eliyes: (Atlantis)
[personal profile] eliyes
Title: Arthur of Atlantis
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay
Rating: E for Everyone!
Author's Notes: Missing scene for SGA 5x06 "The Shrine"; spoilers for that episode and also SGA 2x15 "The Tower", SGA 3x08 "McKay & Mrs. Miller, and SGA 3x12 "Echoes".


Even after they collected their empties and went inside, set up a cot for John in Rodney's room, and turned out the lights, it kept running through John's head. 'You're a good friend, Arthur,' Rodney had said. It had been perfect comedic timing.

But as John lay waiting for sleep to come again, if it would, his mind carding through memories of his time with the irascible scientist as his friend, he remembered another time when Rodney had called him 'Arthur'.

For some reason, they had been talking about that whole fiasco with the buried Ancient city a couple of years before: the world where those with the gene were nobility, and those without were serfs. (John was still thankful that Rodney hadn't been around to be scooped up by the gene-detecting guards, and it had nothing to do with Mara.) Anyway, with the people of the Tower having treated John like a prospective king, the inevitable jokes had occurred.

"We should call you Namor," Rodney had declared over dinner. "Your hair's the right colour; we'll just get you a square-top cut, more in line with military regs --" Here, he had reached out to muss John's hair, but John had deflected with his arm, laughing. "-- and with those pointy ears and that pointy nose --"

"I have a pointy nose?!" John had protested. "Anyway, you're way more like Namor in personality."

"Am not."

"Are, too. Besides, he's a prince. They were thinking king."

"Well, Elizabeth is in charge. But since Prince Namor's mother was collaborating with the Nazis, I suppose she wouldn't appreciate the comparison. You're not blond enough to be Arthur Curry."

"I also don't have a mustache."

"True, although it's a near thing if you have a day without access to a razor," Rodney sniggered.

"On the other hand, I don't have wings on my ankles," John pointed out.

"Unless you do, and that's why you wear your boots so loose!"

"Right," John said, and tugged off a boot and sock, yanking up his pant leg to show a hairy ankle, devoid of wings.

"You're really tall for a hobbit," Rodney observed.

"Don't start, Merry," John warned, adding, "though it would be cool to fly..."

"Psh. Like wings on your ankles would actually work."

"Worked for Hermes. Hey, can't Aquaman fly, anyway?"

"Um. Possibly?" Rodney seemed dubious.

"So, no wings at all." John pointed his dinner roll at Rodney. "And in Pegasus, fish are telepathic with me."

Rodney had spluttered his coffee, and eventually said, "Fine, Arthur," and threw a grape at John's head.

At the time, John hadn't realized they were 'having a moment'. And yet, looking back, that sort of thing happened all the time. Rodney was one of those people who John just clicked with, instantly -- like Teyla, like Ford, or Elizabeth, like Ronon.

He rolled over on the tiny cot and gazed fondly at the man sleeping a few feet away. Rodney was drooling a little, as usual, and even that was familiar. Even that could be added to the list of things that John didn't want to lose.

He would not say good-bye. He couldn't, not ever, because that meant giving up hope, and if there was anything his time in Atlantis -- and more specifically his friendship with Rodney -- had taught him, it was that impossible odds didn't have to be. So he wouldn't give up.

And he would do his damnedest to be Rodney's 'good friend' until the end, whenever that might be.

FIN


FYI, Aquaman can't actually fly.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-05-08 06:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gaffsie.livejournal.com
Aww, I like that they can geek out together like that.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-05-09 01:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] eliyes.livejournal.com
So do I! I know that they're older than me and seem to have more of an interest in monster films from the b&w era than I ever will, so this is more a reflection of my own domains of geekery, but still. :3 Geeking out is love. :3

(no subject)

Date: 2011-02-23 03:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] corsykitty.livejournal.com
<3 Sweet, even if I didn't understand anything in that except the Lord of the Rings/Aquaman/Hermes references. I love the calm friendship stories with these two. Such the odd couple.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-02-23 08:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] eliyes.livejournal.com
Where Aquaman is DC Comics' King of Atlantis, Namor is Marvel Comics' version. (He is King this days, I think, but he was Prince for a long time.) He's got black hair, sharp features, and pointed ears. Also a really terrible temper and an incredibly egotistical, snarky attitude. Oh, and for extra comparison to Rodney, he's got the hots for this smart blonde woman who's already taken by an older man: the Invisible Woman (here analogous with Sam, not Teyla). Although Namor actually gets somewhere with that. And he had teeny wings growing from his ankles, and can fly.

I really like him. X3

SGA is one of those shows where I like much of the ensemble cast. Nonetheless, John and Rodney's dynamic is one of my favourite things about it.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-02-23 09:05 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] corsykitty.livejournal.com
Wow, that makes me picture one of the random Atlantean devices taking Namor and separating him into two parts - Rodney and John. Haha. Never been much on American comics, but your description sure sounds interesting. ^^ Thanks!

They did a really good job on giving all of the characters a real purpose; I wouldn't want to see any of them lost, even Woolsey. Although, I was really partial to Woolsey in SG-1 to begin with.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-02-23 06:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] eliyes.livejournal.com
Wow, that makes me picture one of the random Atlantean devices taking Namor and separating him into two parts - Rodney and John.

So which part gets to keep the belly ring? ;3

They did a really good job on giving all of the characters a real purpose; I wouldn't want to see any of them lost, even Woolsey. Although, I was really partial to Woolsey in SG-1 to begin with.

I agree! And woolsey wasn't a bad egg. Really, the only character I never could like was Keller. I think the writers being inconsistant with her is to blame, there. I mean, I seriously believed she was going to turn out to be another Trust agent or something, she was showing so many faces to different people.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-02-24 12:05 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] corsykitty.livejournal.com
So which part gets to keep the belly ring? ;3

John. I have a shameless thing for Joe Flanigan. :D

I mean, I seriously believed she was going to turn out to be another Trust agent or something,

Funny story about that; I read this one fanfic a while back where Keller uses her feminine wiles to lure Rodney away from a California vacation with Sheppard so that someone on Earth can torture him, or something. A couple months after reading it, I went looking through the show for the episode 'cause I thought it was real. xD She did grow on me eventually, although I can't pinpoint what made me like her.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-02-24 09:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] eliyes.livejournal.com
I know the fic you mean. In fact, I'm pretty sure I ran across a link to it yesterday (but having read it, and being on the hunt for something else at the time, I didn't do a reread just then).

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