'Balance', 400 word ficlet for slashthedrabble challenge #32 - Nature

[darkhavens]

Author: darkhavens
Title: Balance
Pairing: Sheppard/McKay of Stargate Atlantis
Rating: G
Words: 400
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be. No harm, no foul, no money made.
Summary: Rodney finally figures out Mother Nature's plan.


Balance

Aged four, Rodney wondered why Mother Nature hated him so much. While other kids played in the park all summer, he had to stay inside. A speck of pollen could make him wheezy for hours; it wasn't fair.

Aged six, Rodney was put on antihistamines to go to school. He carried an inhaler, plenty of snacks, and a tacky med-alert tag. He explained his symptoms and necessary care to each and every teacher, knowing from their faces that they didn't comprehend the enormity of the trust he was forced to place in them. It usually took the humiliation of a fainting spell or going into anaphylactic shock to make them see. By second grade he knew to get it over with as soon as possible, staging minor 'scenes' to make sure they understood.

By the age of eight, Rodney knew that Nature wasn't sentient, but each new allergic reaction underscored his response. Maybe he was just the result of his parents' genetic flaws, but having your throat swell shut because of lemon zest in your birthday cake felt damn personal to him.

He was twelve when Nature played her cruellest trick in his life so far. His dreams of touring the world with his piano were stomped flat. His tutor informed him that while he was technically proficient at hitting the keys, he lacked the soul so integral to producing real music.

His parents accepted his unexplained decision to drop the lessons, and they sold the piano he'd begged for all those years before. Then Rodney turned his focus on the sciences.

Mother Nature continued to play her tricks throughout his schooling. Until an unexpected growth spurt at the age of seventeen, he was standing head and shoulders below the majority of his classmates, just another stumbling block in the path of his pitiful dating career.

At eighteen he was suddenly, unexpectedly, in demand - instead of being bullied he was intensively pursued. Oh, occasionally a Neanderthal still threatened to break his arm if he didn't come across with a pass grade essay, but sex was on the table now, as bribe, as lure, as payment, and Rodney repaid the kind ones with B+.

It wasn't until he was trapped in another galaxy, far from home, that Rodney understood how Mother Nature tried to balance life. Everything he'd missed, lost, and suffered had been worth this prize.

He had John Sheppard.

Comments

[literati.livejournal.com]

YES!

He did indeed.

Love it, baby!!

[ex-kyrieane267.livejournal.com]

knowing from their faces that they didn't comprehend the enormity of the trust he was forced to place in them

That line, right there! Perfect!

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thanks, darlin'!

*licks your icon*

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thank you, enabler-mine. :D

I could see the look on Rodney's face as he explained it all, pissed off at being forced to put his life in the hands of people who didn't really know what he was trusting them to do and infuriated by the necessity of it all. *g*

[tabaqui]

I haven't seen this show, but I like like like this.
:)
Nice, bay-bee.

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D

kyrieane fed me a few episodes via dl - my tv has been dead for a month now and I needed visual stimulation - and I got hooked to the extent that I've read the entire transcripts of S1 and the spoilers for S2 and I'm ploughing through fic at a scary rate. And literati cheered her on. I am weak. *g*

[ruggerdavey.livejournal.com]

Meeble. Seriously, I made one of those odd whimpering sounds at that last line. Very sweet and lovely. And I really liked the progression of Rodney through his life. Very cool.

[ex-kyrieane267.livejournal.com]

He stood with the rain pouring down the back of his neck and wondered if this is what it felt like to be born again. Wondered if this is how it felt to have his soul washed clean and every single damn failure rinsed off to mix in the mud where it belonged. He wanted to stay here forever, letting the cold and the wet make him feel new again. Then the clouds broke, one solitary dart of sharp gold light hit his face, Rodney's voice came out of the puddlejumper.

"John...Major? Everything alright?"

And it was.

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I think Rodney as a kid would have been adorable and a total pain in the ass. "But whhhhhhhhy?", "That doesn't make sense. Explain it again!" *g*

[literati.livejournal.com]

squee!!

it sure was!

Now, what other icons can I make that will make you all drabbly? ;)

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Beautiful, darlin'! Wet Sheppard is an inspiration to us all. *g*

[ruggerdavey.livejournal.com]

"But whhhhhhhhy?", "That doesn't make sense. Explain it again!"

And let's not forget, "that's not right. Aren't you supposed to be the teacher?"

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

'How old is this textbook anyway? Ha! See? Three years out of date. This isn't physics it's a history lesson!' *g*

[neverbelonged.livejournal.com]

/squees/
That is so true! hehe.
Great job!

[darkmoon711.livejournal.com]

::Squee!!:: I love it. Yes he does. :)

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :D

[tabaqui]

Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!
Fun fun. I guess i'll watch it someday.
:)

I want to write a SG1/BtVS fic and started one with Kyrie but she's so busy now!!

Can't seem to get together with her to finish...
*pout*

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

He's earned Sheppard! *g*

[darkmoon711.livejournal.com]

Bloody hell yes, he's earned Shep. No human should have that many allergies without some kind of reward.

[ruggerdavey.livejournal.com]

This isn't physics it's a history lesson!

*snorts* I can totally see him saying that. Hee.

[moimoietmoi.livejournal.com]

Ooh, lovely! Perfect last line at that! *g*

[loldemort.livejournal.com]

I like the pairing and I like your treatment. I'd definitely like to read a longer treatment too, there's scope for a lot of development there.

[shiny-starlight.livejournal.com]

Aw, so cute. Perfect balance.

[spikedluv]

Oh, I like!!! That ending was perfect. *g*

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Having John Sheppard makes everything worthwhile. :D

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

I'm still exceedingly new to the fandom, and there's much to explore, but I might come back to this one day.

Thanks!

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :D

Some things are worth suffering for.

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D

It started off as a 100 word drabble, but I kept thinking of more and more ways to highlight Rodney's suffering. *g*

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

damn. That would have been fun to read. :D

*crosses toes*