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sga_flashficTitle: Loli
By foggynite
Rating: Nothing terribly traumatizing.
Pairing/Characters: Est. McShep hints, ensemble
Disclaimer: They don’t belong to me. I make no profit. I intend no disrespect.
Notes: Well, this is kind of an obvious cheesy cliché concept for the challenge, but I couldn’t resist. Suffer, bwaha. Concrit welcome.
Word Count: 2,691
Atlantis was beautiful from below, the sun casting a halo around the pier and cutting into the cold depths of the ocean. The water was dense, choppy and reminiscent of New England rather than the Bahamas, but he didn’t mind. He was still having a good time.
Looking around, John swam harder, trying to follow a school of fish as they darted into the shadows of the pier. He didn’t know how much time he’d spent lazily touring the area, but it was getting more difficult to ignore the incessant beeping that meant he was supposed to return to the lab.
With a mental sigh, he veered upwards. The port hole opened for him automatically and the change in current pulled him up faster, Atlantis welcoming him back into her underbelly. A few swift thrashes of his tail and he was in the lab holding tank, with a very dour-looking Rodney McKay on the other side of the glass amid bustling scientists.
“Did you have a fun swim, Colonel? Because those of us who still have to actually do work around here don’t have time for you to indulge in your latent Jacques Cousteau fantasies. If you wanted a vacation this badly, you could have just asked Elizabeth like the rest of us.”
Most days, John missed having fingers. Well, just one in particular, really.
*****
There were people yelling around him, with high-pitched panic that might have been Rodney’s, or maybe that new biologist from the last Daedalus run, Simmons. Strong arms lifted John up, but that just made the pain worse, made it feel like someone was stepping on his throat, and he started struggling to get away.
He remembered that the world had tilted for one stomach-lurching moment, his vision blurring as he hit the floor of the abandoned lab hard. In another instant, everything in his body had *hurt* and he wasn’t able to breathe, panic crawling into his chest when he realized it was just getting worse.
The pain was more terrible than any life-sucking bugs or retroviruses could inflict, and he found himself paralyzed, not even able to scream.
*****
“What did I say, huh? What did I tell you?” Rodney was shouting at one of the scientists. John circled closer to the tank window. Zelenka was the only other person in the lab this late at night, and he had frozen in place. “I specifically recall ordering that this artifact is not to be touched by anyone other than myself or Zelenka. As in, do not pick it up, do not move it. And what did you do?”
“I—I was just—“ The man spluttered, eyes wide. Rodney slammed shut the lid of the box they were keeping the sphere in, and pointed at the door. The scientist flinched away from him.
“Out! Now!” There was a vein throbbing in Rodney’s forehead. John swung by the window again, this time from higher up so he could get a better view of the room.
Wow. McKay was seriously pissed.
“Rodney,” Zelenka said once the trembling victim had left.
“How the hell did he get assigned in here anyway?” Rodney turned his full glare on the Czech. “We can’t afford to keep repairing tools because some idiot straight out of grad school doesn’t know what he’s doing. Where does the SGC get these people? The International Institute of Stupidity? Has Carson checked him for palsy?”
Crossing his arms, Zelenka merely stared at Rodney until the Canadian’s shoulders slumped. Turning to the work bench after a moment, McKay carefully lifted the box from its place and took it over to the space he had set up a temporary head quarters in.
The next time Zelenka spoke, his tone was gentle. “He is still alive. We will find cure.”
Rodney remained quiet.
John turned quickly and swam to the other side of the tank, wishing his hearing didn’t work quite so well.
*****
He hit the water in a full belly flop, kicking his legs as soon as he felt the currents wrap around him. Who threw a suffocating man in water, he wanted to demand, but the moment it started rushing into his lungs, he could breathe again.
Breathing water. He was breathing water.
The shock made him sluggish, but the moment he slowed down, the horrible feeling of dying came back. So he kept going, kicking and following the walls of what he assumed was the 10x10 foot tank they had found in the corner of the lab. The rest of the search team was talking over each other, voices muted by the water but not as much as John expected. He realized there were probably speakers in the walls of the tank, piping the noise from the lab in. Someone was shouting now, and it made his head hurt.
He swam over to the corner nearest his team, wondering what the hell just happened and looking for the ladder out. There wasn’t one.
There was an observation window set in the tank, and he figured he could get their attention that way. What he got was a good look at his own reflection.
He had fins. With rows of big teeth in his mouth. ... And fins.
All on a distinctly non-human body.
... Huh.
*****
“Did you know Hawaiian mythology believes that sharks are the guardians of the sea?” Rodney murmured above him, trailing his fingers through the water. “Of course, there are other cultures that believe sharks eat lost souls, but who’s to judge?”
There wasn’t much John could do except swim around the tank, and after three days of it, he was getting frustrated. The lab was empty, probably because it was almost four in the morning, but Rodney had taken to wandering in at all hours. At least he gave John a break from the hum of Ancient technology, which he hadn’t realized was so loud before, but the distraction was bittersweet.
“Normally I wouldn’t care, but one of the anthropologists left a report on it in my in-box, and I needed something to put me to sleep. Soft science usually works like a charm.
“Carson has no clue what to make of all this,” Rodney continued, hand propping his chin up. “You’re you, according to the DNA scans, but you’re not you, and it doesn’t look like he can brew a potion to change you back this time. So that leaves us with the baseball from hell you touched last, and we have no idea what it did. It hasn’t reacted to anyone else since, and all the scans are coming up negative.”
If anything, Rodney’s words made the tank seem smaller. He sped up, slicing through the water, edging farther away until he had to come back again.
“We’ll figure this out,” McKay said in a voice barely louder than a whisper through the speakers. “We’ll get you back. I upgraded Jumper One’s propulsion systems, so we need you as test pilot. You inconsiderate jerk. You really need to stop doing this, you know? It’s getting old.”
He wanted to touch those fingers so badly, just a graze even, but Rodney’s other hand still had band-aids on from John’s last attempt, so he kept his distance. He couldn’t handle this, though. Being trapped in this tank, in this body that wasn’t his. He couldn’t speak, couldn’t even sit still to watch the lab through the observation window. Couldn’t touch anyone. He couldn’t do anything.
Atlantis hummed around him, electric tendrils that constantly shot through the water past him. A gathering of energy at the back corner of the tank caught his attention, and a swirling vortex opened, revealing a dark tunnel. The water smelled fresh and he could feel the pull of the ocean outside...
“What the hell—“
John swam.
*****
Carson was leaning nervously over the water, syringe in hand, while Ronon held the back of his belt to keep him steady.
“Are you sure he can understand me?” The doctor stammered. John didn’t need to see him to know McKay was rolling his eyes.
“He’s been reacting to our verbal commands for the past half hour, Carson. Just do your blood-sucking routine and see if your voodoo can figure out what happened to him.” Rodney was trying for aggravated impatience, but John recognized the anxiety underneath.
He supposed it was difficult for a shark to look reassuring, but he tried his best as he glided up to Carson’s position. The moment he stopped moving, though, he started to sink the seven feet to the bottom, and couldn’t help the fact that he had to start swimming again. He tried to look apologetic as the syringe floated past his face, but that probably didn’t work either.
“Oh for crying out loud, just get in the damn tank, Carson. He’s not going to eat you.”
“I don’t doubt that he won’t, Rodney. I’m just a wee bit unnerved,” Carson snapped back. “I’m trying not to be, but I’ve had a fear of sharks since I was a lad.”
“Then see Heightmeyer later. We’re wasting time.”
“Rodney,” Elizabeth stepped in. “You’re not helping.”
John circled past the observation window, glimpsing out over the gathering that had quickly assembled when Rodney contacted the gate room. Lorne had his usual ‘My CO’s turned into something non-human and oh god, that means I have to deal with all of his paperwork again’ face on. Elizabeth was doing the concerned but reassuring look she had when things were bad, whereas Caldwell was staring in morbid fascination. It didn’t endear him to John. Teyla had a carefully neutral expression, like she saw this all the time and it was normal (which was kind of the truth at this point), and Rodney was busy glaring up at Carson and Ronon. There was also a team of four biologists huddled in the corner farthest from McKay, but that was to be expected.
“How can I get a sample from him if he can’t sit still?” Carson wondered.
“Tonic immobility,” one of the biologists spoke up. “If we flip him onto his back, he should be paralyzed for about fifteen minutes.”
“Is that safe?” Rodney demanded immediately. “I though sharks needed to swim in order to breath.”
“It’s a defense mechanism, sir,” another biologist said. “It keeps them perfectly still when predators are around. He’ll be fine.”
John wasn’t so sure. He swam to the back corner and did his new version of pacing.
“I don’t think the Colonel is comfortable with such a procedure,” Teyla pointed out and John wished he could roll his eyes without making himself dizzy. “Perhaps if one of us were to enter the water and walk beside him?”
There was some debate from the marine biologists, but in the end Teyla stripped down and slid into the tank. John decided that she was replacing Ronon as his current favorite, especially when she came bearing fish.
*****
“So since you can still manipulate Ancient technology,” Rodney was saying on the other side of the glass, “that means you might be able to get the baseball from hell to activate again.”
John wasn’t sure he wanted to touch the thing again, but the open water was seriously tempting him again even though he had just spent the entire day swimming around the base of the city. He had the urge to go look for fish. He wanted colder currents. He was beginning to freak a little.
“The incompetent morons I assigned to water-proofing more of those Ancient sensors you didn’t destroy last time have finally completed their task,” Rodney said with a glare over his shoulders, “Which of course means that we’re going to have to put the sensors in the tank with you. Is that all right? Can you handle it, or am I wasting more of our limited resources? Circle once for yes, twice for no.”
Circling once, John tried his best to glare at Rodney’s brisk yet patronizing tone, because yeah, maybe he shouldn’t have chewed up the underwater sensors, but it wasn’t his fault they’d caught him unaware. At least this time the scientists were asking him before they started just tossing things in the water. After five days like this, it was easier to stand the hum from the Ancient technology, but the Earth tech still felt like nails dragging across chalkboard in his brain.
“Good. Good.” Rodney clapped his hands together, and once again, John was being stared at like an attraction in a freak show. Not that he was getting tired of it, or anything.
“All right, you, whatever your name is. Yes, you. Start setting the sensors up. Carson, are you ready? Let’s do this.”
Then the water was filled with electric vibrations that made him thrash around a bit, but it didn’t hurt like last time. Carefully lowering the ridged sphere into the water, Zelenka let the artifact roll from his fingers and John swam underneath, trying to come in contact with it. Five more tries later, with a drenched Rodney glaring over his shoulder, Zelenka released the sphere again and John was able to bump it with his nose. Which hurt like hell, but nothing like coming back to himself again.
He found he didn’t really mind the pain this time. Especially when he was hauled from the tank by Ronon, and Teyla and Rodney had towels waiting.
*****
Perched on the railing of a balcony in one of the less-frequented sections of the city, John wasn’t surprised when Rodney tracked him down.
Three days out of the water, and his team rarely let him be alone for more than a half hour at a time. If it wasn’t Rodney with some weak excuse, then it was Teyla with some Athosian custom to explain or Ronon just sitting next to him patiently. John wasn’t sure which he preferred yet.
“Here,” Rodney shoved a power bar at him and savagely bit into his own. The scientist leaned against the railing close to his side, but didn’t climb up to join him.
John let the silence grow. It wasn’t uncomfortable, yet it was obvious McKay had something on his mind.
“What kind of morons make a device that turns you into a shark while you’re still on land?” Rodney finally burst out with, but John didn’t think it was what he meant to say. “Yes, there’s the whole city surrounded by ocean, but they have puddle jumpers. What do they need to be sharks for?”
“Who knows, Rodney.” John tucked the power bar wrapper in his pocket. “Maybe it was a security tactic. Or some sort of ceremony no one knows about anymore. Maybe they just liked to go for a real swim every once in a while.”
“Do you miss it?” The other man asked after a moment. “You keep watching the sea…”
Contemplating the question seriously, John shrugged and looked away. “It was cool for a while, but I missed flying after the first couple hours. Made me realize that we’ve barely explored the planet we’re on, though, let alone the galaxy.”
“Well, at least you didn’t eat anyone,” Rodney said philosophically, glancing up at him with a smirk.
“I was still me,” John frowned back. “I could hear everything you guys were saying. And I remember a few late night monologues pretty clearly.”
A red flush crept up Rodney’s cheeks, and he stared out across the ocean. “Yes, well, stress does odd things to people, and I have very specific reactions to—“
He broke off when John reached out to run his fingers along the nape of Rodney’s neck. McKay needed his hair trimmed, but John didn’t mind. He reveled in the feel of it sliding over his very human flesh. For a moment Rodney was still, then he leaned back into the touch, eyes locked forward as an array of emotions crossed his face. John kept stroking until the muscles beneath his hand relaxed.
“Do I miss it?” He repeated quietly, feeling Rodney’s heartbeat under his fingertips. “Not really. There are other places I’d much rather be.”
*****
*Note: “Loli” is Hawaiian for change or transform. I was tempted to write a Shark!John Guardian of Atlantis fic, but he already does that without the fins.
By foggynite
Rating: Nothing terribly traumatizing.
Pairing/Characters: Est. McShep hints, ensemble
Disclaimer: They don’t belong to me. I make no profit. I intend no disrespect.
Notes: Well, this is kind of an obvious cheesy cliché concept for the challenge, but I couldn’t resist. Suffer, bwaha. Concrit welcome.
Word Count: 2,691
Atlantis was beautiful from below, the sun casting a halo around the pier and cutting into the cold depths of the ocean. The water was dense, choppy and reminiscent of New England rather than the Bahamas, but he didn’t mind. He was still having a good time.
Looking around, John swam harder, trying to follow a school of fish as they darted into the shadows of the pier. He didn’t know how much time he’d spent lazily touring the area, but it was getting more difficult to ignore the incessant beeping that meant he was supposed to return to the lab.
With a mental sigh, he veered upwards. The port hole opened for him automatically and the change in current pulled him up faster, Atlantis welcoming him back into her underbelly. A few swift thrashes of his tail and he was in the lab holding tank, with a very dour-looking Rodney McKay on the other side of the glass amid bustling scientists.
“Did you have a fun swim, Colonel? Because those of us who still have to actually do work around here don’t have time for you to indulge in your latent Jacques Cousteau fantasies. If you wanted a vacation this badly, you could have just asked Elizabeth like the rest of us.”
Most days, John missed having fingers. Well, just one in particular, really.
*****
There were people yelling around him, with high-pitched panic that might have been Rodney’s, or maybe that new biologist from the last Daedalus run, Simmons. Strong arms lifted John up, but that just made the pain worse, made it feel like someone was stepping on his throat, and he started struggling to get away.
He remembered that the world had tilted for one stomach-lurching moment, his vision blurring as he hit the floor of the abandoned lab hard. In another instant, everything in his body had *hurt* and he wasn’t able to breathe, panic crawling into his chest when he realized it was just getting worse.
The pain was more terrible than any life-sucking bugs or retroviruses could inflict, and he found himself paralyzed, not even able to scream.
*****
“What did I say, huh? What did I tell you?” Rodney was shouting at one of the scientists. John circled closer to the tank window. Zelenka was the only other person in the lab this late at night, and he had frozen in place. “I specifically recall ordering that this artifact is not to be touched by anyone other than myself or Zelenka. As in, do not pick it up, do not move it. And what did you do?”
“I—I was just—“ The man spluttered, eyes wide. Rodney slammed shut the lid of the box they were keeping the sphere in, and pointed at the door. The scientist flinched away from him.
“Out! Now!” There was a vein throbbing in Rodney’s forehead. John swung by the window again, this time from higher up so he could get a better view of the room.
Wow. McKay was seriously pissed.
“Rodney,” Zelenka said once the trembling victim had left.
“How the hell did he get assigned in here anyway?” Rodney turned his full glare on the Czech. “We can’t afford to keep repairing tools because some idiot straight out of grad school doesn’t know what he’s doing. Where does the SGC get these people? The International Institute of Stupidity? Has Carson checked him for palsy?”
Crossing his arms, Zelenka merely stared at Rodney until the Canadian’s shoulders slumped. Turning to the work bench after a moment, McKay carefully lifted the box from its place and took it over to the space he had set up a temporary head quarters in.
The next time Zelenka spoke, his tone was gentle. “He is still alive. We will find cure.”
Rodney remained quiet.
John turned quickly and swam to the other side of the tank, wishing his hearing didn’t work quite so well.
*****
He hit the water in a full belly flop, kicking his legs as soon as he felt the currents wrap around him. Who threw a suffocating man in water, he wanted to demand, but the moment it started rushing into his lungs, he could breathe again.
Breathing water. He was breathing water.
The shock made him sluggish, but the moment he slowed down, the horrible feeling of dying came back. So he kept going, kicking and following the walls of what he assumed was the 10x10 foot tank they had found in the corner of the lab. The rest of the search team was talking over each other, voices muted by the water but not as much as John expected. He realized there were probably speakers in the walls of the tank, piping the noise from the lab in. Someone was shouting now, and it made his head hurt.
He swam over to the corner nearest his team, wondering what the hell just happened and looking for the ladder out. There wasn’t one.
There was an observation window set in the tank, and he figured he could get their attention that way. What he got was a good look at his own reflection.
He had fins. With rows of big teeth in his mouth. ... And fins.
All on a distinctly non-human body.
... Huh.
*****
“Did you know Hawaiian mythology believes that sharks are the guardians of the sea?” Rodney murmured above him, trailing his fingers through the water. “Of course, there are other cultures that believe sharks eat lost souls, but who’s to judge?”
There wasn’t much John could do except swim around the tank, and after three days of it, he was getting frustrated. The lab was empty, probably because it was almost four in the morning, but Rodney had taken to wandering in at all hours. At least he gave John a break from the hum of Ancient technology, which he hadn’t realized was so loud before, but the distraction was bittersweet.
“Normally I wouldn’t care, but one of the anthropologists left a report on it in my in-box, and I needed something to put me to sleep. Soft science usually works like a charm.
“Carson has no clue what to make of all this,” Rodney continued, hand propping his chin up. “You’re you, according to the DNA scans, but you’re not you, and it doesn’t look like he can brew a potion to change you back this time. So that leaves us with the baseball from hell you touched last, and we have no idea what it did. It hasn’t reacted to anyone else since, and all the scans are coming up negative.”
If anything, Rodney’s words made the tank seem smaller. He sped up, slicing through the water, edging farther away until he had to come back again.
“We’ll figure this out,” McKay said in a voice barely louder than a whisper through the speakers. “We’ll get you back. I upgraded Jumper One’s propulsion systems, so we need you as test pilot. You inconsiderate jerk. You really need to stop doing this, you know? It’s getting old.”
He wanted to touch those fingers so badly, just a graze even, but Rodney’s other hand still had band-aids on from John’s last attempt, so he kept his distance. He couldn’t handle this, though. Being trapped in this tank, in this body that wasn’t his. He couldn’t speak, couldn’t even sit still to watch the lab through the observation window. Couldn’t touch anyone. He couldn’t do anything.
Atlantis hummed around him, electric tendrils that constantly shot through the water past him. A gathering of energy at the back corner of the tank caught his attention, and a swirling vortex opened, revealing a dark tunnel. The water smelled fresh and he could feel the pull of the ocean outside...
“What the hell—“
John swam.
*****
Carson was leaning nervously over the water, syringe in hand, while Ronon held the back of his belt to keep him steady.
“Are you sure he can understand me?” The doctor stammered. John didn’t need to see him to know McKay was rolling his eyes.
“He’s been reacting to our verbal commands for the past half hour, Carson. Just do your blood-sucking routine and see if your voodoo can figure out what happened to him.” Rodney was trying for aggravated impatience, but John recognized the anxiety underneath.
He supposed it was difficult for a shark to look reassuring, but he tried his best as he glided up to Carson’s position. The moment he stopped moving, though, he started to sink the seven feet to the bottom, and couldn’t help the fact that he had to start swimming again. He tried to look apologetic as the syringe floated past his face, but that probably didn’t work either.
“Oh for crying out loud, just get in the damn tank, Carson. He’s not going to eat you.”
“I don’t doubt that he won’t, Rodney. I’m just a wee bit unnerved,” Carson snapped back. “I’m trying not to be, but I’ve had a fear of sharks since I was a lad.”
“Then see Heightmeyer later. We’re wasting time.”
“Rodney,” Elizabeth stepped in. “You’re not helping.”
John circled past the observation window, glimpsing out over the gathering that had quickly assembled when Rodney contacted the gate room. Lorne had his usual ‘My CO’s turned into something non-human and oh god, that means I have to deal with all of his paperwork again’ face on. Elizabeth was doing the concerned but reassuring look she had when things were bad, whereas Caldwell was staring in morbid fascination. It didn’t endear him to John. Teyla had a carefully neutral expression, like she saw this all the time and it was normal (which was kind of the truth at this point), and Rodney was busy glaring up at Carson and Ronon. There was also a team of four biologists huddled in the corner farthest from McKay, but that was to be expected.
“How can I get a sample from him if he can’t sit still?” Carson wondered.
“Tonic immobility,” one of the biologists spoke up. “If we flip him onto his back, he should be paralyzed for about fifteen minutes.”
“Is that safe?” Rodney demanded immediately. “I though sharks needed to swim in order to breath.”
“It’s a defense mechanism, sir,” another biologist said. “It keeps them perfectly still when predators are around. He’ll be fine.”
John wasn’t so sure. He swam to the back corner and did his new version of pacing.
“I don’t think the Colonel is comfortable with such a procedure,” Teyla pointed out and John wished he could roll his eyes without making himself dizzy. “Perhaps if one of us were to enter the water and walk beside him?”
There was some debate from the marine biologists, but in the end Teyla stripped down and slid into the tank. John decided that she was replacing Ronon as his current favorite, especially when she came bearing fish.
*****
“So since you can still manipulate Ancient technology,” Rodney was saying on the other side of the glass, “that means you might be able to get the baseball from hell to activate again.”
John wasn’t sure he wanted to touch the thing again, but the open water was seriously tempting him again even though he had just spent the entire day swimming around the base of the city. He had the urge to go look for fish. He wanted colder currents. He was beginning to freak a little.
“The incompetent morons I assigned to water-proofing more of those Ancient sensors you didn’t destroy last time have finally completed their task,” Rodney said with a glare over his shoulders, “Which of course means that we’re going to have to put the sensors in the tank with you. Is that all right? Can you handle it, or am I wasting more of our limited resources? Circle once for yes, twice for no.”
Circling once, John tried his best to glare at Rodney’s brisk yet patronizing tone, because yeah, maybe he shouldn’t have chewed up the underwater sensors, but it wasn’t his fault they’d caught him unaware. At least this time the scientists were asking him before they started just tossing things in the water. After five days like this, it was easier to stand the hum from the Ancient technology, but the Earth tech still felt like nails dragging across chalkboard in his brain.
“Good. Good.” Rodney clapped his hands together, and once again, John was being stared at like an attraction in a freak show. Not that he was getting tired of it, or anything.
“All right, you, whatever your name is. Yes, you. Start setting the sensors up. Carson, are you ready? Let’s do this.”
Then the water was filled with electric vibrations that made him thrash around a bit, but it didn’t hurt like last time. Carefully lowering the ridged sphere into the water, Zelenka let the artifact roll from his fingers and John swam underneath, trying to come in contact with it. Five more tries later, with a drenched Rodney glaring over his shoulder, Zelenka released the sphere again and John was able to bump it with his nose. Which hurt like hell, but nothing like coming back to himself again.
He found he didn’t really mind the pain this time. Especially when he was hauled from the tank by Ronon, and Teyla and Rodney had towels waiting.
*****
Perched on the railing of a balcony in one of the less-frequented sections of the city, John wasn’t surprised when Rodney tracked him down.
Three days out of the water, and his team rarely let him be alone for more than a half hour at a time. If it wasn’t Rodney with some weak excuse, then it was Teyla with some Athosian custom to explain or Ronon just sitting next to him patiently. John wasn’t sure which he preferred yet.
“Here,” Rodney shoved a power bar at him and savagely bit into his own. The scientist leaned against the railing close to his side, but didn’t climb up to join him.
John let the silence grow. It wasn’t uncomfortable, yet it was obvious McKay had something on his mind.
“What kind of morons make a device that turns you into a shark while you’re still on land?” Rodney finally burst out with, but John didn’t think it was what he meant to say. “Yes, there’s the whole city surrounded by ocean, but they have puddle jumpers. What do they need to be sharks for?”
“Who knows, Rodney.” John tucked the power bar wrapper in his pocket. “Maybe it was a security tactic. Or some sort of ceremony no one knows about anymore. Maybe they just liked to go for a real swim every once in a while.”
“Do you miss it?” The other man asked after a moment. “You keep watching the sea…”
Contemplating the question seriously, John shrugged and looked away. “It was cool for a while, but I missed flying after the first couple hours. Made me realize that we’ve barely explored the planet we’re on, though, let alone the galaxy.”
“Well, at least you didn’t eat anyone,” Rodney said philosophically, glancing up at him with a smirk.
“I was still me,” John frowned back. “I could hear everything you guys were saying. And I remember a few late night monologues pretty clearly.”
A red flush crept up Rodney’s cheeks, and he stared out across the ocean. “Yes, well, stress does odd things to people, and I have very specific reactions to—“
He broke off when John reached out to run his fingers along the nape of Rodney’s neck. McKay needed his hair trimmed, but John didn’t mind. He reveled in the feel of it sliding over his very human flesh. For a moment Rodney was still, then he leaned back into the touch, eyes locked forward as an array of emotions crossed his face. John kept stroking until the muscles beneath his hand relaxed.
“Do I miss it?” He repeated quietly, feeling Rodney’s heartbeat under his fingertips. “Not really. There are other places I’d much rather be.”
*****
*Note: “Loli” is Hawaiian for change or transform. I was tempted to write a Shark!John Guardian of Atlantis fic, but he already does that without the fins.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-03 08:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-04 04:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-03 08:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-04 04:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-04 05:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-04 12:22 am (UTC)Three days out of the water, and his team rarely let him be alone for more than a half hour at a time. If it wasn’t Rodney with some weak excuse, then it was Teyla with some Athosian custom to explain or Ronon just sitting next to him patiently.
*happy sigh* I can never get enough of that adoration and protectiveness.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-04 05:03 am (UTC)But I'm glad you liked it. I was afraid the cheesiness of it all would be too great a deterrent for everyone.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-04 03:06 am (UTC)I *loved* everyone's reaction to the transformation, especially: "Lorne had his usual ‘My CO’s turned into something non-human and oh god, that means I have to deal with all of his paperwork again’ face on." *smirk*
And I also loved the team dynamic, & how his team supported him. And YAY!Teyla for going into the tank with SharkShep!
wags, springwoof
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-04 05:06 am (UTC)Glad you liked it, though. Thanks!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-04 05:40 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-05 01:20 am (UTC)Hope you're having a good vacation. I'm gonna call Meg about visiting in the next few days-- Once we get all the bank stuff straightened out. Toodles!
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Date: 2006-01-05 01:28 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-04 09:18 am (UTC)(also? am amused that Rodney terrorized all the biologists until they're hiding in the corner from him)
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Date: 2006-01-05 01:23 am (UTC)(I think the Ancient technology would cower from Rodney if possible, so I had to include terrorized minions in there somewhere. Plus, they're biologists-- That's one step above anthropology ^.^)
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Date: 2006-01-04 11:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-05 01:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-05 03:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-05 04:01 am (UTC)Back to fandom, I was surprised that no one else had done anything like this for the shark challenge, but then I realized how cheesy it sounded and yeah. I was going for little vignettes that make a larger picture, forcing people to infer. ::shrug:: How sad that this is as close to minimalist as I get? But I'm glad the style worked for you. Bwaha.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-05 04:41 am (UTC)Cliches are not bad, and this story has some very, very cute elements.
I like that Rodney is so unafraid of shark!John, that John accidentally bruised Rodney's hands, yet Rodney still comes at night and tries to reach out to his friend. I liked the team looking out for John and Rodney bitching around to 'nameless' people in his lab.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-05 03:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-05 05:40 am (UTC)(The bit with Shark!John being extra sensitive to electrical currents was very neat!)
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Date: 2006-01-05 03:55 pm (UTC)(My dad was into open water diving, so I've had to sit through so many shark documentaries (even an IMAX one) that I couldn't *not* write this with some shark biology thrown in. ^.^)
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Date: 2006-01-05 07:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2007-12-25 08:18 am (UTC)