Face Afire, by Sophonisba [burning up challenge]

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

-title- Face Afire
-author- Sophonisba (saphanibaal)
-ratings/warnings- Gen; mention of erotica.
-timeframe- Shortly after "Sanctuary."
-spoilers- I don't think this has any; it takes place right after another story of mine called "Secondary Source," but you shouldn't need to have read that one.
-characters- Grodin, Elizabeth, Heightmeyer, AR-1, Bates, etc.
-disclaimer- SGA, of course, is not mine. Miko's brother Kenji and his idea of barter goods are, but hey, feel free.
-word count- 566
-summary- "Could maybe one of you ladies make sure Dr. Kusanagi hasn't become Atlantis's first case of spontaneous human combustion in millennia?"


Face Afire


Dr. Peter Grodin, having been heading in the direction of Anthro and Linguistics anyway, stopped on the way to collect two full cups of coffee when conversation broke out on the citywide channel -- something about a video game, for some reason.

When, a little later, his expedition leader announced ""I think we all need a break. Thirty minutes, people," with the oddly muffled voice of someone not intentionally speaking into their headset -- perhaps having turned it on by accident -- he congratulated himself on his foresight.

"Careful, it's hot," he warned her when they met some distance outside the division's offices. She was leaning back against a wall, drawing long, deep breaths, and removed the lid when he handed her the first cup, preferring to inhale the steam.

"Your little brother 'also' gave you emulations?" Dr. Heightmeyer's voice suddenly broke the radio silence, startling them. "What else did he give you?"

"Ah, well, copies of his company's shows." Miko Kusanagi's voice was more hesitant than it had been for a long while, not pitched as high as the bright treble she used for official reports.

"Which are?"

"Er, ah, um, well, you see, that is, because we would be gone for so long, you understand, and so..."

"Spit it out, Kusanagi." Bates was gruff but not uncaring.

"Well, actually... eroanime."

"You brought PORN without TELLING any of us?!" Dr. McKay sounded almost happy at being able to be indignant at something.

"Rodney," Elizabeth said firmly.

"I had nothing I really wished to trade for!" Miko half-wailed.

"Take it offline," Dr. Biro grumbled. "I'm having trouble setting this up with everyone screeching in my ear."

Peter tried to meet Elizabeth's eyes, was foiled by her steadfast gaze at the coffee (marred only slightly by trembling shoulders), and with a "Later, then," hurried into Anthro and Linguistics with the rest of his burden.

"Man," Ford was saying as he put his head in the door. "Who gives their sister porn?"

"To trade for coffee or whatnot in Antarctica?" Sheppard asked. "I would. The going rate there was worse than it is here."

"Why would it not be given to be used?" Teyla wondered. "Certainly the limits of the erotic are often different between men and women, but... "

"Because our immediate people don't usually give erotica to persons of the opposite gender unless they're dating," the head of Anthro and Linguistics said promptly, "and some of us aren't used to peoples who do. Thank you, Peter, I was just thinking about coffee."

"I'd call unfair privilege -- " Sheppard began.

"But what you could really use right now is tea," Peter sympathized. "I'm afraid it's bag, but." He handed the Major a Twinings teabag and lifted his eyes to the room at large. "Could maybe one of you ladies make sure Dr. Kusanagi hasn't become Atlantis's first case of spontaneous human combustion in millennia? I would, but... "

"But?" Teyla blinked.

"But he'd probably make it worse," Ford explained, "what with being a guy and all."

"I'll go," both of the Isabels said, darted surprised looks at each other, and corrected "We'll go" in the same ragged chorus.

"Thank you," Peter told the small blonde linguists. A little embarrassment was probably good for the soul every now and then, but of all the people working in Hard Sciences who might need lessons in humility, Miko Kusanagi was surely last among them.

Comments

[tzi.livejournal.com]

Your fic does, indeed, make me happy. Every time. *^_^*

[lillian13.livejournal.com]

Yay Peter! (He's like Radar O'Reilly, isn't he?)


edit: ("Because our immediate people don't usually give erotica topersons"), needs a space there. :-)

[risha]

I spent a minute trying to figure out what a toperson was. :)

Very funny story, saphanibaal! Poor Miko. (One more edit - I think that you meant bagged in "I'm afraid it's bag"?)

[cat-77.livejournal.com]

That was amusing, but poor Miko... (Also, Peter is kinda awesome.)

[bratfarrar]

I love your Miko--and all the random people populating your Atlantis, both canonical and non. And all the ordinary bits of life you write about.

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

Which means a lot coming from someone who'd already been producing beautiful writing and awesome (if frequently Not-My-Kink) erotica back when I was starting to entertain the idea of a Winnie-ther-Pooh fusion. ^______^

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

Thanks for catching the typo (hazards of pasting in from a program with hard line breaks).

I'm glad you liked Peter in this; I think this is my second time writing him as anything other than background.

[springwoof.livejournal.com]

cool! I like all the different people you populate your stories with. you give us the sensation that Atlantis really *is* a city, which really is full of people from different societies, ethnicities, and cultures...

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

Thank you for commenting!

I was under the impression that you could abbreviate "teabag tea" to "bag tea"; is this a regional thing? And if so, I'm not sure whether it would in fact be one Grodin would be likely to use or not. Argh.

I'm glad you liked the story.

[risha]

We'd say "bagged tea" around here, but now that you say that it could be a regionalism on my end (I'm in the New Jersey/New York/Pennsylvania area (USA)). I'm honestly not sure how the British would say it - I hadn't thought to check before making my comment. :)

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

//but poor Miko...//

For what it's worth, when she visits her family in a year or so she'll have loosened up enough to ask Kenji for further episodes of one of his presents that was particularly well received by her coworkers. ^_^

And I'm glad you liked Grodin in this.

Thank you for commenting!

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

For various reasons, many having to do with the constraints of television, the show isn't going to give me certain of the things I like to see, and so I find myself writing them.

(And hey, it's a big expedition, it should be full of all sorts of people. I ought to keep better notes on them than I do. ;_;)

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

The concept of Atlantis-as-city is one of the things that drew me into the fandom to begin with, so I always love playing around with that.

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

Neither am I, really -- I think I remember it from reading something, but it wouldn't necessarily be British lit, so...