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kageygirl G-rated? I'm slipping. Clearly the situation calls for more cussin'. Dammit.
Title: Magnetic North
Author: kageygirl
Archive: Not just yet
Category: M/M preslash
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Rating: G
Spoilers: "Childhood's End"
Feedback: Please.
Disclaimer: I own none of it. If I did, they'd be wet and near-naked a whole lot more often. It's a water planet, yo!
Series/sequel to/warning: None. So far.
Beta: That fanTABulous Monkey, Leah. Joyous thanks and love, darlin'!
Summary: Episode tag to "Childhood's End." Utility is in the eye of the beholder.
AN: "Childhood's End: The Monkey Mix", drafted at Worldcon in honor of the coolness that is Leah and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kylielee1000, written for Leah. Thanks for letting me scribble late into the night, guys.
Magnetic North
McKay hurried through his post-mission unpacking, anxious for a snack and a cup of coffee. On autopilot, he emptied his vest pockets, stowing his equipment with barely a look (and making a mental note to replenish his chocolate supply). He stopped abruptly when he realized that the weight in his hand was unfamiliar. Turning the item over, he looked at it more closely.
Ford's compass. In all the excitement, he'd forgotten to return it.
He ran his thumb over a faint scratch in the casing. Back on the planet, he'd been in the middle of dismissing it as useless, when he'd realized its wild gyrations indicated an electromagnetic disturbance.
That hadn't been his only misjudgment on the mission, either. He'd written off the children's suicide ritual as stupid and useless, too, before Dr. Weir had pointed out that its inception coincided with the installation of the shield. She'd suggested that the suicides had a purpose McKay hadn't considered, and she'd been right.
Not to mention that if she'd let them keep the ZPM, they would have left the planet without a means of defense. The Wraith probe would have sent back images of a whole world just waiting to be harvested. Tow-headed children with bows and arrows were no match for Wraith dart ships and teleportation beams. And it would have been all his fault.
So much for thinking that maybe he was getting closer to understanding the "art" that went into science.
All in all, it had been a truly stellar performance--maybe for an encore, they could find some alien puppies for him to kick--
"Hey, McKay."
He glanced up to find Major Sheppard standing in the doorway, hands stuffed into his pockets. "Major." He set the compass down quickly and pushed it away, wanting to dissociate himself from it before Sheppard could draw any conclusions about worthless things keeping one another company. It was supposed to be a casual, negligent motion, but his hand shook a little, and the compass ended up spinning slowly on the smooth tabletop.
He turned away from Sheppard, unwilling to face whatever sardonic gleam was surely coming into the major's eyes. To cover his discomfort, he scooped up his scanner and started tapping brusquely at the controls. "Was there something you needed? I'm afraid I don't really have time for a chat. I have a lot of work to do--I'd like to analyze the readings on the shield device further, see whether it could be adapted for use on planets with a different electromagnetic field--that's assuming, of course, that we can find a ZPM to power it, in addition to the ones we need for the city's defenses--"
"I just came by to thank you for what you did on the planet." Sheppard sounded quietly amused.
McKay spun around in confusion. "Thank me?"
"For increasing the field range on the shield. Those kids were long overdue for life to cut them a break, and you helped with that."
"Oh, that." McKay waved a hand dismissively. "Well, the control interface was fairly intuitive, once I had a few peaceful minutes to work on it." Once the probe was no longer practically hovering over his shoulder, sending his brain into vapor lock.
No sense of the art, and graceless under pressure. That compass was actually more useful than he was--it at least fulfilled its function: pointing towards wherever magnetic north might be.
Sheppard shifted, leaning a shoulder against the doorjamb. "At the risk of making you insufferable--well, more so than usual--it was a big deal. You did good, McKay." He lifted his head and gave McKay a lazy smile. "We're all just screwing around with the big kids' toys, here. It's pretty amazing that we can get anything to work at all, if you think about it." He raised his eyebrows winningly.
"Uh, thanks." McKay winced a little, but in a rare moment of inarticulacy, he couldn't come up with anything better. Sheppard had a way of focusing on a conversation that was compelling and yet disconcerting at the same time. Maybe there was something to be said for the laconic approach.
Sheppard didn't comment on his lapse in verbal acumen, instead stepping into the room. "Well, I don't want to keep you from your work--though you know what they say about making Rodney a dull boy." He reached for the compass on the table, spinning it towards himself and trapping it smartly before it slid off the edge. "You want me to give this back to Ford, since I'm headed that way anyway?"
"Sure. Thanks." McKay ducked his head, remembering his pretense of work.
Sheppard nodded amiably as he left, and McKay couldn't help watching him go. In the hallway, Sheppard paused to flip open the compass. He turned in a slow circle, watching the needle. When he came to a stop--facing McKay--Sheppard grinned, eyes wide.
"Huh. What do you know?"
He stared at McKay for a long moment, teasing grin in place, but something warmer and darker was going on in his eyes. Something McKay couldn't possibly be reading correctly.
He felt himself flushing under that stare, and he dropped his eyes to the scanner. The readout was blurring a little, and he rested the edge of the scanner against the table to steady it. Over the gentle background noise of Atlantis's ventilation system, he heard Sheppard snap the compass shut and head off down the corridor.
Once Sheppard was safely gone, McKay let his gaze drift over to where the major had been standing. On this planet, magnetic north was actually about thirty degrees to the left of where Sheppard had pointed the compass.
McKay wondered what that meant.
He took a deep breath, then blinked himself back to the task at hand--stowing his equipment, then grabbing a snack from the mess hall before hypoglycemia set in.
He already felt a little light-headed.
... climbing back on the horse...
Title: Magnetic North
Author: kageygirl
Archive: Not just yet
Category: M/M preslash
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Rating: G
Spoilers: "Childhood's End"
Feedback: Please.
Disclaimer: I own none of it. If I did, they'd be wet and near-naked a whole lot more often. It's a water planet, yo!
Series/sequel to/warning: None. So far.
Beta: That fanTABulous Monkey, Leah. Joyous thanks and love, darlin'!
Summary: Episode tag to "Childhood's End." Utility is in the eye of the beholder.
AN: "Childhood's End: The Monkey Mix", drafted at Worldcon in honor of the coolness that is Leah and
kylielee1000, written for Leah. Thanks for letting me scribble late into the night, guys.McKay hurried through his post-mission unpacking, anxious for a snack and a cup of coffee. On autopilot, he emptied his vest pockets, stowing his equipment with barely a look (and making a mental note to replenish his chocolate supply). He stopped abruptly when he realized that the weight in his hand was unfamiliar. Turning the item over, he looked at it more closely.
Ford's compass. In all the excitement, he'd forgotten to return it.
He ran his thumb over a faint scratch in the casing. Back on the planet, he'd been in the middle of dismissing it as useless, when he'd realized its wild gyrations indicated an electromagnetic disturbance.
That hadn't been his only misjudgment on the mission, either. He'd written off the children's suicide ritual as stupid and useless, too, before Dr. Weir had pointed out that its inception coincided with the installation of the shield. She'd suggested that the suicides had a purpose McKay hadn't considered, and she'd been right.
Not to mention that if she'd let them keep the ZPM, they would have left the planet without a means of defense. The Wraith probe would have sent back images of a whole world just waiting to be harvested. Tow-headed children with bows and arrows were no match for Wraith dart ships and teleportation beams. And it would have been all his fault.
So much for thinking that maybe he was getting closer to understanding the "art" that went into science.
All in all, it had been a truly stellar performance--maybe for an encore, they could find some alien puppies for him to kick--
"Hey, McKay."
He glanced up to find Major Sheppard standing in the doorway, hands stuffed into his pockets. "Major." He set the compass down quickly and pushed it away, wanting to dissociate himself from it before Sheppard could draw any conclusions about worthless things keeping one another company. It was supposed to be a casual, negligent motion, but his hand shook a little, and the compass ended up spinning slowly on the smooth tabletop.
He turned away from Sheppard, unwilling to face whatever sardonic gleam was surely coming into the major's eyes. To cover his discomfort, he scooped up his scanner and started tapping brusquely at the controls. "Was there something you needed? I'm afraid I don't really have time for a chat. I have a lot of work to do--I'd like to analyze the readings on the shield device further, see whether it could be adapted for use on planets with a different electromagnetic field--that's assuming, of course, that we can find a ZPM to power it, in addition to the ones we need for the city's defenses--"
"I just came by to thank you for what you did on the planet." Sheppard sounded quietly amused.
McKay spun around in confusion. "Thank me?"
"For increasing the field range on the shield. Those kids were long overdue for life to cut them a break, and you helped with that."
"Oh, that." McKay waved a hand dismissively. "Well, the control interface was fairly intuitive, once I had a few peaceful minutes to work on it." Once the probe was no longer practically hovering over his shoulder, sending his brain into vapor lock.
No sense of the art, and graceless under pressure. That compass was actually more useful than he was--it at least fulfilled its function: pointing towards wherever magnetic north might be.
Sheppard shifted, leaning a shoulder against the doorjamb. "At the risk of making you insufferable--well, more so than usual--it was a big deal. You did good, McKay." He lifted his head and gave McKay a lazy smile. "We're all just screwing around with the big kids' toys, here. It's pretty amazing that we can get anything to work at all, if you think about it." He raised his eyebrows winningly.
"Uh, thanks." McKay winced a little, but in a rare moment of inarticulacy, he couldn't come up with anything better. Sheppard had a way of focusing on a conversation that was compelling and yet disconcerting at the same time. Maybe there was something to be said for the laconic approach.
Sheppard didn't comment on his lapse in verbal acumen, instead stepping into the room. "Well, I don't want to keep you from your work--though you know what they say about making Rodney a dull boy." He reached for the compass on the table, spinning it towards himself and trapping it smartly before it slid off the edge. "You want me to give this back to Ford, since I'm headed that way anyway?"
"Sure. Thanks." McKay ducked his head, remembering his pretense of work.
Sheppard nodded amiably as he left, and McKay couldn't help watching him go. In the hallway, Sheppard paused to flip open the compass. He turned in a slow circle, watching the needle. When he came to a stop--facing McKay--Sheppard grinned, eyes wide.
"Huh. What do you know?"
He stared at McKay for a long moment, teasing grin in place, but something warmer and darker was going on in his eyes. Something McKay couldn't possibly be reading correctly.
He felt himself flushing under that stare, and he dropped his eyes to the scanner. The readout was blurring a little, and he rested the edge of the scanner against the table to steady it. Over the gentle background noise of Atlantis's ventilation system, he heard Sheppard snap the compass shut and head off down the corridor.
Once Sheppard was safely gone, McKay let his gaze drift over to where the major had been standing. On this planet, magnetic north was actually about thirty degrees to the left of where Sheppard had pointed the compass.
McKay wondered what that meant.
He took a deep breath, then blinked himself back to the task at hand--stowing his equipment, then grabbing a snack from the mess hall before hypoglycemia set in.
He already felt a little light-headed.
... climbing back on the horse...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 07:29 am (UTC)LOL. Self-flagellating Rodney. This was a nice glimpse into the insecurities Rodney will never voice out loud. I hadn't thought about how he would feel after this mission, but I'd like to believe he would recognize his own mistakes, even if he doesn't admit them to anyone else.
Shep's just the biggest flirt in the 'verse, ain't he? *g*
no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 07:59 am (UTC)True dat! The way he said "I haven't finished my book" in "Home" just about made my toes curl. I mean, I'd like to believe he only has eyes for Rodney, but I ain't blind. The man is clearly omnisexual--I'd rather not admit it, but I only have to squint a little bit to see him flirting with Steve.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 08:51 am (UTC)Yay, Kageyfic!
Date: 2004-09-17 08:13 am (UTC)"Huh. What do you know?"
That is such a lovely moment, right there. Love the image. It's perfect. *g* It makes me very happy. This whole fic did, because it was sweet and quiet and delicate. I love a flustered McKay. Very nicely done!
Re: Yay, Kageyfic!
Date: 2004-09-17 11:03 am (UTC)What the Grrrl said! This was lovely, Kagey. I like your changes. My only suggestion would be to take out Shep's eyes being wide, just 'cause, to me, he's so aware of what he's doing that he doesn't even have to pretend, you know? But that's by no means obligatory.
I'm looking forward to seeing it on Wraithbait, baby. And if anyone so much as dares look at you wrong, I'm banning their ass back to our solar system. Yeah.
Leah
Re: Yay, Kageyfic!
Date: 2004-09-20 07:01 pm (UTC)Oh, hush, OverProtective!Monkey. I ain't that fragile. Though you're cute when you're vicious. *g*
Re: Yay, Kageyfic!
Date: 2004-09-20 06:58 pm (UTC)Whoop!
Date: 2004-09-18 02:58 am (UTC)Have I seen this ep? I don't remember seeing it. Did we miss it at Worldcon? Am I insane? (I also missed an SG-1, the one where Teal'c moves off base, so they probably aired the same day and somehow I didn't watch it but rather some ones after it, and am now hopelessly confused.)
So...don't know about some of the references herein, but I love the image of the magnetic north, and what Rodney might mean to Shep. I am all over the controlling metaphors.
My favorite line is this one, because I can just see it:
He reached for the compass on the table, spinning it towards himself and trapping it smartly before it slid off the edge.
Somehow it says something about Shep, besides his having good hand-eye coordination.
And the ending? I like the ending of this fic too.
Re: Whoop!
Date: 2004-09-20 06:54 pm (UTC)No, they were kind enough to air reruns while we were at WorldCon. I would have sworn we watched this one--with the kiddies, all "Lord of the Flies" meets "Logan's Run", with Lt. Elliot in a burlap shirt and paint on his face? *g*
I am all over the controlling metaphors.
I'm kind of an addict, myself. *g* I'm glad you liked it, Mistress, since it was you and the Monkey what got me wanting to write again. Y'all rock.
Happy Sigh
Date: 2004-09-19 12:41 pm (UTC)Damn, I'd missed Kageyfic. And now we get lovely Atlantis fic with lots of subtle hints of interest and Rodney-angst. Yay!
Re: Happy Sigh
Date: 2004-09-20 06:44 pm (UTC)