Flock by lavvyan (amnesty 2008, strange new worlds challenge)
Title: Flock
Author: lavvyan
Word Count: ~1,500
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Pairings: Two lines of McKay/Sheppard.
Summary: "Right." Rodney's voice lacked bite, but his pinched expression spoke volumes. Then again, it might be the caffeine withdrawal. "So instead of North American forest we get African savannah. Nice. Where exactly are we headed again?"
Notes: Written for cathalin. ♥
~~~
Flock
"I don't see why we have to go on these exploratory missions," Rodney complained, running on fumes and too little caffeine. The Daedalus was late and coffee was growing sparse, and Rodney's reaction to rationing wasn't any more favourable than the first time around. His griping had started to skirt the edges of bearable, and probably the only thing that kept him from crossing the line and earning himself another training session with Ronon was Teyla giving up her rations to him.
She didn't like coffee, bless her.
"First contact, yes," Rodney went on, apparently oblivious to the eye-rolling going on around the briefing room table, "although the 'hello, we come in peace, take us to your leader' routine is clearly a waste of my vastly superior intellect."
That was a blatant lie. John knew for a fact that Rodney loved the first contact missions, especially if he could show off his 'vastly superior intellect."
"But exploration? Do I look like an fortune-hunter to you? Do you realise what a pointless waste of time this kind of mission is? Never mind that every planet in this galaxy looks exactly the same."
"That mist planet was different," John said mildly, not bothering to point out the other blatant lie. For a certain scientist he knew, the idea of 'Rodney McKay, space explorer' would never get old.
"As was the world of the crystalline life forms," Teyla added with a nod at John, who grimaced at the memory.
"As thrilled as I am to be reminded of those particular nightmares," Rodney's bland expression made clear just how thrilled he was, "they only serve to underline my point. These missions are either deadly or boring. Either way, they're always the same."
Ronon, who had been silent until now, leaned forward.
"Let's go explore Elarund," he said to Woolsey, who was looking a little lost. "Your people haven't been there yet, and it'll shut up McKay."
John raised an eyebrow, but Ronon didn't even look his way, so he turned to Teyla. She was stifling a smile, winking when she noticed his attention. John relaxed, secure in the knowledge that whatever they were planning, it was going to be good.
"Why?" Rodney wanted to know, "what's so special about 'Elrond'?"
"It's different," Ronon said, and showed his teeth as he grinned.
~~~
"Hell yeah this is different," John said, looking around with something like awe. Rodney just nodded.
The Stargate stood in the middle of a giant plain, nothing but grass all the way to the horizon. The sky was a cloudless blue and the air was warm, the slight breeze carrying the fresh, green scent of grass and the sweet fragrance of the blossoms bobbing on the thin blades, millions of them dotting the plain orange and white and blue. Black spots moved in the distance, their forms blurred by the heat.
"Arreno herds," Teyla said next to him. "I believe they are much like your antelopes."
"Right." Rodney's voice lacked bite, but his pinched expression spoke volumes. Then again, it might be the caffeine withdrawal. "So instead of North American forest we get African savannah. Nice. Where exactly are we headed again?"
The question was aimed at Ronon, who was leaning against the Gate and didn't seem inclined to move even in the face of Rodney's impatience. John grinned. He still didn't know where this was going, but he'd bet his Johnny Cash collection that this mission was nothing more than a distraction, maybe with a lesson about not dissing the Pegasus galaxy thrown in.
"Didn't bring you here to explore," Ronon said with a shrug.
And here we go, John thought.
"What?" Rodney spluttered, "I mean, seriously, what? I distinctly remember you talking Woolsey into this mission, and unless this is yet another scheme to mock me for getting sunburn, you better-"
"Hush!" Teyla said sharply, cutting him off. Rodney fell silent, but his lips were pressed together in a way that promised dire retribution. John grimaced. He'd thought that this was a ploy to get Rodney to relax, but all they'd seemed to have achieved so far was pissing him off even more, so-
And then he heard it. A flurry of sound, shrieks and cries over an ever-louder rushing noise, almost like a storm, and then-
"Birds," he said, amazed.
"Must be at least half a million," Rodney agreed, and his voice held nothing of his earlier irritation.
Birds. White and blue, smaller than a sparrow but so many of them they darkened the sky, shouting at each other in twitters and high-pitched shrieks. They rolled across the sky in waves and eddies, moving as one, dancing up in giant rings only to drop like a living waterfall. The sun made their feathers gleam and shine, and the wind picked up as they came closer, rippling through the grass as thousands of wings set the air into motion.
They were amazing.
"That's amazing," Rodney breathed, and Teyla smiled at him. When John snuck a glance at him, his face was relaxed and open with the wide-eyed wonder that only Rodney could pull off without looking demented. It was… nice.
"Wait," Ronon said. John looked at him quizzically, but Ronon just tilted his head toward the plain. John squinted, not sure what he was supposed to see there. The grass blades bowed under a particularly strong gust of wind, and for a moment it seemed as if they'd stay crouched to the ground even after the breeze had passed.
The blossoms took flight.
"Whoa!" John stepped back, his hands tightening on his P-90. "Are those-?"
"Butterflies." Teyla's voice sounded smug. "This is something to be witnessed only once a year. We are lucky."
"Yeah," John said.
It was awesome. The butterflies rose into the sky like a rolling cloud of blue, white and orange. They were tiny, perhaps the size of his thumbnail, and the flutter of their wings sounded soft under the louder rustling of the birds above them. The sky was barely visible anymore, filled with so much life there was hardly any space left, and John smiled at the show.
Ronon and Teyla really knew how to make a point.
He looked at Rodney and felt his smile soften at seeing him so relaxed, head tilted up to watch the display of colours above them. He stepped a little closer and nudged his shoulder against Rodney's.
"I saw this in a documentary once," Rodney said excitedly as he leaned against John in an unconscious motion that made John feel warm all over. "The birds' migratory route coincides with the insects'-"
Of course, this being the Pegasus galaxy, that was when the butterflies started shooting the birds out of the sky.
"The blossomwings carry a potent poison which they use to paralyse their prey," Teyla told John and Rodney as they both stared open-mouthed at the spectacle around them; small, feathered bodies landing on the grassy ground with soft plop-plop noises. "They can spit only once, and they die shortly after the feast and the mating that follows." She smiled, wicked and knowing. "I believe your Earth term is 'carnivore'."
Rodney's mouth closed, opened again, but all that came out was a strangled sound. John didn't even manage as much, still gaping at the butterflies slowly working their way through the birds.
It took at least half an hour for the flock to pass them, and it didn't look noticeably smaller. The butterflies landed again, the plain silent again now that the birds had left, and again the grass was swathed in colours by what looked like flowers. The whole scenery seemed almost peaceful, if one ignored the way the supposed blossoms kept moving, or the wings that twitched here and there if a bird wasn't completely paralysed.
"That was…" Rodney cleared his throat. John nodded, still speechless.
"Different?" Teyla asked sweetly. She exchanged a grin with Ronon as Rodney scowled at her.
"Yes, yes, fine. The Pegasus galaxy is nothing like Earth. There, satisfied?" Rodney sniffed, looking for all the world like a petulant child.
"Come on, McKay." Ronon clapped him on the shoulder, hard enough to make him stumble. John shook himself out of his stupor enough to catch Rodney's elbow as they walked over to the DHD. "Mess is serving roast chicken tonight."
"Please." Rodney made a face. "Like I'm going to eat a bird after this."
"Yeah," John said, "I think I'm gonna go with a nice, hot, spaghetti MRE."
He let Rodney dial Atlantis, keeping an eye on the plain and a hand on his P-90, just in case the grass was hiding some carnivorous grasshoppers or something.
"Perhaps we should visit Ditelta next," Teyla mused as the wormhole swooshed into being. "They have a fish that travels upstream, much like your salmon. Except-"
"No!" John and Rodney said in unison.
"Those things probably hunt for grizzlies," John added. And he so did not need to see that.
"Yes." Rodney nodded. "I believe I'm ready for a nice, boring mission to somewhere with nothing but trees and perhaps a few rocks. No indigenous life forms whatsoever."
Teyla laughed.
Author: lavvyan
Word Count: ~1,500
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Pairings: Two lines of McKay/Sheppard.
Summary: "Right." Rodney's voice lacked bite, but his pinched expression spoke volumes. Then again, it might be the caffeine withdrawal. "So instead of North American forest we get African savannah. Nice. Where exactly are we headed again?"
Notes: Written for cathalin. ♥
~~~
Flock
"I don't see why we have to go on these exploratory missions," Rodney complained, running on fumes and too little caffeine. The Daedalus was late and coffee was growing sparse, and Rodney's reaction to rationing wasn't any more favourable than the first time around. His griping had started to skirt the edges of bearable, and probably the only thing that kept him from crossing the line and earning himself another training session with Ronon was Teyla giving up her rations to him.
She didn't like coffee, bless her.
"First contact, yes," Rodney went on, apparently oblivious to the eye-rolling going on around the briefing room table, "although the 'hello, we come in peace, take us to your leader' routine is clearly a waste of my vastly superior intellect."
That was a blatant lie. John knew for a fact that Rodney loved the first contact missions, especially if he could show off his 'vastly superior intellect."
"But exploration? Do I look like an fortune-hunter to you? Do you realise what a pointless waste of time this kind of mission is? Never mind that every planet in this galaxy looks exactly the same."
"That mist planet was different," John said mildly, not bothering to point out the other blatant lie. For a certain scientist he knew, the idea of 'Rodney McKay, space explorer' would never get old.
"As was the world of the crystalline life forms," Teyla added with a nod at John, who grimaced at the memory.
"As thrilled as I am to be reminded of those particular nightmares," Rodney's bland expression made clear just how thrilled he was, "they only serve to underline my point. These missions are either deadly or boring. Either way, they're always the same."
Ronon, who had been silent until now, leaned forward.
"Let's go explore Elarund," he said to Woolsey, who was looking a little lost. "Your people haven't been there yet, and it'll shut up McKay."
John raised an eyebrow, but Ronon didn't even look his way, so he turned to Teyla. She was stifling a smile, winking when she noticed his attention. John relaxed, secure in the knowledge that whatever they were planning, it was going to be good.
"Why?" Rodney wanted to know, "what's so special about 'Elrond'?"
"It's different," Ronon said, and showed his teeth as he grinned.
~~~
"Hell yeah this is different," John said, looking around with something like awe. Rodney just nodded.
The Stargate stood in the middle of a giant plain, nothing but grass all the way to the horizon. The sky was a cloudless blue and the air was warm, the slight breeze carrying the fresh, green scent of grass and the sweet fragrance of the blossoms bobbing on the thin blades, millions of them dotting the plain orange and white and blue. Black spots moved in the distance, their forms blurred by the heat.
"Arreno herds," Teyla said next to him. "I believe they are much like your antelopes."
"Right." Rodney's voice lacked bite, but his pinched expression spoke volumes. Then again, it might be the caffeine withdrawal. "So instead of North American forest we get African savannah. Nice. Where exactly are we headed again?"
The question was aimed at Ronon, who was leaning against the Gate and didn't seem inclined to move even in the face of Rodney's impatience. John grinned. He still didn't know where this was going, but he'd bet his Johnny Cash collection that this mission was nothing more than a distraction, maybe with a lesson about not dissing the Pegasus galaxy thrown in.
"Didn't bring you here to explore," Ronon said with a shrug.
And here we go, John thought.
"What?" Rodney spluttered, "I mean, seriously, what? I distinctly remember you talking Woolsey into this mission, and unless this is yet another scheme to mock me for getting sunburn, you better-"
"Hush!" Teyla said sharply, cutting him off. Rodney fell silent, but his lips were pressed together in a way that promised dire retribution. John grimaced. He'd thought that this was a ploy to get Rodney to relax, but all they'd seemed to have achieved so far was pissing him off even more, so-
And then he heard it. A flurry of sound, shrieks and cries over an ever-louder rushing noise, almost like a storm, and then-
"Birds," he said, amazed.
"Must be at least half a million," Rodney agreed, and his voice held nothing of his earlier irritation.
Birds. White and blue, smaller than a sparrow but so many of them they darkened the sky, shouting at each other in twitters and high-pitched shrieks. They rolled across the sky in waves and eddies, moving as one, dancing up in giant rings only to drop like a living waterfall. The sun made their feathers gleam and shine, and the wind picked up as they came closer, rippling through the grass as thousands of wings set the air into motion.
They were amazing.
"That's amazing," Rodney breathed, and Teyla smiled at him. When John snuck a glance at him, his face was relaxed and open with the wide-eyed wonder that only Rodney could pull off without looking demented. It was… nice.
"Wait," Ronon said. John looked at him quizzically, but Ronon just tilted his head toward the plain. John squinted, not sure what he was supposed to see there. The grass blades bowed under a particularly strong gust of wind, and for a moment it seemed as if they'd stay crouched to the ground even after the breeze had passed.
The blossoms took flight.
"Whoa!" John stepped back, his hands tightening on his P-90. "Are those-?"
"Butterflies." Teyla's voice sounded smug. "This is something to be witnessed only once a year. We are lucky."
"Yeah," John said.
It was awesome. The butterflies rose into the sky like a rolling cloud of blue, white and orange. They were tiny, perhaps the size of his thumbnail, and the flutter of their wings sounded soft under the louder rustling of the birds above them. The sky was barely visible anymore, filled with so much life there was hardly any space left, and John smiled at the show.
Ronon and Teyla really knew how to make a point.
He looked at Rodney and felt his smile soften at seeing him so relaxed, head tilted up to watch the display of colours above them. He stepped a little closer and nudged his shoulder against Rodney's.
"I saw this in a documentary once," Rodney said excitedly as he leaned against John in an unconscious motion that made John feel warm all over. "The birds' migratory route coincides with the insects'-"
Of course, this being the Pegasus galaxy, that was when the butterflies started shooting the birds out of the sky.
"The blossomwings carry a potent poison which they use to paralyse their prey," Teyla told John and Rodney as they both stared open-mouthed at the spectacle around them; small, feathered bodies landing on the grassy ground with soft plop-plop noises. "They can spit only once, and they die shortly after the feast and the mating that follows." She smiled, wicked and knowing. "I believe your Earth term is 'carnivore'."
Rodney's mouth closed, opened again, but all that came out was a strangled sound. John didn't even manage as much, still gaping at the butterflies slowly working their way through the birds.
It took at least half an hour for the flock to pass them, and it didn't look noticeably smaller. The butterflies landed again, the plain silent again now that the birds had left, and again the grass was swathed in colours by what looked like flowers. The whole scenery seemed almost peaceful, if one ignored the way the supposed blossoms kept moving, or the wings that twitched here and there if a bird wasn't completely paralysed.
"That was…" Rodney cleared his throat. John nodded, still speechless.
"Different?" Teyla asked sweetly. She exchanged a grin with Ronon as Rodney scowled at her.
"Yes, yes, fine. The Pegasus galaxy is nothing like Earth. There, satisfied?" Rodney sniffed, looking for all the world like a petulant child.
"Come on, McKay." Ronon clapped him on the shoulder, hard enough to make him stumble. John shook himself out of his stupor enough to catch Rodney's elbow as they walked over to the DHD. "Mess is serving roast chicken tonight."
"Please." Rodney made a face. "Like I'm going to eat a bird after this."
"Yeah," John said, "I think I'm gonna go with a nice, hot, spaghetti MRE."
He let Rodney dial Atlantis, keeping an eye on the plain and a hand on his P-90, just in case the grass was hiding some carnivorous grasshoppers or something.
"Perhaps we should visit Ditelta next," Teyla mused as the wormhole swooshed into being. "They have a fish that travels upstream, much like your salmon. Except-"
"No!" John and Rodney said in unison.
"Those things probably hunt for grizzlies," John added. And he so did not need to see that.
"Yes." Rodney nodded. "I believe I'm ready for a nice, boring mission to somewhere with nothing but trees and perhaps a few rocks. No indigenous life forms whatsoever."
Teyla laughed.