Fic: On the Right Note (SGA)
My first real entry here! Trying the whole cross-posting thing out.
Title: On the Right Note (1/5)
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis AU
Characters: John, Teyla, Elizabeth
Word Count: 1012
Prompt: obligation for the stargateland Multimedia Bingo challenge
Disclaimer: I don't own. I only play around with it from time to time.
Summary: John Sheppard's a small town boy wanting to make it big in the music industry. While he loses the family he was born into because of this decision, he gains a whole new one along the way.
It's taken exactly three years and a collection of fifty-seven songs to get to this place but John Sheppard is finally in the office of a Senior Executive in Charge of New Talent for Atlantis Records. Teyla is beside him because that is where Teyla has always been. No, that's not right. For the last year and a half, she's been behind him, sometimes literally pushing him forward. Like, for instance, when she had to push him off the bus outside this massive building because his feet had forgotten how to work. Or the time she pushed him out the door of Brody's after he'd had too much to drink but refused to leave. That was when she'd found out that he had no where to live.
From near vagrant to a possible recording contract in three years. Teyla thinks Atlantis Records is a good fit for him and John thinks she's crazy because it's ATLANTIS RECORDS and he actually owns CDs with their logo on it. He assumed they would throw him out as soon as they got a good look at him because he can't get his hair to lay down but Teyla thinks it looks sexy and his t-shirt is wrinkled but he couldn't get the iron working. Now he's sitting in the office (with the best view of any office he'd ever been in) of a senior executive in charge of new talent. Ms. Weir had told him to call her Elizabeth and he would if he could work up the courage to say anything. So far, Teyla's done all the talking. Or they listened to his demo tape which he thought sounded muddled and completely unprofessional now that he hears it here. This is the building where truly great music is produced. Well, maybe not here in this building. But somewhere.
"I love your sound. It's not something that anyone's doing right now. I think we can make it into something really special."
He doesn't like the way Elizabeth keeps using the term we as if she were royal or, worse than that, she thinks the two of them are some sort of team. John's been around enough people in his life that want a piece of him, in one way or another, that he's wary of letting anyone have a piece of him. Because he'd rather play in the corner of Brody's for the rest of his life than doing anything that would make it impossible for him to play his music the way he wants to play it.
Just when he's about to say something stupid, Teyla lays a hand on his arm. Her calm demeanor centers him most of the time but today he can't seem to find the point at which he can sit quietly any longer. His dreams are within his reach so of course he's going to do something to screw it up.
Like when he decided that he had what it took to be a professional musician but not to work for his father's company. His brother was currently working his way through the ranks of the professional elite, learning to be a "yes" man in every definition of the word, but that was never what John wanted. He likes having a song running through his head and the freedom to sit down at a table to write down the notes whenever he pleases. He likes the roar of applause when the song reverberates around the people who hear it. There's even something satisfying about a silence when a song doesn't go over well because it means he tried. He isn't about to settle for living in his father's shadow. Not now. Not ever.
Teyla understands that. They've been friends long enough for her to know most of his secrets even though he doesn't know a lot of hers. At least not the important ones. Like who the father of her child is or what she did before she showed up at Brody's, apron in hand, and asked for a job without really asking because Adam will say that he doesn't remember actually ever saying "You're hired." She inspired Childhood's End after a long conversation they had one night when neither of them could sleep. And, most importantly, she nurtured his dreams when no one else seemed to think he could take his music to the next level.
When he told his dad that he wasn't going to college but was going to play his music for a living, his dad had laughed and handed him a plastic bag. "If you can fit it in the bag, you can take it out of my house. Everything else stays until you face reality. You're going to college."
Two t-shirts, his good pair of jeans, two pairs of socks, two changes of underwear and the framed picture of his mom that had been beside his bed since she died. It was enough of a legacy. He was glad that his dad had thrown him out because he didn't want the old man thinking he owed him anything. This contract with Atlantis, if it became a reality, is going to be his free and clear.
When Elizabeth leans closer, John realizes she'd probably said something to him that he hadn't heard because he was wondering just where the studio was located. He clears his throat and tries to concentrate. He was smart enough to graduate high school a year early. Surely he's smart enough to figure out what he needs to say here.
"Yes."
"Yes?" Clearly that's the wrong thing to say because Elizabeth is frowning at him.
"No?" John looks over at Teyla for some guidance. He decides to go with honesty. "Sorry. I was wondering where the music studio was and sort of lost track of the conversation."
This is the perfect thing to say because Elizabeth starts to laugh, first in disbelief and then with true joy. "You're perfect, John. I want you here at Atlantis. Let's have you meet with our engineer and you can see the music studio up close and personal."
This entry was cross posted at dreamwidth - where the cool kids hang out.
Title: On the Right Note (1/5)
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis AU
Characters: John, Teyla, Elizabeth
Word Count: 1012
Prompt: obligation for the stargateland Multimedia Bingo challenge
Disclaimer: I don't own. I only play around with it from time to time.
Summary: John Sheppard's a small town boy wanting to make it big in the music industry. While he loses the family he was born into because of this decision, he gains a whole new one along the way.
It's taken exactly three years and a collection of fifty-seven songs to get to this place but John Sheppard is finally in the office of a Senior Executive in Charge of New Talent for Atlantis Records. Teyla is beside him because that is where Teyla has always been. No, that's not right. For the last year and a half, she's been behind him, sometimes literally pushing him forward. Like, for instance, when she had to push him off the bus outside this massive building because his feet had forgotten how to work. Or the time she pushed him out the door of Brody's after he'd had too much to drink but refused to leave. That was when she'd found out that he had no where to live.
From near vagrant to a possible recording contract in three years. Teyla thinks Atlantis Records is a good fit for him and John thinks she's crazy because it's ATLANTIS RECORDS and he actually owns CDs with their logo on it. He assumed they would throw him out as soon as they got a good look at him because he can't get his hair to lay down but Teyla thinks it looks sexy and his t-shirt is wrinkled but he couldn't get the iron working. Now he's sitting in the office (with the best view of any office he'd ever been in) of a senior executive in charge of new talent. Ms. Weir had told him to call her Elizabeth and he would if he could work up the courage to say anything. So far, Teyla's done all the talking. Or they listened to his demo tape which he thought sounded muddled and completely unprofessional now that he hears it here. This is the building where truly great music is produced. Well, maybe not here in this building. But somewhere.
"I love your sound. It's not something that anyone's doing right now. I think we can make it into something really special."
He doesn't like the way Elizabeth keeps using the term we as if she were royal or, worse than that, she thinks the two of them are some sort of team. John's been around enough people in his life that want a piece of him, in one way or another, that he's wary of letting anyone have a piece of him. Because he'd rather play in the corner of Brody's for the rest of his life than doing anything that would make it impossible for him to play his music the way he wants to play it.
Just when he's about to say something stupid, Teyla lays a hand on his arm. Her calm demeanor centers him most of the time but today he can't seem to find the point at which he can sit quietly any longer. His dreams are within his reach so of course he's going to do something to screw it up.
Like when he decided that he had what it took to be a professional musician but not to work for his father's company. His brother was currently working his way through the ranks of the professional elite, learning to be a "yes" man in every definition of the word, but that was never what John wanted. He likes having a song running through his head and the freedom to sit down at a table to write down the notes whenever he pleases. He likes the roar of applause when the song reverberates around the people who hear it. There's even something satisfying about a silence when a song doesn't go over well because it means he tried. He isn't about to settle for living in his father's shadow. Not now. Not ever.
Teyla understands that. They've been friends long enough for her to know most of his secrets even though he doesn't know a lot of hers. At least not the important ones. Like who the father of her child is or what she did before she showed up at Brody's, apron in hand, and asked for a job without really asking because Adam will say that he doesn't remember actually ever saying "You're hired." She inspired Childhood's End after a long conversation they had one night when neither of them could sleep. And, most importantly, she nurtured his dreams when no one else seemed to think he could take his music to the next level.
When he told his dad that he wasn't going to college but was going to play his music for a living, his dad had laughed and handed him a plastic bag. "If you can fit it in the bag, you can take it out of my house. Everything else stays until you face reality. You're going to college."
Two t-shirts, his good pair of jeans, two pairs of socks, two changes of underwear and the framed picture of his mom that had been beside his bed since she died. It was enough of a legacy. He was glad that his dad had thrown him out because he didn't want the old man thinking he owed him anything. This contract with Atlantis, if it became a reality, is going to be his free and clear.
When Elizabeth leans closer, John realizes she'd probably said something to him that he hadn't heard because he was wondering just where the studio was located. He clears his throat and tries to concentrate. He was smart enough to graduate high school a year early. Surely he's smart enough to figure out what he needs to say here.
"Yes."
"Yes?" Clearly that's the wrong thing to say because Elizabeth is frowning at him.
"No?" John looks over at Teyla for some guidance. He decides to go with honesty. "Sorry. I was wondering where the music studio was and sort of lost track of the conversation."
This is the perfect thing to say because Elizabeth starts to laugh, first in disbelief and then with true joy. "You're perfect, John. I want you here at Atlantis. Let's have you meet with our engineer and you can see the music studio up close and personal."
This entry was cross posted at dreamwidth - where the cool kids hang out.