snip-snipping away
I hate it when this kind of thing happens. I just can't stop!
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Rodney finds it easier to stay out of the labs altogether these days.
There’s plenty of work to be found in other parts of Atlantis, and Rodney can accomplish much more now that he’s not dogged by constant radio requests to solve minor technical problems that could just as easily be solved by newborn rhesus monkeys.
He tells himself that he doesn’t really miss the lab. There were too many people, all jockeying for counter space and credit, and it was just too noisy and stressful to get any real work done.
Sometimes he takes a jumper to Athos and toils in the gardens there. It’s peaceful, and there’s satisfaction to be had in working the rich, loamy soil beneath his hands.
When he sees the first pale shoots from seeds he’s planted, Rodney is surprised by how excited he feels.
A few days later, he sees one of the botanists leaving the field as he arrives. He thinks it might be Parrish.
The lanky figure raises one arm and waves, but keeps on walking, and when Rodney hurries to his seedlings, he finds new tools laid carefully beside the furrows.
When he gets back to Atlantis, there’s an email waiting that outlines some basic methods of mulching. Rodney’s dirt-stained finger hovers over the delete key, but he reads the message and the advice seems sound.
After that, he sees Parrish more often in the nearby fields. They seldom speak more than to exchange pleasantries or discuss the chances for rain, but it’s a comfort nonetheless.
Especially when Rodney returns to his quarters and discovers that they’ve been reassigned in his brief absence.
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***********************
Rodney finds it easier to stay out of the labs altogether these days.
There’s plenty of work to be found in other parts of Atlantis, and Rodney can accomplish much more now that he’s not dogged by constant radio requests to solve minor technical problems that could just as easily be solved by newborn rhesus monkeys.
He tells himself that he doesn’t really miss the lab. There were too many people, all jockeying for counter space and credit, and it was just too noisy and stressful to get any real work done.
Sometimes he takes a jumper to Athos and toils in the gardens there. It’s peaceful, and there’s satisfaction to be had in working the rich, loamy soil beneath his hands.
When he sees the first pale shoots from seeds he’s planted, Rodney is surprised by how excited he feels.
A few days later, he sees one of the botanists leaving the field as he arrives. He thinks it might be Parrish.
The lanky figure raises one arm and waves, but keeps on walking, and when Rodney hurries to his seedlings, he finds new tools laid carefully beside the furrows.
When he gets back to Atlantis, there’s an email waiting that outlines some basic methods of mulching. Rodney’s dirt-stained finger hovers over the delete key, but he reads the message and the advice seems sound.
After that, he sees Parrish more often in the nearby fields. They seldom speak more than to exchange pleasantries or discuss the chances for rain, but it’s a comfort nonetheless.
Especially when Rodney returns to his quarters and discovers that they’ve been reassigned in his brief absence.
***********************