Sarah Jane Adventures fic: Peppered Moth | Clyde, Rani | G
Title: Peppered Moth
Fandom: The Sarah Jane Adventures
Characters: Rani, Clyde, Sky
Rating/warnings: G, no plot, set sometime around the last series of SJA
Words: ~987
Summary: A year after a strange case, Clyde and Rani finally talk about it.
Notes: Apologies: I tried throughout November to develop this idea for a SJA/Warehouse 13 crossover, and unfortunately it developed to near Big Bang proportions, far beyond my ability to deal with it. But I did want to have a Solstice story, so this is my best shot in the very small amount of time I had. It's unbeta'd, and I have to warn you right now, absolutely nothing happens in this fic. Posted for Day 22 of
consci_fan_mo.
Warmest of season's greetings!
Previous solstice fics:
2007 - 'Mid the Tallest Dark (Torchwood)
2008 - How the Light Gets In (Torchwood)
2009 - Guide You Home (Primeval) and Be Prepared (Torchwood drabble)
2010 - There Is a Crack in Everything (Torchwood)
The incident with the teacup had been so curiously painful and uplifting, no one had quite had the language for it. It Almost a year had passed, and it still might have gone undiscussed if Rani hadn't glimpsed a drawing in Clyde's unzipped bag.
She tugged the corner of the paper a bit so she could see it better. The drawing was done in ink, and most of the paper was a dense thicket of crisscrossed lines, black as night. Near the bottom, she could just see where the black faded to what looked like a glow, the absence of darkness, with a hand reaching out through the light.
It wasn't subtle. Not for anyone who had been there.
"Clyde..."
He looked up from the device he'd been inspecting, one of the many deliciously alien objects in Sarah Jane's attic.
"Your drawing." She nodded toward the bag. "It's... about last year, isn't it?"
Clyde ducked his head and seemed to be concentrating on the device again, poking it with the tip of a biro. "Yeah."
Rani sat down on the sofa. "I didn't know if anyone else remembered what it felt like," she said softly.
Clyde put down the pen and sighed. "Well, yeah. You know. What--what was it like for you?"
Rani looked toward the window thoughtfully. The sun had set a couple of hours ago. It seemed it was dark by the time they left school these days. She was glad the classrooms had windows, or they'd never see the sun.
"Just... darkness," she began, halting to search for the right words. "But like... thick darkness. Like, I know we were blind, and that means no light or images are getting into your brain, but this was like the air turned to mud all around me. You know?"
Clyde nodded. "I didn't want to move. It was like gravity got turned way up and my body was glued to the chair. I wasn't scared, but... sad."
"Oh god," Rani said, "so sad! I wanted to cry the whole time, but I was too tired."
Clyde chuckled. "Yeah. At the time, I wouldn't have even cared if you saw me crying."
Rani smiled and rolled her eyes at him, but her face quickly became sober. "I never want to feel like that again, Clyde."
Clyde stood up and walked over to the sofa, sitting down next to her. "Well, lucky for us," he said, "that teacup is 'neutralized' or whatever the Americans said, and wherever they took it, it's their problem now!" He brought a cushion out from behind him and swung it around to hit Rani lightly in the face.
She spluttered, then laughed and reached for a pillow of her own, but Clyde was saved by the appearance of Sky in the attic doorway.
"Mum says tea's ready and you two can stay if you like!" Sky announced brightly.
Clyde patted his stomach. "All right, I knew if we stuck around long enough she'd have to feed us! Come on, Rani, your parents won't miss you for awhile."
"Wait," Rani said. "There's something... Hey, Sky, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure!" Sky smiled and stepped into the room expectantly.
"Do you remember last December, with Astrid and the teacup, when we were all blind... and we couldn't help you?"
Sky nodded, looking more serious now.
Rani pursed her lips, thinking. "I've just realized I never really understood how you fixed everyone. I mean, I know we had to hold hands, but how did that work exactly?"
"Oh!" Sky's face became animated, as it often did when they discussed a puzzle or problem. "I didn't have to do anything. The teacup was Astrid's, and remember the sickness started with her. Miss Helena said Astrid had to hold the cup until she broke--not the cup, but Astrid--and she did, and she cried a lot like it hurt, and then suddenly she could see. And everyone she touched could see, and everyone they touched, but there were too many people, so we had to organize that chain."
Rani nodded. "I know you brought her here first. And she-- helped us, and when we went outside..."
"All the neighbors were already outside, and had to we grab their hands--that was *pretty* weird, by the way--"
"Oh go on, you didn't care, you were so happy..." Rani stood and turned to grin at him, caught up in the memory.
"I was just trying to get the job done so you'd stop blubbing everywhere." Clyde tossed the cushion at her. Rani caught it and tossed it back at him, ducking behind a table so he couldn't retaliate.
Watching them, Sky giggled. Then she glanced up toward the window and gasped. "Snow!"
The three of them moved to the window and stood, watching the flakes fall through a column of amber light cast by the street lamp below. Already the garden and the pavement looked frosted; flakes brushed against the window like white moths' wings.
Rani broke the hush. "Remember, it snowed that day too..."
"I thought something was still wrong with my eyes," Clyde said. "Everything was black and heavy, and then all of the sudden it was white--"
"And so bright, and it felt like floating almost. Hey, it didn't take you long to hit me with a snowball," Rani reminded him.
"Yeah, and it didn't take long for you to teach Sky to make snowballs so you two could gang up on me. I was soaked!"
"You needed a wash, you'd been sitting in those clothes for two days!"
Sky giggled again. The three were quiet for another moment, then Sky reached over and grasped Clyde's hand. Clyde glanced sideways at Rani. She was still watching the snow, a slight smile on her face. Clyde took her hand and squeezed, and they watched the snow until Sarah Jane's voice drifted up the stairs, calling them to tea.
Fandom: The Sarah Jane Adventures
Characters: Rani, Clyde, Sky
Rating/warnings: G, no plot, set sometime around the last series of SJA
Words: ~987
Summary: A year after a strange case, Clyde and Rani finally talk about it.
Notes: Apologies: I tried throughout November to develop this idea for a SJA/Warehouse 13 crossover, and unfortunately it developed to near Big Bang proportions, far beyond my ability to deal with it. But I did want to have a Solstice story, so this is my best shot in the very small amount of time I had. It's unbeta'd, and I have to warn you right now, absolutely nothing happens in this fic. Posted for Day 22 of
consci_fan_mo.
Warmest of season's greetings!
Previous solstice fics:
2007 - 'Mid the Tallest Dark (Torchwood)
2008 - How the Light Gets In (Torchwood)
2009 - Guide You Home (Primeval) and Be Prepared (Torchwood drabble)
2010 - There Is a Crack in Everything (Torchwood)
The incident with the teacup had been so curiously painful and uplifting, no one had quite had the language for it. It Almost a year had passed, and it still might have gone undiscussed if Rani hadn't glimpsed a drawing in Clyde's unzipped bag.
She tugged the corner of the paper a bit so she could see it better. The drawing was done in ink, and most of the paper was a dense thicket of crisscrossed lines, black as night. Near the bottom, she could just see where the black faded to what looked like a glow, the absence of darkness, with a hand reaching out through the light.
It wasn't subtle. Not for anyone who had been there.
"Clyde..."
He looked up from the device he'd been inspecting, one of the many deliciously alien objects in Sarah Jane's attic.
"Your drawing." She nodded toward the bag. "It's... about last year, isn't it?"
Clyde ducked his head and seemed to be concentrating on the device again, poking it with the tip of a biro. "Yeah."
Rani sat down on the sofa. "I didn't know if anyone else remembered what it felt like," she said softly.
Clyde put down the pen and sighed. "Well, yeah. You know. What--what was it like for you?"
Rani looked toward the window thoughtfully. The sun had set a couple of hours ago. It seemed it was dark by the time they left school these days. She was glad the classrooms had windows, or they'd never see the sun.
"Just... darkness," she began, halting to search for the right words. "But like... thick darkness. Like, I know we were blind, and that means no light or images are getting into your brain, but this was like the air turned to mud all around me. You know?"
Clyde nodded. "I didn't want to move. It was like gravity got turned way up and my body was glued to the chair. I wasn't scared, but... sad."
"Oh god," Rani said, "so sad! I wanted to cry the whole time, but I was too tired."
Clyde chuckled. "Yeah. At the time, I wouldn't have even cared if you saw me crying."
Rani smiled and rolled her eyes at him, but her face quickly became sober. "I never want to feel like that again, Clyde."
Clyde stood up and walked over to the sofa, sitting down next to her. "Well, lucky for us," he said, "that teacup is 'neutralized' or whatever the Americans said, and wherever they took it, it's their problem now!" He brought a cushion out from behind him and swung it around to hit Rani lightly in the face.
She spluttered, then laughed and reached for a pillow of her own, but Clyde was saved by the appearance of Sky in the attic doorway.
"Mum says tea's ready and you two can stay if you like!" Sky announced brightly.
Clyde patted his stomach. "All right, I knew if we stuck around long enough she'd have to feed us! Come on, Rani, your parents won't miss you for awhile."
"Wait," Rani said. "There's something... Hey, Sky, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure!" Sky smiled and stepped into the room expectantly.
"Do you remember last December, with Astrid and the teacup, when we were all blind... and we couldn't help you?"
Sky nodded, looking more serious now.
Rani pursed her lips, thinking. "I've just realized I never really understood how you fixed everyone. I mean, I know we had to hold hands, but how did that work exactly?"
"Oh!" Sky's face became animated, as it often did when they discussed a puzzle or problem. "I didn't have to do anything. The teacup was Astrid's, and remember the sickness started with her. Miss Helena said Astrid had to hold the cup until she broke--not the cup, but Astrid--and she did, and she cried a lot like it hurt, and then suddenly she could see. And everyone she touched could see, and everyone they touched, but there were too many people, so we had to organize that chain."
Rani nodded. "I know you brought her here first. And she-- helped us, and when we went outside..."
"All the neighbors were already outside, and had to we grab their hands--that was *pretty* weird, by the way--"
"Oh go on, you didn't care, you were so happy..." Rani stood and turned to grin at him, caught up in the memory.
"I was just trying to get the job done so you'd stop blubbing everywhere." Clyde tossed the cushion at her. Rani caught it and tossed it back at him, ducking behind a table so he couldn't retaliate.
Watching them, Sky giggled. Then she glanced up toward the window and gasped. "Snow!"
The three of them moved to the window and stood, watching the flakes fall through a column of amber light cast by the street lamp below. Already the garden and the pavement looked frosted; flakes brushed against the window like white moths' wings.
Rani broke the hush. "Remember, it snowed that day too..."
"I thought something was still wrong with my eyes," Clyde said. "Everything was black and heavy, and then all of the sudden it was white--"
"And so bright, and it felt like floating almost. Hey, it didn't take you long to hit me with a snowball," Rani reminded him.
"Yeah, and it didn't take long for you to teach Sky to make snowballs so you two could gang up on me. I was soaked!"
"You needed a wash, you'd been sitting in those clothes for two days!"
Sky giggled again. The three were quiet for another moment, then Sky reached over and grasped Clyde's hand. Clyde glanced sideways at Rani. She was still watching the snow, a slight smile on her face. Clyde took her hand and squeezed, and they watched the snow until Sarah Jane's voice drifted up the stairs, calling them to tea.