TEAM MCKAY: kith and kin, "On the Proper and Traditional Use of Ferris Wheels"
Title: On the Proper and Traditional Use of Ferris Wheels
Author: friendshipper
Team: McKay
Prompt: kith and kin
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Summary: Going to the fair is Jeannie's idea.
Notes: Thank you so much to my beta (you know who you are!); your suggestions and feedback made this story so much better.
Once you've read the story, please take a moment to vote in the poll below. Ratings go from 1 (low) to 9 (high), so all you need to do is enter a single number in that range into each text entry box. You'll be able to see the prompt in the header above.
More details about the voting procedure can be found here.
Title: On the Proper and Traditional Use of Ferris Wheels
Team: McKay
Prompt: Kith and kin
Pairing(s): McKay/Sheppard
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Summary: Going to the fair is Jeannie's idea.
Notes: Thank you so much to my beta (you know who you are!); your suggestions and feedback made this story so much better.
Going to the fair is Jeannie's idea. Rodney keeps insisting that this means the rain is Jeannie's fault too.
John lets them work it out on their own. He learned long ago not to get between the McKay siblings when they're having it out. Also, Rodney's been in a lousy mood for days, and it's nice to have it aimed in another direction for a change. John knows Jeannie can take care of herself.
But, rain or not, it's one of their last days on Earth -- John has to pause for a moment to contemplate the literal, rather than metaphorical, meaning that phrase has for him these days -- and Jeannie insists that Teyla, Ronon and especially Torren should be introduced to the whole fair-going experience. Besides, Madison's threatening to throw a temper tantrum if they don't take her, because she was promised THE FAIR and if she doesn't get THE FAIR then she's going to lie down and DIE IN THE RAIN.
"You do realize that Torren is only eleven months old?" John can hear Rodney complaining over the sound of Madison's escalating meltdown. "His brain isn't even fully developed yet! He's not going to remember any of this, let alone enjoy it."
Somehow Jeannie's still smiling, though John can see one of her eyes twitching.
******
Torren, of course, turns into a wriggling, squealing bundle of delight as soon as they hit the midway. The rain sweeps through the fairgrounds in intermittent downpours, each one sending them running for the shelter of the nearest vendor's tent until John, in Your Team Leader Will Fix This mode, gets the idea of buying them all rain gear -- in the whole fair, there must be some tent that's selling rain stuff, especially on a day like today.
Someone is clearly missing a huge marketing opportunity. The only rainwear they can find is covered with cartoon characters, and not much of it is available in adult sizes. If Rodney was gloomy before, Rodney sulking in a Scooby-Doo slicker is really a sight to behold. The only raincoat that fits Ronon is Little Mermaid-themed, although he seems to like it.
"Oh, this is another one for the memory book," Jeannie says cheerfully, whipping out her digital camera and snapping pictures of all of them. "Mer, if you don't smile this time, I'm going back to that tent and buying you one of those plastic Eeyore hats."
Inevitably, the comparisons to various off-world markets are trotted out. "The floating market on Thalassa is much larger than this," Teyla says to Jeannie's wide-eyed look of fascination. "Thousands of craftspersons and farmers converge on the islands in all sizes and shapes of boats. It is a sight to behold."
"Was that the one where McKay got seasick?" Ronon says.
"We were never going to speak of that again," Rodney snaps, trying to kick him and almost falling face first in a mud puddle.
John catches him. "What about the food-tasting fair on P39? You all liked that one."
"Hey, you guys remember that rodeo on, what planet was it, Saria, right?" Ronon says with a grin. "The one where you won that race, John."
And for a minute John's back there again: the dust, the pounding hooves (six per animal), the exhilaration. "Yeah, that was pretty sweet."
Rodney covers his eyes. "I thought you were going to die."
"You guys have the most amazing lives," Jeannie says. "Oh, cotton candy!"
Amazing lives that they probably shouldn't be talking about in public, John thinks, but between the background noise and the rain, he figures they're probably safe. The crowds are sparse today, with most of the fairgoers huddled inside the livestock barns and the beer tent. There's almost nobody on any of the rides. The Ferris wheel stands immobile, like a sentry in the rain. John's eyes keep drifting to it; he's never forgotten his first love, even though he's had far sexier rides in the years since.
Torren's got cotton candy in his hair. Madison somehow talked Jeannie into going to the face-painting booth, and now her bright-colored grease paint is turning to crayon smears in the rain. Ronon catches sight of the dart-throwing and BB-shooting booths, and veers off with a gleam in his eye. "Oh, Ronon, that really would not be sporting --" Teyla protests, chasing him down with a sticky, muddy Torren stuffed under her arm.
"You really want to ride that stupid Ferris wheel, don't you."
John glances sideways at Rodney. Rodney's pushed back the hood of the slicker, and his hair is sticking up in wet brown spikes. "Nah," John says. "I've kinda outgrown them."
Rodney rolls his eyes, catches hold of John's arm and drags him off in that direction. "For Pete's sake, you can stop being macho every once in a while, you know."
Rodney spends five minutes arguing with the teenage girl selling ride tickets that he ought to be able to get them for half price because of the weather. The girl snaps her gum and gives him a flat glare from heavily mascaraed eyes. Rodney sighs, buys the tickets for full price and hands them all to John. "Here. My gift to you. Go ride the Ferris wheel 'til you puke."
"Only if you ride it with me." The invitation just comes out, random and spontaneous.
Rodney gives him a wide-eyed look. And now John's committed.
"Come on. Once. It'll be fun."
"Debugging Ancient code is fun. This sounds like cold, wet, miserable hell." But Rodney's going towards the Ferris wheel, not away.
They have to hunt down the guy running the ride, because he's retreated to the coffee hut across the way. "Seats are wet," he says, taking their tickets and giving them a you must be crazy look.
"So are we," Rodney says, hunching up his shoulders against the drizzle and stuffing the remaining tickets into his Scooby-Doo slicker. "Let's get this over with."
John can't believe that he's actually nervous as they climb in. He's not sure exactly what he's nervous about. That Rodney will hate it? That he'll spend the whole ride complaining? Probably a valid fear. Also, he hasn't been on a Ferris wheel in years, and the cars seem to have gotten smaller. His knee bumps Rodney's; then they smack shoulders as Rodney tries to bring down the bar over their laps. Even once Rodney gets settled and they're no longer colliding like stray pool balls, John's acutely aware of Rodney's fidgety presence. This may have been a bad idea, he thinks.
"So in the interests of scientific curiosity," Rodney says as the car jerks and starts moving, "I'd really like to know just what benefit, exactly, you derive from this whole experience. Clearly there's something you like about it, and I'd like to know what."
"It's a Ferris wheel," John says. "They're just --"
"Fun. Yes. So you claim. But fun how?"
Just then they reach the top of the wheel on their first revolution, and John nudges his arm. "Look. You can see the whole midway."
"Oh," Rodney says, and for a moment he's too busy looking around to talk, which is a minor miracle all on its own. "Oh hey," he says as the car starts down again, "there's Ronon."
John follows his pointing finger. At least none of the game tents are a) wrecked or b) on fire, though Ronon's won a stuffed rabbit that's almost as big as he is, probably for Torren. At least John hopes so. He doesn't want to try justifying it on the weight allotment forms.
At the top of the next revolution, they locate Teyla; she's looking at colorful scarfs in one of the vendor tents. Another spin around the wheel, and John catches sight of Jeannie and Madison standing in line for the bumper cars.
"It's like a really low-tech HUD," Rodney remarks. "But no substitute for the life-signs detector," he adds, when John grins at him.
"Rodney," John says, and then has to muster his thoughts. "Thanks for coming," he manages at last. "I know you didn't want to."
They're approaching the top of the wheel again. Rodney looks expectant, like he's waiting for John to say something else. The tip of his nose is turning red with cold.
"So thanks," John adds, since Rodney still seems to be waiting for something.
"You seriously invited me up here just to ride the wheel around and around, looking for our teammates?" Rodney says as they reach the nadir of the ride and start going up again.
John blinks at him in confusion.
"Look, I may have had a socially stunted adolescence, but even I know what Ferris wheels are traditionally for," Rodney says. They're almost back to the top of the wheel, and he leans over and kisses John quickly. Rodney's lips are wet and cold, and it's like an electric shock goes through John, like his mouth and tongue are wired directly to the base of his spine.
It takes him all the way to the bottom of the wheel and most of the way up the other side to finally say, "Oh."
"Oh," Rodney says. "Oh. You really did invite me up here to ride around and look for our teammates. I don't believe this--"
John shuts him up with another quick kiss on his rain-wet lips.
And so it goes -- stealing kisses, all the way around, until at last the ride slows and sways to a stop, depositing them on the ground, soaked and shivering and grinning and a little dizzy.
They pass a few more hardy souls standing in line for the ride. Apparently they've set a trend.
******
Jeannie and Madison have relocated to a stall selling fried Twinkies. Jeannie, with powdered sugar dusting her nose, orients on Rodney like an embarrassment-seeking missile. "Is that a smile on your face, Mer?"
"No," Rodney says, struggling frantically to wipe off his sideways grin.
Madison's accusing look is very McKay. "You went on the rides without us!"
"Just the Ferris wheel," John says.
"He made you ride the Ferris wheel?" Jeannie says to Rodney in disbelief. "You hate the Ferris wheel!"
Rodney goes pink. "It was a scientific experiment."
Jeannie starts to say something else; then her mouth forms a small "O". Her eyes dart to John. He gives her a polite little smile, and for some reason this causes her to break into a thousand-watt grin. "Well, I hope this means you'll be easier to deal with," she says, and hands Rodney a fried Twinkie.
Now Rodney's so pink he's almost glowing. "Let's go find our missing teammates before Ronon gets us all banned from the midway, shall we?"
John has the distinct impression that he just missed something important. Maybe he's been missing it all this time. But then Rodney flashes him a shy grin that sends tiny sparks racing down to his toes and makes further rational analysis difficult.
Madison tugs her mother's hand. "I want to ride the Ferris wheel."
"We can all ride the Ferris wheel," Jeannie says cheerfully. "I bet Uncle Mer and John would love to ride the Ferris wheel again. They like Ferris wheels very much."
"You are so dead," Rodney tells her, and gives John half of his fried Twinkie.
Poll
Author: friendshipper
Team: McKay
Prompt: kith and kin
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Summary: Going to the fair is Jeannie's idea.
Notes: Thank you so much to my beta (you know who you are!); your suggestions and feedback made this story so much better.
Once you've read the story, please take a moment to vote in the poll below. Ratings go from 1 (low) to 9 (high), so all you need to do is enter a single number in that range into each text entry box. You'll be able to see the prompt in the header above.
More details about the voting procedure can be found here.
Title: On the Proper and Traditional Use of Ferris Wheels
Team: McKay
Prompt: Kith and kin
Pairing(s): McKay/Sheppard
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Summary: Going to the fair is Jeannie's idea.
Notes: Thank you so much to my beta (you know who you are!); your suggestions and feedback made this story so much better.
Going to the fair is Jeannie's idea. Rodney keeps insisting that this means the rain is Jeannie's fault too.
John lets them work it out on their own. He learned long ago not to get between the McKay siblings when they're having it out. Also, Rodney's been in a lousy mood for days, and it's nice to have it aimed in another direction for a change. John knows Jeannie can take care of herself.
But, rain or not, it's one of their last days on Earth -- John has to pause for a moment to contemplate the literal, rather than metaphorical, meaning that phrase has for him these days -- and Jeannie insists that Teyla, Ronon and especially Torren should be introduced to the whole fair-going experience. Besides, Madison's threatening to throw a temper tantrum if they don't take her, because she was promised THE FAIR and if she doesn't get THE FAIR then she's going to lie down and DIE IN THE RAIN.
"You do realize that Torren is only eleven months old?" John can hear Rodney complaining over the sound of Madison's escalating meltdown. "His brain isn't even fully developed yet! He's not going to remember any of this, let alone enjoy it."
Somehow Jeannie's still smiling, though John can see one of her eyes twitching.
******
Torren, of course, turns into a wriggling, squealing bundle of delight as soon as they hit the midway. The rain sweeps through the fairgrounds in intermittent downpours, each one sending them running for the shelter of the nearest vendor's tent until John, in Your Team Leader Will Fix This mode, gets the idea of buying them all rain gear -- in the whole fair, there must be some tent that's selling rain stuff, especially on a day like today.
Someone is clearly missing a huge marketing opportunity. The only rainwear they can find is covered with cartoon characters, and not much of it is available in adult sizes. If Rodney was gloomy before, Rodney sulking in a Scooby-Doo slicker is really a sight to behold. The only raincoat that fits Ronon is Little Mermaid-themed, although he seems to like it.
"Oh, this is another one for the memory book," Jeannie says cheerfully, whipping out her digital camera and snapping pictures of all of them. "Mer, if you don't smile this time, I'm going back to that tent and buying you one of those plastic Eeyore hats."
Inevitably, the comparisons to various off-world markets are trotted out. "The floating market on Thalassa is much larger than this," Teyla says to Jeannie's wide-eyed look of fascination. "Thousands of craftspersons and farmers converge on the islands in all sizes and shapes of boats. It is a sight to behold."
"Was that the one where McKay got seasick?" Ronon says.
"We were never going to speak of that again," Rodney snaps, trying to kick him and almost falling face first in a mud puddle.
John catches him. "What about the food-tasting fair on P39? You all liked that one."
"Hey, you guys remember that rodeo on, what planet was it, Saria, right?" Ronon says with a grin. "The one where you won that race, John."
And for a minute John's back there again: the dust, the pounding hooves (six per animal), the exhilaration. "Yeah, that was pretty sweet."
Rodney covers his eyes. "I thought you were going to die."
"You guys have the most amazing lives," Jeannie says. "Oh, cotton candy!"
Amazing lives that they probably shouldn't be talking about in public, John thinks, but between the background noise and the rain, he figures they're probably safe. The crowds are sparse today, with most of the fairgoers huddled inside the livestock barns and the beer tent. There's almost nobody on any of the rides. The Ferris wheel stands immobile, like a sentry in the rain. John's eyes keep drifting to it; he's never forgotten his first love, even though he's had far sexier rides in the years since.
Torren's got cotton candy in his hair. Madison somehow talked Jeannie into going to the face-painting booth, and now her bright-colored grease paint is turning to crayon smears in the rain. Ronon catches sight of the dart-throwing and BB-shooting booths, and veers off with a gleam in his eye. "Oh, Ronon, that really would not be sporting --" Teyla protests, chasing him down with a sticky, muddy Torren stuffed under her arm.
"You really want to ride that stupid Ferris wheel, don't you."
John glances sideways at Rodney. Rodney's pushed back the hood of the slicker, and his hair is sticking up in wet brown spikes. "Nah," John says. "I've kinda outgrown them."
Rodney rolls his eyes, catches hold of John's arm and drags him off in that direction. "For Pete's sake, you can stop being macho every once in a while, you know."
Rodney spends five minutes arguing with the teenage girl selling ride tickets that he ought to be able to get them for half price because of the weather. The girl snaps her gum and gives him a flat glare from heavily mascaraed eyes. Rodney sighs, buys the tickets for full price and hands them all to John. "Here. My gift to you. Go ride the Ferris wheel 'til you puke."
"Only if you ride it with me." The invitation just comes out, random and spontaneous.
Rodney gives him a wide-eyed look. And now John's committed.
"Come on. Once. It'll be fun."
"Debugging Ancient code is fun. This sounds like cold, wet, miserable hell." But Rodney's going towards the Ferris wheel, not away.
They have to hunt down the guy running the ride, because he's retreated to the coffee hut across the way. "Seats are wet," he says, taking their tickets and giving them a you must be crazy look.
"So are we," Rodney says, hunching up his shoulders against the drizzle and stuffing the remaining tickets into his Scooby-Doo slicker. "Let's get this over with."
John can't believe that he's actually nervous as they climb in. He's not sure exactly what he's nervous about. That Rodney will hate it? That he'll spend the whole ride complaining? Probably a valid fear. Also, he hasn't been on a Ferris wheel in years, and the cars seem to have gotten smaller. His knee bumps Rodney's; then they smack shoulders as Rodney tries to bring down the bar over their laps. Even once Rodney gets settled and they're no longer colliding like stray pool balls, John's acutely aware of Rodney's fidgety presence. This may have been a bad idea, he thinks.
"So in the interests of scientific curiosity," Rodney says as the car jerks and starts moving, "I'd really like to know just what benefit, exactly, you derive from this whole experience. Clearly there's something you like about it, and I'd like to know what."
"It's a Ferris wheel," John says. "They're just --"
"Fun. Yes. So you claim. But fun how?"
Just then they reach the top of the wheel on their first revolution, and John nudges his arm. "Look. You can see the whole midway."
"Oh," Rodney says, and for a moment he's too busy looking around to talk, which is a minor miracle all on its own. "Oh hey," he says as the car starts down again, "there's Ronon."
John follows his pointing finger. At least none of the game tents are a) wrecked or b) on fire, though Ronon's won a stuffed rabbit that's almost as big as he is, probably for Torren. At least John hopes so. He doesn't want to try justifying it on the weight allotment forms.
At the top of the next revolution, they locate Teyla; she's looking at colorful scarfs in one of the vendor tents. Another spin around the wheel, and John catches sight of Jeannie and Madison standing in line for the bumper cars.
"It's like a really low-tech HUD," Rodney remarks. "But no substitute for the life-signs detector," he adds, when John grins at him.
"Rodney," John says, and then has to muster his thoughts. "Thanks for coming," he manages at last. "I know you didn't want to."
They're approaching the top of the wheel again. Rodney looks expectant, like he's waiting for John to say something else. The tip of his nose is turning red with cold.
"So thanks," John adds, since Rodney still seems to be waiting for something.
"You seriously invited me up here just to ride the wheel around and around, looking for our teammates?" Rodney says as they reach the nadir of the ride and start going up again.
John blinks at him in confusion.
"Look, I may have had a socially stunted adolescence, but even I know what Ferris wheels are traditionally for," Rodney says. They're almost back to the top of the wheel, and he leans over and kisses John quickly. Rodney's lips are wet and cold, and it's like an electric shock goes through John, like his mouth and tongue are wired directly to the base of his spine.
It takes him all the way to the bottom of the wheel and most of the way up the other side to finally say, "Oh."
"Oh," Rodney says. "Oh. You really did invite me up here to ride around and look for our teammates. I don't believe this--"
John shuts him up with another quick kiss on his rain-wet lips.
And so it goes -- stealing kisses, all the way around, until at last the ride slows and sways to a stop, depositing them on the ground, soaked and shivering and grinning and a little dizzy.
They pass a few more hardy souls standing in line for the ride. Apparently they've set a trend.
******
Jeannie and Madison have relocated to a stall selling fried Twinkies. Jeannie, with powdered sugar dusting her nose, orients on Rodney like an embarrassment-seeking missile. "Is that a smile on your face, Mer?"
"No," Rodney says, struggling frantically to wipe off his sideways grin.
Madison's accusing look is very McKay. "You went on the rides without us!"
"Just the Ferris wheel," John says.
"He made you ride the Ferris wheel?" Jeannie says to Rodney in disbelief. "You hate the Ferris wheel!"
Rodney goes pink. "It was a scientific experiment."
Jeannie starts to say something else; then her mouth forms a small "O". Her eyes dart to John. He gives her a polite little smile, and for some reason this causes her to break into a thousand-watt grin. "Well, I hope this means you'll be easier to deal with," she says, and hands Rodney a fried Twinkie.
Now Rodney's so pink he's almost glowing. "Let's go find our missing teammates before Ronon gets us all banned from the midway, shall we?"
John has the distinct impression that he just missed something important. Maybe he's been missing it all this time. But then Rodney flashes him a shy grin that sends tiny sparks racing down to his toes and makes further rational analysis difficult.
Madison tugs her mother's hand. "I want to ride the Ferris wheel."
"We can all ride the Ferris wheel," Jeannie says cheerfully. "I bet Uncle Mer and John would love to ride the Ferris wheel again. They like Ferris wheels very much."
"You are so dead," Rodney tells her, and gives John half of his fried Twinkie.
Poll