sga_flashfic | Voyeurism Challenge:Mutual of Atlantis' Wild Kingdom by Brindel (Reply)

Title: Mutual of Atlantis' Wild Kingdom
Author: Brindel
Rating: G
Category: gen
Spoilers: None
Summary: John watches all his geeks.

Notes: Written lickity-spilt for the sga_flashfic ‘voyeurism’ challenge 'cause I double-dog dared myself to. Unbetaed due to cowardice.

Title: Mutual of Atlantis' Wild Kingdom
Author: Brindel
Rating: G
Category: gen
Spoilers: None
Summary: John watches all his geeks.

Notes: Written lickity-spilt for the sga_flashfic ‘voyeurism’ challenge 'cause I double-dog dared myself to. Unbetaed due to cowardice.

******

Sheppard stepped back into the corridor slightly as Zelenka plunged headlong down the hallway, just missing a collision. There wasn't the slightest pause as he continued talking non-stop in some obscure dialect of 'science-speak', violently gesturing with one hand as if to be very stern with himself or he'd try to argue himself out of whatever it was he was arguing with himself about.

A whisp of "sub-space inversion variables" and "interface algorithm anomalies" fluttered gently down behind Zeleka's swiftly disappearing back, and John snorted in amusement. Huh, and the geeks always complain that *military* jargon is confusing.

Shaking his head, Sheppard started back toward the cafeteria. The mission briefing with Dr. Weir had taken longer than he'd figured with the newness of the situation and all the reports from his teams still to sort through. Breakfast was by now fast becoming a faint memory. Even one of McKay's ever-present power bars was starting to sound good.

A muffled curse from the direction of Zelenka's back stopped him.

"Zelenka?" John called out. "How you doing?" No answer. John frowned. Maybe he was too far down the corridor to hear? "Zelenka? Need any help with anything?"

Still nothing. Feeling slightly apprehensive, John was unaware of the fact his hand was twitching subtly toward his absent sidearm. This was a common corridor connecting the cafeteria and "rec rooms" to the labs and control room. There wasn't anything in the least dangerous in them, *That we know of...* With that one thought, John grimaced and took off in a quick sprint toward the last known location of Radek Zelenka.

As he rounded a corner near the lab rooms, he slid to a stop. Zelenka, completely unharmed and unaware he had been the cause of any anxiety, was standing in the middle of the hall with a magic marker furiously finishing an equation that carried almost to the floor. He was surrounded on three sides by enthusiastic fellow geeks all apparently trying to copy the equation down as well onto whatever was at hand. Literally. He also could have sworn one of them was trying to write the rest of it out on his stomach, since his palm and one arm were already full.

With a sigh and a shake, John just stood back, arms crossed, and admired the sight of wild geeks at play. A few minutes later, the 'Alpha Geek' himself stalked stiff-legged toward the pack and with a few well-placed verbal cuffs, one growl and a snarl or two, had herded the lot back into their territory. With one last snort at himself for the "Wild Kingdom" mental image, John pushed away from the wall to get back to the cafeteria like he'd originally planned. Seeing the movement, Rodney McKay looked over and spotted him. "Major? Did you need to see me?"

"No, McKay, I was just enjoying myself watching your scientists as they 'marked their territory'". John replied with a smirk as he gestured to the...huh, partial differential equation on sub-space quantum mechanics that was cheekily masquerading as graffiti. Rodney negligently flapped his hand and huffed. "That? Please. That's nothing. You should have seen how they decided on labspace..."

As McKay continued talking, John felt a grin steal quietly over his face. He suddenly had the feeling he study of the 'Behavior Of the Feral Geek in his Natural Habitat" was about to become one of his new favorite pastimes.