Fic: With Needle and Thread (Sheppard, Gen)

[wickedwords]

Title: With Needle and Thread
Author: Rachael Sabotini (wickedwords)
Other Info: Gen, Sheppard, 380 words,
Summary: She lunges right; he dodges left, but he's not fast enough, never fast enough.

sherrold was kind enough to beta this for me. (Thanks, hon.) Written for the second round of atlantis_lvw. The theme was 'repairs', and we had a 400-word-count limit.


With Needle and Thread

Teyla glides over, skirt swirling around her legs, sticks ready. John watches each step she makes intently, trying to get a feel for what will happen next. She lunges right; he dodges left, but he's not fast enough, never fast enough. He winces as his wrist gets hit and his fingers go numb. "Shit." The stick falls from his hand, clattering on the ground.

"Are you all right, Major Sheppard?" She looks attentive, but doesn't reach for him, doesn't try to help him in any way. Briefly, he wonders if that was the way she was taught, back when she was first learning to fight, or if they made allowances when she was a child.

It doesn't really matter, though; what matters is her calm, the reserved distance. John's never enjoyed being coddled.

"Just peachy," he says, shaking out his hand. He feels a sharp prick on his wrist, and the faded black cloth he wears around it slips off, drifting down onto the warm, sun-lit floor, the elastic giving way at last. John scoops the cloth up and shoves it in his pocket once his fingers are working, then picks up his stick. "Let's try that again, shall we?"

"The outcome will be no different," Teyla says, smiling lightly at him.

"Humor me." John says, and darts in to meet her.

***

Later, he sits in his room with his wristband in one hand, needle in the other, bright desk light shining on them both. The intense light lets him see how worn the fabric is, how there are several places that look ready to tear. His grandfather's shadow leans against his desk as John pins the pieces together, telling him to toss it; in his mind's eye, his grandmother shoos him off, whispering to John to mend it, that nothing is as broken as it looks. His hands tremble as he tries to work the pins, to make the fabric and elastic mesh together in a single whole; his fingers already ache from the detail work required. He takes a deep breath, and another, waiting for the tremors to subside before he starts to work again, patching and re-patching the fabric, knitting it whole.

Comments

[mmmchelle.livejournal.com]

Lovely look at John, hon. Just lovely.

[ladycat777.livejournal.com]

Oh. Oh, yes, this is very John. Lovely.

[kimberlite.livejournal.com]

Lovely interaction with Teyla.

His grandfather's shadow leans against his desk as John pins the pieces together, telling him to toss it; in his mind's eye, his grandmother shoos him off, whispering to John to mend it, that nothing is as broken as it looks.

Oh, John, yes.

[miera-c.livejournal.com]

*sniff*
That was lovely.

[chopchica.livejournal.com]

This was such a wonderful story. The hardest part in writing good shortfics is the ability to say so much in so little and you pull it off perfectly.

[minnow1212.livejournal.com]

Very nice.

[just-eunice.livejournal.com]

Oh that's beautiful.

[rhi]

That's lovely, Rache. Thank you for posting this here.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Thanks! This challenge thing is getting me to write and finish stories in a week, which is a good thing.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

I just adore that John clams up about his feelings, even to himself. There is just so much to be done with that! Thanks.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

I love that cannon is supporting the slightly-more-emo!John interp, but all of it kept internal. So yummy.

Plus I love Teyla and think she and John have a great friendship. I'm glad you liked it.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Thanks! (And that is an adorable icon! He is such a puppy)

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I love writing short as I feel so accomplished when I get things done--yet at the same time, I have a novel's worth of detail I have figure out how to shoehorn in there.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you liked it! Thanks.

[transtempts.livejournal.com]

I thought this was intriguing. Teyla has never been one to go easy on her comrades, and if John is feeling less than useful, she would help him, but not do it in a way that one could readily term as such. He needs to feel that he is able to protect the city, and she assists- by beating him with sticks. ::g:: Just gorgeous.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I wanted to do someting with John and Teyla's friendship, and this just sorta seemed like them to me. I'm glad you liked it.

[transtempts.livejournal.com]

It was very nice. Their friendship is one of the things I like a lot about the series. The episode where they're 'on Earth, but not really' was quite funny. Teyla- shopping..and John's bachelor pad..

[alizarin-nyc.livejournal.com]

I remember this from the challenge and really liked it. Nice work.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Thanks!