-hopping. *hands*
~
The first time Kanaan is properly introduced to Doctor McKay and Colonel Sheppard, he is confused. Also wary, uncomfortable, and more than a little disappointed, but mostly confused.
Teyla has spoken of these men so often in the months she has been his ama that he has come to feel he already knows them. And then they finally officially meet, and all of his preconceptions fall apart.
Rodney McKay, the loud one - the one with the crooked mouth, the one who talks with his hands and acts permanently suspicious of everything - is a most unlikely looking hero, yet Teyla has told so many tales of his personal sacrifice and valor, of his dedication and determination beyond all reasonable expectations. This is the man who welcomed his son into the world and shared Teyla's pain in the birthing; the man whose hands and mind keep the City of the Ancestors alive.
This is a man who pouts and complains and acts like a child not yet old enough to go on his first hunt, but who looks at Teyla with awe and love and respect, and looks at her - their - son the same way.
John Sheppard is a military man, so Teyla says; the man who commands the warriors of the City of the Ancestors - he commands the City. This is the man who woke the Wraith from hibernation and stormed a Hive Ship to rescue Teyla and her people before he ever really knew them. A man who, alone, took back the City from an invading armed militia, killing many, and then made trade with them.
With his slouch and his unlaced boots, with a smile than rarely reaches his eyes and a sardonic twist to his mouth - this is the man for whom Teyla would lay down her life in an instant if asked, and he reminds Kanaan of no-one more than his sister-mother's boy Jalla, who spends most of his time acting as though his life, and the lives of everyone around him, bores and amuses him by turns. His mother and the other sister-mothers despair of him finding his way, and Kanaan wonders if introducing them to John Sheppard would give them hope or make them weep.
It's not until the third time Kanaan spends time with Teyla's team that he finally sees what she sees. They are John and Rodney, no longer Colonel Sheppard and Doctor McKay. They squabble and poke at each other like tired children, but the touches linger and the smiles are real.
Now. Now Kanaan can see the man who cradled Torren in his arms and shook with the enormity of that trust. He can see the man who will never forgive himself for finding Teyla's lost childhood treasure and for dooming the Pegasus galaxy with that discovery.
He sees the men who awe his ama with their ability to play and fight and laugh and love with ferocious determination, because anything else is unthinkable.
He sees the men who have laid down their lives to save his people, his ama, his son, his home.
He sees, and is awed at the acceptance that seeing signifies.
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*hugs fic*
Just wonderful. Thank you thank you!
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When I first saw your prompt, I thought I would edn up writing in the POV of someone they trade with, but then Kanaan stepped up and started talking. *g*
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♥
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Thank you, darlin'!
I still don't know how I ended up in Kanaan's head for this. I certainly didn't plan to, but it worked. :D
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